The True Basis and Meaning of “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain” in Mark 11.

Posted on March 25, 2020 by ccpastormike

Mark’s Gospel is replete with theological gems worthy of the time to mine them. None is more important to the times we live in today than the entire vignette of Jesus and the disciples leaving the temple complex, Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree, and His admonition concerning “this mountain.”

The first item I would like for you to consider is that the expectation of the Messiah was also, of course, the expectation of His Kingdom’s arrival. The disciples were not wrong in thinking that way. The church age was a mystery to them.

That’s the primary reason the Jews wanted Messiah to arrive – to overthrow Rome. Then there’s the question of the Abrahamic Covenant fulfillment, especially the land aspect of that covenant.

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While We Sleep – Pastor Mike Spaulding

Posted on November 17, 2019 by ccpastormike

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.” Matthew 13:24-25

The passage of Holy Scripture above comes from a collection of parables that Jesus used to describe different aspects of the kingdom of God, sometimes referred to as the kingdom of heaven. The entire collection in Matthew 13 is referred to as The Kingdom Parables.

Jesus explained the meaning of this parable to His disciples in verses 36-43 of Chapter 13. He is the man who sowed good seed in the field. The seed is His disciples. The field is the world. The tares are Satan’s slaves, i.e., the unredeemed, and the sower of the unredeemed is Satan himself.

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The Pulpit: America’s Tinderbox for Revival – Dr. John Diamond

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ccpastormike

“The beginning of true liberty is Jesus Christ. And therefore, the first and last target of all subversion is biblical faith. Hence it is that the Church has been the first target of infiltration and subversion; and is the most subverted institution in the United States today.”

— Dr. R. J. Rushdoony

The United States of America is on the verge of political, social and moral collapse. While many Christian leaders are diligently praying for America’s Third Great Awakening, wickedness and immorality seems to continue to spread unabated across America with no apparent end in sight. How did this happen and who is ultimately responsible for preventing its demise?

The reversal of everything that our Founding Fathers stood for politically, socially and culturally began in earnest in the mid 1900’s, when America was invaded and infiltrated by a civilian army whose allegiance and loyalty were elsewhere. Their goal was to destroy the Judeo-Christian Constitutional Republic that our Founding Fathers created and replace it with a socialist/humanistic state to be ruled by a handful of judges. Therefore, if we are to defeat this enemy, we must understand their strategy in order for it to be countered.

Joseph Stalin shows us the tactic that they would use in order to undermine our nation: “America is like a healthy body and its resistance is three-fold. Its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” The first attack occurred on our “spiritual life” when the Supreme Court invented the fictitious legal doctrine of “separation of church and state” which removed the LORD from His place as the highest authority in our nation. (See Romans 13). The second wave began when the Left unconstitutionally began to use the federal courts to attack our morality. After God’s law was removed as the foundation for American moral law, the sex / drug revolution immediately followed. America then began cascading into moral free fall. Abortion, legalized sodomy and gay marriage were all forced upon the nation by the Supreme Court.

The last wave was (and is) an attack upon our patriotism. This is the strategy behind the Colin Kaepernick protests. I fear if this last thread of resistance is severed, America will fall on the ash heap of history. Herbert Aptheker, Editor Communist Magazine Political Affairs, identified whose neglect was allowing this to happen: “Neglect of parents [and pastors] to teach our youth Christianity and Americanism has made the communist talk of deceiving American youth much easier.” Therefore, the course objective of Americanism: A Course in Citizenship and Ethics is to restore America’s 3-fold cords of patriotism, morality, and the spiritual life that has historically made America strong and great, thus restoring our American Republic.

If we are to pull America back from the brink of judgment and destruction, this movement must begin and be led by the churches and pulpits of America. – Charles Finney, The Father of Modern Revivalism had the following to say in his article The Decay of Conscience (1873)

“Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation.”

I have interviewed hundreds of pastors over the last 25 years in an attempt to get them to engage the culture and the society outside the four walls of theirs church. My efforts were met with nothing but frustration, as many seemed more interested in building their own little kingdoms rather than advancing the Kingdom of God upon the Earth. I asked the LORD “What would you have me do? The LORD responded: “Write down the 12 lies that you have heard come from the mouth of a Christian leader and then refute that lying spirit.” [See 2 Chronicles 18:21 & 1 Kings 22:22]. From this conversation, the curriculum: Americanism: A Course in Citizenship and Ethics – The Social, Moral, Religious and Political Duty of the Church was born. For the next 12 weeks, join us as we address that 12 Lies that the Christian church has embraced as truth.

