God, Sex, and Confused Christianity By Thomas J. Koester

A few years ago, a Christian brother approached me and confessed that he was in a relationship with a married woman for the past two years.

He went on and told me the woman was unhappy in her marriage and that he and this woman were in love. The real shock came after he told me that he had spoken to his pastor about this relationship. Under full disclosure, he had asked the pastor if he should continue with the relationship, and the pastor’s reply:

“Well, let me pray about this and get back to you.”

Scripture is quite clear as to the answer of my friend’s question and confusion.

Why are so many Christians practicing sexual fornication, adultery, and other destructive lifestyles unchecked and unchallenged by churches and pastors?

Why are so many Churches and pastors so outspoken against homosexuality, yet tolerate their congregation’s practices of heterosexual sins and adultery?

Sexuality is sacred and purposed filled and is sanctioned only in the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman. Yet, even Christianity is progressively easing back from the sacredness of sexuality and marriage. And, it is creating excuses and confusion by its silence towards the biblical view of sexuality and its sacredness.

I guess it’s more profitable to be silent as a pastor regarding sexual sins than to preach God’s Word and truth as it relates to the sacredness of true sexuality. Christianity has created within itself a sin-dependent class and a sin tolerant class of Christians. I think many pastors and church boards believe that if pastors and teachers preached the biblical truth on sexuality their church attendance and tithing would rapidly decline.

And so, many churches and Christian leaders across this nation are flirting with the development of a hybrid-Christian world view of sexuality and political/religious correctness. Thus, mixing two world views to increase their fame and fortunes. I sincerely wish it were not so!

You can not use post-fallen man as a template of God’s ordination for the sacred. Only in Christ is man/woman restored, body, mind, and spirit. Either his/her mind is transformed or it is not. Our identity is not our sin, nor is it our sexual proclivities. Our identity and sexual orientation is redeemed and cleansed, and so we must cease from sin through the power of God’s grace and the blood of Christ Jesus, his Son.

Therefore, one cannot be a Christian and be homosexual, bisexual, transgender or transvestite in thought or in deed. Nor can one be a Christian and live a lifestyle of unchecked fornication and adultery. For Christ not only fulfilled all the law, but changed the direction of the law to inwardly, making even our hearts and minds the territory of His Holy Presence and Kingdom.

Sexual purity is a necessity and is not an option! Even so, God is full of grace and mercy. Only do not use his grace and mercy as a crutch.

The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit transforms and conforms us, even those with homosexual thoughts and feelings, into the attitude and image of Christ, the perfect man. It is a cooperative relationship between the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of man, and it is not an easy process. It is at times messy and wrought with failure and setbacks, but God’s grace is not only his goodness, but more so, his enabling power of transformation and aid in our times of need.

The Spirit of Grace does not leave us in our sin and with our proclivities, nor leaves us subjugated to its strongholds of thoughts and imaginations, but rather delivers us from evil.

Yes, race, sex and gender are sacred and ordained by God as he originally created them to be. But not what sin has devolved or distorted it into.

Do not equate the plight of racism with sexual orientation or gender confusion. Even if gender confusion and homosexuality happens in the womb or is a result of early childhood environmental development, it does not make it sacred, but rather the results of the original fall and rebellion of man.

We are all born into sin, and none are innocent. Whether one is born heterosexual or chooses to be homosexual, we are all in need of a Redeemer and utterly lost and hopeless without Christ. The power of the Gospel is good news to both the outer and inner life of all people. None are left out or excluded from salvation and redemption in Christ. In God, there is no favoritism; nor racism; nor sexism. He is the God of all and has all the power to transform any sinner and of any sexual orientation.

Even though God originally created man heterosexual, the fall of the heterosexual man and his sexual promiscuity is just as vile as the sexual actions of homosexuality. The promiscuity of one is met with the same consequences as that of the other.

God ordained man and woman to be one. Anything beyond this is outside of God’s ordination and is subject to the laws of sin and death, for both the heterosexual and homosexual.

Christ is the hope of all peoples of the earth, and none are excluded from his saving power, except only those who refuse to believe and obey.

“Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.” –Romans 12:2 World English Bible (WEB)

Don’t be confused, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, thoughts, and imaginations.

A life without standards is a life without value. A valueless life is a life without real love. Don’t be that person that cheapens love for sex—don’t do as the world does, but rather do what’s right, true and pure. Value your sexuality and the sexuality of others. Honor God with your body, and do not be confused!

