Category Archives: e-Teachings

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Can a Christian Have a Demon?

When it comes to the subject of casting out demons, we are prone to fall into the ditch on either side of the road, either downplaying something that is entirely scriptural, or finding demons behind every bush. As with all biblical topics, the truth is found in the middle of the extremes.

Certainly casting out demons is not a subject we should ignore. It was a regular feature of Jesus’ ministry (see Mark 1:32-34, 39; Luke 4:41; 6:18; 7:21). Moreover, He commissioned the twelve to cast out demons, and they were generally quite successful, bringing deliverance to many suffering people (see Mark 6:12-13; Luke 10:17; Acts 5:16; 8:7; 19:12). Beyond that, there was at least one person during Christ’s ministry who cast out demons in His name whom He had not specifically authorized (see Mark 9:38-39). There are also records in the book of Acts of many people being delivered from unclean spirits through the ministry of the apostles (see Acts 5:16; 8:6-7; 16:16-18; 19:11-12). Finally, one of the signs that Jesus said would follow believers is that they would cast out demons (see Mark 16:17). So the exorcism of demons was not something that was only for the early church.

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The Day Jesus Lied?

It is always pure joy to discover more people who are focusing on the substance of what following Jesus is supposed to be all about—loving God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. These two commandments are what Jesus said are most important and what encapsulate all the rest (see Matt. 22:36-40). Being a Christian is all about love-relationships, lived out in self-denying servanthood towards God and others. There is no truth that is so simple yet so profound. People who respond to the gospel become lovers. As we will explore in this month’s e-teaching, the two greatest commandments are inextricably linked to salvation itself. So we begin with a portion of Scripture that has had many of us scratching our heads.

Luke tells us in his Gospel that Jesus was once “put to the test” by a man who was an expert in the Law of Moses, a lawyer, as they were called. He asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Convinced that he knew the answer to his question, the lawyer wanted to see if Jesus would answer correctly.

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The Ennoblement of a Secular Vocation

My calling to vocational ministry came not long after my conversion to Christ, during my freshman year at Penn State. That call was so compelling that I can remember wondering then how other Christians could consider a “secular” vocation to be an option for their life’s work. “How could a person be a Christian and be majoring in business or education or biology?” I thought to myself. I was soon off to Bible School.

Thankfully I’ve expanded my perspective a little since then, and I now realize that God doesn’t call everyone to be pastors, evangelists or missionaries. So let me not waste another sentence before I say it: For the true follower of Christ who is not called to vocational ministry, “secular” work is a sacred calling, an expression of his or her love for God. To separate the sacred from the secular is sacrilegious. Paul wrote:

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve (Col. 2:23-24).

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Straining Out Gnats

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19, emphasis added).

Jesus obviously believed that there were lesser commandments, as revealed in the quote above. He therefore must have also believed that there were greater commandments.

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Scaling Down in Disneyland

Last month’s E-Teaching, Is Greed Only an Attitude?, about greed not being just an attitude provoked several readers to request practical help on making material adjustments in their lives—for which I thank God. It isn’t always easy to see the need to make any adjustments when living in the Western World, where so many are drunk with the delusion that, “He who dies with the most toys wins” (a bumper sticker you may have seen). How blessed is that day when you realize you’ve been living on an island of fantasy in an ocean of reality. Compared to the one-half of the world that is living on less than two dollars a day, we’re living in Disneyland. (I’ve added a few photos at the end of this e-teaching to remind us of that.)

So what can you do to begin to obey Christ’s clear command to lay up treasures not on earth but in heaven? Jesus told us exactly where to begin: “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven” (Luke 12:33). Jesus gave this commandment to all of His disciples, not just to one wealthy man, and it could not be more plain. Thus, the true disciple of Christ must take inventory of all he or she possesses and determine what to sell, the proceeds of which can then be laid up in heaven.

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Is Greed Only an Attitude?