Dr. John Diamond is a nationally recognized teacher, motivational and inspirational speaker, author, theologian, and Christian apologist. He is the Founder and Director of Peacemakers Outreach, a non-profit, faith-based organization that is dedicated to pursuing reconciliation through video, social media, and biblical education. He is passionate, high energy and dynamic speaker whose subjects makes him relatable to both young and old, from the new believer to the most seasoned pastor. His teaching style makes him able to communicate the most complex issues in a way that is accessible to even laymen in the faith. John’s sermons, teachings, and speeches have made him known as an articulate defender of truth and biblical morality.

He is a seasoned author who has written several books including An Appeal to Heaven: A Cry for Divine Justice and the 3-part discipleship series titled Unifying the Body of Christ. He is now being recognized as one of the nation’s experts in the areas of Christian Unity, Discipleship, Outreach, and Biblical Citizenship. This has made him an increasingly sought-out church and conference speaker as well as radio show guest. He travels widely across the nation working with a variety of evangelical churches and Christian organizations. His newly created educational materials and curriculum include several small group DVD studies such as Faith Training and The Mystery of Christ that educate, emphasize and expand upon the four-basic doctrine of the CM&A doctrines of Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and our Coming King.

His 14-part DVD series titled Americanism: A Course in Biblical Citizenship and Ethics has made him known as one of the leading experts in the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men. His book An Appeal to Heaven is being widely recognized as the only biblical solution for the restoration of legitimate biblical government by emphasizing the 3-fold role of Christ as King, Lawmaker and Judge. (Isaiah 33:22).

Dr. Diamond is presently the Executive Director of Peacemakers Outreach. He holds a Masters in Theology and a Doctorate in Christian Education. In January 2013, he created the first American Citizenship School which led to the forming of the American Christian Leadership Alliance (ACLA). He has served as the Director of Discipleship at Bible Community Church in Columbus, Ohio. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Peacemakers Outreach website here.

The Purpose of Marriage – Pastor Mike

Posted on February 15, 2019 by ccpastormike

The covenant of marriage is a testimony of love for God and the love a man and a woman share. It is a testimony to our love for God because He created marriage and said that it was good for a man to cleave to his wife.

The covenant of marriage has weathered a lot of storms over the many years since God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and from his side create woman whom Adam named Eve – the mother of all the living.

Marriage as God created it was never meant to be a burden or to create hardship. God’s design for marriage is that it becomes the standard bearer for what true companionship looks like.

What should be apparent to people and especially to Christians, is that companionship’s foundation is spiritual. That’s what Moses was describing when under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote: “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 3:24)

God’s reasoning is very clear – two is better than one.

Now this raises a question. Namely, in what way or in what context are two becoming one better than one alone? In other words why did God determine that man and woman are better together than alone? What are they better at? The answer to that question gets to the real heart of the issue concerning marriage.

God designed marriage for a purpose, and He has determined that two are better than one in accomplishing that purpose. That being true, then it is wisdom manifested to pursue and gain understanding of what God’s purpose truly is concerning marriage.

Many people in America today would likely answer that God has designed marriage to bring happiness into the lives of men and women who make this commitment to one another. I believe they are right in thinking this for God does desire that His sons and daughters find happiness in their lives.

But I think there is something even greater than happiness that God desires for His children through the covenant of marriage. What if God desired marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?

What if God designed marriage to draw us closer to Him? What if God is inviting men and women who come before Him, making vows and promises of love, commitment, and companionship, to draw into a most holy and righteous relationship through the challenges, struggles, joys, and celebrations that marriage certainly affords?

What if marriage in God’s eyes, is part of the grand plan of sanctification for those who choose this path?

Indeed, one Reformation era writer says that marriage is a perpetual exercise of mortification. That word mortification is an old Puritan word meaning to die to sin, and specifically to deny the desires of the flesh that ruin us all if we indulge them.

The Bible states it this way in the KJV: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Romans 8:13)

Friends, if the purpose of God in marriage is simply to make us happy, then what do we do 2 years in, or 10 years in, or 30 years in when suddenly we determine that we just aren’t happy anymore? If happiness is the litmus test then most people would need a new marriage every 3-4 years.

