Category: God’s patience and mercy

We don’t have gods, just One God


Some people think that Christians worship three gods. But..if you look at the passage where Jesus got baptized, He is there (of course), the voice of God says that “this is my Son” and the Holy Spirit comes to Him in bodily form of a dove.

The Holy Trinity in one place at the same time, God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, not three gods but One God in three forms and all of them just as much God as the other! Our Creator isn’t limited to one form nor is He limited in any way that we can understand.

Yet, we try to put limits on Him and believe that He has emotions and the same sort of limitations which we have. We who are His Creation, attempt to make the Creator in our image and in our limited abilities, so that we can understand Him and believe in Him. Do you understand that God is bigger than we can imagine! He created this universe, not just the little ball of mud that we live on.

There are no “gods” in religions on the Earth, those entities who caused men to dream of things and see a form which looked like an angel, they are devils and demons and their leader is Satan! He is the one who brought man to the tree which God told him not to eat of, even so God knew that this would happen as well. Jesus is the “seed of the woman” spoken of in Genesis, the One Who is the Living Word and the Son of God!

The time is coming and will come soon, when many will see the end of the age and the church will be taken from this world. At this time, a man will come into power who is very persuasive in his speech and he will be given more power than any man on Earth has ever held. This is spoken of in Revelation in the Bible and it is not my prediction, but prophecy from God.

PromisesfromGodsWordMake sure of your salvation, seek out Jesus the Christ and salvation through Him, don’t put it off thinking that you have plenty of time. Many who thought this in the storms which have come to America recently thought they had time as well. We have some storms which are coming still and they are worse in magnitude than anything that nature can create from wind and sea.

Our lives, with all of the stuff which we put so much of our life and our energy into, are pitifully short on this Earth, particularly in reference to eternity which awaits us. Seek out God and His Son for your salvation because you do not know when your last day may be. We are not given a set number of years to live. No one knows that they will be alive, even in the morning after tonight’s sleep. Please make sure before the time of testing comes on this Earth because it will affect the whole of the population not just a few million but everyone who is alive at the time!

Psalm 51


Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Truth or Consequences


Living the life of a Christian has never been easy. From the time of Jesus’ departure, the apostles and disciples were persecuted by the local priests and by Rome and the Roman government. This has never really stopped, but the face of persecution is different today.

We sometimes hear it from friends who believe that we are judging them when we aren’t. We see the persecution from groups of radicals in other countries and in our own country of America.

Now, it seems to be coming home because if you preach or tell someone a Truth from the Bible, it is labeled as hate speech and you could be put in jail. Can anything be done to stop this? I don’t think that it will get better before Jesus comes back or at least until those who belong to Jesus are taken up to be with Him.

Yet, many Christians in other countries are being killed or put into “work camps” or into prison and much of their suffering doesn’t reach the news outlets. So, unless the Voice of the Martyrs or some other organization brings it to our attention, we don’t hear about it unless it is a bombing that kills many in a church or an open area. If it happens in a jungle or in the mountains of Nepal or North Korea, the country controls the news media, so it doesn’t get out.

Life in “developed” countries like England or Europe or America hasn’t gotten to the point of people dying for their beliefs…yet. We do hear of isolated cases of “radicalized people” killing others who don’t believe like they do, but those are few right now. How will our Christian nation react when violence against Christians gets worse? What will be done to help us? Or will our so-called “leaders” in Congress turn away and deny that it is a problem?

Christians in the past, like five or six centuries in the past, did some horrible things in the name of the Church or even in God’s name. I won’t deny that. But, making all Christians pay the price with their lives today for something which was done during the Crusades in the 12th century is ridiculous. God will punish those who have done things like killing witches who were NOT witches or killing people in the Middle East because they wouldn’t convert to Christianity. That is just as appalling as 9/11 or any of the other atrocities that are happening because of ISIS now!

Seek out the One, true God in the Bible, not one in a book of made up “holy words” by a pedophile who hated Jews and Christians. I promise, God will avenge His own and it doesn’t involve bombs or cutting their heads off!

