The White Stone Zone

"Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. " (1 Corinthinans 1:24) It amazes me how much Christians want to hang on to Old Testament theology in their relationship to God. John tells us without reservation that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." We are not to fear God, but teachers insist that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"*, and that we should have a healthy, reverent fear of God." I say this is faulty teaching. It confuses young believers who are used to being motivated by fear, so they naturally transfer that conditioning to their relationship with God. Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but not the end of wisdom. When we fear God, we know we need a Savior, when we receive salvation, God's perfect love is to relieve our fears. We are no longer motivated by fear. Christ is now the W...

When we think of the armor of God, we often think that we have to put it on to go into the world where the devil reigns; however, Paul’s exhortation to put on the full armor of God is right after his instructions on relationships—particularly family relationships. The end of chapter 5 instructs wives to submit to their husbands, for husbands to love their wives, and Chapter 6 instructs children to obey their parents, fathers to encourage their kids, and for employees and bosses to treat one another with respect. It is in this context that Paul tells us to put on the armor of God. The armor of God is nothing less than Jesus Christ. In other words, it is through the power and provision of Christ that husbands are going to love their wives, wives are going to submit to their husbands, and children are going to respect their parents. There are, however, several practical applications to the family regarding the armor of God. First, it is to defeat the devil’s schemes. The devil s...

Although Satan is a potent enemy, he has nothing left but the lie. He can't touch us, but he can lie to us about God, ourselves and our circumstances, but we only need to resist him and he will flee. We resist him because Christ is living in us and we live in Him. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; and that new creation lives in a sin cursed body in a sin cursed world. It is this sin cursed body that hides the real enemy--what the Bible calls the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. (gal.5) The Saint of God must learn to cope with this conflict on a daily basis if they are to know the abundant life Jesus promised. The flesh is totally self centered, self protecting and self absorbed. The impulse to act independantly of God relying on our own strength is constantly with us. The bad news is that it does not change--the good ne...

20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth I don't know if it is half the battle, but I do know that not knowing your enemy in the Christian life is crippling, confusing and catastrophizing . Many Christians might say, "Yep, I know my enemy--it is that filthy devil...I rebuuuuuuuuuuuuuke you filthy devil." Yes, satan is a powerful foe to be reckoned with; however, he is not the real problem...he has been stripped of his power. All he has left is the lie. Lies, lies, lies, is all he has. He is not allowed to come near any believer unless God allows it. It always makes me angry when I see people getting all whipped up about the devil when the Scriptures simply say, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." That is it. The believer has been given "all the fullness" (col. 2) of Christ Jesus which includes headship over the principalities and powers. All we need to do is resist. The weakest of believers have this aut...

The word repentance literally means to change one's mind. A change in thinking; aka, faith is the first step on our journey of discipleship with Jesus Christ. Repentance has been misconstrued through the years to mean changing one's behavior. To be accepted by God; therefore, one would have to change their behavior (turn away from their sins) and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is a faulty view of repentance which can be damaging. We can not change our behavior--that is the problem and that is precisely why Jesus Christ came. He came saying, "Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Jesus followed up his command for repentance with the phrase "the Kingdom of heaven is near." If repentance is a change in thinking, why did he say, "The Kingdom of heaven is near?" Jesus said it because in order to recognize the Kingdom of God coming upon them, they had to change their thinking concerning the Kingdom of God. Israel's expectation of t...

Everyone is familar with the "great love chapter," 1 Corinthians 13. Paul uses poetic language to drive home the fact that without love, even the most noble of feats is nothing. I was thinking about this passage, and I always read it from a performance oriented view; i.e., I took it to say that if I am not loving people, I am in dutch with God. The emphasis was always on my failure to love. This morning however, I realized that the emphasis is on what we possess-what we "have" or have not. This brought me to the realization that if I don't possess God's love for me personally, I can't love others; moreover, if God is love, we can easily replace the word love with God...see how this plays out in the opening verses: 1If I speak in the tongues[ a ] of men and of angels, but have not God, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mounta...