The truth is friends, the philosophical movement called the age of Romanticism high jacked the biblical view of marriage and took it places that God never intended it to go. Love became all about emotions and as we all, well know, emotions are a very untrustworthy gauge of almost everything.

Love, friends, is a gift from our great God and it is designed to be best expressed in the covenant of marriage. But love must have a constant companion. That companion is holiness, and holiness is most beautifully expressed in our relationships with others.

I want to share with you a brief excerpt from Francis Schaeffer found in his book The Mark of the Christian. Schaeffer writes:

In John 13:21 Jesus said “We are to love all Christians “as I,” Jesus says, “have loved you.” Now think of both the quality and the quantity of Jesus’ love toward us.”

“The point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he is not a Christian. Here Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.”

“Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers…But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gave is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.”

“This is the whole point: The world is going to judge whether Jesus has been sent by the Father on the basis of something that is open to observation.”

“The Christian really has a double task. He has to practice both God’s holiness and God’s love. The Christian is to exhibit that God exists as the infinite personal God; and then he is to exhibit simultaneously God’s character of holiness and love. Not his holiness without his love: that is only harshness. Not his love without his holiness: that is only compromise.”

“…we should never come to such difference with true Christians without regret and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, evangelicals often have not shown it. We rush in, being very, very pleased, it would seem at times, to find other men’s mistakes. We build ourselves up by tearing other men down. This can never show a real oneness among Christians.”

Schaeffer is right in stating that love, true biblical love, without holiness becomes compromise.

The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11 Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Friends two is better than one but a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. This is a marvelous truth from the Scripture and it is applicable most especially to marriage.

Sanctification is a lifelong process whereby God makes us holy. How does He do that? He does that through the transforming events of everyday life. Marriage as those of you who have been married for a while understand, calls us to an entirely new life of selflessness. When God said the two shall become one He really meant it.

Once married, your thoughts and your actions are refocused from self to your spouse. As a pastor I can testify that many issues couples face in marriage that threaten their commitment to one another, are centered on the inability to make this transition from self-focus to spouse-focus. Wives are to honor, to respect, and to love their husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. That, friends, is the epitome of selflessness and it is a very tall order because our flesh fights against that.

So the question becomes this: can a man or a woman love and honor one another that way without Christ being their mutual focus? Can men and women become one as God intends them to be, without the third strand which is Jesus Christ? The answer is simply no, they cannot.

Schaeffer again:

Marriage is wonderful, but unless both are children of God through faith in Christ, and unless both put Christ first as Lord in their lives, then a marriage can never be what the Lord meant marriage to be. This would always be true, but it is doubly true in a day such as our own which is so filled with confusion and tensions. It is only when each one puts Christ first that there can be a sufficient base. And though at first it might seem as though this would be disruptive to a marriage – to have even Christ put before the other one – yet it is not this way. This is so because, if we put Christ before the other person, we will then be able to love and be thoughtful of the other person in a way that would not be possible if that person was not put first.

Friends, the marriage relationship in which Christ is the third strand cannot be quickly torn apart. With Christ as the foundation and focus of your marriage you will experience the deep rivers of the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You will understand the wonderful blessing it is to take responsibility to tenderly nurture the other’s heart; always watching over it to protect it and to defend it.

The beauty of Christianity is love. Love is expressed most clearly by the Father in Christ. For those who follow Christ, marriage is the most radical test of whether or not we, His followers, are becoming more like Christ every day.

Christians must understand that marriage is a testimony to the world of what pursuing God looks like. Marriage as God intends it to be, is a soul-deep companionship that grows stronger and deeper, year upon year, as we are drawn closer and closer into intimacy with Christ.

May God bless you, dear listener, as you embark on this great adventure of holiness. May your marriage point each other to what you need most of all in life – God’s love and active presence day by day.

Dr. Mike Spaulding

Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat With Host Pastor Mike Spaulding On Soaring Eagle Radio

Posted on September 15, 2018 by ccpastormike

Friends, please visit Messiah of Israel Ministries page to see what our Father is doing through Messianic Rabbi Zev Porat in the land of Israel. Please join me in praying for Rabbi Zev and the work the Father has him doing their among the Jewish people.

Link to show – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKe7Z82FwXk