Tag: Jesus

Why are you leaving?


So many people are leaving religion and their belief in God today, why? I know they are dissatisfied in the religion or with most of the supposed rules that it has. Some are saying that they can get their satisfaction spiritually by going to yoga classes or martial arts class. Some just don’t seek any affiliation with any religion regardless of whether it is Christian, Muslim or Jewish or any other religion.

It is true that many people have found that during college their views of the world and their place in it changes and they adapt to those changes, but I would like to ask a question about all of this.

Are you willing to risk eternity on this decision? While it is true that if you don’t believe that there is an afterlife leading to an eternity then there is no reason to worry, but do you really was to risk it? Why am I asking this? Because I have to for one, I am a pastor and a Bible teacher so I am required to make you aware of your choices and what they could lead to.

Even if you don’t believe in God or His existence, He still loves you, and He has provided a way for you to escape the punishment in hell that comes with rejecting Him and the grace that is offered through His Son, Jesus. I know, hell is not real according to some people but if there is a Heaven then there is a hell where Satan and his demons will be punished. If you reject Jesus and His atonement for your life and your sins then you will be there with Satan and his demons and everyone else who believes that they are good enough to get into Heaven on their own.

Our righteousness is as dirty rags in the eyes of God because He is Holy and perfect and our imperfections just don’t measure up, no matter how “good” we think we are.

There are so many today who think that everyone is against them, even the church, and that is not true. Many things are happening today because God is orchestrating it, even if He isn’t directly behind the murder and mayhem that is happening He is in control. Satan and his powers and demons are the ones behind all of the evil in this world, whether you want to believe it or not. It is true that those who ridicule the existence of God or don’t believe in Him at all won’t believe in Satan’s existence either, but not believing doesn’t make anything or anyone go away.

Jesus loves you and gave His life for your healing and for your salvation, there is no love greater than that!

Understanding is necessary!


This is something which is missing in our society today. Why do I say this? Because there is so much intolerance in our country, especially for Christian viewpoints! That is why I said that there needs to be more understanding in the media and in our culture too. Yes, there are intolerant Christians, but just like those who kill people with guns, they don’t represent the Church or the majority of Christians in this country!

We, as a people and a nation, need to stop this persistent categorizing people who you don’t understand by the actions of a few! It’s like deciding that all dogs are bad just because one breed, like the Pit Bull terrier, has a few who aren’t raised correctly. Many times in our society people are judged by the actions of a few people and it is applied to a large group, such as those with dark skin color or those who work in a particular profession. We are told not to judge people by our parents and by God, yet we do it all the time. I heard many times in school “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but today it seems that we as a nation have forgotten those words too. What happened?

Understanding is defined as: the ability to understand something; comprehension; sympathetically aware of other people’s feelings; tolerant and forgiving; having insight or good judgment.

It seems that our society and the much of the world in general has forgotten the meanings of this word, whether sympathetically and forgiving or just simple understanding. Have we gone so far away from our teachings about God and His laws that this word is unknown or disregarded by everyone in society today? It seems that way because every story on the news should have something to do with this, but most stories are about intolerance and hatred toward those who don’t believe the way you do or who look different from you (racism).

I have addressed racism before but I am going to bring this up again: We have different cultures, beliefs, and religions but we ALL belong to the HUMAN RACE! Skin color may be different and the shape of our eyes may be a bit different in some parts of the world, but Biblically speaking we are descended from Adam and Eve who both were likely dark-skinned and not Caucasian. Yes, we all differ in our cultures and our preference for people who look like us or those who are similar in beliefs. These beliefs and cultural differences can be seen from one part of a city or state to another, but if you are a Christian your beliefs a similar enough that there shouldn’t be a division. Specifically one that may cause you to be so different that you can’t stand each other!

The apostle John said that “If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”  1 John 4:20

Seek God in His Word. Learn of Him and His provision of grace and love toward all of us. Pray that He will come into your heart and change you to be a new creature in Christ. This is what is necessary for salvation. If there are any questions or prayer requests please leave them in the comments. Thank you and I pray that all who read this will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The significance of th cross


Not much more to say, other than “Amen!”thecross

Grief, life and eternity!


