TODAY IS FEBRUARY 26TH, 2011

-THE 9TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME-aka SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY

(We now have less than 60 days before Resurrection Sunday)

OUR SONGS FOR TODAY

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

CARTOON SONG
HANDS OF THE POTTER

VOICE OF TRUTH (Casting Crowns)

Oh, what I would do to have

the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name

and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times

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I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
You you'll never win

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story

the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

Oh, what I would do

to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out

my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size

to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down

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I will soar with the wings of eagles
when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story

The Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

I will listen and believe

I will listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
'Cause Jesus you are the Voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. Oh you are the Voice of truth

FIRM FOUNDATION

The Gospel
Matthew 20:1-16
The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the
morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the
laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going about
the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said
to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be
just. And they went their way.

And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like
manner.

But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing and he
saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle?

They say to him: Because no man hath hired us.

He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was
come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the laborers and pay
them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.

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When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour; they
received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that
they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And
receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, Saying: These
last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that
have borne the burden of the day and the heats.

But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou
not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will
also give to this last even as to thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I
will? Is thy eye evil with envy, because I am good? So shall the last be first,
and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL

When you read this Gospel story, the whole thing seems unfair. Here you
have a Master who hired a bunch of men to work for him. One bunch
worked the whole day for this boss in the heat of a Middle Eastern day while
the ones who came in at the end only worked a few hours.

The Master agreed to pay the workers a generous wage for those days-one
penny. A penny for a day wages sounds very cheap. But in that time a penny
was a denarius made out of silver, not copper.
This word "penny" referred to a coin called a denarius. It was actually worth
quite a bit of money. The denarius was a silver coin (not copper like our
penny) and it was the amount of money that a man would usually earn for a
day’s wage. How much does your father earn in one day for the work which
he does? In Bible times a hard working man would receive one "penny"
(denarius) for his daily wage.
How much do you make a day? That’s how much these men were paid with
their denarius or “penny”
So ALL of the workers received the same wage no matter how long they had
worked for the Master. The ones had worked the longest were okay at first
with their wages. Then they saw that the so called Johnny Come Late-lies
were given the same amount as they were given-and the screaming began!
To our way of thinking that isn’t right. Shouldn’t the ones who worked the
longest receive more money? Yet, when you examine the story you begin to
see the truth behind the story.

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The key to understanding this story has to do with the Master. This has
nothing to do with what the laborers actually did or didn’t do on the job or
how long they worked. Someone works in a nice, air conditioned office
while someone else is moving pipe in the desert. Surely the worker who
works with his hands is sweating more than the person behind the desk. But
who gets paid more? Is that fair or not? In our world people are paid
according to their job descriptions, not based upon the amount of sweat
something generates.

But this parable has everything to do with WHO hired these men. The
Owner of the land wanted workers. He was willing to pay a day’s wage for
anyone who would work for him. Think of it as a sale. Like a salesman
hawking his wares for everyone to buy, the Master offers his positions at a
bargain. Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up and receive salvation. All you
have to do is come work for Me and I will give you the kingdom of Heaven.

And what is that kingdom? That is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
moving into your life and living in each and every person who accepts the
offer of salvation:
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
Rev 3:20

voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person,
and they with me.
It doesn’t matter if you accepted God’s offer in the morning of your life as
my mother did. It doesn’t matter if you came in at the high noon of your
years as a young adult or made it in at the twilight years. If you come to the
Lord and say “Take me in”, then you will receive the same “wage” which is
the Kingdom of God.

As Christians in Recovery from sin we have to remind ourselves of this fact

as we grow in our spiritual stability and sobriety. What’s the fact? WE’RE
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT ROWING THE SAME DIRECTION! No one
is better than the other. You might have a person who has been a Christian
for 17 years sitting next to someone who came to the Lord seventeen
seconds ago. Is there a different in the life skills or understanding between
the two? Yes. But an experienced Christian is no more saved and born again
than a new one is because salvation has to do with what God does for you
not what you do for God.

