Given our proclivity toward deception and the prevalence of false teachings, the New Testament is filled with warnings to carefully scrutinize what you hear in light of the Bible. As the Apostle Paul admonished the church at Thessalonica, "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.""( 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)

So, we as Christians don’t suppress preaching under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, nor do we take teachings lightly. Rather we, as Paul instructed, carefully examine teachings in light of the Word, holding fast to the truth, and discarding all that is false. In this way we follow the example of the Berean converts,- "for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things (the things that Paul was teaching them) were so."

What Is A Generational Curse? As a phrase, generational curse seems straightforward enough. A generational curse, according to proponents, is a spiritual bondage, or curse, that is passed down from one generation to the next.

Essentially, Christians may find themselves powerless to overcome some stubborn sin or the victim of a seemingly intractable pattern of failure because one of their forbearers sinned and brought a curse which God is visiting on them. This can take many forms. Perhaps a Christian man finds himself in the grip of an addiction to pornography.

Viewed through the lens of the generational curses doctrine, he may in fact be cursed with the spirit of lust because his great-grandfather was promiscuous. Likewise, a Christian woman may find it difficult to submit to her husband. Under the paradigm of generational curses, she may be cursed with the spirit of matriarchal witchcraft because her great-grandmother was a practicing witch.

Perhaps a Christian is seemingly unable to properly give and receive love. This could be an unloving spirit that attached to the family because of his grandfather physically abused his father. The permutations are virtually limitless. Alcoholism, poverty, anxiety, rage, obsessive/compulsive disorder, may all manifest themselves in the life of a Christian based on generational curses.

The cure is always to identify the source of the curse and break its power, although there are variations in methodology. Some call for deliverance services where spirits are cast out of the Christian. Most, however, follow a formula of confessing the identified curse and verbally renouncing it to break its power.

Under the reasoning of generational curses, this is taken to mean that the punishment is passed down from great-grandfather, to grandfather, to father, and to son.

The Rationale: The basis for this teaching is two-fold. The first part of the foundation is a description God gives of Himself in Exodus 20:5, "…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations…"

The second part is based on simple observation. We observe that there seem to be patterns of sin and failure that trace through family lines. We notice that children of alcoholics tend to become alcoholics, abused boys tend to become abusive husbands and fathers, abused girls tend to marry abusive men, children of jailed fathers tend to repeat the cycle of criminal behavior, and so on.

Putting this bit of scripture together with this observation, proponents of generational curses reason that a Christian may be bound by a spiritual curse from God because of their father, grandfather, or even great-grandfather’s sin.

The Formula: Notice the formula for reaching the conclusion that God spiritually curses Christians for the sins of their forbearers. First, a partial truth is cited. Second, an observation is made. And finally, human reasoning is applied.

The same formula was employed to deceive Eve and lure mankind into disobedience to God. God had given a plain instruction not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or death would surely follow. In light of such a clear command and such a serious consequence, how did the Devil snare Eve?

He cited a partial truth, she used observation, added reason, and in one fell swoop, sin, pain, and death were brought into the human family. Genesis 3:1-7, 1""Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."

In his subtlety, Satan said you won’t surely die; but you will be like God knowing [literally declaring] what is good and evil. That is a partial truth. Eve could indeed decide for herself what was good and evil, although disobeying God would certainly end in death. To the partial truth, Eve added observation, seeing that the fruit was good for food and a delight to eyes. Finally, she reasoned that it was desirable to make her wise, and she fell into the snare of deception and sin.

The Importance of Context: Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, He was drawn into the wilderness and tempted for forty days. At the peak of His physical weakness having fasted the entire time, Satan came to try and draw Him into sin as he had with Eve and Adam. Though he was still subtle, his tactics had not changed.

After Jesus repelled his first two temptations by quoting from Scripture, Satan resorted to presenting a partial truth. He actually quoted scripture out of its context to entice the Lord into sin, "And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' 11 and, 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"(Luke 4:9-12)

Satan was quoting Psalm 91:12 which assured Jesus that if He fell, His father would send angels to catch Him. Jesus recognized, however, that Satan was taking it out of context. He wanted Jesus to doubt His identity and put His Father to the test. To answer the devil, Jesus simply put the psalm in context by quoting a balancing scripture from Deuteronomy 6:16 which warns us not to tempt God. The broader context helped make the meaning of the psalm plain. God will catch you if you slip, but it is wrong to intentionally jump.

A Closer Examination: In keeping with Paul’s instruction to carefully examine teachings, and being aware of Satan’s devices, let’s take a look at Exodus 20 with the context restored. The portion of scripture cited to support the idea of generational curses is actually lifted from the Ten Commandments. In particular, it is a part of God’s commandment not to worship idols."You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

This is a clear commandment, don’t worship idols. The consequence, however, is less clear for those of us who speak modern-English. God warns that he will visit the iniquity of the fathers on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him. Before we examine what visiting iniquity means, let us note the clear object of the warning.

Whatever visiting iniquity means, it is happening to those who hate God by disobeying His commandments. The generational curses doctrine asserts that this applies to Christians. However, God plainly says that He will show lovingkindness to, not visit iniquity on, those who love Him and keep His commandments. Clearly, a Christian loves and does not hate God, and so according to the text receives His lovingkindness, not the visitation of iniquity.The word translated iniquity in this passage means punishment for sin. The word translated visit means to administer or see to. So here, God is saying that He will administer punishment on those who worship idols. To be clear, who does God say that He will punish? Those who hate and disobey him.

What about the third and fourth generation? Under the reasoning of generational curses, this is taken to mean that the punishment is passed down from great-grandfather, to grandfather, to father, and to son. The scripture, however, makes no reference to passing the punishment down.

In the time that this commandment was given, men lived to be about one hundred and twenty years old. Men married and began to have children at about thirty years old. So, at any given time, four generations lived side by side. That means that when Israel was punished for worshiping idols, it was brought upon the great-grandfathers, grandfathers, fathers, and sons who were committing this sin.

Broader Context: We don’t have to guess at the meaning of God’s warning in Exodus 20, we can simply read the scripture to see how He dealt with Israel. At the very moment which God was writing this commandment on a tablet of stone for Moses to take down to the people, Israel was committing idolatry. They had sacrificed some of the gold jewelry gained from the Egyptians and given it to Aaron who fashioned a golden calf. As they celebrated a festival to this idol, God told Moses to go down immediately to the people who had defiled themselves.

"Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control — for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies — 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord — for every man has been against his son and against his brother — in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today." (Exodus 32:25-29)

We see that God visited the punishment for breaking His commandment against idol worship on everyone who did not repent from their sin and run to Moses when he called them to the gate. The wages of their sin was death, which was no doubt visited on fathers to the third and fourth generations. The punishment was not visited on any of those who were for the Lord and came to Moses at his command. In fact, those who dedicated themselves to the Lord received a blessing that day, not a punishment.

Sadly, the nation of Israel never really ceased from this sin of idolatry. The witness of Scripture is that they would continually turn to idol worship, God would repeatedly warn them to repent, they would stubbornly refuse, and then God would punish them.

