The Great "Works" Conundrum (Continued...)

Rom 6:1 "To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater?" (WNT)

Mat 5:14 "*You* are the light of the world; a town cannot be hid if built on a hill-top". (WNT)

Isa 60:2-3 "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." KJV

 I will start this blog by re-iterating my first sentiments in it's precursor. You are not more righteous because of what you do after salvation for Christ is our righteousness and there is no adding to His perfect righteousness.(Philippians 3:9) You are not, in the same vein, less righteous because of what you do. That is the great mystery of salvation. So the question is, if what I do doesn't add or deduct from the state of my righteousness, what then is the reason to worry about how I live? Good question. 

The scriptures in Romans 6 prologue with an epilogue of galactic significance.  You see I love the way the Apostle Paul stated his cases, for that they were. He was a homiletics genius and so it should be if one is being inspired of the Spirit of God. He knew the implications of the fantastic revelations made in Romans 5(it begs personal reading) After having expounded on the victorious ways in which Christ's cause had indeed been triumphant, and having laid bare the boundless extents of God's grace in the process...he knew that there needed to be a cautionary word to the Church. For indeed, once death reigned but now grace reigned, once men were hopelessly at the mercy of the penalty due to them, but now they were set free and "justified" (declared not guilty) in heaven's Constitutional Court.

With such blissful realities it is possible to see yourself at the extreme end forgetting that indeed, your freedom came at a price to someone else. It is possible to be like the 9 lepers who didn't show up with appreciation after being delivered of a debilitating disorder. So with this in mind, the Apostle Paul concludes this good news with a very important question to the saved. "Shall we continue in sin? The answer seems immediately obvious but however the living out of it has been proven generation after generation to not be so easy. For indeed men revel in their freedom to the extent of going back to the ways of their old sinful nature. Hinging their boldness on nothing but the fact that they have been justified.

 Rom 6:6-7  "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin."

 The nature of our salvation is such that what Christ went through is reckoned to our account so that the glory of his victory becomes our reality. His residence in us by the Holy Spirit is the seal of that reality for indeed, divinity could not reside in iniquity. So we have been made free from sin indeed. The only catch however is that you can only exercise authority and faith to the measure of what you know (Hosea 4:6, Rom 10:17). So in verse 12 of Romans 6 he admonishes the believers as those who have the victory over sin and he says "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies", to say..you are no longer hapless victims of sin, servants of that cruel master, but you have been born into an overcoming life (1 John 5:4) that allows you to live above sin.

This is where all the excuses, and the "leave me be-s" and the "I can't do it-s", and the "o wretched me-s" fall away. For how can you be born of God and be overcome? How can you be free from sin, and yet slave to sin? So then in Matt 5:14 we see the kind of life God ordained for us. It is a shining life, bright with God's glory, spreading His life to all! It is a life like salt, seasoning the world, preserving the lives of men, the truths of the gospel, the heritage of others and impacting them for good. To walk around as if nothing changed is to dim the lights, it's to refuse others the right to see Christ in you. It is to abscond from your ambassadorial duties to represent the kingdom in reconciling lost men (2 Cor 5:20)

In closing I will refer to Isaiah 60, talking about the glory of God on the new creation, and the call to shine. If all that was done was to set the human heart (the candle of the Lord) alight, and not allow it room to glow and penetrate the darkness then you have not done justice to the potential in you. When deep darkness covers the world, bad news on every side, immorality, lasciviousness, debauchery and all forms of corruption are on the increase, it is needful for us to arise. Arise in truth, arise with the standard of the kingdom against the coming of the enemy. Arise with the boldness of light in pushing back worldly manifestations. When the Christian burns bright in his walk, the world comes to watch and give glory to God (Matt 5).

Our works don't get us access, they bear witness to what we have accessed. And as the Word of God says in 2 Cor 4:7, we have treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power (the outworkings of God through us) may be of God and not of us. We were not made by the good we did, but we were made to do good. We were made to do so much good that the world comes running to the light of our lives. Do good for the kingdom's sake.


