Tomorrowland Is Real. Are You Going There?

If you haven't had a chance to see the movie Tomorrowland, you should give it a try.  It was a failed box office movie, but personally I liked it.  It centers the story around a  new world that was being built, and because of a lack of dreamers and corruption it was not completed.  One such dreamer locater has left a commercial of that new world for a girl who is unhappy with what is going on in her world and that commercial is on a pin.  When the girl picks up that pen she sees the other world, or Tomorrowland, and even though she isn't physically there, it all seems so real.  The dreamer locater named Athena follows up on this girl, named Casey Newton and leads her to Frank Walker who went to Tomorrowland when he was a child but got kicked out. Now Frank doesn't believe anymore.  Casey's great desire to see Tomorrowland and Athena's mission orders put them together at Frank's doorstep. When Casey gets into Frank's house she sees the latest technology from the mind of dreamer Frank.   Casey convinces Frank to try one more time to believe in Tomorrowland and  he takes her and Athena there and through a series of events starts building the Tomorrowland again and begins recruiting new dreamers to make it happen.  Wow. What a great story!!  This parallels the great desire God has for his children to focus on the new heaven and earth He has built for those who know Him.  In John 14: 1-4  Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going."  Of course, you know where our Tomorrowland is don't you? It's heaven. The reason for Tomorrowland in the first place was to build a whole new world and they need more "converts" to live there. Sound familiar?  That is the beckoned call of all who call Jesus Lord.  Get more people to this new world Jesus taught about.  The writer of Revelation in chapter 21 verse  1 describes that new world and summarizes by saying, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,  for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."  Heaven is our Tomorrowland!!  Now where do we fit in to this parallel story?  We are the Athena's or the dreamer locaters.  We have our pen, which is the message of the gospel, and we can give unbelievers a glimpse into this new world through God's Word.  No movie magic can compare to the explanation given in Revelation 21 and we know first hand it is a completed Tomorrowland!  But like those who started the Tomorrowland project in the movie, some have given up their hope and they don't anticipate that glorious city anymore.  Tragic.  Not just for believers, but for those who need to hear about this new heaven and earth that is available to them.  In the movie Frank was a total believer and dreamer as a young boy, but the constant hits against him made him quit believing and he just gave up.  When we first accept Jesus the whole thing is so fresh and real, and amazing.  We can't think about anything else but our Tomorrowland and we want to tell others about it so they can go there too.  But life kicks in and one bump after another causes some to quit looking forward to it so much.  Time dims our enthusiasm and the message of a new world somehow dies with it.  But it shouldn't!  It must not die!!  Years ago a guaranteed big crowd attraction was when someone did a Bible study in the book of Revelation.  You couldn't fit everyone in the room because they wanted to know and hear about our Tomorrowland.  I wonder if anyone is even interested anymore in hearing about heaven and all that it holds for those who know Jesus?  What we need are some more Athena's.  Those willing to keep spreading the Word and finding others who would believe in Jesus and His new Tomorrowland He has built for us.  By the way, Athena was a robot who was focused on one thing, recruitment.  We aren't robots, but we are to be very focused in our life and our goals.  Hebrews 12:2 says, "let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."  We are to be FOCUSED! 

Tomorrowland, a reality or a bust.  It is a REALITY!!!  You just need to wake up to the fact of our Tomorrowland and tell (recruit) all you know about it and how to get there (faith in Jesus).  Think about what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus in Chapter 2 verse 1-6  "It wasn't so long ago the you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin.  You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live.   You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience.  We all did it, all of us doing what  we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat.  It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.  Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us.  He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.  He did all this on His own, with no help from us!  Then he picked us up and set us down in the highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah."(The Message)  Since God has placed us in the company of our Savior Jesus, it should not be too hard to dream about our Tomorrowland, heaven, and know so much about it that we tell all who will listen they must accept Jesus to go there.  That message should be in the forefront of our mind and our lives.  We make it believable by our passion and conviction about it and our total belief in God's Word.

"Do You Believe" is more than just a movie title.  It is a question we must all answer.  I believe!!  Do you?  Tomorrowland is real and I'm going there.  You should too!!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

You’re My Brother, You’re my Sister, so take me by the hand.

