HARD-CORE

Hard-Core

by David Munn

I was at the church praying tonight,

 and as usual,

 if you give the Lord a half a second of undivided attention, He's likely to give you something.

Give and it shall be given kind of a thing.

But thats for another blog.

As I was praying I began thinking about

 the cross.

The beating. The bruising. The piercing.

The humiliation. The agony. The blood.

That's when the thought came to me,

 Jesus was hard-core.

He was not playing,

and He was not complaining.

He was dead serious.

Racked with pain, but filled with love.

For me.

I began praying

"Thank you Jesus, for dying for me.

What else is there to say?

What else is there to do?

You said it, and You showed it.

You backed up your words with action

Thank you. I can't say it enough."

Words don't give it justice,

when you are picturing yourself at the foot of the cross.

I'm reminded of something I read that said

 "Show me your scars. You cannot have followed far,

you who have no scars."

There is nothing like gazing upon the supreme sacrifice to shine a light on my lazy little Christian walk.

I want to be hard-core like my master.

Full of love. Understanding the cost.

Able to shed some tears, 

but not afraid to shed some blood too.

Hard-core Christians....there's a thought.

Seen any lately?

Lord Change Me

Lord Change Me

by David Munn

I was at the Apostolic Man Conference in New Stanton, PA this weekend, and before the first service there was a time of prayer.
It was during this time of prayer, that I received what I am going to post here in this blog.
Many times when I pray, I pray out of my spirit, not really premeditated thought. Not weighing each word carefully, just speaking from the heart, as if it somehow bypasses my brain.
During this time of prayer, I heard myself praying, "Lord change me."
It was almost as if God made me hear it,
the way He heard it, and I had to stop.
And repeat it. And think about it.

Wait a minute, I said to myself. Do I really mean that?

What if the Lord asked me to change some things?
To give up some things?
To add some things?

Is this a prayer that I recognize the consequences of?
Do I really want to be changed?
What will change look like?

Lord change me, but not in any ways that will require anything of me.
 Is that what I mean?
Or is it just vain rambling words that have no weight or meaning?
Change me how?

Change requires sacrifice, and who wants to do that?
UNLESS, your desperate, and hungry enough to do ANYTHING, to be more like Him, to feel His presence, to be used, to go to a deeper level.
Are you at that place?
Am I?
Or am I just saying things that I think He wants to hear, and that makes me feel good.
Like I'm saying/doing what He wants me too.
Lip service.
So many words.
But where is my heart?

Would I be ready to lay it down, sacrifice and obey.....or am I really just kind of comfortable with where I'm at?

I'm reminded of James and John, who wanted to sit, one on the right and one on the left of Jesus.......
and Jesus' answer to them wasn't a yes or no answer.
His response was....."Are you able?" "Can you?"
I'd like to think that what He was really asking them was "Are you willing?"
Are we?
Am I?
There is no telling how close we could get to God, and how much God could use us.....if we were truely willing.

If you want to draw close, you have to pay the price.
Front row seats always cost more
than the nose-bleed sections.
Some of us are here for the show, to watch,
and others want back-stage passes.
Access to the band.
Access to the Man.
But it comes at a price.

If any man wants to follow me..... let him first (not somewhere along the journey) deny himself. Ouch!
Take up his cross. Ow!
And follow Me.
How good are we at following?
It requires keeping Him in sight at ALL times.
(Like the Elijah and Elisha story)

Lord change me.
We expect God to do for us, what we are not willing to do for ourselves.....or Him.

We really do need to change.
Don't we?
Don't you?

What are we not willing to change?
If anything comes to mind.....your not ready.

What are we willing to change?
If your answer is anything...if your answer is everything....
Get ready.
Change is coming.

So you think we're a cult?

It's not really big news that people consider us a cult....lots of people have...