Author’s Preface: Feedback from last month’s e-teaching, Silver and Gold Have I Quite a Large Sum, was largely positive. One person said I was too easy on the high-income ministers I named! Another sent me the satellite photo of the 26,000 square-foot home of a well-known prosperity preacher. Yet another expressed her shock at the financial truth about several ministries she had been regularly supporting. A pastor wrote to tell me that housing costs were very high where he lived, making it difficult for him to make it on the average U.S. household income. (I therefore mercifully granted him special indulgences in order to shorten his time in purgatory.)

On the corrective side, one person pointed out that some of the high-paid ministers whom I named have made worthwhile contributions to God’s kingdom. I certainly agree, but that was not the point of my article. Those high-paid ministers could have made even greater contributions had they taken more reasonable salaries. And the negative impact of their high salaries certainly has mitigated their positive impact. How many unbelievers, knowing something about the opulent lifestyles of the people I mentioned, have rejected their message?

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Silver and Gold Have I Quite a Large Sum

Author’s Preface: In the article below, I’ve omitted the names of the ministries, the names of those who head them, and most of the source links that are in the original article. The reason is to avoid criticism from anyone who might object to my revealing such information (all of which is public information, by the way, and much of which the U.S. government morally believes you are entitled to know). Those who do not object to my revealing such information can scroll down and find the unedited article below the edited version. Please keep in mind that if it is wrong for me to publish the unedited version, it is also wrong to read the unedited version. And because of this fair warning, please don’t send me any criticism for having reported names, salaries, and other public information if you’ve made the decision to read the unedited version!

Some years ago I was admonished by one of the wealthiest men in my city, a retired CEO of a huge multi-national company, with the following words, “It is the responsibility of guys like you to tell guys like me what God expects of us, lest we not be ready to stand before Him one day.” It seemed, he elaborated, that too many preachers patronized “guys like him,” fearful of offending and hopeful of gaining something—and in the process ultimately sealing the eternal doom of “guys like him.” Sobering words to a patronizing preacher like me (at the time).

Emboldened by that old admonition, I’d like to address the subject of stewardship in the next few issues of HeavenWord. This month I want to focus specifically on the questionable example of stewardship being set by some spiritual leaders—because the church follows its leaders. There isn’t any doubt in my mind that Jesus would address this issue if He were personally preaching on the planet today, because when He was preaching on the planet, He quite often made sobering statements about stewardship, and He also exposed the money-loving spiritual leaders of His day (see Matt. 23:14; Luke 16:13-15). Imitating Christ, Paul also lamented that many in his day were “peddling the word of God” (2 Cor. 2:17). He required that spiritual leaders be “free from the love of money” (1 Tim. 3:3). Peter, too, warned against false teachers who, motivated by greed, would exploit believers with false words (see 2 Pet. 2:1-3).

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American Idol

Imagine a person taking a block of wood and carving it to look like a bearded man in a robe. At the bottom of his wooden figurine, he carves the name “Jesus.” Finally, each day he bows before it in worship. Does that make him a Christian?

No, that makes him an idolater. He is worshipping something that he has named Jesus but who is not Jesus at all. His wooden god is a grave insult to Jesus.

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What God Wants

The amalgamation of all that comprises contemporary Christendom sometimes obscures the one thing that is by far the most important. Hidden underneath all the clutter is something that is supposed to be preeminent. Without it, all else that is done under the banner of Christ becomes essentially worthless and meaningless, and even counterproductive.

Yet once the mound of ministries and men, teachings and traditions, programs and personalities, fads and frauds have been scraped from the table, there it is, a golden key. It opens the most important door. It reveals the one thing that is of supreme interest to God. It is the answer to the question, “What is God after—what does He want—above all else?”

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Deception is an Election

In last month’s e-teaching, There’s a Sheep Born Every Second, we considered what we should do to avoid being deceived or misled by false spiritual leaders, those wolves in sheep’s clothing of which Jesus warned us. Obviously, God doesn’t want us, or anyone for that matter, to be deceived regarding spiritual and eternal matters. He wants everyone to know and believe the truth (see 1 Tim. 2:4). For that reason we might ask, If God doesn’t want anyone to be deceived, why doesn’t He just put an end to deception and deceivers?

The Bible’s answer to that question is quite interesting, and it opens a vista of insight into the very purpose of life itself.