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Get in on God’s “fire sale” and receive the same salvation no matter who,
what, where or how you came to it. That’s the promise of God and the
wonderful fact of Who we all work for in the long run. Keep that in mind as
you go along, brothers and sisters. That will keep us from falling into being
high minded about our walk with Christ and each other. It’s not how long
you’ve been saved by God but how deeply you have surrendered to the One
Who saved you.

MY FIRST EXORCISM-PART FOUR

The Forensics of Sin and Possession

Or
How in the World Do We Get So Messed Up?

Forensic Theology sounds like a modern joke. As one person wrote:

Mention the concept of “forensic theology,” even among people who like to
discuss theology, and you may hear a response of skepticism tinged with
humor. The concept came to my attention through a report by former Sunday
Times (London) journalist Stephen Grey in the November 2004 issue of
Atlantic magazine.
On GetReligion.org, a weblog I edit about mass-media coverage of religion, two
readers poked fun at the concept. Darrell Grizzle, a reader from Atlanta,
wrote: “I can see the CSI team arriving at the scene of a murder: ‘This looks
like the work of a pantheist.’ ‘No, the evidence suggests a team of theistic
existentialists is responsible.’”
Anton Sherwood added to the fun: “We were meant to think it was a Fooist
ceremony gone wrong, but the killer’s knowledge of Fooism was evidently
shallow: these candle stubs are the wrong color for that date.”
http://www.equip.org/articles/forensic-theology

But the truth behind it is very serious. Forensics is the simply a fancy way of
figuring out the whom, what, when, where why and how of a crime:

Forensics (scientific tests or techniques used in the investigation of crimes)

Merriam-Websters

If we think of sin as a crime against God and Creation, which it is, then we
can understand that a lot of theology, which is the study of God, involves
applying what we know about God and Creation to solving the riddles of sin

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and sin related behaviors. That includes the sin problems connected with
possession.

What is the forensic definition of possession? How does possession work

any way? Where does possession start? Is it always sin based? If all
possession stems from voluntary sin then why do some people get possessed
off of a sin and others don’t? Are some sins more dangerous than others in
terms of possession? Why?

Let’s start with a definition.

Possession in the Biblical sense of the word is the forceful submersion of a

sentient creature’s personality and personal control of the body, mind and
emotions by something evil. Basically something comes along and takes
control of a person or animal and causes severe changes in the possessed
creature to such an extent that she or he becomes the property of the entity.

The amount of control exhibited by the entity shows the level of possession
that the entity has within the person or animal. The greater the control of the
entity, then the more insidious is the possession.

That sounds very simple. But there is profoundness there in that simple
statement that we need to take a look at from a forensic point of view.

In the forensic study of a crime, you have to look at what happened before
you can understand who did what. So what happens in a possession? An
entity takes control of a person or animal.

For what purpose? What is the motive for the crime of subverting the God
given freedom of action that is the right of all beings, especially the ones in
the image and likeness of God?

We know that answer from last week through our church’s foundational
Scripture:

THE THIEF DOES NOT COME EXCEPT TO STEAL, TO KILL AND TO

DESTROY. BUT I HAVE COME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE AND
THAT IN ABUNDANCE. (John 10:10)

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Satan’s MO is to steal your faith, kill your dreams and destroy any
relationship that you have with anyone, especially with God. The devil
knows that if you don’t know, love and serve God who is the source of Love
you will never truly be able to love others or yourself. The ultimate end of
this campaign is to turn us into self centered narcissist reflections of satan
himself. That is his greatest revenge upon God-to have us choose to become
gods like satan instead of vessels for the One True God.

If satan’s purpose is to make us into his clones, then it only makes sense that
his actions would be against anything that makes us know, love and serve
God and others. How does he do that? By leading us into choosing
selfishness and leading us away from those things that build up
connectiveness and unity with things other than ourselves.

