1:2: He was in the beginning with God. (NASB) 

The Word was already with God when the beginning began. Again, whenever that was. 

It’s somewhat interesting to see how when referring to the creation of the world, the Bible uses the terms “in the beginning” and “from the beginning.”  “In the beginning” is usually used more in association with God, while “from the beginning” is used more in association with Satan. Compare Gen. 1:1, John 1:1-2, and Heb. 1:10, with John 8:44, and 1 John 3:8 to see this. 

1:3: All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (NASB) 

The KJV and NIV translate this verse using the verb “made” instead of  “came into being.”  Not wanting to become overly laborious here, but it is important to try and understand what John is wanting us to know about this Word. The Greek verb he chose for what the NASB renders “came into being” is egeneto, and has the idea of “causing to, or bringing something into, existence.”  

So, John is saying that the Word was behind creation, which is huge because creation, as we saw earlier, is one of the Works of God Himself. 

Jesus being the Agent of creation can be seen in Hebrews 1:1-3,10, and also here: 

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:16-17, NASB)

 1:4: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (NASB) 

In these first four verses of his Gospel, we see four titles which John attributes to the Person of Jesus: the Word, the Creator, the Life, and the Light. 

John is here presenting further proof of Jesus’ Deity, in that He is the Source of Life (see also 1 John 5:11-13,20) and the Source of Light (see John 8:12 and Revelation 21:23). Jesus being “the Life” and “the Light” are themes which John repeats throughout this book (Life: see 3:36, 5:24, 8:51, 11:25, etc.; Light: see 1:8-9, 3:19-21, 9:5, 12:35-36, etc.) 

Similarly, the Psalmist connects the Word of God and Light: 

¹³⁰ The unfolding of Thy words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130, NASB)

God as Life and Light is also seen expressed together by Moses in Genesis chapter 1, as well as by David in the Psalms: 

⁹ For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light. (Psalm 36:9, NASB)

Man can’t know what it is to really live until He comes to Christ, and lives the life God intended for him to have. I suppose that’s the real reason why people fixate so on the shallow things of this world……booze, drugs, acquiring possessions, seeking attention/fame, building a personal empire, whatever. 

Someone once said that within every person’s heart there is a "God-shaped hole," and they will never find contentment or peace until He fills it. 

-joebib

I finally got around to watching the movie Jesus Camp, and yes, it stirred up a lot of emotions for me considering the fact that I lived that movie (as did many of you all I'm sure…it really shows what life is like growing as a "Charismatic Christian"). I don't really want to take the time to dig into it too much, but I did want to share two quick thoughts that I had:

1. Levi (from Jesus Camp) is Judah Smith (from The City Church). If anyone should be able to relate to that movie it should be Judah Smith. He and Levi are one and the same person. Raised from a very young age to be a preacher…with the heavy emphasis being put on passion and emotion rather than sound Biblical teaching.

2. How did anyone NOT know that Ted Haggard was gay? He only was in the movie for a short time, but it was a short gay time.

If you haven't seen the movie, go rent it and enjoy the trip down memory lane.

I've been critiquing City Bible Church's month long sermon series titled The Gift. Last week we (they) covered the Gift of Love and this week I had the pleasure of listening to a sermon on the Gift of Peace given by Marc Estes.

I have been hoping all along to hear about the Gospel (truth) of Jesus Christ…but I'm coming to realize that CBC has no idea what that is.

I'll try to sum up "The Gift of Peace" according to Marc Estes. Marc started by telling you what a "Gift" was (basic recap of Frank's sermon from last week) and then told you that Baby Jesus was a gift of peace. Marc says that there are 3 things you need to do to make a gift worth anything: 1 - Receive 2 - Unwrap 3 - Apply to your life. His example was this: If someone gives you a box full of cash and you take it but don't open it, then it doesn't do you any good. You have to unwrap the box and apply the money to your life (I have no idea how to "apply money to your life", but my guess is that you put it in the bank). He than said that Jesus wants to give you Peace and all you have to do is receive it.

Apparently, all you need is Jesus in your life and you will find Peace…and not just a partial peace, but a full and complete peace that nothing from this world can penetrate. Marc then read a bunch of scriptures that talk about God wanting you to have Peace. Are you curious what you have to do to get this "peace" in your life? I was, and this is what Marc said you need to do to get this Peace:

Receive. Unwrap. Apply.

