Sewing Center for Christian women near Gojra, Punjab state, Pakistan - December 15,2021

December 15th was graduation day for this group of women at Jesus Christ Followers' Ministry's Sewing Center. Lion's Den Society supported this ministry financially through our partnership with Umair Iqbal in Pakistan.

 Umair Iqbal, founder of Jesus Christ Followers' Ministry with graduating women from the sewing center.

I NEVER KNEW YOU!

Jesus indeed told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, in John 3:3, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

Some, perhaps many, modern professing American Christians and others around the world, say this. Indeed, perhaps many were born again at one time or believe they were! This post really gets to the heart of the "once-saved, always saved" doctrine held by many Christians. 

In order to maintain consistency, many Christians say that a "fallen away' Christian was never saved at all! One of the key passages that seems to support this view, is found in Matthew 7:21-23.

This passage indicates that demonstrations of power and confessions of Jesus' name do not guarantee that a person knows God or ever knew God, therefore not being truly "born again."

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Jesus, amazingly details those who have cast out demons in His name, prophesied in His name and done many wonders, again in His name! However, Jesus replies, "I never knew you; depart from Me' you who practice lawlessness." It seems that the Lord God demands that professions of faith or proven in word, deed and heart condition.

This passage almost causes one to be sympathetic to those being denied eternal life and told, "...depart from Me..." by Jesus. It is almost like these people are blindsided and claim that the Lord is being grossly unfair, like He is playing a "head game" with such people. Much like how we treated pledges in my college fraternity! We made it so there was no way the plebes could win in their Hell Week and you get the same kind of hopeless disgust and despair from these people! 

But the analogy is not accurate! The folks in Matthew 7:21-23 were liars and frauds, ultimately they were more about personal gain and getting the world's approval that truly doing God's will. They were about outward expressions of piety (ala the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:5-7 who "...love the best places at feasts...) and not about a transformed, obedient heart that marks Jesus' true disciples (John 10:14, I Corinthians 8:3, Ephesians 3:17 and Revelation 3:17-13). I Corinthians 8:3 notes, "But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him."

Personally, this passage amazed me and I thought, who are such people? After closer study (knowableword.com has an excellent set of examples in its post, "Context Matters: I Never Knew You; Depart From Me" from April 26, 2019 by Peter Krol), the Bible provides many examples!

Perhaps the best is Jesus' own disciple, Judas Iscariot! Judas was authorized, along with the other eleven disciples by Jesus "to cast out demons", among other good works in Mark 3:14-19. Judas exposed himself ultimately in being more interested in worldly gain than following Jesus with his betrayal. Judas greeted Jesus with, "Greetings, Rabbi." Ultimately, Judas was a "bad egg," a phony, a thief, a Devil! 

We also find other examples in the Bible, like:

*Balaam, the Old Testament prophet, who initially blessed Israel in Numbers 23-24 but ended poorly in Numbers 31:8 and 16. 

*King Saul, ultimately rejected by God, for disobedience, was refreshed when David played the harp in I Samuel 16:23.

*Demas, one of Paul's assistants, left Paul, "...having love this present world..." in II Timothy 4:10. 

*those in Isaiah 29:13 who honored God with their lips but not their lips.

*....and the foolish virgins in Matthew 25:11, who were not prepared for the coming of the groomsmen!

LOVE & FAITHFULNESS

Proverbs 3:3-4 notes, "Let not love and faithfulness never leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

This is a powerful verse! Some would ask, does it "always work." And, yes the Word of God always works!

Using the perfect example of Jesus Christ showing "love and faithfulness", surely He the ongoing, eternal favor of God the Father. Indeed, after Jesus had been baptized in Matthew 3:16-17, the Spirit of God descended like a dove on Him and a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

However, in Matthew 27:45, while hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out the prophecy of Psalm 22:1, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" At this moment, Jesus felt the full weight of mankind's sin! Jesus became a curse for us according to Galatians 3:13, which in turn cites Deuteronomy 21:23, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree." He felt abandoned by God, separated from God. 

So, can we conclude that this meant that God's favor toward Jesus stopped at that particular moment? We could refer to God's timing in Ecclesiastes 3, which notes, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven..." I would also add like when a father has to discipline his son doesn't mean the father's love ends so can the same be said about God the Father's love toward Jesus at that time.

This verse from Proverbs teaches us about timing, the need to "rightly divide the Word of truth", as well as favor!

MARKS OF A CULT

The four basic tests of a cult are:


1) Add to the Bible as equal spiritual authority. It could be a book like the Book of Mormon or the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

2) Subtract from the divinity of Jesus Christ or add to the fallen nature of mankind. Again, Mormonism does this by subtly making Jesus Christ a created being and human beings born of spiritual beings.

