Chuck's Blog

Charles T. Blystone, Jr. is the newest addition to the board of directors for Heart of Titus. Chuck has been on missions to Indonesia, Serbia and Croatia, and has traveled with Heart of Titus to Ecuador and Peru. Chuck has recently taken on the responsibility for serving as our coordinator in Peru.

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 01:59

Journal from Santo Domingo Part 2

Written by Chuck Blystone

The retreat was to start at 11:00 AM, however many folks were delayed in travel because of an accident on the highway leading to Santo Domingo. The meetings were held at the Balneario Ficus Water Park, which is owned and operated by one of the families of the church in Santo Domingo, pastored by Roberto Rios. This was a really nice place for our meetings. The meeting


	Balneario Ficus Water Park, location of leaders' retreat. Sto Domingo, Ecuador

room was an open-air facility and proved to be a great place for the retreat because of the weather conditions. The weather was overcast the entire time with some rainfall. Because of this, the air was cool and there were not many visitors to the park during our meeting.

The meeting finally got underway around 12:30PM with some great worship. Everyone tied up in the traffic mess was safe and came in just fine. During the retreat Pat wanted to have a different pastor or leader from Ecuador open a session with prayer or close with prayer. As the host pastor, Roberto Rios opened the meetings with prayer and welcomed everyone to Santo Domingo. Fernando Ubilla was the Master of Ceremonies (and Comedy I might add!) throughout the weekend.


Worship at Leaders' Retreat

After an introduction of the team from USA and Ecuador, we broke for lunch. After lunch, the first session began with Pat speaking on being a servant leader. As long as I minister, I will always need to be reminded that Jesus has called us to serve and not be served. I think this session really set the tone for the entire weekend meetings. We then prayed for the Lord to guide our lives in such a way as to live as a servant leader, just as Jesus did.

Dr. Frank spoke in the second session about being spiritually healthy and developing good habits to maintain a strong walk. The part that got to me was when he shared how the Lord showed him to memorize scripture and that he has committed himself to that ever since. Pat and I looked at each other and knew we were both under heavy conviction to learn more of the Word.

After a short break, we separated the men and the women into separate groups to facilitate discussion on how to have healthy families, even though we are in the ministry. I remember that during the ladies session, they all started shouting some time into their meeting. I found out from Becky that a lady, diagnosed with a brain aneurism, was touched powerfully by the Lord. So much so, that there was a noise in their camp for several minutes! They began singing and shouting and then praying some more! I inadvertently led the men’s session as Pat, suddenly, was not feeling well. We talked about balance between family life and ministry; raising children; authority; order in the home and church and hearing God’s direction. It was a great discussion. The men were hanging out after and talking about the meeting with each other. Then we broke for dinner.


They asked me to practice a couple worship songs

After dinner and some worship, Becky and I spoke on Unity and Agreement. We used some material from our Marriage Mystery Bible Study. We spoke on the power of agreement and how it can invoke the blessings of God into our lives, our marriage and our church. As I was speaking on the blessings of God, I had a young man sitting in front of me come up for a demonstration. I was talking about Deuteronomy 28 and through our obedience to the Word, the blessings of God will come upon us and overtake us. As I was saying this, The Holy Spirit came all over me and I realized that this was about this young man. I began to prophesy over him that, as he is obedient to the Word of God – and comes into agreement with what the Lord has said – the blessings of God would come upon him and overtake him. Then, I came behind him and wrapped my right arm over his neck and across his chest and held on to him. The Lord showed me that this was to encourage him that the only thing in his past is the blessings of God coming after him, for his past is broken off of him! This man began to weep and could no longer stand. He sat with his face in his hands almost the rest of our session. Pastor Pat had a testimony time the next day and he came forward and said that he had a rough childhood that always haunted him and told him he could not be in the ministry. His father left him as a very young boy. He said that when I held him, he felt the love of God wash all over him and the torment of his past being broken off of him! He said that he finally felt free. What a great God we serve!

After our teaching session, we had a time of ministry for everyone. Many marriages were touched as well as individuals. The whole team prayed for anyone needing ministry. I prayed for the young man that the Lord would fill him with His love. The Lord really touched this guy and you could see it on his face afterward. We also had some encouraging prophetic words to some as the Lord lead.