Yours in His Royal Service,


George Mwamlowe

In search of the #Truth

Joh 8:32  "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

2Co_3:18  "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

The subject of truth has been an amazing exploration for me. I find that it is one of those subjects which strikes a deep chord within all of us. Many a time we hear questions like "How do I know who is telling the truth", and cries like "I just want to be told the truth". So sincere and heartfelt is man's desire (well the majority of us) for truth, that we will invest countless hours listening to others, reading, researching, scrolling through social media and the like, just to find ourselves closer to it.

We will quickly realize in a short study through the New Testament, that it would seem that the truth is 

1) A definite article

2) A personality

The subject is not "a truth", because that would suggest that it is one among many which pertain to a single thing. Whereas it in actual fact is definite. I will explain. It is not a truth that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. (Eph 2:8) A lot goes undone when we think it is one of the truths about how a man is saved. It is then that our faith becomes fluid and almost frivolous, for then anyone can lay claim to salvation through any other means. I trust that that illustrates my point above. So the truth is definite, that means that it is clearly defined and operates as intended.

One of the most powerful descriptions of the Bible that I have ever heard to date goes as follows;

"Everything in the Bible is truthfully stated, however not everything is a statement of truth"-Jesse Duplantis

I believe that is why Paul in writing to Timothy said "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" 2 Tim 2:15. There are things that are truthfully stated indeed, and occurrences that many have made templates for living, however they are in themselves not statements of truth. That is to say they are not the reality of life as God intended it for man. So we are best served by correlating whatever we have with other instances in the Bible.

And then we have the truth being expressed and identified as a personality. 

Joh 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

So now above the truth being definite, it (He) is now alive and tangible with character and traits that we can interact with. Although I am in awe of the power of the definiteness in truth, I am more in love with the person of truth. I have grown to realize that one of the challenges we face in search of truth, is that we get it in part. In the scripture above in Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that we are changed from glory to glory, as we behold. How I wish we could behold all at once the entirety of the picture and be transformed without further effort, but alas it is a journey. And in encountering the truth it is possible to hold the definiteness of it in arrogance, and neglect the personality in it.

1 Cor 13:2 tells us plainly that what we know is nothing save for the part of it that is driven by love. That is the personality of truth. The truth has a character that forgives (Matt18), the truth is patient (Matt19:14)...and so much more. In Christ we find the beauty, the power and the infallibility of truth for he not only said it well, He demonstrated it and he never failed.

For all the truth seekers out there...when you find Jesus, you have found the person of truth. All else will begin to fall into place after that.

Yours in His Service,


George Mwamlowe

The Great "Works" Conundrum

Mat_5:16  "Let YOUR light so shine before men, that THEY may see your good WORKS, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (KJV)

1Pe_2:12  "Having your conversation HONEST among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by YOUR good WORKS, which they shall BEHOLD, glorify God in the day of visitation"(KJV)

Eph 2:8-9  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." 

The gospel is the promise of salvation for all by grace through faith, not of works. I find it the most interesting thing to observe how men seem to be fixated on that one part of the story to the neglect of the life after that great miraculous experience we call salvation. After all, how many salvation experiences does one go through in this earthbound lifetime?

Let's get some things out of the way first...You are not more righteous because of what you do after salvation for Christ is our righteousness and there is no adding to His perfect righteousness.(Philippians 3:9) You are not, in the same vein, less righteous because of what you do. That is the great mystery of salvation. So the question is, if what I do doesn't add or deduct from the state of my righteousness, what then is the reason to worry about how I live? Good question. 

1Co_15:34  "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." 

