Category: Choose Christ

If the church was a hospital…


“The United States now ranks third (3rd) following China and India in the number of people who are not professing Christians; in other words, the U.S. is becoming an ever-increasing “un-reached people group.”

If the church in America was a hospital the government would investigate it for the number of “deaths” (people leaving) and shut it down entirely! Why is this happening? America was begun by people who were looking for a place to worship without persecution concerning their faith or religious practices, so what has happened in the 240+ years that America has been a nation?

In a way, the church is a “care facility” for Christians or rather that is what it is meant to be. We are or at least should be studying the Bible there at least once every week, listening to a sermon about Jesus or God’s plans for our lives and learning from these sermons exactly how to live our Christian lives!

The survey, which is at the link above, tells us that people are leaving the church as hurting people because they have not been getting what they need from the sermons there. They feel empty instead of being filled with hope for the week ahead. Jesus is the Author of LIfe and if you leave a church service feeling more dead than alive, something is wrong!

God didn’t send Jesus here to bring people from life to feeling dead! The hope that we find in Jesus should be life-giving and life-sustaining because we will be with Him into eternity if we have given our hearts to Him and live accordingly.

So…what is going on in the church today? People seem to be disillusioned with the message or the messenger but it is difficult to tell which one is actually the problem. Is it possible to fix this? The only way that I know of is with lots of prayer with the entire church body involved in the prayer. If those in the congregation don’t want to participate or even feel the need to participate, then it is likely that the church will soon close its doors.

I was called into a pastorship a little more than seven years ago but the number in attendence on a regular basis has been dwindling for a few years now. Mostly due to jobs being elsewhere and people moving and the fact that our congregation was small to begin with (less than 30 people). Churches are closing at an alarming rate, not just in the so-called “Bible Belt” of the South but all over America.

Only if we will come back to our core beliefs in God and humble ourselves with prayer about this situation will things get better. Although, we are very close to the time of Jesus’ return for His Bride, at least that part of her that is left. It is during this time when the faith of many will grow cold and after the church is taken up things will only get worse. I pray that we will come back to our faith and trust in the Lord and maybe things will turn around before it is too late.

Humble

Consider…love


There is so much hate and discord in the world today, why are we seeing all of these terrible problems all around us? In my opinion, it is because we haven’t tried to love people more. I don’t mean physical love or some kind of superficial love. The kind of love that I am speaking of is God’s kind of love.

“Well, now how do we do that?” you might say. The same way that Jesus did. If He can do it and His disciples did it then why can’t we do it today? If you truly are a Christian and you’ve been changed by His Spirit then you should be able to love someone in the same way that Jesus loved them. Not by looking at their skin color or how beautiful or handsome they are…but by seeing them the way that God looks at them. By seeing the value of their souls to God!

Jesus said if a man gained the whole world but loses his soul, what good would it do that man? In this, Jesus was speaking of the wealth of the whole world! I am not sure how much that could be but I know it would be in the trillions of dollars! That is still less than the value of your soul to God.

AngelsRejoiceGod created the entire universe and your soul, your salvation is worth more to Him than all of the wealth of the entire world or even the world itself! Imagine what the souls of every person on Earth are worth to Him. The blood of His Son, Jesus (Yeshua). That is what every person on Earth is worth. When you accept the atonement which Jesus’ death provided for your sins and for my sins, you have to agree that we are not worthy of His sacrifice. But He considered us worthy, which is why He did what He did for each of us.

It is not a great stretch to look at the Scriptures and realize that God has loved humanity since He created Adam and Eve. Even though they rebelled against His command and ate from a forbidden tree, He still loved them. He could look down through time and see you and me and each person who will choose to follow Him and believe in Jesus. He could also see those who will choose not to believe, but that doesn’t mean that He loved them less than anyone else.

God’s love for us is not dependent upon what we do or what we say or even if we believe in Jesus or not. God IS Love, so He expresses His love for all of us in that Jesus died for all of mankind’s sins. Whether we choose to follow Him and give our lives to Him is still our choice but I think when you realize everything that is provided for you in this life, then you will make that decision. I just pray that it will be a decision to follow Jesus and give your life to Him.

Our God is Awesome!


