Doctrine will send you to hell

Considering how many religions are in the world you would think that most of the world would be going to heaven. But most of them are not depending upon Jesus for their salvation, even the ones which claim to be “Christian” in their message. Many churches and their preachers or bishops or elders are teaching about Jesus and His message but they are not teaching that each person in their church needs to KNOW Jesus to be saved!

You can know about Jesus and all of His miracles and His parables and that He walked on water and every part of His story even up to His burial and His resurrection…but if you don’t know Him in your heart as your personal Savior then you don’t have Him! No amount of doctrine or discipline or holding fast to the church or the belief which your Mom and Dad drilled into your brain will get you into heaven.

The only way to get into heaven is through belief in Jesus and accepting Him as your Savior, then working out your salvation by reading the Bible and living your life according to it. Striving to be more like Jesus through repenting of your sinful behavior and never going back to it. Even when you fail, and you will, ask forgiveness and read more of His Word with prayer and submission to His will and not your own. That is what is needed and necessary for Christians of any denomination or doctrine or discipline to be able to stand in front of God and show the righteousness of Jesus instead of our wretched and sinful souls.

God loves you and He will forgive you but going to church with an attitude of “my parents are pillars of this church, therefore I am too” or anything so prideful as that will send you straight to hell! No amount of money or time spent soaking in sermons or summer camps listening to teachers who don’t even practice what they are teaching will get you into heaven.

The only way to salvation is by realizing that you are a sinful creature and only by grace are you even alive at all! If you have ever felt the touch of the Holy Spirit in your life and your heart and you didn’t fall down and answer that call then I suggest you do so…NOW! Because when the trumpet sounds and you are left here with the option to starve or take the mark of the antichrist which will you choose? Will you be brave enough to truly give your heart to Jesus then and be executed by beheading? I suggest you do it now while the time is yet available but even now each of us only has the minute in which we are living.

Don’t wait until the real church is gone and the world is left reeling and wondering what happened. Make sure of your salvation while there is time to do so.

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What do you do?

During the times when we are anxious or fearful about…well, about anything in particular. Whether it is money or disease or death, anxiety and fearfulness can only add to the stress of the situation. Regardless of what is causing the problem itself, we should step back, if we can, in our minds since many times we can’t physically do so. Step back if you can get some quiet time during your time of need and seek to know the mind of God on the matter at hand.

How am I supposed to know or find out what God thinks about my situation? By prayer and the reading His Word.

I know it seems silly to seek God’s help with something in the 21st century but He is still here and His aid is much better at easing your mind than just sitting around fretting about something which you cannot control. It is never outside of God’s ability to control and take care of whatever it may be, no matter the circumstances.

But, in the world today we see all sorts of problems and fears which cause stress on our lives even when we aren’t directly affected by those problems. Why is this? Mainly, in my opinion, because of the twenty-four-hour cycle of news feeds and media and posts on Facebook which we can’t seem to get away from.

This year would be a good year to de-stress your life and only check in on social media when you need to, not every fifteen minutes or so like some do. I use it to keep in touch with family and friends but I only get on FB about once or twice a day. I also steer clear of the drama which tries to get under people’s skin while looking at it so I am not a very active person on that platform.

God will watch over your life and the stress that you carry with you but the best place to lay your stress down is at His feet and leave it there. Don’t ask Him to help you with it and then take it up and worry about it an hour or two later. That’s like taking a letter or a bill payment to the post office and then deciding that you can get it to the recipient faster and more on time than they can. Ridiculous logic there.

God can handle all of your problems, no matter how big and bad they seem to you. He is holding the universe together all the time and that isn’t taking much of His attention from your problems at all. Give your life and your problems to Him, you will never be disappointed with the results if you will.

The Christmas Story

Luke 2:

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and Angels

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Our Savior, Lord, and King born as a babe to be our Passover Lamb and He will come back soon as our King!

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Pain, heartache, and disease

What in the world could cause me to begin with a title like that? Because there is something that many of us do in our lives which has a direct connection or effect on our lives. It is usually something which we have held onto for much longer than we should have and it can cause all of these in our lives. That something is anger and hate. Granted that is 2 things but many times they go together.

