Tag: Messiah

Death…and Life!


I am not sure how many people look at Jesus’ life and death and resurrection in that order, but I do. I have to, I am a pastor after all. Yes, life comes after death! It is not an “if” situation it is a when. When you die you will live somewhere forever, the where is up to your decision in this life. Which decision you may ask? The one about giving your heart to Jesus and asking Him to come into your life! It is not a decision which will ruin your life. Your life will change for sure, but it will be a more sure and hopeful life. Sure because of the promise of God, if you accept Jesus as your Savior you will be saved from an eternity of torment. Eternity is a very long time, so I would really think it over if I were in your place.

I was in your place once. I had never given my heart to Jesus, I just thought that I had. I had gone through all of the motions of going to church and Sunday school and Bible school. I had even gone down front and joined the church and even got baptized. The only thing that really happened during all of this was..that I got wet with my clothes on in front of some people. That is it! Nothing changed in my heart and I went through this more than once. Until I felt the Holy Spirit calling me and I answered Him honestly and truly, nothing changed. When I did answer His call on my life, I knew it!

Some people have said that they can name the day or date that they gave their life to Christ. I never have worked that way, never even tried to remember it but it really did happen. It has been about ten years or so now, but the relationship has grown so much closer and warmer than I could have ever imagined. It truly is like being in love because you are loved so much more deeply than you can be by anyone in the world!

Jesus loves each of us far more than we can understand and I know I have said that before, but it is true! Seek Jesus out in the Bible or at a church where they teach from God’s Word. Learn about Him if you don’t know Him yet and ask Him to come into your life. Read and study the Bible, not because it is a good book to read but because it is a collection of God’s Wisdom and His love letters penned through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to all of us, not just the Jewish people.

In His Service until He comes or I go home.

Life, what will you do with it?


Since we are all alive if we are breathing, then we are all living right now…today, but have you considered what tomorrow might bring your way? Have you even thought of what will happen or may happen in an hour or two? We are not gifted with that kind of sight, thank goodness! We can’t see into the future even a few minutes from now regardless of where we are or how much we may like to see the future. So, how are you living your life right now, this very instant? Have you ever thought of that or even considered it at all?

Life is something that we live one tick of the clock at a time or one blink of your eyes at a time. Just fractions of a second stand between you closing your eyes in a blink and then opening them again and it only takes a fraction of a second. But, there are times that just that tiny fraction of a second could make the difference between having a wreck in a car or not. But, we can’t stop blinking or driving or walking because that is what we do while living!

Faith in God’s provision brings us through those milliseconds of time when we blink. He will see us through and bring us out the other side. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but consider all of the milliseconds that people experience every day, every month, every year and you realize that we all live faithfully in God’s grace whether we believe in Him or not! Isn’t that great? He loves each of us THAT much regardless of our faith or belief in Him.

Some of us are given much in goods and things that the world sees as our blessing from God. In the eyes of many people of the world, outside America, each person in this country is wealthy. Most of us have a place to live that is warm or cool according to the season, many of us have food on the table or in the house every day of the year, many of us have jobs which pay us a nice wage or if we happen to own a business it may be doing well enough to provide us everything that we need in this life. The problem with looking at our “material wealth” from the perspective of those outside of our homes or our businesses is that they don’t see or feel the loneliness and fear and helplessness that comes with being “well off”.

Many of us don’t even consider ourselves well off in wealth at all. Business owners have payroll and insurance and overhead expenses like utilities and such. Homeowners and those in business have insurance and grocery bills, utility bills, cable bills, dental and clothing bills, tuition bills, etc. So much so that after you take out all of the money for bills and life, there isn’t much wealth left at all! But, to those who live in Africa or India or Turkey or China or North Korea our way of life and the apparent wealth that they see is far above anything that many of them will ever attain.

That is why America and Americans are not on the lists of people who are liked or loved, because we are seen as a culture and a country that has it all. Everyone else wants what we have, up to a point, but they also want to bring us down a notch or two if possible. The biggest realization that the world needs to find out about is that we can’t fill that spot that has always been empty or hollow. No amount of money or stuff will ever fill that empty part of your soul until you realize that Jesus is the One that does fit in that spot! Once you understand that, all of the stuff that most are holding onto for dear life just doesn’t matter! Yes, you still have to have money to pay your electric bill and your other bills, but the i-Pads and the i-Pods and the phones and computers and any other amount of things which this season tries to tell you that you HAVE TO HAVE…they don’t matter at all!

Jesus said that your life is like a puff of smoke and compared to eternity it really is! Your life doesn’t matter much unless Jesus and belief in Him is a part of your everyday existence. No amount of time or effort or money invested or given to any charity will make an eternal difference unless you are doing it with faith and the love of Jesus in your heart.

Is it possible to commit an unpardonable sin?


The point of no return is the same as an unpardonable sin, when you die there is no return and if you have refused the grace of God all of your life there is no pardon available! You don’t get a second chance after death because you have had many opportunities in this life. What can you do? What will you do with your eternity now?

