Category: Religion

So many who need Him, so little time!


I know, I am trying to scare people into accepting Christ…right? NO! But I am trying to make you realize that regardless of how young you are or how long you may have lived without Jesus, your life does have an expiration date. It is known only to God, but we all have one. Mine may be in the morning or next week, yours…? Why am I starting off like this?

Because in the past few weeks, if you have been following my blog here, two teens in our community were killed in a wreck. Did they know the Lord? Yes! Both of them did and they are enjoying eternity and their life in Heaven right now! I know, the families are still hurting and they will be for a long time, but they do have the assurance that those girls are in their homes with Jesus.

God sent Jesus to provide all of us with salvation, if we will accept it. That is like a rich man who might give you one million dollars, but you have to accept it with some limitations. You can only use it to help people in ways that make a difference, like helping with their medical bills or building someone a better home to live in. You can use it for yourself, but only for things that you NEED. It can’t be used for buying a sports car or a mansion. If you can accept those limitations, then you can have it. If you can’t or won’t, then it will be offered to someone else.

Salvation is the best gift that we can be given. Why is it so good? Because you are being saved from an eternity away from God’s love and in the torment that was reserved for Satan and his demons. Salvation also gives you eternal life, which everyone seems to be chasing on Earth, yet we can’t get it in this life. We all have an eternal soul, but unless it is rejuvenated by Jesus and the Holy Spirit it will spend eternity with Satan and it is not going to be a party!

The Life that we get from the Holy Spirit is a gift from God for our belief in Jesus and His atonement for our sins. We can’t do anything to get it, purchase it or work for it because anything that is done in our own strength during this life is left here when we die. No tickets that we buy, no amount of gold or silver that we own, absolutely nothing that we acquire during this life will go with us when we die. The only part of me or you which goes to the judgement after we die is our soul. If you are a believing Christian when you die, all of your sins are covered by the blood of Jesus. If you are not, then you will be judged according to what you did and the words that you said during this life…ALL of them!

Seek Him while you have the chance and the time to make the commitment to live your days for Him by reading the Bible, prayer and learning about Him. Even if you only have a week left to live from some illness or if you may live for fifty more years, do it while you can. Because if  you were to have an accident on the highway tomorrow and get killed, you will be standing in front of God then and there won’t be a second chance.

Pickin’ and choosin’


I have had many who liked this on my other blog, so I thought I would share it with you as well. I pray that it touches you in some way.

Tracy Eldridge's avatarIn service to Him

Religion is an easy thing in America. We have the freedom to pursue and
worship whoever or whatever we wish to or even to not worship
anything at all. Being religious is very easy and there are many
people who are very religious about their chosen religion, some even
to the point of being fanatical about it. So what is it about this
trend in America? Mainly it is because for the past fifty or sixty
years, we have been searchers and seekers. Not so much as seeking out
God and His ways, but seeking that which suits us the best in a
church or religion.
That is not such a bad thing because many times in this searching, people will be called to faith in God and give their hearts to Jesus. Although, some may not listen intently to the messages that are presented to them and they want…

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Rainbows, Light and Love


In the late sixties it seemed that everyone was into rainbows and “free love” was everywhere. It was all just noise to me that I heard on the radio or on the news, I wasn’t old enough to participate. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t conjure up some imaginative thoughts though. I was about eight or so at the time, didn’t really like girls too much, but there were some that I thought were sorta cute.

Anyway, the rainbows were being used on flags and on the TV, I don’t remember exactly for what but I remember seeing them on there a lot. You have to realize, 1968 has been a while back and parts of my memory don’t work perfectly like they used to. The entire country was caught up in the Viet Nam war and the astronauts going to the moon, as well as a couple of people being shot. To a young mind at the time, it was just news and not very important.

What else was happening? My parents got divorced or were in the process of doing so, I really don’t remember much about it. I think my mind blocked a lot of it out. Dad dropped us off at my grandfather’s house when I was five and I rarely saw him from that point on.

My point in bringing up my childhood? Mainly it is about what you may remember and what you don’t. I can remember going to church with my parents when I was three and going to work with my Dad about the same time, once. But, again, why am I bringing this up for you to read? So that some of you will know that I am just as normal, just as messed up from my past as the rest of us. My life has not been perfect, never was and never really came close to it.

Later, after their divorce, when I became a teen I rebelled a lot. I didn’t get put into jail, but I drank alcohol before I was old enough to do so. I wrecked cars and put myself in the hospital because I was drunk. I smoked marijuana although I didn’t get into anything any worse than that. Now, I am ashamed of my past, but it is a past that doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary today. Actually, it seems pretty tame compared to what you see and hear on the news.