Bro. Bernard addresses that issue here in this youtube clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQIx_gOLUA&feature=related 

You see when you say that JESUS is THE way, THE truth, THE life, and that NO man can get to heaven except through Him, because He is THE door, and anyone who even tries to come another way is a thief and a robber..in other words not legitiment and trying to break in...when you say that, that messes with ALOT of people that don't believe that.

Contrary to popular belief you cant just believe anything you want to , and live anyway you want to, and do any old thing you want to, and still get into heaven.

 Narrow is the path and strait is the gate and few there be that find it.

 So in order for "others" who aren't willing to believe the truth, not willing to pay the price, to feel better about themselves for not obeying THE truth, they have to discredit you .

Did the world love Jesus? NO, and it still doesn't.

 The Bible says it you refuse THE truth..God will send you a strong delusion so that you'll believe a lie.
 I would never take a backsliders (someone who knew the truth and walked away) advise about the state of our church.

 The world HATED Jesus and his disciples and followers. They tortured them, killed them, persecuted them, fed them to lions, burned them at the stake....and believe it or not ...they still do.
 just look at ( www.persecution.com ).

Jesus went so far as to say "blessed are you when men shall revile and spit on you"......KNOW what you believe and in WHO you believe and dont back down because Satan has his imps "in people shape" trying to bring you down.
 
 Jesus always had his haters, and so will you.

COFFEE & DONUTS

Coffee & Donuts

by David Munn 

I like my coffee hot, bold, and strong.

I put one heaping scoop of bold coffee

 for every cup I'm making.

8 cups, 8 scoops.

I work with guys that will fill the coffee pot

 with 12 cups of water,

and put 4 scoops of weak grounds in the filter.

 To me, thats disgusting! 

They say my coffee is like motor oil.

 They put creamer in the coffee I make

 and watch as it doesn't change color

 (until they stir it up). 

Thats how I like my coffee.

Piping hot and extra strong.

Thats also how I like my gospel.

Don't even bother to pass off some watered down,

 sickingly sweet swill.

If what I like is to strong for you, then so be it.

If it isn't bold, I don't buy it.

If the gospel you prefer doesnt make you sweat a little,

I'd suggest getting a little hotter and bolder kind.

I'm convinced that Jesus was bold.

I'm convinced that He made some people sweat.

 I'm sure some people got a little nervous around Him.

He was all about love,

but that love wasn't the "wishy washy mamby pamby"

 kind of love that is being passed around in churches today.

He was bold. He was strong.

He did not water down His message

 to make it more pallatable to the masses.

He was not afraid to speak the truth,

 even if it did make some people uncomfortable.

Take a look at the Bible,

 some people hate it,

 it's to bold, to confronting, to judgemental,

 not all inclusive....but it's also the truth.

 It also changes lives.

 And to those who love their gospel bold and strong,

 they would and have given their lives for it.

I like my donuts fresh, sweet and loaded with filling.

Stale donuts are the worst.

Pay the full price and get the fresh ones.

Few things are better

than getting a mouth full of delicious creamy donut filling.

Few things are worse

than expecting a mouth full of satisfyingly sweet filling,

 and all you get is air.

Dont you just hate it when you don't get

what you expected?

Have you ever been anticipating

 bavarian cream, or boston cream

and you bite into lemon cream?

Your lips and taste buds are awaiting sweet,

but what they get is sour.

Thats how some Christians are.

They give you the promise and expectation of sweet,

 but leave in your mouth the taste of bitter and sour.

You go to church wanting something fresh,

 something savory,

 something that has just gotten out of the oven.

 And in a lot of churches you get stale at best,

services and sermons.

You expect the service and the people to be full of the goodness of God.

And what you get is emptiness.

Where's the filling?

Where's the Spirit of God?

Where's the infilling of the Spirit?

Where is His sweet presence?

I like my donuts fresh, full, and sweet.

Thats also how I like my spirit.

Give me something bold, and give me something sweet.

That's how I like it.

The boldness of the gospel, and the sweetness of the Spirit.

"speak the truth....in love"

Why Are We Not Moving?