The interdependence of believers.  Depend – Rely on.  It is not by accident that God put us believers on an even playing field with no one better than the other and no one favored more than the other.  Scripture calls it UNITY.  It is where we are all focused on Christ.  He is the hub, or as scripture says The Vine, and we are the branches.  The question may be asked, “How many Christians does it take to build a church?”  The answer is “all of them.”  It seems like it is more and more difficult to keep a Church together, much less grow one in the present condition of our world.  We have digressed into the attitude that believes someone owes us something, instead of Jesus’ teaching where he says in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  We “Americans” don’t understand the serving thing so much anymore and it is a foreign policy that has been tossed out with the latest effort to build each other up.  Selfishness is the new norm and it takes our faith and puts it on a slippery slope that will surely end in chaos and war.  Many churches have taken this mantel and allowed it to drive their faith right off a cliff and the return trip up the mountain seems insurmountable, but it CAN be done.  As written in the above Scripture, “even the Son of Man took on the form of a servant.”  This brings to mind WWJD.  Remember the quirky little letters that started a firestorm of servant mindedness back in the 80’s?  The only problem with thinking about what Jesus would do is we need to know what Jesus would do and those answers are found in God’s Word, not in our personal impressions of what we “think” Jesus would do.   Which brings us to the problem at hand.  We have been living our Christ-centered lives from counterfeit information, and we are the counterfeiters putting out the fake Christianity.  The counterfeit faith of many has been handed down to their children and their children’s children, and the end result is a selfish generation.  I know this because I have been part of the problem.  I drank the Kool Aid long ago and the sweet taste of it only marginalized my walk with God.  I finally woke up and quit drinking,and because of the conviction of the Lord said, “enough is enough!”   In making my commitment I didn’t realize that changing my mind wouldn’t mean that others would come alongside and join me in my commitment to live a real life for Christ.  It was like telling an alcoholic they needed to quit drinking.  The first thing they say to you is “ I can quit anytime I want.”  But they can’t!   Here is where the whole interdependence thing kicks in.  We need each other, and we need to commit together to only follow God’s Word and keep each other accountable to this very lifestyle.  Together we can do it.  In Unity!!   Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” We need to make an effort and it starts right now.  We as believers need to learn to love God and love God’s people.  Love will be the glue that holds the whole thing together.  Colossians 3:14 says, “And over all these virtues put on love,  which binds them together in perfect unity.”  If you do take this stand to trust others to help keep you accountable you will start to lean on them  and they will on you and the process of true fellowship will kick in and empower you to live a more committed, servant lifestyle.  !1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give  yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  Paul wrote this scripture at the end of a wonderful chapter that explained the victory that we as believers must live and walk in.  Let us walk it together in peace and harmony.

 and we will experience true victory.

The Pilgrimage continues….

