Conference yukon::christian_v7

 My best friend is totally blind and has accompanied me many times on church
 visitation.  I have noticed only once where someone we were visiting was
 uncomfortable with Ron being there.   Ron usually does a fine job at
 making people feel at ease.



 Jim

    Thomas,
    
    It us unfortunate that you feel rejected due to your physical handicap. 
    I sense the hurt in your note.  I also wish that there were a way that
    I could comfort you in this, but the only comforter is Him.
    
    Have you truly sought God's face on this?  Have you asked him Why?  
    Are you angry, resentful but fearful of that anger and resentment.  I
    cannot speak to a physical handicap that is real.  But I can speak
    about a handicap that is emotional.  Because of my past, it is very
    difficult for me to believe that I am loveable, likeable, or
    desireable.
    
    I do a fantastic job at covering this up, [most of the time].  But just
    recently, I met God with my pimples, warts and all those things that
    cover-up just couldn't cover-up anymore.  I allowed myself to admit out
    loud my sins [the hidden ones] to a group of trusted Brethren.  I
    allowed myself to say out loud, does God really love me or am I just
    some insignificant part of the "world" in John 3:16.
    
    I also determined that this question revealed a lot about me.  I wasn't
    really sure if God loved me [beyond salvation] because of several
    things:
    
    1.  I didn't really know Him beyond Savior.  My study has mostly been
    New Testament.  I've learned that to truly KNOW God beyond what he can
    do for me [i.e., Heaven], I must devour the WHOLE Bible, not just
    portions.  
    
    2. I also realized that what I thought I knew, I didn't really know. 
    Much of what I thought I knew was what I had learned from others,
    versus through my "personal" relationship.
    
    3. I also realized that the only way to fully know fulfillment, joy,
    happiness, and purpose was to stop whining and begin to do something
    about it.
    
    You may ask what I'm doing now to address the above.  And this is going
    to sound ridiculous, but I'm going to say it.  Nothing.  But that which
    God show me which began as;  studying Job.  I got a thirst and hunger
    of a starved person to know God intimately as revealed in scripture and
    confirmed in my heart.
    
    I heard a sermon on TV this morning from a Pastor whom I know and have
    attended his church.  I didn't tape it so I can't remember exactly the
    points, but he was speaking from Jeremiah and what God told Jeremiah to
    do... so for those biblical scholars who may find my points out of
    sequence or missing, please forgive as I plagiarize what I learned this
    morning [had me weeping in my coffee].
    
    As a Christian, we desire to be fruitful and multiply.  We desire to
    build and encourage others.  But when God instructed Jeremiah he gave
    him the plan to begin building, he said rootup, destroy, plant and
    build [I believe I'm missing two steps, but these were the main
    points].
    
    Rootup... take that which is unholy out.  Think about that in our own
    personal lives.  
    
    Have you noticed that when someone gets there picture taken they always
    want to show "their good side".  Many of us do the same with God.  We
    hide our confusion, our secret sin as though he cannot see it.  We
    need to acknowledge our true heart's contents before God.
    
    Destroy... once we root out the issues of our hearts, we can allow God
    to begin destruction of that in us.  Have you ever seen compost bed? 
    It is garbage and it can become rather toxic so that anything you put
    inside decomposes.  But that refuse when mixed with soil creates
    fertile ground.  My friend God takes our compost mixes it with Jesus
    and we become fertile ground in which to
    
    Plant... Now we must begin to sow the seed. As the seed grows around us
    and we become fruitful, it is then that we begin to..
    
    Build.  
    
    Thomas and anyone else who is reading this, I wept so hard as I
    heard this message.  God makes no mistakes...once again he demonstrated
    He loves *me*... by allowing this Godcident of my waking early and
    finding this program.  I pray this touches your heart as it touched
    mine.
    
    In Him,
    Nancy
    
    

    Hi Thomas,

    Its a bit weird that we can intellectually reject what someone says,
    such as your rejecting what Fred Price says about people with handi-
    caps not being able to glorify God, and yet let it niggle away at our
    confidence in who we are as people, who we are before the Lord, and 
    the Lord's love for us.  I want to affirm what you intellectually know,
    I want to encourage you not to let people like Fred Price discourage
    you!

    It is not our physical ability that brings glory to God.  Rather, what 
    glorifies God is that we seek to know and love God with all the strength 
    of mind and will, gifts and talents that we have.  We each have our
    own walk in life, and must try to do the best we can.  Do not worry
    about comparing yourself with others, just do the best you can to express
    the love God has loved you with to others with whom you come into contact
    with.  There are so many verses in the Bible about men judge by exteriors,
    but God sees the heart.

    Every Friday evening, my husband reads Proverbs 31 to me, and I read
    Psalm 112 to him.  Psalm 112 talks about what it is that brings a man
    blessing and makes him happy.  It is the fear of the Lord.  A man who 
    is upright, gracious, and compassionate, lending graciously to those in
    need will be a beacon in the darkness for those who seek the Lord, who 
    are upright in heart.  Such a person can carry their head high, such a
    person can bear misfortune without falling to pieces because the have
    a steadfast heart, trusting in the Lord.

