Category: Hank’s Place

Welcome to Hank’s Place

Religion has preached against sin for centuries – and the result: more sin. That’s because religion tells us WE have to try harder. And harder. Again. We’re being taught to have confidence in your own ability to resist sin, rather than have faith in Jesus’ sacrifice.

Religion tells us, if we sin, to repent, to restore, to renounce and more; but the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus and His supernatural grace. Which would you rather have when you sin? Hmmm?

Remember, God so loved THE WORLD that He sent His son – and while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. NOTHING can separate us from this love of God, not even our sin. Ro 8:35. Our righteous deeds could not qualify us in the eyes of God; neither can our unrighteous deeds disqualify us. The Holy Spirit is the eternal guarantee of your approval. 2 Cor 1:22.

Religion tells us God loves us. And that God hates us. That we will see and experience His grace only as we get things right. That’s wrong! Grace is for those who NEED it, not for those who EARN it. Grace is for you and me my friend.

Many people think grace and greasy go together, a license to sin. True, God’s grace means FREEDOM – even freedom to make POOR choices. But using that freedom to be enslaved to sin again is really really DUMB. As Paul cautions in Ro 6:1, it’s crazy to think that we can sin so grace can abound all the more – because sin enslaves a person and can destroy them!

Once a person begins to understand Calvary, and what Jesus has done for us there, it’s no longer easy to sin – for we realize we are dead to sin, so how can we live in it any longer? Ro 6:2. Those who willfully sin under the covering of God’s grace don’t understand their salvation, if indeed they are saved at all!

In conclusion, Titus 2:12 says grace, far from being a license to sin, teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly desires. So, don’t fear Grace. Rather,

embrace God’s grace — and COME ALIVE!

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Today we want to take the terror out of 1 Cor 11:27-30. Paraphrasing, “Whoever, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself. Partaking unworthily brings judgment on you. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” This passage has been used to scare and condemn the body of Christ for too long!

Consider 1 Cor 11:23-25. There Paul reminds us of that first Communion night, when Jesus instructed us to break bread and to drink of the cup “in remembrance of Me.” That’s right – we partake of the Eucharist (which means ‘giving thanks’) with Thanksgiving – duh – remembering what Jesus has done for us: His life given so that we would be saved, healed, delivered, restored, our sins wiped away, the punishment due us paid in full, adopted as sons of God, a holy habitation for the Spirit of God – and more! 

His blood has cleansed us from sin, from ALL unrighteousness. FOREVER. So how can we partake unworthily of communion? As a believer, you CANNOT.

“Examine yourself?” For sin? Will sin disqualify you from taking communion? From the body and blood of Jesus? Jesus GAVE His body and blood and died for sinners! In the Old Covenant when a sinner came to the priest, he brought an offering. The priest examined the offering, NOT the sinner. If the offering was accepted, the sin of the person bringing it was covered! Your offering – is JESUS. Think about that.

“Examine yourself?” Is Jesus your sin offering? As a believer He surely IS! You have already passed out of judgment and into eternal life with God. BUT if you do not believe in Jesus, yet take communion, you are saying Jesus died for nothing, that His death is irrelevant. Indeed, unbelievers bring judgment upon themselves!

So an unbeliever can’t take communion then? Not so fast – in doing so we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 1 Cor 11:26. So, if the unbeliever knows this, and wants to proclaim the Lord’s death applying to him, they are in fact declaring themselves BELIEVERS, and they will have — COME ALIVE!

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Have you wondered why Jesus preferred the Laodiceans of Revelation 3 to be hot or cold but not lukewarm? Hot: you are passionate about Jesus and the grace of God. Cold: you are passionate about the Law, about rule keeping. Genuine dedicated rule keeping will lead you to Christ. Gal 3:24. But adding grace to law results in ‘just doing the best you can’ and ‘God will understand’ theology. That does not impress God. If you think God gives you grace so that you can keep the rules today with the help of the Holy Spirit – you are terribly mistaken!

Here is another example of mixture – grace and law. It’s been said, “Favor, God’s favor, and blessing, will be found in serving. Your job, dear Christian, is to obey everything we leaders tell you, for we are God’s appointed overseers. Meanwhile, it is God’s job to bless you as a result! A result of your obedience. This is not true! Where is Jesus in this?