Yup, that is it…just Receive the gift of peace, un-wrap that gift of peace and apply that gift to your life. It's so simple. Once again we have another CBC sermon where I'm left saying ???????. Those are some very generic directions. What does that mean? Specifically, how do we Receive, Unwrap, and Apply?

I wish I hadn't asked. Marc ended the sermon with an alter call where he basically told everyone that if they don't have Peace in their life than all they need to do is come down to the alter and ask Jesus into their hearts. It's as if the "Sinner's Prayer" is a magic spell.

I don't know how in the world Marc can say the things he said…I certainly hope he doesn't actually believe them. I have known far too many Great, Godly, Christian Men and Women who did NOT have peace in their life at all times (consider Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: Mark 26:38). It isn't that easy.

Marc, what do you say to the Christian woman whose spent her whole life living for God along side her Godly husband…who has an unfortunate accident and dies…leaving her alone…

Is there something wrong with her, if she doesn't feel peace?

Let me tell you my thoughts on Peace and Jesus. The peace that comes from knowing Jesus helps when you fully understand that everything (and I mean everything) that happens in this world is ordained (or allowed) by God. The good, the bad, and the in-between all happen with God's permission. The devil can NOT interfere with God's plans for this life. Sometimes, there will be stresses that come into your life. Sickness and Death are two real buggers that can interfere with your Peace, and as much as we may say "God you are in control" it doesn't bring immediate peace, necessarily. Peace from Jesus, in my mind, means accepting that God is in control of all the crap that this life has to offer…there is peace in that.

I'm so tired of CBC teaching that God will solve all your problems. "Just ask Him into your heart children, and he will take over the controls of your life…just trust in Him and he will take care of your problems". "If you are feeling down, just run into His arms and He will hug you and take away your pain".

Maybe….or maybe not.

Let' be REAL for a moment. God set up some simple rules that apply to life. And within those rules are rewards and consequences. Sin has a negative effect on this this world, and sin doesn't just effect the sinner, it can effect those around them even more so.

What happens when people expect God to magically cure all their problems? They get angry at Him when it doesn't happen. Life is Life, people. It isn't going to be easy. Jesus is a good friend, but He isn't a genie in a bottle.

I thought about emailing this to Marc, but I'm quite certain if I did he would just tell me that I completely misunderstood what he was saying. The truth is, I heard him loud and clear. (Marc did spend 10 seconds saying that your life needs to line up with the Bible and God's will in your life and that sometimes when bad things happen it is because God is just trying to get our attention… but his basic theme was that if you are a good Christian you will have perfect peace in your life.)

I say, that although God CAN miraculously take all the stresses away from your life, chances are good that He won't. Do not be discouraged if you are going through a rough time. Again, Life is Life.

My faith in Jesus helps remove the fear of dying, but it doesn't take away my fear of death. If something were to happen to my wife or any of my children I would HURT for a very long time. There would be many nights of pain, stress, anguish…and that would be ok. It wouldn't mean that I am a lousy Christian and it wouldn't mean that God is a liar. Because of Sin we have Death and because of Death we have Pain…this is the life that we have to live in…and it's OK.

Feel free to hurt, feel free to cry, and feel free to know that despite all you are going through God sent His son to earth to pay the price for you sins.

Romans 5:1-8

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 2through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

 3And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

 4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

 5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

 7For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

For those of you who don't read the comments:  

I just got the letter from CBC sent out to all PBC Alumni requesting $1000 to pay for the boiler that broke under dorm 2. It says they need $80k, which sounds right, but here is going to be the problem: The last capital campaign CBC did was to raise money to rehab the campus, start a west campus, retire the debt, and do evangelism (Forward Together).

Since the CBC leadership lied as to what they were using the money for (they are more in debt now than ever and the east campus still looks like shizz), they are going to have to overcome a serious credibility issue. And since Ken Malmin was demoted, and Larry Asplund, Linda Asplund, Eugene Greco, Joy Greco, Joel and Alyn Shinness, Larry Henderson, Mary Henderson, Larry Taylor, Ken Ross, and Jan Weinstein were all either fired or driven away from PBC, why in the he__ do you think any of us alumni would give CBC a red cent? They fired all our favorite teachers and replaced them with Gen pastors that can’t even show up to class on time.