The problems start when we hold onto them for longer than we should. Either one of these emotions can cause pain and disease when we keep them in our lives because many times we treat them as pets. We bring them out and “feed” them our feelings and we try to keep them alive so we won’t forget the reason for them in the first place.

But anger and hatred are like hot coals from a fire. The longer that you hold them the more damage they cause to you…not to the object of your anger or hatred. After a few years or even many years, sometimes the heat of those emotions tends to cool a bit. But, just like a fire, if you stoke them and add a little more fuel to the “fire” in order to bring the heat back regardless of the type of fuel it is.

That is how our country has been fueling all of the anger and hatred and resentment over the past 130 years or so. We have never let the fire go out and we haven’t really tried to get to a point of forgiveness. Each time that there is some reconciliation or healing which begins, there is always an incident which happens to peel the scab off or which puts more fuel on the dying embers once more.

Slavery and the racism which came from it and all of the heartaches and horrible crimes which were committed during that time and since then because it is a part of America’s past, not just the South but because slavery was a part of England and the Bahamas and the Carribean. Yet it seems that we as a country and as a people, regardless of the color of our skin, can’t seem to learn from that past and come to a place of forgiveness and then move on.

So, to answer my first question of why am I writing this now…it is because it needs to be said. If someone in our generation who remembers the murders of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy doesn’t begin to address the issue and seek to move on with forgiveness and healing, hopefully, it may never happen. If dialogue is not sought out in a peaceful way and then used as a step toward healing and forgiveness how can we ever find our way to that place?

If the first step isn’t taken to move toward reconciliation and healing in a country where there has been a division like this for so long, it will never be taken. We will be constantly refueling the fire with more anger and hatred and stoking it until it kindles again. Healing and forgiveness can never come from that and until we at least try to take that step there is no possibility of healing between “white’s” and people of color regardless of the darkness of their skin.

Jesus loves each of us regardless of our color or our culture and we should at least try to accept His strength and His Spirit so that we can make a difference one day in this country. Too many have died because of mistrust and anger over the years and if we can get to know each other as people, not colors, then maybe we can take a step in that direction.

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What does this season mean to you?

The Christmas season means different things in different cultures and religions. For some this time of year doesn’t mean much at all because they don’t recognize Jesus as a Person Who should be celebrated. For others, their religion doesn’t celebrate any holiday regardless of the time of year. For those who celebrate Christmas with food and consumption of it in all of its celebratory ways, it is a time of throwing out the diet and enjoying food for the tastes of the season.

Then…there are those who just love to buy all kinds of “toys”, from those for children to the ones for children who haven’t grown up. Most of us actually fall into this last group. We see so many problems, financial and otherwise, which come from our consumption of this “stuff”. So what should we do with our lives because of this season? Do you even see this season as one which we should celebrate the birth of One Who came to be a Savior for all?

This celebration has been with the Christian church for nearly two thousand years at this time. Some celebrate it as such and some do not because they do not recognize Him as their Savior. God brought about His works in this time not to glorify Israel or Himself but to show His love for all of mankind and His work was to bring Jesus into the world as its Savior.

The world chose not to recognize Him then and most of the world chooses the same even today which is why we, as His servants, should tell them about Him and stress that the time grows short for making a decision about Him. While it is true that some have many days still, there are some who do not have much time to decide if they want an eternity with Jesus or with Satan.

All of us have an eternity to bear but it is the type of life in eternity that is at stake. An eternity with Satan in Hell is called the second death because you are separated from God, the Author of Life. Why am I bringing this up during this season of joy? Because it is necessary for people to hear it and because some have heard it and many more have not, and yet there are many who have chosen not to receive Him.

These are in need of a Savior and are the reason for which He was sent to us. Not to begin a season of gift-giving, although that is a good thing, or even to bring hope for a fallen world but to bring to each of us the hope of an eternity with Him and the possibility of being redeemed from our sinful lives. That is the message of His coming as a babe in Bethlehem, God dwelling with mankind to redeem us all through His teachings and His death on a cross and His resurrection so that we could be with Him one day too.

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He is our Savior and Redeemer. Amen

Do you believe?

