No king and no Savior


In America there hasn’t been a king for over two centuries, in fact, since we have been a country there hasn’t been a king, just a President elected by the people. But spiritually, America has been a bit on the fence when it comes to choosing a Savior. We are free to worship as we choose, so if we don’t want to go to a church or other religious place…we can choose not to.

But, God sent Jesus to the Earth so that we can be forgiven for our sinful actions if we will choose to believe in Him for our salvation. This belief must come with a deep commitment to follow Him and His teachings and to learn more about Him and the way God wants us to live. To do this we must study God’s Word daily and pray about what we read so the Holy Spirit can teach us more about our new way of life. The learning curve isn’t hard, but placing our faith in Him can be at first. We have been sinners without the Holy Spirit, usually for much longer than we have been saved. At first our old way of thinking will still be very much in control of our thoughts and that can only be changed by the Spirit and by reading and studying God’s Word.

One day in the future the church will be taken up and the world will be without pastors or churches for the most part. I beg you to seek out a church today and learn more about this Savior and the Life that He offers to everyone if we will seek Him and give our hearts to Him, turning away from our old life and living in the new way of following Him.

Be blessed…


Christians are blessed by God IF they follow His teachings but if you follow “someone or something” else then you will be cursed. Sounds harsh doesn’t it? God’s curse can come in many forms, such as a sickness or even the loss of a job. God doesn’t seek ways to curse you but when you are working against Him by living your life for someone or something else then His curse will fall on you in some way.

Many people in the world don’t think they are turning away from God. Many don’t believe in Him in the first place because they live in a culture that chooses a different “Savior” to worship. The problem with this is that there aren’t other deity’s. Satan has been hard at work over the centuries to cause others to worship him or some of the fallen angels that were kicked out of Heaven millennia ago.

God loves humanity regardless of where you live or the culture that you live in and He calls many people to be His children. Sometimes those who are called choose not to answer their calling, but if you are predestined to be His then it may take a while but you will give your life to Him. God knows who will answer and who will not so it doesn’t surprise Him when you choose to be your own helper rather than seek His help.

We are coming to the end of the “Church age” soon so you need to seek Jesus and give your life to Him because when the church is taken up, the seven years of Tribulation will begin and it will be even harder to give your life to Jesus at that point. Don’t wait, if you want to stay out of hell, give your life and your heart to Jesus today because tomorrow may be too late.

What do you think of Jesus?


Isaiah 53; Psalm 22; John 3:16

How much do you think about what Jesus, as God’s Son, went through just to atone for our sins? Have you ever considered the wonderful blessing that we have because of His sacrifice?

The scriptures that I read for this sermon are well known to some but some people only know a few lines of them. In Psalm 22 the opening line is what Jesus said when He felt His father turn away from Him while He was on the cross. Isaiah 53 is a description of God’s Suffering Servant, pointing to Jesus’ coming as the Savior but many Jewish people don’t read it that way. They see it as a description of the suffering of Israel.

Then there is the familiar scripture that all Christians know, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son; that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”. All of these scriptures express God’s love and compassion toward each of us but do we really appreciate His love for us? 

God loves each of us so completely and individually until He knows the number of hairs on your head and the color of your eyes and even your personality. He has known these characteristics of each of us from before Eden was created. God knew each of those He would call in the future, all of us, intimately. Every detail of yourself even before Moses was born.

Every spot on your skin, every freckle and every detail of your life before He called you and since then is known by God. Nothing happens by “accident”, He has a plan and a purpose for every part of your life. A word here or an action that you take may make the difference in someone coming to know Jesus.

Every action can make a difference, which is why we must be careful in our Christian life. You have no idea how many people watch or listen to what you say or write on Facebook or in the grocery store. When people know you are a Christian, your life is scrutinized very closely. Just as the Pharisees watched everything that Jesus did during His ministry. Even more today because of our phones and all of the social media that many of us are a part of every day.

We have a responsibility to be on guard about everything that we do. I know that is a hard thing to ask of everyone because it is not easy to guard your thoughts and your words every day, all day. The best way that I can think about it is to imagine your grandchild being near you. What would you say or do in front of them? Imagine Jesus being in your home. How would you act or talk around Him? As Christians, He is in our hearts and in our home and our cars every day so we can’t sneak a thought or a word by Him. He knows your thoughts and your intentions, so be thankful for your blessings all day, every day and make sure to start your day by thanking Him for giving you another day to live for Him.

God loves…


In the Bible there are many times where it tells what God doesn’t like. He isn’t impressed when we try to do things on our own or in our own strength. He doesn’t like it when we are angry with each other. He doesn’t like it when we worship something or someone other than Him, because He is God and the only God there is. But…what does God love?

