Spiritual "Chutes and Ladders"

I have mentioned before that the Lord seems to like to speak to me when I'm out running. This past week he gave me this mental picture of what's going on spiritually with people. Have you ever played the game "chutes and ladders?" Its a game where you roll the dice and try to move your piece to the top of the board. Trick is there are chutes that slide you back down the board and ladders that enable you to move further to the top.

Satan likes to put people on the chutes in life. Think about the rush of sliding down a fast slide, wind in your hair, inside kinda quivering from the fast descent, but once you hit the bottom, the thrill is over and you have a sore backside. The chute ride is also over rather quickly and you end up further and further behind every time you ride one. Sex, drugs, love of the world, power, control, all the things men love so much are used as "chutes" to drop you further and further down, to keep you always at square 1 until you either give up or die.

The Lord, on the other hand, encourages you to climb the ladders. There's not much thrilling about climbing a ladder, in fact, most of the time it seems like work. No rush of air across the face, no thrill in the pit of the stomach, just a steady, if not seemingly "boring" ascent. Thing is, when you finish climbing each ladder, and turn around to see what the Lord made you work through, its almost always with very very positive effects in you and to you. When you're done, you know why the Lord had you do what you did.

We all know that satan hates us and the Lord loves us, but we keep falling for the same "chutes" over and over again, each time expecting that we'll "chute" our way to the top of a ladder somewhere? Sounds a bit insane, but that's really what people expect to happen. I thought that was kind of interesting.

shift gears:

More slamming of OSAS (once saved always saved). Let me say this, I don't go looking for this stuff, I just see it everywhere in the bible, its just everywhere, shouting and screaming for people to wake up...

1 cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: 57 but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.

OSAS teachers tell you that sin does'nt matter for you anymore, except as it concerns your 'rewards' in heaven. The bible here says that sin is the sting in death? They then tell you, yea but Jesus came and we are'nt under the law anymore. Well, that's correct but only if you are "in Christ." Remember the two most important words in the bible? It says above "through our Lord Jesus Christ" we have the victory. What happens if you are not "in Christ?" No victory, just the sting of death. Theres those two words at the end of verse 58 "in the Lord."

1 Cor 16
debunking churchianities money yoke called "tithing."

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. 3 And when I arrive, whomsoever ye shall approve, them will I send with letters to carry your bounty unto Jerusalem: 4 and if it be meet for me to go also, they shall go with me.

Notice, he is talking about collecting money here and he DOES NOT call it tithing, nor does he call it an "offering." To further reinforce that he is not talking about tithing, he makes no mention of giving "a tenth." What he does say is as each of you may prosper, let him give. Todays wolves (pastors) have to force the bible to say what it clearly does not, that is, they would say, "he's talking about tithing there." Really, then why did'nt he say so? Did he lack the knowledge of the word to use, why not just tell them to "collect the tithe?" Why can't we find a single instance, NOT ONE, where Jesus or any of the apostles instruct us to tithe?

There's no other doctrine in the entire new testament church where men reach as deeply and as often back to the old testament than tithing. What a coincidence huh? They don't reach back to harp on animal sacrifice or the observance of any of the other requirements of "the law" but they will dance all over your head to "prove" you have to tithe. Gosh, I wonder why Jesus said the love of money is the root of all evil. Hmmm

Time is short guys, come out of the babylonian prostitute while there is still time. Remember Paul saying "bad company corrupts good morals?" Well, bad systems corrupt everything within them, its not a matter of if things get corrupted its a matter of when. If you are in a system thats corrupt from the ground up, what do you think its doing to you?

True christianity is like football, nail down the fundamentals first, then figure the rest out. You and Jesus alone together are the fundamentals. Jesus is the word, so you and the word together is another way of saying it. Don't trust any man any longer to include me. DECEPTION is the trademark of our age. The spiritual "kool aid" men are selling these days will get you killed.

be ready, be watching, grace and peace