We cannot forget that in the great scheme of things there are two kingdoms which are vying for territory and influence in the lives of people. The kingdom of darkness, and the kingdom of light. This is a very critical basic understanding for anyone to understand the concept of works after salvation. When we are numbed to this truth (which is one of the great aims of the enemy), we tend to live out our days as believers in blissful drift and lethargy. In this article, I will define works as the lifestyle, speech, thought and associations of a believer. 

In 1 Cor 15:34, Paul admonishes the believers to awake to righteousness! This is a hearty admonition to a group of people whom the Apostle believed to be asleep in their righteousness. And the state that he awakes them from, is apparently a state of sinning (missing the mark). It is indeed possible to experience genuine salvation and still fall asleep, marked by a lacklustre Christian walk. 

I have found that the hostility towards Christians adhering to a certain code of ethics and morality is rising, and this from within the Church. For men have followed after their lusts to the neglecting of the bare fact that the life of the righteous does have standards. Not rules to righteousness, but works that attest to this righteousness. Christ put it well in Matt 5:16 (above quoted). It is not in any kingdom interest to tell people that they can live in any way they want, as long as they are saved. Neither is it prudent to abuse the grace of God as the banner under which all manner of folly should reside. 

Rom 6:1-2  "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

The most obvious reason why we should strive to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the life we profess to reside within us is that it is an evangelical tool in itself. There is nothing more powerful than the life of God in action. The gospel should be lived as much as it should be preached. To stand and say "it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives", means that people who look at you can also concur. Jesus goes to the extent of saying that the heathen (they) will glorify God(worship) because of your good works.

With that in mind, it would be good to look at how we carry ourselves, how we talk to others, what entertains us etc. For many they can purchase, promote, propagate material that is clearly sensual, carnal, anti-God, and they see nothing wrong. However, this is the reason why the heathen feels no conviction in observing the life of the Christian. There is little, if anything, to aspire to. For many the difference in appetites pre-salvation and post-salvation is the addition of gospel music to the playlist shared with all the other music that is derogatory to the tenets of the Christian faith. I use music only as an example for this issue cuts across the vast spectrum of Christian activities. For some, the jury is still hung on whether they actually got saved on that day when they said the "prayer".

The worst I have heard, I think, is some brashly claiming, that "it doesn't matter how bad you are living, as long as you have settled your destiny". That is the height of carnality. To render powerless the life of God and to hold it selfishly to yourself. Throughout the Pauline Epistles, Paul(the Apostle of Grace as he is fondly known), is found appealing to the moral fibre of his listeners, their conduct as Christians mattered to him. It seems to me, that for Paul, the Church was by design meant to live as light and demonstrate a higher standard of morality than the world. And this isn't strange for indeed this is the body that men nicknamed "little Christs" or Christians. In Galatians he spells out the kind of fruit that develops on the branches that are the recreated human spirit, love joy, peace, meekness, longsuffering etc. This fruit develops only because we have allowed the life in the Vine to flow through us.

      Col 1:10  "That ye might walk WORTHY of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every                                       good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

I find it rather beyond imagination to see Christ bumping and grinding to Beyonce's latest in the name of artistic appreciation, nor marvelling at the awesomeness of Kanye West's lyrical prowess. Even more disturbing a picture is that of the King of Righteousness sitting comfortably as men spew all manner curses and obscenities. Alarmingly, we are in the days where Christians attend secular concerts in order to get "inspiration" for their "gospel" albums. It, unfortunately, doesn't look like the Christ I see in scripture. But that is me. Bear with me in my "old-fashioned" Christianity.