Notice, Judges 2:11-15, "Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, 12 and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies."

In fulfillment of His word, God had shown great mercy and favor to thousands of those in Israel while Joshua and the elders lived and the people loved the Lord. After Joshua and the elders died, however, the people began to hate God by worshipping idols. As a result, God kept His word and visited the punishment of plunder and slavery on them.Even in the midst of God’s punishment, however, He showed favor to those who loved Him and kept His commandments. When Israel was punished by being taken captive by the Babylonians, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were faithful. For this reason, the Lord was with them and delivered them through difficult trials, eventually elevating Daniel to a lofty position in Nebuchadnezzar’s government.

When Israel would repent and cry out to God, He would deliver them. This cycle repeated until, at the time when Jesus began His ministry, Israel was under Roman occupation.The pattern of scripture is consistent and clear. God did not pass down a spiritual curse through families of those who loved Him. He did punish those who hated Him and worshipped idols- including Great-grandfathers and great-grandsons- by delivering them into slavery. Unwitting victims of these judgments didn’t have to discover their forefathers’ sins and renounce them to be released from bondage. Sinners simply had repent and cry out to God for forgiveness, and He delivered them.

God Is Not Unfair The teaching of generational curses may be relatively new, but it is based on an old idea; namely that God punishes people for other people’s sins. In fact Israel so often accused God of punishing children for the sins of their fathers, that it became a proverb in the land. "The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge," they would say.As a response, God inspires the prophet Ezekiel to write an entire chapter of the Bible to set the record straight. It would be well for you to read Ezekiel 18 in its entirety, but for the sake of economy we will examine the most relevant portions here."As I live," declares the Lord God, "you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 4 "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die." Vs. 3-4

Here, God is fed up with the misrepresentation of His character. He tells Israel to stop saying that He is unfairly punishing children for their fathers’ sins. He points out that He alone is the Creator, and therefore all life is His. Then He says that He is just, punishing individuals for their own choices.

"Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor's wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination, he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head." Vs. 6-13

You may think that God is being a little tedious by laying out such a lengthy explanation of His judgment. Clearly it is necessary, however, given that His enemy, Satan, is constantly trying to convince people that God is arbitrary, vindictive, capricious, and unjustly plays favorites. Even today it seems that we are prone to think of Him that way.

Therefore, in revealing His justice, God is making an air-tight statement that He holds each person personally responsible. He goes to the trouble of showing how He handles each generation. If a father loves Him and practices obedience, he is blessed. If his son hates and practices disobedience, he is punished.

This is very clear and concise; in short, God is not unfair. He holds each person responsible for his own decisions, blessing those who love Him, and punishing those who hate Him to give them an opportunity to repent.

In truth, only one person has ever born the punishment for the sins of another, and that is God Himself, in the person of Jesus. His justice is so absolute, so unyielding and true, that He could not just capriciously wink at our sin and sweep it under the rug. No, His justice demanded that the penalty be paid.

His mercy and compassion, however, were so perfect and unwavering that He would pour out His wrath on His own Son, so that we might be forgiven and blessed.

Jesus Became The Curse Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE" The curse, or punishment, proscribed in the law is the wages of sin. Deuteronomy 28 spells out at great length God’s blessings for practicing obedience, and His punishment for practicing disobedience. Of course, ultimately, the penalty for sin is death. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

When Jesus laid down His perfect, righteous life, He completely absorbed the wrath and punishment, the curse, for our sin. There was nothing withheld. He drained the cup of humanities vilest most depraved sin to the dregs. So hideous was the sight of all sin, that His Father turned His back on Him, and for the first time since before there was time, the Father separated from the Son, as Jesus cried out in utter anguish, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!""

So intense was God’s wrath for sin that Jesus was beaten beyond recognition as a man. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 detail the brutality of the beating inflicted on the Lord. All of His bones were disjointed. His flesh flayed open, hung in quivering ribbons, exposing His organs. People could not bear to look upon His visage, so savage and severe was His punishment. His sacrifice was sufficient, covering all sin, leaving no wrath, no curse, unabsorbed or unbroken.

For those who repent from sin, and receive Jesus’ sacrifice, and practice love and obedience to Him, there is no curse, no condemnation; only freedom and blessing.

A New Creation: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Because of the sufficiency and completeness of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, it covers every sin, cleanses every stain, heals every wound, and yes, breaks every curse for those who repent and are saved. By faith, our old identity as a guilty son of Adam under the penalty or curse of death for breaking God’s commandments, is buried under the baptismal waters. We emerge from that watery grave with a brand new identity: son of God, completely innocent of sin, blessed and highly favored. We are like the three Hebrew children, emerging from the furnace without even a hint of smoke.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

When we choose to walk in loving obedience to God’s commandments, we no longer walk-that is to say live-according to sinful desires in our flesh, our senses. We are now empowered by the Spirit to walk in newness of life, overwhelmingly conquering sin. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."( John 8:36)

If we do slip and fall into a sin, as the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 7, it is no longer we who sin, but the cadaveric spasms of our former self who was crucified with Christ. It is not our practice, as born-again Christians, to break God’’s commandments; but when we slip and fall, God’s grace is there to catch us, just as Psalm 91:12 indicates. Yet, as Jesus rightly noted, we don’’t tempt God by jumping into sin.

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 3:9)

Conspicuous Absence: Our faith, as Christians, is founded on the Word of God, the apostolic faith handed down to the New Testament Church, and the example of Jesus, our Lord. From the beginning Satan has attempted to draw Christians away from that foundation through subtle heresies and false teachings. That is why we must fight against every falsehood, and pattern our beliefs after the example in the Bible.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. (Jude 3-4)

It should not escape our notice that Jesus never, not one time, identified a generational curse on a person, and led them to renounce it and break its power. Likewise, there is not a solitary example of the New Testament Churches holding deliverances for generational curses. We have no Biblical instruction, no authority to do so.

Summing Up: The generational curses doctrine does not stand under Biblical scrutiny. It is built on a proof-text coupled with human reasoning. The clear consistent testimony of Scripture is that God is perfectly fair, holding each person responsible for their own choices, neither punishing the innocent nor absolving the guilty.

Christians are not accursed because Jesus became the curse in His death on the cross so that Christians could receive the blessing of His unblemished perfection and eternal life. The old guilty man under punishment for sin dies at baptism. The new innocent man under God’s blessing and favor emerges from baptism. There is no example of Jesus or the New Testament Church teaching or practicing the breaking of generational curses.

Healed with a Touch

When I was working in an infant classroom, there came a very small baby named Melanie. She was diagnosed with a lifelong disease and often had health trouble. She slept with a heart monitor and was fed through a tube in her stomach. Thin and frail, a lot of times she would have severe tummy pains and she would cry until we somehow comforted her. One day, she was having such a terrible morning. She could not rest for the pain. I did everything I knew to help her: rocked her, fed her, patted her back while she laid in her bed, turned the lights out, sung to her and did all that I was taught to do for situations like this, but she only cried more. Even as I had been trained, I used an abdominal gas tube to relieve any trapped gas or fluids in her stomach. Nothing I did could help this time.