Have you been told you are not experiencing favor because you are not serving – or not serving enough, and are only lukewarm? That the more you serve, or the more you give, the more the blessings will flow? Not true! And you are exhausted.

Grace is given to those who believe and enter His rest, Heb 3; NOT to those who serve. Making yourself someone’s servant OR the quest for self-improvement – will keep you from the grace of GOD. “You have fallen from grace” said Paul to the Galatians 5:4.

Remember: Law keeping is faithless for the law is not of faith. Gal 3:12. And without faith you cannot please God. Heb 11:6. So focusing upon your serving, your obedience, is actually pushing you further away from God’s grace! Yet this is what people have been told time and again.

Why are so many in the church lukewarm, or apathetic today? They have been given a mixture of grace and law, the theology of the lukewarm. They are the product of what they have heard.

How do you get hot? Start appreciating all that JESUS has done for us, namely, everything pertaining to life and godliness. 2 Pe 1:3. Soon your enthusiasm will know no bounds. Without even trying you will have — COME ALIVE!

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Are we as Christians under Law? we live in the world, and the world has its laws: obey stoplights, speed limits, refrain from stealing, and millions more. But what about Bible laws? Are they universal and for all time? Or just sometime? Are they limited, like a restaurant that says, “No shoes, no shirt, no service?” You can walk down the street without shoes, but don’t expect to be served in a restaurant barefooted. 

The answer is – in the Bible! Ro 6:14 says, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are NOT under law but under grace.” The apostle Paul repeats, in the next verse saying, “…Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Never!”

Christians should not live trying to be good, to keep Biblical laws, for we are under GRACE, not Law. But how could all that system prescribed by God, built upon the Pentateuch and Old Testament, be set aside? 

Nevertheless it HAS BE SET ASIDE, for something GREATER has come: Jesus. Heb 7:18 declares, “… there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness.”

We are not saved by Laws, kept by Laws, or supervised by Laws. It is God’s GRACE – from start to finish. “What is LAW in the Bible?” you ask. The 10C’s? Jesus’ words? The words of Paul? Your church’s precepts? You know, it really doesn’t matter – if you believe you will be rewarded for doing “good” and punished for doing “bad,” you are living under LAW. Most of the church lives this way. And the Law is NOT of faith! Gal 3:12. 

Friend, this is why so many believers are having so much trouble in life and God seems so far away. They are trying to keep the law – and since it is NOT of faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God, they are keeping God away by their very efforts, and are struggling in their own limited human abilities! THAT is a mouthful!

We are blessed because of who HE is, not what we DO. Grace and Law are mutually exclusive. Like oil and water, they do not mix together!

Today, choose to walk by Grace. Walk in the Spirit, and — to COME ALIVE!

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In the movie “Taken,” Liam Neelson’s character’s daughter is taken by sex traffickers. He tracks them down and says, “If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” A father’s anger at someone who dared to accost his child. 

Now, consider God, our FATHER. Satan, the deceiver, lifted his hand against the Father’s children. In the Garden, the Father promised an offspring would come who would “crush your head” Gen 3:15. At the Cross, through the willing sacrifice of His own Son, God delivered on His promise.

Listen to the truth:
– Religion says we were born criminals. But the Bible says we were born prisoners – to sin. Ro 3:9. Captives, not criminals.
– Religion says we need to be good. To try harder. Jesus says you need to be free. Jn 8:32. Free, not ‘doing better.’
– The natural man thinks he is free, but he is enslaved to all kinds of passions and pleasures and is bound by the fear of death. Jude, Heb 2:15. The natural man is not free; he is a slave. If you subscribe to the notion, “if it feels good, do it,” you are not free but in fact bound by your own appetites. And those who feed them – control you.
– If God be for us who can be against us! Not even our own sin. In fact, He has removed that sin from us. God has qualified us; sin cannot disqualify us! Col 1:12.

So dear friend, you can choose to live according to the old law of sin and death – or life in the Spirit, under the new law, the law of LOVE. Why not, reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God? Then get going with the joyful business of living the Father’s dream – for you. Because of the BLOOD, your sin cannot condemn you; only your unbelief.

Believe in Jesus your Savior, in the Father who LOVES you just as you are. They are FOR you, not against you. Believe — receive —and COME ALIVE!