God has provided a way for eternal life through belief in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross. Seek Him out in His Word for it is the true Word of God. Pray about what He says in it and learn from Him because in the end, all of us will bow and say that Jesus is Lord and King of all!

So much truth in the gospel


How much truth do you see in God’s Word? In the gospel? If it isn’t true and there is no Truth in it, then why believe?

The Trinity has existed as three in One…as God for a very long time, long before we or anything else in Creation existed. How can we so arrogantly believe that God sent His Son to die and then abandoned Him there? The Holy Spirit was there, God was there and Jesus was on the cross, so He wasn’t abandoned at the cross exactly…He just felt that He was. His humanity felt that way!

The same way that His human heart and His brain told Him to be afraid and anxious before the scourging and the crucifixion. It was His humanity which made Him feel alone, scared and helpless on the cross, but He wasn’t. Our truth is relative today because as psychologists put it, “your truth is not my truth”. This is a very clever lie from Satan. God loves each of us far more than we could ever know or comprehend, until we are in His Presence of course.

You have the freedom to believe in Him and His Word or not, because it is necessary. Love doesn’t come to anyone unless it is free to be given in return as well as received from the other person. Yes, we are free to refuse His love for us if we choose and to live our lives in complete self-righteousness, thinking that we are good enough without Jesus. That we deserve to be allowed into Heaven on our own merits.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it is totally WRONG!! Until you give your heart to Jesus and allow Him to come in and fix the problems which you caused and to show you what real love actually is, you will always feel empty and without hope. This is what God wanted to save us from in the first place…ourselves. Because ever since the Fall, we have all been born with a seed of sin in our hearts. Toddlers will lie to you without even knowing what they are doing, so that proves that sin is there.

God loves us anyway!! He created all of us and He knows the desires and needs of our heart even when we weren’t born yet. From the moment you were conceived until your death, God knows what you will do, when you will do it and why. He doesn’t force the decisions on you, but He knows what those decisions are or will be, and until you give your life to Him, He will watch you and be with you regardless until you figure out that you really need Him.

Seek Him out before it gets too far or before your life gets out of control! He is there and always has been, so make sure that you know Him before your life is over and your chance to know Him as Savior is gone for good.

Drifting…


Many people seem to be drifting away from the church and it is not a good thing. Why is it so? Because, at this time in our history, we are coming very close to the end of the age spoken of in the Bible. I am not talking about giving you a date and the hour because neither I nor anyone else knows God’s timing in this. But, the prophetic clues are all around us and if you have never read the Bible, then today would be a good day to begin.

Many of the signs are happening every day on the news and many more of them are coming. The world says that evil and sinful living is correct and a good thing and being a follower of Christ is considered to be hateful toward those who don’t believe. Sermons are being watched by law enforcement and scrutinized during hiring for jobs, if a pastor is a bi-vocational leader. If the sermons have anything deemed as “hate speech” in them, the job offer is taken back or the person is fired if they have been hired.

Even social media posts with a religious bent to them are being criticized and taken down in some cases as well as being scrutinized for job interviews. All of these are the beginning of persecution toward believers which Jesus spoke of and it will get worse before it gets better.

Why am I writing this and also talking about people leaving the church? It seems that leaving the church would be a good thing if you want to get ahead in life, right? Not really. If you are living according to the dictates of the world around you, instead of living like a follower of Christ, then you are bending toward the world and getting off of the path set before you by Jesus.

Christians are supposed to be reflections of Jesus, not clay which bends and twists every which way the political correctness police want you to bend! God is our Shield and our Protector and we are to be following Jesus in all that we do and say! If you claim to be a Christian and you aren’t doing this, you may want to check your heart and your spirit and make sure of what or who it is that you are listening to. Are you sure that you belong to Jesus or some lying spirit from Satan who tricked you into thinking that you are saved?