The Story of My Second Birth – By Thomas J. Koester

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” –Jesus of Nazareth, John 3:3

Religion, unfortunately, can be filled with do’s and don’ts; traditionalism, legalism, hierarchy, and elitism are its hallmarks. I’m sure many of you have had good and bad experiences with religion.

My story isn’t about religion, however. It’s about new life, freedom, and forgiveness. I have gained hope and a future that can’t be found in any of the world’s religions or cults. It’s about an intimate connection and communication with the living and real presence of an incredibly loving God!

I wasn’t seeking God, nor did I strain to appease his wrath or try to win his favor. God pursued me. He revealed himself to me in such an amazing way! Even though His Word and Holy Spirit convicted me, God didn’t leave me in my guilt and shame.

You can’t turn away from your sins. That would make you your savior. Without a Savior, you’re left in an endless cycle of rinse and repeat. The active ingredient is true repentance, which comes only from God.

You see, this is the difference between true salvation and religion. Religion leaves you in your guilt and shame, but true salvation removes the stain of sin, guilt, and shame. Religion offers bondage, but God’s salvation, through Jesus Christ, brings forgiveness, a clear and clean conscious, and amazing freedom!

Okay, on to the story of my second birth…

I was ten years old and in Sunday morning service in Martinez, California, at Bethany Baptist Church, “The End Of Your Search For A Friendly Church,” their sign read.

Like so many Sundays before December 20, 1970, I heard the offer of Salvation at the end of each service. Only this time, as we sang a hymn, “Just One Plea,” which convicted my troubled ten-year-old heart.

Nonetheless, I sat there frozen, wanting to stand up but was too afraid. Sitting at a distance, to my right, was my Sunday School teacher, John C. Morgan. At that time, he was 84 and a Christian for 64 years. I loved that man as though he was my grandfather.

As the song continued, I struggled to sing the following words:

“Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me And that Thou bid’st me come to thee O Lamb of God, I come, I come…”

I looked towards John Morgan, and at his old leathered face; he gently smiled and motioned with his head in the direction of the center aisle. His gentle smile and motion gave me enough courage to stand up and walk my green mile to the altar, where I did business with the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Whereby I confessed and repented from the sins of a lost and guilt-ridden, ten-year-old little boy. Can a ten-year-old boy be guilty of sin? Do birds fly? Any honest parent or sibling knows the answer!

I placed my faith and belief in all that Jesus accomplished here and in heaven. I wept every step of that short journey to the altar but found indescribable joy at the moment of God’s salvation.

I am so saddened that many churches no longer do alter calls, or they do them, but only with every head bowed and every eye closed. No, my dear brothers and sisters, let salvation be seen! Allow God’s lost sons and daughters their time of triumphant entry into God’s amazing grace, mercy, and love!

Praise God for his indescribable love to those who believe and obey his good news! Seek God through Jesus his Son, here, now, while he can be found. Confess your sins, turn from them, and believe in the Son of God!

This December 20, 2024, will be my second birth celebration of 55 years as a Christ-follower.

I am a child of the Most-High God, all because Jesus Christ, His Son, took upon himself all of the wrath of God in my place.

God is the secret behind my 44-year marriage. He guided me as a faithful father. He made me into a man of peace. He softened my heart. He healed my broken and abused heart. He forgave me all of my sins. And, very importantly, he calls me son and allows me to call him Abba-Father! “Abba,” means daddy or poppa.

“Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”’ –Galatians 4:6

Don’t fall for burdensome religion; fall in love with God. He first loved you–loved you enough that His Son, Jesus Christ, took God’s wrath upon himself, so you, too, can become His son or daughter! Amen

The World Without Light & The Enchanted Chair – By Thomas J. Koester

Somebody hit the dimmer switch in the Church on the hill, and I think we all know who that “somebody” is.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15

… And so, for worldly lovers—it’s lights out!

The light of the Gospel shining brightly from your inner life must be fueled by a fierce and unquenchable love for God and others. This light, filtered through your brokenness, will displace enough darkness for the blind to see.

I’m not speaking of physical blindness, mind you, but that of spiritual blindness.

“In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4

“Although your people live in darkness, they will see a bright light. Although they live in the shadow of death, a light will shine on them.” – Matthew 4:16

We who call ourselves by God’s name must shine like beacons as the daylight is dimming and darkness is coming.

“You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights…” – Philippians 2:15

Can a nation be darkened in a day? Can the brightly lit torch of freedom be snuffed out without notice?

Yes, it happened while we were asleep in the light. All the while, consuming “Turkish Delights” and worshiping false gods and false teachers while sitting in enchanted chairs of passivity.

