Jn. 19:16b- SO THEY TOOK JESUS AWAY.

Wow! what a statement the Word of God makes that just rang in my spiritual ears as I read this portion of Scripture. The religious crowd was clamoring for Him to be taken away and the scenario of today is no different in our modern, Americanized church world. You know, I don’t believe in having big, gaudy symbols and stain glass everywhere in order to have a tabernacle where Jesus is worshipped, but when I hear preachers say things like “our church doesn’t have a cross or anything like that in it” as a statement of relevance and persuasion to attend I GET DISGUSTED! Are you insinuating that somehow the Cross is a negative? Are you admitting that what you are doing is so different from the DNA of the Kingdom that you are ashamed of the King and the work He accomplished on Calvary by purchasing eternal life for all who believe on Him? Some would say that the symbol of the Cross is too offensive…and i would ask TO WHO??? Those perishing in sin for need of that glorious Cross to be applied to their life (that they cant see anymore cause you took it down)? To religious people who have moved on from the Cross and no longer want to be reminded of the price paid for them? To carnal and comprising Christians who don’t want to be confronted with a sign of conviction because they are too busy to ever think of telling anyone else of the wondrous cure for sin found only in Jesus’ suffering?

Don’t think that the Cross no longer in a building is the only way in which Jesus has been taken away. His precious Word is being manipulated and torn apart to fit what itching ears want to hear and what scintillates the crowds. When topics like “7 nights of sex” are preached and reported on by the news media it brings me to ask, Where is God’s Word? Is that something Jesus ministered? Is that found in the writings of Paul? Did Peter, James, or John present something similar to the early church? I not only think not, I KNOW NOT!
A final arena I will address in this humble blog is that of the removal of the precious Holy Spirit from all aspects of Christian walk and leadership. No longer are the fruit of the Spirit valued. (Anyone with a bad temper on the golf course is now deemed “competitive” and not simply carnal and lacking self-control.) No longer do leaders allow the gifts of the Spirit to operate in the gathering of believers on Sunday morning for fear of making some poor visitor uneasy. (most have no need to disallow because they couldn’t move in the gifts if their life depended on it!) No longer is seeking the Lord Jesus for His direction and heart something required to lead a church. With creative teams and multimedia presentations becoming our only focus there is no room left for the direction of the One we used to know as Master.

My prayer today is that religion would be exposed, the agenda of man erased, and the person of Jesus would restored back to His rightful place as Head of the Church, Master of our lives, and Lord of the Harvest.

Jer. 10:10- But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at His anger. The nations cannot stand up to His wrath.

Lev. 19:1,28- The Lord also said to Moses, Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord you God, am holy. Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord!

Now I know as I attempt to address this issue that many people will be divided in their opinion and that is ok. My heart in this is to reveal the instruction given in the Word of God and give young people an opportunity to clearly know what God’s heart on this issue is in a day where it is “cool” to go out and get a tattoo. By no means can this little blog cover all facets but can sure cause us to examine our convictions on this matter.

1. Holiness- God is telling us to be holy like Him. He is the standard of holy and He is telling us that He would never mark Himself or try to add to who He is. Tattooing your body is making a permanent addition to the way God created you. It is saying that you are not good enough in your natural state of His image and likeness.

2. Paganism- tattoos have their roots in pagan culture and demon worship. The places that glorify it the most are the places that have worshipped demons for literal millenniums and carry on that legacy through tattoos. The beginning of vs. 28 addresses a similar pagan ritual of cutting your body for the dead. God is addressing pagan culture and demon worship with this command.

3. Example- we are supposed to be salt and light in the world and when we are doing to our bodies the same as Hell’s Angels, Brittany Spears, Tommy Lee, and every other demonic icon in today’s society then we should ask ourselves how being like them is producing salt and light!

Now having said these things, I would like to say that I do not believe anyone is going to hell over a tattoo. If you have one then you are not doomed. There are many awesome Christians that have tattoos but I would implore them and anyone contemplating a new or additional tattoo to read God’s direct instructions given in His Word. Yea, some people say that it was OT, but if the God I serve gives an instruction like He did in this verse then I am going to obey it. Some have made it a cultural issue, but I would challenge you to study the roots of this practice and see how the hip hop culture has made something once taboo in Christian circles something that is now “cool” and “sexy”. Since when do we excuse and IGNORE God’s Word in order to be cool and sexy?