By the way, if CBC receives more than 80k for the boiler, will they return the rest of the money? Puh-leease. As an alumnus of PBC I would love to contribute to a college I have such fond memories of for whatever need they have of. The problem is, that college that I attended no longer exists.

Ouch! Well said.

I guess all this bad church financing is contagious.

According to West Seattle Blog, Mars Hill Church recently had this to say in one of their "Pastor Prayers".

Multiple pastors request prayers for our financial state. With the deep deficit, it is a test for all the staff to choose Jesus over anxiety when ministry funds are cut short and the possibility of lay-offs and additional budget cuts is on the horizon. Please pray for repentance by those who are disobeying God in their giving …

(Insert Snarky Comment)

(H/T - www.onthevig.com)

I recently received the following email from blog reader, Alicia Hunt, with the subject line, A Quote from Abraham Lincoln:

 "If you look for the bad in people, you will surely find it."
-Abraham Lincoln

I read a couple of your articles here and it seems from my breif visit to
this sight that you try very hard to find as many flaws per person and per
sermon assosiated with the City Bible Church that you possibly can. What was
it that Jesus said to the adulterous women? "He who is without sin cast the
first stone"

Yes no one is perfect or completely biblically sound but God looks at the
heart, and I think he sees that the City Bible Church and Judah Smith have a
heart to change the world and they are stepping out and doing it. They had
the guts to step out and I respect them for that. sorry for getting personal
here, but what are you doing to change the world?

I know their ministries have changed my life through Generation Unleashed
and Judah's podcasts. And I thank God for them. 1 Samuel 26:11

From a seventeen year old girl in Canada who wants to change the world too.
And will, with Jesus as her source.
-Alicia Hunt

While we are not able to respond to every email we get, we try to reply to as many as possible, this time however, my response was sent back to me…I think Alicia  may have been afraid that I was going to put a voodoo email hex on her, so she  blocked my reply. No matter, Alicia, here is the email you would have received:

Alicia, thanks for your comments. I can see how it would appear that all we do is "find the bad" in people…and to some extent that is true. One thing that you may want to consider is that 10 years ago we were in the exact same place that you are in now. Both Justin (Catalyst) and I spent a number of years getting pumped up at Generation Unleashed…but to be frank, we were young and stupid.
 
The Bible is very complex, and the teachings that both CBC and Judah Smith share are often un-Biblical. I wish it weren't so. They put on a great conference every year, it's very entertaining and I hope it has had a positive effect on your life…but there is a big difference between hype and change.
 
"To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards out of men."
-Abraham Lincoln

 Johnpaul Morton

In my ongoing attempt to be a little more positive,  here's a nice story:

An elderly grandmother who was robbed at gunpoint ends up sharing Christ with the robber.

Jacobi had just finished putting her groceries inside her car at a Dyersburg Wal-Mart when a man jumped into the car through the passenger's side door. He told Jacobi he had a gun and that he would shoot her if she didn't give him money.

"I'm not going to give you my money," Jacobi said.

In fact. She told him "no" three times.

Then she started to talk to him.
 
"As quick as you kill me I'll go to heaven and you'll go to hell," Jacobi said she told the man. "'Jesus is in this car and he goes with me everywhere I go."

"He just looked around and the tears just began coming down his eyes."

She told him to ask God for forgiveness and ministered to him for 10 minutes inside her car.

"He says, 'I think I'll go home and pray tonight,'" Jacobi said. "I says, 'You don't have to wait until tonight. You can pray anytime you want to.'"
 
As tears were rolling down the man's face, Jacobi voluntarily gave him $10. All the money she had.

Somedays, I feel like I'm that grandmother and Pastor Frank is the gunman…

These words, taken from the hymn BE THOU MY VISION, have been on my heart of late.  

It occurs to me that one of the most effective tools the enemy of our souls uses to keep us from that one thing which alone will transform us from carnal believers into true followers of Christ — intimacy with Jesus — is distraction. 

