THIS IS THE WAY?

Hello beloved,

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” – Isaiah 30:21

God: “Son, this is the way. It is time to go.”
Me: “Are you sure, Lord? This is the way? God, it’s obvious you don’t want me to go that way. Look at this path over here. It’s so much smoother. And look, Lord. Look at all of my friends. They are bidding me to join them. This is the path, Lord. I know it. This is what I’ve been praying for.”
God: “No, son. This is the way.”
Me: “But, God! No it’s not. It can’t be. Can you not see that you are mistaken. Nobody else is going down that path. In fact, it has hardly even been cleared. And what’s up with all of those bones? And it’s very dark.”
God: “My word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.”
Me: “O.K. God. If you say so.”

Sound familiar, beloved? God said “This is the way, walk ye in it”. He didn’t say that everyone was going to take your hand and skip down the path with you. The fact is, the path is narrow. The path is often times rocky and filled with trials and tribulation. It’s often times a path that you have to tread alone. But keep in mind: it is the right path. I think I am explaining, the best I know how, the will of God.

Why is it always so hard? That is, obeying the will of God. It’s hard for me to count how many times I’ve said, since I’ve been a Christian, “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do”. For some reason, I believe, at the time, that things in the future won’t be so hard. But, then, they are harder.

I can’t give you some great revelation on how Christianity works. And why God so often calls us down a path that appears so lonely and dangerous. All I know is that He is with us. If we stay in His will, He will always be with us. We cannot be distracted by who else is with us.

Paris Reidhead explained it like this. He said that it won’t do to let Jesus drive while you are in the passenger seat. You can’t even get in the back seat. You have to get out of the car, give the keys to Him, and lock yourself in the trunk. Then knock and say “Lord, wherever you are going, I’m with you”. Really, it just comes down to trust. Do you trust Him?

I got some really good advice from a friend of mine the other day when I was complaining about a dry spell I had been going through:

“Welcome to the Christian walk. You are on a journey and you are not the One driving the bike. You are on a tandem bike and God is on the front seat guiding the bike. Your duty is to peddle – nothing more – just peddle! God knows some exciting long-cuts (He doesn’t do short-cuts much) and you will be very scared when you realize where He is going. You may even shout out to Him, “Lord, I’m frightened – I may fail – it’s dangerous here – don’t turn there – its too hard – I can’t make it!” And His response to you my dear friend Adam is, ‘Peddle.'”

So, beloved, when you feel like you are all alone. When you are locked in that trunk having doubts as to whether or not you should have ever given the keys to Him, be encouraged. When you are peddling and it looks like you’re headed straight for a cliff, keep peddling. He is right there. Trust Him. He might take a long route, here and there. He might do a little “off-roading”. But, He knows what He is doing.

So, be of good courage. Let Him strengthen your heart. He is your light and salvation. You have no one to fear.

In Christian love,
Adam

P.S. I thank God for my loving wife, Paige. When it seems that the path is so lonely, I can always look to my side and see my beautiful wife. Of course, the Lord is there as well. But, often times, He is there through her. Praise Him.

WHY DON’T WE PRAY CORRECTLY?

Hello beloved,

“35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:35-38

Why do we seldom hear the utterance of this prayer? Why don’t we pray this prayer? The reason most of us won’t pray this prayer is that it will convict us of not being a laborer. It’s obvious that there is a dire need for laborers. Everywhere we go, we witness the filth of this world. Over a million unborn children, slaughtered every year through abortion. Many children being convinced that they are homosexuals and led into a life of sin. Suicide running rampant. Blood flowing like a river through the streets of America. Kids’ hatred turning into murder. The harvest truly is plentiful. It’s obvious we need laborers. Yet we pray for manifestations and for God to “move” in our church services. We pray for rain. And why do we do that? I don’t know, beloved. I just don’t know. But I know one thing. It’s the utter betrayal of the Word of God.

How could we pray that God blesses us while our hands are covered with blood? We want for God to do something that we’ve never seen, yet we don’t want to get out of our comfort zone and take the battle to the streets. We stand by and lift our bloody hands to God in worship. That’s right. Our hands are full of blood. By not fighting for the lives of the unborn children, we are guilty of their bloodshed. O God! Help us! Help us see this truth.

It’s time we truly cast down imaginations and every high thing that sets itself against the knowledge of God. We need to get back to the Bible and put away all of these imaginations that we think are revelations from the Lord. Stand on God’s Word! Not what you think or feel that God is speaking to you. God is not speaking it to you unless it completely conforms to the entire Word of God.

