To Be Least

Hello all. I have revived this blog, except at a new address. So update your links, bookmarks, everything.

This blog will still be here, but I will be updating at a new site.

Go to www.shaulah.com.

Thanks.

We, as followers of Jesus, are most likely to fall when we are at a state of spiritual starvation. However, knowing about this condition and recognizing it are two completely different tasks.

In fact, this kind of starvation often occurs gradually, going unnoticed by the victim. More often than not, it is a result of a busy life. I am talking about those days where your worries and jobs at hand seem to push Christ out of your schedule. That leather Bible that you once gladly read, is sitting on a high shelf, gathering dust. It is neglected and forgotten along with your Savior.

One of those nights, as you finish cleaning up the kitchen and picking up the house, you can feel a sense of guilt slowly creeping up through your body. Each night, as you go to bed, you utter a short and insincere prayer in a futile attempt to atone for your shame. Each day this pattern of digression continues on. And each day you slip further and further away from your God.

Weeks and months pass by. Your fervor for the Lord has died almost completely down, along with the time spent in the Bible and prayer. Your relationship with Jesus threatens to collapse at any moment. Sure, you did not commit any serious sin, but something is not right with God. You feel starved, like a thirsty man in a desert. You are alive, but very weak.

It is during times like this, when you ignore Christ, that you are most vulnerable for attack and defeat. Your once firm foundation in Jesus begins to crack open. As soon as temptations come your way, you are destroyed.

I turned my back on God for many days. I committed sin and I knew it. My guilt seemed to force itself upon me until I abandoned daily reading of the Bible and prayer. The lie that God did not want me because of my grievous sin took hold in my heart. Ignoring God because of my sin did not help. It only pushed me further and further into the abyss of depression and longing for the love which I chose to abandon.

That is what has been going on in my life, if you were wondering. Normally I do not post things like that, and nor do I tell of struggles I go through daily. However, I feel the need to be transparent. Rather than hide the truth under a veil of perfection, I would want my readers to know what I go through. Hopefully, because of my example, others will also desire to be transparent with each other.

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Every Sunday thousands of people attend church services. Many of them are carrying masks of pretend righteousness that cover the sinful state of their souls. They worship God and take part in the services, but they have not gained forgiveness of God and their fellow brothers. James 5:16 say, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” It is essential that we, as Christians, confess our sins to each other for healing.

Instead of pretending that everything is perfect, let’s be truthful which each other, so that healing may follow.

I have found forgiveness from God for my backsliding, and I hope I will find forgiveness from my readers as well.

God bless you all.

How are the following statements similar?

Jesus loves me, the sky is blue and the grass is green. The correct answer is that they were all common knowledge throughout much of my life.

However, several days ago, I read John 3:16 where it says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Unlike all the other millions of times I read that verse, something touched my heart deeply. It reverberated within my soul, echoing without end.

Jesus, my Savior, loves me.

Of course, I have always understood this intellectually, but I never understood it in a personal way. So while I sat there, my mind repeated the thought just as if I never heard it before. I was a baby who discovered a whole new and amazing aspect of the world.

I discovered Jesus’ love.

How amazing is that? Jesus, the perfect Creator, actually loves a sick sinner like me. He loves not only me, but every human that ever walked the face of the earth.

Thank you, Jesus.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Listening to the music’s beat, I can hardly stop tapping to that jazz horn’s heat. The music is winding through my legs, and around my hands forcing them into rhythmic motion. This small enjoyment seeps joy into my dancing thoughts.

Thanks, God, for that great beat.

When resting in quiet woods, I shift my eyes to the surrounding scenery draped in beautiful tones of fall. Somewhere in the silent rustling, a wren cheerfully sings out his love song for the whole world to hear. The blue sky, floating above wisps of cloud, stares at me from his lofty height. I am speechless.

Thank you, Lord, for nature’s beauty.

I flip through pages of the news magazine. Scenes of terror and panic fly out towards me. Death and destruction follow close behind them in mad pursuit. Within its thin pages, a woman can be heard crying for her lost son. My eyes turn away from the horror that cries for my attention.

Thank you, Jesus, for personal peace amidst war.