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Monday, 02 August 2010 14:06

Journal from Santo Domingo, Ecuador

Written by Chuck Blystone

Thursday June 24, 2010

This trip’s team consists of Pat McGuffin, Dr. Frank Breyere, Becky and myself. We left Orlando airport on schedule for the first leg of our trip to Miami on time. We landed in Miami and had a three-and-a-half layover before leaving for Guayaquil. Our flight left on time at 7:15PM. Having a long layover in Miami is much better than having to run from on concourse to the other as they usually leave you just enough time to board the connecting flight. This time we came in through gate E10 and were leaving through gate E8.


	Pastor Chuck Blystone

I had to catch up some work and make some business calls, so it worked out very well. The flight to Guayaquil was very easy. Upon arriving at 10:30PM, Ecuadorian time-an hour ahead of us, we stood in line to customs for one hour. There were about 600 people going through, and as we progressed through the line, the crowd just kept growing larger by the minute!

We got through customs without any issues (I think because Ray Watson was not on the trip!) and were greeted by many H.O.T. team members. We were greeted by Fernando and Gardenia Ubilla; Dr Freddy and Edith Beltran; Dr Byron and Leonore Lopez; Marcel and Byron Alfredo Lopez; Miguel and Judy Saez; Jackie Ormaza and Francisco Yoong. After hugging everyone they took us to the embassy, where Maggie had prepared a meal for us! We had a great time catching up and everyone wanted to meet Becky for the first time. Our friend Jackie introduced her to everyone.

I think we finally got to bed at around 2:30AM.

Friday June 25^th –Santo Domingo - Joshua Church

After having breakfast, we had to repack for our trip to Santo Domingo, a 5-hour ride north of Guayaquil. Everyone travelling with us met at Fernando’s and Gardenia’s home. Fernando asked us to have lunch as Gardenia prepared a meal for us while we waited for the rest of the team to arrive. This time was great as it allowed us more opportunities to catch up and get to know each other. All the women wanted to get to know Becky especially.

We arrived in Santo Domingo around 7PM and checked into our hotel. We had about 20 minutes to get to Joshua Church, where Pat was to preach. After introducing the team, he spoke on answering the great commission and laying hands on the sick, casting out devils and saving the lost. He gave an altar call for anyone needing ministry. We saw many touched by the Lord. I had an interesting experience in the ministry time. We only had enough translators for three of us, so I asked the Lord what to do. Fernandito (Fernando’s son) came over to me and asked if he could help. So he and I trained each other and started praying for people. We had a great experience and saw many people get touched by the Lord. I asked him later how he felt about it and he said that he wanted to be as good a translator as his sister. He is off to a great start and is beginning earlier!

Saturday June 26^th The H.O.T. Leaders Retreat – Santo Domingo Balneario Ficus

After breakfast, we visited a children’s feeding program, sponsored by Heart of Titus and ministered by Pastor Roberto Rios. They call the area ‘The Island’

and have developed a school for the children to teach them scholastic lessons as well as teach them about Jesus. While we were there, we saw that they were working on building a water tower to catch all of the rainwater, for consumption purposes. In addition, Dr. Frank shared his testimony about being raised in an orphanage and still being able to become a medical doctor after having lived through a difficult childhood. He encouraged them to trust God, ask Jesus into their hearts and believe that, through Jesus, anything is possible! As we were leaving, they brought a small child to us to pray for. This little girl’s brother carries her around the school every day they are there.

Editor's note: We will continue we the next part of Chuck's journal later this week.

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Friday, 04 June 2010 00:57

Being Pregnant With the Word of God

Written by Chuck Blystone

In Luke 1:26-38 the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and announces to her that she has found favor with God and that she will become pregnant with the Son of God. Mary does not understand how this could be as she was virgin and asks the angel to explain how this could happen. Gabriel tells her that The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you and that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. He also said that with God, nothing is impossible! Her response was, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

We, at salvation, are all impregnated with the Word of God - Jesus - by The Holy Spirit. As the baby Jesus began to take over Mary's body and told her when to lay down; when to sit down; when and what to eat; how to walk (when you are pregnant with the Word, you begin to walk funny - at least those who are not pregnant think so!), He was preparing her for her future - to give birth to the Word of God!