He loves us, mankind, and He loves His Creation meaning the Earth and the universe and everything in it. He also loves the angels even though a third of them rebelled against Him eons ago and were cast out of Heaven because of it. If you are wondering how much He loves us, read the book of John in the New Testament. Watch “The Chosen” series and you can see what Jesus said and how He chose His disciples. I have been watching it since the first season and it is really good.

God’s love is more than we can imagine. It encompasses every part of Creation. Every atom, every blade of grass, every leaf, every strand of hair…His love infuses all of it. That is why even the slightest bit of disobedience on our part hurts God deeply. Creation sings praises to Him in ways that we can’t imagine but one day we will see it in Heaven and feel it too. I pray that you will seek to know Jesus as your Savior soon because the day is coming when He will appear and call His church to be with Him “in His Father’s house”.

Have faith!


Abraham had faith in God’s promises so he went to a place that he’d never been before. He even had faith enough to believe God would give him a child in his old age and God did that. So, why do people disregard what God’s Word says about sin and salvation today? Is it because they don’t love God or they just can’t handle the truth? Since the men who wrote the Bible did so by the prompting of the Holy Spirit the Bible is God’s Word not man’s. Yet many in the world hate it and won’t believe it as His Word or as the Truth. People will believe all kinds of stories about “aliens” or evolution but when the Creator, God, puts things in writing that have come true and will come true shortly, many will just ignore Him and anyone who believes His Word.

Why is the Bible disbelieved so vehemently in many parts of the world? Because it does tell us the Truth whether we like it or not. If you look at the historical records of many other people besides the Hebrews, you will notice that their history always has happy endings and good things in it. The Bible tells exactly what the Jewish people did, good or bad, in every situation. Yet it is reversed as their history and taken as completely factual. Yet, many churches don’t believe that it is completely factual in every sentence. Since God inspired the writers to write down His Word and their history shouldn’t we believe His Word as factual and truthful too?

God cannot lie so His Word is absolutely the Truth. But we don’t like to be told that there is a Truth besides our own which is why many people are so against the Bible. Jesus is the only Savior and the Way to be saved from our sins and the consequences of those sins. God’s Word says that “the wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God)”. Jesus is the only way to be free from the punishment brought on by sin. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the only way and I pray that you will…soon.

Why are you so glum?


I was a pastor for nine years and I’ve been told that since I post here daily, I’m still a pastor but that’s beside the point. The faces I saw and those I see on TV at church services look like they just ate a sour apple. I understand that many people don’t want to smile all the time but as Christians, we have the best news that could ever be told! Jesus made it possible for us to be taken to Heaven!

If you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, your eternity is sealed and sure! Being sad about the day’s news is not going to change anything. Consider this: He could come back at any moment! Your problems will all be solved when you are taken to your eternal home! No more glasses to wear, no bills to pay, no doctor to visit, and no more pills to take so you can remember to take your pills!

God loves us and He is coming back to take the church, His Bride, to heaven! From that point on into time with no end, you and I will be alive! It is a hard concept to get your mind around but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!

The joy of being His should give you a smile to show to everyone. But many people want to look at the world around them and see the things that aren’t the way we want them to be. God sees the bigger picture that we can’t see and He knows which way everything will turn out…His way. Don’t discount His design in your life and in the world around you because His way is always the right way.

Life and our Creator


In the Bible, our Creator is the embodiment of Life itself. Not only because He created it but because He sustains it as well. God and Jesus both, along with the Holy Spirit, sustain all of Creation. The life which is on Earth or anywhere else in the universe is also sustained by them and by their power over life. Every life on Earth, human, animals, insect and even bacteria, is sustained by God’s power. Satan is the oposite of life and is a liar if he claims otherwise.

No matter how much Satan tells you that he can bring your wife or son or daughter back to you…don’t believe it because it is a total LIE! He can’t give life and he can’t resurrect a life that is already gone. Only our Creator can do that and bringing someone back from the grave hasn’t been done since Jesus’ time. But that time may come again soon.

Our Creator has done many miraculous things and will continue to do many more. Your life in Christ is one because you are a new creature in Christ. When you gave up your old life and began to live a new life through the power of Jesus’ name and claimed Him as your Savior, then you became a new person. As you walk in His Word and pray daily for His strength to keep you on the pathway following Him, you will become more like Him and less like your old self.

That is what is meant by becoming sanctified in Christ. Because the more that you learn from the Bible and from prayer and by resisting the temptation to return to your old life, then you will begin to reflect the life and likeness of Jesus. Of course, we can never become fully like Him in this life but others will notice a difference in our life that is reflecting His attitudes and His teachings more than what the world will accept. That is why the world doesn’t like Christians, because they look at us and see what they should be like. Knowing that if they were more like Jesus they wouldn’t be living in sin the way they are.

