Remain Above Reproach?

I constantly hear Christians attempting to "shepherd" other Believers who’s actions they believe don’t “Look Good or could be misjudged” in spite of intent. They usually say something along the lines of

“…you need to remain above reproach”

In most cases, I do believe their intentions on giving this advice is given to encourage. Yet what I’ve witnessed throughout my life is a stifling of the Holy Spirit due to fear of what others will think of you. Your Religious Reputation per say.

First let’s take a look at the Scripture they use to Back their advice… 1 Timothy 3:1-7

“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.  Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.  He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.  Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”

These are characteristics of a Christian Leader.

Nowhere in these verses does it mention how you are accountable for how others are perceiving your actions. You're not off the hook yet though... I'll address this in a minute...
My concern is not about offending people, that's a given in this world, but my concern lays with not grieving His Spirit. I do my best to daily walk in His Spirit, and not my flesh, making decisions based on Love, and how it reflects on Him. I only want to bring Him honor, and Glory, I don't want people to see me, but to see Yahshua (Jesus), and experience His Love, His forgiveness.
His word teaches that He never did anything, or said anything unless the Spirit told Him to. He is the epitome of Love personified.

This also made Jesus  a controversial figure in society, outrageously controversial, in fact. He lived in a time that was far more extreme regarding the religious culture, with far more extreme consequences for not towing the religious party line.

It's interesting, upon reflection, to feel that on one side we like to talk about Jesus' controversial reputation, but at the same time we like to remain in the more conservative lifestyle that does not offend the religious structure and those who populate them.

We love the idea of the wildly-free Jesus, but, in our minds, we quietly hold onto the quiet, submissive Jesus. The wild Jesus, though fun to quote, makes us nervous.

One of the greatest challenges any Christian faces is the risk of falling in love with the idea of being like Jesus (WWJD?) while failing to recognize what a life lived in his footsteps truly looks like.

The life of Christ was not lived in a bubble of holy rollers, going through the same worship songs over and over, hiding away from society in their prayer meetings and revival events. Jesus was in the midst of the party of life. He was at the center of the celebration, with people, all kinds of people, from all kinds of walks of life, with all kinds of world views and lifestyles.

Jesus was in the midst of the brokenness of life.

Jesus didn't get a reputation amongst the religious as a 'glutton and a drunk' because of what he taught, but because he lived what he taught.

Religion wants everything sanitized. More than anything, religion is obsessed with maintaining a squeaky clean reputation, the very thing Jesus didn't seem to care about at all. For example, it's acceptable in modern Christian culture to hand a prostitute a flower and tell her God loves her, so long as you are on an organized 'ministry' trip and wearing a ministry branded shirt so those passing by can clearly see that you are a church person on a godly 'mission.'

But that wasn't what Jesus would do, at least I don't get that impression about him. No, he would more likely stroll up and ask how much the prostitutes rates are. Then he would probably pay her, go into the brothel with her. Then he'd talk to her for the hour, actually chat and enjoy her company, and then tell her he'd be back the next day. And he'd probably do this knowing the 'ministry' team across the road handing out flowers was watching him in disgust.

What would we think of Jesus if we saw him pay a prostitute, go into the brothel with her and come out an hour later with a smile on his face? We'd probably think he wasn't really the Christ after all. Ah, yes, and this was exactly the problem of the Pharisees, wasn't it? Jesus failed to live up to their idea of the Christ, which was, coincidentally, the exact image of their own religiously sanitized ideology.

As much as we love Jesus, I think until we allow our own reputation to become as trampled and dirty in the eyes of the religious as he allowed his to become, we'll never quite understand him, nor his message. Until we break free from the prison of maintaining a religiously acceptable reputation, we will continue to read about the wild Jesus in Scripture, but we'll struggle to truly understand him, and the way of life he exemplified.

Jesus was a reckless lover of people, and he refused to bow down to the religious expectation of loving from a distance. He was up close, real, and embracing of all people, from all walks of life. He was hated by the religious not for this theology, but for his love, for his love was not made up by words he spoke, but by the life he lived.

I think however something we shouldn’t lose sight when it does come to what others think or perceive of your actions is in 1 Corinthians 8:9-13

“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.  Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.”

So if you are going to take a position of Leadership although you have the right, Consider these words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:13-23

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

When all is said and done. What does it Really Mean to remain above reproach?
In a nut shell... Live your Life in a Way that if someone does try to condemn you or lie about you, That No one would believe them because of the way you live your life.
Let everything you do be out of Love. Let all that you do point back to Him. remember you don't want people to see you...you want Them to see Jesus through you.