I called my supervisor who came at once and began trying to soothe this little girl with all the tactics which in her experience always worked in times like these. But nothing she did helped either. So she transported all the other children under my care into another classroom for time being because all my attention had to be focused on Melanie and the noise level in the room was far too high for the others with this baby's screaming and crying.

Then, she paged the school nurse who also came in and when she was told of all that had already been done, she left to contact Melanie's mother, having no suggestions. My supervisor, who was still with me, left from the room and said she would be right back. She had laid Melanie back in her bed and she was writhing there; she couldn't be still and when I gave her my finger to hold she squeezed with all her might.

I was alone there for a moment, so I placed my hands on her and prayed, "Father, touch this child. Heal her, Lord. There's nothing we can do." As soon as I finished the prayer, I picked her up and held her against my chest. She had stopped crying in an instant, the first time in over an hour. I walked around the room with her, thanking God for his touch and mercy. She was looking around the room, smiling and sucking on her fingers like nothing had ever happened.

When my supervisor returned, she stood on the other side of our half-door and just stared with nothing to say. I turned around to look at her, having known she was there and she asked, "What did you do?" I said, "It wasn't me. I just prayed over her and she stopped. God did it."

What a witness! When we find ourselves hopeless, we also find that Jesus is our hope and all it takes is a touch from the One who gave His life to save us, and who received the terrible scourging to heal us. PRAISE THE LORD!

By Pastor Larry R. Lasiter

"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will be made well." (Mark 16:17-18)

This text assures us that miraculous works will follow those who believe. Jesus promised His disciples that they would do even greater works than He did. That is an astonishing declaration considering that Jesus gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, healed every manner of disease and even resurrected the dead! Our human minds immediately begin to try to reason promises such as these away, but Jesus said -"If you say to this mountain, ‘be lifted up and cast into the sea,’ it would happen if you did not doubt."

There are whole Christian denominations that believe that the age of miracles died with the original Apostles, but it only takes one miracle to prove that theory wrong. Personally, I have witnessed so many miracles it is impossible for me to consider such a concept.

We should prayerfully consider that to not believe God is to sin against Him. Most sins contain the element of unfaithfulness and Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God. People do not ask because they do not believe God will deliver. People do not repent because that do not believe in God’s wrath or they do not believe that He will forgive them. Many more people believe in heaven than who believe in hell, but both are a reality whether you believe or not.

Some have trouble believing that God would perform a miracle for them because their hearts condemn them. There is a loop playing in their mind which constantly reminds them of the imperfect life they live. They want to obey and please God but often seem to do the very opposite and live with a sense of failure. One of my hero’s of the faith is the Apostle Paul. Paul struggled with the same thoughts. In Romans 7 he wrote that though he agreed with the will of God in his mind, he often found that he did the very thing that he hated. But even in this Paul glorified Jesus for saving him from himself and stated that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

It will help us to remember that God performs miracles for two basic reasons. Because He loves us and is compassionate toward us, and for His own glory, confirming the promise of His Word. Jesus was beaten for our healing, so when we are healed it is a reward to Him. Let us also consider that when Jesus heals one of His saints He is healing an ailing member of His own Body. May Jesus receive the reward of His suffering.

God promised a son to Abraham and Sarah when Sarah was 65 years old. Sarah’s womb had been barren her whole life and yet now pass menopause she was expected to believe this promise. When God initially gave this promise to Abraham Sarah was carefully listening from inside her tent. When she heard what seemed like a ridiculous promise she lost control and laughed. This did not escape the Lord’s notice but when He questioned her she denied it.

Year after year went by and yet Sarah did not conceive. She just couldn’t seem to believe that God was able to fulfill His promise of a son. According to the Scriptures it was 25 years later when Sarah was 90 years old that she conceived the promised child.

You might ask what took God so long? But God would answer with the same question, -"What took you so long to receive and believe the promise?" Hebrews 11 tells us that Sarah received the ability to conceive when she believed. Sarah did not believe when she was 65 years old but did finally believe when she was 90 years old. As today’s text says -without expectation no one can receive anything from the Lord. The Bible says that without faith no one can please God, for we must believe He will do what He promises.

Man often thinks this way, -"I will believe it when I see it." But God thinks this way, -"You will see it when you believe it." Sometimes we must be willing to abandon reason and accept miracles and healing just like we accept salvation. It is not about feeling or seeing, but about God’s faithfulness to His unchangeable Word.

As Paul wrote -"We walk by faith, not by sight." Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen. By faith God spoke all creation into existence. God is able to speak into existence anything and everything we ask, no matter how impossible it seems. God works best in the realm of impossibility -if we will believe, we will see.

I’m so glad that God has a sense of humor. Sarah laughed at God’s promise of a son yet rather than chasten her He commanded that she name her son "Isaac" which means "laughter." Every time that Sarah called her son she was reminded that she once laughed at what seemed to be a impossible promise from God.

By Larry R. Lasiter

One day the disciples of Jesus asked "Lord, teach us how to pray." Jesus responded by reciting what is known as "The Lord’s Prayer" saying, "Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily needs, and forgive us of our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:9-13)

Notice that Jesus first revealed "who" to pray to -"our Father." Then He revealed where the Father and His Kingdom is -"in Heaven." Now notice the very first thing we are to ask of the Father in prayer, - "Your Kingdom come" which is followed by the "why"-that the Father’s will would be done on earth as it already is in Heaven. How the prayer ends is also significant, - "For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen."

The "Kingdom" comes from and belongs to the Father by which He exercises His "Power" to fill the earth with His "Glory." Glory is the full nature of something, in this case the Father’s Nature and the very Nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Scriptures tell us that God is love. But God’s Glory is His Nature. The Father wants to fill the earth with the Glory of His Divine Nature. Not merely the Shekinah smoke or cloud that filled the Temple, not merely the visible manifestation, but the true Nature that impresses the very Image of God on everything and everyone it touches. It is prophesied that one day the earth will be filled with the Glory of the Lord, -"And blessed be His glorious Name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen." (Psalm 72:19)

"Kingdom" means "King’s domain." A king’s domain is the place or territory in which he rules. His kingdom is the governing influence which impacts the place and people with his personal will, purpose and intent -producing a culture, values, morals and lifestyle that reflects the king’s desire.

Many in this modern era are not so familiar with a kingdom. In America our government is a Democratic Republic where the people vote to fill offices. Our country has three branches of government, the Legislative, Judicial and the Executive. The Legislative proposes and makes laws, the Judicial ensures what laws are Constitutionally legal, and the Executive signs and carries out the laws. With the exception of Judges who fill the Judicial branch, all others are elected offices.