In the sixth book of C.S. Lewis’, The Chronicles of Narnia, titled, “Silver Chair,” the witch had placed a curse on the silver chair, so that when anyone sat on the chair they’d fall under the chair’s enchantment.

The Silver Chair was a magical device constructed by the Queen of Underland (also known as the Lady of the Green Kirtle), designed to keep Prince Rilian bound to a cursed enchantment…

“Every night, Rilian sat down on the chair to renew the manipulative magic. It made him susceptible to the witch’s lies and caused him to forget who he truly was.”

I think this is what’s happened to much of Western Christianity; we’ve become enchanted by worldliness, which has made us susceptible to the devil’s lies, and so, have forgotten who we truly are. And our forgettablness has ushered the world into darkness.

The Church was never to be about the “church,” but about Christ for the Nations, burning brightly as the light of God’s love and power over darkness. We were never meant to be bound to chairs, orbiting cathedrals, separated by a great divide between the clergy and the laity.

We’ve lost our place of influence because we’ve lost our identity, and in losing that, we’ve lost our mission! We have lost our identity because we’ve exchanged our First Love for second-hand worldliness. We have purchased the lie that if we look like the world, the world will come to us. How utterly foolish!

“If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don’t belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and this is why its people hate you.” – John 15:19

Many Churches look so much like the world they have little to offer except a Savior without saving, a Lord without lordship, and a king without a kingdom. Who’d want to follow after that?

Somebody hit the dimmer switch in the Church on the hill, and I think we all know who that “somebody” is.

Our churches need to do what Motel 6 has done successfully over the decades:

“We’ll leave the light on for you.”

We need to rekindle our first love into a firestorm, recapturing God’s intended glory for the Church. Even our lives must reflect the glory of Christ and his good news! If you and I can do this, maybe we can light up the world again!

Deception in Your Church? – By Thomas J. Koester

No one who is deceived will say, “I’m deceived!” Deception is the state in which one has been taken captive by falsehood and error.

Did you know that error is a spirit? It is parasitical and will weaken your faith and ability to discern truth from error. If you are in a church, which is preaching and practicing error and there is no repentance, no correction, and no apology, you should not stay. Your spiritual health and possibly your eternal state are at risk.

“Blessed (happy and to be envied) are those who cleanse their garments, that they may have the authority and right to [approach] the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city. [But] without are the dogs and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).” –Revelations 22: 14-15

When you tolerate error and biblical untruth, you will become party to the same eternal judgment on those who practice and teach such error. “Those who cleanse their garments” are those who have both authority and right to the tree of life and will pass through the gates.

Those who endure and tolerate error and falsehood are as guilty as sorcerers, murders, adulterers, and idolaters. Their’s is the same judgment.

There is no middle ground. Truth is not negotiable.

You can not, even in the slightest way, dismantle a portion of truth without becoming guilty of untruth, error, and deception.

You can not say that you hold and preach the “whole counsel of God” and at the same time ignore the command to love, cherish, and honor your wife. You might ask, what has marriage to do with truth and deception. It’s because the wife is the first to know.

You can not preach ecclesiastical unity and put your wife and marriage vows asunder. You can not hold to the New Covenant and ignore the marriage covenant. But far too many ministers do.

You shall not worship the anointing above the Anointer, who is God!

Did you know that you can perform signs and wonders; heal the sick, raise the dead, and preach the gospel and still end up in hell? Well, shouldn’t you at least think about it? After all, religious sin has got to be the most damnable and deceptive.

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].” –Matthew 7:21-23

I plead with you, my brothers and sisters. Do not put up with error, even though you sense the “Lord’s presence” and an “anointing.” There is no excuse for falsehood, error, and deception. You can not violate God’s commands, no matter how many miracles and wondrous signs are displayed.

Remember, the Man of Sin, or the Lawless One [the one who does so called “righteous acts” without God’s approval], is about to be revealed, and his spirit is already at work in disobedient minds throughout the world.

The first command of the ten commandments of Satan is:

“Do what thou will.”

This satanic command is behind many so-called ministries. When a ministry is not doing God’s will, His way, they are indeed doing what “thou will.” They are obeying demons and not the Son of God. Their lack of discernment is due to their lack of knowing Jesus Christ and that Jesus has no relational knowledge of them. They don’t belong to God. They belong to the Devil.

People, attending a church and being involved in ministry, performing acts of healing, deliverance, prophesying, and speaking in tongues doesn’t make you a Christian or validate you as one. It may make you feel like a saint, but since when does feelings make you a saint?

Only he, who washes his robe and who does the will of God, shall enter through the gates and into the City of God.