There is a balance between disregarding what the religious community thinks of your actions compared to knowing if you’re causing someone else to fall because they do not understand what you know. Their Faith is at a different level. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. But never Let “Fear” of your reputation being tarnished Stifle the Holy Spirit. Everything Jesus Did was What the Father wanted.

It's a daring thought, a wild, revolutionary act, to consider your religious image in society 'rubbish' (to quote the Apostle Paul) in order to come to truly know Christ. But I believe it's worth it. You might end up with a reputation like Jesus: "Here is a glutton and a drunk, and worse, a friend of prostitutes and sinners." . . . but isn't it Jesus we hope to be like in any case?

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The Truth about Tithing

 

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:10     Without a doubt, the Scripture above is one of the most misunderstood and poorly interpreted verses of our time. What is not understood or explained is that the only people obligated to tithe were farmers, herdsmen and those Levites who were servants to the kohenim (preists) (see Numbers 18:21-24 & Nehemiah 10:37). No one else. The tithe was about food ... not about money. It was the Father's method of feeding the servants of the kohenim! Those Levites, who were servants to the kohenim, gave a tithe of the tithe (1%) total to the kohenim (see Numbers 18:25-29 & Nehemiah 10:38). The kohenim were not required to tithe but were expected to give freewill vow offerings ... which they were, at the time, stealing - (Malachi 1:13-14.)

When the Promised Land was divided up among the Tribes of Israel, all the tribes were given land ... except for Aaron's tribe (The kohenim), the Priestly Tribe of the Levites, who were loaned non-inheritable farmland and pastureland around the Levitical cities. They used these lands to raise and feed the animals which were given to them as tithes and offerings (see Joshua 20,21 & Numbers 35). Further, since they only worked in the Temple one week out of twenty-four, they spent the remainder of their time farming, raising animals, and learning crafts to build and maintain the temple.

Another misunderstood fact is that the tithe was only concerning the increase (not the total or the gross) since the increase was proof of the Father's blessings on His land year after year. In other words, if a herdsman had 100 sheep and in the spring the lambs that were dropped were 30, he would tithe out 3 lambs - the best 3 of the 30 and those that were the firstborn of each womb; 10 percent of the increase. So, in this scenario, the herdsman would have 130 sheep (total or gross) and his tithe obligation was 3 lambs (10 percent of the 30 that were his increase) - not 13 as so many would have you believe. Further, merchants, fishermen, bankers, artisans, etc., did not pay tithes ... the apostles never paid tithes, Paul never paid tithes and, in fact, no Jew outside of Israel ever paid a tithe.


So ... What Is Malachi 3 Talking About?

Verse 9 reads: You have cursed Me with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this nation, all of it! The reference here is to local kohenim who were getting their food (tithes) ... and keeping the best for themselves without sending 10 percent (of their 10 percent) to Jerusalem! The kohenim clearly stole the Levites' portion of the tithe in Nehemiah 13:5-10 and, consequently, the Levites went home because the Levites were starving. In short, Malachi 3 is talking about crooked preists cheating their Levite servants and robbing Elohim (God).

And what do we see today? Crooked clergy, pastors and TV evangelists using scripture to rob you in the name of God / Elohim. They use this Scripture to tell you that if you tithe to them, God will open the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that is greater than you can receive; the more money you give to them, the more money God will give to you ... and this is nothing short of an out and out lie! Yahshua (Jesus) and Sha'ul (Paul) said the elders of the church should get secular jobs and help give to the needy (see Acts 20:29-35).

They ignore the same blessings and curses found in Deuteronomy 28:12 & 28:23-24 ... and they ignore Galatians 3:10. In reality, they put their church under the curse of the law by expecting Elohim to bless them for obedience to the law ... which means all of the law.

Granted, there are many teachers who, having been taught the same and being bound by traditional thinking into not thinking at all, sincerely believe they are teaching a truth ... but if they knew the real truth of what the Father's Word is saying, they would change their tune. The sad story is, they are suppose to know the Scriptures well enough to know better than this! But, like so many things (like knowing what the Father's Name is) many teachers ... and students of the Father's Word, too ... are too lazy to learn for themselves what the Father's Word actually says; they fall prey to believing what they are told by others who are just as lazy about studying the Father's Word - and so we have the blind leading the blind.

Don't misunderstand me ... we need to give, give intelligently and give freely ... we should certainly help others and support those who are working for the Good News ... but tithe? ...No.

