How do we know the Teaching is good?

By Hayley Boud

We go to church on Sunday and hear a message.  How do we know the message is from God?  How do we know it’s a true or correct message?  How do we know if we can trust the teaching is right? We fellowship with other Christians; how do we know what they are saying is true and trust worthy?  How do we know the YouTube teachings are true or correct?  It’s important to know if the teaching is correct because the Bible says that in the end days even the elect will be deceived (Mathew 24: 24).

In Mathew 16:11-12, Jesus warns us to be careful of the teachings of others.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were the teachers of Jesus’ day and they knew the scriptures very well, but Jesus warned others to beware of the their teaching. 

The best way to know if something is false is to first know the real one.  For example, those that are trained to find forged money will first be trained in what is real money.  They will spend hours and hours learning how real money looks, feels and smells etc. 

When I began working as a haematology technician for a veterinary pathology lab I had to first learn what normal animal blood looked like under the microscope.  I started with normal sheep.  I had to look at the red cells, white cells, platelets etc of normal sheep blood.  I had count look at the shape and size of the red cells, count the different types of white blood cells and note their shape, colour, size etc.  I had to do 180 normal sheep blood before I was allowed to look at a sick sheep’s blood.

When I finally looked at the sick sheep blood, I could tell straight away what was wrong.  I immediately saw the red cells were shaped differently or the white blood cells were a different colour etc.  By being extremely familiar with normal sheep blood cells, I could then recognise when the cells were not normal.  Similarly, with God’s Word, we have to spend time reading it, analysing it, meditating on it, memorising it, practising it, sharing it, living it, in order to know what is the true and correct Word of God and what is false.

By knowing the Word of God very well and being extremely familiar with it, we can automatically know when there is a false teaching, we know, “this is different”.

Acts 17:11, the Bereans were commended because they received the Word with great eagerness and examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 

The word Bereans means “despised”.  We are despised when we question someone’s teaching, especially if that someone is a pastor or someone famous.  On one hand we have to be careful not to be rude, proud, or to cause someone to stumble but on the other hand we need to be careful with our souls and the souls of those around us.  If we question Benny Hinn’s teachings, people who love Benny Hinn will hate us.  We will be despised but if we don’t question the teaching we (and others) might be lead in a wrong direction so sometimes we have to accept to be despised.  The best way to question the teaching is to make it a genuine question such as, “when you said this, what did you mean?”, rather than to point the finger and say, “you are wrong”.

God commended the Bereans for going home and examining the scriptures “to see if things were so”.  God will also commend us for going home and questioning the teaching and examining the scriptures to see if the teaching is correct.  God will be proud of us.  In Acts 17:11, the Bereans were considered, “noble-minded” and God will consider us noble-minded when we receive the Word with eagerness and examine the scriptures to check.

Noble-minded means to have an honourable and upright mind.  If we want to be honourable, we have to receive God’s Word with eagerness and examine the scriptures daily.  If we want to be righteous, we have to receive God’s Word with eagerness and examine the scriptures daily.  It makes sense because if we know the Word of God, then we will know how to live honourably and righteously.  Our conscience will remind us when we are not living according to God’s Word.  Because we will know God’s Word, we will know when our actions are different to the Word of God.

The Bereans “received” the Word with eagerness.  Received means to accept something after someone gives it to you.  For example, Hayley says, “faith comes by hearing the Word of God”.  I receive what Hayley says, I accept that word from Hayley.  I take it into my head with “great eagerness”. 

Then I examine those words from Hayley.  Is this true?  If I am examining the scriptures daily I should know already that this is true but even if I know this is true, I should still go back to the scriptures to double check.  By examining the scriptures, I find the teaching of Hayley matches the Word of God and I so I don’t just receive that teaching in my head but I also accept the teaching to go into my heart and I accept to be changed and transformed by it.  I will then make sure to live by that teaching.  If faith comes by hearing the Word of God, then I need to make sure I hear God’s Word: go to church, listen to the Bible online etc.

