Category: Religion

Living for Christ


I have seen some teaching online where some people, who may be preachers, are saying that the teaching of “God loves us, regardless of our heart’s position” is a lie. For one thing, God wouldn’t have sent His Son to redeem mankind IF He didn’t love us ALL! Whether we have given our hearts to Him or not, God loves us. Jesus didn’t come to Earth for a few people’s souls, He came to bring the possibility of salvation to everyone. He wouldn’t have come to do this if God didn’t love each person on this Earth.

Remember, God is the Father, Jesus is the Son, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. So, if God loves His creation enough to send His Son to redeem mankind, I  believe that God’s love covers ALL of mankind. Mankind is everyone, no specific nations or cultures or religions and regardless of time! God’s love includes every person which is why He sent Jesus in the first place.

Another disturbing part of our world today is that we try to label people whether they adhere to a good or bad religion or doctrine. While this may be a good idea for security it is not a good idea for people following Jesus. We don’t live in a world where there is a distinct line separating good and bad (evil), even if that is what Jesus taught. The world sees things as black, white or gray. The problem with thinking like this is that black and white being equal in the world, which they are not, these two sides also don’t mix producing the so-called gray area.

Just as there aren’t skeletons or fossils of the forms of life as they evolve, there also aren’t any demons or angels who aren’t evil or good but somewhere in between.

There is and always will be a distinct line between good and evil, black and white, and I am not speaking of a race but the intent of those in our world. We don’t have an option of sometimes good, sometimes evil…you either are or you are not. While it is true that there are people who aren’t Christians but they do good things with their time and money, that is not the same thing.

Yes, we can be good to each other, regardless of our belief or non-belief in a God, but the difference between the actuality of belief and non-belief is in our core, our heart and that is reflected in our behavior toward those around us. Reflecting our internal beliefs to the world is what Christians should be doing, making sure that others see more of Jesus rather than us.

Carrying Jesus in your heart and in your life is part of living as a Christian, having a belief in Him is part of that. Life as a morally good person is wonderful, but your life could have so much more of an eternal effect if Jesus was a part of it.

 

Light and Dark


Most of the time when you hear someone talk about the light and the dark, today people think of Star Wars and the Force. Well, in the spiritual world here on Earth, there are forces of Light and Dark too. In the movies, you hear of a “balance in the Force”, but there is no balance in the spiritual world and if you have followed the Star Wars history you know that balance is not easy!

There is no gray area in either reality! In the Star Wars universe, the good side usually helps people and the Jedi represent that side of the Force. As they tell people “Jedi use the Force for good and defense, never for attack”. Life on Earth is a little like this. It is good or bad, evil or love, there is very little gray areas in our world as well. So, why do I bring this up?

Cosmic-consciousness-alien-human-encounterBecause this last movie in the Star Wars group of films has the same message in it. “The Jedi must end” is one of the lines in the trailer that Luke says to Rey. But…why must they end? Because the Force is not all good? Of course, it isn’t, since the Sith have used the Dark side for their purposes selfishly ever since the Force was discovered. But even the Sith usually find that they are drawn to the Light at some point. Of course, not all of them are because they have embraced evil so tightly until they won’t allow the light in.

In our world, evil is represented by Satan and his demons and the evil things which they cause many in our world to do. Humanity isn’t forced to do these things, but if your heart hasn’t embraced belief in Jesus and allowed the Holy Spirit to change you, then you are open to suggestion and persuasion of another type of force. Our nature has always had this type of conflict because it was corrupted at the beginning, so until we learn that God has a plan for our lives we are like a blank slate.

Our lives can be influenced and manipulated in many different ways if we aren’t taught to follow God and His ways. Unlike some people who believe that humanity would naturally move toward the “good side”, most of humanity has proven that idea wrong many times over the centuries. Being taught about God and Jesus in church and at home is essential but it doesn’t guarantee that a person will choose to give their lives to Jesus.

Just as in the books and movies about the Force, you can be drawn or coaxed toward one side or the other and the same is true for the decision which we all should make to follow Jesus. If we feel drawn to Jesus and to a life of walking in His footsteps, then it is likely that we will do so. Maybe not immediately, but eventually we will give our heart to Him. Some people hear the message of grace and forgiveness and even feel drawn to Him, but they like their life and their friends more and they decide not to follow Him.

Remember…it is your decision which side you follow. God doesn’t force you to follow Jesus because forced obedience isn’t the same as loving and willing obedience. Satan can tempt you with money and power but if you don’t do as he wants you to do then those are taken from you. Yes, light and dark, good and evil are completely separate sides and there is no gray area at all. Because in the real world, mixing the two produces confusion and heartache just as the dark side or the evil side does.

Before the end of your life, and that could be any time since we don’t know when that is coming, make sure…absolutely sure which one you are going to live and work within this life.