That’s why cults are so into us versus them. It’s always how good WE are
and how bad THEY are. It’s always how much WE know and HOW
ignorant THEY are. God doesn’t want us to compromise what we believe in.
But the Lord never meant for the Family of God to consist of “us four and
no more.” This is not a club. This is a family that extends from the people of
God walking this earth to our spiritual relatives in Heaven and in Purgatory.
We’re all One Body as long as we strive to know, love and serve God.

That’s why the rule for membership in a 12 Steps Group is the desire to stop
drinking, drugging, slutting, whatever. If you want to stop being an addict,
then you can join a 12 Steps Group. If you want to stop being controlled by
sin, then you can join a church. But we need to understand that just like you
are in a 12 Steps Group because your addiction is messing up your life, you
become a Christian because sin is messing up your life. People don’t attend
meeting in AA and NA because they are lonely. Maybe that is one reason,
but the core of 12 Steps is THE DESIRE TO STOP ABUSING AND THE
QUEST TO RECOVER THE PERSON YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT
TO BE.

Remember last week when we were talking about seeing the big picture of
God and the big picture of satan? Well, that is what’s going on in recovery.
God has this plan for us in His family. We each have a place and a purpose
in God’s plan. The Plan of Creation will be fulfilled with or without us. But
the unique part we each have in that plan will never be fulfilled unless we’re
there in our plan making our purpose reality.

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That happens when we each decide to KNOW what God’s plans are for each
one of us and then LOVE the Lord and SERVE our purposes by serving
Him and each other. Then we fit into the bigger picture and the greater plan
of what the Lord wants for His Creation.

So if that’s what God wants and plans, what does satan do to disrupt that
plan and purpose?

SIN.

Think about it.

Definition of Alcoholism -- published by the Journal of the

American Medical Association

“Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial,

and environmental factors influencing its development and
manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is
characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over
drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite
adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably
denial ." American Medical Association

Definition of Possession

Spiritual possession is a primary, chronic, progressive disease with genetic,

(family curses), psychosocial, (sinful choices), and environmental factors,
(bad upbringing or living conditions), influencing its development and
manifestations. This spiritual disease is most often progressive and fatal. It
is characterized by continuous or periodic impaired control over the
person’s ability to be a balanced, loving person with healthy relationships
with God and others, preoccupation with the sinful behaviors and attitudes
that opened the door for the possession itself, use of the behavior even at the
risk of exposure or adverse consequences and twisted distortions in
thinking, particularly in terms of denial.

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Sin is the willful choice to do something that we know goes against God’s
plans and purposes for us. A choice for something that hurts people in a
serious way that has long lasting consequences which we know and
understand as serious is a MORTAL sin because it kills our relationship with
God and each other. A choice for something pettier that we don’t fully
understand as evil is a VENIAL sin. The only real difference is that a
MORTAL sin steals kills and destroys in an openly dramatic and obvious
way. VENIAL sins wear away the strength of our relationships slowly and
silently until we find ourselves very vulnerable to something more serious.

Sin is a choice to let something besides God controls our lives. Once we do
that we are on the road to possession whether we believe in the devil or not.
How do we know that?

1) The Bible tells us so:

James 1:
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When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but 14

each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their

own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it
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gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to

death.
2) We can see how having sin in our lives turns us into whatever that sin
is. Allowing gluttony in our lives makes us into the image and
likeness of gluttony. Allowing hatred in our lives makes us into
images of hate. Allowing rage in our lives turns us into the picture of
anger. Our inner and outer faces reflect whatever we allow the most in
our lives.
You watch a movie like “The Exorcist” and you can see how it portrays
the possessed person as talking, acting, even looking more and more like
a creature from Hell. Sin in our lives does the same thing in a more quiet
way. Like the frog in water being slowly boiled to death by degrees, a
person who allows sin to go unchallenged in their lives becomes a slave
to sin:

Romans 6:16
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether

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 you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience,
which leads to righteousness?
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PERSON CAUGHT UP
IN SIN’S CONTROL AND A PERSON WHO IS POSSESSED?

