Month: June 2012

Trying to be the best will not get you into Heaven


It is a fact that we try all of our lives to be the best at whatever we do or who we are. Some of us succeed, many of us fail, but being the “best you can be” will NOT get your foot into the gates of Heaven!

Your salvation is not based on works, it is based on belief in Jesus and the penalty that He paid for your sins. There are works that we should do for God and His Kingdom, but our works alone cannot save us. Anything that we do in our own strength and of our own wisdom will not have any impact on our salvation.

As Jesus said to His disciples, “Apart from me, you can do nothing”. We can try but we will fail by ourselves and on our own. We may be able to do things for and in the “world”, and we may be successful at some things, but if  by our own efforts we are striving for eternity they will fail without Christ in our life and without Him in those plans.

Our best is not good enough unless God is involved in all aspects of our lives. Christ is our strength and our reliance on Him for that strength is mandatory to be a successful Christian. There are many religions which point people to their strengths, their self-reliance to be successful in life and in their spiritual lives, but these endeavors will not produce eternal rewards because they are from man’s point of view and in man-made religions.

Religions that have been started by men only confuse and deny the issues that are real in our world. This is exactly what Satan wants because it takes away from the Truth of God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus. If we do not get any message out to the people in the world, in our congregations, in our home or workplace, we must get them to know Christ!

We are not the ones who save, but the message about His grace and the work that He did for us must be told to all who will listen. Once that is accomplished, the seed is planted in their hearts and the Spirit takes over the watering and nurturing of their conscience toward being saved and sanctified in Christ.

The blessing that we have been given through the blood of Christ that allows us to come to a saving knowledge of Him is not to be held unto ourselves but is to be given to others. Once we have that blessing, we are to give it away to others. How could we keep this knowledge and the gift of eternity from others? Knowing of the eternal consequences for those who have not accepted Jesus should make us want to tell anyone who will listen.

Yet, the wisdom of God is foolishness to those who won’t accept it and to the world as well. Believe in Jesus, search the scriptures, find the truth and don’t believe the lies that are told in the world. Satan knows these things are true but he has been and is leading the world astray and when the age comes to a close, it will be too late.

Doctrine and Salvation


I am having a hard time with this one so bear with me.

Our Lord, Jesus, specifically said that we come to the Father through Him. By accepting Him as our Lord and Savior we are saved. There was no particular doctrine involved, at the time there were no Baptists or Methodists or any other religion besides Judaism or pagan beliefs in the area where He lived.

According to John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This is not a doctrinal statement and it does not give partiality to any belief other than in Jesus and God, the Father and the Spirit since He is the Comforter that was sent after Jesus ascended to Heaven. These concepts are not in question between doctrines or between true believers. The problems have arisen over the years because of disagreements in the church itself, regardless of the denomination.

These disagreements have resulted in hurt feelings, splintered families and broken churches. We are all trying to worship the same God and His Son, Jesus, so why can’t we get along? The reason may be as simple as this: we are human. We have differences of opinion about everything, especially religious topics.

Can we get past this and worship the One True God and His Son? Yes, we can if we follow what He teaches us in the Bible. The way to know Him is there because that is where God reveals Himself to all of us, through His Word. Doctrines don’t reveal or save anyone, regardless of their origin.

The apostles were with Jesus and gave us our New Testament by their writing to the churches which they started. Jesus said to go and tell the world the good news about salvation through believing in Him and by repenting of our sinful ways. Follow Jesus and allow Him to live in you and through your life in this world.

Sometimes, actually most of the time in our lives, we who are Christians are the only representatives of Jesus that many people see. It is through our actions and our words that they can see Him and if we don’t act like our heart has been changed, what will they conclude? If your heart has not been changed by allowing Jesus in, why not pray that He will come into your life and change you into that “new creature in Christ” mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Sometimes, our churches are split in two because of hard feelings and pride. Sometimes it is because of jealousy. Sin can cause more problems in churches than it does in your daily life. The reason behind this is that it is not recognized until it has done the work that Satan intended for it to do. Sin in churches is easy to see for someone outside the church but hard for those inside. Although it is the effect of sin that we can see, not the sin itself. We are not to be judges toward our brethren, that is left up to God alone.

I know that I may get many comments about being judgmental toward others because of this but I am only stating an opinion and an observation. From outside a church it is hard to know what the cause of the split is, whether it is personal or is it due to “factions” inside the church.

In 1900 there were only about one thousand religions in the world. Now, there are over ten thousand. Many of them are man made and don’t follow the One True God so how can we be so fractious in the Church that Jesus and His disciples started, regardless of the denomination? Satan has caused the splits in the church over the years and has laughed each time a denomination has split apart. Satan is the main cause of these problems because he attends church more than most of us do.

Christians need to get back to the basics of Christianity, telling others about Jesus, calling for a revival in our congregations and bringing people to a saving knowledge of Jesus and the reason why He is needed in their lives today! If we are not doing that, then we are not doing what Jesus told us to do as His followers.

Dad, what are you doing?


You may or may not know where Father’s Day came from, so I looked it up and found it. It came about because of a girl named Sonora Smart Dodd. In 1909, she was sitting in church listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when she had the idea of Father’s Day. She had been raised by her father after her mother’s death, so she wanted her father to know how special he was to her. To make a long story short, twenty-five years later, through her efforts President Calvin Coolidge designated the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day, then President Lyndon Johnson declared it as well but it took President Richard Nixon to sign the proclamation and make it permanent.

In God’s Word, there is one father that we know of who doesn’t have anything to say and yet he helped to raise and teach and nurture the Son of God. I am speaking of Joseph. In the story of Jesus’ birth, Mary and the angels have big parts to play; the wise men who are seeking the Child are prominent in the story too. Joseph is told that the Child is from God and that it is OK to accept Mary as his wife. Later on he is warned in a dream to take the child and flee to escape Herod’s soldiers.