What kind of impact will you make?


We are starting a new year, not exactly an Earth-shaking event. But…will you have an impact in our world or your world this year? Sometimes we make resolutions for the year when it is brand new and fresh but after a couple of paychecks and possibly a trip to the doctor’s office…well those resolutions get placed in the closet until next year. So, can we have an impact on those we love or the workplace?

GodisNearActually, we can IF we will let God into our lives and let Him influence our living from day-to-day! I know that there are people who don’t like to hear about religion in general, regardless of whether Jesus is part of it! But, the fact is that everyone needs Him whether we realize it or accept it or not!

Could we have an impact on the world without allowing Jesus into our lives on a daily basis? Yes, but it wouldn’t have an eternal outcome if we did it all on our own. Teachers in high school and college have an impact on their student’s lives during the year, but how much do you remember of tenth-grade algebra class? I would guess that, like me, you don’t really remember much of it (unless you actually work in a field that you USE it every day)!

Being a Christian is very different from learning algebra or geometry because it is a decision which we are called to by God and the Holy Spirit. It is not a decision that you make on your own, although you do have to decide to accept the offer of salvation from Jesus. You can’t just decide that today I am going to become a Christian because it is a calling from God which prompts you to realize that you need Jesus in your life.

Being a Christian and living life as a Christian is not a hard thing to do, but it is a life that you have to learn to do. Studying the Bible and learning about the grace of God and His plan for your life is part of living your life for Jesus! Repenting or walking away from your sins is another part of being a true Christian. Sitting in church or Sunday school once or twice a month and not changing your lifestyle doesn’t make you a Christian. Although many people who go to church once or twice a year think that they are Christians, even though they haven’t been baptized or changed anything about their lives!

You can have an impact in this world and in eternity by living your life for Christ so that others will see its effect on you and want what you have.

Beginning again


The year that I was called to the church that I am still preaching at, I began the year with a fast. I am going to do this again this year. Not to lose weight or to heal my arthritis, although those may be part of the side-effects of the fast, I want to get closer to my Lord. Jesus said to His disciples, “when you fast” not IF you fast, so we are supposed to seek Him in fasting and prayer.

Yes, I know there is so much good food out there and at home too. That is part of the fast, in denying your body one thing your soul and spirit can get closer to God in your daily devotion. My family is going to wonder why I am doing this to myself, but the reason is that my ministry was more effective during the first year after fasting and I am praying that God will honor this fast with successful decisions for Jesus this year as well.

Life does not depend upon food, but it should depend on God and His grace toward us. Fasting is shown in the Bible as a strengthening practice for prophets and priests as well as for us as followers of Jesus. Fasting takes the energy that is normally used in processing food and uses it in other places such as healing and cleansing the body. God placed this in us as a measure of our devotion and strength of faith and we are expected to use it rightly. Not just for losing weight or to seem to be more pious than others because we are not to tell anyone that we are doing so except for our family.

We have to have their support otherwise the food which is cooked in our homes will make it very difficult to complete even a few days of fasting! God gives us the strength to fast and He will do so if your fasting is for His Kingdom and to bring glory to Him! Fasting also can help heal many ailments in your body as well, although I am not going to try to list them all here. In this age of the Internet you can look up credible sources about this yourself and it has been proven with research.

I know that I am letting you know about this but I am not boasting in my fast because I haven’t actually begun it yet! I request that any of you who read this, Christian or not, please pray for me to be able to finish this season of fasting that I believe God is calling me to. I don’t know how long yet. It may be for two or three weeks or maybe even forty days but I need your prayers for the strength to get through this one day at a time. Thank you and may God richly bless you in this new year that we have just started!

 

Are you ready?


For years people have been wondering when the end of the age will be and when will Jesus return? His return to the Earth to rule as King will be after the Tribulation has run its course and that is very likely the end of the age if you are talking about the church age. We have been living in the church age since He went back to the right hand of the Father almost two thousand years ago and people have been looking for His return for most of that time.

heaven-or-hell-eternal-destinyGod has the plan in the works but there is no timetable that we can look at to know when because Jesus said that it would happen in a moment. He told His disciples that only the Father knows the day and the hour, so we don’t have access to that information. So…are you ready? Remember, the first indication of the Tribulation will be the church being taken into Heaven. All of those who have put their faith in Jesus, whether alive or dead, will be raised to immortality to meet Him in the clouds.

Some of the books and movies which have spoken about this have tried to show those souls as lights going up. The way that Jesus described it would show otherwise. He said that two will be sleeping and one will be taken and the other left. Two would be grinding meal, one will be taken the other left. In a moment, in the twinkle of your eye, like blinking and someone you were just talking to will be gone. Their clothes and shoes and all man-made material will be left in front of you, but they will be with Jesus.