David Warren

Put Some More Salt on Those Fries

I love salt!  I mean I love it on my food and usually add more of it to the disdain of healthy people.  If a meal doesn't have enough salt on it I can tell it in milliseconds.  What do I do?  I add more salt! There are many different types of salt and many different effects of salt.  Jesus in Matthew 5:13 says, "You are the salt of the earth, But if the salt loses it's saltiness, how can it be make salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out an trampled underfoot."  So, according to Jesus, we are the salt of the earth.  When a person meets us they need to experience a good flavored life that is salty and tasty.  The vibrancy of the Holy Spirit in our life is the salt they need to taste and that comes from a deepening relationship with Jesus at a Biblical level.  Biblical level means that the Word of God, which is alive and cuts like a two edged sword, should be seen in every area of our life.  It is  also heard in the words we say.  Colossians 4:6 - "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."  We know the importance of the tongue being under the Lord's control.  In James the writer gives a good illustration of the power of the tongue.  The tongue can be used by God and by the devil and seasoned with salt is the way God wants us to use ours.  A discerning heart supplies the right words at just the right time as it says in Proverbs 12:18 - "The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."  I have experienced those wise words before and the taste of it is very salty indeed.  The aggressive nature of Christ's message in that day gives us a picture of how that salt needs to be applied through our life.  That application needs to always be doing something with the salt, instead of just letting it stay in our thoughts.  There needs to be action.  The Dead Sea in Israel is just that DEAD.  The Hebrew name for the Dead Sea is "Sea of Salt" and the lack of anywhere for that sea to go causes it to become water that is full of salt that lacks purpose and direction.  The salt water flows in but doesn't flow out and it's elevation is below sea level, so the prospects for changing are bleak at best.  It does have awesome natural minerals in the mud taken from the sea and the thousands of years of deposits make it mineral rich, but you have to dig in the mud to get those minerals.  The water itself is dead, with no place to go.  In our lives we get our salt from the Holy Spirit, in a relationship with Jesus Christ, but that salt is not designed to stop with us.  We have a command to share it with others through our words and our actions, or the living water in each of us will become "stale."  We will be full of helpful salt for others, but we never share it, so it remains with us.  This should not be!!  God's plan for that salt is to season our lives with such a strong seasoning that it impacts all who meet us and causes them to wonder how we are so different from other people.  Our sharing the salt and how to use it is what we call Discipleship!  We learn from God's Word and from other believers just how good the salt is and how much it affects the lost and we realize we have exactly what others need and it is Jesus.  No Dead Sea will do for believers.  The salt doesn't stop at us, it is shared with every step we take in our daily walk.  It has wonderful, spirit- filled flavor.

What is the flavor of your life?  Are you in a growing, deepening relationship with Christ, or did your growth stop after your salvation experience.  There is so much more and the life of Christ compels each of us to desire the salt to be seen in us and through us.  Now is the time to get more of that salt and let it be tasted by all who meet you.  Put more salt on those fries!!  Keep this in mind.  Salt is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to another element.  Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives bleach it's offensive odor.  When sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride or common table salt.  When Jesus comes into our lives he takes that part of us, human, and attaches his salt to our lives and the end result is a sweet tasting life that makes a difference.  Should we take the salt away, we become a poisonous gas again and that just won't work.  If anything it should be our desire to get more salt in our lives through being a disciple that is growing in our relationship with Jesus.  When we get that salt, share it!!  When you commit to the life of a disciple Jesus is freeing you from a self destructive lifestyle that has no purpose, and you need to keep moving forward and don't look back or you might end up like Lot's wife, as a pillar of salt and a lifeless form.  God wants to be active in our lives and He wants our lives to be actively sharing the Good News wherever we go.  Invest your time and talents into living God's Word and sharing the salt that is the eventual result of that kind of living.  Then, we will make the impact the Bible speaks about.  We will be SALT!!!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

When Your Boat is Smaller Than the Storm

In Luke 8:22-25 it says, "One day Jesus said to His disciples, "Let us go over the other side of the lake."  So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, he fell asleep.  A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown." He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  Where is your faith?  he asked his disciples.. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this?"  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Have you ever felt like your boat is too small for the storms in your life?  Perhaps you ventured into an area that you thought you could handle, but the storm that came up overwhelmed what could keep you afloat.   You will notice that Jesus first of all didn't quibble over "which" boat they should get when they needed to go over to the other side of the lake.  He also fell asleep without a worry in the world.  Even when the squall came up they had to awaken him to help them.  Squall - A sudden, violent gust of wind or localized storm, especially one bring rain.  Scripture said they were in great danger.  Not, they thought they were in great danger.  The danger was real and Jesus got up and rebuked the wind that was powering the squall and it subsided or calmed.  If you are going through storms in your life, they are real to you.  They may also be very dangerous for your life and you know the end result will be bad.  The storms of life are going to come and they will be like a squall.  They will come at you suddenly and with great ferocity.  So we have established there will be storms. Now we come to the point where you realize "who you gonna call" (ala ghost busters)  The disciples didn't have to think about it.  They called out to Jesus and woke him up because they knew they needed him desperately.    When Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, that wind and those waves obeyed and they calmed down and the disciples were safe.  They needed help and called on Jesus and when he did show his power they were amazed!!  Jesus not only calms the storms in our lives, but He goes even further to show He is in control.  This is a very affirming event to read about and I am sure an affirming event for them to experience, but it is proof positive that Jesus is in control of every situation and his great power is real and right on time.  Publus Syrus said in 42 B.C. " Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm."  Jesus takes the rough seas of our lives and calms them so we can handle these situations with His power.  If  you are going through some stormy weather right now and it came up out of no where, wake up your prayer life, call out to Jesus, and He will calm those storms for you.