If Hayley says, “the Bible doesn’t say you can’t smoke”.  I receive that Word with eagerness and because I examine the scriptures daily, I know that this is a false teaching, I know the truth.  The Bible doesn’t say I can’t smoke but it says my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and I need to keep my temple pure for the Holy Spirit so I must not smoke.  I also know that my body doesn’t belong to me now that I have given it to Jesus so I don’t have the right to destroy what doesn’t belong to me by smoking.  I also know that that Bible warns us not to be a stumbling block for others and that if I smoke, I might cause someone else to sin.

There are so many scriptures that would let me know that Hayley’s teaching is not correct. By examining the scriptures daily, we will know.  So after hearing the false teaching, I say no to accepting it.  I don’t allow that false teaching into my heart.  I remove that false teaching from my mind. 

I should also let Hayley know the truth.  As I said before, the best way is to question the teaching.  E.g. “some people say it is a sin to smoke because our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  What are your thoughts on that?”  We need to come across with humility so the person will accept our teaching. If we argue, point the finger, and talk rudely, the person will never accept and we will be despised for the wrong reasons.

It is also important to remember that most people learn by our example (Titus 2:7).  We can be teaching others without even realising it with our actions.  If I am kind, patient, peaceful, joyful etc, then I am teaching others around me how to be kind, patient, peaceful and joyful but if I am rude, impatient and grumpy then I am teaching others around me how to be rude, impatient and grumpy.  Sometimes we forget that we are teaching others with our actions.  If I drink alcohol, I am teaching others that it's ok to drink alcohol.  This is the opposite of Titus 2:7 where our teaching must be by doing what is good by showing integrity and seriousness. 

If I joke all day long and forget about Jesus, then my teaching is not only useless but I'm leading others in a wrong direction.  I need to be serious with my actions, my words and my life.

End Times - Mathew 24:9 - Hatred & Persecution

This is a common verse for many people and I’m sure you have heard about it several times.  The Bible says that people will determine to kill you and hate you for my name.  Because of the name of Jesus, people will hate you and you will get into trouble and you can even be killed because of the name of Jesus.  Today I want to talk to you, are you ready to die for the name of Jesus?

Are you ready for people to hate you because of the name of Jesus? Have you decided in your life to go through troubles because of the name of Jesus?  This is the one of the most powerful and challenging verses in the Bible.  This verse is like what Jesus did for us.  He left heaven and decided to leave everything to die for us.  He accepted to come down and He knew that others will hate Him because of you and I and He accepted to go through trauma so we can be saved.

Now it’s our turn to sacrifice our lives for Him.  This is where many Christians fail.  We are ready to receive salvation, love and blessings but we are not ready to give up on something to glorify Jesus.  Who is going to kill you?  Who will hate you?  Who will put you in trouble?  The first nation that will attack you is your own body.  The desire of your body is the first one to accuse you and put you in trouble for the love of Jesus.

When you want to pray, your body will tell you that you are not able to pray, your body will attack your spirit and your desire to pray and you think, maybe I will pray tomorrow.  You want to do something good for God but your body turns you down but if you remember, I am doing this not only for me but the name of Jesus, then you will stand up and do it and you will be a winner.  If you are only doing it because of your salvation or because you are Christian, then you won’t do it today.  Whenever you do something, do it in the name of Jesus.

“For your glory Jesus, I will do this, for Your Name I will do this,” and your body will turn you down.  I’ve seen Christians give up because of the influence of others.  They will put aside their faith because people say something.  In order to please others, we do what they are asking us to do.  Our mind will push us, you shouldn’t do this now for God, you would be better to do this for yourself.  Most of the time we do things for ourselves rather than God.

Blessed are those that know that they are doing things for God because they will be winners.  Better for us to die for Christ than to die for the glory of the world or your country.  Many people will prefer to sacrifice everything to become somebody.  During the elections, I have seen on tv politians will put aside their family and they will fight because they want to lead the county, they want their political party to rule the country. Men will give up their jobs to campaign, not because they love the people of the country but because they want to be someone of the country.

They tell you they will fight for your needs but once they become leaders, you cannot see them without an appointment.  Once they occupy the post, they no longer campaign but they work.  What type of campaign do you do for Jesus?  How many messages do you send your friends?  How often are you on Facebook?  How many people love you because you are campaigning for Jesus?  How many people will hate you for promoting Jesus? 