Php 4:8  "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

Finally brethren, let us aspire to a life that is ambassadorial, a life that speaks of and identifies with the kingdom that we so violently claim to be part of. I would have gone into how even the very Bishopric has so callously trodden down the expectations of this Way, in spite of the very clear call to blamelessness that Paul made, however, we are after all supposed to be gracious. Until the next blog, keep growing into the measure of the stature of Christ.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

APOSTLES - STILL NECESSARY OR OBSOLETE

Eph 4:11-14  "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; "

I will preface this message by citing incidences referring to Apostles in the New Testament

2 Cor 12:12 -signs and wonders and mighty deeds attest to a genuine Apostolic call

Gal 1:19 James the Lords brother was an Apostle, however, he was not part of the original 12

Phil 2:25 Epaphroditus was an apostle to the Philippian church

Rev2:2 It seems that there was a trend of people fraudulently claiming they were called to be Apostles, however, the Ephesian church could test and disprove such. By inference, it means they could prove those who were called indeed.

Acts 14:14 Barnabas was also separated as an Apostle by the Elders of the church.

1 Thess 2:6 Silvanus and Timothy are addressed as Apostles even though the previous stringent criteria of having seen the Lord is not evidenced to have been fulfilled.

Rom 16:7 Andronicus and Lucia are counted as being of note among the Apostles even though their credentials of having walked with the Lord or having gone through any special requirements are not stated (Not that such a system for sanctification was not there for we see in Acts 6 a strict spiritual and moral test for Deacons)

The apostles were by nature “Sent Ones” or “Messengers”. The Office of the Apostle was revered; however, it was not exclusive to the original 12 nor the later revised 12. From studying the scriptures, we realize that even early on, more people gained the title of Apostle. We can set this as a precedent for the coming Bible times in the New Church age whose practice was to heed the voice of God in “sending people out”. We need to be careful when we do our hermeneutics of the context of a verse and not make it the one thing that makes this office exclusive without considering the dynamics of the bigger Church experience in those days eg. Eph 2:20 There are instances which refer to the original 11 Apostles, which became 12 again, but the instances which refer to them should not be read as an exclusion of the other Apostles from the Office and neither is it relegation to mere “messengers” also. The same with Prophets, we do not have any indication from scripture that that Office will cease after the initial Church Age. In fact, Paul goes to great lengths to encourage people not to forbid prophecy. Acts 13 doesn’t even elaborate on who the Prophets were and what their role was in the Church at that time, but it was no secret that they were there and that they held that Office, again, because each office has accompanying signs. I find it interesting though that it seems that the “5 fold” ministry gifts did not isolate themselves, but were found working together for the good of the body. So there was no denomination which was just Prophetic, or Apostolic, or Evangelistic, or Pastoral.

-Eph 4 makes it clear that Jesus set some in “the Church”. That is a definite article representing the institution which was and still is in existence. For men to then endeavour to reason through without scriptural precedent as to the abolition of any of the set offices in scripture is very dangerous. It is not entirely true that an Apostle must carry a unique authoritative message. It is true, however, that an Apostle is foundational in his disposition, and hence will propagate foundational issues with attendant confirmatory signs (Acts 4:33). As an example, we find that there were many Apostles in scripture who don’t have a book in the NT authored by them. They all carried a message that was revealed already either by Christ Himself on earth or through the post-ascension manifestations. Paul is unique in that for him he was chiefly called to Gentiles, but this same inclusive revelation was given to Peter through a vision (Acts 10). 

We can also see that the Gospel has always been a “new authoritative message” requiring men to propagate it. However, the way in which the individual moved it i.e. the signs of his ministration indicated where in the “five-fold” he was graced to stand. The Apostles are always mentioned first and I am convinced by scripture, that this unique ministry carries signs from every other major office (2 Tim 4:5). Timothy as an Apostle had to also watch that he also fulfilled the Evangelistic call on his life in order to make “full proof” of his ministry. I once blogged about a challenge within the body, which Paul also addressed in 1 Cor 12, where different members do not see value in what the other members are called to do. 