A kingdom is first a person, the king and is called a monarchy. In a true monarchy the king’s word is law. The king owns everything, including the citizens who are subjects to his will. A good king cares for and protects his subjects. A king produces a culture which he believes to be superior to all other cultures. Most kings have sought to expand their kingdom beyond the boundaries of their own country. The kings of England colonized the world to such an extent that it was said, "The sun never sets on the British Empire." This was to demonstrate the vastness of the Empire’s rule-somewhere the sun was always shining on a British Colony. Of all the countries in the world only 22 have never been invaded by an English king. In each Colony was established a reverence for the Bible and the need for Jesus.

During my Gospel crusades in Kenya I could easily see that it had once been an British Colony though they had been independent since 1963. More than fifty years later English language and English names were still extant. Christianity was the recognized religion of the state and each citizen had been Christened with a Christian name. The king of England’s objective was to make his Colonies like England. In Kenya as in England we had afternoon tea -though as an American I preferred coffee. When the Governor of Kenya heard the people say "Long live the king!" he knew he had completed his goal of bringing the kingdom of England to Kenya. The Monarchy had successfully impressed the image of his kingdom and the people lived out his culture. Once Kenya was British the colony had the power of the British Empire behind it. If it were attacked by a foreign power the Empire would quickly come to it’s defense. Once a Colony, the state is dependant upon the Empire. Many Monarchies sought to bring their rule and culture to other nations -Spain, France and Portugal to name a few. All imperial empires sought to shape their Colonies into their own image.

Daniel Chapter 2 gives us a panoramic view of man’s kingdom’s being destroyed and replaced by God’s everlasting Kingdom. In a dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a great statue of a man. It had a head of gold, arms of silver, belly of bronze and legs of iron. Through Daniel God revealed the meaning to the king saying, "You, O’ king are the head of gold. But after you will come another kingdom of silver. Then afterwards one of bronze, and finally one of iron." Great Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian Empire, which fell to Alexander’s Greek Empire, which was divided after his death and gave way to the Roman Empire. This fourth great world-ruling Empire would fall but rise again in the last days. This is pictured by the feet being composed of a mixture of iron with clay. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a Stone come down from Heaven and strike the statue on it’s feet -because this Empire is who is in power when the "Rock of Ages"-Messiah, comes in wrath to destroy the works of man and to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. The statue is crushed and the wind blows away the debris, but the Stone becomes a great Mountain, God’s Kingdom that covers the entire earth. Even so, it will not reign in every person’s heart-some will resist. (Zech.14) And even after a thousand years nations will rise up against the Lord and His saints. (Revelation 20) So merely an established Kingdom on the earth is not enough for true peace and reconciliation -God’s Kingdom must be received into the heart.

This is a prophecy of the coming millennial reign of Christ. During this time Jesus foretold that His servants would rule the nations with a rod of iron, -"He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Revelation 2:26-27) We understand that these nations are those who have survived the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. They will be composed of flesh and blood, so though they will be ruled by the Kingdom of God, they will not be citizens of the Kingdom, -"Now I say this brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." (1 Corinthians 15:50)

The Jews of Jesus’ day believed that the Kingdom of God was the restoration of the nation of Israel. Israel had been under foreign rule and domination for more than 600 years. Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost even the Lord’s Apostles believed that this was the meaning of the coming of the Kingdom of God, -"So when they had come together they were asking Him saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) But Jesus told them that it was not for them to know and that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. At this time the Apostles were still confining the Gospel of the Kingdom to the restoration of the nation Israel. They were still thinking in the natural -that being natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob they were rightful heirs of the Covenant of Promise.

Nicodemis, a prominent Jewish Rabbi had this belief when he came to Jesus secretly at night. He believed that Messiah would come to restore the Kingdom of God to Israel, and he wanted to know if Jesus was the long anticipated Messiah. He began by telling Jesus that all of the Jewish Leaders knew that He was a man sent from God because no man could perform such miracles unless God was with him. Before Nicodemis could even ask the burning question, Jesus answered saying, "Nicodemis, unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God." In effect, Jesus was explaining that it was not enough to be born of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to inherit the Kingdom of God. The Lord’s statement greatly confused Nicodemis as he asked how one could enter again into his mother’s womb to be born again. But Jesus explained that one must be born again of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. It is not the natural seed who are heirs, but the seed of the Spirit who are heirs. Israel, as in the twelve tribes represent the flesh, those born of Jacob. But the true heirs are those born of the Spirit, and like Isaac, are heirs according to the Promise given to father Abraham.

It is not the natural but the Spiritual who is the true Israel of God,- "For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel (Jacob); nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but, ‘Through Isaac your descendants will be named..’ That is, it is not children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the Promise are regarded as descendants." (Romans 9:6-8) Romans 3 says that a Jew is not one who is one outwardly, but who is one inwardly -"and his praise is not from men but from God." Jew comes from the name Judah which means "praise." Paul is stating that true praise (true Jew) is not an outward work of men but an inward work of God -meaning one born again of God. Paul told the Galatians that though in the flesh they were Gentiles, in Christ they were Abraham’s children and heirs of the Promise. At the end of this epistle Paul refers to the Galatians as the "Israel of God."

This is not "replacement doctrine" taught by some -that because Israel failed God replaced her with the Church. There is a natural Israel and a spiritual Israel -children of the flesh and children of the Spirit. All the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us beginning with righteous Abel, are children of the Spirit -spiritual Israel to whom the Promise was made. People of every tribe, tongue and nation in whom God’s Kingdom reigns, -"Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a Kingdom and Priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10) Notice that the saints are the Kingdom that began with righteous Abel.

In Luke 17 we find again that the Jews believed that the Kingdom of God was the restoration of the sovereignty of Israel, -"Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, ‘The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is in your midst.(within you)" They were still thinking that the Kingdom of Heaven is merely a outward, future thing -but Jesus said it was already here even now.

As to Nicodemis, Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God is first a spiritual Kingdom established in the hearts of men -consisting in the subjection of their wills to the will of God, and the conformity of their minds to His Laws. This is only made possible by being born again of the Spirit by which we enter into the Covenant of Promise, -"And the Holy Spirit testifies to us saying, ‘This is the Covenant that I will make with them . . .I will put My Laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them. And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:15-17)

Though Satan is the god of this world at this present time, God has establish His Kingdom in the hearts and minds of His Church who are the sons of the Kingdom, - "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one." (Matthew 13:37-38) It began with a seed, the Promised Seed which is Jesus. (Gal.3)

And as we learned in the parable of the sower, the sons of the Kingdom are God’s "good seed" sown upon the earth to proclaim the everlasting Gospel in order to grow the Colony. Notice how Jesus compares His Kingdom to a mustard seed, -"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, to that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32) Obviously, the Kingdom of Heaven is to grow upon the earth bringing the will and glory of the Lord, His culture. Likewise, Jesus as King of the Kingdom referred to Himself as a grain of wheat, -"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly. I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit." (John 12:23-24)

The Church is God’s Kingdom on earth today, -"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14) These are born again Christians in whom the Kingdom-God’s will, reigns in their hearts and minds. These are the "sons of the Kingdom who have received the impressed image of God’s glory/nature and who live out the culture of Heaven upon the earth. Again, you can hear it in the Lord’s prayer, "Your Kingdom come." Lord, bring the Kingdom because it’s not fully here, but we want it to be. Bring Your Kingdom -bring Your reign in my life, in the lives of others, and in the world. May Your reign one day cover the whole world.