Not everyone who says; “Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…”

Check yourselves! Your pastor will not be standing next to you on the day of judgment, just you and the Lord. It’s you who must give an account as to what you have and have not done—to what you have believed while on earth.

The key to entering the city is to know and be known by God. You are known by God when your love is validated by obeying His commands and doing His will. There is God’s will, and there is rebellion. No other will exists.

Flee the house of deception and don’t look back!

Cover your ears to the flattery and tune into the voice of your True Heavenly Father. Don’t fall for favoritism of ministers and “important preachers” over the favor and approval of God.

Don’t exchange your identity of son or daughter of God, for position or title. Don’t marvel that you belong to a church or ministry, but marvel that your name is written the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Do not tolerate deception, false and new teaching, error, untruth or half-truth, do not accept the gospel of earthly prosperity at the expense of eternal life and heaven.

“Repent and live, why must you die, O’ house of Israel!”

Rather, worship God in the wilderness of this life and world. This world is our wilderness, and heaven is the promised land for all who obey—all who truly love and are truly known in the courts of heaven.

Pray for clarity and flee deception. Do it now!

The Blue Whale Prophecy — Thomas J. Koester

Photos, snapshots, and praise; the awing crowds come and go.

To the Shepherds and Pastors, write:

I see a large and beautiful Great Blue Whale in the middle of the ocean. The great mammal appears to have life, as it floats along the surface, but just beneath the water line, are Sharks and Killer Whales, ripping and tearing at her flesh.

The feast and frenzy is attracting other scavengers beneath. No one knows the whale is dead. The ships and tourist keep flocking the great mammal, but at a distance. Photos, snapshots, and praise the awing crowds come and go.

The life has left the great whale for some time. No one noticed when it fought and floundered against its mortal enemies. The great mammal was pulled beneath the surface, just enough, just long enough to drown the great mammal. That’s what they do—Killer Whales tire and then drown their victims.

She’s dead! The only life sustained now is by scavengers, which eat away the great carcass, eating away from beneath, so no one will notice.

Where has all the life gone? Where are all the people? The seats are filled, but the faces are all new! Photos, snapshots, a little praise, a little worship and the awing crowds come and go. Her spiritual body is being ripped and torn, but alas, no one notices—no one cares! All the religious busyness has weakened her; the earthly burdens and grand visions of men have weighed her down, tiring her, just enough, just long enough to drown her!

As the whale lives in the oceans and seas, it breathes air. My Church lives in the world, but it must breath heaven, it must come up to me for every word that proceeds from my mouth, or it shall die.

It all looks good. It seems real life is here, but if you get close enough, if you look beneath, you’ll see — She’s being eaten alive! Scavengers, Profiteers, Scammers, Whalers! What Jesus has brought together, man tears asunder!

We are being built into a spiritual house, brought together by Christ himself, so that we may become the habitation for His Spirit, that we may do greater deeds, deeds complete in His sight! But your acts only produce seedless fruit. It falls to the earth but does not reproduce! Why won’t you seek Heaven’s pollen?

Believe me, crowds do not constitute spiritual relevance. They may come to have their bellies filled—they may be curious or want to be entertained. They’ll feast and feed if you let them, but they have no heart to obey!

Scavengers, Spiritual Vagabonds, Drifters! If you pursue them, when your life’s work is complete, you’ll not go out with a “bang” but with a whimper! It may go “BANG!” on earth, but it will be a dud in heaven! Better to ally with those who’ve not soiled their clothes rather than those who bask in worldliness.

“To the angel of the church, in Sardis, write:

“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard, obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief. You will not know at what time I will come to you.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life but acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” —Revelations 3:1-6

Be watchful and intercede according to the intercessions of Christ Jesus, lest all is lost.

I felt led to present this prophetic word to my pastor — he liked it so much that he had it published in America’s Good News, regional periodical. Sadly, the message was missed, and three years later, my beloved pastor died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his face. It was unknown to all of us that he had been fleecing the flock, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from many in the congregation, especially the elderly. His visions were far too large and too expensive for the small East Bay church.

Towards the end, he was discovered, and charges were filed in two Northern California counties. Rather than face his wrongdoings, repent, and accept the consequences, he ended his life, leaving behind hundreds of devastated believers. I was one of them.

“But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” —Matthew 6:25

Worship God and not ministry.

Don’t go out with a BANG on earth!

Beautifully Broken – By Thomas J. Koester

What stands between many of us and the life we’re supposed to live is our ability to bullshit.

No, this is not a treatise on global warming or climate change or the negative impact of cow flatulence on our environment—far from it!