GloryshiningthroughSooner or later we all have to go through one of the first two and everyone will be in an eternity of their own making one day. So, which one will you choose?

Life begins at conception but our life truly begins after we are each born into the world. Our parents have to take care of us for a few years of course, until we get smarter than them at puberty and then they are relegated to our description of “old people”. After each of us graduates from either high school or college, we forget about our parents for a while until we become parents. Then, all of the advice and the “old sayings” come back to us and ring true, so true in fact that we wonder how did our parents get so smart?

Amazing how life works like that isn’t it? Later as all of us age, regardless of whether we want to or not, we notice aches and pains that weren’t there a few years ago. Then, some of the other advice that we heard from “old people” comes to mind when we think about our joints and how it aches to sit for a long time and then get up feeling stiff. We find out we just can’t do stuff like we did when we were younger. That’s why grandma couldn’t run and play with us when we were kids. We thought we would be able to go on hunting trips and travel when we got older and then we find out why our parents didn’t go far from home.

When our parents or our in-laws get older than us and death comes calling on someone close to you, each of us finds out what grief feels like. So, how do we handle it? For some people who may not know Jesus as Lord, this time can be a really hard time. Many people assume that everyone goes to heaven and that is not Biblical. If your loved one has accepted Jesus as their Savior, then that is where they will be, but if they never did or if you’re not sure then you should pray that the rest of your family will give their life and their heart to Jesus.

I am not saying this to make people scared about a loved one that they aren’t sure of, but to open your eyes to the reality that everyone does NOT go to Heaven! Yes, you do stand before God but there are two outcomes which are always present there. One, when Jesus stands with you and says “This one belongs to me, their sins are covered by my blood”, the other is when you are alone and you are asked “What did you do with the light that you were given?”. You are shown all of the times that you heard a sermon or a teaching in Sunday school or at a crusade or on TV and you rejected the call of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you thought that you had plenty of time or maybe you would get around to it next week or next year.

At this point, your eternity is ahead of you. Regardless of the place you will spend it, if you are standing in the presence of God then your eternity has begun. The outcome of the two questions from the paragraph above will determine where your eternity will be. The main thing that you have to consider is that it is your choice and the choices that you have made in this life which determines your eternity. Nothing that you do in this life will have any lasting effect on where you spend eternity, unless you have chosen to give your life and heart to Jesus! 

It won’t matter how good you were or how moral you were considered. It won’t matter how much money you gave to the poor or to any ministry or how much you gave of your time. Until your heart belongs to Jesus and you are living for Him in this life, nothing that is done here makes one bit of difference, especially concerning your eternity. Consider where you are in life and whether you have given your life to serving God and His Kingdom or not, then make it a point to seek Him out and learn of His goodness and His love for you. Because, until you can look at someone else and love them as Jesus did, particularly someone you don’t know, then you don’t have His Love in your life. As Paul said, “I Corinthians 13:3 “And though I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned , and have not charity (love), it propheteth me nothing.”

When?


There are many times that this is asked of us and of God Himself. When will we see your deliverance of the church? When will you return, Lord? When will the church wake up and take salvation to the places that truly NEED it?

This question cannot be answered today. But, we as Christians need to get off of the pews and into the streets and take God’s gospel to those who may not have heard it. Yes, there are some places in the South and all over America that still haven’t heard the gospel preached in a way that people truly need to hear it right now. God loves all of you, but the sinful lives that we lead and the sins that all of us commit are not included in that love. He wants us all to come to salvation, but God doesn’t force anything on you or me. It is our response to His call, His Spirit which gets His attention and His Spirit should get our attention too.

When will we learn to be disciples and be the feet and hands of Jesus? When will we be the church that Christ wants us to be…intended for us to be? I don’t know, but the time is winding down. There is very little left to happen before the angels will sound the Trumpet of God. More people have to hear about salvation, more people need to be ministered to physically and spiritually. If the church doesn’t do this by being the REAL church that Christ intended for us to be, then who will?