Before I retire to my warm bed, Lord, there is something bigger than this world and its fleeting happiness to give thanks for. It is your love, Lord. You stood silently as whips gouged and nails pierced. You openly received God’s full wrath for all mankind’s sin.

Lord, I thank you for taking the torture I deserved.

What more can I say? Thank you.

As I slept a couple nights ago, I dreamed something that has since faded greatly from my memory. I can remember standing with some other people in a suburban neighborhood. Together, as we looked at the scene around us, a man appeared suddenly before our eyes. My mind told me that it was an angel, and I immediately began to praise God. Although I do not recall what I said, I strongly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. I can not put into words what I felt and experienced. It was all too beautiful.

At the time I did not realize that it was only a dream and after I awoke, I forgot everything. It was later, when I was sitting in my gym class when it all came back to me. I could see the man who appeared to be an angel and the feeling of awe came over me once again. Whether it was truly a vision from God, or just my mind’s creative powers, I do not know.

While the other boys ran about, I simply sat in thoughtful contemplation of these things which I did not understand. I knew that I had tasted something so much greater than this world, and I desired more of its unexplainable goodness. More specifically, I desired heaven.

So today, as I write down my thoughts, a verse from the scripture comes to my mind. The verse is from Revelations 21:1-4 and talks of when we will live with God in heaven.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

That picture is so beautiful, and yet words will never be able to describe the perfection of heaven. God’s love is so great. He has saved us from our sin and will soon dwell with us forever.

Thank you Lord.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)

It is so easy, as forgiven followers of Christ, to despise those in the world, and treat them as enemies to our God. This should not be. The unsaved are not angry wolves seeking to devour. They are lost sheep, so blind and deaf that they do not know the way back to the shepherd. We once were these lost, deaf and blind sheep. Praise be to God, the good shepherd, who found us when were lost in the darkness.

Praise be to God.

Yesterday night, as I sprawled upon my bed doing some mathematics, I couldn’t help but thinking about my walk as a Christian. I wanted the love and the passion I once had for Christ back. My fervor for Jesus, somehow caught in the normality of life, had slowly died down to a forgotten dream. My tired eyes had taken precedent over the daily reading of God’s Word, and my dreary mind was slowly conquering the desire for intimate prayer with my God.

I knew all of this was taking place, but I could not respond. Listening to the radio’s music through some headphones, the hope of returning to my formal love seemed to be retreating fast into the night. It was during those moments, when I was so desperate for change, that I tore of my headphones and whispered some precious words to God.

“Lord, I need to change. I want to have the love for you I once possessed. Please help me.”

My ears tuned to the world around me, hoping to hear an answer from God. Only the blaring music from the headphones could be heard. I listened to the lyrics and found the answer I was looking for.

I must surrender all to Jesus. Those words were sung back to me, and I knew that I had found what I was looking so intently for.

I found the spark that would continue to ignite the flame of passion in my heart.

I must surrender all.

I have nothing but my honesty to give. What else can I say? Only the deepest desires of my heart come to mind, and only these will I write.

I want an earnest, heartfelt desire to discover more deeply the love of God in my short life. I long for knees calloused from long hours of prayer to my awesome Creator. Rather than spending my precious time on selfish pursuits, I desire to read and to search the scriptures for God's never changing truth. Each and every day, my deepest wish is simply that Christ's love would be shown through me for the entire world to see.

Lord, listen to my plea. I long to know you more.

The food aboard the ocean liner was exceptional. Fit for a queen, the waiter had told her that night as she ordered her dinner. That statement could not have been closer to the truth. With heaps of mashed potatoes piled on her plate and the steak done to perfection, she could barely contain herself from digging into the beautiful arrangement.

It was then, while she was enjoying her delicious supper, that it happened without the slightest warning. A loud crack, like that of several shotguns, could be heard echoing through the ship’s structure.

Panicked and frightened, she walked quickly to the deck, hoping to find what had caused the loud noise. Once she reached the frigid air, it did not take long to learn the truth. A large iceberg had torn a gaping hole on the starboard side of the ship. There were only a few more minutes to live before the ship would go under to its watery grave. Glancing about, she saw that many mothers with their young children were rushing towards the last few life boats.