This is not a joke and it isn’t a cop-out in life because when this happens there will be lots of pain and heartache in the world. Many people may be killed because of drivers or pilots who have been taken and their cars or planes don’t have anyone to control them anymore. So many will be trying to figure out what has happened and only those who have been to church or a Bible study and learned about the “end of the age” and Jesus will know. If they are still here they didn’t make the decision to give their heart to Jesus and they will know that also.

This time will be difficult and dangerous for those who know what happened but didn’t follow Jesus because they can’t tell anyone. They will not know who to trust at this point, even if they are friends or family. Those in charge will be offering rewards for Bibles and believers too. This is the real beginning of the Tribulation and it will only get worse for the next seven years from this point.

Please, don’t wait until these things are taking place to search for your Savior. You could find Him and get to know Him at this time but it will be harder and more dangerous. The world around you will not know Him nor will it accept your belief in Him. God loves you and has made a way for you to be saved now and it is through belief in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross! Make sure that you get to know Him soon because it is to your eternal advantage and for your home in Heaven!

How is your year going?


I know it seems silly to ask a question like that at the end of the year, but have you considered the one coming up? Have you thought about it at all? I will admit that I don’t plan things out ahead of time, at least not much ahead, but the reason that I don’t is that each of us doesn’t really know what is happening tomorrow.

Look at what’s going on in the world today. How much of what you see or hear on the news would you think could’ve happened today or yesterday? Violence, bombings, murders, killing people because their beliefs are different from what you believe, all of these things are happening now. What, if anything, could you predict or hope for in the future? Making plans for six months ahead doesn’t sound very good to me.

Granted, I am very cautious and if you are a person who doesn’t pay attention to all of the stuff happening in the world then you can plan and go on with your life as if nothing is happening. I am not writing this to make anyone feel bad about their planned out life, but the world we live in doesn’t really give you a good outlook ahead of you to plan for.

God knows what is happening and what will happen and He is in control of it whether the world believes that He is or not. Seek to learn more about Him this year, determine that you won’t just brush Christianity off as some kooky religion. Make sure of your eternity because if you don’t, your eternity will not be an endless party, of that you can be sure!

Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, so we are forgiven but we have to believe in Him and the atonement that He provided for us. I know some don’t think that we have to do anything for our salvation, but we do. We have to believe in Him! Going to church, reading your Bible occasionally, attending Sunday school, and all the stuff that “church people” do fairly regularly… don’t cut it! You can act like a Christian and look like one well enough that people may think that you are one, but if the change hasn’t taken place in your heart it is just whitewash.

Cleaning up and looking like a Christian, even if you don’t drink or cuss or anything else, doesn’t make you a Christian without Jesus in your heart. Follow the scriptures in Romans to find your way to your salvation and you will be ready for eternity!

RomanRoad2Salvation

Do you have a direction?


Leading a church, a home, and a blog about Jesus should be pretty easy to do. Sometimes..it is, and sometimes these don’t mix very well. Mainly because the “mixer” is out of sync or not plugged into the Source of Wisdom like he should be. The “mixer” of course is me! There are days and nights where things are going along pretty well. Then there are others which are not, for one reason or the other. Sometimes it is because of depression or apathy, sometimes it is because of my own physical pains and other problems which crop up from time to time.

When money is tight or maybe one of us is sick or we have to take the “fur-baby” to the vet’s office, all of these can put a cork in productivity. Life just gets in the way sometimes. There are many other distractions which get in the way, but you get the picture.  This is the time where each one of us needs to seek God’s Wisdom and His provision for our lives. I know it sounds like one of those answers that a pastor would give, but it is the truth! Man’s wisdom doesn’t fit the situation at times and sometimes our way of dealing with a problem, whatever it might be, just isn’t going to cut it.

The only One Who can help in every situation is God. He has the wisdom and the knowledge to help us IF we will seek Him out and listen to the wisdom that He gives to us. Most of the churches today seem to focus on numbers, at least the ministries which you see on television. Big churches and auditoriums, a band and lights…but that is not what Jesus told His disciples to do (they couldn’t since there wasn’t electricity at the time). Jesus said, “Go and make disciples”. That is what a walk with Jesus is and it is what a life with Jesus is supposed to be.

Going to church a couple of times each week and listening to the pastor read a scripture or maybe a chapter, expounding on its meaning for each person there is not the way to make disciples. Leading them through the Bible into an understanding of it and the meaning of it is the function of the pastor and the disciples too. If the pastor is the only one reading and praying about what he reads in order to understand it, then the members of the church are being left behind. They hear what he says in the sermon, but do they really think about it, praying about its meaning for their lives?

