Foundational Podcast

Halloween has been controversial for decades and it's roots entirely in paganism.

So the question is, "Should we be celebrating Halloween?"

Many in the church today say you shouldn't celebrate Christmas, because of the verses in the Old Testament about sacrificing to idols "under every green tree".

This has nothing to do with ghosts and goblins and ghouls.

Halloween has its roots back in the 3rd century A.D., in Ireland the New Year started on November 1 and the spiritualists believed that October 31 was the night when all of the spirits would roam around.

The Roman Catholic Church picked it up and changed November 1 to All Saints' Day.

The pagans would build bonfires to keep the spirits away.

But, while Satan has the dark side of Halloween to propagate darkness and paganism, there is another side to Halloween that we need to look at.

Fast forward from the 3rd century A.D. to 16th century A.D.

Martin Luther was a Catholic monk and a preacher of the gospel, ordained in a very backslidden church. By this time the church was a thousand years in an era when many men had tried to bring revival back to the church.

• The Waldensians - Printed the Bible in the language of the general public
• Francis Assisi
• John Hus
• Girolamo Savonarola

All of whom, besides Francis Assisi, were martyred for preaching the gospel.

In Martin Luther's search for God began studying the book of Romans and discovered that salvation is by grace alone.

By this time the Church was selling people's salvation by way of indulgences.

They could drink, be immoral, be evil and wicked, and participate in every kind of darkness, but if they came and paid the church their sins would be forgiven.

This is the scene into which Martin Luther made his appearance and he picked a very interesting day to launch his protest.

He wrote a document with 95 reasons why the church was not preaching the true gospel.

He took them and walked to the door of the church and nailed them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

And the date he picked to do this was October 31.

The day that Satan established as his holy day, Martin Luther captured and brought back as a day of revival and reformation!

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Resources Mentioned in this Podcast:

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

More Resources:

 Luther

On June 2015, I wrote a blog entitled, Does God Ever Say "Maybe" to Homosexuality Among Christians?

I was expressing concern over the softening position of major Evangelical leaders regarding same-sex marriages. It seems since then to have become a widening horizon.

Any position that would emphasize holiness and purity of life is likely met with harsh judgment, accusations of being unloving, and one with a diminished capacity for grace.

There will be theologians and spiritual leaders rise to dogmatically defend the oft-used statement, “We are not perfect, just forgiven.”

They continue by explaining that Jesus forgives our sin and understands our frailty.

We spend a lifetime, after all, struggling with sinful desires, human failings, and we often give in to temptations.

Modern day theologians, Bible scholars, and preachers have mastered the art of weaving a softened positioned of grace that no longer requires holiness of the born again child of God.

Should one dare take a firm position that holiness is expected and even required in Scripture, they must be prepared to receive a barrage of arrows and javelins with razor sharp words of “legalism,” “graceless,” “hater of sinners.”

Even worse, you might be considered “homophobic.”

After all, they will steadfastly contend, we are not made perfect until our glorification when Jesus returns.

A recent article in Christianity Today spotlighted this issue. Rachel Gilson wrote an article contending Scripture does not command one be heterosexual.

She claims a walk with Christ in the power of the Spirit but steadfastly holds Jesus Christ has not made her “straight” because, by her own words, that has never truly happened in her life.

How does this match with Scripture?

Does God understand our propensity to sinful weakness and therefore give us pass for areas of sinful behavior or does He expect holiness in living?

Does God prefer we live godly lives in purity but understand our weakness to addiction and passion?

Does He prefer His children live in heterosexual relationships but realizes some are born with an attraction to same-sex relationships?

The final answer is not to be found in contemporary psychiatry, social engineering, or in contemporary theological treatise.

Let’s go directly to the Word of God.

What was Jesus saying when He declared to the crowd gathered around Him on the hillside outside of Capernaum?

“Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

The context is established in these words:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old… but I say to you…” (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-34, 38-39, 43-44). 

Jesus Christ is defining the significant difference between the godliness of the Law of Moses and the godliness of the law of the Spirit.

Grace is not establishing an easier standard but a higher standard of behavior.

Grace is not godliness and holiness derived from outward actions but from the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” that come from the inside out.

The Apostle Peter reit

There is a reason why the New Testament commands us to renew our minds.

A renewed mind restructures the way we think, which in turn completely changes how we behave. But in order to begin this journey, we must change the way we think.

"What was I thinking?"

Have you been there? No doubt, more times than you like to think!

You are on the flip side, looking back at your behavior. You have just given someone a piece of your mind that you can ill afford to give away or maybe you have endured a movie you shouldn't have watched. Leaving with embarrassment, you ask, “What was I thinking?”

Exactly!! What were you thinking?

Do you remember the warning of Solomon?

Be careful when you are visiting with a cunning and angry person. He will encourage you to eat your fill and enjoy his tasty meal, but in his heart he is hoping you will only take a small bite. “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:6-7).

Our mind has great power over our actions.