The Light which I reference in the title is the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. At the time that I was speaking of there was a song out by the name of “Jesus Christ, Superstar” and a play too I believe. The funny thing is, they were actually making fun of Him and of those who believe in Him. I never understood that and still don’t. Jesus is the answer for many of the world’s problems today, individually and collectively but many people don’t see it that way.

God loves you and me. He loved me when I was being rebellious, though He didn’t like what I was doing at the time. He kept me in His love and protection though because He had something for me to do later. He has something for you to do as well. I don’t know what it is and you won’t find out what it is unless you ask Him into your life so that you can work for Him. It doesn’t matter how much longer you have in your life, even if you only have a week or a month, God will use your testimony to touch someone else. He will also welcome you into Heaven when you arrive.

Quotes, from who?


Sorry. I am being lazy today and I didn’t want to rewrite this, but it is needed by our world today.

Tracy Eldridge's avatarA blog about living well and successful today

I have noticed that some blogs include “inspirational quotes” from people from all walks of life. While this is nice and commendable, our lives can’t be based upon the words and thoughts of other people. Inspiration which comes from people who are just as flawed and helpless in many situations as we are really doesn’t help much, unless they are pointing us toward the One Who can help in all situations.

People just like us. Sure, the writings which I put up on the web are from me, but most of the wisdom that I have, came from God’s Word, not from my own thoughts. It seems odd to me that we will listen to every speaker, every writer in the world spouting all sorts of “wisdom” about things which many of them don’t have a clue about.

Many of their words actually come from other self-help books or articles…

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What is humanistic Christianity?


This is exactly the kind of Christianity that we see in the world today. I couldn’t have done any better so here is another writer’s words. I hope you enjoy them.

Mel Wild's avatarIn My Father's House

Tissot_Building_the_Tower_of_BabelI realized when I posted my last article on faith that I use the term “humanistic” a lot in describing the kind of Christianity we’re coming out from under, and that it would probably be a good idea to take some time to define what I mean.

First of all, I’m not talking about humanism, which is a philosophy that man can do quite

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Too many “Christians”?


A very good message, I pray that you enjoy it as I did.

M R Charles's avatarMugisha Thoughts

Don’t panic. I haven’t abandoned the faith. I love the brethren. Most times I even like them. The problem I have is what goes by the name Christian.

We have Christian radio and Christian TV.

Christian celebrities and celebrity “Christians”.
There are Christian businesses and Christian sporting comps.

Christian books and Christian movies…some are even suggesting we should promote Mormon Christians, Buddhist Christians and Muslim Christians and gay Christians…but so much which is heralded as Christian is …well, simply not Christian.

Many in the spirit of the post-modern age in which we live, have decided that Christian can just mean whatever they want it to mean, Thank you very much; but words have meaning or at least they are meant to have meaning. A rose by any other name may smell as sweet…but it’s awfully confusing to horticulturists.

When the early disciples of Christ adopted the self-descriptive term of Christian…

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Christianity, the step-child


So many truths to be spoken of and told to those who will listen and yet many will still not hear them. The job, the command which our Lord gave to us in His words: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation..” (Mark 16:15) It has been nearly two millennia since He ascended to His place at the right hand of God, and there are still those who will not accept the gospel as the Truth. Why is this?

Mainly, because of the atrocities of the church, in ages past, which persecuted people horribly for believing a doctrine different from that which it taught or they followed a different religion entirely. This is my opinion of course, not the real reason. The actual reason is that Satan and his legions have been perverting the gospel in ways through the reasoning of man over the centuries. Changing it subtly, a little at a time, so that the change wouldn’t be evident immediately. Also, because he wants to cause people to think that they are serving God, when in fact they are serving him and worshipping him.

How else could we have so many doctrines and beliefs in our world today. Many of them professing to be “the true church”, serving God in ways that would not be acceptable if Jesus were here. Changing scripture ever so slightly in words or by paraphrase so that the meaning is close to the gospel, but not quite. Counterfeit gospels like counterfeit money sound good and look good to the eye and to the ear, but they are worthless.

How can we, as Christians, show others the Truth of the gospel? One way would be by living it ourselves, another would be by telling others about Jesus and His love for them. While it is true that some will not want to listen or accept Jesus as their Savior, they need to be told. Because without hearing the gospel and its Truth, how will they know?

Why do I call Christianity a step-child? Because that is how it is treated by the world today. There are older religions in the world, but none make the claims of Christianity. There are newer religions in the world today, but many of them are only made up or based upon the imaginings or “visions” of one man. The difference between Christianity and all of the other religions is permission and accountability.

