How did the church get here?

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.

Submit your life to God

Be careful what you say…

Jesus came to save us!

Failure…

In life, you can fail at anything. The one thing that you shouldn’t fail at is claiming your salvation. As a pastor and in life, you can fail by trying to please everyone. Preach a message that doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings and doesn’t tell them that they are born a sinner. Tell them that everything will be fine if they are good enough and live by the “golden rule”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you“. Teaching and preaching a “sermon” that makes people feel good is the way to be a failure if you are trying to “preach” for God but it might bring you success if you are doing it for your own gain financially or personally.

Jesus didn’t preach a message about feeling good or just doing good, although He did that very well. He taught that God loves you and He calls those whom He knows will work with Him and for Him. He taught that your life has meaning and purpose in God’s Kingdom if you follow Him and listen to Him. While the “golden rule” is good teaching that Jesus taught, it is not the only rule. It will not save your soul.

Believe in Jesus as your Savior and accept Him as your Lord, then you shall have eternal life in Him. There are no specific things that you have to do or perform. There is no specific amount of time that you have to give to Him in His service. But…when you realize the complete salvation that He bought for you with His blood and His life on the cross, you will want to serve Him and give Him whatever you can to work for Him. Because when He calls you to become His disciple you need to search the Scriptures and see what He paid for your soul and that’s what will humble you to the point of being His forever.

It doesn’t take a lot of education. His disciples were fishermen except for Matthew. God can use your talents whatever they may be simply because He is the One Who gave those talents to you. He knows what you can do and He will empower you to be able to do what He calls you to do. Having lots of letters behind your name and certificates on the wall doesn’t make you any better than one of the disciples. They learned at His feet and their education was just as good as any college education today. Make sure of Who you are serving in your walk with Him.

Testing of your faith makes it stronger

What will get your attention?

In today’s society, our attention spans have decreased to the point of being only long enough for a blurb on the news. I’ve noticed that most news programs seem to sell drugs more than they tell us about the news. The news anchors only speak about one or two sentences then another commercial for some new or renamed drug comes on for three minutes. Then they will come back and say a few words and then more commercials will come on. I know that is the way that the networks make money but I would like to actually hear some NEWS if I bother to tune in.

If you have heard any sermons about Jesus Christ then you may remember one of His parables about the days near the end of the age. Two are working in the field, one is taken and the other left. Two women are grinding meal, one is taken and the other is left alone. Two are in the bed at night, one is taken and the other is left. This is a description of the “rapture” of the church or of believers when Jesus comes back to take His Bride, the church, to heaven. We are not far from that time.

I know that the disciples thought that Jesus was coming back during their lifetimes as well but there are too many prophecies that have come true in the past seventy years for His coming to be very far away. It could happen tomorrow or even tonight, but the world will know when it happens because it will be an event that will happen all over the world at the same time. No one knows the hour or the day or even the year in which it will happen but God knows the timing down to the second. Are you ready for it? Have you given your life to Jesus and repented of your old ways of life?

God loves each of us and He doesn’t want any to die the second death in hell but that is your choice. God doesn’t send you to hell, your decision to accept Jesus as your Savior or not accept Him is the decision that truly condemns you to hell. Murder, theft, rape, genocide or other sins will determine the severity of your eternity in hell but your destination is determined by you. Make the decision to follow Jesus and ask Him to come into your life as your Savior. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and make you clean so that you can be counted in that number of those who will be “taken” to heaven when He returns in the clouds.

This decision only takes a minute of your time but it will impact your eternal life forever. Choose to Live with Him.