1. Our thinking determines our focus.

2. Our focus shapes our attitude.

3. Our attitude forms our words.

4. Our words motivate our behavior.

The Apostle James said, “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” (James 1:14-15 NKJV).

The enemy sends one of his flaming arrows into your mind (a thought).

• “They have no right to speak to me like that.”
• “This is a great movie, good story line… with only a few bad scenes.”

Those thoughts are not the sin, but the cunning work of the enemy to move you to sin.

What is already present in your mind? The philosophy, ideology, thought patterns, reasoning, or world view that has been shaped inside you from childhood are the targets of the “flaming arrow” of the enemy.

He is looking to lodge into one of those areas to stir up passion and arouse temptation. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desires and enticed.”

That is why the Apostle Paul instructed the believers in Rome and the believers in Ephesus to renew their mind.

Literally in the Greek it means to renovate their mind. Every person comes to salvation with a mind that has been built with inferior materials.

The thought patterns and core values of our home life; the classrooms of school; the survival techniques we developed on the playground; during high school dating experiences; and in the adversity and tragedies of life.

The philosophy, reasoning and ideology shaped in us through the education systems and the world view of our family and peers are the stuff from which we develop behavior patterns, attitudes and the systems by which we deal with life.

These are the “old man.”

We must do a remodeling project on our mind, so the house in which we live is the new creation Jesus Christ made.

“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV).

That is the stuff from which our life is lived

Indeed,

79% of children raised in a Christian home and in church at the age of 10 leave church by age 20.

A recent report states that in 2017 70,000 Americans lost their lives to opiate overdose. In 2018 68,000 more Americans lost their lives to opiate overdose.

In 24 months, 138,000 Americans died of opiate overdose!

If the church is going to make a difference in our culture and in a generation that is quickly being lost to immorality, debauchery, deception, and addiction, she must do these things:

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

This is more than just attending church 2-3 times a month. It is a day-to-day walk with Him.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart," Psalm 24:3-4

The difference in church then and now is that the church in past knew how to seek God, and when crisis hit, they would seek God on their knees instead of calling a counselor.

It was the few who chose to turn to man instead of to God.

Now this is reversed, and the majority of the church doesn't know how to look to God and seek His face in times of crisis.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8

• Clean hands
• Pure heart
• Walk uprightly
• They are righteous
• Speak truth in their heart

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Have you come to the place where you have too much month at the end of the money, and you're worried to death?

Have you gotten word that your company is downsizing and you're worried that you're going to lose your job, and you're wondering what you're going to do now?

Jesus is asking this question, "Have you added one inch of growth to your body or one dollar to your bank account by worrying?"

When a man came to Jesus about his son who had convulsions for years, he said to Jesus, "But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

Jesus reply to him was amazing!

“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

The man's reply to Jesus is so similar to our response today. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

The boy had battled these convulsions for so many years that the father was having trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that he really could be healed.

And this is like how many of us are today!

• Just like the disciples, how many of us are worried about the storms of life when Jesus is lives in us?
  • How could the storm destroy the disciples when Jesus was in the boat?
  • How can life's circumstances destroy you when Jesus lives in you?
• Just like Peter, how many of us get our eyes off of Jesus and find ourselves sinking?

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2

Don't get your eyes off of Him, you can't conquer this without Him!

Faith grows, but we have to resource it.

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God wants us to be a light in a dark world. You may be the only light that shines where He has placed you right now.

That is why Jesus said we are the salt of the earth and the light of world.

How is your light shining? Is it hidden or is it shining bright? What kind of flavor do I bring to the places I go to on a regular basis? Do they taste God's mercy and grace or do they get a sour taste in their mouth from my life?

We've been given a personal responsibility to be salt and light in the world, but we have to have faith in what God's Word says about who God is and who we are.

• Faith is:
  • great confidence in
  • full reliance upon
  • absolute trust in the nature, unchanging character of Almighty God
    • believing that God is exactly who Scripture says He is
    • believing that human beings who scripture says they are
    • believing in a real heaven
    • believing in real hell and lake of fire
    • believing that God is love

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." 1 Peter 3:15

"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:9-10

As a child of God, the mission of our life is to plunder hell and populate heaven!

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How did we get the Holy Bible - all 66 books?

The 66 books that make up what we know as The Holy Bible is called Cannon - which means measuring.

It's like a ruler.

These 66 books have been measured, evaluated, and have been found to be the accurate word of God; and are the measuring of what someone says is from God.

If someone claims to have a teaching from the Word of God, a prophetic word, or a message in tongues with an accompanying interpretation, you measure it by the Cannon.