One other thing Jesus did that day on the lake.  He asked them "Where is your faith?"  For those who have a relationship with Jesus, we realize that our faith is not in what we have faith we have in, but it is who we are in Christ.  Paul wrote in Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  The storms of life only cause us to draw closer to God, because we know He is the essence of who we are and it changes how we perceive those waves that come upon us so violently.  Our storms are handled through the power of Jesus, once and forever, because of what He did on the cross to justify our faith.  Are you amazed by what Jesus did for you on the cross?  Maybe you need to have a "come to Jesus" meeting and turn to Him for all your daily strength and decisions and let the faith you have in Him energize and guide your life.  Then your boat will be able to handle any storm in any situation.  Now...that is good news!!!  If we can't handle the storms of life, how will we ever be able to walk on the water?  Only holding on to Jesus' hand and Him empowering and guiding us.  When you are in a great storm, "Who you gonna call?" I'm calling out to Jesus!!

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Radical Warrior - Return of the King

Zephaniah 3:17 17 The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” 

I remember the first time I saw Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.  When Gandalf came over the hill in that shining light, my heart really soared.  At that moment I thought about Jesus, our Warrior King and his return.  It was at that time that all of the hurts of the battles up to that point were erased and victory brought sweet release.  Defeat was no more and the conquering force was coming down the hill and obliterating the enemy (Orcs) with every swing of the sword. Their coming at that time invigorated the troops who were defending the city at that time.   The enemy was overwhelmed and the battle became easy for those who were fighting the good fight.  Gandalf had said he would come on the morning sun and he kept his word and brought a great army with him and the battle was over.....

In Revelation 22:7 Jesus said, "Look, I am coming soon!  Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll." Jesus is coming soon and our realization that God keeps His Word is very important.   It spurs us on to keep fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12) and not to lose heart. This is a very important time in history and it is up to each of us believers to keep fighting the good fight Paul spoke about and remember as it says in the verse above in Zephaniah,  The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  It is not the time to quit.  It is the time to fight harder and more ferociously as believers, knowing that Jesus, our Warrior King is fighting ahead of us.  If there was ever a time to take a stand, it is now.

He is our shield and our defender and Jesus is fighting for us, as we fight that good fight.  So....keep fighting.  Keep believing.  It is worth it now and it will be seen as worth it in the days to come as more souls are won to Jesus.   God is faithful and He takes great delight in the efforts of His people, so keep on keeping on.  We can't make God love us any more than He already does, but we can give our best to Him in honor of His great love expression for us.  Let Him stir your heart and bring up a good flavor in your life that makes a difference in the world we live in.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Hope Train

With the upcoming elections we are all getting inundated with political ads, promises of a better future if we vote for a particular candidate, and the promise of hope restored for living in this world.  When things have gone so bad for so long the promise of hope and better days resonates above everything else.  The rise of Donald Trump into prominence has been an interesting thing to deal with this year for other traditional candidates who are promising things will get better, but those promises are coupled with a very "business as usual" feel to them.  Donald Trump's message is one that says, "America will be better if you elect me!"  The Donald Trump message has given him a considerable lead in many states and is upsetting those who want to flounder along, lazily holding on to past methods and hoping for different results. In fact the trendy definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  For churches and individually that has been the standard held on to and the result has been disastrous.  So if we want to see different results we need to do things different?  Exactly!!  That kind of attitude lines up with the freshness of faith God gives to each believer.  It is intricately tied to the word hope!   As believers we should never rest on our laurels and expect God to do some fresh new thing when we are just being lazy and uncommitted.  Hope is an active thing that compels new and exciting ways of ministering to people.  The Apostle Paul was a great example of doing something new as he preached Jesus to Jews and Gentiles alike and saw God do an extraordinary thing as he preached. At Pisidian Antioch he challenged the status quo and got chastised as being too radical for God to use him.  So he set off on his missionary journeys with a burning desire to just see the lost saved.  The "business as usual" was not going to be the norm for Paul and his great zeal was channelled through a heart that had been changed.  So, why don't we change?  It could be that the original change in our hearts has not been developed into a more intimate relationship with Jesus and our source of understanding is unwilling to see life in a new way.  If that is the case, then we are in bad trouble.  There is another way to think and live though.  It is a way that is very much inspired by a sold out faith attitude.  It is a way that is foundational in one word....hope  