 

Psalm 47

Clap Your Hands, All You Peoples

(2 Kings 18:13-16; 2 Chronicles 32:1-8; Psalm 46:1-11; Psalm 48:1-14)

1{To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.} O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

2For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

3He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

4He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

6Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

7For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

8God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

 

5thingsgodwantsyou2know

Angels and Demons


This is a subject which I have not been exactly jumping up and down to write about but it needs to be out here for everyone to see. We read in God’s Word that angels exist because the Angel of the Lord appeared a few times in the Old Testament. Gabriel appeared a couple of times as well. So, if angels have shown themselves occasionally then why can’t demons be real?

Of course, they are sneaky and crafty in their ways but did you know that many of our conflicts have been influenced by their presence as well? In fact, we likely invited them right into the meetings with us. Many times in the Bible you read about something which was done in anger or resentment and then regret comes and a person seeks forgiveness.

It is our own feelings of anger and resentment and fear which invites some demons that will inflame those feelings to a point that we may do something which we would regret. Don’t think for a moment that Satan and his demons and other spirits don’t exist because they exist outside our senses just as angels do. We don’t see them and likely it is a good thing! We would be terrified to go anywhere, especially at night, if we could see the realm which exists beside us here.

Christians are not subject to being possessed by a demon, but that doesn’t keep us from inviting them into our homes and our lives when we are stressed or hurt emotionally. When they are invited they will stay as long as possible and make your life miserable, so be careful about your hatred or bitterness in your daily life. Guard your heart with prayer and study of God’s Word and try to live according to His teachings daily.

GodsBlessing

Where Love is


This word is used so flippantly in our world today until it seems to be almost meaningless. Is love still what it was many years ago? Is it just a word which we say but really don’t mean? In many ways it is both of these and so much more. Consider the definition found in 1 Corinthians 13:

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

God is the ultimate definition of Love because it was His Love which sent Jesus to redeem mankind from our own sinful ways, to give us a chance to be pardoned and atoned for so we could be worthy of attaining entry into Heaven. This we can do through belief in Jesus and no other pathway or other works is needed so that we can be saved!

God made this possible so that, while we were yet sinners, our sins were already forgiven and paid for and all we need to do is accept Jesus as our Savior and repent of our former sinful ways and follow Him. Today, this seems to be a hard teaching for many but if you want to live into eternity, it is the only way. No other religion in the world gives you access to God in Heaven regardless of the teaching you may hear!

Seek out a Bible teacher that is truly teaching from God’s Word and then pray for your salvation and accept Jesus as your Savior. Then your heart will be changed and you will be able to follow Him as your Savior and Lord!

Immortality


It seems that there are more commercials on television about making you look young again or at least younger than you are. Why do we have such a fascination with youth? When we are young, we can’t wait to get older and when we are older we want to be young again…does that make any sense to you?

We are born needing help with everything, then we grow to a point where we think we are doing everything for everyone else, then when we get old we are back to the point of others helping us with everything all over again. It seems to be an endless circle. But honestly, I don’t want to be young again! Yes, there were many things which I could do when I was younger that I can’t do now but are those things really useful today?

Some of them may be but most of my younger days and nights were spent doing things which I would consider counter-productive today. Many of those which I thought I enjoyed way back when were sinful and dangerous. Like drinking and then driving home or smoking two and three packs of cigarettes every day. Those behaviors are thirty years or more in my past now, but some people seem to want to go back to that point.

Being young is a good thing but why can’t we look ahead of us instead of behind in our life here? Many of us see a life ahead with pain and the maladies which come with old age but I am talking about eternity…immortality with Jesus in Heaven! That life will not have the ailments and frail body which all of us have now. We will be in a body which will never die with no contacts or eyeglasses needed to see the world around us! We won’t need a cane or a wheelchair to get around in or with.

The life that believers will have in Heaven will be one of worship and praise and working in God’s Kingdom forever! There will be no night or heat or suffering or pain and anything which we associate with getting old or being old!

I know, it sounds too good to be true! But, just think about this a minute. Anyone can be saved through the name of Jesus and by His Spirit just by believing in Him and what He did for you and me. You don’t have to be a deacon or a church member for decades, just answer the call of the One Who calls you to be saved. That is all that is needed. God prepared the way for you through Jesus and all that you need to do is believe in Him and accept the atonement provided through His shed blood.

