Carlos Erazo

MI PRIMER LIBRO YA OFICIALMENTE DISPONIBLE ❤️ Orando para que te Dios lo use para que la influencia de Jesús sea mas fuerte que la influencia de lo popular del mundo en tu vida. Encuéntralo en Amazon aquí: a.co/d/4fAv8ps

Some thoughts on this. 1) These are great biblical insights. I’m so glad @howertonjosh shared them. 2) I’ve personally heard Josh give attribution to this preacher multiple times in previous sermons. 3) Throughout Christian history, it's been common practice for preachers to learn from other preachers and share the SAME ideas. In some ways, this is how Christian teaching is handed down through generations. Here’s an example. Augustine, one of the most influential theologians in church history shared an illustration about this guy that was asked something along the lines of “what is the most important rule of public speaking?” And the guy said: “Delivery. Delivery. Delivery.” Then, Augustine took that illustration and applied it to Christianity saying that the most important principle of Christianity is first: humility, second: humility, and third: humility. Then more than a thousand years later, John Calvin shared the SAME illustration and teaches the SAME thing by quoting Augstine: "I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility." About 200 years after that, Jonathan Edwards, one of America’s most influential preachers, writes on humility and quotes Calvin quoting Augustine and even shares the SAME illustration in a footnote in one of his books: “Firstly, secondly, and thirdly, and forever, humility.” Different preachers. Same idea. Multiple generations. Obviously giving credit in appropriate ways matter. Having said that, borrowing illustrations and insights from other preachers is normal and has a long history in Christianity.

I’ve read the Bible my ENTIRE LIFE… and I just discovered this hidden detail that will blow your mind. We all know about John the Baptist and how he was a peculiar guy. Well, in Matthew 3:4 … we get a very interesting description about John the Baptist. We learn that “he wore a garment of *camel’s hair* and a *leather belt* around his waist.” Now, why would Matthew bother to give us this detail? Here’s where it gets crazy. 400 years before John the Baptist, the prophet Malachi said that one day, God “would send the prophet *Elijah* before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5) In other words, before the coming of the Messiah, one like the prophet Elijah would come. Now fast forward to the New Testament, here comes Matthew saying “oh yeah, John the Baptist… yeah, he was dressed with camel’s hair and a leather belt.” Why? Because guess who else in history was dressed this way? In 2 Kings 1:8, the messengers of King Ahaziah’s describe an encounter with a mysterious prophet… and say “He wore a *garment of hair*, with a *belt of leather* around his waist.” And the king said, “Oh… It is Elijah the Tishbite.” John is wearing the same thing as Elijah. Matthew’s point in telling us what John wore… is that John the Baptist is that new “Elijah” preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah. So if John is the new Elijah, and John points to Jesus… then Jesus is the Messiah. But wait there’s more. Elijah calls the nation of Israel to repentance. John the Baptist calls the people of God to repentance. Both prophets BOLDLY confront the wicked political power of their time.. and BOTH are HATED for it. Elijah confronts King Ahab, and King Ahab’s wife, Jezabel, wants Elijah dead. (1 Kings 19:2). John confronts Herod Antipas, and Herod’s wife, Herodias wants John dead. (Mark 6:19). New days. Same demons. (that’s the Jezabel spirit) Elijah crosses the Jordan river before he went up to heaven. When Jesus shows up, John the Baptist is at the… Jordan river. And that’s where Jesus’ public ministry begins. Elijah's ministry was followed by Elisha, who received a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9–15) and had a greater ministry. John's ministry prepared the way for Jesus, who obviously had an *infinitely* greater ministry. Here’s the point. John wore Elijah's clothes, carried Elijah's message, and came in Elijah's spirit and power because he was pointing to the Messiah… And his name is JESUS.

Celebrating 100 EPISODES of @TheLiveFreePod with my brothers @howertonjosh and @paulmcunningham When the WORD and not the WORLD becomes the majority of your week, your life begins to change. LIVE as FREE people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s servants. - 1 Peter 2:16

I WISH someone had explained this to me when I was younger Christian. Every commandment in the Bible and everything it calls a *sin* is actually a *warning* from God not to hurt yourself. In other words, as it has been said before… When God says DON’T, what He's really saying is: DON’T hurt yourself. Let me give you several examples. Sex before marriage - It is a scientific fact that sex creates a neurochemical bond with another person, not just physically but emotionally. In other words, sex is not just the union of two bodies, but of two souls. So when God says DON’T, he’s saying: you don’t want to be bonded like that to somebody you barely know. Lying - When you lie, you eventually destroy the trust other people have in you. And the problem with lying is that one lie often requires another to cover it up, until eventually, you've built an entire life around pretending to be someone you're not. Envy - Envy is resenting God’s goodness in someone else’s life while ignoring God’s goodness in your life. Instead of living a life of gratitude and joy, you live one of bitterness and anger. Pride - Pride makes a person care more about BEING right… than making a relationship RIGHT. And you become incapable of learning, apologizing, or growing. Gossip - Gossip destroys relationships… and if someone is gossiping TO YOU about other people, chances are they're also gossiping ABOUT YOU to other people behind your back. Unforgiveness - This one is tough because you’re already hurt with something. But when you refuse to forgive, unforgiveness makes YOU a prisoner of your past, and a slave to bitterness, resentment, and pain. God says “don’t.” Greed - Greed makes you believe a lie that if you only had “more” then you’d be happy. Not true. You’ll be miserable. Lust - We live a culture saturated with lust. It always destroys your ability to experience true intimacy with another person. This is why our culture is terrible at marriage, intimacy, and relationships. Here’s the point. Deuteronomy 10:12 (NIV) says “Observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today … for your own good." When God forbids something, it’s not because he hates you and he’s trying to rob something from you. It’s because he loves you and he’s trying to protect you. When He says DON’T, He's not trying to keep you from enjoying life. He's teaching you how to truly live it.