This can be observed when you see ministries where the Senior Pastors or Bishop or President has a teaching gift, and he doesn’t see why there should be a prophetic gift in the Church or worse he makes it his duty to discredit anything that is not plain teaching. We also see it where the leader(s) have a strong Evangelistic office, in such cases they cannot see why people should be taught anything else other than Jesus and His saving grace. And they are quick to cite 1 Cor 2 where Paul determined to know nothing save Christ and Him crucified. Forgetting that the same Paul did know more than that. He knew about family, about prosperity, he knew about church leadership, about beneficial behaviour, dealing with stress, handling complex societal divides etc and he taught all these in a godly way consistent with the gospel and its provisions. So then we see conflict arise, Pastors want everyone to be soft spoken and understanding, teachers want everyone to be a master of didactics and homiletics, Prophets want everyone to see the way they do, Apostles want to be everything including your local politician because of their governmental unction. 

“The Church”, because it is perpetually in multiple stages of growth, cannot afford to do away with any of these giftings. This because in our midst churches still need to be planted and new territories conquered (APOSTLES), governments and Christians still need prophetic voices to declare the way of the Lord and bring correction in times of error and to guide the body into the unfolding purpose of God(PROPHETS), cities need to be evangelized, to hear the heart of God for a dying and lost generation (EVANGELIST), the won need to be embraced, initiated, grounded and loved (PASTORS) and finally the grounded and founded need to grow into maturity and leave the milk and handle meat of the kingdom (Heb6) so that they don’t wander around in the wilderness of doctrinal darkness (Col 3:16) and they grow into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ and walk in the fullness of their God-given inheritance in Christ.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

JESUS IN THE LEAD....

Mat_26:39  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (KJV)

Mat 17:16-17  I have brought him to your disciples, and they have not been able to cure him." "O unbelieving and perverse generation!" replied Jesus; "how long shall I be with you? how long shall I endure you? Bring him to me." (WNT)

The call to lead a godly people is inevitably intertwined with a responsibility to always be a step ahead in intimacy with God. One cannot "discipline" or instill a discipline which he himself does not have. This is not to say that leaders should be perfect, however, it is to say that leadership sets the pace and leads the course. Jesus never said I am the weakest/most confused/least spiritually aware/most unworthy/most carnal among you..no, in fact he could teach and fashion characters for his own was worth emulating. His command of spiritual things was then later taught to His disciples, whom we also see displaying amazing feats in the book of ACTS.

If we look at the Jesus model, it is replete with examples of a man who was, in reality, spiritually astute. A man who desired to impart his know-how and see his followers practice it themselves. He did not have a blanket approach to his followers, however He understood that at the end he would need as many of them as possible. He was a man who understood that He had a limited amount of time and a formidable amount of work to accomplish. Thus his priority was to teach, impart and depart, leaving behind a competent set of people to carry on (John 14:12) We see Jesus using a segmented form of leadership, which ultimately started with Him as the Chief in charge of training. I would imagine that in His interaction with them He knew their weaknesses and in seeing their destiny paths He could train each of them adequately to become the champions of the faith that they were meant to be. He prayed with them (at different levels, with differing levels of access to the mission).

He also demonstrated the way in which they should treat people eg. He fed and cared for those that followed them and listened to His teachings (Mark 6) He demonstrated the way they should deal with demonic attacks (Matt 17:17) He demonstrated the way they should pray (Matt 6) and many other areas of their lives. He was loving and yet strong in rebuke of error. He was welcoming and yet unequivocal. His mandate was clear...people were lost and He was there to save them!(Luke 19:10)

In a world where there is a crisis of leadership in the Christian circles, we need, now more than ever, to have "Jesus model" leaders. It is the kind of leadership that will drive the market out of the Church and pray in the will of God! It is disheartening to see people lower their expectations from leaders in the present day. We seem to be slowly but surely accepting the statements that define our leaders as "only human" and "just like us". Frankly, this is exactly what the enemy wants. A poor leadership will consistently disappoint its follower-ship, thereby driving their expectation down, which perpetuates an even poorer leadership and the result is a Church in crisis. 