You can get baptized and become a member of a church when you accept Jesus as your Savior but the church membership isn’t a requirement for salvation. The baptism isn’t a requirement either but it is a public statement showing that you are raised to walk into a new life with Jesus. God loves you, don’t forget that bit of information. Seek Him earnestly and you will find Him.

IamtheWay

Faith in God’s Word


I have written a post about the word “believe” in the Bible before and it seems to be the post which gets the most attention, at least on some days. The different ways to express it or use your belief in God amounted to quite a few. Not as many as I had originally thought, but a good number.

Lately, I have wondered about the word faith in the Bible and I found out something which I didn’t expect at all. Do you know or realize that the Bible itself doesn’t make much sense at all unless you have faith in Him? Trust and faith are synonyms and unless you trust what God says…unless you have learned to have faith in God through His Spirit’s actions in your life…His Word will not make much sense to you at all! I remember when I wasn’t saved. Back then I tried to read the Bible and it didn’t mean much to me. I couldn’t understand it at all.

Can’t you have faith without God being a part of it? Not saving faith. You can’t understand Him or His Word until His Spirit touches your life and your heart and changes it and brings you to a point of knowing that you need Him as your Savior! Can you live your life here on Earth without Him? Yes, you can, but when this life is over you will stand before Him and give an account of your life and the reason why you never sought Jesus as your Savior!

There is a part of your life which is under conviction by God’s Spirit. This happens to you and to me and everyone else at some point in your life. It may happen when you are young or maybe when you get to college or it may not happen until you are in middle age, but at some point, your heart will feel it and you will notice it. What you do when you feel this conviction in your heart is the deciding factor for your eternity! Did you get that? This one decision will have an eternal effect on your Life after this one and if you don’t follow His Spirit’s call then you will regret it for eternity.

The word “faith” doesn’t appear too many times in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, it appears approximately 250 times. Depending on which version of the Bible you have, it may appear more times or a little less. Sometimes it is written as “trust” rather than “faith” but it means the same thing. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.

Have faith in God. Seek out Jesus as your Savior because there is no other way to Heaven except through faith in Him. Learn from God’s Word what is required of you for this life so that you can be useful in the Kingdom of God after this life is over! Don’t try to get to Heaven on your own merits or by your accomplishments because it cannot be done. The only way to get there is through faith in Jesus Christ and by no other name or Person will you get there.

How many must pay the price?


Why do we have to pay the price of being Christians in America? Why should we have to live in fear of expressing our faith in public, just to bless our food? What is going on in our world?

IleftALighton4youTo find the answers to these questions you should read the Bible. Because we are living in the days prior to the Great Tribulation. It hasn’t begun yet, but it is very close. Read the news media of your choice, watch the news on the Internet or TV. All of the small things which are happening around us and many of the larger and more significant prophecies have already happened. Of course, few people are paying attention to these things. Everyone is more worried about illegal immigrants and their children than they are about our veterans or the economy.

I don’t want to get on a soapbox about any of these issues here. But, there are so many issues which are truly outside the reporting of the news today until many of these should be taken up by someone who wants to bring them to the people’s attention. So, back to my point and the title of this piece.

How many must pay the price? I know there are some who will wonder “Which of the “many” are you talking about?”! In truth. I am speaking of those who have put their faith and their lives in the belief in Jesus for salvation. There are many places in our world today, even in America, where being a Christian is dangerous. Christians are put in jail, stoned, killed, taken to court for their beliefs, and the list could go on…all because of their faith in Jesus.

Why?

If you don’t believe in Jesus, I am not going to try to kill you so why would you want to kill me because my faith is not the same as yours? I never have understood why atheists want to argue with Christians about their beliefs when the atheist doesn’t believe what they believe. What is the argument about? I am not going to change my belief in my Savior just because you don’t believe in Him. For many who are atheists, I don’t think my belief in Jesus could change their mind either so what is the point?

Then there are the other religions of the world and I am not going into a description of them because I don’t know enough about them other than they don’t believe the way I do. But, that doesn’t mean that I hate them. I have a love for people which is only explained by the Love of Christ in my heart. He loves you and deemed you worthy of His sacrifice to pay the debt for your sins, therefore I love you in Christ. I don’t know most of you who will read this, but that doesn’t change anything.