Christianity sets rules and boundaries which morally make sense and whether you are a Christian or not, those boundaries are known. The Truths which go along with them are known, whether you are a believer or not. These are known as the Ten Commandments and they are accepted as moral laws whether you are a believer or not. The problem which most have with them is that they tell you what you should do or not and they convict you of the things that you have done wrong.

This is what many people can’t stand. It is the conviction and the “rules” in Christianity. These rules are not so restrictive as to tell you what to wear or what to eat or who to marry or not, but they do show each of us that we are sinners regardless of how “righteous and holy” we think we may be! Without the grace extended to us from God through Jesus’ sacrifice, our holiness means nothing! When you accept Jesus as your Savior, then your life will be very different from what it was before. When, like Saul, you meet Him then your life and your heart changes and you are a new person. No longer caught up in this world and its problems and heartaches, even though there may be some afterward.

Jesus didn’t promise His followers that life would be without trouble. Satan doesn’t care about you or your life unless you decide to follow Jesus and tell others about Him. Then, you and those you love have a target on you and he will be after you from that point on. God’s angels will protect you and keep you safe, but if you let your guard down and allow him to get into your life somehow…even by accident, then he will cause you pain enough to turn you from God if he can.

Satan hates us


Have you ever wondered why he hates us? I used to, until I started really studying the Bible. He hates us because we are made in God’s image. He was kicked out of Heaven because he rebelled against God, so anything that God loves, he hates. But, that isn’t the only reason…God created man, Adam, from the earth, from mud and then gave him something that no angel has…an eternal soul! Angels are spiritual beings and therefore are immortal, but they can’t have a relationship with God like we can. Our relationship is on a deeper level and it is one that angels don’t have access to, and that is another reason that we are hated by Satan.

Love is another reason. God loves us, his creation, not just because we are but because we are made in His image. He loves us in a deeper way because of our image of Him inside each of us. God loves all of His creation, the Earth, the animals, humanity, and the angels too, but humanity holds a special place that we can’t understand fully until we are in His presence. When Lucifer rebelled against God’s authority and wanted to place his throne on the mountain of God, it likely broke God’s heart.

Why would it cause God pain? Because, until man was created, Lucifer was the most perfect of His creation in the angelic race of beings! Giving humanity and angels alike the choice or the ability to choose to serve Him, to love Him, was a risky thing to do but it was also the right thing to do. Because service and love cannot be forced or required to be genuine and true, they must be given from one being to another. It also cannot be earned, but given as in a gift of service or the gift of love to one another.

Love is the reason that God does anything that He does. He created us because of love, His love for us, His love of Creation itself. He created the angels for all of these things too, but Satan (Lucifer) wanted more and did not want to serve God. He wanted to be worshipped and that was and is not his place. Satan is not omnipotent nor is he omniscient, God is.

God sent His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), to the Earth to provide a way for all of us to be saved from the punishment for our sins. He did that on Calvary when He chose to give His life for ALL of us, not just a select few. Yes, there will be many who will choose not to know Him because they are stubborn or because they think that they can’t be saved. If you will believe in Jesus and His path for salvation for you, it doesn’t matter what you have done, you will be saved. The prayer of a sinner who is repentant of his sins will always be answered, even if it is on a cross or on his death-bed. It doesn’t matter if you have time to be baptized or not, if you repent of your sins and ask for Jesus to save you then you will be saved.

God’s creation, from the farthest stars and galaxies to the smallest of atoms, groans in anticipation for the day that all will be made right again. One day, it will happen. For some, it will be a great day of reunion with family and friends. For others, it will be a day of judgement and pain. The greatest pain will be that you had a chance to accept Jesus in this life and you chose to throw it away because of stubbornness and pride. Please, reconsider and seek Him out while there is still time to do so.

Celebrations and tears


We all have them at one time or another. We mourn the loss of someone who we love or we celebrate an anniversary or other accomplishment in our lives. Sometimes the tears come during the celebrations, but it is all part of life. How do you live with it or live without the people in your life which have gone on before you? Do you rely on your own strength and that alone or do you lean on friends and family? Many people do exactly that, they lean on others who have gone through the same troubles and heartaches. Is that really how we are supposed to get through our tough times?

The celebrations are easy because they usually involve someone’s accomplishment in some way or another. Maybe you have been married longer than some in your family or friends. Maybe you just graduated from college or even got married recently. Maybe you just had a baby, boy or girl doesn’t matter, it is still a celebratory moment in your life that you won’t forget…EVER!

Time can dim the memories and the pain to an extent, but it never goes away entirely. The loss of a loved one, whether it was your child or your mother or father or one of your grandparents, is a loss to you emotionally, physically and even spiritually. Why spiritually? Because between Christians there is a bond of fellowship, it isn’t one that you can feel emotionally but it is there. When you are absent from this fellowship, your spirit feels it and whether you feel it emotionally or not, God knows how it is affecting you.