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In the Old Testament, God appeared distant, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A cloud by day, pillar of fire by night in Moses’ day. Many churches, pastors, preachers present God this way still. Suggesting you have to have a prophet to hear from God, a pastor to shepherd you, apostles to lead you to new ground and so forth.

It’s as though you were deaf or God was talking to His best people and all the rest of us, well, get things second hand if at all!

BUT, when they asked Jesus how to pray, He said, “Pray this way,” and He began a prayer with these astonishing words, “Our Father….” Sixteen times He used the expression our father or your father.

Such a breakthrough! The Old Testament had many names for God, Healer, Provider, our Righteousness, but Jesus gave us a new name, precious, intimate, passionate: “Abba! Father!” Father loves you. He delights in FAVORING Y O U. Because He loves you!

Many know God as well, “God.” Many know Him also as “Lord;” but few know Him as FATHER. If you see Him as distant – or worse, as dead, you are likely to act like a little god – of your own little world, trying to control things and make things work our ‘your’ way. But God is NOT DEAD! Nor far away!

Remember Jesus has revealed Him: Heb 1:3 “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature;” John 14:9 “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” And He went about doing GOOD, healing all those bound by the devil, Acts 10:38. A friend of sinners and outcasts, tax collectors.

Love is unconditional, at least God’s love is. We do not need to do stuff, to get it right, to check off all the boxes before God will love us. He so loved the world that He gave His son. He loved us before we were born. If you are listening to preaching that says God’s love comes with conditions; I suggest you — stop listening!

What does God —YOUR FATHER expect from you, want from you, desire from you, my friend? Simply to receive His love. To flourish in His grace. To spend your time exploring His extravagant, limitless love. And — COME ALIVE!

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This world has STORMS! Got one going on in your life right now? Well, check this out.

Luke 8:22 begins, “Now on one of those days….” That could be one of OUR days, my friend. The disciples are crossing the lake, Jesus is with them, asleep in the back. Then BOOM! A MEGA-squall descends upon them. The boat is being swamped! And Jesus? He’s asleep on the job! No, wait — He’s not — He knows you can handle it, by faith. Oh, wait, apparently you can’t for I hear you screaming for help. (Laugh)

The disciples are screaming: ’Don’t you care that we are perishing?’ Hmmm. I’m not comfortable in boats; I would probably hear me screaming right along with those disciples!

Jesus ACTED — because He was ASKED! After hushing the wind and waves He asks them, “Why were you afraid? How is it that you still have no faith?” Apparently, NOTHING is impossible to those who believe (in God). Mk 9:23

Then in Matt 14 there is another stormy lake incident. They were busy crossing over. It was God’s will, they knew it, and were busy doing it. But the wind was contrary. Circumstances were tough! It says Jesus came to them a bit before dawn. Have you been struggling to accomplish in the dark dark night what you know God has told you?

GREAT NEWS: Jesus sees you and will come to you. Oh wait! He’s walking on by! What to do, what to do! Keep struggling to do God’s will in our own strength? Struggle harder, to keep up with Him? How about, maybe, invite Him into the boat?

Hmmmm? Well, it says in John 6 that after Peter got to walk on water, both Peter and Jesus got into the boat and “…and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” I like that, don’t you?

Friend, have faith in God. When life is stormy, Jesus has not forsaken you; He is there. He might be walking by right now! INVITE HIM INTO YOUR BOAT! If you ask Him for help; He WILL help. Friend, He will help you — COME ALIVE!

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I have a question for you – in which Jesus are you believing? The reason I ask is that people may say they believe in Jesus, but have quite a different understanding of who Jesus is from you and I. To make today’s point, let’s boil all the Jesus’ down to two categories.

There is Jesus ‘the man,’ who walked the earth 2,000 years ago. He was a great teacher. He pointed out the way we should live. He died upon a cross at Calvary. 

Then there is Jesus much more than that. Jesus the ‘son of God,’ actually, God Himself, who became a man (Emmanuel, God with us). Who died on a cross at Calvary for our sins, was raised from the dead; who now sits upon the highest throne of heaven where everything has been placed under His feet. 1 Cor 15:27

In both views, Jesus died upon the Cross. In the latter, the Son of God died there for our sins. But now think about this: Jesus on the Cross cannot save anyone. (Pause) Thankfully our second view continues, hallelujah!

