Tag Archives: faith

by Anthony Baker | February 10, 2012 · 1:45 pm

Yes, I Get Stressed

“How are you doing, Mr. Baker?”

What a question to ask a person lying on a hospital bed, attached to a bunch of colored wires, and aching from a harpoon in the back of his hand!

“Well, If I was doing good I wouldn’t be here, that’s for sure.”

Long story short, my wife took me to the ER because I was experiencing chest pain. The pain (a sharp, sickening feeling in my upper left chest) began to look suspiciously like a heart attack. It wasn’t, though. It’s all related to a possible ulcer, or whatever. Mostly stress.

Stress

Stress can cause a lot of problems, and pastors are subject to some of the most stress of any vocation. Bi-vocational ministers experience even more. And, because I’m lying here as the result of stress, causing my family to worry, racking up more medical bills, and wasting valuable time, I can’t help but feel guilty.

“If stress is the cause of all this,” I said to my wife, “then it makes me wonder how ‘backslidden’ I actually am?”

Now, why would I say that? Well, we’ve all been taught to “cast our burdens upon the Lord.” I’ve preached plenty of times how that “worry is a sinful” because it is “not of faith.” You see, of all people I should be an example of worry-free living. I should be able to testify to the fact that “His grace is sufficient.” But the fact is that I’m human. I do get stressed. I do worry.

Physician, Heal Thyself

It’s easy to say, “don’t worry.” It’s easy to say, “don’t get stressed.” But it’s a totally different matter when you find yourself charged with the keep of men’s souls. It is not only for myself and my family I contend, but the spiritual welfare of many, who at times, could care less.

Some have said, “Well, that’s your own fault…don’t worry about me…you live your life, and I’ll live mine.” What they don’t understand is that watching out for their lives IS my life.

For what it’s worth, if you have a pastor, keep in mind that he cares for you (or at least he should). It’s not only his job, but it’s his heart.

(NLT) Hebrews 13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

In conclusion…I’m doing OK, but I need to keep in mind my God is in control. Other than that, thank you, Liz (my nurse) for getting me out of that “second stick.”

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Filed under Christian Living, Christian Maturity, fitness, God, ministry, Preaching

Tagged as faith, heart, Ministry, nursing, Religion, Stress

by Anthony Baker | February 3, 2012 · 11:44 pm

A Doctrine from Eden Reborn

Once again I am writing a post on my iPhone 4, but this time my words are being composed in a hotel laundry room (believe it or not, there’s a funny story here, but I will save it for later).

And, if you remember, a couple of posts ago I promised to tell you about an unbiblical, heretical doctrine sweeping parts of the church. Since I have 30 minutes left on the dryer cycle, now is a good time.

The Beginning

In order to put things in perspective, we must start with the beginning. And when I say beginning, I mean THE beginning. Please consider the following verses, for they are critical:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

It should be obvious, according to the above verses, that not only did God create the universe, but that the Word which He spoke was none other than Jesus Christ. The doctrine that Jesus is the “express image” of God the Father, even God Himself (Hebrews 1:3), is at the core of orthodox Christianity. Jesus was not just a good man or prophet, and neither were the words of God at creation just words spoken in faith.

Did you get that last part? That’s the part I want to address.

Faith in Words

There is a teaching still being taught that essentially says, “If you have faith in your words, as God had faith when He spoke the worlds into being, you can also create a miracle, your own reality. You can be like God, if you have the faith of God.”

Excuse me? God had faith? Really? If so, in what?

First, stop and think about this! Do you realize that God is the Giver and Author of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), not One who puts His faith in something or someone? There is something fundamentally wrong with the idea that Omnipotence would have any reason to have faith, for the very definition of faith requires a sense of dependence. When God speaks, things happen; not because of His faith, but because He’s God!

Secondly, ask yourself, “If God had faith in His Word, then would that make Him the first Christian?” How silly does that sound? But in reality, if we are to believe that God had faith in His words, which brought about creation, then would it not stand to reason, if John 1:1 is correct, that God the Father put His faith in Jesus? Was not Jesus the Word that created all things?

Then, there is the worst part…

Words of the Serpent

Do you remember how Satan tempted eve in the garden of Eden? Remember how he tried to convince her that by eating the fruit, she could “be as gods?” How similar, then, is the promise, “If you have faith in your words, as God had faith in His words, you can create like God did?”

If you think I’m making this stuff up, my friends, consider the following statements by one of the foremost teachers of this false doctrine:

“You have the same creative faith and ability on the inside of you that God used when he created the heavens and the earth.”
Kenneth Copeland, ‘Inner Image of the Covenant,’ side 2.

“God used words when He created the heaven and the earth….Each time God spoke, He released His faith — the creative power to bring His words to pass.”
Kenneth Copeland, The Power of the Tongue (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1980), 4.

It may anger some of you, my readers, but please don’t be offended. Do as Paul told Timothy, “take heed unto thyself, and to [thy] doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:16). Please understand, to claim one has the power to create, as God created, is heresy of the highest order! Faith in our words, outside of faith in God, especially in order to bring about our will, as opposed to, or in spite of God’s will, is nothing less than witchcraft. Even more, it is the doctrine of Eden reborn: “you shall be as gods.”

