The Kingdom Cowboy

Grace (The Controversy) Part-1 / #37

Summary:
Grace is a subject where quite a bit of controversy can exist. This podcast helps to bring clarity concerning this subject. Those people who oppose grace think that grace people use their liberty to go out and do what they want. If you really start experiencing grace, and come into a revelation of true grace, you will start sinning less, never more. That’s because with true grace comes a love and acceptance from the Father, which makes you want stay close to Him, where sin separates you from Him.
Show Notes:
Most people’s definition of grace is “God’s unearned, unmerited favor”, but every time you really experience grace, your definition seems to change. It starts to become much deeper for you.
There are some that are yelling “cheap grace”, and others who are saying that it is all about grace. What we need to do is sit down at the table together and communicate, and have some productive dialog about it. That would be so much better than making accusations back and forth. This controversy needs to be settled.
One thing is for sure; those preaching a mixture of law and grace are not really preaching grace at all, because law and grace don’t mix. It’s like trying to mix oil and water.
Quotes:
Grace is actually sustaining us at this very second. It’s keeping us alive. It’s holding us up. It’s that simple, but it’s extremely complex at the same time.
Grace must be experienced before you can even start to understand it.
The argument is not among the saved and the lost. It’s among the saved and the saved, and among the people who are proponents of grace and others who believe that grace is being misused and miss-communicated.
God forgives us of all our sins, but with sin comes consequences. God loves you too much to not discipline you over those things.
References:
Matthew 6:9-13
Matthew 6:33
Romans 6:23
Takeaways:
People who have really, truly experienced God’s grace are much less prone to go out and sin, contrary to the opinions of so many Christians who feel differently about it. True grace draws you closer to the Father and helps you to have a close relationship with Him, where you don’t want to sin or offend Him in any way.

Grace Defined Part-3 #36

Summary:
Grace is God’s supernatural ability to do everything or anything in your life that needs to be done, to help you be like Jesus and to perfectly live out the life He has purposed for you. There’s no way to earn God’s grace. Grace is a gift from Him. All we have to do is receive it and cooperate with Him, to become all that He wants for us. God is the potter, and we are the clay. All we have to do is allow Him to shape us and mold us into what He wants us to be.
Show Notes:
The old covenant was governed by law. But when Jesus came and shed His blood for us, He created a new covenant, which is governed by grace.
So many have been taught that they have to work their way into the favor of God. That’s not grace at all. Christ’s blood has already washed us, sanctified us and justified us. He has already done it for us. You don’t have to work your way into, or earn God’s favor. All we really have to do is just cooperate with Him.
If you have a thorn in your flesh, like Paul had in his, would you rather have God fix it on the spot, or with the grace of God, would you endure that thorn to see another side of God that you couldn’t have seen had you not gone through the trial that you went through? And, to see another side of yourself that you would have never seen before? For most people that have had to go through one of these trials, they would choose to endure, to have what they gained through it.
Quotes:
Grace must be experienced before you can even start the process of understanding it.
It’s the grace of God that sustains us, our entire life and existence.
Everything that needs to be done, God has done it for us. When you start to get a revelation of that, God begins to show us and open our eyes, our spirit and soul to those things.
Most people in the Bible Belt, on any given Sunday, are hearing a mixture of law and grace. What I say is, if you’re preaching or teaching a mixture of law and grace, you’re not preaching grace at all.
References:
II Corinthians 12:9
Takeaways:
God’s grace is truly sufficient for us, and without it, there is no way we can be shaped or molded into what He wants for us. Trusting in God and receiving His grace, like Paul did, works something in us that we could never come into any other way.
 
 

Grace Part-2 #35

Summary:
Grace is such a vast subject that no one can really get a hold of it. More than anything, it is the Goodness of God. By grace, Jesus shed His blood for our sins- past, present and future, so that we can have a relationship to the Father, just like He does . That doesn’t mean that our sins go unchecked- there are still consequences to our actions, but grace covers them so that we can still relate freely to our Father.
One of the greatest risks for all of us is the sin of pride. For anyone who is “going after it”, pride will be an issue at some point, so we need to try to keep one another “in check.”
 
