Christian “KGB” Litmus Test for Determining Who is a Christian

Last week I had a facebook contact question whether I am a Christian or not. He is a professing Christian athlete and wrote me stating that he looked at my facebook profile and I didn’t even have the Bible as one of my favorite books. He then asked how I could identify myself as a Christian? I was surprised that we now have Christians using KGB tactics to determine who is a real Christian and those who “make Christianity their hobby, rather than their lifestyle.” I thought others might be interested in the dialogue I had with the brother and also many of the comments other facebook friends made.

He comments: “Bill, one favor. Can you please read my morning post each morning before you leave the house? Because if you say that you are a Christian and I don’t see Jesus Christ in your profile, I seem to wonder what it means to be a Christian. And the Bible isn’t even one of your favorite books. In our day and time,”professing Christians” have Christ as their hobby and not their lifestyle like he commands. Just something to chew on. Thanks.”

My response: “Thanks. My profile does state that I am a Christian. Jesus is not my hobby, for I laid down my life to folllow Him 39 years ago. When you were still in school my wife Laura and I were preaching Jesus behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union. I have continued to be faithful to His call on my life for 37 years as a pastor & evangelist of the Gospel. Be blessed today and perhaps you would like to listen to the sermon that I preached Sunday about Jesus being the only sure foundation. It is posted on my profile. Be blessed, Bill”

What he wrote next: “I’m not saying that you are not a Christian, but I wanted to bring to your attention that slit (lots?) of lost people look at “professing Christians” profiles to see what kind of lifestyles they live and if there is no difference from theirs, they might be satisfied with their lives and don’t see a need to change because they didn’t see a change in your lifestyle. FB can be a powerful witness if you allow it to be. Stay strong brother.”

My response: “OK. Don’t know if there are that many lost people looking to see what we have on our profile. Lifestyles are influenced more by the relationships we have with them, not what we put on our fb profile. Just as different fish are caught with different baits, so it takes all of us to reach the multitudes for Christ. You have your sphere of influence and I have mine. That is where we are the most effective in winning souls to Jesus. Yes, fb is a witness and each of us should use our page as God leads us. There is no litmus test which determines whether we are a Christian or not. The only standard we are responsible for is our relationship with God through Jesus. I have never judged whether you are a Christian or not, but it sure seems that your standard is what you are using for others who profess Christ. At least in the body of Christ we should be very sensitive to how we speak to one another. Jesus will make the final call to whether or not we belong to Him. Certainly not by what another Christian thinks about us. Trust you will be open to what I am saying.”

Comments from my facebook friends: James Miklos You handled that well. Excellent. Aimee Clevenger Raggio Wow! “And the Bible isn’t even one of your favorite books.” I’m so shocked by that line. Did you fail to list breathing as one of your hobbies? I guess I have never thought of the Bible as “a book” It is my lifeline, the very word of God, so much more than just a book. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a book; the Bible is, well, THE BIBLE! Aimee Clevenger Raggio One more thing… If someone has to look at your or my profile to determine if we’re christians then we are doing something wrong. Jesus Christ must be seen in our lives, in our countenance, and in our relationships. Christy Milliken We are all human beings with cracks, flaws, pain, joy, mistakes, sickness, divorce, death…and life because Christ is the glue that holds all our pieces together. We have to be ourselves and pay forward our lessons in Christ but also live …with the freedom he so selflessly gave to us. The fact that we are threaded together through Gods heart strings or a FB thread is the beauty of relationship and knowing we are not alone in the struggle. Thanks for sharing! Bill Phares Aimee, that is exactly the way I have always thought of the Bible as a “book.” My favorite book in the Bible is Ephesians. Your second comment is right on target!!! I’m all about relationship evangelism, not putting it on fb. Thanks for sharing. Bill Phares Christy, love your thoughts and appreciate your comment here. May the Lord continue to bless you and yours. Betsy King I’m late as usual catching up & I haven’t read anyone else’s comments. I will say this: I have NEVER seen anything less than affirmation of your daily walk with Christ in your FB posts. I’ve NEVER heard anything less than affirmation of you…r daily walk in our conversations, whether they were in person, via telephone or email. I know PLENTY of people that list Christ somewhere on their profile and the Bible as one of their favorite books but their words and actions do not back those FB profile statements up. As we say in the South, “bless his heart”. I love you and am thankful you are my friend. Bill Phares Thanks Betsy. Weird how some Christians think their way is the only way. Boy, will he be surprised when we all show up at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with our invitations and reserved seating! Thank you Jesus for your amazing grace!

