If ALL Christians were healthy..........................

If every Christian were well, and health was a part of the atonement, then all people would be running to get saved for the wrong reason. God wants people to come to Him in repentance of sin and because of His glory, not so they can be healthy physically. What nonsense would be made of such virtues as long-suffering, patience, and endurance -- so highly prized in the New Testament -- if we were healthy. When I came to Christ in saving faith, my soul is redeemed. My old inner man is gone and have a new inner man and a new creation (Col. 3:9-10; 2 Cor. 5:17). This is a definitive eternal work was accomplished in me. At the same time, I am still living in my "sinful" body which means I still have to deal with my humanness. I am spiritually complete and I will be physically complete at God's time, not mine. The apostle John said, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God; therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:1-2). Anyway back to the topic, since I am redeemed, I have become new creation in Christ: "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). I have become partaker of God's divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and are fit for eternal glory. I have been made suitable for heaven spiritually. My new creation in me is still housed in my earthly body which carries the sinful nature. My body is still corruptible, mortal, and prone to disease and death. I am still human, not super being. I am awaiting the salvation of my body someday. Like I said, people talk about if Christ's atonement provides healing, I agree with that, but not until my body is redeemed. This is one of my favorite Chapters of the Bible: (NIV) 1 Corinthians 15 The Resurrection of Christ 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. The Resurrection of the Dead 12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 29Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." 33Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 34Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. The Resurrection Body 35But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I don't want to drag this to a long talk. That is what I believe in and I know there are some who won't accept that view. Its a reality of life around here and I can say this, its going to be interesting when we sit besides God the day we die with our new bodies.

Using Joseph's example (Old Testament)

There was a discussion regarding Joseph's experiences in the Old Testament. In Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (KJV) "As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today." (Bible in Basic English) "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people." (New Living Translation) I remember hearing a hearing person said: “I wish I was deaf so I can reach out to the deaf culture because they won’t listen to me.” In the area of Deaf and Hearing relationships in the church we often find conflicts. The Deaf and hearing worlds are like oil and water, they won't mix. There are very few, hearing people that are willing to become immersed into the deaf culture and hopefully be accepted by the deaf culture. Lack of understanding of another culture and the subsequent inability to tolerate that culture. In relation to evanglelism, we need deaf people to reach out to deaf people who are spiritually lost. As the Deaf proverb says, "The Deaf are the last to know, and the first to go." When hearing people enter a Deaf environment and can not adopt the Deaf Culture, then take over and require the Deaf to become "hearing culture". This will not work and hearing people have tried to convince deaf people communicate like hearing people. In doing this they destroyed the culture and often hindered the spreading of the Gospel. To be effective in reaching a deaf culture, there must be a deaf Christian. For a person to have success in ministry they need to have a clear focus. Christian relationships with in the Deaf community are highly valued. Many deaf people like me followed Joseph’s example. Its about the culture itself. Deaf and Hearing are two seperate culture. The deaf people is a culture just like another regular culture around the world. If you look at the Christian deaf history, there was a problem reaching out to them unless someone who is a Christian is deaf. If you noticed, Deaf Churches are slowly popping up everywhere, pastored by the deaf to the deaf congregation. Without deaf Christians, I mean, if they were healed, they could not minister the deaf unless they are deaf themselves. There are so many ministries out there that are similar to this. I have learned that most of them follow Joseph's example.

Remembering Christ on His Birthday

Christmas will come and go again this year as it has done through the years. We know what others may think about Christmas, and we can guess what they may say. Its either "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". Over the years, Christmas Day has been degraded with all the commercialism and secularism. Christmas is perhaps the most beautiful but most abused holiday. We need to remember the true meaning of Christmas. We all need to take the Scriptures as our guide and refuse to be pressured into conformity to paganism practiced in the name of Christ. The theology of Christmas too easily gets lost under the happy wrappings. As everyone celebrate Christmas, whether we accept or reject Christ, we all need to personally determine the meaning of Christmas. That Jesus Christ has come and we need to keep in mind of the radical difference between today's world and the world into which when Jesus was born. We need to remember that Jesus came from eternal pre-existence as God, He empties Himself and enters human existence as a poor, helpless new-born baby. Whatever Christmas may be today, that first Christmas was the celebration of a miracle. We need to recognize that the person of Jesus Christ that makes Christmas. Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, God taking on humanity whose name is Immanuel, God with us. Christmas is not the whole story. It is but the beginning because "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14). Christ became man. He did not cease to be God. However, though still possessing them He willingly laid aside the exercise of His divine attributes (Philippians 2:7) from the time of his human birth to His resurrection. Without Christ, nothing else matters.