He gives us the power to be more like Him because if He didn’t, we couldn’t live our life reflecting His ways and not our own. We can’t be real Christians without Him or without His Spirit changing us from the sinner that we once were into the person that Jesus knows we can be. I ask that any of you who haven’t given your life to Jesus, please consider seeking Him out and doing so before your life ends. There are no second lives to live and no second chances after this one is through.

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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.

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So much useless fun


When I was a child I am sure that my Mom and my grandparents thought the same of “cowboys and Indians” that we played. But today, there is so much electronic uselessness in these games that are so rampant on cell phones and game consoles until I am not sure where they are taking the next generation. I cannot see any useful education that these games bring to this generation except maybe hand and eye coordination.

What will that do for you? Actually, in the real world, I am not sure what it will help with except for maybe swatting flys. I suppose that while playing these games young people can’t get into any real dangerous trouble. Although some of the games that I have seen described in game magazines which my son gets are very graphic in their portrayal of violence and how it is used to “get what you want and kill the other guy”.

In truth, these are games which don’t teach a vocation of any kind but they reward you for behavior which would get you killed or put in jail in the real world. So if playing games can allow you to work out your aggression in a non-violent way and which causes death and destruction to a non–existent animal or person then I suppose it might have some useful quality.

The world today is violent enough without adding to it in gameplay, but as long as the next generation doesn’t bring that violence into our world then I suppose these games can be tolerated. How does God look at them and the outcome of this gameplay? That is a question which I can’t answer. He may view it in the same way that I see it, but some of these games are occultic in their nature so I hope that those who play them don’t take the powers from the game into a real religion.

Translating some of the occultic themes and powers from a game into using them in real life could be much worse than many would think. It only takes an invitation to a demon or a spirit or Satan himself, even if the invitation is muttered in a joking manner. Once the spirit or demon is in your home or worse in your mind, then you and your family are in serious danger. I realize that many people don’t believe that these entities exist, but since Jesus cast demons out when He was on Earth, then I do believe that they exist and are present now.

Why do I bring these ideas into the light now? Because until we realize that they are here and they are real, then all of the evil that goes on around us will be played off like it is just someone who is insane or that they are evil. When the reality is this: they were influenced by a spirit or demon to do whatever they did. Killing many people at a concert or at a school sounds exactly like something which a demon would have a person do if they are susceptible to them.

I pray that no one who reads this is into the occult, of any kind. If you or your children have ever thought about reading something or trying a tarot card reading or going to a medium who claims to read your palm or tell you about your future…don’t do it!! Get away from them and stay away from them! It looks innocent and fun, but that is how Satan tempted Eve all those thousands of years ago. He is doing the same thing with all of the scientists today. Trying to make them believe that natural forces created us and everything else in the universe and that God had nothing to do with it. These are all lies but they can be disguised as a true statement.

Seek out the Creator instead and learn from Him because the Truth is in God’s Word and it is only there where salvation and eternity can be found. Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light because he once was an angel of God. Make sure of your knowledge and from where it comes.

Do you know God’s name?


OnlyJesusIf I asked this in church or on the street, most people would just look at me funny. They might ask “What do you mean ‘do I know God’s name?’? It’s God! Well, yes and not exactly.

Names in the ancient Near East often functioned differently than names do today. In addition to identifying a person’s family or lineage, names were thought to reveal the nature of a person as well as some of their character. God’s name in Hebrew does that in many ways and there are fifty-two names referring to God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Many times we read in our English Bible the name of God translated as Jehovah but in the Hebrew it is YAHWEH, although you will not find this written out completely because it is the Holy Name of God. It will be abbreviated. God’s names and the names for Jesus and the Holy Spirit all point to their nature, their innate character being distinct from each other and yet One as the Godhead, Three in One.

Each of them has a specific purpose and power, yet all of them are God. So how can we learn to recognize God in all of these names? By studying the Bible, praying about His nature and His character, seeking Him in Scripture and in everyday life! This is what we are supposed to be living out in our lives as Christians and followers of Jesus after all! So why do people seem to freak out when God’s true name is brought up or the name of God is shown as Adonai, the Lord? Because His nature and character is pure and holy, that is at least one of the reasons!

I won’t go into all of God’s names or the names of Jesus, but all of the names in Scripture describe His character and His attributes, just as many names of people in the Bible described their position or their family tree. Why bring God’s name up now? Because we have abandoned our respect and honor of His name, because we don’t revere names much at all anymore.

God loves us with a love that is boundless and deep and He has this for each of us because He designed each one of us to be or rather to have character traits which reflect Him. Whether we do so or not is our choice because until we choose to follow and believe in Jesus, we can’t reflect God in our lives. Before we are saved by Jesus, we are tarnished by sin, no matter how much good we try to do on our own.

Yes, donating lots of money can help many people in certain situations, if it is given to the right organization. But many who do this are doing it for tax purposes, getting something in return for their “help”. But, does it translate into more eternal rewards? Not unless you are doing it out of love through salvation by belief in Jesus.