Tag: United States

Why don’t more people attend church?


Is it because they are not interested or have become dis-interested in the message? Is it because of the media today that pushes references to God out of the news most of the time? Maybe it is because our culture has collectively walked away from belief in God and just doesn’t want to get into church. I am not sure of the cause in our nation, but in many parts of the world, belief in Jesus is exploding yet in our country belief and attendance of church services is declining. Being the only country which was founded on Christian principles, I am not sure what has happened to our belief system.

God and His Word have not changed, so what has happened to us?

Many of our beliefs today reflect our society and its beliefs, so why is our world changing in such radical ways? It is because our society and the beliefs that we have held as a nation have changed drastically in the past fifty years or so. We were considered, at one time, to be a Christian nation but even though many people still say they believe in God they don’t practice their beliefs.

If this is hard to believe, you can look up the statistics on the Internet. Many people who are college age or have graduated recently don’t attend any religious gatherings on a regular basis. Many, who were part of a family that attended church, have just walked away from their faith altogether. Even in the so-called Bible-belt, less than thirty percent overall attend church regularly. What happened?

We, as a nation, have pushed God out of our lives. We pushed Him out of our schools, we have declared that He is dead, we have mocked Him in many areas, especially scientific circles. Theories that maintain that He wasn’t present when the universe was created are taught as if they are factual. It seems that we take little notice of the miraculous in our lives, regardless of how much it impacts our daily lives.

Can anything be done about this situation? Yes, something can and will be done! The Christians who are devout and steadfast in their faith must step up and pray for a revival in our communities, our counties, our states and our nation! If we don’t do this, the next generation will be the one which pays the price and the entire world will suffer for it. If we, collectively, don’t decide to humble ourselves and pray, asking forgiveness for our lack of faith and judgment, then we will be responsible for the downfall of faith in God which will be the forerunner for chaos in our world.

I implore you to listen with your heart! Get down on your knees, ask God to forgive us, each of us, so that we can begin the healing process in our lives. So He can begin the revival in our hearts and our minds because if we don’t, there will be little hope left once He is gone from our culture. Don’t let this happen by executive order or from a judge’s gavel, pray hard and long for our revival, let God know that there are still people who believe in Him and who care whether He is present in our lives.

If we don’t revive our belief in God in our nation, and spread the news to the world, then we are dropping the ball. Jesus told His disciples , as well as us, to take the gospel to the end of the world so what are we waiting for? If we don’t tell people what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them, then who will? How will they hear about Him, if there is nobody telling what He has done and is doing in their life?

It is a challenge for all of us who are believers but it is a challenge that we must meet. Even if you never set foot in another country, at least pray for those who are missionaries around the world. Prayer is most powerful when we do it on purpose and our purpose is clear, people must know about Christ! If we don’t tell them, or pray for them to come to know Him then who will?

Marriage by any other name?


Our country is venturing down a dark path, one that our grandparents or parents wouldn’t have gone down. This is a very contentious and charged issue politically and otherwise. So, why are we having this issue in our country anyway? America is a free country so why is there any dis-unity in our laws? It is because this country was founded by God-fearing people and the foundations of our laws are or at least were based on the Ten Commandments and biblical principles. One of those principles happened to be that God established the union of a man and a woman as a marriage, the first marriage was performed by God Himself.

In nature, there are aberrations occasionally in the “orientation” of the sexes, but they are just that…aberrations! God did not design nature or human beings to have relations that are unnatural. Procreation cannot happen unless there is a female and a male together as a couple, other than that it is an aberration of natural law. Animals of any kind know this by instinct, that only males and females will continue the species, anything other than that you are just following the lust of your own self and lust for unnatural relations.

This is wrong and no amount of legislation will convince me otherwise. In the church where I am the pastor, there will be no same-sex “marriages“, period because I will not perform them. You are welcome to call me a bigot if you wish, but I follow Jesus and the Word of God and God doesn’t condone this type of behavior in any shape or form, whether it has been legislated into our culture or not. We are accountable to God for anything that is against His laws, because His law is above our laws. So, regardless of the law here, you will still be accountable to God for what you do in this life. Give your life to Jesus, follow Him so that you will be cleansed of your sinful ways.

Do you see the love of Christ at your church?


In our world and our culture, the love that we are commanded to show to one another seems to be in short supply…even in church. So what are we to do? Well, the first thing that you can do is make sure that your heart is right with God! If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, then the love of God won’t be there either and if it isn’t there then it won’t show up in church or anywhere else. People will wonder about your walk with Christ, whether it is genuine or not, if the Spirit of Christ doesn’t shine through.