We want souls, but we don’t want to do the work. Forgive us Lord. Don’t we know that the only way they will be saved is by calling on, and believing in, the Name of the only begotten Son of God. And His name is not just a name. It is the position of Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory. He has been given a name which is above every name. At His name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of the Father.

Well, no one can believe on His name if they have never heard it. And let’s get this straight. Most people in America have heard his name, but they haven’t heard the truth about Who He is vs. who they are. That’s where we come in. That’s right, you and me. Romans 10:14 says “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher. As it is written ‘how beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.'” When are we going to grasp that God’s plan involves using us. But he can’t use us when we won’t give up our will and surrender to His.

We need to repent beloved. O if we could only grasp that we need to repent.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant

THE FATE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS

Hello beloved,

“9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” – Corinthians 6:9-10

The question is: can I be unrighteous and still go to heaven? When studying this passage, I overlooked a very important statement: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?” Well, I didn’t overlook it, I just assumed it meant that the unrighteous would have to spend an eternity in hell for the unwillingness to give up their sin. I studied it, and while assuming usually gets me in trouble, this time I was correct in my thinking. “The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God”, shall not be true members of his church on earth, nor admitted as glorious members of the church in heaven. All unrighteousness is sin, and continual sin, or every actual sin committed deliberately, and not repented of, shuts us out of the kingdom of heaven. Understand that I am talking about continual, deliberate sin. I am not saying that a Christian should live a sinless life. But I would also never say that we sin every day in thought, word or deed. But, as Christians, we must stop deliberate, continual sin. Or else. That is a very tough word, beloved. But, it is the truth.

Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 6:1-2. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” That cuts right to the chase. God forbids us to continue in sin. We lie to ourselves when we say that God knows our hearts and that we really do feel bad about it. Or that we just can’t give it up. Nonsense. When we were born again, we died with Christ. And being a part of His death, we also take part in His resurrection. Romans 6:6 says “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.” Our body of sin has been nailed to a cross, beloved. It no longer controls us. Verse 7 says “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” We are freed from sin!

The thing I am trying to get across is that we can’t paint the picture any other way than to say that continual sin will send us to an eternal place of torment called hell. It’s the cold hard truth. But, it is the truth. We should rejoice in this, though. Because we have been set free. Though we are guilty for nailing the Son of God to the cross(Isaiah 53:6-7), we are not condemned. We have been forgiven, beloved. Of course, that’s if you have repented of your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. If not, you are in separation from God. Isaiah 59:2 says “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God. And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. You must repent of your sins and call on the only One who can save you. Jesus!

I know that most of you that receive my emails are born again. So, I want to urge you, beloved, to search your heart for any deliberate sin in your life. And stop pointing the finger at others and turn it back on yourself. Put away the victim mentality and admit that you are the only one to blame for your sin. Please turn from your sins beloved. Don’t ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We often get upset when the Holy Spirit convicts. Unfortunately, we let our conviction turn into bitterness toward the one God used to point out our sin. We need to let it turn into godly sorrow. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world worketh death.

One last thing, beloved. God’s love will, at first, feel like condemnation. Those He loves, he will rebuke and chasten. One thing he requires in this: repentance. Be zealous therefore, and repent.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant

THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY

Hello beloved,

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” – Malachi 4:6

Beloved, the United States of America is a fatherless nation. Well, let me recount. This nation has very godly fathers. We just have no idea who they are. I have no idea who they are. As of now, all I know is that they were godly men. They signed their death warrants when signing the Declaration of Independence. I realize one thing, though. It is my responsibility to find out as much as possible about our founding fathers. About the Christian heritage of this nation. I will know the truth. My children will know the truth.

The reason we are in the hole we are in, as a nation, is because we have forsaken our Christian heritage. We have forsaken God Almighty. We have removed Him from our schools, from our government, and from most of our churches! We are in big trouble, beloved. Well, it’s time for us to turn our hearts to our founding fathers. It’s time to turn our hearts to the Lord. It’s not to late for this nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, who are called by my name, would humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” So, we must turn to God. And part of that is to find out the truth of why God birthed this nation.

I have recently started reading a book called “The Light and the Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel. I would strongly recommend it to all of you. To you fathers, it is your responsibility to learn these truths and teach them to your children. I can testify that I had no idea what the truth was a couple years ago. And I’m not even close to being educated now. But, I will learn. I know that it is my responsibility.

Growing up, I was taught that Christopher Columbus was searching for a trade route, among other things. After reading the first chapter of The Light and the Glory, I realized that my history books left out a critical piece of information. The following is an excerpt from Columbus’ journal. It explains why he came to America:

“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies…There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures…I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence. For the execution of the journey to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied…No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service.”