Laundry is Done

Well, my laundry has been done for a while, now. Morning comes early.

I hope this post was beneficial to you in some way. But, if your were a Kenneth Copeland fan, I’m sorry. At least I didn’t mention Joel Osteen, so we can still be friends, right? Right?

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Filed under Christian Maturity, cults, God, ministry, Theology, Uncategorized

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Copeland, Doctrine, faith, heresy, hotel, Laundry, orthodox, osteen, Religion, Theology, word of faith

by Anthony Baker | January 23, 2012 · 7:02 pm

Monday Monkey “Staring Contest” (Episode 13)

This episode was added later in the day. I apologize for that. Sometimes a man and his monkey can only do what a man and his monkey can do, you know?

Well, this week’s lesson might be hard to gather from the video, but it’s about choosing your battles.

Don’t choose to fight a losing battle. If nothing else, wait for a better time and place to make your stand. Be patient and prepared. Don’t let your enemy pick the battleground or set the rules. As one great general said, “Never enter a battle unless you know you can win.”

However, there is a Hope when all seems lost, when the battle seems hopeless…

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. – 1Jo 4:4

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? – 1Jo 5:4-5

Monday Monkey (i4daily.wordpress.com)
Monday Monkey (at the wheel) (therecoveringlegalist.com)

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Filed under Christian Maturity, Humor, Monday Monkey

Tagged as battles, faith, God, Humor, iPhone 4, Jesus, Monday

by Anthony Baker | January 8, 2012 · 3:52 pm

Pursuing Tomorrow, Forgetting the Past

Looking back over the last month or so, I can see that my writing has been lacking. Well, by “lacking” I do not mean to imply that it was of inferior quality. No, it wasn’t even written.

Just yesterday, I mentioned to my wife how that there have been so many ideas come into my brain, only to flow right back out again, much like husbands in the Kardashian family. I can’t tell you how many things I have wanted to write about – really, I can’t tell you.

Isn’t that just sad? I think so. More than that, it leaves me feeling empty, like something was wasted. How tragic to lose a good thought!

Looking ahead, tomorrow is a new day. In the morning I start back to work after a long, unpaid Christmas vacation (I’m tired – I need to go to work). Tomorrow, I start seminary classes. Tomorrow, I get back into a routine. Tomorrow, I will pursue what lies ahead, forgetting those things behind (which will be the easy part).

Philippians 3:13-14 – Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The “forgetting” part means that I’m already half way there! Yay!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s Monday Monkey episode. It’s a little longer than normal, but a good one.

God-Centered, or Christ-Filled (Pt. 2)

Continuing from last time, let me conclude my thoughts on the difference between being God-centered and Christ-filled.

The Realization

When contemplated what I had asked of God (to make me characterized by a God-centered life), the mental picture of a wheel came to mind. It was the picture of a wheel with a center hub and spokes, much like a bicycle or wagon wheel. As I thought about this, however, something seemed wrong. Something seemed almost selfish.

You see, when you look at a wheel, especially the kind with spokes and a hub, it may not be obvious at first, but there are parts. In such a wheel I can distinguish the spokes from the hub, and the rim from the spokes. I can even see that there are spaces in between the spokes that are empty and not attatched or filled with anything – just empty. If God is supposed to be represented by the hub, the center of the wheel, then the wheel is not really all about the hub, but the wheel itself.

It’s about Jesus

The Apostle Paul told the Athenians (Acts 17:28) that in Jesus we “live, and move, and have our being.” In a letter to the Galatians he said “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). It would seem to me that Jesus should be more than our “hub.” He should be our “ALL.”

That is when I thought of a different picture. This time I imagined a solid circle – a disk. Unlike the other picture where God was the center of everything, yet separate, here was a picture of wholeness. In this picture, if my life is this type of wheel, people won’t notice anything about me, just Christ.

All of the spokes (my life, my dreams, my habits and hobbies, my talents, and my desires); the empty spaces (the areas of my life that seem irrelevant); and the rim (the total expanse of who I am – my identity, my sphere of influence); each part is now inseparable from the life and power of Christ who lives within me.

May they see Jesus

So, I no longer want to be characterized as a man with a God-centered life. I want to be a man characterized by the life of Christ. When people look at me, I don’t want them to say, “Hey, that guy really knows how to serve God,” or “Hey, that guy really loves the Lord.” Even though there is nothing wrong with those things, how much better would it be if they could say, “Hey, I met this guy… at first I thought he was that man they call Jesus.”

Remember, it was to the Church at Corinth that Paul said, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” There must have been some hearing this letter read who were deceived. Don’t be like them. Make sure your life is in Christ, and He is in you.

May your activities be “God-centered;” but your life “Christ-filled.” May the world see Jesus in you.

For Discussion:

Can you distinguish between a God-centered and a Christ-filled life? What characteristics would you expect to see?

Do you think someone could live a God-centered life and still be unsaved?

Your comments would be appreciated.