Satan and his demons or spirits can do this and have done it for thousands of years. They attend church more often than many people do, so they know very well how to fool you. Remember, they were around when all of Scripture was being written and played out, so they know it better than anyone with letters behind their name in the pulpit. They can quote it word for word but often will twist the meaning so that it sounds they way they want it to sound.

Some of the horror movies like “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, and others show this because the demons know things about the person confronting them that they couldn’t know without being supernatural beings. Don’t discount this because even Jesus had to silence those which He cast out so they wouldn’t scream His name and Who He was to every person around. It wasn’t His time to be known that way yet. Even Paul had to cast a demon out because the girl who was possessed kept telling everyone that they were representatives of the Most High God.

Even though it sounds like a good thing, if a demon is announcing that you are the Son of God or a prophet of God, then it seems like you have the OK from Satan to do what you are doing. That is why Jesus and His disciples cast them out because they wanted their message to be validated by the Spirit of God and not a demon from darkness!

Seek out His Word in the Bible. Study it and learn from it, think on it when you have the time and ponder its meaning (meditate), because God will give you the meaning if you are truly seeking it for the Truth that it contains. Seek His will which is contained in the Bible so that you know Who and what you believe, in order to back up your faith and be able to give it away.

Life is moving too fast!


Has anyone else noticed that this year has flown by? I know, while the “candidates” were campaigning  it seemed like it would NEVER end! That is how it felt to me anyway. Yes, life does move quickly and the older we get, we notice it more. While you are working it seems that life flows by like a swift stream. Every day goes by, you come home, have something to eat, watch a little TV, take a shower and go to bed, get up and begin again. Hopefully, you don’t work the night shift because when I worked that shift I went to work at 9:30 pm, worked all night in the hospital lab, got off work at 7:30 am. Drove home, got as much sleep as possible and then ate something, took a shower, and went back again.

These schedules don’t allow for much family time, or me time, they just run on and on and on until you finally quit or something else happens in your life.

God did not intend for us to work like this, but our society demands it because there is no equality in our lives any more. What do I mean by this? I mean e-quality, emotional quality of life. If you are married and have children there are plenty of emotions in your home already. But, are they quality emotions like love,kindness, patience and truthfulness?

This is something which we are missing out on these days because of all the electronic distractions that are in the home. We have smartphones, tablets, Kindles, computers, laptops, game systems (small and PC sized), when do you find the time to sleep and pay attention to the people around you who are supposed to be your family? This needs to be fixed but how? Throwing out all of the electronic gadgets won’t work, that only creates animosity and bitter feelings between those involved. There should be some moderation in their use, but I don’t know how to get this message across.

Why am I complaining about this? Because it happens not just in my home but I am sure it happens in millions of other homes as well. Attention spans have dropped to the point of seconds not minutes like it was during my years growing up. If something isn’t solved in the first fifteen seconds or so, they move on to the next level or game and maybe they will try again later. If that doesn’t work, many of them just trash it and move on to the next game system they have.

Yes, life moves at the speed of attention spans. Today it may be said that five to ten minutes are the top-tier of attention that you may get. After that, minds wander in all kinds of directions but the subject matter that you may be teaching or preaching on. If you home school, the span of attention is a little better, but not by much. Particularly if they LOVE to play games, hand-held and console type.

But God loves each and every one of us, game players included, and He can use our talents and our gifts IF we will let Him. Please seek Him out as your Savior before the day comes when you don’t have a choice but to stand before Him. Your life here is your time given to learn of Him, get to know Him and seek Him earnestly for your own salvation. If you don’t use this time for this, then your eternal destination will be much different and far worse than you can imagine.

So much to do…


Being a pastor, even of a small church, is a big responsibility. The sermon preparation sometimes takes days, many times more than a few days. Then, sometimes God will lead me to change the subject and the passage that my sermon is based on, even as late as Saturday night or Sunday morning!

