I Can't Believe I Missed the Point: Exposing the Hidden Footholds of Sin That Relentlessly Undermine Our Walk with God

By Ken Warner

The enemy has cast a dark net of deception over our land, diming the light of our Christian foundation while concealing the real purpose of the Gospel. Our culture has been systematically dismantled one generation at a time. I Cant Believe I Missed the Point brings a message of freedom, hope and encouragement. With analogies, stories and personal experiences, Ken Warner, demonstrates the essence of our spiritual crisis, the steps toward healing and the total sufficiency of the Gospel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449748883

Book preview

I Can’t Believe

I Missed the

Point

My Life, Shaped In Darkness by Deception,

Yet Transformed In Truth by Light

Exposing the hidden footholds of sin that relentlessly undermine our walk with God

Ken Warner

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Copyright © 2012 Ken Warner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

In the Garden, C. Austin Miles, 1912Scripture Quotations are from the Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted

Cover Design by Wil Askew | wilaskew.com

Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52.—2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-4890-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-4889-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-4888-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012907482

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/11/2012

Contents

Preface

Part I Getting Re-Started

Chapter 1 In the Beginning, There Was Light

Chapter 2 My New Life

Chapter 3 How Do We Measure Dimness

Chapter 4 Dilemma of New Believers

Part II I Can’t Believe I Missed the Point

Chapter 5 Trains

Chapter 6 Focus

Chapter 7 Quest for Individualism

Part III The Power Struggle

Chapter 8 Spiritual Battles

Chapter 9 Truth

Chapter 10 The Search

Chapter 11 Abandoned

Chapter 12 Seasons of the Journey

Part IV Unlocking the Treasure

Chapter 13 Finding the Point

Chapter 14 Fireflies

Chapter 15 Commitment

Chapter 16 Forgiveness

Part V Tying it all together

Chapter 17 Words of the Heart

Chapter 18 Walk Circumspectly

Chapter 19 Where Do We Find Eternal Life

Chapter 20 Tying It Together

Chapter 21 The Final Stage

About the Author

Bibliography

Preface

For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Rom 7: 17, 18)

I have tried to live a godly life, I mean really, tried hard. Yet, I failed to meet my most basic expectation. In these times of frustration, I even believed I was a disappointment to God. More often than not, I would make bad decisions. Bewilderment and doubt ruled the day. It seemed like a mysterious and unseen force had jumped out and grabbed me like a troll from under the bridge. I felt bound by an unexplained force and was unable to break loose. My faith, weakened by the uncertainty of my lifestyle, was slowly being reduced to wishful thinking. I felt I had been taken out of the game of life and my testimony wiped out. What is it that dwells within me that keeps me bound?

Then, one day in a quiet time with God, He began to show me that I was not alone in my frustration. In fact, I was a part of a very large majority of Christians living all throughout our nation. As a result, our culture is being swallowed up in a tide of humanism. Our Churches, which are suffering from the same malady as me, have been incapable of stemming this tide and in many cases have actually been embracing it. While we were busy with our religion, the doctrine of darkness is systematically replacing the truth of the Gospel with a lie.

What a shock! This was not supposed to be this way—not in America. Our forefathers had a fire in their hearts that revered our Creator and His Word. The fire was used to set up a society based on the liberty spoken of in scripture and stood as a torch for all mankind to see. But under cover of darkness, Satan’s relentless attack has dimmed the light of that torch each time it was passed on to the next generation. The Gospel, which preserved past generations, is now considered by many to be out of touch with our present generation. Humanism, like a tsunami engulfs our culture, leaving a wake of destruction in our society, our churches and our homes. We have missed the point of our existence, our salvation and the ensuing promises of Scripture. Chasing the blessings of God instead of the God of blessings has become the norm. Even thought our lives are so much better, deep down in our inmost parts, we know there is more.

Today, more than ever, folks are led to believe that by accepting Jesus as Savior their lives will automatically overflow with joy and success. Imagine my surprise when the calamities, pains and afflictions of life showed up. I was not prepared for tough times. Indecision, insecurity and stress descended on me like an avalanche. I questioned whether what I heard was true, or was it just another philosophy of life. All across this nation, churches are full of frustrated and hurting people, who have not found the healing they need. I submit there may be an even greater number who do not attend church for the same reason. What’s the use, they ask.

But before we begin throwing people under the bus, we must understand that what they have been taught is not wrong in itself, just incomplete. Although unintended, today’s presentation of the Gospel has led to a lot of unrealistic expectations. We survive with the thought that someday we will be in heaven and all of this will go away. We end up believing the discouraging voices from the darkness that say, You will never measure up.

This guilt brought on by lack of performance has immobilized the army of God. The harder I tried to live a joyous life in the presence of God the more frustrated I became. My struggle to connect God with my daily life was at a dead end. I could not shake the idea that there must be more to it than what I had found. I believed the Bible when it said that I should have peace and joy, but these blessings were not what I experienced most of the time. I was born again and looked forward to spending eternity with Jesus. But my lack of understanding the power and depth of the gospel had put a lid on the essence of my life.

We would literally explode with joy, and the light of the gospel would shine brighter than a star going nova, if we only knew what was in the heart of God. The purpose for I Can’t Believe I Missed the Point, is to expose the grand cover-up that began in the garden and continues wreaking havoc to this day. Like having your shoestrings tied together, the little things continually trip us up.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we look for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind, we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears, we moan and moan like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. (Isa. 59: 9-11)

This cry of frustration echoes the cry heard in every home in our society. The gospel message answers this cry. But, I see crucial missing components in the messages that are not being made known through today’s writings nor from the radio, TV or local church pulpits. I do not mean to minimize the fact, purpose or intent of any books found in bookstores across this land, rather to give my reason for writing. I hope to expose those unseen elements of God’s message, which carries the power to overcome subtle and hidden chains that bind and frustrate our walk with God. It is my desire that this message will shine light on the Kingdom of God and the events we encounter as we march through the time given us.