Jesus wants us to campaign for Him but very often we don’t have that courage, we often think twice, how will they take this?  How will they judge me?  Better to send a joke or a song of Rihanna than a song from church.  God our Lord is looking at you, “remember Mathew 24:9, you have to accept to be killed for My Name”.

If they attack you and want to kill you, if they hate you, it’s normal.  We should try to bring up the name of the Lord Jesus.  During the campaign, the nationals will talk about national.  What name do you promote in your social media and your day to day life?  Some promote only their jobs, their knowledge but do you promote Jesus in your life and if yes, how do you do that campaign?

This morning I was thinking about advertisements and how they pop up in your computer and you don’t want it but it pops up.  You can turn it off but another will pop up later.  People work so hard to promote what is good for them.  The only thing we must promote is Jesus.  Do we send pop up messages to people?  They will hate us but do we send them?

People will hate you, kill you and put you in trouble because of my name.  I’ve sent messages to people and they blocked me.  Some have even told me to stop sending messages.  Pressure can come but don’t give up.  Your body can fear losing friends but the best friend you can have is Jesus.  Knowing and having Jesus is a privilege.  Your parents can die and your friends can leave you but Jesus will always be by your side.

You are a strong person and God loves you so much.  Love is not a one way street but it has to have reciprocity, it needs a return.  Jesus doesn’t ask a lot like He did with Abraham who had to give up his son, no He just asks you to sacrifice everything for His Name, promote His Name; by doing so you will be a winner.

Mathew 24 is for the church not for the street but today the church has been letting Jesus down because we are shy to talk about him.  Imagine you meet with your friends while you are with your parents and you feel shy to introduce your mother because you believe your friends will judge you.  People prefer to hide Jesus because we are not comfortable that our faith is in Jesus.  Jesus is so good, He has warned us that those who are shy to talk about Jesus, then He will also feel shy about them.

Imagine if Jesus tells you, you were too shy to introduce me to people, I am also shy, I cannot tell My Father about you.  Don’t feel shy anymore.  Put shyness aside, tell it, “you are not part of my life”.  Let people hate you rather than putting your shyness to talk about Jesus first.  Together we must make a small step and then the rest will follow.  Make one step, decide in your life, how am I going to promote Jesus in my life, how will I introduce Jesus to others?

I don’t have to be happy because I am a friend of the prime minister but that I am a friend of Jesus.

End times - Mathew 24:8-9 - Hunger & Birth Pains

By Odon Bulamba

God has power and decided to create us as human beings, we must be grateful.  When I came to this country I had the opportunity to visit a farm for the first time and I saw how animals were treated.  Animals sleep outside and the master decides what time they will open the gate.  Cows are not treated as human beings because they were not created as human beings.  Their job is just to feed us.  We milk the cows and have milk.  God has given us the intelligence to transform the milk into different products.  God has given us extras that animas do not have.  We have the capacity to choose right from wrong and to distinguish from what pleases and doesn’t please God.

You people are human beings created in My image.  God can use our actions to produce good things.  Sometimes I visit the supermarket and find different kinds of meat from the same cow and those types of meat have different names: chops, mince etc.  Once a human being processes the same meat from the cow, the name changes.  Our job is to transform what is natural and physical to make it to appear new. 

For example, if you bring in a chicken now, can we eat this chicken?  We won’t want to but if we go to McDonalds we will eat it because it is transformed.  The price of Jesus on the cross is not what the church should see so we can believe God exists.  We must consume the final product.  Jesus did the work on the cross and gives us the final meal now: consume now.  Don’t harden your heart and say, I’m waiting for God to do something, that will never happen because God is waiting for you to do something.

We must raise our eyes and look at the Lord.  In my weaknesses, do my eyes still have sight or have I lost the sight of my eyes.  People can see me walking around but I don’t see them.  When you didn’t see someone and they say, I saw you.  We normally say, sorry, I didn’t see you.