For many people, that decision has already been made and there is no changing it. For others there is still hope. If you still breathe and walk this earth you can change and seek out your Creator, today. Tomorrow is still ahead and yesterday is already gone, consider this before you go to sleep tonight. Like the farmer in the story who said, “I have enough. I will build more barns and take life easy. Eat, drink and be merry and take life as it comes. And God said, you fool, tonight your soul is required of thee.” Granted, this is a paraphrase of the scripture (Luke 12:19,20), but you get the idea.

Your life and mine are not guaranteed. We don’t have a certificate which says “you will have 58.5 years before you die” when we are born. Even in the Bible it says that man has appointed three score and ten or seventy years, anything beyond this is due to God’s grace alone. Yet, even that isn’t guaranteed. Consider that you live X number of years, after this there is eternity in one place or another. Which one will you live in during that time?

Consider this the next time you are in a close call on the highway. Why do I emphasize this today, now? It is truly because our lives are just a puff of smoke compared to eternity and whether you believe it or not, that is where you will spend most of your actual life. Seventy years is not a long time compared to even one million years, it is just a dot on a very long line. Even one million years is only a dot on a line that never ends! That is why I am speaking this way today because your eternal life will be either in the presence of God in Heaven or it will be with the demons and Satan and everyone else who refused God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is your choice. God doesn’t require it of you nor does He force you to serve Him, ever! You cannot force anyone to truly love you and if it is forced, it isn’t love at all. It is done out of fear and that kind of devotion is NOT what God seeks!! God is not Allah and Allah is not God! Radical thinking, huh? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not Allah, it is Yahweh Elohim! Seek Him out and learn of the One True God because beside Him there is no other!

Amen

Life….


Where do we find life? Here on Earth we can see it in all of its forms and shapes. It is all around us, everywhere. We can’t escape life except when we take it.

Do people here respect and revere life today? No! The evidence shows on the television and on all news media outlets that there is no respect for life anymore. Why has this happened and who allowed it to happen? The answer to both questions falls to our love of convenience and our disdain for rules. We have allowed our country to be overrun with people who have grown up with instant communications, drive-thru windows, microwave meals and popcorn, even drive-thru marriages in Las Vegas. Why would anyone care about life when things are so easy and simple and quick? What do you care that someone just shot a child because his dad was from a rival gang? It isn’t your kid, so stay out of it!

Our hearts have become numb and hard to the point of being heartless and uncaring in this world. What happened? Fifty years ago prayer was taken out of schools along with the Bible and gradually we have moved any mention of God away from children, unless their parents brought them up in church. Yet, today almost any mention of Jesus’ name is called offensive. Prayer isn’t even allowed at sporting events for the most part. Is it any wonder that our country is about to go the way of Rome? We have pushed God away so many times that, if He was human He would never come around here again!

Jesus was and is human but He is also the Son of God and He has not forsaken us nor has He forgotten us. He is the Author of Life, the Creator and the King of Kings! One day, likely very soon, He will come back and everyone will bow to Him and call Him Lord! Life comes from Him, eternally and yet we throw it away as well as our own chance at eternity because of unbelief or rather we choose not to believe because “we are not ready yet”. Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow because it isn’t here yet and yesterday is already gone! He seeks out those who will have Him, He waits patiently for those who are seeking Him, so what will you do?

Do you believe?


I do! It is evident in my preaching and in the content here, so yes I do believe in Jesus as my Savior and I know that He can be your’s too! If you will believe in Him. Will you?

Remember, today is the only day that we have. Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery, neither one of which we can do anything in, but today is the day of salvation and life and love. Use today as if it was your last day, seek the Savior’s love and find it today while today is still here.

How much more?


What has to happen in our country or in the world to wake people up? How much more will have to be taken away in the form of losing freedoms or rights? How much more will we willingly give up to the government or to our own view of life, freedom, and happiness? Why are we willing to make ourselves into slaves of the government like Israel and the Egyptians did when famine took over their lands? Are we really more like sheep than we thought?

The answers to these questions are answers which we really don’t know. The media, the news outlets, the governments of the world are all clueless in answering these questions because they simply don’t know the answer and they don’t know where to look for it. Is the answer to all of this in God’s Word? Yes, most of these questions could be answered by people following the wisdom contained in the Bible. I mean REALLY following it, daily, in our jobs and at home 24/7!

Would we be willing to do that? The short answer is unfortunately NO! Christian faith has taken a huge hit in terms of people willing to follow it over the years. I am not speaking of those who claim to be Christians, I am speaking of those who really are committed and live their lives in God’s presence with prayer, meditation on His Word DAILY! Not just once per week and certainly not just on holidays! When you try to nail down those who are TRULY committed to Jesus, the number of Christians who fall into that number drops dramatically. Most polls show that out of the world’s population there is approximately 25% that claims Christianity as their faith, but if they are truthful and look at those who committed to following Him daily, I believe that number would be closer to ten percent.

True, this is just my own opinion and I don’t have any facts or polls to back this up with so don’t jump on me because of this. I have only been a pastor for a little more than four years but it seems that the number of Christians who would still claim it even in the face of death threats is likely less than the ten percent, but this was prophesied over two thousand years ago so it shouldn’t be surprising. It is just disheartening and depressing, but God knew and knows who will be His and who will turn from Him. So, how many more will turn away? How much more will we lose to technology or to the attractions in the world?

