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The Way of Escape

By Reverend Christopher B. Cain, to God be the Glory!

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

We are living in a time which the Bible plainly speaks of. The apostasy, or great falling away, spoken of in Scripture sure seems to be unfolding before our very eyes. All generations have held reservations about the change brought into society by successive generations. However, we live in a time which is unparalleled, and even generations that agree on little else are agreeing that rapid change is occuring like never before. People can sense a shift occuring. We who are in Christ have the benefit of having read the end of the story; we know how this plays out and we know wickedness will continue to abound as the day draws nearer. With these wicked times comes the wicked practices of sinful men and women. We who are in Christ are forgiven, but we are still flawed. What we must do is learn to overcome in Christ.

I am convinced that because our adversary the devil is not omnipresent like our Lord God is, meaning that he cannot be everywhere at once, that he must get us to shackle ourselves more often than not. I believe that the devil wants to trick us into being shackled by our past, our shame, and our guilt which is forgiven in Christ Jesus. I think he has an even trickier tactic than those, however. I think Satan does all he can to get the believer in Christ to take temptation and turn it into guilt and shame, bondage and ultimately even desire. You see, if someone is facing temptation to steal, or lie, or commit sexual immorality over and over, the battle in the mind of the believer can become overwhelming. In the heat of the battle against temptation we are outflanked when we stop recognizing the frontal assault that we are facing temptation and we fall victim to the mistaken belief that we desire these temptations. We need not desire that which we are tempted by. We need not feel as though it is a sin to be tempted because it is not. Temptation is not sin, acting upon it, even if only in the heart, is a sin. If the devil can trick you into desiring temptation that is all the better, but at the least he keeps us bound by the mistaken belief that we must live in guilt or shame for the temptation we face. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus Christ was a man like us, fully man and fully God, yet He was tempted and sinned not!
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 ESV) The book of Hebrews continues to say that because of Christ overcoming sin we are able to draw near to the throne of grace and receive both grace and mercy to help overcome temptation in our time of need. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. ” (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

I am convinced that if we draw near to God He will draw near to us. It is my belief that as 1 Corinthians 10 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” That tells me God will not ever give me more temptation than I can handle. That tells me Satan cannot decieve me into thinking I am alone in any temptation. Satan wants us in temptation to feel isolated and alone from God and from the rest of humanity. We are not alone, we all face temptation to sin which is common to man. We do not have to allow him to trick us into being ashamed for the garbage he keeps bringing and we keep rejecting it. Just because someone else wants to dine on the husks of the world wallowing in the pig pen of this world does not mean I do not get to feast on every bit of the Word of God. I want to dine on the fatted calf at the King’s table not wallowing in the muck and myre of the wicked.

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God Has Not Given Us a Spirit of Fear

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  2 Timothy 1:7 (King James Version).

   As believers, we need to talk about the elephant in the room that is fear. We all fear something at some time or another, but what we do with that fear can have a dramatic effect of how that fear affects our situation. Many are paralysed by fear, incapable of making a decision that is not driven by fear. Many, particularly those in the media and the government, push fear upon others as they constantly whip the public into a frenzy of fear and panic so that they might leverage that fear into control. Once you successfully convince someone they need to fear something, you take away the rational thought that governs the decision making process and replace it with emotionally driven choices that need not follow logic, facts or reasoning. The Bible does not instruct us to confront fear with more fear. We do not fight fear with opinion or division, but rather Scripture confronts fear head on with the Truth. 

   Truth is not a subjective shade of reasoning we all have our own version of, Truth is objective because our feelings and opinions do not define Truth. The Truth is the Gospel, the power that we have, as believers, to battle everything from fear to the flames of Hell is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the sins of mankind. You see, once you understand that there is a way that we can be redeemed to God through Christ Jesus, then you understand that means something for you. We all know that those who truly believe, those who repent and accept the grace and mercy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, become a son or daughter of God in Christ Jesus. Scripture teaches that if we are a son or daughter of Christ then we become an heir with Christ. Romans 8:17 tells us, “and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” 

   You see once you understand that you are an heir with Christ Jesus, you understand the power and authority that comes with that. We are not given power and authority to glorify our own lives, nor to spend it on the lusts of the flesh, but to glorify God through Christ Jesus that we might  carry out the Great Commission. It is not that people do not want to be an heir with Christ, because in becoming an heir is all the good stuff we associate with the faith, but few want to “suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together.”