In Romans 5  Paul shares some of his zeal for living with the church at Rome, and also with us.  Verse 2-5 says it like this: "And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know the suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  Believe it or not, we are suffering.  Suffering in our lack of faith.  Suffering in our lack of knowing God's Word.  Suffering in our apathy.  Suffering in our traditional lifestyles.  We are suffering, but we don't know what it is all about.  According to Paul's words that suffering should produce something more than just giving us a reason to hang the whole thing up, or just live nominal lives.  It should produce perseverance and character and hope.

Think about it this way.  Imagine you want to get somewhere and you go to the train station to get your ticket.  Your ticket is bought for you by Jesus and then you get ready to get on the train, but they want you to walk through an area of the train station you don't know so well.  At that point you have to decide "Am I going to let this new way of getting on the train keep me from getting on this train and then getting to my destination?  If you buck the new way to get on the train, then you will miss the train and wander around in the train station until you change and agree to get on the train through the new door they have in the train station.  The train is the "hope train" and Jesus is the conductor.  He is wanting to take the hope He gives us to the world and that hope will fuel the train to get to the new location, which is God's glory in our lives.  You have to decide "Will I go through that new door and get on the hope train or not?"  If you won't use the new door, you will not get on that train and you will miss all God is wanting to do through your life.  In Lamentations 3:22,23  scripture says it well, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  In verse 25 it goes on to say, "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him."  We need to stop the insanity and start trusting the God of the Bible who gives us a living hope that never disappoints.  Pray and ask God to give you a fresh new outlook on living your life and then hold on, because He will do it.  He will probably offer a new way to get out of the train station and get on The Hope Train.  My only advise is "walk through that door"  without questioning.  Get on The Hope Train. Cause it is leaving the station and you don't want to miss it.  Readjust your thinking and get up to speed on The New Thing God is doing in our midst to win the lost and advance the saved.  It is exciting and full of hope.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

The Deal Breaker- Defiance

Defiance (def) - Open resistance, bold disobedience.

We know that in our world there is a strong apathy among followers of Jesus and that affects churches, homes, businesses, and just about everything.  Apathy is an indifference to whatever is happening around you.  Basically it is a disinterest to things happening in your life and world.  Apathy is affecting the presidential race too in a huge way, and Donald Trump, who is the opposite of an apathetic life, is gathering support in an unprecedented way and it is confusing many people. He is just standing up to the weakness in Washington and people are loving it. Apathy is comforting, lazy, and non committal at best and it is the easy way to live life to the half fullest....  The apathy of today has morphed into a whole new thing in many people's lives.  It has changed into "defiance."  Defiance steered in the wrong direction is one of the most dangerous sins that can become a part of a Christ follower's life.  Defiance can be good and it can be bad, but it is definitely a deal breaker.  By deal breaker I mean it can destroy that which is good and right and redefine some basic principles for living that our heavenly Father has put in place.  