This is something which can’t be faked. You can act like a Christian, you can attend church for decades and teach Sunday school, you can even be a pastor and still not be saved if you know the words and what is expected of you! In other words, you can walk and talk it and still not have it because you are just going through the motions and that is all! Many people in our country are doing just that because if there really were over ninety percent of Americans that were real Christians, then every church in the country would be full to overflowing every Sunday!

I am not trying to upset anyone with this, although I may get a few feathers ruffled, but some people do need to wake up! We need a revival in our country, a revival and an exodus back to God, back to morality and knowing the One who helped to make this country into what it has been for over two hundred years! If we don’t put Him back in charge of many areas of our collective lives in this country, we are going to reap the penalty for our refusal and for turning our backs on Him and for pushing Him out of schools and each person’s lives as much as we have.

God loves each one of us with a love that nobody can come close to understanding, except maybe a mother. The love that most mothers feel for their children is the only bond that imitates God’s love for us. I am also emphatically not calling a mother’s love imitation! It just happens to be the only bond that comes close to that which God has for us and would like to share with each of us. Just as when you talk to your mom, God wants to talk to you, but we need to learn to listen. Get away from the computer and the cell phone, leave the e-mail out of it because He doesn’t do e-mail. You have to be able to hear His voice and His voice is one that is quiet, so you have to be, as the Word of God says, “in a quiet place” away from the distractions of life so that you can hear from Him. Personally, I used to talk to Him and try to listen while I was driving to and from work. If you are alone in the car, turn the radio off and tell Him that you are listening…talk to Him just like you do to any other friend that you have, He will hear you.

His love will show through you and others in your church when you are connected to it. When you are listening to Him, you will find out things that your Bible doesn’t have in it..you will come to understand scripture better when you pray about it. God reveals His wisdom to you when you come to Him. Many people today seem to deny the existence of God, they don’t want Him to hold them accountable for their actions but He does and He will, like it or not. Life is given to each of us by Him, daily to live, to love, to serve, to witness to others. What we do with our life is our choice, but our choice has a price. If you choose to follow Jesus and live through Him, other people’s lives will be impacted by your choices and yours will too. If you choose to live your life selfishly, doing only what you want to do, how you want to do it, you will affect some lives too but at the end of this life what will you have to show for it? Some people have big homes, fancy cars, money to burn and fame and all the “fair-weather friends” to go with all of this, but you can’t take any of that with you when you die! When you are gone, so will your so-called friends be, they will be off looking for someone else who has the money or toys that they like, but where will you be?

Many people say that when they die, they will just be dead period. Jesus said that this life is not the end, it is just the beginning. We are created with an eternal soul and that soul will live on, according to what your life was here and through your life on earth. This is the training ground for eternity, so what are you training for? A life of love, compassion, hope, and knowing that you have all of that secured through the sacrifice that Jesus made for you? Or will your eternity be filled with regret and pain, knowing that you could’ve made the right choice which would change your eternity…but you didn’t. You only get to change your mind while you are here in this life, once you pass to the other life the choice has been made.

 

What has happened to our country?


In the past twelve years what has actually happened to our country? I don’t even recognize much of the United States anymore, at least the United States that I grew up in! We are in the process of creating a country that is exactly the kind that most people fled from to come to in the past two hundred years. I know about the slave ships that brought people here against their will and I truly do apologize for all of the past mistakes, sins, that our forefathers perpetrated but there is a limit to what we should be doing to our country. The damage that has been done is such that it cannot be undone by one President, it cannot be undone in the next century by any number of elected officials especially those who are corrupt like the ones in office now!

I realize that my blog is supposed to be about Christ and I do believe that the reason for this happening is due to the fact that God and prayer were taken out of schools and our educational system. Morality has been eroded away to the point that many people support the idea that we each have our own truth and our own morality. According to who?! If you don’t have your morality and truth anchored in the Word of God, then the individual person can make up exactly what they consider to be truth and morality for themselves! This will create a system of anarchy with no law and no responsibility for anything! Do you think that you can live in a country like that? Would you want to bring up a child in a country like that? I wouldn’t!

Our country needs a revival of faith in God, in morality, in each of our lives and if we don’t do this or decide that we don’t need it, then we will suffer the consequences. What that will be, I don’t know, but it will very likely be unpleasant. Please, think about this, pray about it, bring it up in your church if you attend one! If we allow our country to go down this path that it has already started on, then we will see what those consequences will be and I doubt that anyone will be having a good time.

 

Is non-belief (atheism) new?


Not really. It is something which has come of “age” recently in America and by recently I mean within the last forty years or so. It was not a popular viewpoint prior to the ’50’s, but I am sure that, like today, there were a few people that held that viewpoint. Many tried to have religion abolished during the so-called “monkey trials” in the early twentieth century, when the courts had to decide whether to teach creation or evolution to children.