The Kingdom is God’s reign, not realm. Through colonization it creates a realm where God reigns. Jesus unfolds the teachings of the Kingdom as being both present and still future. The chosen saints are set as sons of God to serve as His Administration both now, during the Millennial reign, and beyond in the new heavens and the new earth, -"He predestined us to adoption (i.e. "be set") as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. . .He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to the kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth." (Ephesians 1:5,9-10)

When you think about it, the good news of a future millennial reign has no power to save one soul. This Kingdom will exercise the power to rule carnal people but will not wash away sins. Nor can an outward reign change the hearts of men. Since Jesus taught His disciples His message and sent them forth to preach it to all nations, we should examine carefully from Acts through Revelation what they emphasized, and how they defined the Gospel of the Kingdom. Paul reminded the Corinthians of the Gospel, -"Now I make known to you brethren the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, (a Gospel of "salvation") . . . For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, (what Paul received directly by the risen Christ) that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. . .and last of all. . .He appeared to me." (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)

"Awake to righteousness and stop sinning; for some of you have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." 1 Corinthians 15:34

Those are indicting words written to the Church by the Apostle Paul. Some were practicing sin and as a result, no longer even knew God! It reminds me of what John wrote -"By this we know we have come to know Him, if we keep His Commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:3-4

There is only one Way provided for any of us to escape this fate and be declared righteous and worthy of eternal life, and that is to confess our sins, turn from practicing them, and receive the righteous life of Jesus. Jesus paid for the sins of humanity on the cross, but you must receive Him as your personal Savior.

It is only then that you become justified before the Lord. All your sins will have been washed away and there will no longer remain a record of any sin against you, -"He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 4:25/5:1) And, -"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:8-9)

After being clothed with the very righteousness of Jesus, we are instructed to walk in it. (2 Cor.5:21) We must maintain the righteousness we have been given by obeying God’s Commandments and seeking His will in all things. Let us awake to righteousness, stop practicing sin, come to know God more fully by keeping His Commandments, that we may not be ashamed at His appearing.

In 1999 I looked in the mirror to see nothing but emptiness staring back at me. I had struggled with depression for much of my adult life. So I closed my eyes and fell to my knees. I heard the Lord knocking but I was afraid to let Him in. So I began to pray,-"Lord, I know I am a sinner, and I am not worthy of You." Then I heard a voice say, "But I died for You."

Then my eyes filled with tears, my heart with joy, that someone would love me enough to die so that I could be forgiven and live forever. This was a turning point in my life. I could now believe that I was forgiven.

So now as I learn the True Word of God, not just what preachers teach, but what God's Words truly are. They are not only soft but hard. I remember the first time I realized that I really was a sinner and already sentenced to Hell. And that being a good person wasn't enough to escape that sentence. Without repenting of sins and accepting Jesus no one could be saved. For the first time in my life, I went to bed afraid, thinking.- "What if I died tonight. What would be my eternal fate?"

You can't just live and be a "good person" to be a Christian,- you must strive to live holy and righteous. Not being "self-righteous" or being "holier than Thou," but holy in action and words. You just let your fruits show. By faith you live by God's Commandments, living as obediently as you can and trusting in the Lord’s merciful grace where you fall short.

Jesus said the road to life is a narrow one. The world's road is wide but it leads to destruction. Some people think I've lost my mind because I am trying to stay on that narrow road-seems fanatical, but in reality I've just now found true sanity and the blessed assurance that comes with salvation.

Now when I look in the mirror, I see a child of God, even the apple of His eye,- and in the future, eternal life. I no longer see despair but hope which serves as the anchor of my soul. I can clearly see how empty the world is of the things which truly matter.

Thank You Jesus for dying for me. Thank You for being my Savior, my Redeemer and my Deliverer.

For the first time in my life I can honestly say that Jesus has made me realize that "my life," is not really mine but His and it is special to Him. And even my children are not only "my children," they are really His children only entrusted to me to care for and teach. The Bible says "testify of Me." So, I full heartedly thank Him for my salvation and for all of His wonderful blessings.

By Larry R. Lasiter

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers. . .Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

Charles Spurgeon said,-"Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Savior will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not in their sins, but from their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."

Many profess Christ as Savior but deny Him as their Lord. If Jesus is not on the throne of your life then He is still on the cross for you. Partial obedience is not obedience at all. It’s easy to single out, receive and practice parts of the Christian faith which do not oppose the lusts of our hearts, but we are called to righteousness and to be an overcomer.

A Christian with an unchanged heart is not a Christian at all. The very person of Christ comes to live in us when we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has many manifestations, but one of the most important ways the Spirit helps us in our daily walk is in revealing to us the divine will of God.

The Holy Spirit is the Mind of the Father and the Son and will lead us to a holy walk if we do not allow our flesh and it’s evil desires to quench it, -"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God". . ."For who has known the Mind of the Lord, that He will instruct him? But we have the Mind of Christ." (1 Cor.2)

Spurgeon again, - "Beware, I pray thee, of presuming that thou art saved. If thy heart be renewed, if thou shalt hate the things that thou didst once love, and love the things that thou didst once hate; if thou hast really repented; if there be a thorough change of mind in thee; if thou be born again, then hast thou reason to rejoice: but if there be no vital change, no inward godliness; if there be no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then thy saying "I am saved" is but thine own assertion, and it may delude, but it will not deliver thee."

We must be born again. We have experienced the natural birth but to see the Kingdom we must be born of the Spirit. The Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. Whatever we think about we come to desire and soon seek. The mind and heart of the natural man has corrupt desires which are unlawful to God.

But when we are born of the Spirit we receive a new nature, a divine and holy nature. We also receive the very Mind of God and if we do not resist we will think the holy thoughts of God. If we think holy then we will be holy, and live a holy life in Christ Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon again,-"Watch constantly against those things which are thought to be no temptations. The most poisonous serpents are found where the sweetest flowers grow. Cleopatra was poisoned by an asp that was brought to her in a basket of fair flowers."

Satan is crafty in his deceit. He has studied us since our birth and has assigned familiar spirits to search out our weaknesses. As the Apostle Paul warned, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." (2. Corinthians 11:14-15)

Now, science confirms exactly how sexual sin harms us: It damages your brain. Whether it be premarital sex, adultery, or viewing pornography, sexual sin altars our brain function. When indulged in repeatedly it can lead to a seared conscience -an actual brain phenomenon that numbs us to guilt and the conviction of our wrongdoing.