   We are being asked to lay aside fear and accept that the walk with Christ will often be a difficult road, after all — if it were easy it would not be referred to as the “narrow gate.” If the life that we live now is the best life we hope to live, what kind of a view does that paint for all of eternity? If we seek to save this life we will lose it, but if we lose it for the sake of Christ we will have eternal life. God empowers those who are truly believers in Christ. Christ is not only the object of our faith but He is the source of power with which we walk that faith out in Him, for His glory and honor. 

   So since God has not given us a spirit of fear, and we live not for this life but for all eternity, why do we allow fear to dictate so many of our decisions? I am going to propose one reason that could account for fear being the dominant force that it is. That reason is that we feed the fear rather than fostering the power, sound mind and love of Christ we should be driven by. 

   I think that, sadly, we have allowed the world to define what love is even within the Church. In an attempt to be inclusive and non judgemental, we have limited the power of the Gospel only to the extent that we have censored it. Rather than dwelling in the shelter of the Most High in the noble pursuit of Scriptural Truth like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, we seek the approval of man at the expense of the sound mind that results from the study of Scripture. Let us reject this Spirit of fear that grips our world today, choosing rather to serve and even suffer with Christ for His Glory.  It is not for us to tell God what His Word means. 

We hope you enjoyed this article by Rev. Christopher B. Cain our Minister of Evangelism and discipleship here at Alive Ministries USA, follow us on Facebook and bookmark us here for Ministry News, Updates, and content only shared on our website.

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To Change Minds We Must Change Hearts

Article written by Rev. Christopher B. Cain and originally published in Wisconsin Christian News in May 2020 edition of the paper.

A Note From the Author: While this article was written last year, the fundamental truth within is a timely message for these uncertain times. While we face political chaos and uncertainty coupled with an increasing barrage of false doctrines and bombardment in the cultural war, we must remember who sits on the throne. God is still in control, He never loses His POWER or. His Soveriegnty! Truth is timeless, and Biblical Truth is the answer to our current problems. There will always be uncertainty in this world, along with disagreement and discouragemt, but the answer remains unchanging- we must preach the WORD. We are called, equipped and commissioned for this battle. We are not randomly or accidentally scattered throughout history by chance…we are placed right where we are FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS! To combat FAKE NEWS and FALSE GOSPEL we must change hearts. It is my hope that this article refreshes your perspective on our current situation, and that it challenges you to live and walk in the calling we are all called to. Let CHRIST empower you today, SURRENDER to JESUS. May God richly bless you in Christ Jesus. May you enjoy the following article!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 ESV)

I am going to take a pause from my series on “What I learned in the Dominican Republic” which have run the past two editions. I feel that the situation we find ourselves in merits that I address some of what is going on. I do not believe there is any situation we could possibly find ourselves in that cannot be addressed and solved by Scripture, and the proper application thereof. As believers, we have one calling, or commission, that is given in two parts. We may know it as the Great Commission. I believe that the Great Commission is the answer to the present situation we find ourselves in. 

We can see more clearly each passing day that there is a corrupt cabal pulling the strings of the people we view as our elected representatives. These representatives are our servants, yet they have forgotten that and even have openly rebelled against us by attempting to legislate us into servitude ourselves. They have not only tried to do so through legislation, but through unconstitutional orders and edicts which violate our rights protected in the constitution. Worse than that, they have polluted our justice system with unholy and ungodly individuals who seek not to judge according to the law but to legislate from the bench, a power which is reserved not for the judicial branch but the legislative. They have even infiltrated the free press and corrupted it to such a degree that even Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels would be envious. 

We ourselves have allowed such behavior to go largely unchecked for far too long. America’s greed and corruption is a direct result of our lawless behavior and idol worship. You may not think we have succumbed to bowing down to Moloch or some other idol, but we absolutely have. Every time a child is sacrificed in the name of women’s health, that is a sacrifice to Moloch. Every time we go to a sporting event, movie, or concert when we should be in the house of the Lord that is idolatry. There is no other way around it, if you put more time, money, and energy into something like sports, music, or entertainment than you do in worshiping the Almighty God, you are guilty of idol worship, plain and simple. Idol worship simply defined is anything that comes before, or takes the place of, God in our lives. We have forsaken God in the name of comfort, convenience, and individual liberty. Why then are we surprised to see that our elected representatives are openly rebelling against their constitutionally appointed bosses, we the people? As a nation we asked for what we are seeing now, and I do not mean coronavirus, I mean the usurping of freedoms and rights which God gives, and only God can take away. Coronavirus is just the excuse they are using to take their Satanic one world government out for a test drive. 