As the apostle Sha'ul (Paul) said "if you try to keep some of the Mosaic Law you have to keep all of the Mosaic Law;" he taught the gentiles to give not to the local churches but to the poor in Jerusalem.

Lastly, if someone points out that Abraham freely gave tithes because it was the Father's will (Genesis 14:21 being the key text), consider this:

• The Bible does not say that Abraham freely gave this tithe.

• Abraham's tithe was not from his own personal property, his wealth or his income.

• Abraham kept nothing for himself; he gave everything back.

• Giving 10 percent of the spoils of war to the local chieftain was normal pagan practice and Abraham, as a guest in those lands, merely followed the prevailing local customs ... and the rest was given over to satan's minister, the King of Sodom, and his coalition which Abraham assembled. Abraham, essentially, divested himself 100 percent of the ill gotten gains of war.

• Abraham did this one time, and one time alone and never tithed out of the Father's provisions in his life.

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His Word

As we spend more time studying His Word and understanding what the Father's Plan is and what He wants from us ... as we begin developing a relationship with His indwelling Holy Spirit (Ruach) through a daily prayer life - beginning in the morning as the first part of your day and continuing through out the day - we begin to see changes in our life. Changes that we know are supernatural; changes that come from within and not from our own efforts; changes that are being done in us by His indwelling Holy Spirit. We discover that we have a greater peace about us ... a greater joy ... and a greater level of self-control! Scriptures in the Word begin to jump out at us; we are suddenly seeing messages in His Word that we've never quite noticed before.

Further, it is here that we are separated from the power of sin ... we discover that sin is still all around us and even in us, but that it has less and less power over us ... we are being sanctified ... made righteous, in direct proportion to the filling of the Father's Holy Spirit ... which is in direct proportion to the amount of attention we are giving Him each day.


We Express Our Love For the Father Through Obedience to His Word.
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I am Yahweh

If someone who had fallen into a ditch shouted up to you, "Hey, Bud, would you help me out of here?", you would undoubtedly help him out, even if "Bud" wasn't your name, and think nothing of it. But what if, after you introduced yourself and you became close friends, he kept on calling you "Bud"? You'd find it strange and a bit irritating, wouldn't you? Yet this is exactly the way our Creator is often treated. 

      "Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and the name of His son? Tell me if you know!" (Prov. 30:4b)

How can you really love someone whose name you don't even know? This connection is directly highlighted in Scripture's parallel poetry: 

       "Because he has set his love on me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My Name." (Psalm 91:14) 

He is commonly known as "God" and "Lord", but these are just substitutes for the Hebrew titles Elohim. At best,  "God" and "Lord" are like calling Him "the Boss" or "Sir". That may be respectful enough in some situations; there is some Scriptural precedent. But when addressing Him directly, this could be as impersonal as calling Him "the man upstairs" or referring to your best friend as "that guy".

The ten commandments are actually called the "Ten Declarations" in Hebrew. The first is, "I am Yahweh your Elohim ". The very first thing He wanted to tell His people about Himself was His proper name. Why? Because it reveals much about who He is. Linguistically, Yahweh is a composite of several tenses of the Hebrew word "to be": Hayah, Hoveh, and Yihyeh—together meaning "the One who was, is, and will remain". 

At the burning bush, He commanded Moses to 

       "Tell the children of Israel [that] Yahweh... has sent you; this is My Name and how I am to be remembered for all generations." (Exodus 3:15)

The third Commandment says: 

       “You shall not bring the name of Yahweh your Elohim to nothing.” (Exodus 20:7)

We can bring His name to nothing by claiming to be His people yet practically denying that He really has any power by relying on other securities. But we can also nullify it by failing to use it when we should. Of course we must never use His holy Name flippantly. We've seen what has been done to the name "God". He kept His true Name from widespread use until we stopped mixing true Hebraic worship with paganism. But the Psalms show that ideally He wants us to use His real name. It was used every day (yet respectfully) in ancient Israel. Boaz greets his fieldworkers with "May Yahweh be with you", and they reply, "Yahweh bless you!" (Ruth 2:4)

       "You shall not profane the Name of your Elohim. I am Yahweh." (Lev. 19:12)

Profaning His Name is more than just using it as a "swear word". It can also include substituting it with foreign names that were once used for pagan gods. 

"I am Yahweh; that is My Name, I will not give My glory to another, or My praise to graven images." (Isaiah 42:8)

If idols have no power, the only way His glory could go to them is by our giving other deities credit for what He has actually done! And you might even be doing this without realizing it or intending to. 

