Double-Minded Living

There has, for as long as I can remember, been a lifelong struggle within me, a struggle between denying myself of things I know God does not want for me and the part of me that says, “Just go for it and ask forgiveness later.” I admit in my younger days there was a much more intense battle than the one I face in my later years, praise be to God! However, the battle does continue, the difference being now I love the Lord so much that I choose to avoid temptation with much more zeal and determination. This morning I was reading in James 4, and it appears that James is addressing those who are not struggling with the temptation but are rather simply attempting to live both lives: the one with God’s blessing and the other without. He refers to these people as “double-minded,” vacillating between obeying God and giving in to the flesh, even if it means they are sinning or missing the mark. This phrase “double-minded” is also defined as “two-spirited”: those who abuse the grace and gifts of God yet continue in a self-serving lifestyle, not those who struggle and battle against their flesh. For those of us who fight against our temptations, we have made up our mind; we have purposed to follow God, to not abuse His grace and mercy, to not defile the blood of the Lamb. In my feeble attempt to teach people about the abuse of grace, I have all too often failed to make the distinction between those who are saved and struggling and those who are attempting to, let’s say, have “fire insurance” or just simply attempt to “justify” their sin. You see, for those of us who struggle, we understand the guidelines of godly living. We accept them, we surrender to them; we don’t attempt to justify them, rather we face our failings with humility and repentance. It is my belief that these are those who fall under the blood, those who truly believe and are saved by grace, made righteous by Jesus. However, those who are double-minded, those who attempt to justify ungodly behavior, those who fight with pride and arrogance the requirements of salvation, those who deem themselves worthy on their own accord, are simply fooling themselves. These are the ones who water down Christianity and, in fact, turn many away. There is hope, however, for all men, and James presents us with a cure—a prescription for their healing. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:7–10). I know many who read my ramblings are wrongly under the opinion that I believe in the law or I am too harsh with people. To them I would say you truly do not know me. The reality is this: the Word of God, the Epistles in particular, address issues with the church. The church was new and being formed, and it was small enough that for the most part the leaders of the time were able to give direction to their leaders, to warn them of straying doctrine, to build for them a foundation upon which to stand. From the very beginning of the church there have been those who attempted, for one reason or another, to change things, to improve upon God’s design, to justify their sin, to form their own belief, and so on. Folks, nothing has changed! People have and always will desire an easier way: a simpler solution and a compromise. There is no compromise with God. He is who He is, and He requires what He requires. He never attempted to justify sin, not through Jesus nor through His Word and not today through His Holy Spirit. Sin is not up for debate. The Bible is very clear on what separates us from God, and it is rooted in pride, arrogance, stubbornness, and deceit. We are only saved from it because of Jesus and our willingness, through humility, to admit our failings and surrender to His will and be transformed by His Spirit. Bottom line is this: you either believe to the point of doing all you can to avoid sin, knowing failure will come, and by His grace and our repentance we are redeemed. Or you can justify your own desires, sins, lifestyle, and choices and ignore the Word; thus you abuse the blood and grace and end up eternally separated from God—period! Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL outreachman@gmail.com

If We Do Not Stand On The Word, What Do We Stand Upon?