    And what does Isaiah 53 say about the Messiah?  "He had no beauty, 
    no majesty to catch our eyes, no grace to attract us to him."  Yet this
    is the One who sits at the right hand of the Father, ready to judge the
    world.  Why?  "Because he exposed himself to death and was reckoned 
    among transgressors, for he bore the sin of many and interceded for 
    transgressors.  Those who love the Lord, and give of what they have to
    help others, those are the ones who bring glory to God.

    Leslie

    Re: .3
    
    Leslie,
    
    I have to say Amen to that. Your replies have often ministered to me
    and I would imagine that this one will minister to Thomas (IMO).
    
    Peter.

    Fred should meet a true Christian like Joni Erickson-Tata sometime.

If you look at almost anyone who has become a powerful minister of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you will find that what has made them that way has been some
weakness or affliction that has forced them to turn to the Lord for strength.
Many, such as Joni that Mike mentioned, have done so through physical
handicaps.  Others have done so through personal or family illnesses or
deaths, divorce, persecution, or any of many other types of afflictions.

Unless we learn to turn to the Lord for our strength, we are not very
effective in advancing His Kingdom.

Join Paul in thanking and praising God for the handicap He has allowed you to
have for the purpose of learning to trust in Him alone.  When you are weak,
then you are strong.

Paul

    or Daryl Witmer, head of Areopagus II America.
    
    I hope Fred's comments were taken out of context; otherwise, to say
    that handicapped people cannot glorify God is blasphemous, i.e.,
    denying tangible demonstration of God's power.

    Wayne, see 157.42.  Unfortunately, it wasn't taken out of context.
    
    Mike

    RE: .8
    
    Wow, I just read 157.42--outrageous!!  And sickening!
    
    I was grieved, how much more the Holy Spirit.
    
    /Wayne

    Yes, it is disgusting.  Meanwhile, he drives a Rolls Royce, wears a
    Rolex, and Armani suits, and continually has his shows funded on TBN.
    
    And we wonder why God compared us to sheep!  Some of the flock aren't
    very observant.
    
    Mike

    RE: .10
    
    Are you suggesting that I'm not very observant for not having heard of
    Fred Price?  Sad, but true. :-(
    
    Or are you suggesting that those who follow Fred Price and give him
    money are not very observant?  Also sad, but true. :-(
    
    There is so much deception in the world right now that just ferreting
    it out is a full-time job.  I guess I'll continue to opt for knowing
    only Jesus whom to know is life eternal, while being grateful for
    others who by God's grace have been called to identify and root out
    false teachers.
    
    And let us be careful to test the spirits whether they are of God.
    
    Thomas, the best thing Fred Price may ever see is his earthly
    possessions.  I'm sure you, on the other hand, have an eternal crown of
    glory!
    
    /Wayne

>    Or are you suggesting that those who follow Fred Price and give him
>    money are not very observant?  Also sad, but true. :-(
    
    This is what I meant.
    
>    There is so much deception in the world right now that just ferreting
>    it out is a full-time job.  I guess I'll continue to opt for knowing
    
    It can be.  It's easier to keep your eyes on Jesus and your nose in His
    Word.  The riff-raff just fall by the wayside then because you KNOW His
    voice!
    
    Mike

    hi,
    
      as you know, we live in a society with much competition and greed and
    these faith/prosperity teachers are not helping. the last thing i need
    to hear from a teacher/preacher is that im not good enough for God to
    use me, because of handicaps. i know a woman who follows kenneth
    copeland and jumped all over me for having 2 colds(sneezing, coughing)
    in one month. she was telling me i didnt have enough faith because i
    was sick. ;-(
       its a shame the deception from these teachers/preachers. i often
    listen to "christian research institute" with hank henigraff. today he
    played a tape series on the deceptive teachings of fred price, morris
    cerrulo, k. copeland, benny hinn, john haggi, and a few others, it was
    scary. at one point they all expressed how they "are God". a few
    explained how we should be rich with wealth and if we are not, its a
    lack of faith.
         to order that tape series, its fifteen dollars at .....
    christian research institute
    po box 500
    san juan capastrano, ca.
               zip unknown to me. 
    ....just in case your interested, the tape is informative. if your not
    familiar with CRI and its president hank henigraff(not sure if thats
    the correct spelling of his last name) hank and his staff are very
    dedicated in researching truth and non-truth that line up and do not so
    with the basic essentials of the historic christian faith. CRI has much
    free data that can be sent to you on much topic, in question.
    
              in him,  thomas

    Thanks for the info, Thomas.  I've been told offline by someone that
    I'm too judgmental when it comes to folks like Price.  Imagine that!
    Me, too judgmental about someone who calls himself "GOD."
    
    Mike

    mike,
    
      i know what you mean. i know there is a fine line, sometimes, between
    discernment and being judgemental. anyone who says they are GOD does
    not atleast understand the basics of christianity or they do and they
    want to make themselves out to be supreme beings, this is discernment.
    i agree with you.
                                  thomas

    Dear brother Thomas,
    
         Somewhere in the word, I'm not sure of book, chapter or verse it says,
    that teachers of the word will be judged even more harshly. 
    
                                  In Him....Jack Perry
    
         P.S. can some one help me out with which verse ? I do not have a bible.
                                                                               

    RE: .16
    
    James 3:1