It’s a scary thought to know that if we give in to sin as a way of life it will sear our conscience to the point that God can no longer convict us of sin. This has happened time and time again throughout history, -"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored. . .God gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts." (Romans 1:24-27)

At the threshold of 65 years old, I can remember a time when I didn’t know what pornography was. Young teenage boys who were curious about the female body turned to the bra section of a Sears and Roebuck catalogue. We had three TV channels which mainly focused on family wholesome themes, and there was little nudity in the movies of that time. The songs were generally wholesome until the rock music revolution hit America, but even then there was more of a rebellious, edgy tone than a sexual one. Of course there was Playboy Magazine, but living in Arkansas I didn’t know anyone who had a subscription.

So a lot has changed since that time in TV, Movies, Music and especially with the rise of the Worldwide Web. The broad use of smart phones and social media had also greatly contributed to the availability and spread of pornography.

Today, the challenges we face are much more difficult, especially so with young men. Men today have temptation rained upon them from every direction. If they overcome the lure of actually viewing pornography in print, in movies or online, they still face a barrage of temptation shown in TV commercials, barely clothed women at the mall and scantily clad cheerleaders at a sports event. Women living out their Christian faith must be conscious of the fact that how they dress can put a stumbling block before a brother. This is why Jesus warned about causing one of the Lord’s little ones to stumble. The Apostle Paul wrote, -"I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly." (1 Timothy 2:9) Definition of Modest Dress, according to the Oxford Dictionary, -"A woman dressing so as to avoid impropriety, or indecency, especially to avoid attracting sexual attention -clothing not revealing or emphasizing a person’s figure."

God created man to appreciate and be sexually attracted to the female shape, and Jesus said -"You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for you whole body to be thrown in Hell." (Matthew 5:27-29) And, -"whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

While there are many in bondage to pornography, no one need stay in that condition. Just begin to fight back, resist and say no. Righteous Joseph refused the seduction of Potiphar’s wife though her lies landed him in prison for ten years. Someone once said, "We cannot stop the birds from flying overhead, but we don’t have to let them make a nest in our hair." Put Romans 12:2 into reality."Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will."

As Christians, our goal each day should be to honor and please our Heavenly Father and Jesus our Savior who laid down His life for us. If we do this we will be empowered to quickly and decisively reject the temptations which come. "So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you; offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer." (Romans 12:1) And, -"More than anything else, however, we want to please Him, whether in our home here or there." (Galatians 6:8)

If you find that you need help don’t hesitate to share your struggle with a trusted friend to whom you can be accountable to. Someone who you know that will help stimulate and encourage you in your battle to overcome. The enemy will make it seem more difficult than it is, so never forget that in Christ you are already more than a conqueror.

It’s perfectly understandable that women cannot fully relate to this. But if a woman wants to understand male sexuality, the first thing she has to understand is the power of the visual

Every year men spend billions of dollars to look at women with little clothing on, such as the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, or with no clothing on such as internet sites and so-called men’s magazines. Women on the other hand spend virtually nothing to see unclothed men. Why? Some say that it’s because men are socialized into viewing women as sex objects and that women are socialized into not viewing men as sex objects. But if that’s true how do those people explain gay men? They are as aroused by pictures of naked men as heterosexual men are aroused by pictures of naked women.

Obviously then, it’s not socialization. It’s that men are programmed by nature not by society to respond sexually to the visual. This is an area in which men are so different than women it’s impossible for a woman to understand. Of course women find some men attractive. And of course can have an intense reaction to seeing a very appealing man. But there’s still no comparison.

The visual alone arouses men. It takes far more to arouse a woman than seeing naked men. If that’s all it took most husbands would walk around the house naked whenever possible. And the average heterosexual man is excited countless times a day simply by seeing women in person, on billboards, in magazines, on television, and even in his imagination.

This is not the case for women. Yes, there are some male strip shows for women. But few women ever go, and the few who do attend them in groups, a "girls night out." And for every one of those shows there are probably ten thousand female strip shows for males, most of whom attend alone, not as a participant in a guys night out.

Let’s be honest. There is no magazine featuring men’s legs for women to look at and get aroused by. But there are web sites and magazines of women’s legs for men. And are women paying to view topless men? Men pay good money to look at topless women.

Again, that doesn’t mean that women never get turned on by merely looking at some men. Of course they do. But it’s only some men -on rare occasion a stranger, and more likely a celebrity.

Men get turned on by any sight of female flesh and the female shape on almost any woman. The effect of the visual in men is so powerful that it even amazes men. A man come over to me after hearing me lecture on male sexuality and said, "I’ve got a story to tell you. I was in front of a department store and in the window was a seated mannequin. I couldn’t believe it, but I found myself looking up her skirt." Here was a perfectly normal responsible man, who found himself looking up a skirt on an inanimate object shaped like a woman. That’s how instinctive it is for men to look at female shape or flesh.

It’s perfectly understandable that women cannot fully relate to this. But if a woman wants to understand male sexuality, the first thing she has to understand is the power of the visual. That’s why you see ads on billboards, on TV, and in magazines for every sort of product a man might buy accompanied by a scantily clad woman -or sometimes just part of her.

I recall a famous liquor ad that showed a woman’s legs and a bottle of tequila. No face, just beautiful legs. Would you ever see an ad showing men’s legs? People would laugh; it would be considered absurd. An ad with women’s legs is not absurd, it’s alluring.

None of this is in any way meant to excuse inappropriate male behavior. Men must always control themselves. But to deny the power of the visual on men is like denying that the earth is round.

"To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men." A.W. Tozer

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulteresses, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such WERE some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Many are deceived by homosexuality.

On the Day of Judgment it will not matter what we have convinced ourselves into believing. The Bible says that the Books of the Bible will be opened (Rev.20) and every person will be judged by what is written in them and how they yielded to the instruction contained in them. There will be no debate and no excuse will be accepted - your opinion or public opinion will not carry an ounce of weight at Judgment and there will be no mercy for the rebellious who had refused to turn from practicing their sins.

Dear Brethren, if you love your homosexual friend you must share the Gospel plainly with them with kindness. All sinners must turn from their sins to be saved.

Modern Child Sacrifice

By Larry R. Lasiter

Perhaps the most famous 11 year old in the world at the moment is Desmond Napoles who recently made headline news for dancing seductively at a New York Gay bar.

Notice this from The Dailywire, "On December 1, an 11-year-old boy dressed in drag danced on stage in a sexual manner at a gay bar in Brooklyn, NY, called 3 Dollar Bill. The child, Desmond Napoles, was dressed as a Gwen Stefani-lookalike — full drag make up, a blonde wig, and crop top included — as he bounced around onstage to No Doubt's "Like a Girl" and collected dollar bills from male adults viewing the number."

The performance, first flagged by YouTuber Yosef Ozia, was promoted on Eventbrite by 3 Dollar Bill,-"Only in New York... a nightclub that makes you go WHOA!!!," reads the promotion. "FEATURING: Upcoming Legend from Television and the Runway: DESMOND IS AMAZING!!! PERFORMING LIVE! ... This stage, this dance floor, this house... is ours as long as we protect it." The promotional ad notes that 3 Dollar Bill bar is "queer owned & operated and we foster a safe space from love. We respect all human persons as long as those human persons are also respectful to the ones around them."

