Author: Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

When I was first witnessed to about Jesus Christ in 1971, I was so ignorant about the Bible and the Christian faith that I did not know that Christians claimed that Jesus had been physically resurrected. I have yet to meet anyone else who is that ignorant of the resurrection as an historical event, but we could all better understand the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to our daily lives. As the Apostle Paul wrote, experientially knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection was one of the focal points of his life:

Philippians 3:10a
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings…

Paul’s desire was to know intimately the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the power of his resurrection. Note that this power is connected to “…the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings….” That means that Paul saw a connection between the power of resurrection and his facing various kinds of “death” in his life. Without a death of some kind, there is no need for, or value in, a resurrection.

The pattern that Jesus lived in the days of his “passion” (i.e., suffering and death) is one that he invites us to follow and to model our lives after. Thankfully, in this day and time we will not have to be crucified, tortured for 40 hours, and humiliated publicly in every way imaginable, but we are going to have to follow this pattern in the footsteps of our Master if we want to grow to our full spiritual potential. Here is the progression:

a) A struggle in our own personal Garden of Gethsemane that invites us to relinquish our will in favor of accepting God’s purposes in our lives.
b) A period of suffering and trial that will lead to
c) the death of something in us that we have held as dear or necessary so that we can
d) experience the power of his resurrection and
e) live in “newness of life” under the authority and Lordship of the resurrected Savior.

Let us examine each of these in turn.
“…not my will but thine…”

In every life that is devoted to God, there are times when one must decide whose will is going to be decisive. Jesus modeled complete trust in God, which included the belief that God’s purposes for his life were superior to his own. This truth, by the way, cannot be embraced from a Trinitarian perspective, which sees Jesus as God instead of as a man having a God and having to trust Him. Clearly the latter view gives us a better opportunity to see ourselves doing what Jesus did.

Jesus’ trust in God his Father was not something that always came easily, as in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed intensely into the night, hearing God’s “No” the first and second times he asked, but continuing to pray for other alternatives. Finally, he was able to embrace the death that was ahead of him, and go to the Cross with the joyful expectation of resurrection and eternal rewards (Heb. 12:3). Did not God reward Jesus abundantly for his faith? Will He not do this for us as well?

Will God sometimes ask us to do things that we don’t want to do? Most definitely. Just ask Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Paul, et al. When what He wants is very different from what we want, this can be a struggle. Too often we will not give up our self-centered perspective without the Lord having to wrestle us to the mat! As we grow in faith (trust) by obeying him, we see that the Lord’s ways are the better ways, and we learn to trust him more and more.

There are many examples of this clash of wills that we have encountered through the years. Maybe you can relate to one or more of these:

*God convicts a husband to stop his angry outbursts against his wife and kids that he has used to keep them from annoying and frustrating him—and concentrate on loving and accepting them instead.
*God asks a wife to stop criticizing her husband for his apparent lack of interest in spiritual things and learn to respect him just the way he is—to be thankful instead for all that her husband does to serve her and their kids.
*God wants a teenager to call her parents to come pick her up from a party where the liquor and drugs were brought out after the host parents went to bed, risking being thought of as “uncool.”
*God wants a man to accept a lower paying job with another, newer company in order to have more time with his family—risking both his job security and the comfortable lifestyle made possible by the higher income—not to mention the wounding of his pride.
*God calls an “empty nest” couple to sell their house and belongings and become missionaries in Africa.
*God asks a mature minister to step aside so that others can have an opportunity to minister and learn. She is asked to take on a mentoring more than a performing role.

In each of these situations, God asks someone to give up something they value in order for Him to enrich their lives in other and new ways. Is this not an invitation to “die” to something? Of course we are not going to want that, and will typically resist it as long as we can, but when we finally understand that God’s purpose is to free us from bondage and fear, we can learn to embrace this “death.”

The husband fears losing control and being humiliated. The wife stands to lose her sense of spiritual superiority over her husband. The teenager risks losing social standing. The employee risks financial deprivation. The older couple must face their fears of not being taken care of in their old age. And the minister will lose whatever boost to her self-esteem she gained in performing as an effective minister.