WhereAreYouGoingJesus still loves you, God loves you so, in Christ I love you and I pray that you will find salvation in Jesus before the end of your life. Because the alternative is too horrible to imagine. An eternity of punishment in hell because you didn’t choose to believe in and follow Jesus. It doesn’t matter what sins you may have committed in this life, that is the one which will send you to hell! You may be punished for your other sins, but that decision is the one which condemns you to hell and no other.

What is your calling?


Have you considered what your calling in your walk with Jesus really is? Many people it seems have never thought about this in the least. Some don’t seem to have ever considered it a calling at all to be a Christian and therefore use their salvation in service to our King! Why I have often wondered, are they claiming to be Christians and yet never seek to be a servant of His?

John Newton, the writer of that great hymn “Amazing Grace”, said this just before his death: “it is a great thing to die; and when flesh and heart fail, to have God for the strength of our heart and our portion forever;….”

At another time prior to his death, he said these words: “Hereafter I hope, when I shut my eyes on the things of time, I shall open them in a better world. What a thing it is to live under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty! I am going the way of all flesh. If it were not so, how could I dare to stand before Him?”

I just finished reading Mr. Newton’s autobiography and he was a libertine as he put it during his younger years. But, he came to his senses during his marriage to his sweetheart. God used him in a special and powerful way to touch more lives after his life than during it because of the song which he wrote mostly about his early life and his salvation. Many of us can see our own lives within that song, in each verse, and in our own walk with the Lord or even by our attempts to run from HIm.

In the book of Jonah, you can see just how futile running away really is. In Genesis, Adam and Eve try to hide from the Presence of God but it is futile. God knows where each person is, He knows the number of hairs on our heads and He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky…so there is no possibility of getting away from Him.

So, think on this…God loves you in a more deep and entirely spiritual way than we can understand in this life. He has provided the Way for you to come to Him in forgiveness and stain-free from the sin which we all have in this life. That way is through Jesus and by belief in Him and the atonement which He paid for with His death and resurrection on the cross. There is no other pathway to eternity in Heaven except by Him, so make sure of your salvation before you draw your last breath.

Good shepherd

Truth…


Psalm 25:5 “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you, I wait all the day long.”

John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

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

Bridge2SalvationEphesians 4:15 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…”

All of these scriptures tell that God’s Word is Truth. Jesus was and is the Word of God in the flesh, and He came so we could be free from the burden and the entanglement of sin and its consequences. God loves each of us and that is the Truth as well. We can see the results of God’s love for us because we live in a world which exists because He created it for us. God is the Creator and all of the glory of Heaven and the stars which are out there in space tells us of His power and love for us.

Many questions have been asked about why the galaxies spin in such a manner that they don’t fly apart? It’s not dark matter, it is God’s power which sustains the stars and galaxies in their places. The perfection of the placement of our own star, the Sun, and all of the planets have been debated in scientific circles, yet our “modern” scientists won’t accept that God placed our planet at the precise distance and all of the other bodies too.

The truth is that God is sovereign over all. Jesus said that “not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing it“. Since God knows even when small birds die, how can you say He doesn’t care for you? He cares for ALL of His Creation including every person on the Earth, even those who don’t believe in Him! Why does God care so much? Because He loves us, each and every person on this little ball of blue in the cosmos!

The Truth is contained within the Bible and if people can’t or won’t accept it, that doesn’t make it untrue. Just because you don’t want something to be true doesn’t change it at all. I would love for it to be a bit cooler in the summer but it won’t be cooler because I want it to be that way. Choosing to not believe a scripture just because you don’t like the implications of it doesn’t make it invalid. Ignoring a command in God’s Word doesn’t erase it from the Bible but it does condemn you in the end.

How? Because, when you are standing in front of God when your life is over here, you will still be responsible for your actions whether you lived by His commandments or not. The way to Heaven and true Life everlasting is only through Jesus. You can’t do it on your own and you can’t add to your salvation by “working” here on Earth to “help” Jesus save you. Read the Bible and study it with prayer and conviction that He loves you. Seek Him out in every verse because He is there.