This is about fleeing pretense and duplicity and becoming the real you. It’s about breaking down the fake areas in our lives and being honest with ourselves and others.

Wholeness can only be achieved by utter and complete brokenness. This is a universal principle. This is also the opposite of what the world thinks.

I like what Jerry Maguire said in his moment of a breakthrough:

“… Two nights later in Miami at our corporate conference, a breakthrough. Breakdown? Breakthrough. It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a mission statement for my company. You know—a Mission Statement—a suggestion for the future. What started out as one page became twenty-five.

Suddenly, I was my father’s son. I was remembering the simple pleasures of this job, how I ended up here out of law school, the way a stadium sounds when one of my players performs well on the field… And suddenly, it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer clients. Caring for them, caring for ourselves, and the games, too. Starting our lives, really. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit it. What I was writing was somewhat “touchy-feely.” I didn’t care. I had lost the ability to bullshit. It was the me I’d always wanted to be.” —The Movie “Jerry Maguire”

You see a breakthrough, I mean, the kind of breakthrough we know we really need is always preceded by a breakdown. And, when we lose—no, rather, when we refuse to bullshit ourselves and others, we’ll become the people that we’ve always wanted to be.

You’re divinely purposed to become a living act of God’s love and glory. You can’t become what your Creator has intended until you surrender your own mess. That is, your constant self-effort to holding the broken pieces of your life together. Living in fear and dread that your secret life will be exposed at any moment to a live audience.

Living life on constant defense and acting co-dependently, or as a self-enabler, justifying the actions of your false self at the expense of your true self. This is the definition of what I’m referring to as a “mess.”

You can not become assembled in body, mind, and spirit, all the while holding everything together. You are robbing yourself of the very strength and energy you need by wasting it on supporting your falseness and phony facade. Stop being driven by voices inside your head, echoing the curses from your mother or father, or from the other significant persons in your life.

These curses are the voices of “false coaches,” driving you to repeat a cycle of self-destruction and family dysfunction. These curses are carcinogenic to your desire for wholeness and wellness. They are the cancerous agents eating away at the divine purpose for which God has created you.

“Gloria Dei est vivens homo,” wrote Saint Irenaeus, which means:

“The glory of God is a living man.”

The glory of God is you fully living, and not your daily self-destruction and learned dysfunction.

In the human body, you can not build muscle without first tearing down the muscle you have. Tearing down the muscle requires a determination to submit to the pain and deny yourself comfort. Likewise, you must have a willing determination to submit your very life and comforts to God.

James says it this way:

4-6 “You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God, and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” —James 4:6-10 (MSG)

Pride is self-destruction, low esteem, self-loathing, and such, is what’s been behind your self-effort of “holding it all together.” This is why pride always precedes a profound fall. There is nothing good in this kind of a fall because it’s always a fall from grace and not towards it.

Do you want God’s grace? Become truly humble. Oh yes, it is painful to stop your self-salvation and accept the truth, and act on it. But the light, which will come flooding into your darkness, will bring the wholeness and wellness you’ve been searching for.

The problem with bullshit is that it is no respecter of person, race, religion, or age—it flows from all of us! Far too many of us hide behind B.S.

“Men love darkness, rather than light,” this is true. But you can not become the man or woman you were meant to become all the while remaining in darkness. Just as painful as it is to build muscle, is it painful at first to step out from darkness into God’s marvelous light!

The gain from the pain of coming into the light is worth the life of wholeness and holiness.

Did you know that embracing your brokenness rather than hiding it will cause collateral beauty?

There may be a divine and strategic purpose behind your brokenness that, when shared with others, may cause a chain reaction of hope and healing in you and in them.

At this very moment, you’re standing at a crossroad—at a turning point; your next decision can create a paradigm shift of unprecedented emotional and spiritual change.

“The Lord said to his people…

“’You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not follow it!’” —Jeremiah 6:16 (NET)

Stop hanging out with the “We will not follow it” crowd!

You no longer belong to the crowd who refuse to follow the right path.

Stop staring at the crossroad in front of you and follow the right path. Stop saving yourself and fall into the grace, mercy, and love of God, and you will become the man or woman you’ve always wanted to be. After all, God put the desire to be his love and glory in you so that you may be fully living, fully alive to a world content with dying and taking you with it.

A breakdown is always before a breakthrough. God is waiting if you are willing. Open up to God or find a trusted friend to help lead you to God’s grace.

God can turn the ugliness of your brokenness into something beautiful!

May I be honest and a bit crass?