The good side of defiance is when we resist the devil at every turn, saying "Get behind me satan. I belong to the King of kings!"  Jesus, God's son, was defiant many times when tempted by satan.  That defiance was modeled by Him for each of us to learn from and pattern our life after.  In Proverbs 28:4 it says, "Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them."   When the instruction is from a bad source, it should be resisted.  But when the instruction is from a source of position or authority, it must be at least considered, and also followed.  Our police officers are people of authority. And it is their job to "keep the peace."  They have a set of laws that they enforce in order to keep the peace as they need to.  When their authority is compromised by those who are defiant, they must act, and act swiftly, or the whole thing could fall apart.  If the defiant one wins, then the laws from that moment on have been compromised and will continue to be compromised, making their position of authority ineffective and weak.  All of this is because of a defiant heart and mind.  That is the bad side of defiance and the result of that attitude makes everything just a little more weak.  The defiant heart undercuts everything God teaches us about authority and the end result is chaos.  The Apostle Paul in Acts 7:51  said "You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors:  You always resist the Holy Spirit!"  Wow!  What an indictment!!  How can we resist the Holy Spirit?  It appears that finding a way to be defiant against God's Word opens that door.  The door that leads to resisting the Holy Spirit.  We let human reasoning and earthly common sense override what God has commanded us to do in His Word.  Sometimes believers will configure God's Word to make what they are doing seem right.  But it isn't!  In our churches the pastor is the authority, as he follows God's authority.  But in most churches that authority is ignored, questioned, and minimized.  What is the end result?  A weakened church.  There will be all kinds of excuses given for not following that authority.  Examples of pastors using the authority in the wrong way will fuel the fire of defiance again and again.  But the truth still remains.  The pastor is the authority in a very shepherding way.  Of course, we don't live our life in Christ through a pastor, but we do need to have someone who leads the way and in the church it is the pastor.  A basic teaching about submission is found in Ephesians 5:21 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."  As a pastor that is not  the senior pastor, I must submit to the senior pastor and do everything I can to help him in accomplishing the work of the Lord through that local church.  If I am defiant my resistance will weaken the effectiveness of the ministry of the church and I become a part of the problem, not the solution.  In our homes there is a need for a heart of submission, not defiance, or the home will be going in the wrong direction.  God's word says in Ephesians 5:22- 27  "wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head  of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself"  If our homes were built around this truth, our homes would be better equipped to raise children in the Lord, keep marriages together, and grow each individual in their faith.  What keeps this from happening?  A defiant heart and mindset.  Women who have too much pride to submit as to the Lord to their husband and husbands who are too weak and apathetic to take their position of authority.  Of course, there will always be those who say, "What about the husband who abuses that authority?"  There will always be abuses to the living of God's Word, but it is still God's Word isn't it?  Yes!!  Another bad type of defiance that is prevalent today is children being defiant toward their parents.  This defiance is fueled by a very weak, unbiblical, humanistic type of teaching.  We scoff at the Proverb 13:24 scripture where it says "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but he one who loves their children is carful to discipline them."  What it is saying is "if you hate your children don't discipline them!"  You may say, "Oh that can't be right."  But that is what it says....Here are some examples of the right kind of defiance. Acts 16:29 Paul and Silas were jailed for proclaiming the gospel and were put in jail. Their defiance was to sing hymns and pray.  God delivered them.  In John 18 we read of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers coming to arrest him.  Simon Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant and Jesus heals the ear.  Jesus was loving in the worst of situations and gave no regard to striking out.  Here are some examples of bad defiance.  The High Priests rejecting Jesus claim that He was God.(Matthew 16:21)  The Pharisees and Sadducees coming against Jesus and spreading lies about Him.(Matthew 16:6) There are many more examples of those who were defiant against God and His Word.  

So there is a good defiance and a bad defiance.  Which are you?  One lines up with God's Word and the other is contrary to God's Word.  Which side of God's Word do you want to be on?  If you don't want to follow God's Word, do you have a better plan?  How is that working for you?  Right now anything different than God's plan is not working at all in the world we live in.  Morality has taken a huge hit in the past 20 years and we continue to ignore what God's Word says.  How much further from God do you want to get to make  your lifestyle and  your pride acceptable.  Defiance.  We MUST follow God's Word at all costs  Revelation 2:10  "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.  Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as  your victor's crown."  Some may criticize me for sharing the scriptures I have shared today, but it doesn't make it any less the truth. Be moldable so God can use you and don't harden your heart to His Word and He will bless you, your family, and our world.  Isaiah 64:8  "Yes you, Lord, are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."  

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." 
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. 
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. 
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'" 
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." 
The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'" 
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees." 
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'" 
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." 
We changed course.
Are you willing to change course and allow God's Word to be the authority for your life?  He is the lighthouse and He will stand and guide you in the storms of life, but you must be willing to obey.  If you are defiant to God that will be your deal breaker for life.

The Pilgrimage continues...


David Warren