What if your wife kept calling you by her former boyfriend's name? Yet that's what we do if we call our true Master by the name by which our old master was known! You see, "God" and "Lord" are not simply neutral translations for Yahweh's true Name. They actually came from pagan sources. 

       "My Name is continually blasphemed every day. Therefore My people will know My name." (Isa. 52:6)

That was a high priority to Yahshua (Jesus). When recounting to His Father in Gethsemane how He had finished the work He had given Him to do, He prayed, "I have revealed Your Name to those whom You have given Me." (John 17:6) If it needed to be "revealed" or "exposed", it must have been hidden. The religious leaders of His day had forbidden anyone to voice Yahweh's Name. Yahshua (Jesus) disagreed with this practice, which stemmed from a Babylonian taboo of not speaking the names of their deities, since they did not want the "gods" to pay them too much attention. 

There's some truth to that; Yahweh says that when His people "call on My Name, I will respond to them..." (Zech. 13:9) Why wouldn't we want our Elohim, who desires to bless us, to pay attention to us? So the Maccabees reinstated the usage of the Name. It became so widely used hat people were writing it even on business documents that ended up in the trash at times. So concerned leaders swung back to the other extreme and again forbade its use altogether, except by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. 

The Talmud (a Jewish commentary on the Scriptures) says the rabbinic leaders declared that everything possible had to be done to obscure the true pronunciation of the Name. The 8th-century Masoretic text added a system of points under the Hebrew consonants that comprise the original Scriptures, to make pronunciation easier for people who no longer spoke Hebrew every day. But in the case of the Sacred Name, they deliberately added the wrong vowels, so that no one would accidentally pronounce it correctly! 

The common English rendering "Jehovah" actually results from translators being unaware of this substitution. In 134 cases they even substituted the name Adonai where the sacred text actually said YHWH. Adonai is acceptable elsewhere, but adding to or taking away from His Holy Word is directly forbidden. (Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18) 

       "If we have forgotten the name of our Elohim, or spread out our hands to a strange god, won't Elohim search this out?" (Psalm 44:20-21)

So the only way to repair this situation is to cause the name of Yahweh our Elohim to be remembered." (Psalm 20:7; compare Jer. 23:27) 

Orthodox Jews say that one reason His name was hidden was because Israel was in exile—a concept linked in the prophets with His hiding His face. 

So now we have a more positive reason to use His real name: it means the exile is nearly over! Scripture bears this out completely: 

       "You will call me, "My husband" instead of "my Lord" [Ba'al], because I will take the names of the Ba'als out of her mouth." (Hosea 2:16-17) 

       "This time I will make them familiar with My ...power, and they will know that My Name is Yahweh." (Jeremiah 16:21) 

       "They will be treating My Name as sacred." (Isaiah 29:23)

But if both Jews and the church stopped using the actual Name that is written with no vowels, how can we be sure we're saying it correctly? 

It can't be "Jehovah", because there is no "J" sound in Hebrew. (This also rules out the possibility of a Hebrew Messiah's name being pronounced "Jesus".*) 

Others say it should be Yahveh because of modern Hebrew pronunciation.** But transliterations into other languages from when ancient Hebrew was used daily all point to "Yahweh" being the way it was said in Biblical times.***  THen, like now, there were undoubtedly some variations in pronunciation, so while we must choose according to the best evidence, we should not fight over slight differences if they do not go so far afield as to sound like the names of other deities; that He forbids.

Yahweh has overlooked our ignorance and responded because of our need even when we used the wrong name. But once we know the facts... "To whom much is given, from him much is required." (Luke 12:48) 

Yahweh knows our hearts. He knows Us by name... He loves You. I do NOT believe that in any way your salvation depends on you calling him Yahweh or not. However if your prayer is to know "God" / Elohim more... to be drawn closer to him in your relationship... don't you think Calling him by his name in the actual pronunciation and language spoken by Yahshua (Jesus Christ) is a good place to start? Elohim Reveals himself to us in all sorts of ways... some times in life changing events that draw us closer.... and sometimes something as simple as calling Elohim by his real Name, Yahweh. 

Its between you and  Yahweh. 
He knows your heart. 

Where do you start? In a typical English Bible, wherever you see the word "LORD" (in all capitals) replace it with the correct name, Yahweh. Where you see "God", begin pronouncing it as Elohim, and when you see "Lord" with only a capital "L", begin reading it as "Adonai", which simply means "Master". Read "Jesus" as "Y'shua" or "Yahshua". 