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the REPAIRER of the breach, the RESTORER of streets to dwell in. - Isaiah 58:12 INTO THE BREACH!

These are 3 things most Christians don’t know about Reformation Day. 1. It is possible October 31 wasn't a random date. Some historians think Luther chose October 31st to circulate his 95 Theses (and post them on the Castle Church doors according to tradition) because the following day, November 1, was All Saints’ Day. This was a major religious celebration when large crowds of pilgrims would gather at Wittenberg's Castle Church to venerate its collection of sacred relics. So here comes Luther… and in Thesis 36 he argues that every truly repentant Christian has a right to “full remission of penalty and guilt even without an indulgence letter.” In other words, Luther was challenging the indulgence system immediately before a major religious celebration involving indulgences at his own university's church. 2. Luther was not trying to create a new branch of Christianity. Luther was a devoted Catholic monk and professor of theology. When he published his 95 Theses in 1517, his goal wasn't to start a new church, but to reform the one he was already part of. As the controversy developed, Luther wanted ordinary Christians to read the Bible themselves and believed all church teachings and traditions should ultimately be evaluated against the authority of Scripture. By 1522, some of Luther's followers were already starting to call themselves “Lutherans” but he was against that. In his work “A Sincere Admonition to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion” he wrote: "I ask that men make no reference to my name, and call themselves not Lutherans, but Christians." 3. The printing press was the “social media” of that time… and it changed everything. A lot of people imagine Martin Luther as a rebellious monk who nailed his 95 Theses to a church door so the whole world would hear his criticisms of the Church. Nope. Luther wrote the theses in Latin for academic debate. Most ordinary people couldn’t read Latin. The printing press had been developed in Europe only about 70 years earlier, and printers began reproducing and distributing Luther's writings. His 95 theses spread quickly beyond Wittenberg, and German translations helped make his arguments accessible to ordinary people. In other words, Luther’s work went “viral” before “viral” was a thing. And as Luther's writings continued to spread, more and more people were being exposed to statements like these... "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent,' he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." (95 Theses, Thesis 1) "We do not become righteous by doing righteous deeds but, having been made righteous, we do righteous deeds." (Disputation Against Scholastic Theology, Thesis 40) "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." (Diet of Worms, 1521) And after that, the world would never be the same.

Should Christians watch movies with witchcraft, sorcery and other things the Bible explicitly condemns? How do we discern as Christians what’s *permissible* and what’s *helpful*? @paulmcunningham and I actually disagree on this one. New @TheLiveFreePod bonus episode Wendsday.

This might be one of the WILDEST plot twists in the entire Bible and most Christians have never heard of it. Check this out. There were two significant requests Moses made to God that were denied. First. In Exodus 33, Moses asks God, “Show me Your glory.” But God tells him, “You cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.” Request denied. Second. In Deuteronomy 3, Moses begs God to let him enter the Promised Land but because of his disobedience and failure to trust God, God tells Moses he will not enter. Request denied again. Now, fast forward to the New Testament. In Matthew 17, Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, and the Bible specifically tells us that his face shone like the sun. And guess who suddenly appears there with Jesus? Moses. Think about this. What is Moses finally seeing? He’s seeing… the face of God. The man who led the first Exodus and delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt is standing face to face with the One who would accomplish a greater Exodus, delivering sinners from the bondage of Satan, sin and death. The man whose face was radiant because of God’s glory (Ex. 34:29) is standing face to face with the One whose face radiates God’s glory (Matt. 17:2). In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses tells the Israelites that God will raise up a prophet like him and commands them to “LISTEN TO HIM.” In Matthew 17:5: God the Father speaks to the disciples about Jesus and says “LISTEN TO HIM.” But wait… there’s more. Where is Moses standing? He’s standing… in the promised land. The very two things Moses had once been denied, God allows him to experience in the presence of Jesus. Two takeaways. 1. Sometimes God answers our prayer requests in ways that we do not expect. Whatever he has to offer us is infinitely better than anything we could ever imagine. 2. Our failures may have consequences, but in Christ, they don't have to have the final word. That’s why Moses’ failure didn’t have the final word. God’s grace did.