When you don’t see the face of the Lord and we are walking in darkness, come to Him with your, “sorry, I didn’t see Your presence or what you are doing, I need sight to see You”.  We need light to see also.  Eyes without light cannot see.  My mum used to tell me, you can read but without light you cannot read.  You can have knowledge and understand how things work and discover by reading but when there is no light, everything becomes dark and you can’t get the message from the txt anymore.

The Bible is a tool we use but when we are living in darkness, we lose the understanding and message from the Bible because we can read it but not see what we are reading. 

Mathew 24:8-9, at the end of the time there will be shortage of food.  we have a lot in this country, we are not starving, we have plenty of vegetables and meat.  We have never seen shortage of food.  after that there will be earthquake.  Then people will feel pain like birth pain.

A pain that cannot be explained to someone who hasn’t been through it.  A pain that pushes the mother to go to maternity.  Remember that pain can’t happen until the time is there.  The mother must wait several weeks before to feel that pain.  The mother must go through the process and then the pain will start.  When pain comes, that is the signal that something is coming to life, something is going to happen very soon.

When the pain starts, every mother and every human being will know that this is the time.  My mum used to say, “my turn has come.  I don’t have time now to look after you and cook but be here with your father, I am going somewhere else”.  We are called to give up all our activities to prepare for the new born baby.  A woman will not drive herself to the maternity or do other activities.

Before the baby comes there is a time to prepare for the baby.  Exercise, eat certain food and buy certain clothes for the baby.  When it is time for birth everyone is waiting and ready to see something new in the family.  The mystery of God in your life because we don’t know who that will be.  When the Word of God comes to you, it doesn’t come quietly but it gives pain and the pain produces life.  If you are not taking that pain with more care then you will lose what should come from you. 

You as the church are the wife of Jesus and the Lord has put a seed in you and that seed is growing in you to produce life, not death.  What are you doing to look after that seed that Jesus put in your soul?  We know very well that sin produces death.  Are you preparing yourself to produce new life?  What is that pregnancy that is new?  Are you taking care of it or not?

2 Kings 5: Naaman was a captain of the Syrian army and was a hero.  He was strong and intelligent.  Wherever he went he would defeat the army. His presence was victory.  The king of Syria believed that Naaman must be next to him every time.  But every person has a “but” in their life and Naaman had a “but”: but Naaman had leprosy and he couldn’t get rid of it.  For years he couldn’t change it.  Whenever he put on his uniform his enemies did not notice he was sick.  He was a mighty soldier but he was sick.

Maybe Naaman cried over his sickness.  He had money but not good health.  That pregnancy (sickness) made him suffer.  As they brought slaves into Syria, a little girl as a simple servant discovered Naaman had leprosy.  In a quiet and nice voice she told the wife of Naaman, I know someone who can heal Naaman.  The little girls was not afraid to talk.  You and I are like Naaman, we are soldiers of the Lord, we can fight against the power of darkness and we are victorious but sometimes we are sick and covered in leprosy.

We go to the battle field in pain and suffering.  The little girl is our conscience telling us, what are you doing?  If you come back to Jesus, you can find healing.  The problem you are going through, if you bring it to Jesus, you will find solution.  Sometimes we tell our conscience to shut up, you are only a slave in our life and our conscience won’t fight back because you are stronger than your conscience.  God has given you the capacity to smash your conscience but it will remind you again when it sees you suffering in sin.

Many women don’t want to go through pain so they take medicine to be pain free.  Some people today make sure their conscience is dead so they can be free.  They don’t want the pain of the gospel anymore.  That is where we start to fight God. 

When pain comes, that is the beginning of things.  If you try to stop that pain you are killing your eternal life.  When you start to avoid your pain, that is when you will kill your Kingdom of God.  We all believe we have enough time on this earth and forget that our lives are short.  We believe we have time to change.

For example, the Bhandal family lost their nana and we are very sorry for that.  Michelle sent me a message that the funeral will be such day and I put it on my phone but the day passed and I missed it by mistake.  Shame on me, why did I forget it?  Negligence? Was it because I relied on my phone?  Was it because I don’t care?