Life today is hard enough, particularly in places that are devoid of churches or where there are many miles between them. Yes, there are places in the world where Jesus hasn’t been preached yet, and those are the places that need to be touched with the gospel. Working at it for a few years, telling people in your community or your county is good but will they take the message with them? When will those in Mexico hear about Jesus’ love for them? When will those in Jamaica or Honduras or Bolivia or Columbia hear about a loving, caring, powerful God Who wants to save them? These are questions which need answers and I can’t give those answers to you.

The church needs to sit down and have a Holy conference of all of its members, regardless of denomination, and determine to get out there with the message of love that we are supposed to be telling others about! We were not saved from hell to sit in the pew and say “amen” in a timid little voice! God needs people to blow the shofar and tell others about the God Who loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for them, in their place, so that by grace we can come to Him and know Him!

Time is on my side….is it really?


We are not guaranteed any time. Some of us get to live to be 8 or 9 decades old, some make it to the century birthday mark, but those years are not given at birth. We live them, one day at a time, one year at a time, one decade at a time as God wills for us to be on this Earth. It is not something that we have any control over, for the most part. Of course, if you live your life doing dangerous stunts or smoking or drinking all of the time then you can have an effect on your quality of life and its quantity too.

In the Bible, God says that man is allotted “three score and ten“, any years beyond that is a true gift from Him. Right now, I am not far from my three score but I am going to serve Him until He comes again or until my time is up, whichever comes first. Your time and mine are pretty much the same. We all get, if God wills it, 24 hours every day. Part of that we spend sleeping, part of it we are travelling to or from work, part of it we are eating and we usually work about eight hours or so depending on the job we have. So, do you see time as a friend or a master? The reason for my question is that many people rush through life day after day, like they are being pushed or forced to rush through the day. Then, some of us see a day as a gift which God has given to us and we use it and every hour that we have is precious.

This is the way that I have had to learn to live since I became disabled and unable to work at a regular job. I wake up and thank God for the day, then get my coffee and read a few chapters in the Bible. I may get inspired to write a post for this site or one of my other blogs. I make sure that our dogs are fed and the cats too and I try my best to get my son out of bed before noon. God has given me this time to enjoy in life because the age of grace that many refer to as “the Church age” is coming to an end. I don’t know when, but God does and according to all of the prophecies in His Word it won’t be too much longer.

By saying that I mean that I believe that I will be alive when the Trumpet sounds and He calls us home. If you would like to go with me, please consider giving your life to Jesus soon. Pray about it, go to church and talk to a pastor about Jesus. Ask questions about Him, seek Him in His Word and in prayer. Why do I say this? Because, after the church and the dead who are Christians are raised, the world is going to change dramatically and it won’t be for the better. God loves you and knows who you are and where you are in your life, all that you need to do is seek Him out and pray that He would forgive you of your sins, just like He forgave me of mine. I am not perfect, only Jesus can claim a sinless life, but God will forgive you if you are sincere about changing your life and following Him.

So much need and so little time…


In our country there is a vacuum that is forming in towns and cities, communities and homes and it seems to be going unnoticed by most people, but God knows that it is there. We have pushed Him away from our churches and our homes and our jobs, especially from our own government so the vacuum that has been created is of our own making. We have caused this, we as a culture and people have done this collectively. Why did it happen? What is the purpose of it?

In reality and in truth, we have been fulfilling Scriptural prophecy that God inspired the writers of the books in the Bible to write down. Many people seem to be wondering the same thing that I have for many years: Why is America or at least a reference to it completely absent from the Bible, particularly the prophecies concerning the end times? It is simple really, it is because we are not a powerful nation anymore. We have lost our foundation and our purpose for being. How did that happen? Over the past century, our government and many politicians in the states have gradually taken freedom from us. Just a little bit here and there, nothing that would be missed for a while. But, after fifty years or so the missing pieces begin to add up.