WoF and Atonement

Let me put it this way. Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin for the whole world, and then the gift of salvation is generally offered to the world. I believe that the atonement of Christ was sufficient for the world, but is efficient for those that believe. Christ actually paid the penalty; suffered the wrath of God, and was a perfect and satisfactory atonement for the sins of all of who would ever believe. My issue is this: if there was physical healing in the atonement, then it was an incomplete atonement. If someone tell me there was physical healing in the atonement, and that the atonement was designed to heal my diseases, I’m having a hard time with that one because I’m not, I’m not getting the healing. Of course, someday I will die. Now, if that’s how it is with the promise of my physical healing, where is my hope for the promise of my spiritual healing? Is that the same thing? Once someone start defining the work of the atonement in temporal terms, they have a problem, because, even now, I am saved, I am righteous by virtue of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, but I’m certainly not what I’m going to be. Either spiritually or physically. The atonement was designed for our ultimate glory, and our souls’ ultimate glorification as well as a glorified body like the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. In that sense, our ultimate, final healing is in the atonement when the time come. We are not going to enter into the glories of heavenly perfection unless our sins have been dealt with. We are healed from the disease of sin (in a spiritual sense), but, we also understand, even though we are healed from sin, our sinful bodies all dying from sin. I have been forgiven all my sin and I know that. I have been delivered from the power of sin. I’ve been delivered from the penalty of sin, its ability to control my life, and, yet, I’m dying from the effect of sin. I have been given a healing. Physically, I will, one day, be perfect in a glorified body, and yet my body is still dying, until I get to that other world and realize the full significance of His atoning work.

Tithing or Love Offering?

Let's look at this from God's perspective. Christian's submission to God is to be accepted by God, and must be sincere from the heart. Whatever is done out of habit is not approved. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17). Sometime it is regrettable that the activities of reformed churches must be cut back to agree with actual or anticipated income. Should the members of a local reformed church withhold their tithes that will accomplish less statistically? Financial income and expenditures do not determine the quality of a church. Quality is measured by the Christlike living of the reformed church members. If Christ is reigning in us, we will be giving joyfully and generously regardless the word "tithe" is being used. I know "tithe" is not being used in the New Testament. We never see the word "tithe" in the New Testament because it is from the Old Testament (the Law). Therefore tithe is from the Law. In the New Testament, we see the words "give" or "giving" or "cheerful giver" because they are related to grace. (see Mark 12:41-44, Romans 12:8). Keep in mind, the government takes % of your gross income, why God be excluded from this? Why put give God based on after-tax income when the Government takes from Gross (pre-tax) income? Matthew 22:21 "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." As an Accountant, according to Scriptures, we are to give based on "pre-tax" income. Not after tax, because that is considered "robbing God" using that kind of logic to give less. Its like wishful thinking that you gave 10% of your total income which in reality from God's point of view, its not true. If you felt that you did gave 10% based on after-tax income, this is where God looks in the heart and the motives. I am just saying this what the Scriptures have taught me and how the Holy Spirit have convicted me to follow. Remember, this is between YOU and God. No one around us will know EXCEPT God. 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Anyway, we are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful. We all have to realize that a local church's accomplishments will depend upon members' spiritual condition. The church's financial health will be healthy if the people are submitting to the Holy Spirit, who will give them fruit. I want to point out another view that may help us understand. The concept of 2 Corinthians 8:9 is actually about giving and sharing. If you look the whole chapter (8), you will see how the topic of wealth came up. We all are capable of working, earning money and provide our family's needs. God gave us opportunities for us to be successful in our lives and at the same time, God do not want us to forget those who are not. There were those who made a lot of money wanted to help those who did not make a lot of money. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8 is about giving. Those early Christians in the early church did a remarkable thing; no one told them they had to share and give in the manner that they did. They had just been filled with the Holy Spirit who would help them to be more like Jesus and to walk and live as He would in a loving and giving manner. While we as Christians are not under a legalistic law that gives us specific details on our giving, again, we are indeed commanded to be giving people, and we ought to look for opportunities to give. "And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." (Second Corinthians 8:1–2) We need to look at "tithe" from a different perspective. God's perspective of grace rather than law.