Following these families to the boats, she remembered. Her priceless jewelry was still in her room with the rest of her things. Living without them would not be an option. She must get them back somehow.

Turning quickly around, she almost began to go back when she noticed the water. It was rapidly rising, threatening to swallow the entire ship at any second. Turning again towards the life boats, she climbed quickly in.

Her life was worth too much to risk on some personal valuables.

In the same way, if anyone wishes to follow Christ for salvation, they must give up everything they have. If they do not, they will drown in the waters of sin.

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:32)

Stop.

Take a rest from your selfish thoughts and look at all the people that surround you. Do you see the bodies that pass you by on the paved sidewalk? Glance at each face. Do you see anyone you know?

There, behind that man, you’ve seen that lady before. You remember her, don’t you? She lost her husband two weeks ago in a tragic car accident. He didn’t feel a thing, they said, too fast and too sudden. Sorry, we could do nothing to help.

Of course, you knew what had happened. How could you miss it? She was your neighbor. Glancing out your kitchen window, you knew all that went on. The funeral and the families dressed in the dark colors of mourning. You saw all that, didn’t you?

Yet, somehow out of the pity of your heart, you ignored her. You pretended like nothing was wrong. Couldn’t you have at least looked at her as you passed each other going to your separate churches? Her eyes were streaked with painful tears, but you did not notice.

My friend, you did not love her as Christ loved you. You turned your shoulder to her misery and left her wailing in the dusty ground. How could you do such a thing? Sure, you gave fifteen percent of your wealthy income to the church, but you ignored Christ’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” You have failed to obey the one you so proudly called your Savior in the walls of your church.

However, here you are standing before this widow. Greet her and offer her some comfort. Turn from your sinful past in order to receive God’s forgiveness.

Simply love this woman as Christ has loved you.

I paid the ultimate price for you
Beaten and whipped I bled till my back was red
Hanging upon that old tree for you
For hours I hung, until my last tears I had shed
Even until death I remained ever true
I lived, thus was God, yet most never knew

I was there when Jesus bled. Wrapping the dangling cords of torture around my hands, I smiled with sincere joy. Before me, Jesus laid trapped in a huddled mass of beaten flesh. I saw his brown eyes look up at me with love. I turned away.

Sinewy ropes flew through the silence. A cry responded and the blood spattered far. Nothing, not even the cry of an innocent man would stop me. Again and again I let them fly, digging them deep into the wounds, only to rip them out once more.

Many hours later, I led this Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem. Crowds pushed for the chance to strike and people shouted hoping their mockery would be heard. I saw out of the corner of my eye what they thirsted for. Before them and God, I spat down on Jesus’ tearful face to receive cheers and loud applause from the crowds that surrounded us. Eventually, we made our way out of the city and to the wretched place of the skull.

It was upon that skull that I had my greatest joy yet. Reaching down deep into my pockets, I clasped a rusty nail.

It was time.

Jesus fell upon the cross beams and I sliced through his palm sending pain screaming through his body. Again, his eyes stared deep into me, probing my inner soul. Again, I looked away. When all was done, I lifted the structure of Roman torture high and strong. Against the sky, he could be seen gasping out forgiveness.

I killed Jesus, the King of the Jews.

It was my sin that cut deep lacerations into his body and it was my sin that crucified him on that day. Every time I lied, or lusted he wept with the pain of torture. Every sin was a nail through his hand and a tear from his eye.

Yet, it was for me that he died.

I was there. A young teacher of the law, I stood in the beautiful garden of Gethsemane that Passover night. Amid the flickering torches and the whispering voices I saw him. Jesus, the man who claimed to be the Son of God, was standing with his disciples, not fleeing from the scene or even defending himself. He just stood still, waiting what was too come. Somewhere next to me in the silence of the night, a voice was heard.

"The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him."

Through the shadow of the night, I saw the kiss and the scramble that ensued. In the midst of the chaos, an ear sliced open and a healing followed. Yet, my heart was so hard that no miracle could break its calloused shell.

