Basically put, I've deceived others into thinking I'm something that I'm really not.

That's a dark hole to be captured in, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is a hole that many Christians are embedded in, but don't want to admit it. We would all rather talk about, make fun of, label, rebuke, and post Facebook statuses and Tweets of other people's sins.

Why? Because it makes us feel better about ourself.

Humility is not popular. We would rather hear, "Be a better you" or "You know, deep down inside, you're really a good person." 

I'm tired of the lies. 

It's still a true statement that he that exalts himself will be brought low, but he that humbles himself will be exalted. 

I'm a pastor. I didn't walk into a room and sign up for this job, it just kinda follows me like a scent or something. So sure, this means I have the responsibility to teach the whole council of Scripture, including teaching against sin. It's just that I'm not naive. I know I deal with sin in my own life. I don't like it, I hate it in fact, but I have struggles with sin of my own.

It's taken me a while, but I now see that a key in pastoring isn't to act like you're the holiest man in the church. We feel the need to pretend to be holy when we want people to look to us rather than focus on Christ. That's just the truth. Pride takes over in so many situations.

Yeshua the Messiah is your hope. I'm not. Your pastor isn't. Your pastor is a sinner. If that surprises you, you've probably been fed the same crock of lies I was. In church nonetheless. 

It is freeing to admit and confess your sins and struggles. Holding them in and pretending they don't exist will kill you. It will eat you up slowly.

Daily confession and repentance is in order. 

I'm thinking we should help one another. This starts by recognizing that you, fellow saint, fellow believer in Messiah, have struggles just like your neighbor. They may be in different areas, but they are there. When you talk and deal with others, quit acting like you've "got the victory" and start being real. Recognize the sin in your own life that you battle. Work on it all together.

Point people to Yeshua, the perfect lamb. Stop trying to get people to stare at you.

References: Luke 5:8; 6:37; 7:6-7; 18:9-14

I wanted to write a quick encouraging word to all those who may be reading. If you are struggling with a particular sin in your life do not give up. Generally, when a person commits a sin for the first time it is very difficult, but the second time it is a bit easier. From then on it becomes more easy each time and eventually you feel as though you are doing nothing wrong. Going from feeling complete remorse to feeling nothing is not good at all - you have given in to Satan's ways. I want to encourage you to repent and commit to Yahweh and fight the sin you've been struggling with. You can be an over-comer - it may take time - but the Spirit that lives within you is far greater than any spirit the enemy has in opposition to Yahweh's. Start today, tomorrow may just be too late.

Matthew Janzen

I saw a note on the web yesterday that stated "Jesus Loves Sinners." I agree with the statement, but I fear that most who use such a statement also abuse the words. Many people read that line and feel that it excuses them when they sin or else it allows them to continuously continue in sin so that the Messiah can love them more and more. This is not what is taught in the ministry of Yeshua. I would like to just look at one example.

In Luke 19:2 we read that there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector. Tax collectors then (as is often the case today) were looked down upon because of the way they abused people in stealing money from hard working citizens. They are listed in with prostitutes in the gospels as being people with whom many Judahites would not associate with. Yeshua however, comes to save sinners, whether they be thiefs by tax collection, prostitutes, adulterers, idolaters, etc.

When we continue reading through Luke 19:3-7 we find that Yeshua told this man that He was coming over to his house that day, but all the people murmured and said amongst themselves, "This Yeshua is going to go and be a guest in a man's house who is a sinner!"

What happens next is astonishing. We see that there must have been some type of conversation between Yeshua and Zacchaeus because in Luke 19:8 we read the following:

"And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, that half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." {ESV}

Something had pricked Zacchaeus' heart so that he felt the need to correct the wrongs / sins he had committed or was committing at the present. What was the response given to his statement by the Master?

"And Yeshua said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.'" {Luke 19:9, ESV}

After Yeshua saw the heart of Zacchaeus was truly repentant, i.e. he desired to turn away from the sins he had been committing and change towards acting justly and piously, He told him that salvation had come to his house.

The point is that yes, Yeshua does love sinners, but He loves them in this way. He desires to heal them of their sickness and disease of sin. He doesn't love them in a way that wants to keep them bound in slavery to sin. He comes to them to deliver them of sin; He comes to them preaching repentance from sin. Let us never confuse the statement, "Jesus loves sinners" thinking it somehow means we can just go on and on and on sinning without batting an eye.

Matthew Janzen

This post was written by a fellow brother in the faith. It is a response to someone who wrote a very brief essay which downplayed the significance of the law/torah of Yahweh. Hope you all enjoy!
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What is sin? According to 1 John 3:4 sin is the transgression of the law. If the Messiah destroyed the effectiveness of the law, then how do we define sin? I think all one must do is read the verse above. I agree that the law will not justify anyone; it is a schoolmaster to bring people to the Messiah, but I don't agree that it condemns us. As a matter of fact, it liberates us. Hence the reason James says, "...the one who look intently into the perfect law of FREEDOM and perserveres in it, and is not a forgetful heaer but a doer who acts - this person will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25).

The author of the email says, "the law is perfect" but then goes on to say that it condemns us. The law only condemns those who break it. I don't for one minute think that there is a man alive who keeps the law perfectly, but there are many who do not care if they keep it at all. By not acknowledging this perfect law that the Messiah himself kept, we place ourselves into bondage over an over again, trampling the blood of our precious Savior in the ground. Just because the law does not justify you doesn't mean it doesn't provide a plan for active holiness. If we say that we live by the spirit we must walk by the spirit (Romans 7). Furthermore if our Messiah kept the law perfectly, and we are supposed to model our lives after him, then why would anybody not want to keep the law? Once again, it is not the law that condemns us, but the debt we owe to the law that nailed the unblemished lamb to the tree. Our sin put him on the tree and if we are to repent and turn from it we can't continue to break God's law, knowing that's the very reason Christ died. So if Christ died for our sin, "Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary we uphold the law." (Romans 3:31)

From our own Messiah's mouth we hear this, "For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished." (Matthew 5:18) It baffles me to think that this sinless Messiah (God's annointed) would be lying. I think it would be wise to look at Paul's writings again and rethink this view. By the way, Paul was a law keeper too. In Acts 21:24 the apostles are talking to Paul and they says this: "Take these men, purify yourselves with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. The neveryone will KNOW that what they were told about you amoun ts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the LAW."

This email is not meant to be critical but to rebuke false teaching. Paul tells Timothy, "I solemnly charge you: proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching." (2 Timothy 4:2) I am afraid that "...certain men are turning the grace of our Lord into a license to sin and denying our only Master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. (Jude 1:4).

Sorry for the lengthy reply, I hope this give you another angle to look at things. I encourage you to be like the Bereans and search the scriptures daily to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11).

With so much love,
TJ Martin