But in every one of these cases, can we not see that the resurrection power of God could bring much deliverance? The husband could find less control but more love and acceptance. The wife could find more joy, peace, and personal fulfillment. The teenager could find better friends with similar values and less pressure to conform to what is considered “cool.” The employee is freed from the need to keep climbing the corporate ladder and finds satisfaction in reasonable job expectations and a richer family life. The older couple finds greater satisfaction in living a life of serving and loving that completely trumps their fears. And the minister discovers to her delight that she derives more pleasure from seeing others succeed with her help than from performing herself.

Read the rest of the article here.

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If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page.

Truth or Tradition now has a YouTube Channel!

Thanks for reading.

(You can read parts two, three and four here. There are many more Christian-based articles here.)

There is something on my mind, something very near and dear to my heart that I would like to share with you. I’ve been thinking about writing this post for quite some time. I have prayed that God would grant me the wisdom to explain this topic to you so that it will touch your heart and bless your life, for that is my only intention in writing about this subject.

I’m not an overly religious person, but my beliefs are strong and steadfast. I am a Christian who believes in the God-breathed Bible – not in the traditions, or rituals, of men. I know what I believe to be true, for if I had any doubt, I would not feel compelled to share these beliefs with you.

And I do feel compelled to talk about this. In fact, I’m not even sure compelled accurately describes my NEED to share this with you.

I believe God is speaking to me and since I am His willing servant, I will obey Him.

I have no desire to cram my beliefs down your throat – none. God has granted us the gift of free will, so you have the choice of staying and reading what I have to say, or simply leaving. But if you do decide to stick around, I would ask that you keep an open mind to what I’m going to tell you – it goes against popular Christian beliefs. And my desire to share this with you is not because I wish to cast a poor light on Christianity, far from it, but rather to (gently) point out that just because certain beliefs have been passed down and taught in so many churches and religions, doesn’t necessarily make it true.

Christian’s misconceptions about God’s intentions and laws have been misunderstood for too long and more often than not, there are more questions than answers to something that God never intended to make a mystery. This is the very reason I post excerpts from the Truth or Tradition website every Sunday – because my heart tells me it’s the right thing to do and I pray that I’m blessing whoever has the willingness to read it: knowledge brings strength and comfort; we just have to invest the time required to find the answers and to be in a frame of mind to receive it.

Are you ready to receive?

I am not a theologian. I can not, and will not, pretend to understand every aspect of this subject. I can not, and will not, debate this subject with any naysayer or unbeliever and for this reason, the comment section is closed. I will, however, gladly share with you links to articles and additional resources so that you may research this topic on your own. My hope is that when you finish reading this article, you will be hungry to learn more. Asking questions is healthy – it promotes curiosity which in turn sparks motivation which is what is needed in order to find true answers to deeply important questions.

The subject?

Believing bad things that happen are God’s will.

Death happens every second, of every minute, of every day and it should never be welcomed – death is an enemy.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15:26)

There has been a lot of death, grief and sadness around the blog-o-sphere these past several weeks. And I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve read people’s attempts to justify the tragedies to it being God’s will that it happened. This reaction both angers me and saddens me.

I can understand WHY this is a common belief – it’s so very painful to lose a loved one and there is a degree of comfort in believing that it happened because of our wonderful and loving God. It’s simply a coping mechanism, something concrete to hang on to when life spirals out of control. It’s an attempt to make sense of the senseless.

But tragedy is simply NOT God’s will. It is NOT God’s will that someone dies. It is NOT God’s will when there is a natural disaster. It is NOT God’s will when something terrible happens.

God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5)

Would you not agree that death is darkness? Or natural disasters are darkness because people often die as a result of the occurrence? How then can God be responsible for these dark acts?

It is simply not possible.

Then why – HOW – can we explain the bad things that happen to us?

