Barna’s research has concluded that less than five percent of parents have a Biblical worldview. What happened to the church? What has happened to the family that is not teaching their children about God?
I believe that we are seeing the beginning of the apostasy that is foretold in the Bible. In the last ten years or so, the faith of this country has been shaken. The government has shaken it, the entertainment sector has shaken it and the media has shaken it. All of the people who say they are Christians (according to the research-70%) don’t really believe what they say they believe. In the polls that were taken, the number drops to around 20% who actually attend church regularly and when reading the Bible is factored in it drops even more.
This is predicted in God’s Word but I didn’t think I would see it happening in my lifetime. But…they actually are calling good things as evil and evil things as good today. It’s in the news reports, although I don’t regularly read or listen to those unless it has something to do with Israel or Christian persecution. God is watching our world and even though it is a “small blue dot” in the cosmos, it is the dot that He placed us on. He cares for us and one day He will come back to prove that to the whole world.
Life is so short today and it seems that there are fewer and fewer people who even care about those around them. We are here for God’s purpose in our lives and we should be seeking out that purpose and living in it each and every day. Some say that is hard to do but Jesus never said it would be easy. He told His disciples that “you will have tribulation because of My name“. As long as we only speak about God, no one seems to be offended but when you bring up the name of Jesus it seems that offends almost everyone.
Believe in Him for your salvation and your eternal home because there is no other name that saves your soul.
Since Jesus came, there have been many centuries have passed by and many have wondered when He will be coming back? He’ll come back when God tells Him that it is time. It could be tomorrow or it could be in a few minutes or next year but God doesn’t forget His promises. The angels told the disciples that Jesus would come back in the same way you saw Him go when He ascended to Heaven. They didn’t say that “He might come back”. God’s Word is not a myth or a collection of fictional stories. It was penned by men who the Holy Spirit gave those words, the Third Person of the Trinity. God has chosen each of us who believe in Jesus as our Savior and He knows us by name. There is a quote that I’m going to place here for you to consider: Did you ever stop to think that God is going to be as pleased to have you with Him in heaven as you are to be there? A. W. Tozer
Our lives begin when we are in the womb because God places all of our personality and our gifts inside each life that is to be born before we come into this world. When we live our lives according to His principles and His wisdom we are living our best lives because we have chosen to be His. We choose this because He has chosen us when we feel that pull in our heart that tells us “there is more to life than just living day to day”. The Holy Spirit touches us and we know that we need Him in our hearts to help us with this life because living this life without Him, while it isn’t impossible, will be a life without a true purpose.
God loves each of us whether we love Him or not is our choice. Does God want to bring all of humanity into heaven? Yes, He does but there are so many who have chosen to believe in a “higher being” that isn’t God and that is what will keep many people from going to live with Him. It isn’t your sins that will condemn you to eternity in hell, it is your choice of Who you worship in this life. Whether it is yourself or another god or the Creator, Jesus Christ. Only believing in and giving your heart to Jesus will grant you entrance into “My Father’s house” as Jesus told His disciples.
This life is not the only one you have. Each one of us has an eternal soul that will live on after the physical body has died. Your destination in eternity is what you determine in this life. Have you chosen to live your life as you feel it could be done to please yourself? If you have then you are your own “god”. If you have ever felt God touch your heart to bring you to Himself then you should’ve given your heart to Jesus at that point. If you did then you are all set for eternity. If you pushed Him away and haven’t gone back to that point…what are you waiting for? Not one of us is guaranteed to live through the day today, so make sure of your eternity as soon as you can because we cannot see the future even one hour from now.
Don’t get me wrong, the church still exists…but barely. It has broken into so many different “congregations” and beliefs that it is no wonder that young people are confused about the message. Few churches preach or teach the same message. They twist it and “adapt” it to their audience so that everyone feels welcome. Jesus didn’t do that! He taught His message, God’s message, whether the people in the crowd liked it or not! If some walked away disgusted so be it. He was more interested in those who heard the message and wanted it to make a difference in their lives.
I watch Matt Hagee preach some days, early in the morning, and when the camera picks up people in the crowd it is amazing the differences you can see in the people’s faces. Some seem to be giving God the glory and praising Him during the service. While others seem to be indifferent to the message and just want him to get it over with. Then there are some who seem to be listening but the expression on their face is hard to read. It may be that they are interested in the content or they agree with what is being said…these are the people that aren’t quite sure what to do with the message. Why?
It could be that they are truly searching for the Truth of God’s Word. It could be that they feel the need for a Savior to make a difference in their lives but they’re not sure…yet. What will happen on that day when Jesus comes to take the church, His Bride, home to be with Him? Those who were indifferent will be angry at themselves because they didn’t listen prayerfully. Those who were interested in the message, and agreed that they needed Jesus hopefully made that decision before the Trumpet sounds.
The problem that I see in the crowds at Cornerstone church and other television crowds is that there are too many who want to wait or maybe “ride the fence” for a while. The problem with this is that we don’t know when God’s Trumpet will sound for us. The couple that wants to wait may be killed in a car wreck on the way home. The man who just wants the sermon to be over may have a heart attack this afternoon or tonight. Our individual “calling home” may happen before the Big call comes for the whole church and we have no idea when that call will come. Make sure of your salvation today before it is too late.
Lots of people think they know the answer to this question. He came to bring salvation to a dying world. He came to set us free from being slaves to sin and its consequences. He came because He loved each of us so deeply that He couldn’t bear seeing us suffer from the weight of sin. He came because God had pre-ordained that He would come to take the sins of the entirety of the human race on Himself and pay the penalty for our sins.
All of these are right, but He also came to bring the Kingdom of God to us so that we would know about it, and by following His example we could live it out in our lives and give it away to others.
This doesn’t work if you don’t believe in Jesus or anything that is written in the Bible, God’s Word. You have to believe in God and His Word and in Jesus Himself in order for you to even have a hope of living out even a fraction of His example…His Life that He invited us to share with Him and with others. This takes faith! Maybe not as much faith as believing that we came from apes but even a little faith, like a mustard seed, can make a BIG difference.
The Kingdom of God came to Earth through the ministry of Jesus, the Son of God. He brought it because it was foretold and predestined that HE would come and because His Father wanted us to have access to His Kingdom. The only way that we can have access to it is through the blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sins and redeems us from those sins and the punishment for them and for turning away from Him. Accepting Him as our Savior is the only way to be saved but many people do turn away. I pray that you, whoever you are, will not turn away from His call on your life.