Biblically, there isn’t any difference at all!

John 8:34 (New International Version, ©2010)

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Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave
to sin.

The only difference as far as the world is concerned is how the person
acts out their enslavement. If you are under sin’s control in a way that the
world accepts, you’re fine. Someone outside of the society might notice
but you won’t because that’s the way EVERYONE is acting.

Case in point: The Aztecs. The Aztec Native Americans were very
sophisticated. They had indoor plumbing, advanced medicine, complex
languages-the whole bit. But they believed that ripping people’s hearts
out and offering them to the sun was an acceptable way of worshipping
the Creator. As far as the Aztecs were concerned, no harm, no foul.

Can you see it? “Hey, Texcla, can you meet me for some hot chocolate at
noon, right after the midday sacrifice?” “Sure, Hetla. Then we can catch
the ceremonial skin flaying of the virgins afterwards.” Ho hum. No big
deal.

I’m sorry but your whole society is POSSESSED if you think it’s normal
to torture and murder people. But the people there were all under control
of the entity of murder, so it seemed normal to them. What do you think
an outsider would think when they come to America and see our clinics
for murdering children? Remember that abortion looks like this:

Yet we say Ho Hum and go on our way as if everything was normal.

That’s why forensically speaking when we understand the process of
possession we have to look for the process, not the end result. How did
the person get caught in that proverbial pot? It didn’t happen in a
vacuum.

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*It happened in a setting that helped open the door to it. This is what is
called the Gatekeeper.
*It proceeded through a bunch of covering behaviors and small moral
compromises. These are called the Protectors.
*This happened to give control over to a main force which then uses the
person’s gifts, talents and strengths as tools to steal, kill and destroy the
happiness and lives of others and to hurt and harass the Creator. That is
the Main Group of Controllers.

When you know the sin that opened the door, the sins that protect the
invasion and the sin that feeds the Controller, you have the MO and the
means for expelling the entities and the means for healing the disease of
possession.

IS POSSESSION A DISEASE?

Yes. It is a spiritual disease from a spiritual virus caused by a spiritual

immune system compromised by the bacteria of sin. Let the system get
“sick” through sin and the entities will come and feed off the toxins the
sin pattern produces. Get rid of the bacteria of sin and the virus can be
exposed and destroyed.

This is why some people seem to get “sicker” than others from the
bacteria of sin. If they grew up in an environment that fostered stability,
decency and morals, then even when they sin these people will attract
smaller, weaker entities. They don’t have as many toxins in their lives for
the invaders to feed off of-at least not at first. They can successfully pass
as normal.

The ones who grew up deprived of love and stability are more likely to
get spiritually sick faster. Why? A lowered spiritual immune system.

So, using this model, we can see why satan has fostered broken homes
and broken families. If you want to spread disease you would support
filth, poor diets, stress, and cesspools of germs as being normal. After a
while the immune system would be so stressed and compromised that it
wouldn’t even recognized that it’s being invaded. If you want to spread
spiritual sickness you would push evil thoughts, evil speaking, evil
sights, evil actions and evil places as being normal.

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You would also try to steer everyone away from those things that could
expose the sickness or lessen it. What if you lived somewhere that hated
bathing and ridiculed it as something for sissies or madmen? That’s how
it was in certain periods in England. Bathing was something you did once
a year and people who refused to bathe were considered tough and
strong.

As in a lot of things medieval bathing was by some seen as a form of sexual

debauchery and by others seen as letting the devil into you. It was also widely
believed that being naked and letting the water touch you would make you severely
ill. http://historyundressed.blogspot.com

That’s the same attitude that satan has towards spiritual bathing such a
Confession. Stay spiritually dirty and weaken your immune system with
God. The better to sicken God’s people and spread spiritual epidemics.

Look at this!

