|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Decision Tree for Reading this Post: 1.   I am already convinced my denomination or apostolic network is correct and I am a team player.  My ideology and network matters more than truth: please go to 2. 2.   Please, do not read this post.  It won't help you. 3.   I believe in christian unity at all costs and am not interested in changing my mind, please go to 2. 4.   I believe all ecumenical unity is evil and am not interested in changing my mind, please go to 2. 5.   I am interested in a different Biblical perspective to consider about unity and I like hearing what Jesus says to lots of people so that I can talk to Him myself with a more full perspective: please go to 6. 6.   Yay, please read this Post. False Unity: Ecumenicism, Math, and Time The Bible has a LOT to say about unity of the church.  We know unity is going to happen just before the great harvest brings a massive number of people to the church in one gene...

God isn't like a fire, God is a fire. The Bible makes this reality clear. The Holy Spirit is fire: Revelation 4:5And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Jesus, in His true state, is a fire: Revelation 1:16He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. The Father is a fire: Hebrews 12:29For our God is a consuming fire. Adam and Eve walked with fire inside of them. Adam was dirt until fire was breathed into His being: Genesis 1:27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. It was in this burning and shining that Adam and Eve, though uncovered with clothing, were unas...

There is a very real danger in reverse engineering a wholehearted pursuit of Jesus: condemnation and frustration. Wholeheartedlness is like a fire burning in my inner man. That fire produces smoke and heat...it warms me up... I can prepare food on a fire, it will give me light in the darkness, it is a joy to fellowship around a fire. But, without that fire burning, none of these things are sustainable. It is easy for me to remember the seasons when my fire was burning hot and try to recreate all those things the fire of God made possible. When I feel colder and more distant from God, it's easy to think "I'll read my Bible some more" (prepare some food), or I'll go to more church meetings (fellowship around the fire), or turn off worldly entertainment and only focus on God (warm myself by the fire) to fix the lack of fire. These things don't produce the fire, they are made possible BY the fire. The truth is, if the fire isn't burning yet, none of these thin...

The "end times" aren't the point. It's the getting ready for them that matters. You'll never get ready if you never let yourself believe they are coming. Wanting to put it off is simply wanting to delay the moment of humbling and getting ready. It isn't foolish to look for the end times. It is foolish to mock people and belittle people that look for the end times because you think they are "wrong"... If you think people that try to fit the events of our days to the end times are wrong, you actually miss the entire point of the Bible. The Bible isn't a logical book. It's a heart book It's a faith book. Logic is an application of understanding and the Bible is describing realities even angels don't fully understand. It's more advanced than advanced physics! Some of it requires you take it on faith because we see dimly. This is humility, which actually is the point of the whole book. People that WROTE the New Testament declared they ...

When faced with growing intensity in the world, it is tempting to just "focus on the positives." This is a massive danger in this hour. Simply focusing on positives will lead many into strong delusion. The truth is, this is the "Great and Terrible" day of the Lord. Even if you aren't a believer, simply focusing on the positives leads to great dissappointment if the world gets worse. According to the Bible it will. Based on observation, it is. We need a different solution than simple positive thinking. We need vision. When I have vision that the time of trouble I am in is FOR something positive, then I can ENDURE in HOPE. Hope is what we all want. But, what brings enduring hope? Hope that doesn't dissappoint? The only enduring hope the Bible talks about is the hope seen by looking THROUGH tribulation and understanding that trouble, when approached correctly, is what forms me into a more stable and hopeful person. Talk to anyone hopeful who has walked through ...