Getting the gospel to the people who come to church isn’t hard work, since God gives me the strength and the words to do it but sometimes it feels overwhelming. Those are the days that I have to lean into the Word and seek His guidance and direction. Sometimes, life gets in the way with things like paying bills, grocery shopping, going to a movie with my son, but then sometimes one of those will also prompt me or give me an idea for a sermon.

Jesus worked in His ministry for a little more than three years, but the impact that He had on the lives of a total of 14 men and the impact that they have had on the world is nothing short of miraculous. Fourteen men, the original 12, then Judas Iscariot hanged himself, then he was replaced with another, then Paul (Saul) became a convert/disciple, these are the fourteen that I am speaking of. Yes, there were others who were added later, but these were the closest to Him, even Saul.

Why do I bring this up? Mainly because of the impact that Jesus and all of these men had on their world and the people in it. This impact has spread much farther than any of them could’ve imagined and it is still spreading today! God is doing this, the church and its members are taking their witness to places which it might never have been before. The Internet, satellite television, books, Bibles, all of this is part of the mission and yet, there is still so much to do. So, how many are willing to do the work that needs doing?

I don’t know. There are many who come to church on Sunday morning and never open a Bible. Many don’t even bring one with them. If you are not interested in the Word and its message, to learn about Him and what He has said to us and to the believers which began the church during that first century, then why come at all?

I am not telling people to not attend but you at least be engaged in the learning part of church just as if you were in school, because that is exactly what church is! I am not claiming to know all about the Bible or everything about Jesus but the messages that is spoken in church or written here is just as important, but if you aren’t willing to do the work of reading God’s Word and learning more about Him, then why claim to be a Christian in the first place?

What is success to you?


Have you ever thought about that? Today, money, fame, and all of the toys which go with them signal success to many people. The problem with this is that all of those things is that they are temporary. Although, it seems to many people, these temporary things are far more important than an eternity that is out of sight and in their future. This is another lie or deception which Satan has made so important and prevalent today. It is almost as accepted as the theory of evolution because all of the things which I mentioned at the beginning are tangible and they can be felt and seen!

The biggest problem with those “rewards” is that you can’t take any of it with you when you die! You can be buried in a tomb or a casket which is very expensive, but what good will that do you? Your spirit is gone into eternity and no matter how luxurious your casket or tomb or vault may be, the body that is left behind will eventually turn to a moldy husk and in about a thousand years or so, there will be little left except maybe some bones. Your life on Earth is over when you breathe your last breath, that much is certain, but your spirit is eternal and it or rather you will stand before God to give account for your life’s accomplishments.

If you are a Christian, then your reward and your eternity is certain, particularly if you did very much for the Kingdom of God during your life here. Your salvation brought God’s Spirit to live inside your temple, your body, until the day that your work here was finished. If you did not give your heart to Him and ask for Him to bring His Life into yours, then you still have eternity ahead, but it will be one of regret and anguish because you left Jesus out of your life.

I know that many people say that “My God would never send anyone to hell”, and they are absolutely right! God doesn’t send you to hell, your choices in life send you there and if you have chosen to live without Jesus and to live life according to your whims, then that will be your destination. It saddens God to see us refuse His gift of salvation, when it costs us nothing to embrace it and accept it. Jesus did all of the work necessary for you to have an eternity in Heaven, and yet there are millions, maybe billions of people who have chosen another way. One which doesn’t include Him, and that pathway doesn’t lead to Heaven, although many think that it does.

Success and a successful life is one lived in accordance with God and His Son. It may not include riches or houses or cars, but your eternal home is on a street paved with gold! Your home is made by the Creator of the universe and it is there for the asking, all you have to do is accept it through belief in Jesus and His atonement for you. Won’t you consider it?

Walking like He walked..


Have you ever heard that we are supposed to do this? We are supposed to be representing Him in this world, showing His Light to others. Do you do this? Do you try to do it every day?

As Christians, we are truly supposed to be examples of His Love in this world where people seem to hate more than they love. Oh, there are good people and people who do good things for others once in a while, but Jesus did things for people everywhere He went. Sometimes it was a healing, sometimes it involved making water into wine, sometimes it had to do with giving someone their sight back, even if they had never had it.

