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KHCN - Kauai House Church Network

We’re off to see the wizard... (the not so wonderful wizard of Oz) Part 2

4/24/2021

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It’s not hard to see that our world is changing before our eyes and realize we’re not in Kansas anymore. The goal is to find out how we got here in the first place and how do we get “back home.” So, two weeks ago, we started this journey following the theme of the Wizard of Oz. We were told to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald city where we will find the wizard who can lead us home. Last week we met the wizard and found out he was a hoax. We learned that the wizard holds everyone captive, deceiving us to believe we can do and have whatever we want. Who is the wizard in our story? Not Satan. Although he is the accuser, adversary and enemy of our souls, the real wizard hiding behind the curtain is ourselves. Think about this for a moment…. We don’t need Satan to make us turn from God. We don’t need Satan to instill jealousy, lust, greed, anger, hate, bitterness, laziness and so forth, in us. We are absolutely capable of doing all of that on our own. Sometimes we give Satan too much credit and never take ownership of our own sinful behavior. 

So, YES, we are the wizards in this land of Oz we live in and “self” holds us captive. It lies and deceives us to make us do what we don’t want to do (remember last week’s snippet?). However, the absolute truth behind our choices and actions is that we only do what we want to do. Yes, you heard correctly. Read this slowly and understand this principle… That sin that you so desperately don’t like doing… YOU WANT TO DO IT! That’s why you do it! We ONLY DO what we want to do. Understanding the doctrine of freewill is the key to understanding sin, people and the world we live in.
 
Freewill is a powerful thing. It lets us call the shots. That’s good but that’s also horrendous. Seven billion people fallen and sinful; thinking, lusting and calling the shots to do whatever they feel like doing is an extremely dangerous thing. But God created us with freewill, He sees the problems and yet allows it. We must understand that freewill is always going to choose what seems best at the time. Even if it means breaking the law or doing what we know is wrong. You may never think of stealing but in a life or death situation you might. That’s your freewill working in you. Or, you might like to sleep in every day, but weighing the circumstances, you choose to get up and go to work. The thought of keeping your job to make money will outweigh the desire to sleep in. So even though you would like to sleep in there’s a greater desire making you get up, so you choose to do the better thing according to your thought process at the time. Or you could just choose to sleep in a take your chances of losing your job. Again, you’re choosing to do what seems best AT THE TIME. That’s what freewill is all about. Other times we may be coerced into making a decision that we would not normally do… You would never think of freely giving your money to a robber but given the choice to either hand over your wallet or be shot you freely give the person your wallet. Or, you may choose to take your chances and fight the robber. Again, you are choosing to do what seems best at the time. You make thousands of choices instantly and without realizing it every day. And every choice is based off of what you feel is the best choice in that situation. Granted, Jesus in your life helps you to make better choices and you do it in love and reverence to Him and not by coercion. We freely want to follow and obey Him. But remember, self is always hiding behind the curtain and we must always be on guard knowing that self will always manipulate situations to take the easiest path or the path with the most glamour. That’s what self does. And that’s why we are the “Wizards of Oz.” 

Next week we'll look into the three most common factors to making decisions. Everyone uses these. Its simnply how the mind works

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We’re off to see the wizard... (the not so wonderful wizard of Oz)

4/17/2021

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This "snippet" is the second of a series to explain how the world we live in (the world of Oz), draws conclusions to finding knowledge and truth. If you haven't read last week's snippet, please do so, because that sets the stage for this wonderful adventure before us. 

Okay, are you ready? Sing along with me… “We’re off to see the wizard…”
 
In the story of the Wizard of Oz, the wizard was called wonderful. That is, until Toto pulled the curtain exposing the fraud that he was. The people of Oz were duped to believe that the wizard was their god who held all knowledge, power and ability to give them whatever they needed. In reality, the wizard was a little old man, using machines and technology to create a giant ghost-like image that terrified everyone to submission. In his own admission he was lost, scared and confused himself. 
 
In the same way we have been duped to believe the lies of the wizard. Who is our wizard of the day? Satan and his minions of course. But even more so, the wizards of our day, is ourselves. Think about it. We pick and choose what to believe and when to believe it. We love to call the shots as they come. We make decisions on the fly. And when it’s all said and done, we’re like good ole Frank, singing, “I did it my way…” Though we know what we should do, we still make decisions that goes against the very foundational truths we claim to believe. “We all sin and fall short of God’s glorious standard…” Yes, that’s right, you, me, the president, Billy Graham, even the apostle Paul cried out in anguish as he found himself doing the very things he despised (Romans 7). Paul came to the conclusion that in every person there is a law at work. It’s like the law of gravity. We can’t see it, but we know it’s there. The law of sin is that we are all sinners; always have been and always will be. As R.C. Sproul always said, “We are sinners not because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.” Yes, “self” is the wizard of our day continually leading us astray. 
 