It doesnt matter what kind of car you have.

 If its a Ford or a Ferrari.

 We all depend on one thing when we get in the car

 and turn the ignition. 

A spark.

 If theres no spark,

you may look nice sitting there,

 but your not going anywhere.

Your car may have the best coverage insurance can buy,

 it may be the cleanest car in your neighborhood,

 it may be in wonderful condition,

 people going by may wish they had as nice a car as you....

but it needs a spark to start it.

 If you want to go places in God....you need a spark.

You need some passion.

 You need the fire of the Holy Ghost. 

A lot of us may

 look good, smell good, dress good,

 and many people may think we have it all together.

 But if theres not that passion for God,

if theres not that..spark...

chances are we are gonna be sitting in the exact same spot as we are right now,

5 years from now. 

Continuing on using the car analogy,

suppose everything is in working order on your vehicle. You get in confidently as you do every morning,

 as you did yesterday,

 and turn the ignition,

 there's a spark, you can hear it, but it doesn't start.

 It tries too, but it just sputters out.

Why? 

Your out of gas.

 Theres no gas for the spark to ignite.

 Again your stuck just sitting there.

 Not only do you need a spark, but you need to be combustible!

 Theres a proverb that says

 "where there's no wood, there the fire goeth out".

 Its not enough just to be on fire for God,

  you need to have something in you

 for the Holy Spirit to ignite.

 Many times we put things into our spirit man,

that we would never dream of putting into our gas tanks.
We figuratively pull into the  garbage dumps of life

and say "fill 'er up".

Then we wonder why

we arent performing at optimal levels.

We wonder why

 we're so often left stranded.

 If we want to go places in God,

 and we want to get there faster than we are now, 

we need to fill up on high octane spiritual stuff.

 So when the Spirit sets off a spark,

we'll ignite

 and be well on the road

 to where we ultimately want to be.

David Munn

Spitting In The Face Of Love

Spitting in the Face of Love
By: David Munn

God is love.
Jesus is God.
God loves us.
He told us so.
He put it in writing.
He doesn’t care who you are, where you’ve been, where you were born, how much money you make, or what you can do for Him.
He doesn’t care. None of that matters to Him. He loves you. Just as you are.
In his book, “Just Like Jesus”, Max Lucado wrote, “He loves you just as you are, but too much to let you stay that way.”
It’s true. No matter your station in life, Jesus is there for you.
All He wants, is to love you and make your life better.
All He requires is for you to love Him back.
Is that too much to ask?
He’ll know how much you love Him by how you respond to Him.
Will you submit yourself to Him,...to His will?
Will you live for Him?
Would you die for Him?
Would you do whatever it took to show Him how much you love Him?
He did all those things and more, for us.
And what did we do?
We rejected Him. We mocked Him. We spit in His face.
Yet looking through the spit and the tears, He sees us not as who we are now, and what we are doing now.
Instead He sees who we can become if we would just accept His love and love Him in return.
But even if we don’t, even if we never return the love He has already shown to us, even if we spit in His face, that doesn’t change who He is or how much He loves you.
You know He loves you. He’s made that perfectly clear.
The response is up to you. Will you show Him you love Him, or will you…………?

ARE YOU HOT?

I actually posted this as a response to a holiness blog, and thought it was a good enough little read/word to pass it on as its own.

God means business about this seperation thing.
In the OT He didn't even want two different kind of fabrics in your clothing.
what fellowship hath light with darkness?
be not unequally yoked?
what part does Christ have with belial ?
if we aren't going to be "on fire" for God, He'd rather have us stone cold dead in sin, than a little of this and a little of that.
i wish that you were either hot or cold, because if your lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. lukewarmness actually makes God sick.
I heard a preacher say,"God's thermometer only reads 2 temperatures. Hot or Cold."
Come out from among them and be ye seperate.
i wish we could all look in God's mirror of truth and say "I'm hot!"
Can you?