To preface the answer to that all-important question, let me offer an excerpt from the book “Don’t Blame God”:

We hope that the scripture we present, and our exposition of them, will clarify what God says about the whole issue of evil, sin and human suffering. By considering the entire scope of Scripture, we will endeavor to allow Him to speak for Himself and proclaim His own sterling character.

We are asking you, the reader, to accompany us upward on a journey to the truth, guided only by the whole of Scripture and by reason. This trail is not for the complacent, nor for the lazy, because it will be a challenge.

Some may feel threatened along the way as the trail veers from the familiar landscape of their traditional religious beliefs and heads into what, for them, is uncharted territory. Rest assured that we can follow the chart and compass of God’s wonderful Word … we believe that if you do you will see God for who He truly is, and that your heart will overflow with praise, worship, and absolute reverence for Him.

The answer to WHY bad things happen and who’s to blame for these unspeakable acts is at once both simple and complex: Our heavenly Father is NOT the God of this world.

Please watch this short 10:00 minute video from the Truth or Tradition YouTube Channel to see what I mean.

So, Satan is in control of our Earth. It was handed over to him when Adam and Eve sinned. And this power exchange is documented in the Bible so it must be true.

Then WHY don’t more people KNOW about this?

Simply because it’s in Satan’s best interests to keep people believing that GOD is the instigator behind these tragedies. He wants God to be the bad guy. He wants people to be confused, angry and hurt by God’s “betrayal”; this serves to entice people away from the one, true God, to doubt God’s love and compassion, to renounce their faith and turn their back on God simply because they don’t understand what is written, for their understanding, in the Bible.

It seems logical when you sit down and think about it.

But it still doesn’t answer WHY does God allow it to happen?

And this is where it gets really difficult to understand. Again, I’m not a theologian, but here are some articles that might possibly help you straighten it all out in your mind:

Where is God When Tragedy Strikes?

Does God Permit Evil?

Does God Intervene in Our Lives?

Does God Know of Every Future Event in History?

The Problem with Blaming God

Discerning Good and Evil

Another video teaching on Don’t Blame God.

Angels and Spiritual Battle

Don’t allow your impatience, or your skepticism to gloss over these very important, and informative, articles. If you truly want to understand, if you truly wish for a peaceful heart, then you’ll take the time to read these articles and you’ll invest your time and money into reading “Don’t Blame God.”

(And just for the record, I am NOT being paid to recommend this website, or this book, to you).

In essence, Christians are at war – it’s not a physical war and it’s not with a tangible enemy but rather it’s a spiritual war of good vs. evil.

If you’re a strong Christian and you’re living a Godly life by keeping God’s commandants and obeying God’s wishes, then your spiritual warfare is easier to penetrate – God can GET to you to help you.

But if you call yourself a Christian and yet you do not live by God’s commands, or you consistently disregard God’s wishes and succumb to un-Godly desires, then your spiritual warfare is thick and hard to penetrate. God WANTS to help you, He just can’t GET to you because of the evil muck surrounding you.

God granted us FREE WILL. Though he knows the future, it is constantly changing because there is no way to predict what path we will take. But God is omnipotent and is constantly adapting to our decisions in order to protect us.

Rather than sit passively by waiting for God’s will to happen, we must make a diligent effort to learn God’s Word and then aggressively obey it.

For example: how many of you have nearly been in a car accident? Do you think the fact that you were not in an accident was a coincidence? Of course not, it was God, reaching out to protect you. God is always with us, the question is, are we willing to recognize that fact?

Going a step further then, if it is so easy for us humans to disobey God, what about the Devil and his spirit army? Can humans sin by choice while evil spirits cannot? Obviously spirit beings can sin, since sin was the reason the Devil and his hosts were thrown out of God’s presence to begin with. Via Adam’s sin, the Devil was legally given authority over the earth. The Devil did not and does not obey God. The Devil has been sinning for a long time (1 John 3:8). The Devil is a murderer (John 8:44), a liar (John 8:44), and a thief (John 10:10).

So please, don’t blame God for things that go wrong in your life – there is only one entity that is to blame for chaos and death, and that is Satan.