By distraction, I don’t just mean the obvious aspect of that which would divert our attention away from the Lord and onto something else — although there are definitely plenty of allurements in this world which are all too successful in doing just that. Stuff like busy schedules, sports, possessions, long hours at work, stress at home, too much time spent in front of the idiot box — or in front of it’s heinous cousin, the silver screen — and even friends and loved ones.

None of which, I suppose, are “sinful” in and of themselves, but any one of which can become so if taken to an extreme. (Exodus 20:3, NASB)

No, what the Lord has been impressing upon me is about being distracted from Him while doing “stuff” for Him — even in the very midst of it. 

I used to find myself getting caught up in this type of thing all the time, in past years, when I was heavily involved in various IC activities like attending services/meetings/events perhaps 3, 4, or even 5 times per week, helping out in the nursery or Sunday School, being in charge of this or that project, serving on committees, performing in plays, or even preaching and teaching. I mean, all of this is on the face of it, good stuff. Right? 

And I’m sure many, if not most, of us have been there and can relate, can’t we? I seem to remember Pope recently mentioning the total number of services/meetings he attended over the years at CBC as approaching a googleplex.

Now, what about doing something less public, less IC-like? What about reading and studying the Bible, for instance? We’re exhorted to do just that by the Bible itself, and not just to read and study it, but to think about it, to recite it, to memorize it, to meditate — and even muse — upon God’s Word. You all know the verses that say this. 

But I know from personal experience that Bible reading and Bible study can quickly morph into something from which both Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit are quite far away from.  

I remember KJC once telling me that when he used to study the Word, in the very midst of doing that, every so often, he would just stop, close his Bible or whatever he was writing in, and just close his eyes and begin to pray and commune with the Lord, and spend time with Him before going back to study. For maybe 10 or 15 minutes. I have tried to do this myself over the years, but I find that I didn’t do it nearly as often as my spirit needed me to. 

Alright then, what about prayer? Surely, we can’t be guilty of being distracted from — from missing — the Lord in prayer, can we?  

Well, again, I don’t know about anyone else, but I know for sure that I can. My wife and I pray together every morning before we leave for work, which is good, right? But, you know, sometimes, in the midst of that, my mind is not where it should be. Maybe I’m focused a bit too much on telling the Lord what I need from Him, or asking Him to do this or that in someone’s else’s life, or telling Him what He should do in this or that situation.

All of which — except perhaps the latter   — are good things to do, and which are definitely aspects of prayer, aren't they?

But what about time spent in just being before Him? In just kneeling or sitting or standing or laying there before Him — alone — and just feeling Him, and listening to Him, and communing with Him, and just allowing myself to soak in whatever He is wanting to pour into me? Although I have done this many times, I'm feeling Him call me to a deeper level of it.

I’m reminded right about now of the Lord’s admonition to the Church at Ephesus, how Jesus commended them for all their wonderful works and service which they had done to and for Him. And yet, we all know how He had just one thing against them — they had moved away from His Presence.

In the midst of the very proper stuff they were doing for Him, they had not lost, but left their 1st Love (Rev. 2:1-7, NASB). 

OK, I’m done.

Thanks for letting me open up.  

I append here the entire lyrics to BE THOU MY VISION. You can go to one of these song/hymn sites on the web (here) and (here) to read/listen to this hymn if you wish. 

(Will you forgive me if I embolden my favorite parts?) 

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:

Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,

May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. 

-joebibstudent 

Well folks…Frank is not off to a good start. In CBC's last bulletin (from Dec 1^st) Frank said "Please join with us during this December series "The Gift" as we preach the grace of God." As I mentioned earlier, I was very excited to hear the "grace of God" (often referred to as "the Gospel") preached from a City Bible Church pulpit (there are 3 you know). Alas, as it turns out, Frank seems to think that the "grace of God" is Love. Now, I'm not trying to knock the "love of God" which led to the "grace of God" which was sending Jesus to earth to pay for our sins…Love eventually gets us to that wonderful story of the Gospel and grace of Jesus…at least it should…of course at CBC it doesn't always work that way.  

I will now sum up for you what Frank Damazio said in his sermon:

"Love. Love. Love. Love. Love."