This seems to me, that it’s a pretty important part of history. But, of course, in a public school, history has to be revised if it contains the hand of God. It’s called historical revisionism, beloved. And Satan created it. Remember, he is the father of lies. Read the above quote again. How glorious! I had no idea that there was a Holy Spirit. Neither was I familiar with mercy and grace. No wonder kids these days are so lost. Well, I’m gonna tell them the truth. I hope you’re with me. We’ve got quite a task, beloved. But, we can’t let the devil lie to these kids anymore. The church of Jesus Christ must stand up and say “No longer! You can’t have our kids!” All of the kids that go home and cut themselves every night need you. They need you to show them the Way! These kids that go home and put a cold revolver in their mouths and pull the trigger need you. They need you to show them the Truth! These kids that are going to the abortion mill to murder their child need you. They need you to show them the Life. They need to call on Jesus Christ! And you’ve got to tell them about Him! “How then shall they call on Him of whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?” They need us, beloved.

I look forward to finish reading this book. I’ll probably share more, with you, as I read. I hope you take the time to learn as well. Ask yourself one question fathers. Do you know the truth about our nation’s Christian heritage? If you don’t know, who will teach your children? Certainly not a public school teacher.

It’s your responsibility, Dad.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant

WHO ARE THE UNRIGHTEOUS? PT II

Hello beloved,

“9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” – Corinthians 6:9-10

I need to write a little of a continuance to “thieves”. Another way that a lot of people are thieves is when they fail to pay tithes. And that’s on the gross, not the net.

COVETOUS
This word comes from the greek word “epithumeo”, which means the desire to have more, to have what belongs to others. Another word for this could be greedy. That seems pretty self-explanatory. There are all kinds of things we desire to have more of. Whether it be money, popularity, power, material possessions, etc.; all of these can put us in the “covetous” category. Beloved, we need to be content with what God has given us. Don’t worry, He will take care of you. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” That’s not talking about sports cars and mansions, though. God will give you what you need. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. And that doesn’t necessarily mean He will give you that BMW you’ve been desiring. No, he will show you the vanity of that desire and give you new desires; desires that please him. We should desire what the Lord desires for us. We should be like Paul. Listen to what he wrote in Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Paul knew what it was like to be in want, and he knew what it was like to have it all; but he learned to be content, no matter the situation.

DRUNKARDS
The greek word for drunkard is “methusos”. It obviously means someone who gets drunk. I’ve been putting a lot of thought into alcohol lately. I, personally, think it is detestable. I don’t believe Jesus ever drank fermented wine. It would have been considered unclean. A few friends have emailed me some very interesting points on this, as well. I plan on writing more on this in the future. Today, though, we are dealing with drunkards.

I’ll put it really simple. If you drink, and become intoxicated, you’re a drunkard. Webster’s definition of intoxicated is “to excite or stupefy by alcohol or a drug especially to the point where physical and mental control is markedly diminished.” I would also say, that regardless of how drunk you get; if you have to drink everyday, you are a drunkard. And you will not inherit the kingdom of God. There is grace if you repent. But, don’t think you can use that grace to continue in your sin. Romans 6:1-2 says “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?”

Beloved, if you repent, you could be set free. Acts 3:19 says “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. When the times of refreshing may come with the presence of the Lord.” If you cry out to God for deliverance, with a repentant heart, He will deliver you. And, trust me beloved, it will feel like a cold bucket of water in the face on a hot August day. There is hope. For you or for a loved one.

REVILERS
Reviler comes from the greek word “loidoria” meaning “abusive, railing”. Webster’s says that it is someone who subjects others to verbal abuse. The best way I can explain it would be someone who belittles others. How well do you speak of others? I get sick and tired of hearing people belittle there spouses. And I imagine that God hates that, too. Paige and I always try to encourage each other. We never tear each other down. Think about this one. God’s Word actually says that revilers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Are you a reviler? Beloved, I’ve got a suggestion for you. This coming week, I would challenge you to go out of your way to encourage someone. Trust me, it will lift your spirit as well.

EXTORTIONERS
This one’s pretty simple. Webster’s says that extortion means to obtain from a person by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal power. And an extortion is, of course, one who practices extortion. So, if this is you, than you need to repent.

Well that’s all of them, beloved. I would like to end with a scripture. The scripture is Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is a rebuke to those of you who need to be rebuked. But, don’t get mad at the love of God, beloved. Be zealous to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Repent beloved. And trust Jesus.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant