But then we don’t want to miss GOD’s HOLY SPIRIT and GOD’s TRUTH that gives us eternal joy and sets us free in Christ Jesus.   There is but one Church of Christ Jesus and all who love and obey HIM are members.   

Not sure this article really covers this issue completely,  what do you think?   But it was interesting enough to send along for those who might be interested.    Love in Jesus    Ken <><

You Can Be Free From a Religious Spirit
10:00AM EDT 5/23/2018 J. Lee Grady   

After Elisha watched Elijah ascend into heaven, the prophet went to the city of Jericho and performed his first miracle. The men of that city faced an environmental crisis: Their water was toxic, most likely because of the sulfur and other chemicals that had rained down upon nearby Sodom and Gomorrah years earlier. This poison had made the land barren (see 2 Kings 2:19-22) and it was affecting people and animals as well as plant life.

So Elisha performed a bold, prophetic act. He threw salt in the water and proclaimed: “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer'” (v. 21, NASB). His proclamation brought immediate cleansing.

This obscure story in the Old Testament offers us a picture of the gospel’s power. The message of Jesus Christ heals us. The Holy Spirit brings life where death has reigned. He neutralizes the poisons that cause spiritual barrenness. He balances the pH level in our hearts and our churches so that spiritual growth and vitality is possible.

All of us would like to enjoy a healthy spiritual life. And we would love to see our churches thriving and growing. But the sad truth is that many of us are barren because of hazardous additives. We have embraced a gospel laced with legalism, performance-based religion and salvation by works—when Christ alone is our only source of life.
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Jesus Himself referred to these toxins as “the leaven of the Pharisees” (Luke 12:1b). He told us that the Pharisees’ brand of religion, which looked good on the outside, was deadly—and contagious.  Have you been infected? You can take your own pH test by examining these eight characteristics of a religious spirit.

    A religious spirit views God as a cold, harsh, distant taskmaster rather than an approachable, loving Father. When we base our relationship with God on our ability to perform spiritual duties, we deny the power of grace. God does not love us because we pray, read our Bibles, attend church or witness, yet millions of Christians think God is mad if they don’t perform these and other duties perfectly. As a result, they struggle to find true intimacy with Jesus. 
     A religious spirit places emphasis on doing outward things to show others that God accepts him. We deceive ourselves into believing that we can win God’s approval through a religious dress code, certain spiritual disciplines, particular music styles or even doctrinal positions.        
     A religious spirit develops traditions and formulas to accomplish spiritual goals. We trust in our liturgies,   denominational policies or man-made programs to obtain results that only God alone can give.
    A religious spirit becomes joyless, cynical and hypercritical. This can turn a home or a church completely sour. Then, whenever genuine joy and love are expressed, this becomes a threat to those who have lost the simplicity of true faith.
    A religious spirit becomes prideful and isolated, thinking that his righteousness is special and that he cannot associate with other believers who have different standards. Churches that allow these attitudes become elitist and dangerously vulnerable to deception or cult-like practices.
    A religious spirit develops a harsh, judgmental attitude toward sinners, yet those who ingest this poison typically struggle with sinful habits that they cannot admit to anyone else. Religious people rarely interact with nonbelievers because they don’t want their own superior morals to be tainted by them.
    A religious spirit rejects progressive revelation and refuses to embrace change. This is why many churches become irrelevant to society. They become so focused on what God did 50 years ago that they become stuck in a time warp and cannot move forward when the Holy Spirit begins to open new understanding. When religious groups refuse to shift with God’s new directives, they become “old wineskins,” and God must find more flexible vessels that are willing to implement change.
    A religious spirit persecutes those who disagree with his self-righteous views and becomes angry whenever the message of grace threatens to undermine his religiosity. An angry religious person will use gossip and slander to assassinate other peoples’ character and may even use violence to prove his point. Jesus, in fact, warned His disciples: “There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor” (John 16:2b, MSG).

If the poison of religion has contaminated your walk with God, ask Him to pour a fresh understanding of His grace into your barren spirit—and then expect His new life to flow through you.

ALOHA FAMILY AND FRIENDS,  Beloved in the LORD.

DEBT     “WORTH CONSIDERING”    3/7/19     (Across my desk this morning.)

Folks saddled with this debt have purposefully handed over their Liberty. They traded it so they could get something shiny and new.  And now if their master closes his door… if their job goes away… they’ve got nothing left.  But here’s the one key difference between this situation and the plague that spread across our nation 150 years ago – it’s where free-thinking folks will poke us in the chest and tell us we’re wrong.      Your Credit Score is important.

This form of slavery is entirely optional.
The bank man isn’t coming to vulnerable neighborhoods and gathering folks up at gunpoint – although we know a few salesmen who would love the option.  No, this servitude is entirely derived by the enslaved.  It’s 100% avoidable.  The Only (and Easy) Way Out  It’s been a while since we wrote about our “broken bowl” theory. But with the latest headlines telling us that Americans are now sitting on more debt than we did prior to the 2008 disaster, it’s quite clear we’ve got work to do.