"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."

Let the power of the Highest overshadow your life and let the life of Jesus - the Word - take over every area of your life! Remember this - in the Kingdom of God only the virgins can conceive the Word! Listen to what He says and you will give birth to His Word coming true in your life! You were born for The Purpose to be born out of you! Be blessed!

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Thursday, 03 June 2010 04:11

The Fear of the Lord - Part 4

Written by Chuck Blystone

In this last installment, Pastor Chuck shares his own testimony of marriage restoration.

I am a testimony of what can happen when a praying wife asks the Lord to change her idiot husband and make him into the man of God that he is supposed to be! I say this: if I can change – any man – or woman - can change and be restored back to their mate!

The reason that I changed was because a man that I held deep respect for literally, got in my face and confronted me and was not afraid to “hurt my feelings or make me feel uncomfortable.” He had every intention of doing all of that and more, because he cared for me enough to step into my mess and deal with me. He told me once that he did it because he saw something in


	Pastor Chuck & Becky Blystone

me that maybe even I did not see. He said that he knew that was what it would take and believed that I was worth the risk! He also did it, knowing the time that it would take out of his and his wife’s life to see us restored. They counted the cost and spend much time with us, seeing us through the mess and into healing and restoration! We owe them much for what they have given us! We met with them regularly, at least once a week, for over two years in their home!

When we do not impose ourselves into the lives of those the Lord has entrusted to us to deal with their messes, we are really telling them that we do not think that they are worth the trouble that it will take to walk them out of where they are. How sad that is for the church, when Jesus did the exact opposite! I believe that it is time for leadership to lead. We can lead by pulling them out of where they are.

I thank God for that man almost every day of my life for he was bold and not afraid to stand up to me and demand that I listen to him. He insisted that I spend time with him – and that it was mandatory! He gave me no choice! He would not let me choose otherwise and the result of that insistence has been growing in my life, in my wife’s life and in our marriage for the past 30 years!

Somehow this has been lost in the church and we have bought the lie that we cannot impose or make demands on someone as to their walk with the Lord. I can tell you that my life would not be the same had he decided to not get involved to the place where it took up many evenings with him and his wife pouring into us and teaching us the real Gospel – the marriage relationship. He demanded of me that I obey him in his counsel and he gave me a promise – that the Lord would restore us and make us into His image.

"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel. Mal. 2:16

What happened was my wife, who had no hope of ever being happy, was healed in her heart. I had to make changes in my life and over the two years that we counseled with them – yeah, two years – nothing wonderful ever comes easy or quickly – the Lord began to make changes in me that became tangible enough for my wife to see it in me. It was difficult because I was under a microscope and the other three were constantly telling me how to live – and I let them! I thank God for this man and woman of God and their friendship. We still keep in touch and see each other at least once a year. It is like we never stayed apart.

That is what awaits a couple in trouble, if we can just decide to stick it out long enough with them and not let them chicken out when it begins to get difficult. The enemy’s voice gets loud in those times, I can tell you by experience! But the Word must be louder coming from our mouths to encourage them to live the right way and not buy the lie of the enemy. The message that we must send to those we minister to is that we are not leaving them until they are delivered, healed and restored!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matt. 5:9

I have had the privilege of mentoring some young men over the years and I have found a common thread of experience among all of them. They all have told me that they have had many older men, fathers in the faith, make the promise to stick it out with them. But their unfortunate experience has been otherwise. They were all dropped along the way and forgotten. Suddenly, they were not available to meet, or worse yet, not even reachable to talk to! I think that this is deplorable. Pastors and Elders must keep their word – even if it means to our hurt.

It is not convenient to mentor a young man, let alone two or more at one time. Yet, how could I say no, after what was given to me? How could I turn them away when I have been blessed with a true father in the faith who stuck it out with both of us? I must do the same and maybe more.

In conclusion, the message of the Gospel is compelling in the changing of a person’s life. It is more compelling to those in leadership over that person to oversee that change and to make sure that they grow in grace and the favor of the Lord. Sometimes that will require tough love and correction, just like with our children. But the tough love will cause them to fear the Lord, respect and honor authority and generally grow in a father-son or mother-daughter relationship as a result.