That was many years ago. I always wondered why my heart was so hard during those years. How could have I not heard that powerful shout of God for my attention?

It was only after my miraculous conversion did the answer come to me. I was reading in the book of Ezekiel when I came across this verse. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)

Before we knew Christ, our hearts were captive to sin. Our continual acts of sin caused our hearts to become hard and calloused. I was dying of this condition before Christ saved me. It is only by His Spirit that my hard heart became one of flesh.

I thank God for this blessing.

Writing has also been a source of pleasure. I have always loved sitting in my father’s leather chair with a notebook, a sharpened pencil and some hot tea in hand. There has always been something about words that brought enchantment to my inner soul. While relaxing, the sound and the rhythm of the written language slowly play through my head until it is in perfect harmony with the ideas that force my pencil to the paper.

This simple love of the written art has led me to begin a collection of my favorite works.

Before I go on, I must point out that this idea was not planted in my mind by my own initiative, but from the “True Diarist” blog. So slide on over there and give him a friendly high five for his inspiring idea and writing.

That said, I have decided to write up a couple of short stories, essays and some poetry to include in the collection as well as some of my favorite posts from this blog.

Please wish me luck as I begin on this endeavor and I will finish with God’s needed help within the coming month.

God bless all you. See you tomorrow.

I saw a young man with his entire life before him. Below where his still body stood, a swirling, foamy mass flew underneath him in a hurry. The shadows of evening approached as the dying sun nestled lower in the horizon. Even the birds, which normally filled the air with their cries, were silent in anticipation of their needed sleep.

The sound of a tired voice could be heard. Bent over the safety railing, the man was sobbing, letting each salty tear drop into the waters below.

“I’m so sorry God,” he cried. “What have I done? When is this cycle of agony going to end? I want to be freed from this burden of sin that weighs down on me more each day.”

He stopped, hoping that no one had listened in on his conversation with God. When only silence was heard from the surrounding hills, he continued his prayer.

“I can no longer rescue my sinful self from the death that I have written out word by word. I am a sinner. No longer do I want to be a slave to the sin that deceives me at every turn. Jesus, you are the only way. I turn to you for my salvation and submit to you for your strength.”

“Lord, accept this humble offering.”

Atheists claim that there is no God and agnostics say that we cannot know Him, yet followers of Christ know differently. Through our experiences, we know that communication with the powerful Creator of the heavens and the earth is available to all.

One word is needed. Prayer.

This word expresses something truly amazing. The idea that God would want to hear our selfish pleas and our troubled thoughts truly shows that our God has a loving and kind heart. However, it does not stop there. Not only will he listen, but he will also answer.

Need I say more?

I normally don't do this type of thing, but my sister just started her own blog. She is a nine year old girl and loves to write.

Please check out her blog and say hello!

Thanks and God bless.

My eyes seem to drop lower every second that passes. Today, unlike my restful winter break, drained every ounce of energy from every muscle in my body. But, I have a lot to be thankful for, especially for my sisters.

My father and I were driving when the cell phone rang. As it turned out, it was for his business and talked for a while. After he had hung up, he called home to the family.

That was when the world fell away from us in a dizzy spiral.

My sister was kidnapped.

Dad and I started to pray as we sped down the streets frantically trying to get home where our remaining family was.

Faster than a roller coaster that dips and turns without warning, my mind raced trying to comprehend what was happening. In a couple of days she could end up dead along a highway. There I could see her lying. She was raped, beaten and dead. Outwardly I was composed, but my soul wanted to scream in pure terror of the possibilities.

Seconds seemed like hours that slowly ticked away. As we neared our home, the cell phone rang once again.

Picking it up, my dad answered in hope and fear. My sister was found, they said, she never was kidnapped. With a huge sigh of relief, I knew it was a false alarm, a mistake that could happen to anyone.

Needless to say, I thank God more for my sisters now. What a blessing.

We are in a battle, and America is the battle ground.

Unlike in other countries, the battle here is not against communist leaders who are guided by the forces of evil. Nor do we have the police knocking at our door for our arrest. What we do have is a television bringing sin and other filth into our homes daily. People are dressed without the slightest hint of decency and walk our streets. Pornography on the internet is crushing the souls of many. It grips them and never allows them to go free. It has become nearly impossible to see a movie without being attacked by messages that promote sin.