• The Old Testament was the first to be established as Cannon
  • Around 450-500 B.C. the Old Testament Cannon was established
  • Daniel referred to the book of Jeremiah as Scripture and was studying it.
• The New Testament was completely written by 90 A.D.
  • 55-60 years after Jesus was crucified
  • The New Testament affirms it is Scripture
    • 1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7
    • Paul calls the book of Luke Scripture

"For the Scripture says...'The laborer is worthy of his wages.' 1 Timothy 5:18 (Emphasis mine)

• • By 175 A.D. the entire Cannon was basically established
• Gnostic writers' claims are complete fabrication and historical rewrite
  • That Constantine forced the Council of Nicea to accept the 27 books of the New Testament
  • That he forced them to reject other Gnostic writings
  • By 175 A.D. Cannon had already been established
• Cannon was fully recognized at the Council of Carthage with these 6 criteria
  • Is the writing done by a recognized prophet or apostle?
  • Is the writing done by someone closely associated by a recognized prophet of apostle?
  •  Can you read this writing and is there a good quality of truthfulness?
    • Does this writing declare what we already know to be true through other canonical writings?
  • Is this writing faithful to the rest of the Cannon?
  • Is what is written in this document confirmed by Jesus Christ or the original apostles?
  • Is this writing used and recognized consistently in the churches as sacred writing?

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Can we trust the Holy Scriptures?

Is Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Savior that the Holy Scriptures talk about?

Is our faith and salvation that of the Holy Scriptures, or that of a different faith recorded in a different set of gospels?

Is the church of Jesus Christ the church of the Holy Scriptures, or is it the church of the Sacred Feminine as Gnosticism and modern-day Christianity-rewritten wants us to believe?

In today's podcast I take time to answer these questions.

We must answer four significant questions

• Were there really more than 80 gospels written and considered for the Holy Cannon?
• What are the Gnostic gospels?
  • Are they really older than the Holy Scriptures?
  • Do they contain the true gospel of Jesus Christ?
• How did we get our current Cannon - the Holy Bible that we have today?
  • Is it reliable?
• Was the Emperor Constantine behind its selection

"So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the Lord has said we will do.' And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel." Exodus 24:3-4 (Emphasis mine)

• Other places where it mentions that God had men write His Words
  • Deuteronomy 31:9-11, 24-26
  • Joshua 24:26-27
  • 1 Samuel 10:25
  • Mark 12:35-36
  • Jeremiah 36:2
  • 1 Corinthians 7:10
  • 1 Corinthians 14:37
  • 2 Peter 3:14-16
  • 1 John 1:1-3
  • Revelation 1:1-3, 17-20
  • 2 Peter 1:16-18
• Men wrote the thoughts and mind of God
  • They didn't write from their own minds
  • They didn't write their own thoughts
  • They were not just writing historical events

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How did we get the Bible?

How did the authors of the Bible get the words that they wrote?

How do we know that they are really God's words spoken to us for millennia?

Those are the questions I want to address in this 3-part podcast that I pray will help to build faith in your heart about the authenticity and the inerrancy of the Bible.

The accompanying videos to these podcasts are also in the bottom of each post below the show notes.

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.` For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:16-21

• The Word of God that we have is
  • Given to us by God
  • Not by human will or interpretation
  • Men wrote being enabled by the Holy Spirit

"But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:10-17 (emphasis mine)

• Scripture is not man-made
  • Men published the Bible
  • Men wrote the script of the Bible
  • Simply served as editors, writing what God said

"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be

How can we know God's Word is true?

King David’s heart was grieved by the idolatrous practices around him and was longing for the worship of the Living God.

This may have been during the time he was living among the Philistines, when King Saul was trying to kill him. He passionately wrote,

“I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul. (Psalm 138:1-3 NKJV).

Even though the majority of people were worshiping false deities, in the very presence of those idols, David lifted His voice with all his heart and sang praises to the living God.

His soul longed for the tabernacle in Shiloh.

He declared without shame or embarrassment the goodness and majesty of Almighty God and the truth of His Word.

It was through this steadfast dedication to Almighty God and the great confidence in the His Word, that David found strength of soul to stand without compromise. He cried out to God in those times and saw answers to his prayers.

Living in this idolatrous and hedonistic culture, the soul of a child of God is vexed by the open expression of sexual impurity and nakedness.

The spirit is grieved by the love affair with the demonic and the acceptance of Spiritism.

How do we stand without compromising our faith and convictions?

King David gave assurance that we will find such strength in the Holy Scriptures. God honors His Word above His name.

The Psalmist proclaimed, “Forever, O Lord, your Word is settled in Heaven” (Psalm 119:89).

“Blessed is the man,” wrote King David, “who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the paths of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2 NKJV).

The written Word reveals the true identity of the living God to mankind.

It is by the principles and precepts of His Word we understand His ways.

The Holy Scripture makes known the acceptable way to worship Almighty God; and by it we are taught how to live a righteous and godly life.

The Holy Bible was written by God, infallible and inerrant.

He chose to have men pen and publish His Word so all of mankind, in all ages, and in all nations, may have His Word. No human has the right or the authority to alter His Word.

It is the Word of God and no one, regardless of their education, knowledge, or expertise has been given the permission to rewrite, add to, or take away from the Holy Scriptures.

God alone holds such authority.

He writes Holy Scripture and He has not given permission to any man, angel or spirit to add to it or to take from it. It is quite the opposite.

“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6 NKJV).

“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes aw