Granted, we don’t have the complete faith, the kind which doesn’t doubt, in order to do these wonderful miracles. Some people say that those were done only to fulfill prophecy and to get people’s attention on the Messiah. It is true, those miracles were done by the Savior and our Creator as well as the disciples in the beginning of the church. But…we can do things for people in need, if we have the means to do so. Do you?

The only thing that I can do most days is to pray for their health and for their healing, asking for all of the people on my prayer list and all of those who ask for prayer on my Facebook page. I don’t know many of them personally, but God knows who they are and what is happening in their lives. He knows what is wrong and what can be done for them and what HE can and will do for them.

God doesn’t answer prayers in the ways that we want ALL of the time, but He does answer them. Sometimes it is a “maybe” or “wait”, sometimes it is “no”, but the reason behind these is because God knows what He has for you and what you are asking for is not His best, nor is it what He has in store for you. Of course when we get those kind of answers we think that God doesn’t love me. God loves each of us far more than we can imagine and He is NOT like us! His love is a kind of love that we can’t understand in this life. We won’t get to that point where we can understand it until we are in His Presence!

“Walking the walk” as some put it isn’t hard to do, but it has to be practiced and done on the basis that we intentionally do it every day. It is not natural to wake in the morning and thank God for opening your eyes, but that is what we should do. Getting up and walking to the kitchen should be a thankful process as well, we should take nothing for granted because none of us are guaranteed tonight or tomorrow. Truly, God loves us, all of us because of His Son’s sacrifice for our salvation. It is something that we should be eternally grateful for, not something that is taken for granted.

Please, seek Him out so that your eternity is sealed and in His Presence. If you keep telling yourself that you will get to it later, then one day, later will get to you. Then, you will stand and give an account of every word and deed done which was done in your own strength and without Jesus. Your righteousness, like that of the Pharisees, is worthless in God’s eyes unless your heart belongs to Jesus and He lives in you! If that doesn’t describe your salvation, your righteousness, then your eternity will be in a place that was not made for humanity..but for Satan.

Sonrise!


Are you a follower of God’s Son? If you are, then you know why I titled this post the way I did. We, His church, are waiting for Him to rise in the skies to claim His bride! Will we see Him that day? Yes, we will! Will the rest of the world see Him? Not likely. Why? Good question.

The reason is because when He comes for the church, there will be a trumpet sound and the church will disappear, those who have fallen asleep prior to His summons will be first and the ones who are alive will be next! The change will be such an instantaneous event that if you happen to be talking to someone who is a Christian, it will happen in the blink of your eyes. If you are not a Christian, their clothes, shoes, watch, any jewelry that they have on will be in a pile in front of you.

That day will be a terrifying day for most of the world, at least the ones who haven’t given their hearts to Jesus. Those of us who have will be in His Presence in Heaven and will be there for eternity. There will be a drastic change in the world and it will not be pretty nor will it be enjoyable. I can’t tell you when this will happen. Some say it will happen prior to the arrival of the anti-Christ and the peace treaty in the Middle East. Then there are some who say that we won’t be taken up until about halfway through those seven years. Which one is right? I don’t know.

The only person who does know is God and it is up to Him when this happens.

Your trip to Heaven could be any day, just like mine though. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. If our soul is required tonight, then one or both of us will be in front of God tonight. This time is foretold in Matthew 24 and in Revelation so it is not as if we don’t have written warning, because we have had that for right at 2,000 years.

The time has come for us to make up our minds individually if we will follow Jesus or just keep doing our own thing. Some people are wondering why is it taking so long? God is trying to give as many people as possible the opportunity to come to know Him and give their hearts to Jesus. He is patient, but according to the prophecies it seems that time is running down. In my opinion, this is the last generation before His return. That could be next year or another ten, maybe even twenty years but I don’t think it will be that long.

Please, seek Jesus while you have the chance in this life.