This time, let's get it right, going to neither extreme of profaning His Name or "bringing it to nothing". 

Side Note:
Holy Spirit... pronounced "Ruach" when properly translated into english would not be Holy Spirit. Spirit was also a pagan word they adapted to the translation. But when translated from Aramaic hebrew into english, it would best be described as.... "Holy Presence"... and to me that makes so much more sense... Greater is he that is IN you than that is in the world... fill me with your Holy Presence Yahweh!!! All good things come from him. 

I pray they see Christ / Yahshua in me.... That they see your Holy presence... Amen.

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"Build-a-Bear" Christianity

As Satan continues to lull the body of Christ to sleep in the last days before the end of the church age and the catching away... the corrupt fruits of counterfeit bibles, perverted gospels, and unclean spirits have come full harvest in an emerging belief that I now personally refer to as “Christ Consciousness Christians”. 

Christ Consciousness Christianity is sadly a counterfeit and perverted form of Christianity that covertly epitomizes humanism with a sort of ‘build-a-bear’ Jesus attached.

In short, Christ Consciousness Christianity is humanism with a mannequin Jesus. 

It “praises Jesus” while rejecting nearly everything God says in His word unless it can be twisted to promote their prosperity or well-being. 

In the eyes of Christ Consciousness Christians,  Biblical Christianity is often looked upon as hateful, mean spirited, divisive, causing harm to the cause of Christ (whatever that means), bigoted, judgmental, arrogant, and unloving. So how can you tell when a brother in Christ or lost person has been deceived by the easygoingness of this evolved belief? Sadly, it’s painfully obvious.

Have you ever spoken with a “Christian” or been to a “Christian church” where some of the most basic Biblical stances were either put into question or simply rejected? Even when clearly shown scripture on the issue, the “Christian” or “church” still chooses to esteem their own opinions and preferences over what God says in his word?

FUNDAMENTALS OF CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS CHRISTIANITY

Though often hidden disguised by good words and fair speeches, here are some of the basic fundamentals of Christ Consciousness  Christianity to watch out for:

• Worship is connected with humanism and not absolute truth
• Salvation is based on ‘religious experience’ and not faith in Christ alone
• Life is about the here and now, and not the life hereafter
• God is who you think he is and who you want him to be; but never who HE SAYS HE IS in the scriptures
• The spiritual realm is a realm where truth no longer applies, only feelings
• There is no higher authority than one’s own opinions and preferences
• Fear man, not God
• The Bible is a book of private interpretations and suggestions

For Example:

Is there one way to God or several?

Christianity – There is only one mediator between God and man, and that’s the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). 

Christ Consciousness Christianity – As long as a person means well in their heart, God will show them the way... What really matters is your intent to spread God’s love the best way you know how.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”
Romans 16:17,18 (KJV)

DON’T BE DECEIVED        

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”
Ephesians 4:14,15 (KJV)

The truth is, if we're not living aware, we will be taken advantage of by beliefs like Christ Consciousness Christianity... we will be taken off guard, possibly deceived, tricked, or thrown for a loop. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to be asleep in our faith. Let's stay spiritually awake and aware of what surrounds us. God gives us discernment for a reason.
Keep standing on, remembering, the Truth of what we have believed, the Truth of what has set us free. We can't live a watered down gospel for a world that insists we tone it down a bit. We do not have to waver in our beliefs out of a longing to be accepted from the world.
Be people of courage and strength. Our world needs men and women who are willing to walk courageously. We need men and women who are willing to be brave. 
Biblical Christians know we will never be able to agree on everything with everyone, we're not supposed to, and that's not really the goal.  We should never long to look just like the world, out of the fear that we look too different than those around us.  We should not be persuaded to live in shades of gray because we don’t want to step on any toes.  We’re here to be salt.  We’re here to be light.  We're here to make a difference, to point others to Christ.  And we can be all that God calls us to be - staying strong, standing firm, living aware, walking in love, being people of courage.

No one can ever be perfect in this fallen world, but that doesn’t stop some of us from trying. It’s tempting to think that we’re perfectly capable of living up to what we believe all the time. But as we all know... That’s simply not true. 

Keep in mind that your gracious God is for you, not against you. God loves you completely and unconditionally, and no mistake you make will ever cause you to lose God’s amazing love. Do everything in love...That pretty much sums it all up. Our calling. Our purpose in this life. Everything we do, all that we say, should be done in love. Pointing others to Him. Love God. Love others. It's the very love of Christ that compels us, may we walk in a manner worthy of His calling. 

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