Jesus said that if we believe in Him we will be saved. But what about the rest of God’s Word? Do you believe what it says? You know…you can’t pick and choose which parts or which verses or books to believe although many people seem to do just that these days. Being a Christian means more than believing in Jesus although that is the beginning of your faith. Living as a Christian daily means living by God’s Word. Not just the New Testament or the parts about Jesus and His ministry but by living and believing ALL of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation.

There are no areas of the Bible which are gray areas when it comes to faith. You either believe all of it or you actually believe only parts of it and when you do that you have invalidated ALL of it. By choosing to believe some parts of it and not others it is you who makes God’s Word of no effect!

Being a Christian, heart, and soul, is not a life of choosing what you will believe and then throwing out the parts you don’t like. Except in our world today, this is exactly how people want to read and believe or not believe in God. They want to choose which parts that they can live with and leave out the parts that they don’t like or those which make them feel guilty of their sins.

Jesus did not soften His sermons because there were people in the crowd who didn’t like what He was saying. He taught what the Father told Him to teach and to bring those in who would believe. If there were some who would not listen or believe that His teaching came from God then so be it because it was their choice to reject His teaching.

God had been trying to reach them ever since He liberated them from slavery to the Egyptians. But as soon as three days into their freedom, they began to grumble and it never really stopped, even when they reached the land which God had promised to them and conquered those who were living there. We are the same way today. We want the blessings of God and the promise of eternity in Heaven but we want to live our lives our way…but that isn’t how it works!

In our world or living by God’s rules, it is either one or the other, you can’t have it both ways!

That is why in the book of Joshua they were given a choice and we are as well: “Choose you this day whom you will serve“. You will either serve your own selfish desires and live like the rest of the world does or you will serve God and follow His ways and live in the footsteps of Jesus.

What Child is this?

For many years we have sung this song at this time of year but I have often wondered if anyone actually searches for Him or His real identity?

The angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she would bear a Son Who would be called Immanuel and to name Him Jesus (Yeshua). For a teenage girl, this was fairly upsetting particularly since she was betrothed to Joseph at the time. Without going over the entire story of Jesus’ birth my only revelation is this: He was NOT born on December 25. He was born, according to the Jewish calendar, during the Feast of Tabernacles which is around late September early October.

Jesusfitsinyourheart Why is this important? Because the word used or translated “with” when the meaning of Immanuel was translated also means “to tabernacle with”. God came to live with mankind, at least for a time and physically be with His creation. Ever since the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has lived with each believer from the time that they asked Him to come into their hearts. He dwells with us!

Isn’t that a wonderful and powerful message and the best part of it is that one day soon we will be with Him too! Your life and mine will not have to end with the death of this “tabernacle” which is walking around with pains and problems! We will be with Him forever. God loves His creation enough that we will be in His Presence for eternity. No more pain or sickness or death. That is the message and the hope that we have all been given by His grace and mercy.

So why would you want to keep this glorious and life-changing news to yourself? When we are baptized into our new life with Him and we come out of the water we are like the Hebrews who were escaping from Egypt after going through the Red Sea. We are not supposed to just sit down on the shore and not move until Jesus comes and they didn’t either. They complained and whined about being in the desert but God provided for them and He does the same for us too.

We have been given a new life to live in Him and through Him because of His love and grace toward us and we should make sure to walk in that grace until He comes again. The fact that God came to live with and redeem mankind is the most wonderful act of compassion and love that can be imagined. Don’t turn away from Him just because of your idea of how your life should be. Seek Him out and find the life which you can live through Him!

The story of His birth and how we celebrate it has been handed down and changed over the years to coincide with other traditions and celebrations but the story and the message only come from the gospels. That is the story which we should be hearing and clinging to for our salvation because He, the baby in the manger, is our Savior.

Gadgets and doodads

Why are we so interested in these things which take up space and don’t get used? Life is not about stuff and gadgets and doodads, it is about relationships and the people in our lives, especially those in our families! We should be thankful for them and let them know how we feel about them and their contributions to our lives. Those who we attend church with should also know how much they mean to us as well. But many times we keep that information to ourselves and never really express our feelings toward them.

Even toward our family, immediate and in-laws too, we seem to keep our feelings to ourselves. Why has our society become so distant toward each other and yet many want to open our borders to people who aren’t Americans and really don’t want to become citizens? Many of them seem to only want the benefits of being considered an American but they don’t want to be an American!