Over the past week, a rather strange thing has happened; something, I believe, that deserves further attention. A major Christian organization that provides various services to families and children in third-world countries has made a very controversial statement: “Why we’re hiring gay Christians in same-sex marriages.” I, for one, took great offense and action regarding this statement for reasons I now feel compelled to explain. However, before I go on, let me say that they have now, two days later, reversed this decision. Now back to the issue at hand. In their statement, they referred to “gay Christians”; something that I believe simply cannot, according to the Word of God, be true. The Bible is very clear about salvation, what it takes to be saved, and who will and will not enter the kingdom of heaven; with three points that I will quickly review. Number one. What does the Bible say about salvation? Well, for one thing, it says that a man must repent; a word from the Greek metanoeo, which means “to think after, to make a decision that results in a change of mind, which, in turn, leads to a change of purpose and reaction.” See Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Luke 13:3–5, and Luke 17:3, just to name a few. Therefore, according to the Word of God, we see that a person, in order to be saved, must turn from sin and change. Now before you get all worked up, grace is another subject, but the bottom line is without repentance, there is no grace or forgiveness. Number two is to believe. Again, we look to the Greek language for original intent and meaning, and we find the word pisteuo or “to have faith in, upon, or with respect to, a person, or thing. To entrust, believe, believer, commit, to put trust in.” In order to trust in God and place your faith in Christ, you must first believe, and if you believe, you believe who He is and what He requires. In order to truly believe, we must surrender our will to the Father’s will. We must believe that He is God, that He created each one of us according to His will and His purpose. We must believe God does not err, and all other attributes of Him must now be a part of our belief system (see Matthew 9:28 and Mark 1:15) for just two of many references. Number three is love. We are to love both the unsaved and the saved, just as Jesus did; however, we are to first love Jesus! “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me" (John 14:23–24). Do we really need more explanation? If you love Jesus, if you believe in Jesus, you will avoid temptation, and when you fail you will repent. You cannot and will not be allowed to continue in an openly sinful lifestyle and be called a believer! Again, let us look to the Word in order to see the everlasting truth. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19–21). And, if you’re still not convinced, read 1 Corinthians 6:9 where Paul mentions homosexuals by name as catamites: “those submitting to homosexuals.” Now the reality is, according to the Word of God, those who do not repent and believe and stop practicing sin (not those who occasionally fail) will not be saved. No, I am not judging. I am simply stating the truth according to the Word. If you have a problem with this, then your issue is with God, and you can take it up with Him. Now, why is it that if you speak the truth in love, it is all too often assumed that you hate people or you are judging them? The truth is, in my case, nothing could be further from the truth. I am a man who has committed his entire life as a believer over 36 years to serving the downtrodden, lost, confused, and hurting; yes, even homosexuals. Be not confused—I am not writing this to defend myself. I am, however, making a very important point. Those who are so quick to accuse others of judging are, in fact, judging those of us who are simply speaking the truth of the Word of God. Hence, if you have a problem with sin, then, again, your issue is with God, and my friends you will not win that argument, but go ahead and try, if you must. Finally, you ask: “Well, what business is it of yours what people do?” The reality is, it is not my business until one of the following things happen. First, when they make it my business. In the case of illegal drugs and homosexuality, many of those who practice such sin are attempting to make the church change God’s law and accept them and their lifestyle. They advertise, attack, lobby, and more to get us to change God’s law; not my job, nor will I ever go there. However, because you have come against my God and His laws, I will defend Him and my decision, and I will fight for the sanctity of the church because I am told to. Revelation 2 and 3 warn the churches against not doing so. Love is not agreeing with people. Love is knowing the truth and sharing it with those who you care about, and loving Jesus is our first commandment; then comes man. Secondly, when you force your beliefs upon my children, family, and church, while on this earth, I will fight for them through God's Word. So the bottom line is this. If you don’t like the requirements of being a Christian, stop trying to change those beliefs, and go enjoy your life as a nonbeliever. If you want to believe and be transformed, there are plenty of us out there who would love to help you do so. As for you believers who get mad at people like me who stand firmly on the Rock, on the Word of God, I truly don’t know what to tell you that I have not already done so. Read the Word, for after all, that is where the truth lies. Now back to the beginning and the statement made by this famous organization: “Why we’re hiring gay Christians in same-sex marriages.” I take issue because these people are trying to redefine Christianity, and if you think it will stop here, you are truly mistaken. I for one will not go down without a fight, and neither should any other true believer. This is not about hating gays or anyone else. That is simply foolish. It is about allowing the enemy of our souls to water down the blood of Jesus. It’s about compromise, and I love Jesus too much to stand by and watch anyone shame Him. Remember, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood; we wrestle against powers, principalities, and rulers in dark places (Ephesians 6:10–18). Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL

Can God Make Mistakes?