… It’s my prayer that you’ll lose your ability to “bullshit!” – Amen

Make America Great in God Again! ☆ By Thomas J. Koester

Many years ago, August 4, 1984, to be exact; God called Toni and I to Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We needed $4,500.00 tuition for the Discipleship Training School and traveling money from California to the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, some 3,500 mile distance.

We embarked on our cross-country journey with our two small children, Josh and Jordan. Toni and I had only $300.00 cash, and a gas and oil guzzling, 1973 Chevy station wagon. Needless to say, we were over $5,000.00 short. Yet, we truly believed that God would provide.

On our way to Canada, and after driving all night, the following morning, an 18-wheeler hit our car clocked by a Nevada State Trooper doing 90 miles per hour. The truck burst into flames on impact, skidding 600 feet before it exploded, catapulting debris 100 feet in the air! The truck driver jumped out safely, seconds before the explosion onto the center medium. Later, the State Trooper told us that the truck driver had dosed off, which was why he collided into our car. Miraculously, none of us were seriously hurt, even though our Chevy station wagon was totaled. Our trip to Canada appeared to be cut short.

I put my family up in a Motel 6 in Elko Nevada, using part of the $300.00 we had started out with to cover the hotel expense. Within 24 hours, a knock on our hotel room door. It was an insurance adjuster, representing the trucking company responsible for the accident.

The adjuster wrote Toni and I a check for $25,000.00. Way more than enough for our YWAM tuition and travel expense. We then took a bus ride to the airport in Salt Lake, Utah. While staying at another hotel, It was the next morning that God took me to a passage of Scripture:

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences…’ — Ezekiel 23:35

This verse popped up three times within 24 hours. It took me a while, but I understood what God was saying because we had received such a large sum of money that our faith and trust shifted from God to the money. In other words, we put our trust in the gift and not the Giver.

Later that morning, I lost my wallet with all the money in it! That Ezekiel verse kept echoing in my mind. Fortunately, I had kept part of the $25,000 settlement in the form of a certified check for $4,500.00, the rest in cash. But the certified check was also in my wallet.

You see, it is so easy and subtle to shift our trust and focus in God to other things. Because God loves us and that he’s a good and faithful Father, he won’t leave us in our sins. He corrects every son and daughter he loves.

Two weeks after we had arrived in Canada, the Salt Lake Police Department in Utah sent me a letter, asking me to call or write back and describe the wallet’s contents. I want you to know that I didn’t have time to file a lost wallet report, and nothing in my wallet could’ve led the police to our temporary stop in Quebec. It was an absolute miracle that the Salt Lake Police Department found Toni and I while staying on a farm in Quebec, Canada! I still, to this day, do not know how they found us.

Everything was still there in my wallet, except the $20,500.00 cash. Fortunately for us, the Canadian exchange rate in 1984 was 130%. Turning that certified check from $4,500.00 to $5,850.00! Because we had repented and adjusted our hearts, God gave us back just enough. As a matter of fact, because of God’s faithfulness, we were the only students who paid the required tuition in a lump sum!

I believe what we’re all going through as a nation is that God won’t leave us in our sins, and as a faithful and good father, he’s chastising America. He remembers our commitment as his people and as his nation to follow in His precepts and laws. After all, our country is founded on His principles.

In reality, we’ve all chosen to worship America and all its bounty, rather than the God of Heaven, Earth’s only Redeemer.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” — Psalms 11:3.

Unfortunately, the 21st-century Church has been too preoccupied with leaving the world. If the Church would’ve been occupied with the Kingdom of God, as an occupying force for good, we would not be this far down the river! Perhaps the “foundations” could’ve been repaired. I believe our nation’s fondations can be restored, as I hope and believe you do, too.

Our task is to occupy until He comes back—to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world for a witness. Not hasten the day of destruction because of our misguided disengagement and our pre-tribulation, premilienial exfiltration focus.

We need to individually and corporately acknowledge our sins and turn away from them. We need to shift our trust and dependence on America and on our government and place our faith and trust back to God.

If we do this as a nation, I sincerely believe that God will restore America. Only God can make America great again.

It is better to have God and just enough than to have more than enough and no God.

It’s really not about making America Great Again it’s about making God Great In America Again!

The Church Without Mission – Thomas J. Koester

A church without a mission is nothing more than a religious country club!

If we are to speak honestly and with integrity concerning local and world evangelism, we have to ask ourselves the following questions about our churches:

How many doors of homes and businesses have you knocked on?
Do you knock on doors weekly or monthly?
Do you have a regular and ongoing classes on outreach and evangelism?
How many times per month are you preaching the Gospel outside your building, in the market places, town squares, etc.?
How much of your annual budget is spent sending out its own evangelists and missionaries?
Is the summation of your mission and evangelism work simply ”tithing” 10% of your Church’s revenue to foreign missionaries?
Do you share, in an active and practical way, the Apostle Paul’s passion for reaching all the world with the Gospel?