Recently, they have erected a monument of sorts to atheism right alongside a monument of the Ten Commandments. In an attempt to make their point that, I suppose, we don’t need Christianity or religion.

The following quotation from Madalyn Murray O’Hair is carved into the side panel of the granite monument:

“An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that deed must be done instead of prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated.”

When an atheist says, “I believe,” it’s an admission that atheism is a religion. When they (atheists) admit that they believe in something, it proves that it is becoming a religion, at least to them. Of course, I just repeated the statement which came with this quote from the website below:

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/11193/why-i-support-the-new-atheist-monument/#ixzz2W1pDw8zC

I, on the other hand, do NOT support this monument because it gives the atheist worldview legitimacy which is something that it doesn’t need. I know we are supposed to allow all viewpoints to be seen and heard because of the first amendment, but this movement doesn’t want to allow Christians to have that freedom anywhere! In schools in particular but also in the military and in our government as well, so are we supposed to just get out of the way and let them have their say. I will agree to getting out of their way, but my constitutional right to speak up empowers me to say what I want as well.

God, the Creator, gives us each our measure of grace to be on this planet and in the places where we are in order to do His will. Whether we choose to follow Him and do that is up to us, we are not forced to follow Him even if we have heard scripture being read or a prayer being said in school or in a public arena. Why should we have to cower whenever someone cries out that they don’t want to hear about Christ, but atheists never say a word about Islam or any other religion. It seems to center only on Christianity. Why is that? Have Christians gone around killing people because their message is not getting out to the world? Have Christians used suicide bombers to make a point about anything in relation to Jesus? None of this has happened because our religion is one that is tolerant of others. We don’t force anyone to convert to Christianity, so why are we treated as if we do?

I think it has to do with the facts of history and those of Truth. When the Truth is revealed to someone logically without coercion then they make up their own minds about what they believe and usually when that Truth is brought to them through the Bible, they realize that their belief…whatever it was, was leading them in the wrong direction. God’s Word is truth whether you want to believe it or not. The reason that I believe it is because, not only because I a Christian and a pastor, Satan believes it too! The enemy of all who believe in God knows that it is true and he agrees with atheists that nobody should be forced to listen to prayers or to hear the message of Jesus preached.

The problem with that belief is that it is one that leads to hell. Satan knows this but he is not going to help you. He only wants to get as many people to go down that road as possible, because those that do won’t belong to Jesus. Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When you make a decision to come to Jesus and stop believing the lie that is sold on television and by other media outlets, that we are our own saviors, you will be on the path to Life. The road to destruction is wide and there are many who find it, don’t get on that road! Make sure that you are on the road to eternity, an eternity which is not full of pain and anguish because of decisions which were guided by the world. Don’t let anyone tell you that when you die, you just go away. God put an eternal soul inside each of us and when your earthly body dies, your soul goes to be in eternity. The eternity that you will go to is determined by your choices here, between your self and the world or whether you chose Jesus as your savior. Those are the only two choices that really matter because they affect your eternal destination. So, which one will you choose?

Do you know Jesus?


There are many in the world today who have either turned their back on Christ or they have never invited Him into their life in the first place. Many people live in areas where belief in Him would mean their death or imprisonment, but there are still followers of Christ there anyway. In my home country of the United States, there are many who are turning their back on religion, Christianity in particular and yet in other places in the world there are many who are embracing Jesus and the love that He offers them.

Why are there such divisions, so many who just turn away from Christ and from the way of life that He offers? It seems that there are so many choices, so many “ways” to serve a god and so many “gods”, how can this be? The trees and the fish cannot save you from going to hell. Your job, your spouse, your children or grand-children cannot save you, your grand-parents or your ancestors cannot save you either. What is the attraction to everything that is created, the creation instead of the Creator? Why can’t we realize that the One who Created it all is the One that we are to humble ourselves before?

The life that you have, and everything that is yours was given to each of us by God. We have these things because of Him, not because of something that we have done. Your job, your pay, your home, your family was given and provided for you by God because everything belongs to Him and always has. God’s Son, Jesus, came to give us a chance at being adopted into God’s family. All that we have to do is believe that He died for us and ask Him to come into our hearts.

When that happens, we change from the sinful people that we are into children of God. The transformation doesn’t give us the ability to be “gods”, it gives us the ability to come before Him and serve Him. I know that there are some people, in fact there are many people, who don’t like the idea of serving or being a servant. But, consider this, you and all of us were born as rebellious children. Our nature is that way from the time that we are small and only gets more so as we get older. Notice, I did not say “as we mature”, because we don’t mature until that side of our nature is either under the control of Jesus or by some force of our own will through meditation, martial arts or some other “mind over self” control.