“Epistemology”, how an individual seeks, finds and understands knowledge, is the central focus of this topic. A person’s epistemological view is also known as a person’s “worldview.” Philosophy has plagued the human imagination since the beginning of time. Philosophy’s biggest question is, “what is the meaning of life?” Two of the biggest views that came out of that pursuit which we all tend to follow without realizing is: Humanism and Existentialism. Basically, Humanism is the belief that “we call the shots”.  Existentialism says, “we will know the meaning of life through experience.” Basically, the older we get the more experiences we face and the more we understand. The basic thought there is, everyone, through their own experiences are free to come to their own conclusion of the meaning of life.

With these thought systems in place, everyone becomes the wizards of Oz. The reality is, we’re all scared and frail people, puffing ourselves up to look bigger than we really are, while so confidently playing god in our own land of Oz. 
 
Now that we’ve seen the wizard, join in next week as I share three contributing factors in an individual’s pursuit for truth and the meaning of life. It has something to do with the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. 

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We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!

4/10/2021

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We live in a world where good is bad and bad is good. Where there are no absolute truths. Truth is relative and the understanding of right and wrong is based on one’s own rational conclusions and experiences. The world screams and demands tolerance for all types of beliefs, practices and lifestyles, yet in their boisterous zeal they are the very ones who are intolerant (and often quite hostile) to those who disagree with them.
 
As Christians, we need to understand that we live in a fallen world and the decaying process of sin has been escalating since the beginning of time and we are seeing it even more so in these last days. The days where God reigned supreme and America was considered a Christian nation is no longer with us. For most Christians, especially those of the builder and boomer generations, we feel like Dorothy who had been taken up in a whirlwind and placed in the “Munchkin land of Oz.” Our world with its technology has turned our sleepy little sepia toned Kansas into a technicolored world of fantasy with wizards, warlocks and the wicked witches of the west. Like Dorothy, we are following a path, a “yellow-brick road” if you will, to the “Emerald City”. Yes, for us older generations, we can all agree, “We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”
 
With that said, it’s a given! We will all disagree with things people say and do, and many will disagree with you as well. And that is an “absolute” truth. It is impossible to have 7 billion people living together in total agreement. We could if we were robots. But we are not. God created us to think and has given us freewill with different talents, experiences and ideas. All the more, we must see that this doesn’t catch God by surprise, this is all part of His masterplan.  Yes, people are living in sin! But so are we. The only way we can see another day is because of God’s grace. The same goes for the vile, unrepentant and atheistic sinner… People need Jesus! Their sins have cut them off from God. They have been deceived by the wizards of the day. Our job is to come beside them and be the voice of reason and truth. Not loud, boisterous and intolerant but understanding and loving knowing they have been blinded and taken captive by an evil dictator.
 
During the next few weeks, I will be sharing in these enews posts, the differing views of this world of Oz that we live in. I will highlight some of the basic ways people arrive to their own conclusions of what is right and wrong. Once we know how people think we can build a case for the truth claims found in the Bible and in Jesus. Stay tuned!!  

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Christos Anesti!!

4/3/2021

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This is a saying used on Easter by the Greek Orthodox church, meaning Christ is risen. The word Anesti is from the Greek root word meaning resurrection (or risen). The typical response would be "Alithos Anesti," which means "risen indeed" (or truly risen). 

The Bible is clear that Jesus was risen from the dead. The phrase is used a few times in the NT, such as: Mt 27:64, 28:6-7; Mk 16:6; Lk 24:34. The Bible also speaks a lot about the resurrection of the dead. The word resurrection is found in some 40 different verses in the NT. 

The resurrection of the dead is a rather common view for most people. But it's a matter of who, what, where, why and how that is the big issue relating to the resurrection. To make a point, here is a rather funny illustration pertaining to this topic...

A Sunday school teacher wanted to see if the children understood the concept of getting to heaven through Jesus so she asked the children, "If I sold my home and my vehicle, had a major garage sale and gave all my cash to the church, would that get me into Heaven?" she asked them. To which the children replied, "NO!" 

"If I cleaned the church consistently, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and clean, would that get me into Heaven?" Once more, the response was, "NO!"
Now the teacher was grinning. She believed that the children are getting it. 
She asked, "Well then, if I was caring to animals and offered candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?"
Again, they all replied, "NO!" 
The teacher was bursting with pride for her class. She proceeded, "Well... then how can I get into Heaven?"
A five-year-old boy yelled out, "You gotta be dead." 

Hahahah, we laugh at the innocence. But in reality, the majority of the world believes in some type of afterlife. Of course, the beliefs vary greatly. But most people believe when they die, they will go to heaven. They need to know that Jesus is the way the truth and the life (Jn 14:6). The good news of Jesus is the story of His life, death and resurrection. These three elements are vital in sharing the good news. That's why Paul said, "We preach Christ Crucified." Without the crucifixion there would be no atonement for sin and without the crucifixion there would be no resurrection. 
Oh, what a “Good Friday” we celebrated yesterday. Praise be to God for providing us the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. May we ponder and praise the Lord for the truths and victory we have in Christ. 
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Christos Anesti!!!

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          "They devoted themselves to the study of God's word, hanging out and praying together. They were in awe because of the miracles God was doing." 
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