Like taking a rock from a pile of rocks. At one point, after the pile has settled, the rocks are all suspended and touching each other supporting the ones above on the ones below. If you remove a small one from the bottom, it may not make much difference, but if you take enough small ones from the bottom the result can be hundreds coming crashing down. Another illustration would be a large amount of snow packed on the side of a mountain. As long as you don’t disturb much of the packed snow, there isn’t a danger. But, if you disturb enough of it then the whole side of the mountain may come crashing down as an avalanche.

The only difference in taking freedoms away is that the catastrophe won’t necessarily kill you, although many people may die in the aftermath, but the economy of the country will fail eventually. Bit by bit, a little knowledge is taken away, a bit of history is changed so that the next generation doesn’t really know the truth, money is printed to keep the supply up and the interest rates are dropped to prop up the economy. The net result is that sooner or later, the stocks and bonds that were sold to keep everything going are worthless, the money that our economy depends on is not worth enough to keep the value up when the banks come looking for payments on loans. Our creditors in other countries will look at our devalued status and demand payment on the bonds. Sooner or later this house of cards will collapse under its own weight.

Why is this traced back to our character and our heritage of being a country which feared God and used His Word as a template for our laws? Because, without God at the center of our nation and its governance, the wheel will fly apart and our country will be no more. The movement, if you want to call it that, which began at the beginning of the twentieth century is called “progressivism”. By the time that this is published, we will have lost about half of the freedoms that our great grandparents took for granted and it will get worse before it gets better.

Our country and all of the people in it NEED a true revival of Biblical proportions. Similar to the Great Awakening of a couple of centuries past, but even more fervent in scope. We are seeing our country brought down by a few people, those who believe that an altered view of the Bible is needed or those who believe that God and His Word needs to be booted out of the country and all of its institutions and offices all together. Our people, those in the United States but also every person who reads this blog, need to get into God’s Word and pray for a real revival in their hearts and in the heart of the nation itself. Please, take this to heart and look for God in His Word because He is there waiting for you to come and open  your heart to Him.

Prayer…does it accomplish anything?


Last night, I went to a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Not a Bible study like we have been to before, but an actual prayer meeting. All of us prayed for someone or a group of people on our hearts. Many of those in attendance prayed for each person on their hearts, some prayers were long, some were specific about their health problems. In truth, we really had a “prayer meeting” and not just Bible study.

Does prayer accomplish anything? Yes, it does! A sinner’s prayer can bring a soul that has been searching for something or Someone into a relationship with Christ. The prayer which is prayed by a grandmother or grandfather can keep a child out of harm’s way until they can come to know Jesus. A nation which prays and humbles itself before the Lord and repents of its sin of turning away from Him, will be forgiven and their land will begin to heal. Prayer for someone who is suffering from cancer or some other incurable disease or condition can bring relief or healing, if that is the outcome that God sees for that individual, especially if they are to be used by Him in a special way in the future.

Prayer is a two-way communication between you and the Creator. There is no loss of signal, or misunderstood words or problems with interpretation because God knows what you need, He is just waiting for you to ask for Him to fulfill your needs in your life, not your wants! He doesn’t pour out money from Heaven just because you ask for it, but He will provide for your needs at the right time and the right amount in relation to your faith and belief in Him. We all have a measure of faith, but our ability to have a prayer answered is in His hands and His will not yours. Just as Jesus prayed in the Garden for “let this cup to pass from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done” Matthew 26:39

God allowed Jesus to go to the cross and He had to drink from the cup of suffering because that was the Father’s will. The punishment and pain that He felt on the cross and from the flogging beforehand were miniscule compared to the Father turning away from Him and leaving Him as He hung on the cross. The pain from that is what caused our Lord to cry out on the cross in agony as the separation became clear and it was very painful to Him. The abandonment and isolation from His Father is the punishment which Jesus endured for us, because it is the same isolation that we would be subject to feel if we were cast into Hades or hell. We will know the times which we had a chance to choose life with Jesus, we will remember all of those chances that we had that we didn’t take. If you haven’t given your heart to Jesus, then consider it please. Anything that we have to endure here is but a puff of smoke compared to the eternity that you face without God’s presence in your life because of turning away from the grace offered to you while you live today.