We trust in the grace of God, and in the restoring power of God, however we expect the transforming power of God to change our leaders for the better. After all, James says those who teach will have a harsher judgement. For they ought to teach not out of what they know, but what they live (James 3:1). And Paul gives a template for Bishops and Deacons which can be very tricky to preach for many of today's "Bishops".(Scripture quoted in full at the end..)

We then who are sheep, look to the Word and the true master of our souls Jesus to keep raising godly leaders in the house. Those that can truly stand "blameless" and perpetuate a standard that will convict the world and shine the light of Jesus into men's hearts. Every kingdom stands on the quality of it's leaders, and every leader stands on the quality of the knowledge he received. If we lose the templates of the "Jesus model", we have lost the greatest leadership lessons ever taught. We cannot let it happen on our watch. This is my prayer, and it should be the prayer of every one who desires to be discipled in the ways of the kingdom. A RESTORATION OF MEN WHO DEMONSTRATE AND TEACH THE KINGDOM IN ALL ITS GLORY.

1Ti 3:1-13  "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

The Way_The Truth_and The Life

Joh 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"

There can only be ONE truth. There is ONE way, and there is only ONE life worth having. Jesus is THE way, not a way, He isn't trying to be one of the ways, He is THE truth, not a version of it, not a parallel with the other truths, he embodies all that is true, and finally He is THE life, there is no greater form of life, there is no life more potent, no life to substitute Him and no life form that can overwhelm or subjugate His life.

Jesus Alone! For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell (Col 1v19). He came that we may desist from all the other endeavors that men was engaged in in pursuit of salvation. For indeed there was a glory even in the Law given to Moses on the mountain, but even that Law couldn't compare to the glory that was embodied by Christ (2 Cor 3 v 11 - 18) For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus (John 1 v17). In that the disciple uses "but" he is attempting to separate the work of the Mosaic Law from the dispensation that Christ brought in. This one that we live in is a New Covenant between God and man, one in which our hope now is built on nothing less than Christ alone. All our study of the Old Testament (OT) is fruitless if we do not see the face of Christ and all that he espoused. All lessons we draw should be consistent with that one truth that is Christ, and promote that one life, and lead us in that one way.

Paul makes a radical statement in addressing the Galatians who were being persuaded to get circumcised, he tells them that Christ doesn't profit them if they attempt to add any other observances as part of their salvation (Gal 5v2). Our transformation is by looking at Him, nothing else! He is the revelation of God's ultimate plan for man, for he was sacrificed "once for all", that all who would come by Him would in no wise be cast away.

There are those who have added their own qualifications for salvation and pleasing God. In their pursuit of these extra qualifications they have found a humanly reason to boast. You hear words like "we have kept this and observed that, hence we will see God". But like Paul said to the Ephesians, our salvation is found in appropriating grace through faith, and that not of ourselves lest we should boast (Eph 2 v 8). This grace didn't come by law neither by any work of the law can it be found. All that we see in the OT is a shadow, pointing at Christ. After the reality has come there is no longer need that one chases after the shadows and the types (Col 2 v 17).

There is no greater prize than to know Him as He is revealed to us in the NT, to see the very substance of what the prophets longed to see. To see Him walk and radically shift the pharisaic interpretations which had the form of godliness but denied the very essence of God and that essence is love. To see Him take up the sick and cleanse them, and then make bold statements to say that those that merely believed on Him would do the same and greater would they do...and that in this life! It boggles the mortal mind to imagine such compassion as Jesus demonstrated, such mercy, such principle. It is that ONE man who Himself pleased God till He was given the name above every name. The ONLY name by which men may be saved. 

Act 4:10 "be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead-- through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health" This is that life that causes the paralytics to walk and be in perfect health. WNT

Amazing how the exercise of authority in the name of Jesus left this man perfectly healthy. Not a prayer, not a vigil and candles lit in Jesus' name, not even a week of pleading and hoping. But that is a story for another time. I trust that this Christmas shall be a time when you choose the only way, realize the only truth and partake of the only Life worth having.