Sometimes dialogue is a good way to discuss differences of opinions. More and more I am convinced that no one person has everything right. I only know one who did and he was crucified. I think I will follow him rather than what someone on facebook thinks.

Re-Digging the Wells in a Local Church

What would that mean in/through/around the local church(es)? For me, it means the congregation and pastor discussing the time or times in its history when God’s Spirit moved in a quickening way. Following that spiritual research the congregation purposes to uncover anything which stopped-up the flow of that well. The times of refreshing come when we ask God to release that flow again in our present day. It is our response to that release which will determine the depth and breath of the flow of living water. Hope this is helpful. What do you think it might mean?

Out of the Blue

Many years ago a dear friend said to me, “One day, out of the blue, the Lord is going to bless you.” Since then I have been waiting and expecting my “out of the blue” blessing. I have received many wonderful blessings through the years but I knew that they were not “out of the blue.” I have continued to believe that in God’s timing I would.

“Out of the blue” refers to the rare phenomenon of a lightning bolt that seems to come from a clear blue sky — actually from a thunder cell too distant to be seen — and it means “completely unexpected.” This month I was not hit with a lightning bolt but something completely unexpected happened. If you are interested please read on.

In 1973 I heard the call of God to become an ordained minister. I sold my business and returned to college. Following graduation I enrolled in seminary. This led to ordination and pastoral ministry. During the thirty-three years I also was an evangelist for six years. In June 2006 I took an early retirement from the pastorate and became a hospice chaplain. Was the Lord in this? I lost my job as a chaplain after three years and this was a very hard time for me. I searched for other companies that were hiring but to no avail. I applied for over thirty positions and even interviewed for several but could not find a job.  

I believed that God was leading me to write a book out of this experience and I wrote, For Those in Dry Places: Hope for Ministers in the Wilderness. It was published in August 2010 and so far I have sold only fifty books. Was the Lord in this, or was it what I thought God wanted me to do? Obviously, the timing was out of sync or I missed God.

During the past year I have questioned my calling and ability to hear God’s voice. I know what it means to experience the silence of God. Promises and words of prophecy seemed empty. Many times I thought how much better it would be to just go ahead and die. Even though I had doubts and confusion there was a spark of hope deep down in my soul that God did call me and has a plan for my life.

As a pastor in counseling settings I have said to people that it is alright to be angry with God. This is especially true in the process of grieving. I have explained that God is able to take our anger and resentment. Now it was time for me to live what I said I believed. Yes, I was angry with God and began to articulate my anger and disappointments. This went on for about a month. I didn’t feel guilty or fearful for expressing these feelings. I didn’t believe God would punish or penalize me for feeling this way.

Two months ago a courier position that I had applied for came open. I have been a courier for a lab company and have appreciated the employment but my heart’s desire was to return to church ministry. I believe God used my four years in secular work for a purpose. I better understand the issues and pressures people face in the corporate world. I have found that so many sermons rarely deal with the “stuff” of life. They answer questions that no one is asking. I have gotten in touch with life as most people know it.

Then a month ago “out of the blue” I received a phone call from a senior pastor asking me to consider a position on his staff beginning June 1st. I had applied for a similar position at another church months before but did not have peace that I should pursue it. This opportunity was different, in that I had not pursued or initiated it. Each time I met with him and leaders from the church I sensed peace. I asked for time to pray about it before giving the pastor an answer. After three weeks of prayer and times of fasting I said I would accept the position. Could this be the out of the blue blessing my friend said would come? My wife and I are in agreement that this could be it!