Followed by an un-cute anecdote about someone loving someone else, which was then followed by Frank telling you how much God loves you…

…right…God loves us so much so that He…come on Frank…that He sent…you know the story PF…that He sent His only…begotten…damn it Frank…you don't know do you?

That's right people he never got there. This was in fact one of the most boring Frank Damazio sermons I have ever heard…unless you feel the need for someone to tell you meaningless stories followed by saying (as inconvincibly as possible) "God loves you", don't waste your time. (I'm really not trying to belittle God's love here…Frank just didn't convince me that he believes what he was saying…it was rather robotic). Anyway, since this blog is all about entertainment, allow me to point you in the direction of something more enjoyable:

…the remainder of this post has been removed by the author due to conviction of the Holy Spirit (with the help of Joebib).

This article is just in from the Christian Post:

TWO OF SIX PREACHERS TURN OVER FINANCIAL DATA FOR PROBE

by Lillian Kwon 

Only two faith-based ministries have met a Thursday deadline to turn over financial documents for a Senate investigation on alleged opulent spending. Six were asked to cooperate. 

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) received the requested papers from Kenneth Copeland Ministries on Thursday and Joyce Meyer Ministries earlier this week. "

It’s good that some of the ministries are cooperating. I hope all of them will cooperate in the end," said Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Finance, in a statement. "For the focus of this inquiry, ministries are the same as any other non-profit organization. It’s a question of abiding by tax laws just like any tax-exempt group." 

A month ago, Grassley sent letters to six high-profile ministries – led by Paula and Randy White, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Benny Hinn, Meyer and Copeland – requesting financial statements and responses to pointed questions about salaries, perks and other organizational and personal finances. The Senate probe was launched to determine whether the ministries are abusing their tax-exempt status as churches for extravagant lifestyles. 

Churches, unlike secular nonprofits, are not required by law to make their finances public. And while some of the ministries under investigation stated they comply with tax laws, churches report very little information to the IRS and very little transparency is legally required of them, according to Richard Hammar, editor of Church Treasurer Alert! and Church Law and Tax Report. 

One of the requirements to be tax-exempt, however, is that the organization does not pay unreasonable compensation. And that is a main concern of the Senate investigation. 

Recent media coverage and reports by watchdog groups have alleged the six ministry leaders of generous salaries and amenities such as private jets and Rolls-Royces. Grassley told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that he "can't be impressed" by the argument from some of the preachers that the Internal Revenue Service already monitors them, because his past inquiries have unearthed information that the IRS never knew, according to The Associated Press. 

Creflo Dollar, one of the preachers under investigation, sent Grassley a letter asking that the investigation either be referred to the IRS, which would give greater privacy, or that the Senate committee get a subpoena. 

Dollar's lawyer, Marcus Owens of Washington, explained that turning over information through a subpoena would keep the church's information from being released to the public and "guarantees you privacy," as reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

Early in the investigation, Dollar had released some information about the finances for his church – World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga. – showing that the 30,000-member church took in $69 million in 2006. 

"I generally don't make this public," he said at the time. 

Dollar along with several other pastors have raised concerns about invasions of privacy and violations of religious freedom regarding the Senate probe. 

Dismissing the religious liberty argument, Grassley said, "Forget it. They don't have a leg to stand on." 

Representatives of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., said publicly that the ministry will cooperate with the Senate request but Grassley has not yet received any material or contact from the ministry. Bishop Eddie Long, who leads the Baptist church, has called Grassley's request unjust. 

Texas-based faith “healer” Benny Hinn has asked for more time to respond. A meeting with Hinn's attorneys is set for Friday, Grassley's office said. 

Lawyers for Paula and Randy White of Tampa gave initial contact to Grassley's office Thursday but no further response has been given. 

Grassley said he's willing to give the ministries more time to respond "as long as they’re cooperating and in contact with my office." 

"It’d be very unusual if they don’t cooperate," he added. "I’ve looked at a lot of non-profit groups over the last five years, and they’ve all cooperated. The only possible exception is when I was chairman, and then-Ranking Member Baucus asked for my help in getting a subpoena for charities connected to Jack Abramoff. That was an extreme case.” 

"I expect that in the end we won't have to work hard to get all these folks to cooperate, and I'd be very disappointed if I did," the Iowa senator said.

 YTMND!

-joebib