Yes, prayer can and does accomplish many things today. Not just in your life or in the lives of your loved ones but God can use your prayers and those of others to affect the world and how things turn out in the rest of the world today. Prayers asking for strength and endurance for those who are persecuted as Christians, God especially answers those because the people being prayed for are praying for the same thing. Thank you for reading and I pray that all who come here will seriously consider accepting the offer of grace that we have been given in this life.

 

What is your view of the World?


Is it evil or good or somewhere in between those extremes? Do you see much of either during your daily commute or at work? In many ways, our world is exactly the way that we have made it. Cruel, uncaring, apathetic toward anyone with a different opinion or belief than you, because yours is right of course! So, what can we do to make our world and the people in it more caring toward one another? Honestly, I really don’t know the answer to that at all. Because we are flawed human beings, we do the best that we can with what we have. If we were taught a set of beliefs and morals then we will act accordingly. If we came up in the slums of Rio or Delhi, orphaned and alone, then we will possibly be like animals, take care of yourself first and foremost and don’t worry about anyone else because they certainly won’t care about you.

There are other places and cultures where we could grow up in a much different set of circumstances and depending upon the beliefs and the comfort that we lived in while we were growing, our values and outlook would be different still. As some researchers have proven in the past, it really is more nurture than nature when it comes to our culture and values and our beliefs or lack of them.

So, can this horrible situation in which the world stands on the brink of our next war, world-wide though it may be, be solved and fixed satisfactorily by an ordinary man? I very much doubt it! Humans will do things and agree on things only if it serves their purpose. Our world is under the control of Satan and his forces and they are causing all kinds of evil in our world, yet God will not allow them to go any further than He allows. We see prophecy being played out in the world and on the news every day, whether you believe it or not this is happening today. Griping about it won’t solve anything, electing an official who shares the same agenda as the last President won’t solve our problems either. Getting back to worshipping God and learning about His ways from the Bible will help get us on the right path. But, there is no quick fix for any of the problems in our world today. 

God does have the answer, but many in the world today will not like it and they won’t enjoy it at all. When the church is taken up into Heaven and the world descends into the chaos which will follow, those who come to power at that time will bring their answer and many will accept it. But…it is a lie, a ruse, one that will plunge the whole world into a war that many millions will die in and that time is also foretold in the Bible, it is called the Tribulation. It isn’t a made up fantasy, it is a time that will purge the world in some ways and burn the world in others. Please, turn to God and give your heart to Jesus before the trumpet sounds and many Christians are taken up.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.…” 1 Thessalonians 4:16

 

Each person matters


It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, homeless or live in a mansion or a penthouse, all of us matter in our lives to Someone. The person that we matter to may be our spouse or friends, co-workers or partners, we may even matter to some office or position that we hold but the most important Person that we matter to is God. Yes, I said that each of us matters to God! He cares even if we didn’t get an answer to the prayer that we prayed last night or last week. He has cared about you since before the Earth was created because He has known you and known about you since then.

You are important to Him because He created you for a purpose that only you can fulfill, a job that only you can do and nobody else. Do we realize this in our lifetime? Sometimes we do if we are paying attention to His voice. If not, then we will trip along through life, ignoring that little voice that part of our conscience or whatever you want to call it…until we truly NEED Him! Then we will call out to Him loudly and insistently. Will He listen to these prayers? Yes, and He may use the outcome of them to touch your heart again, just to get your attention.

You do matter to God. Believe it or not, He has always had an interest in this little speck of dust and all of us who are made of its substance. He has been able to see you and your family from far back in time before you were born and yet He has always had a purpose and a place for you. All that you need to do is believe in Him and follow His lead, live your life for Him so that others can see Him through you. Why you may ask? Because He paid a price for our atonement, for our sins and frankly it is the least each of us could do!

The world today, particularly outside the Christian faith, thinks that we as Christians should just shut up and go away. One day, God will call all of us to Heaven and then you will see the kind of world that you have without us and His influence in it. He will still be in control, but it will be a world under judgement at that time and not one that will be hospitable to anyone. Seek Him out while there is time, while there is life in you to do so because when your life is over here, eternity begins whether you like it or believe in it or not!