We need to spread our message.
We’re flat-out convinced that if you follow this simple strategy, your wealth will increase and you’ll quickly be on your way to true financial freedom.  As many of our oh-so-wise musings about money do… this one starts during our time in Alaska’s wilderness.  We were newlyweds, and we decided to go camping at one of our favorite lakes along the rugged Canadian border.  We invited a friend named Kenny.  He was a young, hungry kid from Southern California who didn’t get out all that much.  We figured nearly a week without modern influences would do him some good.  For a few short hours at the start of our trip, though, we thought he was going to get us killed.  Fortunately for us, he then did something dumb… something that sparked our powerful way of thinking.

You see, camping in the Alaskan wilderness isn’t like camping in the lower 48.  Once we waved goodbye to the bush pilot who flew us to the lake, we were on our own. No phone. No radio. Just the three of us and a campfire. The nearest person was more than 25 miles away. But it didn’t matter. We couldn’t get there if we wanted to… the nearest road was more than 70 miles south.

We were on our own. And Kenny forgot about that.  Almost as soon as the plane disappeared over the mountaintop and the roar of its engine faded to silence, Kenny attacked his food ration for the week.  By the time we realized what was going on and stopped him, he’d already eaten two days’ worth of food.  We were in trouble.  But then something incredible happened.  He dropped his bowl – his one and only bowl.  It shattered.  All that was usable was a piece about a third of the size of its previous shape.  Need Less… Spend Less

At first, Kenny was distraught. Like most 18-year-olds, he quickly got hungry and grouchy.  But as the sun burned through the  fog on our second day, his mood started to change. He was eating only as much as his bowl would hold… a third of what he was eating the day before.  But he was happy with it.  He quickly got used to it.  It’s a powerful lesson for anybody working to break the bonds of modern slavery.  We’re convinced it’s the only way to build real, liberating wealth.   Happiness does not come with an interest rate.  Freedom can’t be found at the bottom of a credit card statement.  It’s just the opposite.  That statement that comes in the mail once each month represents what you owe to your master. It shows how much you must work before you’ll be set free.  The only way out, we’re convinced, is to break your bowl.  Don’t fall into the cultural trap that convinces us that more stuff equals more happiness.  It’s 100% a lie.  Instead, we beg you to break your bowl in half. Fill it up with only what you need. It’s far less than you think.  Save the rest for another day.  It’s the only way to be truly free.  Millions of Americans are enslaved by their choices… and most have no idea how tight the shackles have become.  They’re not going to like their future – especially when their master wants his money.  Be well,  Andy

My Comment:
It is very important to learn to live without paying interest.   I quit paying interest in 1968.    And as I have learned to live without owing my soul to the company store it has given me a lot more freedom.  Both Debt and Socialism are forms of slavery and to be avoided.    It was tough at times but the Holy Spirit has been a really great teacher as I took this Bible verse seriously  (I don’t even have a credit score any more) :   Yours, in HIS great love,   Ken<><   (Previous “Worth Considerings” are now available at www.Trinity-Aloha.org )

2019 Prophesy:    “WORTH CONSIDERING”    3/5/19

Dutch Sheets:  Prophetic:    “A Great Shift Is Upon Us That Will Continue Through 2019”
8:00AM EST 2/1/2019 Dutch Sheets   

We are entering an hour of history where the church must make itself ready. We are now warring for the eternal destinies of millions and the destiny of our nation. Something must happen to awaken the conscience of this nation and turn the thoughts of people back to God. A revival of monumental proportions is the only hope we have to see the hearts and minds of multiplied millions turn to God. If it is the only hope—then with God, it is inevitable. A Third Great Awakening is upon us. God is allowing things to boil, bringing things to the surface so that He can deal with them. The question is not, “Will revival come to America?” We will get a revival. We will get a Third Great Awakening. The question is, “What is the church going to do with that?” A Great Awakening will require us to be stretched in our thinking, to discard “doctrine” that has fallacies. It will require a shift in how we teach and disciple. It will require a shift from a self-centered gospel to a kingdom-centered gospel. I am filled with hope! A great shift is upon us and will continue throughout 2019. What a privilege to be part of what God is doing in this hour.

“Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
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My comments:
This also includes repenting from dead traditions of how we think of “church.”   What we mostly have today is a Religious Theater.   The Early Church was a Spiritual Interactive Forum where the Fruit, Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit could flow freely.  HIS CHURCH was a holy space secured by servant Elders who were guided by the Holy Spirit.  They did not allow the enemy counterfeits to confuse the Saints of God.  But it was a free for all to get involved and to be encouraged and grow.  And in that matrix many were saved, healed and set free and supporting to learn how to do the same in another location and “House Church Gathering.”   It was both Dangerous and Immensely Loving in the Holy Spirit and Powerful.  The church today has mostly grieved the Holy Spirit so much that HE rarely shows up in most church gatherings.  When HE does show up there is power,  that is one of HIS names.   Paul teaches in 2 Tim. 3:5, “… if no power, go somewhere else.”

In describing the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bible paints quite a different picture (see Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 12:9). The word translated as “power” in the English Bible is the Greek word dynamis, from which we get the word dynamite. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples that before they would be able to evangelize the world, they must receive the dynamis of the Holy Spirit.

Yours, in HIS great love and wonderful grace and mercy,   Ken<><   www.Trinity-Aloha.org