ABC’s Good Morning America celebrated the 11-year-old drag queen as a trailblazer in November, although some viewers pushed back and said the show had crossed the line in sexualizing children. Host Michael Strahan introduced a video of Desmond Napoles -- also known as "Desmond Is Amazing" -- by saying the child was "inspiring to many" and was "trailblazing" a path for other children. Strahan also called it an "amazing story."

After an opening video, the boy strutted down a runway toward the Good Morning America set, wearing a blonde wig and a yellow and white dress. He finished his grand entrance by laying down on the stage in a sexually suggestive act. Napoles said his mom doesn’t let him drink caffeine but that she is proud of his drag queen sidelife. "I love to put on makeup, dresses and wigs and of course jewelry," he said. "I feel very happy to have a mom that accepts me."His mom, Wendylou Napoles, then said, "It really touches me deeply that there are other children out there that he’s reaching and they’re listening to him and he’s influencing them to be themselves." Napoles performs throughout New York City as a drag queen. He wore women’s clothes and marched at a gay pride event at age 8.

I found all of this to be shocking! I keep up with the times and with the current news and trends, but this really caught me off guard. Oh, I was aware that there are parents who allow and even promote their children’s freedom to express themselves as transgenders. Parents who buy into the idea that one can be born into the wrong body and identify as the opposite sex. But this with young Desmond goes far beyond that. This was clearly sexual exploitation of an 11 year old child. Just think for a moment how you have matured and have changed since you were 11 years old. Aren’t you thankful for the restraints your parents placed on you? I know that I am. Desmond claims to be gay and has always been attracted to boys rather than girls and yet does everything that he can to make himself into a girl.

11 year old Desmond was performing sexually explicit dancing at a gay bar filled with gay men who were being sexually aroused. And why dress as a female?" If gay men are turned off by women and turned on to men, how is it that a male dressing and acting as a sexy female is attractive to them? A drag queen dresses, speaks, moves and acts like a promiscuous woman -yet gay men find them attractive. A drag queen may "act" like a female, but it’s still a male pretending to be a female-the appearance is not reality, and everyone knows it. Seems to me that it’s the perversion itself that these gay men find attractive. And they are lured and enticed by the deception. I mean, they don’t want to have sex with a woman, but they find a man (or boy in this case) dressed and performing as a "woman" to be sexually irresistible.

I guess what surprised me more than anything was how the mainstream media celebrated this young boy and what he has been doing. To be labeled as a "trailblazer" by ABC’s Good Morning America clearly shows an agenda by the network. If it had been an 11 year old girl dancing enticingly before a crowd of aroused men I believe there would have been a public outcry -the #MeToo Movement would explode! But because homosexuality is being promoted as being a celebrated lifestyle this young boy was sacrificed on the Altar of political correctness. That’s something that has not escaped the eyes of God.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21)

By Larry R. Lasiter

The Bible says that the Lord never brings about a judgment without first warning those to whom the wrath comes upon. "If a trumpet is blown in a city has not the Lord done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants and prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:6-8)

The Scriptures are literally filled with direct warnings from God when people had fallen into sin. Jonah was sent to the pagan city of Nineveh to warn them of God’s imminent wrath. The king humbly responded to the prophet’s message by ordering his citizens to fast as he removed his kingly garments and sat down in a bed of ashes. The Lord was so impressed He relented from destroying the city.

But it’s not always a Prophet of God who is sent with a warning -sometimes God delivers His message in a dream to the unsuspecting as with Pontus Pilate’s wife. Another example of a warning by dream was when Pharaoh’s baker had a prophetic dream about himself when he was imprisoned with Joseph. The King’s Cup Bearer was also given a prophetic dream at this time, but neither the Baker nor the Cup Bearer understood the meaning. God revealed the meaning through Joseph -good news for the Cup Bearer and bad news for the Baker. Sometimes the handwriting of God is already on the wall though is not readily understood, as we will see in our next story.

During the time great Babylon ruled much of the world a strange occurrence took place. While his father was away at war young Belshazzer was acting as king. Outside the walls the mighty armies of the Medes and the Persians were camped. But Belshazzer was not worried in the least because the eighty foot thick walls of Babylon could not be breached and the Euphrates ran under the city gates so as to make them impossible to ram. This evening Belshazzar held a great feast for one thousand of his nobles. While they were eating and drinking the king ordered that the gold and silver vessels which his grandfather had taken from God’s Temple be brought in for them to drink from.

Drinking from the Lord’s holy cups they praised the gods of Babylon. Then suddenly a hand appeared and began writing on the wall of the palace. The words written were "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin", but none there understood the language. Great fear filled Belshazzar’s heart as he called for his wise men to interpret the words. But not one of them could determine the words and their meaning.

When the queen heard she came into the chamber and told Belshazzar that there is a man named Daniel who has a divine spirit who may be able to interpret the words. God gave Daniel the understanding of the writing and he gave the meaning to the king. But before he did Daniel explained to Belshazzar that he had acted in arrogance and had lifted himself up in pride. The sin of pride always ends in ruin, -"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." (Proverbs 16:18) To be "haughty" is to exalt self.

Daniel reminded the king of how the one true God had humbled his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar when he became prideful. And finally told him that he had exalted himself against the Lord of Heaven by treating the holy vessels in such a casual manner. "This is the interpretation of the message, "MENE"-God has numbered your kingdom and has put an end to it. "TEKEL" -You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. "PERES" -You kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians." That very night the Medes and the Persians, having diverted the river, slipped under the gates and took the city. (You may wonder why Daniel used "Peres" instead of "Upharsin." Both are Aramaic, upharsin is plural meaning "divisions" and peres is singular meaning "divided.")

The phrase "The handwriting is on the wall" was born that fateful night long ago in ancient Babylon. But the saying has been used countless times throughout history. Even today we hear it when a business or a marriage begins to fail -someone may say, "I could see it coming, the handwriting was on the wall" - it was just a matter of time."

The Bible says that God’s Hand is on His people. With this understanding we may ask, "What has He written upon the wall of my life?" There is a handwriting on the wall that reveals the current state of our spiritual life. As a Pastor, I have seen many of my brethren walk away from their high calling. In most cases I could see the handwriting on the wall and knew that if they failed to rekindle the value of their salvation they would be lost forever. Countless times through the years I have fought for souls in counsel and prayer, both local and long distance. Even more personal, I wrestled with the devil for the souls of my children as he tempted them in various and cunning ways as they were growing in maturity.

Usually, it’s as easy as just paying attention to the direction you are going. It has been said, "we always move in the direction of our most dominate thoughts." To know what the handwriting on the wall of your life is- what thoughts dominate your mind? We want the interpretation to be, "Well done good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your Master." We don’t want it to be, "You have been weighed and found deficient-the Kingdom is removed from you, depart from Me."

By Larry R. Lasiter

"Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp." Numbers 11:1

God is always angry with those who grumble and complain against others. It is a self-righteous attitude on display for all to see. Our text shows how severely God reacted to the complainers by consuming them with a holy fire.