Bottom line: this is an issue that must be made black and white. How many tattoos are too much? How big a tattoo is not right? What is the fruit of getting a tattoo? What would make someone want to mark themselves for life with something God didn’t create them with? I leave you with a tweet from Brian Houston, the Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church Australia that very lightly yet firmly conveys his belief on this topic:
3 things I have a goal NEVER to do! 1. Parachute 2. Bungy Jump 3. Get a tattoo!

Acts 1:3- During the 40 days after His crucifixion, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
If Jesus were walking around the earth today what would He be doing? This passage gives us a clear answer to that question and shows us what we should be doing as Christ’s ambassadors on the earth.

1. Proving- the fact that Jesus is truly alive defies all human reasoning and launches a person into the realm of faith. What are some of the proofs that we have to show others that He is actually alive? Our lives of holiness and separation unto the Lord. The joy of salvation and leading others to eternal life. The divine order in our families and friendships. Our passion for prayer and worship. Our love for each other as believers. As you can see, many things are in our arsenal to prove Jesus is actually alive. Praise to the Lamb!!!

2. Talking- whatever comes out of your mouth is a direct result of what is in your heart. If the Kingdom of God is in your heart then you will speak of it. If the Kingdom is not in your heart then you will never speak of it. The Kingdom of God is revealed to us by the Living Word and through the person of the King. Obviously, the King is Jesus. Many people try to keep the things of God limited to natural and fleshly understanding. The Kingdom of God is not revealed by flesh and blood nor dates and times but by faith and power.
As Jesus to the world we should do as He did after the finished work of the Cross and prove He is actually alive to the lost and talk about the Kingdom to each other on every occasion. Food for thought!

Yea, you heard me right, Leviticus! We are in that tremendous book right now in our readings and the Lord spoke to me a word to share from the first 3 chapters. I will admit that reading through this book of the law is very difficult for the NT believer but yet the very foundations of Atonement and blood sacrifice were laid by the HS to authenticate, highlight, and explain the glorious Cross of Jesus. Each of the first chapters has a theme to it and I will only have time to address the first 3 today.

Ch. 1- Burnt Offerings: the removal of flesh- every day we should bring our flesh to the altar of the Cross and put it to death again. Gal. 2:20 Paul speaks of dying daily and this is what he means. The part of us that would give way to the enemy in temptation as well as cause us to forfeit our witness before believers and unbelievers.

Ch. 2- Grain Offerings: the renewing of the soul (mind,will,emotions)- the Word of God is our source of all wisdom and faith. Everyday we should be changing our thinking, yielding our will, and controlling our emotions by the standard of the Word of God.

Ch. 3- Peace Offerings: the REST of the Spirit- Hallelujah! Each and every day we must enter into the rest of the Spirit of God. Not striving with flesh to fulfill God’s will in the earth but resting in the finished work of the Cross. Never allow stress, worry, and anxiety to rule in your life. Instead, let the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus! (see Phil. 4:7)

Aren’t these first 3 chapters of Leviticus powerful in their message to us today? Let this word encourage you on many levels but mostly let it remind you that all of God’s Word is life-giving and more important to us that we could ever imagine! It is life and breath to us as new creations. Praise you Jesus, the Living Word!

Make the Tabernacle from ten curtains of freshly woven linen. Decorate the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread…Exo. 26:1.

All throughout the chapters that God instructs Moses on how to build the Tabernacle we see over and over again the use of these 3 colors. In reading them over and over again I could only realize that there had to be great meaning in them for God to make them the color pallet of His Tabernacle. Here is a brief version of what the HS showed me:

Blue- the first color to be listed. Represents humanity and normality. God made man to be supernatural but because of the fall he could only be natural at best. Nothing special about blue in means of process and value.

Purple- the color of royalty. In this case, divinity! God wants to be in fellowship with man and to dwell with him day by day as He set up in the Garden of Eden. This union is impossible without the next color.

Scarlet- has 2 prophetic meanings according to the Scripture. Isa. 1:18 compares our sin to the stain of scarlet. So God and man were separated from each other by the stain of sin that was scarlet. The second meaning (glory to God!) pulls it all together. It speaks of the Blood of Jesus that was shed on Calvary and that precious Blood had the power to reunite God and man. We are no longer separated from God by sin but united with Him through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb (don’t get me peachin’).

As you can see, the colors of the Tabernacle speak a powerful truth of that which was to come. The plight of mankind and the solution of God’s grace poured out on the Cross were all encoded in the colors specified by Almighty God for the sacred tent of worship that the Israelites would carry with them for hundreds of years.

1 Tim. 2:5- For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity–the man Christ Jesus.