Yours in His Royal Service

George Mwamlowe

Be sober, be vigilent!

Dan_10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.  

2Co_4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

Eph_6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

In this article I have chosen to bring a gentle reminder to the bretheren, to those that have accepted Christ, a reminder that there is truly a world which is invisible to the naked eye. In this world where there are so many voices crying out to be heard, and so much media to carry them, we are not best served by spiritual blindness and deafness. Indeed the "perilous" last days are upon us and the enemy is moving his agenda with greater zest. It is with this in mind that I bring to remembrance the passages of scripture above. Fights were taking place in the realm of the spirit, fights for territory and fights against Godly agendas.

I was speaking to a young man who is very dear to me about the subject of "worldly" or secular music. I then realized as I spoke to him that we seem to be slowly growing oblivious to the general direction that this world is taking. As Peter put it, "sobriety" is slowly being lost as we fill ourselves drunk on the world's delicacies (1 Pet 5v8). Of course, like the studious person he was, he had been gathering opinions from other bretheren about the same topic, and he now wanted to get a wholistic view to inform his own. It came as no surprise that he had been told by others that there was no problem with taking in this worldly music. The biggest challenge I have seen with our generation of Christians is that the "want" to be entertained has replaced the "need" to be informed and the need to grow to maturity. This is why systematic doctrine is not a favored stance by many.

Now because the belief system is sponsored by the enemy, it is a spiritual and not just a mental fight that you enter into when dealing with these systems. Of all the voices being propagated, the Humanistic voice is the loudest and that is my main focus in this article...this is the self-centered world view. It's about me, my belief, my opinion, my benefits, my sexuality, my preferences, even my destiny. Now back to the music...lol. I find it interesting that a man would want to hold on to something that he "can" live without, which does not glorify God, and in some cases utterly goes against the very character of God, and after that say that "God doesn't mind" or "His grace is sufficient so I don't need to change". I would ask like Paul and say 'shall we continue in unrighteousness because grace hath abounded?' God forbid!

To ask a person what his soteriology is, and what their eschatological views are is very often a futile task. "As long as I am saved" seems to be the general attitude. Unfortunately this is one of the reasons why 8 out of 10 encounters between a Muslim teenager and a Christian teenager will result in a confused Christian teenager. It is simply that the Muslim is taught systematically through their belief structures and beyond that they are taught how to apologetically break down other belief systems, including and especially Christianity and Judaism. This is a very alarming trend if we are to think generationally into what will be of Christianity after we leave. Allow me to state categorically that any belief system that does not espouse the Gospel message of Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, is not of God and hence is sponsored and propagated by the enemy himself. 

2Co_11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

I will ask some questions in conclusion; What is the message of this song? How does it help me in my walk with God? If not, what is the spirit behind the message? Who is sponsoring it? Can I live without this? If not, why not? Can I find a godly substitute? A transformed life is something that we work on as Christians, God saved us in order for us to live with Him daily and for Him daily. There are standards and patterns embedded and peddled by this music that will militate against God's plan for your life.

Rom 12:2  Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. 

Let us not forget that the "pleasures" of this world come at a price. I will reiterate that there is a spiritual world to deal with as a Christian. Paul calls it a wrestling match and some of us have been pinned down and we don't understand why we can't move in worship like we would like, why we can't pray as we would like, why we can't break out of fear like we want, why we keep falling into sexual sin, or why we are constantly depressed. It is time that we as Christians awoke to the times we are living in, like Issachar's sons we need to be aware of what to do, and what not to do (1 Chron 12 v 32). 

Let us disentangle ourselves from the enemy's reigns, from the songs that tie us down and weigh us down, we have a Jesus to live for and a world to show Him to. We cannot be the same as that world in this endeavor.

Yours in His Royal Service



George Mwamlowe