God is both merciful and just and at some point these people had crossed from His mercy and patience to the justice of His wrath. It was those on the "outskirts" who were consumed. There are always those who move to the outskirts of any congregation. These are the independent-minded who refuse to walk in lockstep with the rest of the group. In a flock, these are the sheep who stray to the edge of danger and who live farthest away from the guidance and protection of their shepherd.

Since sheep naturally follow each other, a sheep who continually strays presents an infectious problem. The shepherd will first break the wayward animal’s leg, then treat and care for it in order to teach it to rely on him. If the sheep strays after it’s nursed back to health, the shepherd has no choice but to kill it to prevent it from teaching other sheep to stray.

The Pastor is ordained to examine the flock, -"Know well the condition of your flocks." (Proverbs 27:23) "Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion" (1 Peter 5:2) "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God which He purchased with His own Blood." (Acts 20:28)

The members are commanded to esteem others as more important than themselves, -"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. . . Do all things without grumbling; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God." (Philippians 2:3,14-15)

To grumble against and complain against your brethren which the Lord gave His life to save, is not loving them but showing contempt and hatred toward them. It is the very opposite of "with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." This attitude is self-righteous, arrogant and demonic.

Be very careful what you say and what your attitude is toward one of your brethren. Don’t forget who they are. Jesus died for them while they were yet sinners. He loves them. Every saint is a forgiven child of the Living God and He is a protective Father. If one of them happens to offend, hurt or even sin against you, Jesus has commanded what you are to do. "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as an unbeliever." (Matthew 18:15-17)

A grumbler is a complainer who will not practice this teaching, because he is motivated by hatred, not love. He is not interested restoring healthy relationships and fellowship, but to self-righteously point a finger- tear down and cause division in the Body of Jesus. The Church are individual members of His Body, so to attack a member is to show contempt for Jesus Himself.

The Israelites complained that they didn’t have enough to eat so God in His mercy rained manna from Heaven for them. The Israelites eventually took for granted this incredible substance God supernaturally provided for them. They ate manna every day, and they grew tired of it. So they basically said, "Look, we have read Moses’ book, ‘101 Ways to Prepare Manna.’ We’ve tried all the preparations. We don’t want it anymore!"

Today we can do the same thing the Israelites did. We can take the blessings of God for granted. We can fail to appreciate all that God has done for us. Every morning, the manna would be waiting for the Israelites. And just like the Israelites’ manna, God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). When we get up each day, we have a choice. We can read the Scriptures, or we can neglect them. We can pray and seek God, or we can forget about God and call on him at a later time. But we have a choice as to what we will do with our day. We set the course for it. And just as the manna was waiting every morning for the Israelites, God is waiting every morning for us.

And too often this is what He sees, "I don’t have enough money, life is too hard, I’m not appreciated, I don’t like my church, I don’t look good, don’t feel good, I’m too skinny, too fat, too short, too tall, my clothes are worn out, I’m having car trouble, I’m single and I wish I were married, I’m married and wish I had kids, I have kids and wish I could be single again." Too many, too often, moan and murmur like whiney two year olds.

There is an absence of fear in the heart of every grumbler. He has deceived himself into believing that he is somehow justified in his actions. In his epistle Jude referred to them as "ungodly sinners" upon whom the Lord will execute judgment, -"The Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly. . .of the harsh things which the ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage." (Jude 14-16)

"Let us not try the Lord as some of them (Israelites) did and were destroyed by serpents. Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction." (1 Corinthians 10:9-11)

To win the fight against the temptation to complain you must have a clear plan of action. First, begin every day with a prayer of thanksgiving for the rich blessings you have, especially those yet unseen in Christ. And don’t leave your knees until you ask God to clean your lips with a coal from His Altar. Understanding that the tongue is a fire and a restless evil (James 3) and can do much harm and damage with the devil in control -ask the Lord to protect you and your tongue from the evil one.

There is a dangerous demonic wisdom that poisons the soul with bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. But the wisdom above is "peaceable", "gentle" and "reasonable" -and "full of mercy and good fruit." James 3:14-17 We will feed one as we starve the other -take heed and choose wisely.

QUESTION: "I read your article about sex and adultery, but I disagree with you. I live with my boyfriend because I want to make sure that we are compatible before we commit to marriage. I don’t think this is wrong because God understands the world we are living in today. We both attend church every week."

I know that you do not see anything wrong with living as if married yet neglecting to enter into the covenant of marriage, but God declares it a great sin. The Bible flatly states that all who practice fornication or adultery will be cast into the Lake of Fire, -there will be no exceptions. Please read the Scriptures for yourself, -"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? DO NOT BE DECEIVED; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, . . .will inherit the Kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9-10) Notice also what Jesus Himself said in Revelation, -"Immoral persons. . .and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. (Rev. 21:8)

You obviously want to eventually marry, but understand this -God not only is your Creator, He is also the creator of the Marriage Covenant. As a Christian you must enter that Covenant on His terms not on your own. Otherwise, please don’t even lay claim to being a Christian.

You have been seduced by the very lie that deceived Eve - you can sin and not die. Satan came to Eve disguised as a serpent and tempted her to eat of the forbidden fruit saying,- "You shall not surely die." His goal was to cause Eve to question the truthfulness of God’s Word. Why did Eve disobey God? Because she believed the devil and did not believe God. But Eve did die, as have all who have ever been born of her seed. Please don’t let this happen to you. Don’t push away the Word of God and believe the lie.

You mentioned that you attend church every week but this doesn’t help -it only makes you a hypocrite. And it saddens me because I realize that no one is loving God or you enough to strongly encourage you to repent. This speaks volumes to me about your church. We welcome visitors to come as they are, but if you were attending our church regularly and considered yourself a "member" we would require that you repent.

A very similar situation was taking place in the Corinthian church (Chpt 5) and the Apostle Paul strongly corrected them. There was a man in the congregation there who was living with a woman whom he was not married to and the congregation was proudly tolerating it. In their minds they were "showing love" but in reality they were doing nothing to help bring these sinners out from the dangers of a sure and fiery judgment.

Paul told them that what they were doing was not good and directed the Church to put the man out of the congregation. He then explained that the Church is to not even associate with a "so-called" member who is practicing immorality.

In Paul’s second letter we learn that because the "majority" obeyed him the man bitterly repented and was re-instated into the Church. This man was restored and passed from the judgment of Hell to the reward of eternal life in Heaven.

I counsel you and your boyfriend to do the same. You can always find an "authority figure" to tell you what you want to hear, but I urge you to read your Bible and see if your actions are not offending a holy and righteous God who offered the life of His own Son to save you. God saves no one from sin in order for them to continue to practice sin.

I hope you now realize that you have been caught in the act. One day they dragged a woman before Jesus who also had been caught in the act of fornication. Jesus forgave her and then issued this Command - "Go, and sin no more." Please receive His Words today.

larrylasiter@gmail.com