I would think that many people don’t even remember which scripture was read by the time they get home from church. If you are to become a disciple of Jesus with the ability to take the scripture with you every day, then you need to read and study it every day. Just attending a service or two each week and then closing the Bible the rest of the time will not write the scripture in your heart. The reason for reading and studying the Bible should be that it is meaningful to your life! It has to be the guiding wisdom of your daily walk with Jesus, otherwise, it is just a book.

RomanRoad2Salvation

Simple salvation


Have you ever been to an evangelical service anywhere and heard that it was simple to become a child of God? In many churches, you will never hear such a thing, but that is exactly what Jesus came to bring to everyone! The Jewish leaders of His day had over six hundred laws which they encouraged the people to keep (even though they couldn’t or wouldn’t keep them).

They asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment and He told them this: “Love the Lord with all of your mind, soul, body and strength and the second is like it; love your neighbor as yourself.” The law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Much simpler don’t you think?

Salvation comes only through faith and belief in Jesus and the atonement which He bought for us with His blood and His resurrection from the tomb. Faith comes from hearing the Word preached and your soul responding to it, then belief comes when the Holy Spirit touches your heart and breaks it, showing you where you have failed to be like Jesus in your life. Why does it happen this way?

Because until it is broken just a little, there is no opening in your heart for the Holy Spirit to gain entrance. Being broken doesn’t mean that you are beyond repair because with God all things are possible! I mean, He made the first man from the mud and breathed the breath of Life into him. God called up the cattle and other animals from the ground and caused the waters to teem with all kinds of living creatures, certainly, He can take a small crack in your heart and mend it to make you into a new creature in Christ!

Learning about Jesus and His love for you is not the end of your life but the beginning! How can I say this? Because this pitiful seventy or eighty years of life is nothing compared to eternity! Which is where you will spend the rest of Life with Him and with all of those who have given their lives and their hearts to Him! Don’t throw eternity away because of a small thing or some amount of money here on Earth! The streets of Heaven are paved with gold and the doors leading into the Temple in Heaven are made out of 12 ft. tall pearls! What can wealth here give you that you can’t have in eternity? Absolutely nothing!

Make sure of your salvation simply because, after your last breath in this life, you won’t have a chance to change your mind or destination in eternity.

The mind of the Creator


It’s a very broad and deep title, isn’t it? Although, I have wondered and marveled at God’s design of the universe for a long time. Just looking up at the night sky during any time of the year makes me feel…well, tiny and insignificant. When you realize that each of those stars out there is similar to our own Sun, yet so very far away, it is very humbling to know that God placed them there!

Even more amazing is all of the life which He created here on Earth! The complexity and yet the simplicity of the different cells and structures which are a part of all of the animals and down to the bacteria is just staggering! Yes, some scientists believe that evolution did all of that but when you look at the complexity of life and all of the different processes which go on in each cell of our bodies and almost every other creature…it is very difficult to believe that it all happened by trial and error.

I know, they call it “natural selection” but it is still trial and error. If one adaptation doesn’t work out, the next generation changes to fix it? Really? What if there was no next generation when the “adaptation” didn’t work out? God created all of life in its different kinds at the beginning. Those kinds adapted and changed as time and conditions warranted it to produce different colors and shapes of mouths or bills on birds and different colors of hair for camouflage for predators and prey.

Our God is awesome in the way that He gave each of us the ability to learn and adapt ways to work and live in any area of the world! He gave the animals the same abilities and that is why there are many different colors and adaptations in Africa and around the world. I know, scientists would argue with me on these things but looking at the world through the lens of Biblical Scripture gives us a different picture of life here.

Scientists of the 19th century and earlier tried to reconcile the findings that they were seeing with Scripture rather than beating religion down with their findings. I do believe that when Jesus returns to rule the Earth for a thousand years, most of those theories will be shown as the “ideas of man” rather than actual facts which can’t be disputed. In schools today you can’t question a theory even if it can’t be proven, regardless of how crazy it sounds.

As Jesus taught, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God“; because when you do, the knowledge will reveal itself in Scripture. Don’t try to fix God’s Word with the wisdom of man because it doesn’t work that way! Our wisdom and knowledge are given to us by Him and our ability to learn is a gift from Him to each of us to use as a testimony to Him and for Him in our world and our vocation.

Christmas….


I am not trying to push this into everyone’s inbox, but this is the season which we celebrate the birthday of Jesus the Christ. Your life and mine would be very different if He had not been born. Actually, the world wouldn’t be the same as it is today if He hadn’t come, it would likely be much worse.

God knew that we needed salvation because of our sinful natures, and the only way to accomplish this was through the atonement of the perfect Lamb of God and His sacrifice.

A Baby born to be a King but also to be the propitiation for all of the world’s sins. A wonderful story which was foretold many years before. He would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem in Judea. Well, instead of me giving the story again, I am just going to direct you to my other post about His arrival.

I hope that you enjoy the post in the link and Merry Christmas to everyone who reads it!