When did we become “God”

The Great Commission
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The great commission, something that as Christians we learn early in our newly found walk and way, but for many it seems to have been forgotten for a more “glamorous” or “Christian” seeming life. I sit here day by day and listen to people discuss how this preacher is wrong and how that pastor is not a “true” Christian. But we see here in the Great Commission that us judging others is never part of the command. Have we not noticed that Jesus says in verse 18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” I’m pretty sure that when Jesus said “ALL” and “Heaven and Earth” He meant it. This means that He alone has the authority to judge ones eternity or life, not us.
As I read on the phrase in verse 20 “teaching them to observe” caught my eye. So I went to my trusty research tool www.blueletterbible.org and look up the verse. Then I looked up the Strong’s number for that phrase, which pulled up “τηρέω” which means
1) To attend to carefully, take care of
a) To guard
b) metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is
c) To observe
d) To reserve: to undergo something
So if we take this definition then it is our job to teach people to take care of, to guard, to attend to carefully all the things that Jesus has commanded us. So with that said, to go back to my previous statement of how I am constantly hearing Christians criticize preachers and pastors saying that their eternity is unsure because of what they are saying. Know that Jesus has all authority in heaven and in earth, what does JESUS say about us judging others.
Judging Others (Matthew 7)
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Judging Others (Luke 6:37)
37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
So when did we become “God” and take on the authority to sit around and judge others as the Pharisees did. To sit around and say that this preacher is not saved because he does not believe what I believe. Or to discuss with like minded brethren about how this pastor is a hieratic for living out his Christian walk in a way that doesn’t suit me. When did we take the authority away from Jesus and what he did on the cross. Instead of judging and saying that this person has their theology all wrong and that the result of that faulty theology will be them missing heaven. How about we pray and ask God to help all of us better understand his word. We walk around arrogantly thinking that we fully understand what God’s word says and how it applies to our walk with the Lord today. We are human and our thinking is corrupted as our flesh is. So what makes us think that in our corrupted state of being we can truly say, “My theology is spot on, and any other is a fallacy.”
I say we just realize that we are human and will never fully, completely understand the living word of God. And that we must daily ask God for guidance and help comprehending when we read. So I ask again When did we become “God” and take the authority away from Jesus and what he did on the cross?

Inner Tumult

Have you ever felt like there was an epic war going on inside of you? It’s a feeling as if you can feel the darkness and the light colliding, clashing and leaving your very essence ruined and destroyed. You see flashes of light and you are almost certain that the flashes are the result of the battle going on inside of you. It gets to the point where you have to scream and yell just to release the pent up energy. You clench your fist so tight they start bleeding, your breathing becomes erratic and your heart starts racing. There is something inside of you that wants to come out, and something else that wants to keep it prisoner. One entity cries and wars for FREEDOM and the other battles to maintain CAPTIVITY. It’s a war of the ages between two entities that have been battling since time began; and for one reason. You, Me. Humanity, there is a battle that has been going on inside of men, since the very moment time came into existence. This war between GOOD and EVIL, between LIGHT and DARKNESS is older then any of us can comprehend. Yet we have known it our entire lives. So have you ever felt like there was an epic war going on inside of you? It’s a feeling as if you can feel the DARKNESS and the LIGHT colliding, clashing and leaving your very essence in ruined and destroyed. You see flashes of light and you are almost certain that the flashes are the result of the battle going on inside of you.
In the end there is only one question I have for you. Which side will you aid in victory, how will you quench the INNER TUMULT? You decide, but choose wisely, your decision will end a war that has been roaring through time itself.

Poems I've written through time

My

MY SIGHT

I walk blindly at night.
But I hear no path,
and I see no words of guidance.

MY STEPS

Feeble attempts to navigate,
so quiet I can't concentrate.
So dark I see the everything in Nothing.

MY HOPE

Lost along side me,
for I hear no path,
and I see no words to guide me.

MY FEAR

I'm trapped in a continual sphere,
of who's there and what's here.
Wonder if an exit is near.

MY LIFE

Failing attempts to make everything right.
to try and ignite a flame,
that will guide me through this perpetual Night!

Copyright ©2008 Isaac Arodi Valentin

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He Wept
by: Isaac Arodi Valentin

His heart was burdened, it burned with
compassion,
For those whose fate was lost
in the darkness,
the rockless foundations,
of stress and frustration.
He yearned to give then peace
from there pain, and take them out of the rain,
But they wouldn't except him!
So he stood there watching
them go into their places of sleep.
And He started to weep!

Copyright ©2008 Isaac Arodi Valentin


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Im not You

I think there for i am
I am there for i think
I see there for i am
Dont miss a single blink
You say that im not me
You say im a stranger
You say that u dont know me
All because im not what u think
I dont do what u do
I dont act like u do
I dont see like you
Im the missing link
You call me names
You put me to shame
You pour on me the blame
All because i wont sink
Therefore i think like i do,
and i see like i do,
because i never want to
turn out like YOU!