Remember satan tries to take away your plans.  You plan to pray at 7am but at 7am, satan says, no wait until tomorrow, now is not a good time.  Jesus says, look with your eyes, I am here, do you see Me?  we kill that appointment with God and He is sad.

Naaman accepted what the king said to see the prophet.  Naaman was told to go into the river 7x.  I have seen the river Jordan and it is very dirty and brown.  It is a river where people clean their sickness, animals, clothes and sometimes even sewerage.  Imagine our primeminister Jacinda going into such river.  But through that dirtiness, there was healing.  Most of the time when we read the Word of God we find it dirty, “no I don’t feel like going into the Word of God.  How will people feel about me reading the Word of God or sharing it here?”

This morning I was receiving calls from all over the world and asking me about the situation of Congo.  People can share with you the disasters all over the world but when you send a message of Jesus, people are not interested.  If it was about the Kardashians or about the latest movie, people will find it interesting.

I purchased this song from itunes, “How great you are” for $1:50 and I shared it with all my friends (400 people).  Less than 10 people have opened that song.  Just by reading the title they are not interested.  We feel God’s presence is like the river Jordan.  God doesn’t mean anything to us anymore. 

Naaman stepped into the river twice, three times but didn’t want to do it anymore.  I am in pain but I don’t want to, I am tired.  The encouragement of others made him to go 7x.  Do you encourage your soul to go closer to God 7x, to read the Bible 7x, even if your body doesn’t want it, even if you are tired?  Don’t wait to be encouraged from others, it must come from yourself.  Today is the day of the Lord, I have an appointment with God, I will pray.  I have done it yesterday and the day before, yes, you have to do it 7x and by pushing your body, that is when you will get healing.  If you believe what you have done is enough, you will be the loser.

In the bedroom of Naaman was a secret of sickness.  What do you cover in your life so others can’t see?  God sees it. The Lord is asking you today to look wherever He is, open your eyes and see Him. 

After the birth is joy and mums forget about the pain.  Mums take their babies and discover for the first time how they look like.  Some mums die during the process.  Some babies don’t survive the process.  Sometimes mums have to accept surgery in order to deliver the baby.  The pain of saving your soul and giving something new to the Kingdom of God can sometimes put you in trouble.

Are you ready to die to bring new life?  Are you ready to give up all activities, “here I am use me Lord, I want to give birth”?  Are you ready to go through any operation of Jesus to give life to those in you, those around you are a pregnancy in you?  One day God will ask you, what did you do with Rebekah?  When it was time to give birth, you decided to kill the baby.  How many souls have you killed in your life and aborted them so you can be free.

How many times have you destroyed God’s plans in other people’s lives?  e.g. you have the desire to meet with someone but you don’t feel like going out.  Your first enemy is your body.  When you feel pain, don’t try to please your body over your soul.  How many mothers sacrifice themselves for their baby.  If the baby is in danger, the mother will rescue it and prefer to die because they love the child. Mothers cover the child in the cold, feed them when they are hungry, protect them from danger.

God gives us souls to help but we are the first ones to destroy the souls and treat those people like animals rather than human beings.

End Times - Mathew 24:7 - The Kingdoms Within

Message by Odon Bulamba

Hebrews 4:1-3, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.  Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”  And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.

The main issue with Christians today is that Christians don’t want to be careful about the return of Jesus.  They are not praying carefully for the return of Jesus, they are not even sure whether they will be ready for when Jesus returns.  Because they are not careful, the gospel has no value because the condition for the gospel to be shared is faith must be combined with being careful.  Do you carefully consider what the Bible says to prepare for the Kingdom of God?

Hebrews 4:7, again he sets a certain day — “today”—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Today if you hear the voice of God do not harden your heart.  Many of us harden our hearts and then we fall and get lost and justify our actions and believe that God will seek for us.  God wants you to be fresh in God, every single day.  Every time walk with God.  If not, he may not accept you in the Kingdom of God and tell you, “I don’t know you”.

Mathew 24: 7-14, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Everything that God has created has two sides, e.g. day/night, tall/short, big/small, high/low.  Once you belong to one side, it’s impossible to belong to the other side.  For example, the north and south equator.  I have been to the equator where north meets south and it is nice and warm and feels like a nice place to be.  Many people live with one foot in the north and in the south, they are neither hot nor cold because they do not want to miss out but God has promised He will spew those out that are warm.