When you have given your heart to Christ, He will come in and begin to clean things up, but this process is not immediate. Just as polishing a piece of brass takes time, so does our “clean up” take time. It may not be enjoyable and it likely won’t be fun but it is necessary. When you see an artist or a sculptor working on something whether it is a painting or a bowl, it doesn’t show up as a finished product immediately. It takes time. Just as when we pray for something like a healing in our family or a job, the answer doesn’t come the next day. It may not come for a week or two or maybe even a few months, but it will come in God’s time.

We have to understand this and at the beginning of our walk through life with Him, it is difficult. It is the most difficult lesson that we have to learn, but until we learn patience enough to wait on God and His answer, in His time, we will be frustrated and sometimes angry with Him. Asking for patience from God is a prayer which will be answered but you may not like the answer. Because in the cultivation of patience, God will try yours to the point of breaking. As the adage goes,”be careful what you ask for”!

God loves each of us far more than we can understand because He knew us before the foundation of the world. He could see into the future because He is outside of time itself and knows the beginning from the end. He knew then and knows now what you are doing and what you will do in the next second, the next minute, or hour or week or even the next decade if you have that long. He knows when you are going to die and the cause of your death, but He also when you will decide to give your life to Him or not. Nothing is a surprise to God!

The time and place of your birth, your life and your death are all known to God and have been known by Him since before the world began. Adam‘s sin the the Garden was known, Satan‘s rebellion against God was also known before it happened. God would not be God if He did not know these things, but He does. Give Him a chance in your heart and in your life before your life is over, because once you are before Him at your judgement it is too late. Your chance to come to Him is now during your life here, once the door to this life has closed and you stand before Him there is no second chance. Salvation is only a prayer away, just a few seconds of time to change your life forever. Think about it.

A prayer for our Nation and the World


Thought you might enjoy this interesting
prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It
seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked
to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the
usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask
your forgiveness and to seek your direction
and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to
those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly
what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed
our values. We have exploited the poor and called it
the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it
welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it
choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it
justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our
children and called it building self
esteem. We have abused power and called it
politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions
and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and
pornography and called it freedom of
__expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values
of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts
today; cleanse us from every sin and set
us free.
Amen!”

Our country, do you care for it anymore?


Our country is 235 years old on Monday. Does anyone realize why the United States was formed or why? It was settled because of freedom of religion and for freedom itself. There are many today who don’t know our history or who actually don’t care. If we keep teaching our children that the founders weren’t Christians and that our country is not a Christian nation, what will happen to it by the time they grow up?

God ordained our country’s creation because He knew that Israel would need more help than England by herself could provide. Now, we seem to be turning our back on Israel and that is not good. It is not good for them and it won’t be for us either. As God said in the Bible (paraphrased) “Those who bless Israel, I will bless and those who curse Israel I will curse”.

Our country may not call itself cursing Israel, but by turning our back on them and telling them to give more of their land to the Palestinians we are doing just that.

If or when we as a country have a revival of our true Christian values, we will be a nation once again. But, until a revival  happens in this country I believe that our economy and our society will only keep getting worse. Turn back to God before it is too late! If you have never given your life to God, now is the time to do so.

Jesus is coming to claim His church and if you are not part of it when He does, the condition of the world is going to get much worse than it is today. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life”.

God loves us all but until you give your life to Him, you won’t know how much! Give Him a chance in your life. Your life will never be the same, it will be better!

What should we do about Jesus?


If you are asking this question, of yourself or just wondering, isn’t it time that you made a decision for real? Your eternity hangs in the balance. The condition of your eternity, whether it is comfortable and with friends or terrifying and painful and alone, also hangs on your decision about Jesus. There was a preacher once who preached a sermon about humanity hanging by a frayed rope over the pit of hell and the only way that we could get free from that situation was by accepting Jesus as our Savior and into our life.

What will your decision be? Do you have an opinion about Him based on what the world tells you about Him and Christianity? Or have you got a relative or someone that has told you that it is a bunch of baloney and don’t worry about your “so-called immortal soul” because when we die, we are dead and that is it. That is some dangerous advice to listen to!

You know what really bothers me? It’s the fact that so many people in this country “claim” to be Christian when in actual fact, they are not! I am not judging anyone in this regard, but if eighty percent of Americans really are Christians, why is our country so messed up? When I say that I am a Christian, I mean that I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that the Word of God, the Bible, is true….all of it! Our world and the universe that He created is not billions of years old, and the Book of Revelation is not fiction nor is it allegory. The prophecies contained within it will come to pass at the appropriate time.

God sent His one and only Son to earth to be the sacrifice for all of mankind. If you cannot believe this, read the Bible and pray about it. Your life will never be the same once you accept Jesus as your Savior, it will be more alive and vivid than you can possibly imagine! Without Him, you can do nothing, with Him, you can do anything!