The secret doctrine of Christian suffering is something you will seldom hear about from today's pulpit.  In this age of cheap grace and prosperity teaching, most Westernized Christians are completely unprepared to suffer in their Christian walk for the purpose of character building, let alone do it with joy at the opportunity for growth.  Many Christians are taught a system of "works" and Legalism.  They know that their salvation is a free gift from God, but obtaining God's approval of them is related to their "work" for the Kingdom, which usually means working for the church in some capacity.  Because these folks think they should be protected from evil because they work so hard for God, they crash and burn when testing and trials come proving their faith.  They know not the doctrine of suffering.  They know not how to respond correctly to God's discipline and refinement.  In this episode, we examine this secret doctrine that is plastered all throughout the Bible, and teach you how to view your suffering in order to get through it.  

Ending song:  "Why don't you look into Jesus," by Mesquite Cafe from their Down Here EP available at all streaming and digital download sites as well as CD from Amazon.  

God has reconciled you to Him, and you did nothing toward paying that debt of wrath you owed for being born into this fallen world.  Hearing the Gospel, that good news that you can have Eternal life by trusting Messiah's death for your sins along with His resurrection from the dead to place you in a fantastic spiritual position, is all you did.  Father God did all the rest, and now you can have Peace in your salvation and Rest in your relationship with Him, knowing that your spiritual nature is a New Creature!  Yes, you still inhabit that flesh suit and battle with the temptations and trials of the flesh, but you are positioned spiritually in Christ, and can do no more or less to earn God's favor.  This is FREEDOM in Messiah!  This is Great News!  Join us in celebrating Ephesians chapter 5.  

We are playing the entire eight song EP, "Down Here," by Mesquite Cafe Band with some narration (sorry) in between songs.  The narration is to explain what the song is about, why it was written, and other information that some people like to know.  The EP is released as of today, February 23, 2020.  It can be found on any online digital retailer site like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, iHeart Radio, Deezer, etc.  Also, the hard physical CD can be purchased from Amazon with free shipping if you have Prime Membership.  

A man sets a total stranger on fire while she was stopped at a red light, China using talking drones to scare people back inside, father reveals his agony over wife killing his three children, Calif. bill wants colleges to change the names of transgender people on their diplomas post graduation, thief gets stuck in Walmart donation bin and dies, good samaritan rescues a little girl from a kidnapper and molester and gets for biscuits in return.  

We examine what the "God of Hope" wishes to do with us.  He wants us to overflow with hope.  How do we get to overflowing with hope?  Through joy and peace through our faith in Christ.  And not of our own power, rather through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Godhead right here in one verse, creating for us the miracle that is our salvation and eternal life.  We breakdown the Scripture for you, so you can truly see your wonderful hope and let go of all self-condemnation.  

A Nine year old boy had thoughts in his head to stab his five year old sister prior to doing it, a California man murdered five of his own infant children over a period of years, a new homeowner finds a dead woman in his house that no one cared to check on, some college students are hearing a mysterious baby cry or child asking for help, but no one is there.  

Too many Christians suffer from the demonic lie of self-condemnation, and the devils love to put such a heavy burden on people.  One of the favorite Scriptures that the devils love to use against us is Hebrews 6:4.  Many Christians feel that they can lose their salvation and never find their way back to repentance based on this passage.  We break down this Scripture and prove to you that it takes a complete, conscious, deliberate, hateful, and disdainful walking away from the things of God, and to return to the worship of other gods, in order to find oneself in an apostate condition.  The writer of Hebrews was talking to a first century Jewish church that was still contemplating going back under the Law of Moses for salvation.  We must understand the context of the verses and we show the listener how to find that context within many passages of the Old Testament.  The goal here is to get freedom in Christ.  

A teenage boy shots and kills his mother and three siblings, a mother kills her three children while singing to them, three men kidnap, drug, and rape teen girl, mysterious drones baffle government agencies, and Christian man returns $43K he found in a second hand couch.  

2 Timothy 2:19 reads,

"But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”

If you are aChristian, then you are a Christian and will be so until your redemption. But if you hear not the truth of God, although religious, then you are an unbeliever. 

The Saved listen gladly to the Word. The Unsaved change, twist, and manipulate the truth like a devil to justify their slavery to sin!  They lie about the truth. They came out from among them in the church. 

When the Bible speaks of reprobates and apostates, it speaks of the unsaved, not the saved!  Never apply these verses to you or you missing the mark. Christ’s blood covers your sins past present and future.

A Florida man intentionally and purposely ran over an elderly man just to see what it felt like to kill someone, a Texas man charged with murder of a baby after he placed the child in a backpack in the trunk of his car while he went to work, tongue fat is a thing now, Puerto Rico struck by another devastating earthquake, Seattle police lie to a man about a crime he committed witch resulted in his suicide.