Show Notes:
Paul went back to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and teachers concerning the Gentiles having to keep the law of Moses. It was determined by all that they weren’t required to keep it, and did not have to live under the restriction of it. But the Judaizers in Corinth were trying to get the Gentiles to submit to the law.
Paul told the Galatians to “stand fast in your liberty” and not get entangled in a yoke of dead, legalistic, rules-oriented religion, because that wasn’t what it was about anymore. It’s about having a relationship with the Father, through Jesus.
Especially in the Bible Belt, people still think, “I have to go to church, or I’m not right with God. I have to pray a lot or I’m not right with God”. That is not how the Father thinks.
Paul had a right to brag and boast about what God had shown him. So, to keep him from slipping into pride, the Father gave him a thorn in the flesh to buffet him. That’s grace. Pride is coming to all of us if we don’t keep an eye on it.
 
Quotes:
I have experienced a lot of grace, but it’s such a vast subject that you never really feel like you have a handle on how good and how deep this subject of grace really is.
The old covenant was the 10 commandments, and then they added over 600 more laws. These laws help people about how to deal with their neighbors, how to deal with people and even not to eat. They covered just about everything.
The new covenant took the place of the old covenant. The new covenant is a covenant of grace, and before Jesus shed His blood, He kept all the facets of the law, because you and I couldn’t do it.
Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin. He took on all the sin that would ever be committed before, during and after Jesus, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ. He took on Himself what we had coming, and in turn, we got what He had coming; grace, life, favor, blessing, relationship with God, all of that. This is what I call the Divine Swap.
References:
Galatians 5:1
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
 
Takeaways:
Grace doesn’t give us a license to go out and do whatever we want to do. Consequences could follow. Grace gives us the liberty and ability to become Christ-like in everything we do. Grace is what gives us life, favor, blessings, and a relationship with the Father. It simply transforms us so that we can all say, “When I am weak, then I am strong”.
 
 
 
 

Grace - #34

Summary:
Most Christians feel like God gives grace to them mainly when they are in trouble. In truth, grace is always available to us, but it doesn’t always come in just to bail us out of negative circumstances. The true purpose of grace is to help grow us into mature sons and daughters of God.
 
Show Notes:
Grace is there for you. It’s there in every situation in your life, whether you are going through a bad situation, or if you are going through some very good times.
Most Christians have the concept that grace is for our hard times, to make things better. What about the times He shows you grace by seemingly making your situation worse? That’s what Paul experienced when Jesus struck him with blindness on the road. God used Paul’s blindness to change him from being a law man into the greatest proponent of grace in all the Bible.
To makes things worse, God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh to buffet him, and help him not to get proud because of all that God had shown him. Believe it or not, that’s real grace.
If you are being taught a mixture of law and grace, you aren’t being taught grace at all. Law and grace are like oil and water. They don’t mix.
If God had fixed Paul’s problem right away, we might never have had the depth of message on grace that we now have, or the relationship with God that is available to us.
 
Quotes:
For those who have never actually experienced grace personally, it’s an easy word to define. But for those of us who have received a lot of it, we’re still looking for the words that can adequately explain it to someone else.
Which is the greatest manifestation of grace? The guy who prays and gets healed immediately, or the guy who is like Paul, who prayed three times and went through, maybe for the rest of his life, and never got healed or fixed from his problem, but endured and experienced a deeper level of relationship with the Father, which showed him another side of God.
 
References:
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
 
Takeaways:
Grace, in spite of what most Christians feel that it is, can be the most transformative thing that God could ever do with you. It can become a profound treasure of a deep relationship with the Father, brought on only by Him taking us through things that take out the impurities in our nature, so that He can use us as we have been destined to be used by Him. When Grace has produced it’s fruit, the power, favor and presence of God will be able to come through in its fullness. Let’s all open up to the Grace of God, as Paul did.
 

Crossing The Threshold Of Personal Ministry - #33

Summary:
As Christians, we can learn all about the ins and outs of ministering to people, but until we get past our fears and break through the resistance (the threshold) in our own heart, little is going to happen through us. We don’t have to be professionals to reach out and care for, or pray for, someone who has a need. It’s just Bible Belt thinking that makes you feel unqualified or unworthy to do this. People out there need what we have to offer, so let’s not deny them the blessing and prayer that they really need, and are crying out for.
 