3) Add good works apart from God's commands in some fashion to earn salvation. The Bible condemns the "filthy rags" type of good works noted in the book of Isaiah where human beings do good works to earn God's favor. I would disagree with Watchman Fellowship that any good works apart from receiving Christ as Savior is a dead work. Doing what Jesus commands in His Word requires faith such as tithing, doing His will, etc.

4) Divide loyalty of men between God and the organization in question.




*Modified from the tests developed by the ministry, Watchman Fellowship.

UMAIR MINISTERING IN KADRABAD & his wife and children with birthday cake for Daniel O'Hara

BANGLADESH CHURCH & ORPHANAGE.........

that the Lion's Den Society started supporting this April 2019.

DO WE REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH WE OWE JESUS CHRIST?

After having a few Twitter “discussions” this past week, it became clear to me how easy it is to take the focus of Christianity, i.e. our faith, away from Jesus Christ! It’s easy because our rebellious, arrogant sinful nature has a problem with having to rely on Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation. We would prefer to do it ourselves or at least use another human being or organization so we can derive some sense of importance or self-righteousness from them. I can sense this attitude rising up in myself at times…..it is from the pit of hell, by the way!

But the truth is, as I Timothy 2:5 notes, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…” And as the prophet Isaiah notes, “all are righteous deeds are like filthy rags…”

The reality is…after the literal fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, human beings were without hope EXCEPT THAT….God’s pronounced judgment on the serpent (Satan), gave hope to humanity by promising a coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15 notes, “And I will put enmity between your seed and her (Eve’s) Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden because they were deceived by Satan to believe God was holding out on them, because of fleshly lusts and because of our sinful desire to be righteous and wise without God.

The reality that humanity is condemned to eternity without God in hell is a given because of our sinful nature.

Indeed, John 3:13 is an eye opener. It notes, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”  Even Abraham, our father in faith, was per Luke 16:24 held in a place apart from hell, a waiting place. However, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, the Old Testament prophets and others living righteously by faith alone were not admitted to heaven until Jesus died for their sins.

The truth is we owe Jesus an INFINITE THANKS, as well as praise and worship for dying to save our souls. No other man, church, organization, ritual, or sacrament can take Jesus’ place. Jesus is an integral part of these things but there is no one way to be saved apart from Jesus Christ. The fact that many don’t appreciate Jesus’ work for us is evidence of an “attitude problem” that will lead them to hell. From God’s perspective, HE offered His only begotten Son for our salvation, rejecting Jesus means YOU CHOOSE TO GO TO HELL, where God is not present!

Indeed, only Jesus IS THE WAY! John 14:6 notes, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” On his show, “The Story of God,” actor Morgan Freeman said one of the things he learned was that everyone’s truth is their truth. COMPLETE NONSENSE! Pope Francis recently came out, in the name of peace, and said that both Muslims and Christians and anyone who worships a god, worship the same God. WRONG! BLASPHEMOUSLY WRONG! This is manifestly wrong and offensive to the true God, specifically Jesus Christ, since it wrongly removes Jesus Christ from the Godhead. You can’t “gloss over” the utterly essential role of Jesus Christ for human salvation. A proper view of God means viewing things from God’s perspective, not based on our own human wishful thinking! A Roman Catholic pope who has said Mass hundreds of times should know better and will have to answer for such blatantly false teaching, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Religion isn’t about a Masonic global peace or appeasing pagans. It is about worshiping God in “spirit and in truth.” There is A TRUTH and you can know it! God isn’t about making human beings feel all “touchy-feely” and deceived that they are OK and the “everyone’s truth is their truth” nonsense. Does this apply anywhere else in human study or science? Sorry, but Christianity is fundamentally at odds with Islam and every other pagan world religion. They CAN NOT BOTH BE TRUE!

We owe our eternal salvation to Jesus Christ. He is worthy to be trusted as our Lord and Savior! Religion is not a democracy! God makes the rules. If no human beings were on God’s side, then “news flash”: the true God still wins! 

The bottom line really is….”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (a very active, not a passive belief) in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. John 3:18 makes it clear, “…he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

If you would like to donate to my GoFundMe page please go to www.gofundme.com/DanielLionsDen or donate directly to my church, the Lion’s Den Society, by Paypal.com with danieldeohara@gmail.com as the payment email address. May God bless you per Genesis 12:3 as you give. I will pray God’s blessings on your life according to Psalm 23, Psalm 103 and John 10:10.

MEET UMAIR from the PUNJAB area of PAKISTAN

I hooked up with Umair in 2018, when he sent me a Friend Request on Facebook. Umair is doing the work of an evangelist and helping the poor and orphans in Gojra, Punjab state of Pakistan. It has been a joy to get to know Umair and chat with him regularly on WhatsApp. 

The Lion's Den Society helps to support Umair and his work financially in the Muslim-dominated nation of Pakistan. Also, Daniel O. helps Umair with Christian teaching & discipleship to increase his growth and understanding of the Word, as well as with financial management, budgeting, problem solving and planning for his efforts there. Daniel also helps Umair to increase his knowledge and understanding of English so he can outreach to Americans and others about his needs and share his story. 

