|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

True leaders in Jesus' body are learning to apply this not just as an internal reality that comforts the weak, but a ministry value that bears the fruit of humility: 1 Corinthians 1:26For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.” Most people would pick this reality if they had no opportunity to be important and impactful...it sounds good on paper...

In a time of judgment it is important to get the Lord's heart. That is the point of judgment: to save people into agreement with God. Many in the church make the mistake of thinking God is mostly concerned with His people suffering no temporary loss, discomfort, or pain. That is simply not the case. -God corrects sons, it's the mark of sonship -God prunes FRUITFUL vines, so that they beat more fruit -God begins judgment in His own house. The most prepared place to respond to judgment is the place God judges first. 1 Peter 4:16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. 17For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? God's judgment IS His mercy. It's His patience. It's His love. If God wasn't patient, there would be no such thing as incremental judgment. There would be instantaneous anhiliati...

W/ regard to the Mark of the Beast, it's interesting that the actual words of the Book of Revelation list three specific realities: 1. The mark 2. The number 3. The name Revelation 13:17and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Note the "or" that connects these three realities. Most US citizens have a social security number. Back in the 1930s, when it was implemented, the Amish resisted it. I believe this is similar to Aadhar, which is the Indian biometric identity that I believe meets the Biblical qualifications of the mark of the beast. Similar biometric identities are being issued, even now, to well over half of the world. Most of us have at least the number, if not the mark. In the US you really can't work without a SS number. According to the Bible, the number is just as binding as the mark itself. The point is, if you discover you are already operating in something the Bible describes as evil...

In a time of judgment, the correct response of God's people is to embrace...to go into... the judgment. Noah embraced the concept of a flood, and God helped Him build an Ark. Abraham embraced the concept of the judgment of Sodom and interceded for Lot. It worked. Moses and the Israelites accepted the judgment of the firstborn and responded. Their children lived. Just wanting judgment to "go away"...or worse... fighting back, is the way you maximize the pain of judgment. Accepting judgment and responding in repentance, then obedience, is the way to minimize the pain of judgment. Many in the church wrongly ascribe everything they think is bad to the devil, and everything they think is "good" to God. This is a really bad idea. If you are God's ALL things work for your good (Rom 8:28). This gives you freedom to allow the Lord to correct you without getting offended. Right now flooding is all over our land. This is a judgment. Daniel 9, and many other passages te...

God is always taking a people from a people. He took Abraham out of Babylon. He took Israel out of Egypt. He took the church out of Israel. He is taking a Bride out of His church. The consequences for not moving forward are severe, because God always gives those who refuse to go forward the leadership they want. Israel always gets the king they want...so will the church. When Jesus was offered as the king of the Jews, Israel said they had no king but Caesar. Less than 40 years later, Caesar destroyed all they were trying to hold on to in their stubborness. Esther and Vashti are a picture of the patience of God. There comes a moment when the refusal of church leaders to go forward with God will result in a judgment and a new leadership will emerge. Just as fishermen and tax collectors were made apostles...even the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem... so it will be now. In the month of Tevet, Persia got a new queen named Esther who was raised up for a "time such as this."....

When you become a believer, you get grafted in to Israel. When you read the promises and the warnings for Israel, you are grafted in to those, too. The Church doesn't replace Israel, she joins to her and feeds herself from the same root. Humility demands that I consider myself part of all the promises and warnings to Israel while still honoring that all the promises and warnings are still to her, as well. This will help you make sense of the Bible. It really will. If you don't approach the Bible this way, what you likely end up doing is stripping all the promises and leaving Israel with all the warnings. That is evil. If I really believed this, I would spend the vast majority of my time praying for Israel and for me to agree with the leadership of Jesus now, while there is time. Romans 11:11Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and c...

I want to grow in holiness so I can be, more and more, in the presence of God. This is the point of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus ascended and showed us how to follow Him there. Matthew 5:48“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 7:13“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“Therefore by their fruits you will know t...

You will have no trouble finding believers that are challenged by a zealous running of your race. Don't let that discourage you. Run your race. Those who have quit celebrate others who are slowing down and quitting, too. It justifies their hopelessness. When we stumble, we look to Jesus...the author and finisher of our faith. When we quit, we aren't quitting something we started, we are quitting something HE started. That is not ok. People that quit never say they quit! That is part of quitting zealousness... The zealous are honest about their need to grow. The lukewarm claim all the promises without responding to the warnings about falling away. Don't fall for this subtle and sticky trap. Philippians 3:17Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19whose end is destruction, whose god is their...