Show Notes:
The five fold ministry- apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, were raised up to prepare the body for the work of the ministry. These ministries weren’t raised up to do all the ministry, but their job is to prepare the saints to do the ministry, which is contrary to a lot of Christian thinking.
The fear of doing ministry and praying for people is what keeps the majority of us from getting in and giving it a try.
If you can get past the threshold of caring for or praying for someone who has a situation, you might discover that a lot of people are very blessed, just because of the fact that you cared enough to pray with them, whether they got healed or not. Most just need a touch, more than anything.
When you take the time to care for and pray for someone concerning a situation, you never know for sure what God will do for them, but the connection that you make with them will continue, and you might feel to keep praying for them now and then. That’s how God tends to do it.
Most people can easily spot a religious phony and will tend to shy away from them, but if your approach is genuine and caring, hardly anyone will turn down a word of encouragement or a prayer for healing.
 
Quotes:
The main qualification is if you’re available and allow the Lord to use you, and you are sensitive to the Spirit of God, so when those opportunities arise, then you just go through, and that’s the threshold I’m talking about. We have tried to take away the mystique from that a lot, so the people are not afraid to do that.
I think the prayers that God loves and maybe honors the most is, “God, help”. “I may not even know how to pray for this guy, but God, I just know that you can fix this. I just believe God can heal you”.
 
References:
Ephesians 4:11
 
Takeaways:
It takes courage to get over the fear of encouraging and praying for people who really need a touch. It’s not our pastors’ job to do all of this, but it’s our responsibility to walk through the open doors that God creates, to bless and pray for people who really need a touch from the Lord.

Addressing The Fear In Persoanl Ministry - #32

Summary:
It’s amazing how many good Christians have a fear or apprehension when it comes to being lead by the Holy Spirit to pray for and encourage someonewho has a real need. A lot of the reason is because there aren’t more people who are willing to be equipped to do this. They feel that its up to the pastor or a few others who are supposed to do the ministry. You, as an individual, will never grow or become what God wants you to be if you aren’t willing to step out in faith and embrace this thing of being equipped for the work of the ministry.
 
Show Notes:
It’s so easy for people, especially if they have been raised in the Bible Belt, to think that it’s only reserved for a very few to actually do the ministry and pray over people. It can be very foreign to their thinking.
So many think that being equipped for the ministry means that you have to get up in front of people and preach, or lead in some way. That’s not what we are talking about. What we are talking about is just having a confidence to pray over someone, and believe with them when a need arises.
If you will just try it a time or two, you will start to feel less fear and apprehension, and that’s where the excitement of this starts to come. Don't be overconfident, but humbly approach it, believing that God can, and will, fix it.
Wouldn’t be nice if there were 20, 30, or more people who have been equipped, who you could call of you have a need, rather than always calling the pastor or two or three others employed by the church who normally do the ministry? That could easily happen if there were those open to being equipped to pray with and encourage the people.
 
Quotes:
99% of the time there hasn’t been this mindset or this concept of being equipped for the work of the ministry, and if people won't buy into it, it becomes not just the fear of it, but it becomes an apprehension. They feel like, “You know what? Now I know that’s probably something I should do, but I’m just not sure how to get going in it”.
It’s finding your identity and your place in the body of Christ, and allowing God to use you like He wants to use you. If you will embrace this truth, God will start to give you opportunities. So, heads up, pay attention to the Holy Spirit in these situations.
One of the easiest ways to determine if it’s God or not is if someone comes to you, telling you their problems. They have some level of trust with you, and they are asking for help.
 
References:
Ephesians 4:11
 
Takeaways:
People who have grown up in the Bible Belt, especially, find it very hard to grasp the concept that they could be a part of the ministry, even though they aren’t a pastor or an elder. Actually, being equipped for the ministry should be in everyone’s heart, and not for just a few. If there were many people who were equipped and trained to be a part of the ministry, think about how many needs could be met without having to go to a pastor for every little problem that we encounter.
 
 
 

Honor God In Every Situation - #31

Summary:
Honoring God in all situations that we face can bring such a simplicity to our lives. It’s a human, natural trait to make anything we face complicated and hard to understand. But, by honoring the Father, we start to find how simple and uncomplicated He really is, and how much He wants to move through us to do the supernatural without us getting complex or prideful in any way.
 