A side note to this senario: My income will double. I will be at home most nights each week instead of being out on the road as a courier. The most important part is that I will be doing and being what the Lord called me to do. Some may call all of this coincidence or chance but I sincerely believe it has come from “out of the blue!”

Who Do I Know in Beverly Hills?

Someone who lives in Beverly Hills, CA regularly visits my ministry website, http://stirthefireministry.vpweb.com/ and I wonder who it is? Maybe a famous celebrity or it could be descendents of the Jed Clampett clan? Probably a millionaire desiring to sow into Stir the Fire.

Heaven is for Real

Heaven Is For Real
A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
DON’T WAIT, CLICK ON THIS LINK: http://www.stirthefireshop.com
to purchase “Heaven is for Real” in our webstore NOW!

Even amid all the skeptics in the world, there is an insatiable hunger for information about Heaven. It’s a subject about which many have speculated and researched. After all, it’s a place every single one of us really does hope to see someday.

But, leave it to the simple honest descriptions of a very young child to grab the attention of so many, directing it upward toward the Lord. That’s just like Him, isn’t it?

Jesus told His disciples—who tried desperately to corral enthusiastic children before they could latch onto the Messiah they followed—to “let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt. 19:14 NIV).

According to Colton Burpo, whose earthly life (at the time) was hanging by a thread, that offer from Jesus still holds.

When this little boy began to share with his parents his remarkable encounters with Jesus Himself, and relatives he didn’t even know who had gone on before him, stating verifiable facts about them that he couldn’t have known—there seems to be little room for doubt.

Todd Burpo, Colton’s father, consciously tried not to ask him leading questions, or volunteer any information, allowing Colton alone to fill in the blanks with astounding accuracy and celestial portrayals.

Heaven Is For Real is a book for all of us. For those who may be near to leaving this earth; for those whose hope seems to have run dry; for those who just cannot get enough Heavenly information… and even for those who do not believe there is such a place.

Read this book, and you may find yourself running toward Jesus like one of those little children He so welcomed.

– Aimee Herd, editor-Breaking Christian News

“Do you remember the hospital, Colton?” Sonja said.
“Yes, Mommy, I remember,” he said.
“That’s where the angels sang to me.”
 
Heaven Is For Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters Heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn’t know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how “reaaally big” God and His chair are, and how the Holy Spirit “shoots down power” from Heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton’s own words, the disarmingly simple message is Heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle. 

DON’T WAIT, CLICK ON THIS LINK: http://www.stithefireshop.com
to purchase “Heaven is for Real” in our webstore NOW!

As in the Days of Noah

It is interesting that Jesus described the days before His return would be like the days of Noah. Look carefully at His words in Matthew 24, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.“

Life for Noah and the people of the earth continued day after day without little change. The same things they did back then we do today. Our children get married and we eat and drink. But one day God intervened directly with Noah’s pattern of life and for him Noah’s life was radically changed!

“Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch…Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark– you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.  Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.”

We also are told in the New Testament that Noah preached that a flood was coming and it was time to prepare. No one but his family believed his message. When the flood came only Noah and his family were saved. The ark was their safety.  

This could be the days Jesus referred to when He talked about Noah’s day. I truly believe it is. The ark is Jesus Christ and He keeps those who believe His words and acts upon them. We are to come into Him while there is still time. God does not desire that any perish. His ark is large enough for all.

Notice that even though God provided the plan for Noah’s deliverance He still told him to gather food for yourself and the animals in the ark. God told Noah to prepare. Jesus is telling us to prepare for what will come upon the earth. My advice is to make preparations for you and those you love. Also share Christ with those who will hear.  Tell them a loving God has made a way for their security and eternity. Prepare and preach.

The Times, They are a Changing

This title of a song describes the times in which we now live. Change affects every part of our world and directly, our lives. By nature, I am an optimist but recently I have been very concerned about world events and how they correlate with biblical prophecies. I am especially referring to Jesus’ prophecies describing the last days. Dr. Mark T. Barclay calls the time we are now in as the last of the last days. I am in agreement with him.