I guarantee that there were many times that I did want to hear, much less adhere to what I was been instructed. Pride was certainly an issue that had to be dealt with. I thought many times that I was being picked on and that they were just looking for things in my life to complain about. Deep down, I knew that was not really the truth because I knew that they really loved me and cared about me as much as my wife and family. I knew because they constantly told me and it gave them a license to speak deep into my soul.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. Eph.5:21-22

Likewise, we must teach them the significance of the Mystery surrounding the marriage and Christ and His body. We must emphasize the honoring of the covenant and teach that God hates divorce, and as such, teach them to stay together, no matter what. If we can lay hands on the sick and see them recover, we can lay hands on these marriages and see them recover as well.

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Friday, 21 May 2010 03:55

The Fear of the Lord - Part 3

Written by Chuck Blystone

This is the 3rd of a 4 part series by Pastor Chuck Blystone on the Fear of the Lord. Today Chuck applies this principle to our marriage relationships.

The Marriage Relationship

On the third day there was a marriage in Cana at Galilee. …And this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee. John 2:1-11

I believe that it is no coincidence that Jesus began His miracles with new wine at the marriage in Cana. I believe that the marriage is the wine skin for the new wine of the Kingdom of God that is coming – the Gospel. Souls will be won more by righteous marriages than by evangelistic crusades, for the marriage represents the model of Christ and His Church on the earth.

In light of this, I am also of the conviction that the Body of Christ, in general counseling and marriage counseling should always land on the side of marriage, no matter what. Let me explain.

I believe that we should always have hope for the marriage, no matter what the circumstances. I see it like this: when we pray for the sick, we always believe the Lord for the healing, even up to the time of death, if the Lord decides to take the person home. During the illness as we pray, we do not discuss funeral arrangements with the family and how to bury the person when they are still alive! Yet, we find ourselves listening to someone who has given up on the marriage and begin to agree with them that it is over. They are making funeral arrangements for their marriage before it is dead! We are too quick to kill the marriage and agree on divorce.

I am convinced that the curse associated with divorce falls on the church that allows divorce too easily. I do not think that we should make the divorce option easy. It should be the last resort and only their decision and not our counsel. I believe that church leadership should not participate in divorce in any manner: we should not discuss the option at any time but teach the Word where trusting the Lord is concerned and believe the Lord for the miracle of a restored relationship. We are to be reconcilers to God to all peoples, as the scripture points out in II Corinthians 5.

What did Moses command you? Moses allowed you to write a bill of divorcement to put away your wife. But he said this because of the hardness of your hearts. It was not like that in the beginning. …For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Mark 10:3-9

Jesus never said that it is all right to divorce because of infidelity, yet the church has adopted this as doctrine. Jesus said that Moses gave the writ of divorcement for the hardening of their hearts. But He never acknowledged that it was a righteous act. He actually said that “It was not like that in the beginning…” Why would Jesus promote divorce in any way? The marriage is the pattern on the earth for Christ and the Church and He has come as the Bride Groom. In the same manner, we should not promote divorce in any way. I believe the Church’s counsel should be: “we are going to believe God and stand with you for the healing and the restoration of your marriage. Unless you can agree with that, then perhaps you should seek counsel elsewhere.”

In my experience as a marriage counselor, I have been asked by other church leadership over the years for referrals to divorce attorneys. I obviously refused to refer. I think we are asking the wrong questions when we sit with members of the Body regarding their failed marriages. Yes, there are always extenuating circumstances, but we cannot get involved in trying to make someone’s briar patch to look like a rose garden. It will ultimately become their responsibility to clear out the briars and replant something that will come to full bloom.

We must insist on repentance when it is necessary and faith to believe that the Lord can change that hard heart in both persons involved. This is the time when Pastors and Elders must stay away from the discussion of divorce at all costs and offer no other solution to the dilemma other than believing God for a miracle.

We pray for signs and wonders to come but refuse to teach about the Bride and the Bridegroom and the Mystery and how that affects their marriage. We should ask why the Lord brought them together in the first place and the purpose of their union in the Body of Christ. People must be taught about the power of covenant and keeping their word. We need to teach that it is important to keep their word. Unfortunately, we live in throw-away society. Since we have started with abortion, it is easier to abort the marriage as well.