Contents

[hide]

• 1 List of Christian evangelists involved in scandals

o 1.1 Aimee Semple McPherson, 1920s–40s

o 1.2 Lonnie Frisbee, 1970s–1980s

o 1.3 Marjoe Gortner, early 1970s

o 1.4 Billy James Hargis, early 1970s

o 1.5 Jim & Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, 1986 and 1991

o 1.6 Peter Popoff, 1987

o 1.7 Morris Cerullo, 1990s

o 1.8 Mike Warnke, 1991

o 1.9 Robert Tilton, 1991

o 1.10 W. V. Grant, 1996 and 2003

o 1.11 Bob Moorehead, 1998

o 1.12 Roy Clements, 1999

o 1.13 John Paulk, 2000

o 1.14 Paul Crouch, 2004

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 o 1.15 Douglas Goodman, 2004

o 1.16 Nathan Braun, 2005

o 1.17 Kent Hovind, 2006

o 1.18 Ted Haggard, 2006

o 1.19 Paul Barnes, 2006

o 1.20 Lonnie Latham, 2006

o 1.21 Gilbert Deya, 2006

o 1.22 Richard Roberts, 2007

o 1.23 Earl Paulk, 2007

o 1.24 Coy Privette, 2007

o 1.25 Thomas Wesley Weeks, III, 2007

o 1.26 Michael Reid, 2008

o 1.27 Joe Barron, 2008

o 1.28 Todd Bentley, 2008

o 1.29 George Alan Rekers, 2010

o 1.30 Eddie L. Long, 2010

o 1.31 Vaughn Reeves, 2010

o 1.32 Stephen Green, 2011

How did these spiritual giants get into so much trouble??? We can blame
it on Pentecostalism. But what about the Catholics, Methodists,
Episcopalians, and Lutherans-they all have problems too. And if we say
its organized religion, well then why do secular organizations like the
teachers have even worse records for sexual misconduct? Even our
dentists are getting abusive!

What happened? They got spiritually sick, contaminated by the spiritual

germs of our day and age and then when they got weakened they were
easily taken over by entities and made into slaves of sin.

LEST WE GO THERE…

That’s why it is SO important to check ourselves before we wreck

ourselves. No one comes into this world as an addict. The path to being

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enslaved started with the environment of our families and the world, but
it always comes down to our individual choices and decisions. If we
allow ourselves to be aware of what we’re doing and why, it becomes a
lot harder to find ourselves weakened and caught unawares.

That’s why this Lent I urge everyone to seriously work their spiritual
programs and steps for their own needs and problems. I believe this is the
year that God leads us into deeper ministry outside of our group as this
church begins to spread and grow. BUT the danger in that is to forget our
own intense needs for God. WE ARE A RECOVERY CHURCH. That
means WE ARE A CHURCH IN RECOVERY. The steps are not
something interesting or unique it is how we survive day by day without
falling off the wagon into perdition.

Without that knowledge and commitment to recovery we expose

ourselves to a spiritually sick society that can tear us apart.

Do you want to serve God in ministry for the first time? Is your present
outreach growing? Are you asking God to deepen your ministry and
service to the Lord through serving others? Then this Lent and into Easter
as we begin the Year of the Sacred Hearts-GET SERIOUS ABOUT
KNOWING, LOVING AND SERVING GOD THROUGH THE 12
STEPS.

I truly believe what Mary said to us many years ago-if we stay close to
her Heart for God, and then God will keep us safe as we reach out to
others. But that can only happen if we allow ourselves to be serious,
responsive people of Faith. Lent is the time when we renew that
commitment through fasting, alms and prayer. This year let that
commitment flow from fasting from sin, giving from our excesses and
praying for renewal.
The more we walk this path in faith, the more we will be able to get
through the times ahead intact as a family, a faith and one people in God.

God bless you.

BT+
QUESTIONS

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1) What do you think is the spiritual pathology of sexual sin? (What
starts it, gets it worse and then blows it up into full blown spiritual
illness? )
2) What are things in your life or family that you try to watch out for the
most when it comes to the Disease of sin and where it leads to
Possession? Why?
3) What is the main spiritual sickness of our nation? What are WE as a
nation possessed by and why?

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