Copyright ©2008 Isaac Arodi Valentin


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Power Complex

What would happen if I gave in?
What would become of this fragile body,
if I released the power within?
would I finally see what I was created for?
or would I continue to disappoint those,
who see what my gift is for?
If this power was set free,
would it consume those around me?
Or would the immense energy released just take over me?
My skin burns and aches,
as the fire in me draws closer to it's freedom.
This unquenchable force in me yearns,
to see the world from the outer limits.
Everything within me says, "release it!" BUT,
What would happen if I gave in?
What would become of this fragile body,
if I released the power within?
would I finally see what I was created for?
or would I continue to disappoint those,
who see what my gift is for?


Copyright ©2008 Isaac Arodi Valentin

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Unknown

i am the unknown, the unseen, the unheard.
I live my live in secret. I wonder in the darkness.
Not because i have no choice.
But Because i choose to walk in the darkness.
For you see, if no one from the Light walked in the dark.
Then who would save those who are lost in the dark.
Those who cant find they're way.
But you see. I am still the unknown, the unseen, the unheard.
For in the darkness, one can not see who is saving him.
All they feel is a hand guiding them to way out.
And so, I am the Unknown, the Unseen, and the Unheard.
And i would have it no other way.

Copyright ©2008 Isaac Valentin

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Mental Cloud

I step in
I step out
the doubt clouds my mind
What lies have i taken
What truths have i dropped
If reality met me today
would i realize she was here
that is the question that fills my time
as I step and step out
with my mind full of doubt

Copyright ©2008 Isaac Valentin

Prayer: Have We Forgotten

When we were children, it seems that our prayers had no bounds. When we were children, it we were able to ask God anything, no matter how stupid it may have seemed to those around us. And it seemed that we always believed that God was listening to us and that HE would always come through.

“God, will you bless scruffy? He’s sick and isn’t able to play, I feel bad for him.” “God, thank you for making apples, I like them so much.” “God, will you please help mommy and daddy, they not happy right now. And God I know that you can help, so will you please help them smile, thank you God, oh and sweet dreams God”

What happens to us as we transition from Child to Teen and then to Adult. It would appear that there is a point in our progression in our lives that we FORGET that we can come to God with any request. As we make our way to Adulthood we tend to think that our prayers need to be some what perfect. Or that we mustn’t sound childish, because if we do then God will not hear or listen to our petition.

But what if we would go back to the way we once prayed. What if instead of trying to sound perfect or intellectual when speaking to our Father, we just laid our heads on his chest and said, “Daddy, can you make scruffy better, he’s sick and cant play.”

Matthew 18:2-4

2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Here we see that we must be like children to enter the Kingdom of heaven. We must HUMBLE ourselves like a child. But why do we have to HUMBLE ourselves like children? I think the answer to that question is found in the prayers that children pray. When a child prays there is no doubt that God cant do what they are asking HIM to do. But we as Adults, throughout the transitions from Child to Adult is would appear that we have lost that faith. And we have FORGOTTEN that God can do anything. And in our arrogance we pray safe, but, highly intellectual prays as not to be disappoint. We have FORGOTTEN how big and powerful God really is.

So I petitions that when we pray, we remember how bold we were as children and how confident we were in God, and we lay our heads on God’s chest and speak to our father.

Was I Ment for More?

Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve always believed that I was alive to achieve great things. I’ve always had this burning inside of me to be great, to be amazing, and to be SOMEONE. In my Americanized thinking I figure that that ambition was to become famous or rich. Even as a Christian I figure that the burning that was in my heart was to become a “top dog” in the Christian realm. But this week in our small/life group we went over a portion of the bible that challenged my prior thinking.

Hebrews 11:32-42 (NIV)
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[a]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

As we read this passage in the Bible, I pondered on my prior belief of what my “great achievement” would be like. The fame and the money went out the window. Rising up the ranks of Christian society also evaporated in the immense heat of these verses. That night and the next day, I began to debate with myself. What if the burning in my heart to “achieve more” was not in reference to fame, glory and wealth? What if the yearning I had inside was a dormant, yet growing strength to be like the ancients. To suffer and indoor what they went through, and all to gain something unattainable in this earthly and decaying realm of Humanity.

I thought how we always strive to be the BEST. Our lives turn into a constant battle to “out do” this person, or “out perform” that person. What if instead of striving to be “THE BEST” we strove to “DO OUR BEST”. In striving to be the best we consume too much time and effort in everyone else’s accomplishments. Doing my best pins me against me and how much effort I put forward.