I’ll make no guesses or assumptions about your honest answer to these questions. I will, however, make an observation. America would be in a much better state, culturally and spiritually if a fraction of evangelical churches prioritized these things.

Do you know how and why some churches grow and some churches decline here or in your local cities and towns? I’ll give you one word…

… SCANDAL!

Churches here, and I’m sure elsewhere, grow while some decline is mainly due to church-hopping, transient Christians, that have been hurt, wounded, devastated, ignored, maligned, and forgotten by well meaning spiritual leaders. Many brothers, sisters, and families leave churches due to scandal and abuse. If more churches were outwardly focused on reaching the world, we’d have much less of the world and scandal inside churches.

The Barna Group has polled hundreds of unchurched believers and has determined that nearly 3,500 people per day exit church never to return! The age group polled were from 14 to 33 years old. The number one response was that they left church due to a lack of connectedness!

Herein lies the proof that far too many inwardly focused churches obsessed with millennialism, prosperity, and emotionalism, rather than Kingdom of God outward expansion, eventually self-destruct, producing devastated and retreating believers, longing for an exfil.

Is it time for people to church-exit what church has become in America? No, I think it’s time for churches to exit its self-absorption and get busy evangelizing its own communities and beyond. For all you futurists out there, the Kingdom of God is here, now, and will expand with or without you.

“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” – Romans 2:7-11

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

A church without a mission is nothing more than a religious country club!

The Slippery Slope of Good Intentions – Thomas J. Koester

Good intentions won’t save you; far too many people have learned too late that that’s just the devil’s pavement to hell.

“As missional Christians, we don’t want to be stuck in the past, speaking to where culture was 10 years ago—we need to be relevant today.” – Alex Early

I disagree with Alex Early, and here’s why…

There is a difference between customs and culture. When Toni and I were missionaries in Puerto Rico and Dominica Republic, we were very careful about their customs and trained to respect them. It was our intent to bring the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven and the power of the Gospel through word and actions to the Caribbean people.

Communism was rampant throughout Dominica. One night, I was even picked up by Dominican soldiers at gun point and led away. We were not there to adopt their culture but to invite them into the amazing and life giving, soul saving, world changing, person of Jesus Christ; him crucified, buried in a tomb and raised to life!

The wonderful, undiluted, non-world-conforming, uncompromising, inerrant, ever constant, and eternal truth of God needs not be relevant to the world. Rather, the world must pursue the relevance of Heaven through Christ.

Didn’t Jesus teach us to seek His Father’s will and Kingdom as it exists in heaven for earth and not the other way around? Relevancy originates in Heaven and not on the shiftiness of earth.

The spirit of political progressivism has spread into the Church. It is a leaven and is working its way through the body. This is the unfortunate philosophical message in Mr. Early’s quote. While in the wilderness, didn’t Jesus reject the temptation by Satan to be relevant?

“Bow down and worship me,” said Satan, “and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world.” Matthew 4: 8-9

Cultural relevancy, that is, to adapt the Gospel to contemporary culture is demonic.In other words, using relativism as a tool of good intention to reach the lost leaves them lost. A relativistic gospel is a false gospel, no matter what you pave or cover it with!

The Gospel, as it was proclaimed in the beginning, requires no repackaging or homogenization; it requires no modernization or Hollywood sensation; it does not require special effects or celebrity endorsement. It finds its power working best in the weak, in the poor in spirit, in the persecuted, in the merciful, in those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and in the pure of heart.

These types of missional Christians need not be relevant to the in vogue culture. No, the world is not worthy of these types of Christ followers. If their message is rejected; let me say again, if their message is rejected, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and more tolerable for Gomorrah then it will be for that town, or, for that culture in the day of Judgment.

The culture and people must be relevant to the Gospel or reject it. To do so otherwise is to progressively reduce the Gospel’s message into politically correct and palatable speech. While it may produce a form of godliness, it will deny its power.

The ends justifying the means is not a biblical model. It is a key principle of the secular humanists, radical socialists, and Leftest revolutionaries.

We do not use the methods of the world to win the world! Rather, we use divine weapons to dismantle every thought and argument, which raises itself against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ and not culture.

Christ must become our culture, and we therefore must preach Christ as he was, as he is—as he will always be. Christ is constant and current in any age as himself.