I also do not believe that divorce is the unpardonable sin either. There is grace that abounds for anyone who has found themselves in the wounded state of having been divorced. However, there is still a need for repentance of the part they played in the destruction of the relationship. There is also healing, deliverance and restoration that comes with the repentance, for the Lord still loves them.

If a member of the body finds their way to us in that state, we minister healing and deliverance to them and believe the Lord for another opportunity to get it right and have a blessed marriage in the future. But, we should strive to keep the ones in our midst together, no matter what issues they are facing, believing the Lord to heal and restore their union. Oftentimes I think that, since counseling someone to believe for a miracle in their marriage relationship is difficult, even for the counselor, we can tend to soften our stand and be tempted to take the easy way out by not standing strong enough long enough!

In the next and final installment, read about how the intimate involvement of a member of the church's leadership helped to save and restore Pastor Chuck's marriage during his early years in Christ.

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Friday, 21 May 2010 03:50

The Fear of the Lord - Part 2

Written by Chuck Blystone

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what will be the end of those that do not obey the Gospel of God? I Peter 4:17

It is time for the fire of the Lord to come to His house.

It is time to teach that he who brings sin into the body subjects the whole body to suffer the consequences. We must be held accountable for our actions.

At the same time, when I see the passages in the scripture of how the apostles dealt with sin, they were bold in their declarations of what the Lord expected. There was no hesitation in their actions, giving no thought to the person’s feelings about being confronted. Getting rid of the sin in the Body seemed to be the priority and confronting the sin openly was the only option. The instructions of Jesus in Matthew 18 regarding a brother causing offense or being offended supports an open process in bringing righteousness and justice eventually before the whole body.

There seems to be a common thread to the practice of sin in the Body of Christ. There seems to be no fear of the Lord nor does there appear to be any reverence for His Word and His precepts. All want the blessings of the Lord and what He promises in His Word, but I have seen a pattern that shows that they want the blessings their way and rebel against anyone in authority who tries to bring instruction and/or correction. I have also seen where we as leadership and overseers are not willing to confront overt sin the way the apostles did for reasons of making people uncomfortable. I think that Joshua intended to make Achan uncomfortable!

If my people, which are called by MY Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14

If the church is to wake up from their slumber in sin, the only way is for the Pastors and Elders to confront the sin and not allow the silliness and foolishness of it to continue. There is a difference between babes in Christ making mistakes in learning how to walk and those who should be mature, knowing right from wrong and looking for ways to get away with and justify how they live.

…why have you lied to the Holy Ghost?

…and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.

…and many signs and wonders were done by the apostles. Acts 5:1-12 (parts)

This scripture has always gripped my heart when I read it. When I began to comprehend the scope of how deep this message dives into the lives of the people of the Body of Christ, I tremble in the Presence of God. The Holy Spirit did not and still does not tolerate lying to Him in such a way as to misrepresent how He has provided for His people. I believe that if Anannias and Sapphira would have come clean with what they wanted to give with respect to how much they sold the land for, it would have been okay, because it was the truth.

The truth is all that the Lord is about in representing Himself on the earth. He never lies and He wants our lives to reflect the same to the world. He is looking for true witnesses. That is why we cannot allow sin to taint our testimony in any way.

The Lord has given me a picture of how sin can affect the body. Most people in the church do not realize or will not recognize that someone is watching how they live for Jesus and are making their evaluations of Christianity, based upon what they see in the life of that one they have been watching. First as an Elder in the church, and now as a pastor, I came to realize very quickly that my life was in a fish bowl.

This leaves me with a major decision as to how I want my life to be portrayed: can I be free to do things that many others in the church can do such as go to an ‘R’ rated movie? I cannot if I want to be sure that when someone watches me, they catch me living my life to please the Lord instead of pleasing myself. It also gets deeper in that I must be careful how I conduct myself with my family in public – as a true witness. I must practice what I preach, so to speak. But the deeper thing for me in this is how the presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit has become a treasure to me. Now, I try to live my life so as to stay close to Him; and everyone else gets ministered to as well.

The sad commentary on this is that many in the church believe that, we as pastors should be expected to live that way, but they do not have to. Unfortunately, they have someone watching them as well. We all do and we should be His witnesses so that all can come to the knowledge of the truth.