Please contact the Lion's Den Society at 406-591-7291 (call or text) or email Daniel O'Hara at danieldeohara@gmail.com if you would like to support Umair directly. I can attest that Umair has a sweet, loving spirit and a genuine heart to do God's work in Pakistan-- a land beset with rampant and institutional discrimination against Christians. 

Umair with Amara, one of his young Christian sisters he ministers to in Pakistan. The Lion's Den Society supports Umair and these people in prayer and with monetary support. The situation of these people in Pakistan is quite harsh given the hostility and antichrist nature of Islam. According to Genesis 12:3, may the Lord "bless those who bless " His people and "curse those who curse them" in Pakistan and around the world in Jesus' name. Amen.

Umair with Naseem, one of the orphans he ministers to in the Punjab area of Pakistan.

Umair, eating with a group of orphan Christian children in Pakistan.

Pastor Umair preparing to baptize some new converts in a water tank in Pakistan.

Pastor Umair passing out gifts to orphan children he ministers to in Pakistan.

One of Pastor Umair's friends, doing some of the nasty work Christians in Pakistan end up doing in light of Muslim discrimination, cleaning sewers.

HOW DOES THE LORD PROVIDE A RETURN ON YOUR GIVING?

In this Christimas season, we often hear (or perhaps we used to hear it more, haha) the saying, "It is more blessed to give than receive." That's from the Bible, by the way. Acts 20:35, to be exact. Admittedly, I always thought it was a nice, fluffy thing to say when I was younger, but is it? IT IS.

How exactly does a return come to the giver. Aside, from the nice feeling you may get from helping someone less fortunate, I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the more tangible blessings of giving.

They include:
*Favor, from God and man. Giving honors Proverbs 3:3-4, so you get favor from "God and man" as that verse indicates. Even pursusing righteousness by caring for your pets (Proverbs 12:10), provides favor from God according to Proverbs 21:3.
*Perhaps, like me, your eyes may be opened, to character issues or a trait you may be weak on that could help you materially, if addressed.
*Kindness to the poor makes God your debtor, as Proverbs 19:17 notes, and He will repay you for your good deed. Good deeds don't save your soul, but God will repay you.
*A recent offering I made, saved me money as the Lord led me to a less expensive but more effective choice in business.
*Giving can be returned by receiving insight about some assets that you aren't using or forgot about, a comforter for your bed or a crock pot, you received as gifts but never opened, for example.
*Or insight again, about an unused item that can be sold, if not used or needed. Perhaps, you realize those old dumbbell weights could be sold at a place like Play-It Again Sports, without being missed.
*Perhaps, your previously closed mind, may be humbled or opened to new options or closed to unprofitable ones you may be currently pursuing.
*Customers you didn't have before, suddenly show up.
*Maybe, you suddenly, easily lose a few of those stubborn lbs (empowered by God), and the return is feeling better about yourself or saving money on, buying some new clothes.

The Word tells us that the return on giving can be enhanced--by being cheerful (II Corinthians 9:7) or praising God (Psalm 100:4). It can be shriveled by murmuring or complaining against God. I know I've done it. It can delay your blessing. The Lord said of the children of Israel in Numbers 14:34-35, "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection. I, the Lord, have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die."

Every so often, I've hear folks get down on giving....saying "the Bible doesn't work," "that used to work but recently not so much." Big time, caution though....murmuring is hated by God. It is yet another reason we need to fear Him, and not presume on His grace. As noted previously, the children of Israel had to wander 40 years in the wilderness because of it.

Well, I have kind of "preached myself happy", as Kenneth Copeland says, by writing this message because I realize the true power in giving....and the different forms God gives back to you when you give.

Originally written 12/24/2013.

WORK OF PASTOR O IN AFRICA (Lion's Den Society has supported ).

Photos and detailed information about Pastor O kept confidential due to government regulations and concerns in this particular country in Africa.

Pastor O (intentionally cropped off on the left) preaching at a market in Africa.

What we are doing in the markets when we have money to hire a Public Address System. Below is the work that we do in Prisons and take bibles to inmates. 


PRISON PHOTO OMITTED DUE TO GOVERNMENT REGULATION, HOSTILITY IN PASTOR O'S HOME COUNTRY

Bible study is our main tool to bring people back into the ways of God. Through small savings, I have been purchasing few copies of the bibles which are enabling them to find the truth and live Biblical standard life.

One of the schools I am visiting and teaching young people the ways of God.

Dear brother Daniel, these are just a sample of the work God is doing through us. Without finances it is hard to fulfill what we want to do for God. I really want to reach more souls in markets when I have our own equipments and if God bless us with a vehicle will be nice to move around markets, schools, Prisons to spread the gospel.

Pray for our needs as we also pray for you.