ARE YOU ENLISTED?

2Ti 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
2Ti 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

I spent 4 years of my young life in the United States Air Force. When you raise your right hand and say "I do", you surrender your will to someone else deemed worthy to give you orders. They don't ask what you want. They don't ask how you feel about something, or your opinion in their methodology. They simply demand that what ever the order, you do it without question.

From my perspective, this is exactly what Paul is referring to here in his letter to Timotheus. Soldiers follow orders. And if you violate a direct order, you will be charged and punished. Paul is relating the same principle to Timothy, with regard to his calling and enlisting in the army of the LORD.

The CROSS demands the same voluntary surrender. We surrender to death of self will, and obedience to the commands and instructions of our new MASTER, YEHOVAH/YESHUA. HIS commands are not optional and our complete obedience is expected without a second thought. It is a completely NEW LIFE we enter into and adhere too, for the remainder of our time of testing here on earth.
It's called DISCIPLINE. In the Air Force, the Drill Sargent is responsible for BREAKING US down as a group of individuals, and building us back up as a unit of men. And so it is with the responsibility of the Pastors and church leaders. True DISCIPLESHIP is leading without regard to personal opinion. It is a level of TRUST with huge responsibility to those being discipled. Few church leaders realize this responsibility today. Neither to they demand obedience to the WORD of HAYAH.

In the US Military, we were governed by The Uniform Code of Military Justice. All areas of discipline, order, and obedience are covered in this book. And it is used to administer both correction and discipline among all US Soldiers.

As Disciples of YESHUA, we too have such a book. The problem today is that few, so very few subject themselves to it. CHURCH LEADERS included. What "seems" good, according to man's own understanding seems to be the rule of the day, or lack thereof. And oh the price of LOST SOULS among "church people" we are witnessing today, if only we open our eyes.

Friends, it's past time, we return to the "old paths". It's time we pick up our Bible, and READ IT. Not just to read it, but to LIVE by it, as our UNIFORM CODE of HOLY LIVING. Failure to do so, puts our own eternity at risk, as well as that of our children and our loved ones.
An army that has no "uniform code of military justice", is simply a crowd of individual self interest people who cannot and will not work together as a unit. Tragically, what is called "church" is exactly like this today.
If you have enlisted into HIS army, why is it you are not taught HIS word? Why is it that Christian leaders fail their responsibility to demand obedience to HIS word, as part of being in HIS service? Oh, oh, oh. If we don't CHANGE, IMMEDIATELY, most if not all, will be lost. In this life and the next. The enemy of our souls has overun our camp. And look at the slaughter. Wounded lives, broken people everywhere we look.

Rom_6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

SERVANTS. Enlisted servants....of righteousness unto holiness.

Rom_6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

There's not "plan B".

2Co_7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We are called to DISCIPLINE. CLEAN UP ourselves, and our way of living life, not conformed to this world, but to HIS word!

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

It's not complicated. Disciples are called to HOLINESS.

1Th_3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1Th_4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Oh what a cloud of witnesses AGAINST MODERN SO CALLED CHURCH, that REFUSES TO LIVE HOLY!!!!! It seems that holiness is not good for BUSINESS. And make no mistake about it, "churches" today, are nothing more than a religious business.

Heb_12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

That's the bottom line, my friends. That is HIS qualifier, for anyone to be allowed to SEE HIM. HOLINESS.

1Pe_1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

You have some points, not all bad. But there is another side of the coin if I can attempt to graciously share it.

There is also a place for the tender and gentle love of the Father bro. We are not called to love and obey God for fear of His discipline if we don't. We respond to and love God back and seek to obey His word because He has been patient with us and has graciously taught and wooed us to love Him first. We don't love Him out of fear like He is a military drill sergeant and we will suffer if we don't. We love Him because He has so worked in our hearts that we desire to love Him back because we realize now that He first loved us. We don't love and obey him because we have to, as in the military, but because He has enabled us to be able to freely love and obey Him. There is a vast difference between having to do something and freely choosing to do something. The Father wants us to love and obey Him not because we have to but because we freely choose to which is in and of itself a work of His grace.

Amen David.

Brothers Larry, Todd and David.

God woos and warns. He draws with Love and He warns with loving discipline AND He often even warns with fearful consequences for falling away. This has been discussed before in other threads so I won't go through the various texts that teach this and I'm sure you already know this. I would just remind you that when Jesus, Paul and Peter were nearing the end of their earthly ministries and time on earth, their "before I go" messages were chocked full of warnings at what was coming upon them, what they could expect from Jesus in terms of instruction and help, what He expected from them in personal holiness and faithful ministry, and what would happen if they fell away from these things. He spoke these severe warnings to His closest friends and brothers.

What Larry presented is not a full exposition of God's character nor did he mean it to be. We don't have to counter God's warnings with a reminder of His Fatherly love. Nobody should have to explain everything to address a valid point in this regard. To share a message about God's lavish love doesn't require a caveat of His wrath against rebellion and likewise the opposite.

In these last of the last days as many see it, the teachings of faithfulness to God's imperatives of life and ministry are very appropriate. The faithful need the cheerleading of other faithful witnesses, the timid need our support and the complacent need warnings.

Larry's messages are on the warning side. Let the message fall on the heart that needs it. There are plenty who are cheerleaders and supporters it seems. Some times and some people need exhortation. If anyone feels led by God to share a message it will be for some and not all. But, to discourage a message as a "bad report" when it is otherwise very Biblical is not the best idea.

Just to repeat, the Gospels and the Epistles are full of wooings and warnings. The whole Bible is. Love and fear are mixed together to fit the time and the heart condition or potential problems of end times apostasy, false teachings or lukewarmness, complacency, or even the compromise of the true church with the world.

God the Father spoke to the whole church in Revelation 18 and commanded

"come out from her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues, For her sins are piled up....."

The loving Father was warning His children in the "last days" ( however you see that) and telling those He loved to depart from the lust and greed of the whore or they would be judged as Babylon was about to be judged. Good loving Fatherly advice to a compromised people to fear His wrath in order to give courage to obey. (that is actually the definition of "en-couragement" even if we don't see that that way.

Doesn't have to be explained away with a description of God's tender heart. The Holy Spirit didn't feel a need to do that in many passages and neither then should we. A loving tender hearted God warns about fearful consequences for a people who forsake Him and His ways. It happened to Israel and God has now given a spirit of fear ( not of man ) into His people so that they will not depart from Him. Lest you dispute that, the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul said we should be aware and forewarned about what happened to the Israelites of the OT, so we could avoid the same peril they experienced in the desert for their sinful conduct. In those passages, God is using fear of consequences and Himself to motivate His people who had become tolerant of internal sin and slothful towards God's holiness.

Thank you. For you fully understand. I offer no defense, let others say what they may.
I'm often reminded of what the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. Please afford me the opportunity to share it here.

Jer 23:22  But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 

There is not one exception to this, in the entire Bible. So be it. What the LORD gives me, I share. I didn't ask for the assignment, nor did I covet it. But I must obey the LORD, no matter what man thinks of me.

YEHOVAH has been calling HIS creation back to HIMself ever since the fall. Turn from your wicked ways, is HIS message. So listen to whomever you "like". But you must ask yourself, is "his" message TRUTH. If it lacks the above criteria in Jer 23, yet the speaker, man or woman, says they have heard from GOD, they are liars. False prophets.

Again, CofG, thank you for your kindness and encouragement. It is what it is. Some receive it. Some don't. So be it. May the LORD bless you all with more of HIMself revealed in your hearts.

Recently in our Church Bible study, a precious sister shared from 2 Tim 2:4. She mentioned that a soldier of Jesus Christ will not get involved in everyday affairs like how Uriah did not engage in family affairs even when his king David asked him to do so. He was doing it out of love for his kingdom than fear for King.

So the point is simple, God expects us to have a discipline of a soldier in serving him but out of love like how Uraiah served David's kingdom. Just because God loves us does not mean we can lack discipline in serving him.

So I find the original post inline with what others have been saying here.

In the Lord of the Rings, there are two kings. Both demand discipline and sacrifice. Sauron’s minions follow him because they fear him. Aragorn’s followers follow him because they love him.

Following Jesus is like following Aragorn, only Jesus is infinitely better.

And Jesus is not our "buddy.”
””””””””

Who is Aslan?" asked Susan.

"Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver, "Why don't you know? He's the King…”

"Is -- is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion -- THE Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he -- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

In the Lord of the Rings, there are two kings. Both demand discipline and sacrifice. Sauron’s minions follow him because they fear him. Aragorn’s followers follow him because they love him.

Following Jesus is like following Aragorn, only Jesus is infinitely better.

And Jesus is not our "buddy.”
””””””””

Who is Aslan?" asked Susan.

"Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver, "Why don't you know? He's the King…”

"Is -- is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion -- THE Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he -- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

CofG,

The reason I spoke up again is because I feel his posts usually bring to me a sense of being berated and condemnation. They seldom vary in tone but always seem to denounce everybody and everything and even threaten believers at times. That is what I refer to. There is a difference between true conviction from the Holy Spirit spoken through someone and judgmental broadsides against all. It's been my experience that people who constantly throw broadsides at the body of Christ are usually unsure in some deep way of their own relationship with God. Or they have succumbed to a overflowing amount of works related self-righteousness. So, instead of dealing with this part of their own walk, they blast everyone else for not toeing the line or needing to shape up. Most of all, I don't hear the voice of a cutting edge prophet in these posts.

I have asked politely a couple of times if he belongs to any church fellowship anywhere and have never been answered. So is Onesimus a lone ranger or a part of a functioning body? If one denounces others so often, this question of belonging to a body is important. I don't expect an answer even now, so how are we to know?

Mr Winter, I am part of the Body of CHRIST. Does that make me a part of everyone who says they are a "CHRISTIAN", or a member of a denomination, or a local "church body"? Absolutely not. There is a huge difference, for the most part.

"When a prophet is accepted and deified, his message is lost. The prophet is only useful so long as he is stoned as a public nuisance calling us to repentance, disturbing our comfortable routines, breaking our respectable idols, shattering our sacred conventions." -A. G. Gardiner.

Like I correctly assumed, you won't answer whether you are part of and joined to a local body or not. This part of our walk is essential, especially in these days. Being part of the body of CHRIST most times brings with it a desire to be with and fellowship with other believers.

Prophets can be a public nuisance calling us to repentance etc. and upsetting our comfortable routines etc. I agree with that, but that doesn't mean they are all lone rangers floating about with no legitimate scriptural connection to a local body and spiritual oversight.

Since you won't answer, I can only assume you are likely a lone ranger. If I'm wrong, please inform me so. My ears are open.

I am not part of Roman Catholic Orthodoxy, which is nothing more than a religious business. You seem to be confused in this matter of "church" and "the body of the MESSIAH". In 99% of the cases, they are NOT one and the same. So no, I do not play their religious game. They are judaizers. They want to put new wine into old wine skins. They parrot what others have said before them who add too or take from Scripture.

Rom_16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Every denomination is a root of division. Otherwise it would be called a local congregation. So be it.
I will not bow to baal. YESHUA said "GO". Denominations say "come". Who's right? Do you hate me because I tell you the truth. These things have been going on for centuries, all the way back to the first century. When man errs by adding too or taking from Scripture, he enters into deception. I happen to despise deception. Do you want to hate me for that? Have at it.

Act_5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

And one other question, if I may. You mentioned "spiritual oversight". Hmmm. Who oversees the spiritual overseers? Are they lone rangers? ;)

You have a blessed day, doc.

/I am not part of Roman Catholic Orthodoxy, which is nothing more than a religious business. You seem to be confused in this matter of "church" and "the body of the MESSIAH". In 99% of the cases, they are NOT one and the same. So no, I do not play their religious game. They are judaizers. They want to put new wine into old wine skins. They parrot what others have said before them who add too or take from Scripture./

I did not say or ask anything about Roman Catholic Orthodoxy. At best, your answer seems a bit odd. How do you associate my comments with Roman Catholic Orthodoxy?

Christ said He would build His church. "Church", an assembly of ones called out by the Messiah, is not an unscriptural word or term when kept in its proper place and context. Those who belong to the true confessing Church are part of the body of Christ.

99% are wrong? So you consider yourself to be among the distinct 1% who aren't wrong? What about the rest of us? And again, how does Roman Catholic Orthodoxy figure into this? Or Baal, a ancient god of fertility?

It's just that these days, in my opinion, we should all remember,

"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves (plural, more than one), together, AS IS THE MANNER OF SOME, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)

Apostles, prophets etc. in some way or manner should be part of a true Christian group somewhere. Spiritual oversight can be a blessing and safeguard and even a refuge.

/And one other question, if I may. You mentioned "spiritual oversight". Hmmm. Who oversees the spiritual overseers? Are they lone rangers? ;)?

No. Truly godly men who have the responsibility of being a spiritual overseer usually have others who can counsel, help and hold them accountable to a degree. Godly overseers are not designed to operate on their own.

I don't hate you or anything like that, it's just that I have a strong sense your words many times berate and brow beat more than they edify. Condemnation is different than conviction. These type of attitudes and great and swelling words many times come from those who feel they know the truth better than others and thereby feel justified in being separate and alone without having to give account anywhere. It's not God's way. Since you have still not answered where and who you fellowship with, I can only assume you operate on your own to a large degree and don't like your words being tested for authenticity. It's not God's way.