We serve a sovereign God, who contrary to the false teaching of some, is still in control. God allows free will, and He has allowed this to befall us because we as a nation forsook Him. Sometimes you can softly call someone to wake up, other times you have to shake them to wake them. I believe God allowed the doors of the churches to close because we disobeyed and distorted the Word of God to such a point we need to have a complete house cleaning. Jesus said, “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.” (Luke 11:33) For far too long we have been a lit candle hidden under a basket called church. We are the church, and we must no longer hunker in a bunker afraid of the enemy but we must storm the gates of hell. We have the solution right in the Great Commison, it is time to uncouple ungodly manmade theology and do what Christ said. We must go into all the world, preaching and teaching the Gospel and to make disciples of Christ. If we truly want to awaken people, to change their minds, we have to first change their hearts. We do that by the preaching of the Gospel, in season and out of season. The preaching of the Gospel is always the answer, it exposes the darkness and delivers us from it by the power of Christ.

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The Illusion of POWER.

By Rev. Christopher B. Cain


                What is the problem with our churches and our country? In the face of the absolute destruction of America, the wholesale slaughter of the unborn, sex and human trafficking, along with the theft of our future generations’ wealth, the silence is deafening. Those that do speak out rarely move beyond speaking and into action, and even fewer still can articulate a call to action. We allow way too much fear to drive our thoughts and determine our behavior. There are way too many of us in the church and the nation that suffer from a spirit of fear but let me boldly remind you what 2 Timothy 1:7 says: “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love and of a sound mind.” Why then are so many ashamed to tell others of their Lord when the Gospel is the call to action and the solution? Only Christ can change people, yet we preach the Gospel as a last resort rather than the spearhead of the assault.

I recently went to Portland, Maine to do some preaching in Monument Park. For the second time this year the Lord had allowed me to go and speak to the City of Portland, and to all who were watching on the livestream, about the need to change their hearts and seek the Lord in true biblical repentance. We must change our ways as a people and as a nation for if we expect to have the favor of the Lord upon us once again we must seek the face of the Lord. We must come to know who the Lord is to truly have a grasp for our need for salvation. How can anyone know he has a need for salvation if they do not even recognize their sin? how can they recognize their sin if no one preaches the Gospel? Obviously whenever you preach a message about repentance and calling out sin it opens the door to spiritual attacks. Just before we began to speak some protestors came by with a huge cardboard sign that said, “Your God is dead”. I knew that it was to discourage us and to throw us off our game, but the reality is it was not us who were speaking that day, it was the Holy Spirit, thus the power of prayer drove them off in what seemed like less than a minute. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1 KJV)

The other night I had a similar experience where I was being trolled by some Satan worshiper who then sent my livestream address to a trolling website and invited a bunch of trolls to the stream to distract me and get me to react in an un-Christlike way. I know the handling of it was orchestrated by the Holy Spirit because what they meant to discourage me only emboldened me to preach the Gospel to many who otherwise may not have heard it that night, if ever. God used what the enemy meant to discourage both times to embolden me and for the Gospel to be preached.

The reason I share these instances is to show that the wicked just cannot stand against the righteous. While I myself am not righteous, I am made righteous in Christ and it is the Christ within me that the wicked cannot stand against, so long as I stand in the full armor of God. It should embolden us when we face attack, to know that we are over the target and Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. God will not permit you to be tested with more than you can handle, and it is He who delivers and sustains us. The power of the blood of Jesus Christ and the righteousness He imputes to the believer should cause us to see that the power the spiritually wicked have is merely an illusion. The most dangerous thing that can happen is for the Christian to wake up to the fact that we are not powerless and ineffective in Christ. We have been commissioned by Jesus Christ, to whom all power on Heaven and on earth belongs; the Eternal God Jesus Christ has already won. The victory at the cross of Calvary is not an excuse for passive Christianity, it is a call to action, a call to storm the gates of hell! For those who say they are just one person, I would remind you we are not one, but we are one body in Christ. Even if you were the last one alive, I would remind you that Moses was one, Sampson was one, David was one. We have Christ in us!