OUR Jesus, after being place IN the tomb, left that tomb, being RISEN from the dead. ALIVE forever! Seated at the right hand of the Father, with ALL authority. THIS JESUS SAVES FOREVER, and will save –> whoever dares to believe in Him!

Friend, don’t settle at the Cross. Don’t camp out at Calvary, marvelous as this is. Continue to the RESURRECTION! See yourself united with Him in His death. Crucified with Christ as Paul says in Gal 2:20. And see yourself united with Him in His resurrection, Ro 6:5. See yourself alive from the dead — with Jesus — seated with Him in the heavens, NOW. Today. Eph 2:1-7.

Friend, this is the TRUE reality. Catch hold of it and you will COME ALIVE as never before! The fullness of the blessings of God’s grace come to those who believe in the RISEN JESUS!

Proclaim Jesus as LORD over your life, TODAY. As Lord over any and every issue, any and every sickness, distress, disappointment, depression, failure. EVERYTHING bows to Jesus. Proclaim it. Rejoice in this truth — and COME ALIVE!

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Throughout Scripture there are blockbuster statements! They can become giant bedrocks in our faith. Try this one on. Gal 3:6. It declares, “Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and it was counted to Him as RIGHTEOUSNESS.” That’s having God’s approval – in everything – without having to do anything. Whoa!

In context, Paul is reminding the Galatians that they received the Spirit of God by FAITH – NOT by anything they did, not by praying, fasting, memorizing bible verses, sacrifices, observing feasts. He explains they started that way and God is providing them with His Spirit and performing miracles in their midst by hearing with faith, period.

Sadly, many people – many pastors and preachers even – believe a person gets saved by faith in Christ Jesus, and having been saved, then things change. Now it is up to us to walk the straight and narrow. Up to us to do good works, to sacrifice, pray, fast, maintain perfect church attendance and participation in order for the blessings, the favor, the miracles and presence of God to be rich, real, and full upon us. Sound familiar?

Paul points us back to Abraham, Father of the faith, as someone who had to believe, and only believe – just like us. It is in believing in God that Abraham, and us, are counted as righteous, FULLY approved. Having God’s approval is beyond awesome – and if you are a believer in Jesus, YOU HAVE IT! Shrug off those doubts and condemning thoughts, my friend, that would get you looking at yourself instead of Jesus!

As Gal 3:11-14 tells us: a person can only be justified in God’s eyes by having faith in Him, and not by keeping any kind of laws, even those laws spoken by God. That is mind-blowing! God sent His son. He kept the laws, than become a curse for us, that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham, adoption, the promise of the SPIRIT, would come to…us!

By grace, through faith, you have received the Holy Spirit! Learn to walk in Him, demonstrating that YOU – have COME ALIVE!

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In the book of Leviticus, that’s the book with all the jots and tittles of the Law, we read something amazing! In Lev 25:10-12 it reads, ‘You shall thus consecrate the 50th year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a JUBILEE for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

Then it repeats, in the 50th year, DON’T WORK! No sowing, reaping, harvesting. Rest, rejoice, eat what’s there and receive all your property back.
At the sounding of the trumpet, LIBERTY was proclaimed. Property restored. Debts forgiven. Working ceased. Those who had to become slaves to live were made FREE! Yep, PERSONAL LIBERTY restored. PERSONAL POSSESSIONS restored. And a SIMPLE life with faith in GOD to provide the food a person needed was decreed.

But you know what? Tradition, historical records, and the Old and New Testaments make no mention that it was ever observed! Think about that. It was just TOO MUCH for people to believe God would have them release their slaves, restore properties, and to live abundantly and simply, with food He provided, that they did not work for!

Thankfully, this JUBILEE YEAR was a foreshadowing of JESUS. He began His ministry reading from Is 61 – it’s found in Luke 4:18-19. Vs 19 speaks of the Favorable Year of the Lord: that’s the Jubilee year. Jesus said, “That’s Me! I’m your Jubilee.” Not every 50 years, but all day, every day! And the people tried to kill Him! Can you believe?

Just to be clear, in Jesus our debts to God’s justice are paid! Those who had become slaves to sin and Satan were set free to be sons of God, joint heirs with Jesus. Heaven, the Kingdom of God, our forfeited inheritance, is restored. Without money, without price, without our working for it. That’s Jesus our Jubilee, dear friend!

Celebrate Jesus your Savior today. And tell others the Good News, that they may COME ALIVE!

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