The other effects from the loss are more immediate and real because of the pain that is felt and caused by such a loss. Why am I going over this? Because many of you, even though I don’t personally know you, have a loss in your life of some kind. Some are more painful than others, some are like my mother who suffered with pain for years before she died but that did not lessen the pain that I felt at her passing. Even though after so many so-called “mini strokes”, she was still with me for a time she couldn’t enjoy life anymore so her quality of life was far diminished from what it had been. For years I blamed myself because I had asked God to take her and get her out of her pain and suffering, but it wasn’t because of my actions or my prayer that God granted it. It was because He saw that it was time and within a day of my prayer, she was in His arms.

Yes, my pain began at that point and continued for many years especially at Christmas because she died on Christmas day. My point?

First…don’t ever pray that kind of prayer unless you are ready spiritually for the consequences of it.

Second…there will be consequences, good or bad, because of a death in your family whether you prayed that prayer or not.

God loves each of us, no matter what we have done or will do in the future, He just doesn’t like the sinful lives that we lead. Especially when we don’t even recognize that we are sinners or that what we are doing is sinful. Some Christians live this way, thinking that their life is fine with Christ and with God because they claim to be Christians and they go to church once in a while. Many of them think that because they read the Bible a few times a year, not all the way through, that they have their way to Heaven in the bag and they don’t need to worry about it.

Analogy: You go to a college and audit some courses, sitting in class and listening and reading the material maybe even taking notes. You might even audit enough courses to actually have enough credits under your belt to get a degree…will you get one? No, because an audited course doesn’t give you credit for a degree, you are just present listening for your own enjoyment so to speak. What good did that do?

The same amount of good that going to church, reading the Bible, praying and singing will do for you…none!!!

You can go through the motions of this and you might even be “led” to get baptized one day because you think that it is the right thing to do but has your heart changed? Did you give your life to Jesus and allow Him to change you from the inside? If you didn’t do that and your life outside of church doesn’t change so that others can tell that something happened, then it was your decision, your feeling and not the call of the Spirit that you answered. When you die, you will be shown that you did all of these things but if you never actually gave your heart to Jesus, the knowledge that you heard but did not hear spiritually will only convict you.

Think about it.

Do you have everything that you need?


Many in the world’s countries don’t, at least from the world’s viewpoint. You notice that I put in the title “everything that you need“? I did not say anything about stuff that you want!

Wanting things and more things doesn’t give you anything but a storage building that you didn’t need but it is necessary because of the stuff that you wanted. So, now what will you do with it all? Store it in a building? What good does that do you?

What about the garage with status symbols in it that cost you more than your house payment every month? You have to put a hundred dollars worth of gas or diesel in those every week at least to keep them going. You have to replace the tires on them at about two hundred dollars apiece every so often. I know that they are necessary for you to go to work or maybe you use one of them for your job, and that’s fine. They are useful, but some stuff just isn’t and it gets your money and barely any notice after that, at times.

Our needs involve food, shelter, clothing, and health. I am not speaking of having more of any of these than others but just what you truly need. The best is good as long as it doesn’t cost you more than you can afford. Enough food is great for anyone, but more than you need is bad for you. Everyone knows this, but there are many who don’t seem to care because they want more.

Did you also notice that in your needs list, I didn’t have wealth. Why is that? Because in order to have your needs met you don’t need more money, you only need enough to take care of your needs. Wealth is for those who want to do it all and have it all and it is a good thing for some people. But, Jesus said that is would be “harder for a rich man to get into Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”. Why is that? Simply because a rich or wealthy person doesn’t feel that they need Jesus, because they have every “thing” that they want and they have money to get what they need if that need arises.

Wealth can’t buy happiness or health though. Yes, you can pay your bills so it makes the stress level go down somewhat, but that isn’t happiness. If your health takes a turn toward the cancer ward or something happens to your child, your money can help you to have the best care that money can buy. But, what if that isn’t enough? What if there is no cure or amount of medication which will take care of the problem? Money’s just paper at that point.

Your needs, your life, your happiness, and your health are all important to God because He created you for a purpose. He cares for you and loves you far more than you even love yourself. I am not saying that all of your needs will automatically be taken care of if you trust in Jesus for your salvation. Your bank account won’t suddenly swell up with cash after you become a Christian (although that wouldn’t be a bad thing as long as you give God the glory for it). But, the love and the peace which comes with knowing Jesus and His Father will make even a diagnosis of incurable cancer bearable because you now have eternity in Heaven to thank Him for His love and grace for you. No amount of money or fame will ever fill that void in your life unless Jesus fills it.