The real answer is: Only God knows for sure!

We have given up our family time together, we rarely meet with our friends to talk and go over our lives together, the world is crashing in on every aspect of personal life, like waves on the seashore and like the sands of that seashore, we seem to be powerless to stop it. The sad part of it is that we have done this to ourselves! We have allowed it to happen and the more it encroaches on our lives it seems that we are willing to just allow it to happen even more.

Please, turn to the Bible and to faith in Jesus! Getting closer to Him and the wisdom in God’s Word is the only hope that we truly have!

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

Is your life yours?


This is what we think of our lives mostly…that we own it, that it belongs to us and we can do whatever we want with it. If you are not a Christian and you don’t believe in God nor have you given your life to Jesus and asked Him into your heart, then maybe you do own your life. Unless your parents do or your wife or your boss at work does. They do have a certain amount of “ownership” of your time and your life, up to a point. Our life, as we live it, is ours to do with as we please…until we realize that we need Jesus in our life and in our heart. Then we are His.

Why do I say it this way? Because He purchased us with His blood, His death and His resurrection! He paid all of our debts in regards to sin and we are His creation because He knew us before we were ever born into this world! Our purpose in this life, our REAL purpose is to serve Him in whatever way we can. Whether it is as a missionary or a teacher or a preacher or an evangelist. Our work for His Kingdom is to tell others about the gospel, the Good News of His gift of salvation! You cannot earn this gift nor buy it with any amount of work that you claim to do for Him, particularly if the work is done without Him in your life and heart.

Everything that is done prior to repentance from your sinful life and asking Him to cleanse you and make you a new creature if Him has the same value as garbage. In other words…it is worth NOTHING in relation to eternity! Life in eternity is only granted by belief in, and living your days with, Jesus. Remember the story about the thief on the cross? He didn’t have a chance to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit nor did he have a chance to witness to many people, he only asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His Kingdom. Jesus said to him, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Because of his belief in Who Jesus was and is, his faith and belief in Jesus saved him from an eternity of punishment. He recognized the Messiah when very few did at that point.

Truly, because of God’s grace toward us, we belong to Him whether we have accepted His grace and mercy through Jesus or not. The unpardonable sin is that we go through life, having heard sermons or read the Bible and know the way of salvation and yet refuse it, sometimes you or someone you know has felt the pull or the voice of the Holy Spirit and just walked away. That is the unpardonable sin which will not be forgiven, especially if you die without ever repenting and turning to Jesus! Think about this, seek Him in His Word, listen for the Spirit speaking to your heart, pray about it and ask Jesus to come into your life and change you. Then live your life as a testimony to Him and about Him until you are called to Heaven by death or by the Angels. Just don’t wait like Satan wants you to, because his lie is that you have plenty of time yet your time may be up tonight or tomorrow!

Changing times…


The world and everything in it is changing. The problems which we have to deal with, the good and the bad things which happen every day rarely give any of us a break in our lives. How can we handle so much change from day-to-day? With prayer and seeking God it is possible but there are many people in the world who either refuse to do that or they just don’t believe in God in the first place. Have you ever noticed the stars or the pictures taken by the Hubble telescope? Our universe is not an accident! The stars and their galaxies were placed by God in their orbits and in their places so that we could wonder at His power and majesty.

This world that we live on was put here specifically for our benefit with just the right amount of oxygen and nitrogen to sustain life. This didn’t happen by accident either. The placement of the outer planets and the comets were planned and placed for God’s majesty and for our wonderment. Why? Because we cannot explain these things away with mathematics and calculus. Philosophy and mankind’s intellect can’t explain these collections of stars and gases nor can it explain our own chemical make-up. No amount of education can explain the chemical signals which produce emotions like love or hate or rage and we never will!

They are out of our grasp but one day we will know as we are known by Him. How do I know that? Because it is in His Word! God said so and the world and everything except us was formed by His Word. He specifically came to the garden and formed man from the ground, with His Hands not by His Word, that is why we are fearfully and wonderfully made!!

One of the most worrisome beliefs that I hear about and read about today is that there are many (only 2 to 5% of the population) who either don’t believe in God, are not associated with any religion or who just choose not to associate with an organized religion. That is fine and you are entitled to your opinion, but don’t expect me or any other believer to stop believing in Jesus and the Bible just because you don’t! As I have stated many times before, disbelief or not believing in something or Someone doesn’t get rid of them!

Yes, our culture has changed drastically in many ways over the past fifty or sixty years, but God is still real and so is Satan. Two opposing sides trying to either save mankind or drag as many into hell as possible, the choice is ours. We are not automatically damned to hell, unless that is our choice, and we don’t get a free pass into heaven either. Many do believe that if a child dies before they are old enough to make a rational and conscious choice then they do get to make that choice in the presence of God. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know because it isn’t revealed in the Bible.

Change is coming soon, though I am not sure of the severity or magnitude of that change but it is coming.