Christmas and being a Christian is not about stuff or presents or doodads and gadgets, it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Who came to bring humanity the salvation which God wants us to have. Do you believe that God wants us to be saved? I do. Because He wouldn’t have sent Jesus to be our Savior if He didn’t! Remember, if you have ever read about the Garden of Eden, God used to walk with Adam in the cool of the day. That is the type of relationship He desires to have again with us.

Not just a few of us but with every person that will repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior by believing in Him.

Statues and idols don’t have any power to save you. Nothing which is made by mankind, religion or otherwise, can bring salvation to your soul. Only belief in Jesus as your Savior can do that. Praying to Allah can’t do it. Praying to Mary can’t do it. Praying to your ancestors can’t give you eternal life. Only belief in Jesus and in His atonement for your sins on the cross can bring eternal salvation to you.

Walking with Him daily and following His lead in your life can bring such peaceful days to you that I can’t describe them. I have had more days of peace walking with Him for the past twenty years than I could ever imagine having without Him in my life. Granted, I don’t live in a country ripped apart by war or terrorism and I’m not wealthy since I live on disability now, but life is better since He is keeping me here to do His work until that day when He calls me home.

I still have trouble making my bills sometimes. I still wake up with my aches and pains that go with me everywhere. But…I am blessed with His Presence and His promise of eternity when this life is over. The time which we have here is a very small amount of time compared to eternity and that is my goal. To make it to the home which He has prepared for me and for you too if you will believe in Him. No more sorrow or pain or wearing glasses to see or even a watch to tell time by because we don’t need to watch the time.

We will be “like Him” when we are there, not “gods” but our bodies will be immortal and a lot better than the ones we live in now. I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Him out as their Savior so I can welcome you home or even meet you one day in eternity.

Many who need Him

There are so many people in the world who have never heard of Jesus and His love for them. Some of them are in places where missionaries aren’t allowed and some are in places where the danger is against those who bring His message and anyone who may give their life to Him. So…how can we get His message to the world, to the people who need Him and don’t know Him. They may know about Him but they haven’t come to the point of realizing that their soul and their eternity depends upon their relationship with Jesus.

How can we get the word and the message of Jesus to those who truly need to hear it? By going and telling others about our Savior and His love, whether we do it in person or online they need to hear His message.

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The pathway to salvation is not a hard path to find but you have to stick to the path and stay on it until He comes. Don’t veer to the right or the left because the way is easy if you follow it but when you get off of the pathway you are getting into the enemy’s territory.

God in man…

When our Savior came to Earth as a baby, He was the Seed of the woman but He was also the Word made flesh. The Old Testament tells of this in many scriptures and many verses yet there are some who will only teach and preach from the New Testament from the gospels on to the book of Revelation. The Bible reveals Jesus in many different ways and places in Scripture if we will only read and study it in order to find Him. In Genesis, He was the promised Seed of the woman. In Exodus, He was shown in the pillar of Cloud by day and the Fire by night, His sustaining Presence was also with them where the water came from the Rock and the manna which sustained them.

Jesuspaiditall The Person of Jesus showed up in many different places. Later He was seen as the Angel of the Lord and as a Son of the gods. His most enduring ministry has been in the past two millennia as the Holy Spirit sent to teach us to be more like Him and to be our Comforter. Jesus is our Savior, our Shepherd, and our Redeemer as well as our Advocate and our Protector.

God has given Him the seat at His right hand and one day He will sit on His throne in Jerusalem as King, ruling for one thousand years. How do I have confidence that these things will happen? Because of the prophecies in the Bible and their fulfillment. The only ones which have not come to pass are those foretold for the Tribulation. Be ready when He comes for His Bride, the believers who are on the Earth at that time and those who have died. There won’t be a second call. If you are left here then you will be part of the time of Trouble.

Jesus Can you become a Christian during this time? Yes, but it will be dangerous and deadly because if you refuse to take the mark of the ruler of the world at this time you will be killed by beheading. If you do take His mark then you will lose your eternity. There is no gray area to hide behind…you either belong to Jesus or you follow Satan’s false leader who is the opposite of Jesus, the AntiChrist.