Nowhere in the story do we hear from Joseph. I suppose if you are told that you are to be the step-father of the Son of God that would take your breath away. But there are many things about Joseph that we can only get from other scripture. Joseph loved Mary, which is what a father is supposed to do. Even though he thought she didn’t love him.

When he was making plans to divorce Mary, God showed him the divine plan in a dream: In a dream an angel appeared to Joseph, “Joseph, thou son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her womb is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20-21). “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have relations with her until her son was born; and Joseph named him Jesus.” (Matt. 1:24, 25).

How much better would the world be if every father took responsibility like Joseph? He understood what God expected of him, and he was ready to obey! Even if the village that they lived in considered the child to be a child of adultery. Joseph believed God, obeyed God and accepted the responsibility that God had given him.

About fifty years ago, seventeen percent of the children born were raised apart from their fathers. In 1990, that number was up to 36%. Today, nearly half of all children in the U.S. are raised without a father in the home.

You know, in many ways, we as fathers and husbands, are to be the leaders of our team. The team being the family, we are expected to be the head of the household in all areas. That includes financial, religious, personal, etc. Every part of our lives and the life of our family, we do not control but we are to guide and help and nurture to the best of our ability and the ability that God has given us. That is our responsibility as fathers. We are to be like God as much as is humanly possible, just don’t ACT like a god!

Your wife will take care of that! She will bring you down a notch or two if you do!

Joseph was a devout Jew and made sure to do everything according to the Lord’s teachings in the Law of Moses to the best of his ability. He sought God and led his family to the Passover festival every year.

I read once that “A child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father.” (Austin L. Sorensen) Seeing God in their father is a child’s best way to come to know God as their Father. Let that settle a bit in your mind and think on it. Who else would a child look to if not his or her father? We all claim, if we know Jesus, that God is our Father but can you feel Him? Can you touch Him?

Those sensations of touch are necessary for children and only our earthly fathers can give us a hug or hold your hand or pull the fish that you caught off the hook. We are supposed to be the spiritual leader in our family, like the priests in the Old Testament. If your child sees you reading the Bible, then they will see that you think it is important, especially when the wisdom that you gain from it is applied in your life, to every part of your life.

You are able to instill faith in your children. You are able to show them what a loving father looks like and acts like. You can give them the ability to trust and depend on their Father in heaven, but you can’t give your children something that you don’t have. Before they will see God in you, you have to let Him into your heart and your life. He has to be the top priority and they have to see you seeking Him. When you do, your children will see it; your grandchildren will see it. They will know that it is important, that He is important to you and to them.

A preacher once asked some preschoolers to draw pictures of God. He was going to use them as illustrations for his sermon. At the end of the class, they came up with rainbows and men with big hands. His daughter told him that she didn’t know what God looked like, so she drew a picture of him instead.

Joseph was a quiet man in scripture. Strong in his faith, yet we never heard him speak. His example teaches all of us a lesson in righteousness, responsibility and a lesson in religion. God is our Heavenly Father and He wants nothing more than for you to be a part of His family.

a tribute to Ronald Reagan and our Christian heritage


http://www.youtube.com/embed/OvN1jTkzXbY

This link and the video contained in it point to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many people think that our government and the men who serve there do not and should not espouse their beliefs while in office. I think a leader is supposed to lead by example, not just go along with the crowd or the most popular group at the time.

I truly would like to have a President who had the faith and the courage to speak his faith regardless of the media bias at the time. I pray for our country and I hope that you will too.

Can we have a daily Sabbath?


Can we have a daily Sabbath? Can we enjoy a time with God as the focus of our attention and nothing else? In today’s world and the society that we live in with everything being instant and with no time for listening and waiting, can we slow down enough to hear His voice? If we heard it, would we listen?

The answer to these questions should be a resounding, YES! We must make time for God in our lives on a daily basis, because if we don’t we will miss out on the most important relationship that we have available to us. Just as with any friendship, there has to be a time of conversation but we also have to listen too. God’s voice is not the booming voice heard in movies or on cartoons. It is still and quiet and we need to quiet our minds in order to hear it and understand the meaning behind it.

God doesn’t need us, but He wants us in a relationship with Him on a daily basis. He doesn’t want us to come to Him once per week or just when we are hurting. He wants us all the time and we should want Him too! He does allow us to live on the earth and be what He intended for us to be and He is the Creator, so why can’t we give Him some attention daily?

I think that we don’t give Him daily time because we don’t think that we have the time to give. We do have the time but we usually put other priorities ahead of God, when He should be number one! I imagine some people might want to know why He should be number one so I will tell you, because you are breathing!

He created the earth and the trees and everything else that allows us to breathe, and He created you! He has a purpose for you and once you find that purpose, you will know.

Our Creator wants us to love Him because we are loved by Him, not because we have to but because we want to. Many people in this world refuse to acknowledge Him which is sad and it is because of Satan‘s influence in the world. He has convinced scientists and most of secular society that God doesn’t exist and that he doesn’t either. The problem with this is that it is wrong and when history comes to an end, we will all find out the truth but it will be too late.

There will not be a party in hell, but it will be hell for those who don’t or won’t believe what the Bible has taught for thousands of years. It is like believing in gravity, whether you believe in it or not it is there. Not believing in it won’t nullify its effect. If you don’t want to believe in hell, that is fine, but don’t blame anyone but yourself if you end up there one day.

The only way to salvation is through belief in Jesus and the sacrifice that He made for us, acknowledge that you, like everyone else, are a sinner and ask Him into your life. This is the easy part, the hard part comes with living your life through Jesus and His life through you.