I also agree with those who say that since the world began there have been difficult times. 3,000 years ago the earth experienced earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, etc. The difference is the increasing frequency of world disasters. Another interesting twist to then and now is that the events Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 are occurring at the same time. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”  Jesus described a time when wars, national unrest, paradigm changes, famines, and earthquakes will increase just as birth pangs increase prior to the birth of a baby.

Could this be the moment in history when His prophecy comes to pass? Before I give my opinion, I would like to share what happened to me in November while visiting Jerusalem again. My pastor, Rev. Robert A. Shelley, went to Israel for a three-month sabbatical rest. He invited me to come and spend some time together before he returned to Florida. Toward the end of my visit, he asked me if I would like to walk along the top of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. In my other visits to Israel, I had never had this opportunity. I was more than willing! Pastor Shelley explained to me that the Lord had called him as a Watchman, and he had spent many days walking this wall. As he walked, he interceded.

Since returning from my trip, I have often pondered his calling. Yesterday morning I received a telephone call from Rev. Joe Mediana, a teacher/counselor in Birmingham. My wife attends his Thursday morning study each week at The Advocate Center in Irondale. I also attend as often as possible. Brother Joe shared with me his strong belief that some major changes are about to take place in our nation, possibly by June. He also feels he has a responsibility to prepare believers, and all who are interested, not to let these changes take us by surprise. Joe said we need to be ready for interruptions in our food supply and monetary system. This is exactly what the Lord has been revealing to me over the last month. I am in total agreement with Brother Joe. Increased earthquake activity is continuing to affect the economies of the world. This will only increase according to Matthew 24. Joe and I believe we are called to be watchmen and to “sound the trumpet.” “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” Ezekiel 3:17

Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot by watching!” Yogi Berra is not a prophet in the biblical sense but his words are true. One only has to watch to observe that life as we have known it is now quickly changing. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” is a famous line by Doroth Gale in the Wizard of Oz. My observation is I don’t think, I know we’re not!

My assignment at this time is to sound a trumpet to those in my sphere. I will not sound a note of fear but of preparation. I am not a fear monger. As a Boy Scout I learned the motto, Be Prepared. This sounds a lot like what Jesus said. Over the next weeks, I will be sending out notes of how to be prepared for what we are facing. Some will discount these notes as nonsense. Others will prayerfully discern their value. Let me hear from you and share with me what the Holy Spirit is showing you. Together we can prepare many while it is yet day.

Visit Stir the Fire Ministry Christian Bookstore online.

Watchman on the Wall

In the morning I will begin to share what I call Words of Preparation. The seed for these words was planted in November during my visit to Jerusalem. I spent time walking on top of the wall surrounding the city, never realizing that the Lord used these hours on the wall to birth an important word to those in my sphere.

The theme of the word concerns preparing for an approaching time which will change life as we presently experience it. I do not wish for this word to initiate fear but I do want to sound a trumpet so that we will not be caught unaware of coming events. Stay tuned for daily reports here on this blog and on Facebook.

Looking Up Devotional Journal by Beth Moore

Life can be hard…But no matter what you are facing, God has not abandoned you. You are greatly loved, and the Lord will walk you through every hurt toward a full and rich life. In this devotional journal, discover God’s promises found in Psalm 40~ promises to hear your cries, to establish your feet on solid ground, and to graciously provide all that you need to look up and sing a new, sweet song!” *(This is a wonderful book to gift someone.)

Available at Stir the Fire Christian Bookstore.

Basics Of Dreams, Visions, & Strange Events

Discover how God desires to enrich your life through these spiritual mysteries.  A pioneer of biblical dream interpretation, John Paul Jackson guides you through the supernatural realm that coexists and interacts with us. This eye-opening beginner’s overview will help you recognize patterns and rhythms of God’s night time metaphors that will enhance and give greater clarity to your spiritual journey. Explore the keys to remembering your dreams and how to apply what God is speaking! 

* Unravel the difference between God speaking and God making Himself known to us.

* Learn common biblical imagery contained in dreams.

* Discover how to change the outcome of a dream.

* Learn why you can’t interpret a dream using a secular dream dictionary.

Available on 2 CD’s at the new online Stir the Fire Christian Bookstore.