When I was a teenager I went on a mission’s trip with Youth for Christ, in Lebanon PA. We went to an Indian reservation in Mississippi. While we were boarding the bus to begin our journey, our leader asked each of us what we were looking forward to on the trip. Most of the answers were typical: to teach, to help people, to see new things. But one teens answer stunned our leader and all of us that heard him. The one thing he was looking forward to the most was “being persecuted”. You see even as a teen this boy got it. That if the ancients went through so much pain, ridicule, torture and need, then what makes me think I’m any better.

That was it, I realized that, I WAS alive to achieve more then I can possible imagine. That burning desire to fight and press on to a better life, that consumes me from the inside, was never for this life here on earth. I must be relentless and continue with the faith regardless of what may come, regardless of what might NOT come. So that one day, I when I get to heaven, my riches and my fame (with GOD) will be waiting for me. So that when I die and stand before Jesus, he will say “well done good and faithful servant. The world was not worthy of you.”

Look Outside the Ravens are Coming

I was thinking the other day about how it seems that we are always tight in the financial arena of our life. We work and work and work, and when we are done working, we work some more. And yet it seems like we can never make it over this mountain of financial instability. Then I remember my Homiletics class at CFNI, and the verse that was used for my graded sermon.

1 Kings 17
Elijah Fed by Ravens

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe [a] in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."
5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

As I reread this it was an encouragement to me. Not because I’m a prophet or because it would be completely awesome to have birds bring me food every morning and evening. No it was an encouragement because I see that GOD is in control. This past week my wife (Samantha) has been really stressed out and feeling overwhelmed. I tell you guys that not to put her business on front street, but rather as an encouragement to her. “Babe when you read this, Remember, “Look outside, the ravens are coming””.
You see Elijah was obedient to the Lord’s commands and in turn the Lord took care of him and command the very raven to bring his servant substance. But if you notice they only came in the morning and in the even. So if you call yourself a servant of GOD, be obedient, and be amazed at how GOD provides for you. If GOD is challenging you to move into a new arena of your ministry, career, relationship(s), I challenge you to be obedient and if you don’t see GOD’s hand in action at first, I compel you, “Look outside, the ravens are coming”. Be still in your obedience and know that GOD is in control. Once again: “Look Outside, the Ravens are coming!!”

The Heart Vs. The Mind

A couple weeks ago my wife made a comment that triggered and explosion of intriguing thoughts in my mind. We had been talking about playing the piano (I think) and she mentioned that she use to know how to play a song by heart (I don’t remember what song it was). And the phrase “BY HEART” is what triggered the onslaught and bombardment of thought to fly through my mind like debris in the mist of a volcanic eruption. I thought how the bible tells us to write his words upon our heart. Deut 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. When I thought of this I asked my wife, “I wonder if the early church or those in the Old Testament started that phrase?” I mean I can see them fellowshipping and in encouragement ask one another “Do you have the lords words upon your heart?” and it evolving into “Do you know the scriptures by heart?” At first it was just a cool thing that I thought would be a pretty neat coincidence if it were true. But then as I researched the aforementioned verse I was quit compelled to head the words of Deuteronomy. I was reading the verse and it says to lay or PUT my words in your heart and soul. And I thought, you know when something is in your heart, you seldom forget it. Because you only allow your passions and things you care about to be written on your heart. Example, I Love my wife, she is the most important thing in my life (next to Jesus).I cherish her so I will never forget the date on which we got married (3 years ago), but if you ask me the score of the Tennessee Titans game 3 weeks ago I wont be able to tell you, nor will I be able to tell you who they played if they played at all, even though they are my favorite football team. Things that you store in your heart are there to stay. Unlike your mental memory which is fleeting, knowing things by heart is eternal.

As I continued reading the verse the end of it got me. I didn’t know what a “Frontlets” was. So naturally I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster online Dictionary and this is what I got:

Frontlets

1 : a band or phylactery worn on the forehead

2 : the forehead especially of an animal

In definition number one I didn’t know what a Phylactery was so back again to Merriam-Webster.

Phylactery

1 : either of two small square leather boxes containing slips inscribed with scriptural passages and traditionally worn on the left arm and on the head by observant Jewish men and especially adherents of Orthodox Judaism during morning weekday prayers

Here this image might help.

Once I saw this I was amazed. And thought “man if we as Christians would stop trying to memorize scriptures and put them on out Hearts then they would be would be ready for us to grab them out of our minds at all times.” I mean look at the picture and the definition. It’s a box containing slips with scriptures written on them. Instead of saying “I think the Bible says this somewhere” we would be able to say, “The Bible says this right here, let me show you.”

So I’m challenged to stop trying to Memorize the Word with my mind, and strive rather to place the Word on my Heart, where it will remain for my lifetime. My mental memory is fragile and untrustworthy. But my Heart will hold and release back to me the things I cherish most. So I say let the Bible be one of my most cherished possessions. That I may truly know it “BY HEART”!