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Friday, 21 May 2010 03:41

The Fear of the Lord - Part 1

Written by Chuck Blystone

It is my conviction that there are two areas of ministry that lack discipline in the body of Christ. We, as leaders, have either gotten lazy and do not want to


Pastor Chuck Blystone (bio)

follow through with the proper instruction and necessary correction; we do not care whether the members of the body are given the Word in such a way as to live victoriously; or both.

The two areas that have been troubling my heart as of late are immediate correction and discipline and the marriage relationship.

They continued steadfastly (to wait on) in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles…. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2: 42-43, 47.

There is an obvious pattern in the scripture, which ties the fear of the Lord to signs and wonders. When the apostles confronted sin and dealt with it openly, the fear of the Lord came upon the people. Then, the Word says that many signs and wonders were done by the apostles.

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Acts 5:5

It is also of interest that accompanying signs and wonders was the drawing of souls into the kingdom. So, the fear of the Lord ushers in the signs and wonders, which attracts the lost to the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is my conviction that we cannot allow sin to continue in the body if we want to see the Lord move in signs and wonders, attracting the lost to the kingdom. What I mean by not allowing sin is not tolerating it. We cannot make or force or control people’s actions as to whether they will be obedient to the Word or not. We can, however, conduct ourselves in such a way as to promote right living by rewarding it and punishing wrong living by taking away privileges.

I think that we can deal with sin in a manner that shows compassion and love for the members of the body, but does so in such a way as to not allow any wiggle room for their unrighteousness to prevail. We must be careful to instruct them in righteousness only. There is a blessing in obedience that can only come from heeding diligently to the Word of God.

And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? The Lord shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Joshua 7:25

In Joshua 7: 1-25, Achan (his name means trouble) decided to take some of the spoil from a previous battle when there were explicit instructions to leave everything and take nothing. The scripture says that he hid it in his tent and that, until Joshua determined the source of trouble, the children of Israel could not win any battles that they fought!

When Joshua prayed to the Lord, the Lord told him that there was an accursed thing in their midst and that they were all unclean. The Lord also said that He would not be with them anymore until they cleansed themselves and removed the accursed thing from their midst. He said that they could not stand against their enemies when there was an accursed thing in their midst.

The Lord said that He would take the tribes; and then He would take the families; and then He would take the households; and then He would take man by man. When the man is found with the accursed thing, he was to be burned with fire; he and all that he had. This was done because he transgressed the covenant of the Lord and brought about folly (meaning disgrace and senselessness) to the house of Israel.

The scripture continues to point out here that Joshua obeyed the Lord and caused the family of the Zarhites to pass before him. Then he asked for the household of Zabdi, and Zabdi was taken and then Achan was taken before Joshua. Joshua confronted him in front of the entire nation and said, “…give glory to the Lord and make confession unto Him and do not hide it from me.” When Achan confessed, Joshua sent messengers to his tent to uncover the stolen spoil and they brought it back and laid it before the entire nation. The entire nation took his family, his possessions, his animals and everything that he had and they stoned them and then burned them with fire.

Three things are apparent to me in this portion of scripture: (1) when there is sin tolerated in the body, the Lord looks at the entire body as having sin; (2) we cannot stand before our enemies when we tolerate sin in the body; (3) the Lord removes His Presence from us when there is a tolerance for sin. My definition of tolerating sin is not confronting the sin as the apostles did in the scripture, when we know that the willful practice of sin does, indeed, exist.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the Lord saying, For He is good and His mercy endures forever. II Chronicles 7:3

I am not naïve enough to think that we can have a sinless church, but I do believe that the church can be taught to walk in the fear of the Lord in such a way as to be careful how they live. We can teach an expectation of righteousness and have an atmosphere of no tolerance for overt practice of sin. This, I believe, can cultivate a place where miracles can break out and souls will be saved because sin is dealt with immediately.

Let me also say here that I genuinely love the Body of Christ and, out of this love, comes my passion to see repentance, deliverance, restoration and salvation. But my love and passion for the Body of Christ motivates me to want to see the members walking to their full potential and not listening to any lies of the enemy.

In the next installment, Pastor Chuck will talk about the use of discipline in the church to maintain holiness and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

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