When a photographer sets up to take a portrait, he puts a lot of effort into the lighting. Unlike our photo on our driver’s license, we want our portrait to look good. Without sufficient and well-placed lights, our faces will have shadows that distort our appearance. The same principle applies to finding our path to the heart of God. We are handicapped by the darkness, making our passage toward Him frustrating, overwhelming and a daunting task indeed. We need more light.

The power to sustain our walk with God is found in those hidden dimensions. Most of what we know about God is not wrong, just incomplete. For me it started one day not long ago when I began feeling sad for no apparent reason. I could not connect it to any one thing, yet it was overwhelming and mystifying. As I was reading in the book of Jeremiah about his feeling of sadness over the plight of Israel it hit me. I too was beginning to feel God’s sadness over the condition of mankind and especially His people, the Church. The loss of so many spiritual battles has brought despair to the apple of God’s eye, among them many of my friends and fellow believers. Turmoil has become the norm and hope, the essence of all life, lies hidden in a dark corner somewhere. Thus, I began to write.

My story of struggle for motivation, excitement and purpose is not unique. I tried to live in the presence of God for four decades following my conversion. God has been very good to me. But the nagging and frustrating feelings of guilt and unworthiness kept bringing my walk with God to a standstill. I believed the voices of discouragement. Then God sent two men into my life at just the right time. Through the personal ministry of Dr Wayne Cordeiro, pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, HI and his book, The Divine Mentor, a missing dimension began to surface. Then shortly after I read Wild at Heart and Walking with God, both by John Eldredge, that illusive element slowly began to take shape. Like mist rising from a meadow at first light, missing pieces to the puzzle that had frustrated me for years began to form.

I now feel compelled to share with you, as best I know how in as many ways that I can, these missing pieces and where to find them. God created you as a unique individual; therefore, His plan is to take you on your own personal path and adventure. No one can take your journey for you or point out the exact path you should take. The search for the heart of God is yours to enjoy. I Can’t Believe I Missed the Point, is designed to help you find and enjoy the success of your voyage here on earth and on into eternity.

But never forget, we have an enemy, the Devil. His favorite tactic is to blind-side all of us. Knowing how he operates, his strategy, tactics and goals, will prove invaluable to you. Donning the whole armor of God is mandatory, but knowing how to use them is imperative. I hope to shed some light in dark places to help you effectively use that armor.

I love to observe people. Mostly my interest is in how they act or react in various situations. I have had the privilege of attending many Church conferences, Pastor’s seminars, conventions, and a myriad of secular events across this land. I detected a unique similarity among all the people—a touch of frustration. I also found a parallel on how people cope with their disappointments. Most of these people were trying to make a difference in our world and to make our lives better. However, after repeated disillusionment, most accept the notion that our life is as good as it is going to be. We settle in to make the most of the hand we are dealt. We stop trying to make a difference, hunker down and go into survival mode. Our lives shrink and our witness to the world becomes ineffective and weak. This is the state of our culture today.

Frustrated people will always end up on the short end of the stick, so to speak. They see life as unfair and that God is asking too much from them. They keep hitting the restart button only to end up in the same place. Because of our sincere desire to please God, we consider it our sacred duty to suck it up, gird up our loins, follow a long list of teachings and principles then put on a happy face and get busy for the Kingdom. This defined my life for years and the lives of so many I have met. Praise God, He has shown me there is more to the life He gave me than I ever imagined.

His persistent message wrought by Scripture and testimony of godly men and women is to trust Him and live in hope. He is on our side in every conflict. As the light of the gospel intensifies, we begin seeing the true heart of God. This marvelous sight energizes us to hit the restart button one more time.

Getting a clear picture of why we were created, what actually happened to Adam in the Garden and the core purpose for Salvation is the most powerful news in the universe. This is not a technical or theological exercise; it is a view that exposes more of the reality of our daily lives.

The contrast of light and darkness demonstrates our plight. Darkness has no power in itself; it simply is the absence of light. There are no dark bulbs to screw into a socket. Sin, like mold, thrives in dark places and gives power to evil. Our capable adversary, Satan, has been placing things of this world between you and God from your birth to block out the light. He lies about every circumstance and event by giving us wrong solutions. These solutions become our default setting and from then on, the dictates how we respond to life. They shape our lives and personalities as they continually run in the background to distort the truth and obscure the heart of God rendering us confused and discouraged. Our joy has been stolen.

Spiritual battles have been greatly misunderstood. There is a prize or spoil, so to speak, for every spiritual battle and it goes to the winner. If Satan wins, he takes it, and if you win, you get it. Knowing the essence of every Spiritual battle is crucial. Just like in the game of American football, if the defense knows the play the offense is going to run; it will discourage the offense causing them to lose. When we understand the strategy Satan uses against us, we will know how to win more often than lose. It is not merely the struggle between good and evil; it is more than the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.

Walking in the light with God is what we were created to do, therefore, possible. The pages of Scripture show us that Jesus is the source of that light. The Holy Spirit will systematically use this light to remove the shroud of darkness, one piece at a time and help reprogram our default settings to Kingdom settings.