Show Notes:
Why do people want to make things so complicated, especially in the things of the Lord? Jesus told us all to be as little children. Children have a way of just trusting, which makes things work for them.
If Jesus was simple and practical in they way He taught, why do we, as humans, take that and try to make it so complex that neither you or anyone else can walk it out?
We are starting to learn, here at Trinity, after seeing well over 100 real miracles in the last 35 years, to honor God in every situation, and give Him all the credit.
 
Quotes:
I’m noticing about my relationship with the Lord and my time with the Father that the things that God is teaching me are not complex, but they are really, really simple, basic spiritual principles.
Jesus taught in such a way that someone who had absolutely no spiritual orientation whatsoever could get the truth. They couldn’t miss the truth. It was that simple.
I believe that is a gift that God has given me, to take some of these complex scriptural issues and make them simple, where everybody can understand it. So, I'm going to roll with it.
My teachings are for the regular guy. I could go in and pick out a message that only 10% of the real Bible hounds in church are going to be able to grasp and understand, but I don’t see any really good reason for doing that, when you have 80% of the people who are regular people, like me and you.
God is testing us in the natural to see if He can trust us with the supernatural. There’s nothing complicated about it. It’s a simple, simple principle.
Any compliments or praises that you might get after praying for a healing and it happens, you should deflect those straight toward the Father, which helps you from getting prideful in some way.
 
References:
Matthew 16:18
 
Takeaways:
Don’t make it complicated. Honor God in everything that you do and experience, and give Him the credit for all that happens through you and around you. God is testing us in the natural, to see if He can trust us with the supernatural.
 

The Father's Unorthodox Ways - #30

Summary:
We as Christians are used to doing the same things that have been done for many generations. However, the Lord is beginning to show Himself in new, unorthodox ways in this day. A great example happened at a Monday night football game when Damar Hamlin just dropped to the ground after a play. The report said that he died on the field but through the prayers of millions of people watching that night, he was brought back to life. The Lord wants us to not be afraid to pray and encourage people who reach out for our help. God never intended for a few in each church to do all the ministry. It’s the responsibility of everyone of us to help those who God puts in our paths.
 
Show Notes:
Start to look for God to do things in an unorthodox way. One of Jesus’s healings happened when He spit in the dirt to make mud to rub in a blind man’s eyes. Then He told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and when he did, his sight was restored.
Please never be pushy in your desire to pray for someone. If you feel led to approach someone to pray for them, use spiritual etiquette by simply asking them if you can pray for them. That takes the push out of it. If they decline, back off in love.
If someone shares a problem with you that they are having, one, it shows that they trust you, and two, they are usually asking you for help. That’s an opportune time to offer to pray for them or just speak a word of encouragement to them in love. Show them you care and are concerned for them.
When praying for someone, laying hands on their head can make a difference. There is an impartation and a transference that can happen spiritually for them.
 
Quotes:
There’s no substitute for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You can do it. If you’re listening, you can do it.
I think in the Bible Belt, people get so used to go on doing the same thing and going through the same motions all the time. It takes away the need to hear the Holy Spirit, which really doesn’t work long term at all.
I’m beside myself in the things that I’m seeing God do. If you’re listening, He’s doing those things around you. But start paying attention to what God is doing in these situations. When we see God doing things, we honor Him in that.
Go to the Father with no agenda and let Him speak to you, or not, and enjoy His presence if nothing else. It’s not getting more complicated. It’s getting so simple that people have a tendency to just blow it off.
Don’t be tempted to blow this stuff off. God is trying to teach us to pay attention. We’re going to see this stuff more as we work it out and practice it in our lives.
This generation has a chance to see the greatest display of signs, wonders and miracles out of a relationship with the Father. The opportunities now are greater than they’ve ever been.
 
References:
John 9:1-7
 
Takeaways:
As Christians, let’s wake up and start paying attention to what God wants to do in us and through us. Let’s stop backing off of ministering to people because of the Bible Belt mindset, that only a few are qualified and should be doing all of the blessing and ministry. God is calling all of us to step it up and be a part of all that He wants to do in this time.