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren" (James 1:13–16). As I read this Scripture this morning, I was reminded of how many times I have heard statements like this from those choosing a sin-filled lifestyle: “It’s not my fault; I was made this way.” When I hear statements like that used in order to justify a lifestyle choice, what I hear a person saying is that his or her sinful behavior is the fault of God. Is it an intentional blaming of God in order to avoid taking the blame, an excuse for being who they are, and their actions an attempt to justify their behavior by blaming God? Or is it simply because they have heard it so often they now believe it? No matter the reason, when people blame God for making mistakes, it is nothing less than a lie and heresy, for according to the Word, God is incapable of mistakes! To say I was born a woman but I am a man or vice versa or to say I was born with a desire to drink, etc., these are all lies from the pit of hell, meant to separate mankind from their loving creator. The simple fact is this: we all must choose to fight for what is right; we must be willing to defeat temptation for the sake of ourselves, if for no other reason. We are, after all, children of God. We are created in His image, and we live in a world that desires nothing less than to destroy this very truth; a world that desires to have us conform to a lifestyle that says God is not infallible, and if God can make a mistake with you, then what else can He fail at? The list never ends, and ultimately God becomes just another deity with no sovereign power or influence. He becomes something created by man as opposed to being the God who created man and all that He surveys and more. So you ask, “What is the answer?” The simple answer is this: recognize that God is sovereign and He does not make mistakes, yet we can and do. It is our responsibility to choose to avoid temptation and not accept the lies we believe. It is our responsibility to accept who we are and choose to believe God made us this way and that He is able to strengthen us in our weakness, making us stronger, and to know we are worthy to be who He made us as opposed to accepting what the world says we should be. You are worth more than the world has to offer, and God has given you the free gift of life—life eternal through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL

Jesus Made Breakfast

As mere mortals, we tend to have many of the same struggles when attempting to understand our relationship with God. I would suggest the most common is our feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Our natural tendency is to believe we have committed far too many or far too egregious a sin to ever be forgiven; after all, if we can’t forgive ourselves or others, how can God forgive us? Recently, the Lord revealed to me a series of events in His Word that I considered to be truly freeing and eye-opening. I pray and trust it would do the same for you. In Matthew 26, beginning in verse 31, Jesus tells His disciples that because of Him (Jesus) they (the disciples) will all be made to “stumble” or in the original King James Version “offend.” The Greek word is scandalizo (pronounced scandalize), which means entrap, trip up, stumble, entice to sin, to offend. In other words, because of who He is, the disciples will betray Him. Jesus goes on to say this is no surprise because it was prophesied in Zechariah 13:7 that it would happen: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” As we see in Matthew 26:56, the prophecy was fulfilled, as all who were with Jesus “forsook Him and fled.” The first point I would like to make regarding our failings is this. I do not believe God is ever surprised by our failings, our sin, our missing the mark—how could He be? He created each of us. As we see later in Matthew 26, verses 69–75, Peter having returned to the courtyard just outside where Jesus is being beaten, and the writer describes his actions as follows: "Then he began to curse and swear, saying, 'I do not know the Man! (Matthew 26:74).' ” The Greek word curse here is anathematize or to vow under penalty of execration or to bind with an oath. So Peter has, indeed, sworn and taken an oath before his accusers that he does not, nor has he ever known Jesus, let alone been one of His disciples. The very next act of Peter is truly one of great significance, for without it, Peter may have completely missed the mark. Matthew 26:75 ends with these words, “And he went out and wept bitterly.” The word “bitterly” is based upon the Greek word pikros, or sharp, acrid, violently. In other words, Peter, faced with his failure, went into a gut-wrenching repentance. My second point is this. We all fail. Even those closest to Jesus failed Him, and the reaction to our failure shows our true heart and our love for Christ. Sin should be naturally more painful to us than to anyone else; after all, we are the ones who missed the mark. Now the good news: there is more than a hope of restoration and healing with Christ. There is a promise and even proof. In John, chapter 21, the writer tells us that after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples went back to what they knew best and had the most confidence in—fishing. They had fished all night and caught nothing. Now these men who had seemingly failed Jesus were failures at what they knew best and no doubt riddled with guilt. Their hopes were dashed. They were fearful, and truly they must have believed God was punishing them for abandoning Jesus in His time of greatest need. Jesus, knowing this and more and seeking to restore these lost and broken men, visits them one final time and encourages them to cast upon the other side of the boat, and their nets were filled! Suddenly, they realize this man upon the shore is Jesus! Peter (the one with truly the greatest failure) is so excited he jumps out of the boat and swims to shore. He cannot wait to see Jesus! Now here is the most exciting part. Jesus was not mad. No, He had prepared them a meal. Jesus knew what these men needed in their spirit; He knew what they needed to satisfy their flesh, and He provided. No, He did not make them feel guilty. No, He didn’t shame them. No, He didn’t make them pay penitence; He fed them. He cared for their every need; He showed them love! These disciples no doubt have just experienced one of the most crucial points made in their spiritual lives. They suddenly experienced firsthand the grace of God. They, more than any others, now understand grace and will never be the same! My final point is this. Jesus is waiting to restore you with the same measure He restored His disciples. All you need do is repent, surrender, and accept, and He will care for your every need. Don’t let the enemy lie to you any longer. Jesus can and will forgive you, and He will do so much more. Jump out of the boat, run to Him, trust Him. He is waiting to love you, not shame you! Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL

Dynamis

Where is the Dynamis? When was the last time you felt the abundant, mighty, miraculous, wonderful presence of the God of all creation or witnessed His miraculous, miracle-working power? This is dynamis: one of the Greek words for our word power. This is not the only Greek word used for power in the New Testament; however, when this word is used, it can easily be overlooked and interpreted without the attention it deserves. The word dynamis is one that every believer (in my humble opinion) should pay close attention to, if for no other reason than its placement in key places in Scripture. For example, in 2 Timothy 3:5–9, Paul describes the conditions and circumstances that will occur in the last days. He speaks of perilous times or chalepos times: harsh, savage, difficult, dangerous, and painfully fierce. He describes in these first four verses what is truly taking place in our world today more than ever. In verse five, he tells us why there are perilous times; why the end is near, so to speak. First, he speaks of men “having a form of godliness” or eusebeia, the Greek word for piety, holiness without humility, head knowledge without spiritual understanding. Now, let’s look at this verse a little deeper: “having a form of godliness but denying its power” or dynamis, the miracle-working power of God! As we reread this passage with the understanding of the proper meaning in the context in which it was written, the true power of this passage becomes, for some, life changing and transforming. Paul is saying our world is in perilous times, and the condition of man is largely due to two very distinct issues, the first being piety among believers due to increased knowledge. We would know these as the Pharisees and scribes (those who had the most knowledge of the Word and the law at the time of Christ), and yes, the same ones who conspired and crucified Him, and the second, the denying of the miraculous power of God, the manifestation of the power of God in men as directed by the Holy Spirit: the dynamis. Paul’s next instruction to the church is, “And from such people turn away!” As we read on through verses six through nine, Paul goes on to describe whom these people are and what our response to them is to be. It is also crucial to note that this letter is written to the church; therefore, we know this activity was taking place among the believers. As a young man in the church of the Sixties, I would witness, on a regular basis, the manifestation of the power of God in people of all ages and walks of life. The manifestation of the Spirit in my life was nothing new; it was expected, accepted, and encouraged. We loved seeing the Lord do miraculous things. I have seen deformities healed, teeth filled, diseases destroyed, deliverances and more, much more. And yes, I have seen people fake the power, falsely prophesy, act as if they had power when they did not, and again, much more abuse of this freedom than I care to remember. It is, in my opinion, this abuse of power and the hypocrisy that often accompanied it that began to turn many away from the church. Most importantly, it began to turn leaders away from allowing the manifestation of the Spirit. In an effort to become more acceptable, the church began denying the manifestation of the power of God. We turned to many different forms of worship, be it traditional religion to becoming more learned, or, in many cases, using the Word as a launching point for our own agenda. Whatever the case or cause, the church has become greatly segregated, either by opinion, tradition, fear, or some other cause. As a result, our power as believers to influence the world has truly been greatly diminished, particularly in this nation of ours. In many cases, church has become more of a social gathering where we hear the message, sing songs or listen to them, and leave talking more about family, sports, hobbies, or problems than we speak of the miraculous power of our God, of His provision, peace, grace, and mercy. As believers, we often cannot be differentiated in a crowd from unbelievers; we accept sin as a choice and fear man more than we fear God. The fear of man may truly be what started our downfall. Rather than confront and discipline those who were abusing the gifts of God, rather than instructing in love, we turned away from the power. We denied it because of man’s abuse of God’s gift. We seem to have no problem basking in God’s grace. We have no issue with encouraging the lost and the believers alike to realize how much God loves them even in their sin, accepting their sin, again, as their choice. Yet we rarely offer the same love, direction, passion, and discipleship when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit and the need for one to be filled with the power of God in order to overcome the temptations of the world. We accept into the church those who Paul warned us of—those whom he instructed us to turn away from. In closing, I know my writing can be interpreted in many ways, so let me summarize with this. Whatever has caused the church and believers to become less and less significant in our world, the answer, in my opinion, is clear. We must overcome our fear of man and begin walking in the dynamis (power) of God. People who have truly experienced the miracle-working power of God, the reality of salvation, freedom from sin, provision in time of need, physical and emotional healing, and people who have tasted the power of God will never be the same. As Paul says in Hebrews 6:4–6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers (dynamis) of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, Florida