Today sin controls the church more than ever before.  Today sin is a friend to Christians.  Everything is ok “a little bit”.  Now we return to Mathew 24, “nation will rise against nation”: there is a big war inside us.  In each of us, we have a few different kingdoms and nations and they are written in Galatians 4: the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of the flesh.  You have a kingdom of peace, a kingdom of joy, a kingdom of love and also a kingdom of immorality all living inside of you.  The war is coming – a spiritual war. 

When Jesus is talking to His disciples in Mathew 24 He is giving a spiritual message to prepare us for His return.  Therefore, the wars that Jesus is talking about is spiritual.  When the war starts inside you it can be for example hatred popping up as an idea that comes to you, “that person did s small mistake, I don’t like them anymore”.  You lose the battle.

Other ideas grow in your mind and you shake like an earthquake because you have two things to choose from.  Every day we go through wars.  My flesh needs something, and my spirit will say no and I have to make the decision.  Therefore, we have to make decisions carefully or the gospel will end up with no value which is the beginning of birth pain.

When birth is coming, we don’t know what the child will look like.  When pain comes, those around you won’t feel it.  The pain belongs to the person bearing the baby and they are the only one who feels it.  Today mums go to the maternity.  In my country, that’s the time to see if you are strong.  In some places you will not be helped and you will have to give birth alone like animals in the wild who give birth alone.

When you are in pain, when you have problems and things feel like they are turning sour, where do you go?  Some try to handle it alone while that is a good time to call for Jesus.  We prefer to talk to human beings instead.  A midwife is there at the time of birth because they know how to handle the situation and if you go to Jesus, He can help you more than people.  I’m not saying that you can’t share your problems with others but that doesn’t mean that you can relax now and believe they will pray for you, you still have to go to Jesus.

Famine is when there is a scarcity of food.  When there is no food, people feel weak and lose weight.  Today the world will say there is famine in Papua New Guinea and other countries, but we don’t talk about the famine in the church.  People don’t want to eat the Word of God.  It is like anorexic girls who refuse to eat because they think they look good skinny.  We have food but we don’t want to eat and it is making us sick, weak, to lose weight and we believe that is to look good.

The Word of God today has become something that Christians hate.  People want to go to church to hear blessings but not the Word of God.  People are happy to hear preachings about material things only and when it becomes a matter of spiritual blessings we feel the message is boring, unpowerful, too long and finally our hearts and spirits are becoming more and more weak.  Hebrews 4, don’t be like them, be careful.  Come back to Jesus a quick as possible and don’t harden your heart.

Christians today prefer to go where people are celebrating and eating and drinking etc and we sacrifice our time with Jesus.  Those steps become a danger because you are between the two equators where we think it is nice and warm and we enjoy.  You are at the point of being warm where God will spew you out.  Some stupid people think they will repent at death but no one knows the tie of death.  The grace of God is today and you refuse to come.  I don’t know if you will have time of grace tomorrow.

Your soul, mind, and body is starving so feed your nations, feed the fruit of the spirit that is inside you.  You can feed your fruit of love, feed your fruit of joy etc.  Love, joy, peace and all the fruit of the spirit need to grow just like any other fruit on trees.  The secret to feeding them is in the Word of God, e.g. “Be at peace with everyone”, you have to seek peace out and by doing that you are feeding the gift of peace.

You can only eat fruit that is ready.  You can’t eat a green orange.  By feeding your spiritual fruit, it becomes ripe and you can enjoy them to eat.  By feeding your gifts, you win the battle.  We also need to recognise the fruit of the flesh in order to be able to protect ourselves from them.  For example, we have a tv program where the police show pictures of people that are dangerous to warn us to keep away from them.  Sometimes we look at those pictures and think those people look nice.  Don’t be fooled by the fruit of the flesh, know that they are a danger.  We need discernment to know which is the fruit of the flesh and which is the fruit of the spirit so we can stop the flesh and have victory.