We do not need to dress Jesus as hipsters or in saggy pants; braid his hair or tattoo images of angels on his shoulders or forearms. We don’t need to pierce his lip, his chin, or brow; they’ve already been pierced on our behalf. One day, we’ll all see Him whom we’ve pierced and out of fear and reverence we’ll all fall to our knees.

Yes, Christ is always relevant, in every age and in every culture. After all, He is the Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last; the Beginning and the End. He is our constant and our Rock.

If you recall, everyone, even Jesus’ own family, wanted him to both conform and be relevant. Jesus’ only relevance was his Father’s will and his Father’s ways. Anything more would be pride; anything less would be rebellion.

The war is over our minds and thoughts. It seeks control over body and soul. It has been lurking around for thousands of years. Now, in these last days, it has crossed the threshold of many churches, colleges, universities, and even our seminaries.

We must return to the scriptures and stop elevating what man says and thinks. “On Christ the Solid Rock [we] stand – All other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

Good intentions won’t save you; far too many people have learned too late that that’s just the devil’s pavement to hell.

Believe in Jesus Christ as he is or don’t believe at all. Relevance is the highway to hell, and narrow is the way to life, and few find it.

Good intentions save no one!

Celebrity Worship And True Saints – By Thomas Koester

The difference between celebrity worship and hero worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so, we’ve come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models.

“We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.” Daniel J. Boorstin – 1914 – February 28, 2004, American Historian

We have done the same thing in the Church. We make celebrities out of ministers, authors, and musicians, and then we call them “Saints.” True Saints are birthed out of trial and suffering and not out of fame and glory.

There is no “American Idol” for Sainthood.

Saints are known only in heaven. In earth, they are despised, rejected, and ignored. Saints will never be seen at the front of the line. To them, being last is first; being invisible is visibility; being hidden is being discovered.

Outward talent and “anointing” do not confirm Saints. The Anti-Christ and his crowd disprove this theory every day.

The hidden-indwelling Spirit of God; the silent character of Christ, beneath the skin of a Jesus-disciple, is the surest mark of a true Saint.

They are not mostly heard, not mostly seen, but are camouflaged in quietness and a godly poverty. You would more than likely see them ragged and without, even confusing them as homeless and wretched. They would be despised and turned away from most houses of worship.

They may indeed have wonderful talent, but for them, the stage of such worshipful expression is a darkened closet, the solitude of a lonely trail or an alley of a forgotton city.

True Saints are sojourners, not citizens of earth, but passer-byers. There’s no time to sit and enjoy furniture, a sofa, or even a soft bed. No roof or four walls to call their own.

Their investments are not of this world. Their deposits are unseen and unknown to institutions of earth. Their only debt is love. They’re always tirelessly paying it forward from unseen resources.

True Saints are in a ceaseless love affair with Jesus. It never grows cold or just warm. Their passion for Christ grows hotter and hotter until the religious snuff them out.

True Saints are unwanted in most “churches.” Their presence is a judgment, and indictment against worldliness – There are only two ways in which a Saint will leave such a church; by divine decree or crucifixion.

True Saints don’t form clubs, ministries, or groups. Their fellowship halls are clouds of witnesses, those who’ve gone before, who cheer them on from a distant world. Two or three saints together are a crowd. Each one walks with a thousand angels – not because of who they are, but because of their nearness to Christ.

The more I write, the more I realize how rare true saints are and how far off I am. They are more likely to be born in the third world rather than in free and industrialized nations.

Lord, how we need you to birth true Saints.

As our society crumbles and our nation wains, a time is coming when Saints will reign. As darkness falls and liberty’s light grows dim, Saints will be counted, but no less than ten. For if more than ten true Saints existed in this great nation, this nation would have been greater!

Father in heaven, bring down your judgment against your worldly church. Purge her, refine her, and beautify her for Christ. Don’t listen to our petty-prayers of revival – bring rather true fire from heaven and cleanse us by the zeal of Christ and make us once again into a house of prayer and sainthood.

Forgive us for degrading Christ and his true disciples – Make us into Saints, like Saints of Old, tested by fire and prison, molded by persecution and derision.

Purge your people of worldliness and religiosity. We repent of our churchy and celebrity ways. We renounce worldly wealth, fame, fortune, and house – to pursue a better kingdom in heaven than on earth.

In Jesus’ Name and Authority, as it is in heaven, may it also be here on earth. Whatever it takes, Oh Lord, make it so. Your ends justify our suffering – Let it begin!

Rise up O’ House of God – Wake up O’ sleeper. Let your righteousness shine forth, and your saints arise from ash and cinder.