I could go on, but I do not need to. There is a war and a struggle waging under our very eyes. "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

In these sinful times, it is easy to become entangles in the sin that surrounds us. Before we know what we are doing, we can fall into Satan's trap. This battle will determine the destination of many souls, both for our own and for others.

What must we do to prepare for this battle that is already on our own doorstep?

"Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:13-18)

I am ready for the fight. Are you with me?

You all know the story. Saul was a devout and fervent Jew who persecuted Christians. He was there at the stoning of Stephen and gave approval. Thinking he was in God's will, "Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." (Acts 8:3) One day he decided to go to the town of Damascus and persecute the Christians there.

"As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'

'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked.

'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied." (Acts 9:3-5)

Although Saul was now blind due to the light, Jesus still instructed Saul to go into Damascus and find a Christian man named Ananias. When Ananias and Paul met, Ananias explained to Paul what he had seen and heard. At that moment, something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see.

From that day forward Saul preached the gospel to all men with out fear.

Again I ask the question. Why did God intervene in Saul's life?

God knew Saul's heart. He knew that Saul wanted to serve God and love God. God, in his great mercy, showed Saul that he was persecuting the very God that he thought he was serving.

I hope you had a great New Years Eve and will have a wonderful New Year. It is my prayer that during this new year we would draw closer to our Creator and learn to submit more completely to his perfect will.

God bless you all.

The constant pattering on the window pane kept me restless as I lay in bed. Moments earlier, God had opened the flood gates and released the torrents of rain upon the earth. Tossing and turning, I was not able to nod off into a world of unconsciousness and darkness. The occasional streaks of lightnening were not helping with my sleep, but something else was gnawing at my heart. Slowly it ate away at my insides, until in desperation I had to turn to the Lord.

Lord, You know that I am worried and stressed about things in my near future. Please help to put my trust in you, because I know that you are in control. Everything, Lord, works together for your purposes. Help me to fall asleep without the weight of worry on my shoulders. I am yours.

As I lay silent in bed, I began to write my thoughts. No, there was not paper nor a pencil, but I wrote. With ease, I formed sentences and words that expressed my intermost thoughts. It was complete.

When Christ becomes the very center of your life and when your trust is given unpartially to Jesus, he is a light within your soul. All the shadows of doubt and worry are no more under the brilliant light of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With Christ in control, life becomes a fountain within you that flows eternally. With this life comes a peace that is only from God.

I have found this peace.

A couple of days ago, during the rush of Christmas shopping, I decided to become a rebel. No, I did not do anything violent, disobedient or sinful. However, I did stop to take a huge portion of my day to read scripture and seek the Lord. In a culture where we are told that we must be in a hectic frenzy to prepare for the holidays, I am sure that I classified as a perfect rebel.

It was during this time that I wrote some thoughts and musings from my readings. The following is just exactly that. Slow down for a minute and read what I have to say.

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When I started this time away from the throngs of people searching for that perfect item, I wanted to more fully understand something. This something is known as love. More specifically, I wanted to understand God's amazing love for the world. Alone in my bedroom, I began to flip open the pages of scripture in order to take the first step in knowing and understanding God's love. Perhaps it was the Holy Spirit or just chance, but I opened up to the book of Ephesians and read.

After several minutes, when I was in the third chapter, I read this following verse.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (v. 17-19)

For a beginning of a quest to learn more about God's love, this verse seemed very providential. God's love, according to this section of scripture, cannot be bound by our knowledge. No matter how hard we try to understand God's love for us, we can never fully obtain a perfect understanding because His love is so deep that our minds can not fully grasp it.

The reason, we are told, for understanding God's love for us is "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." That statement seems extremely strong and awesome. The fullness of God must be exceedingly full and is most likely beyond our comprehension. Yet, although I realize the power of the statement, I do not know what it means.

Do you have any thoughts?

When I read about of the tragic events that took place in our world and when I see the death toll growing everyday, a scripture verse comes to mind. Today, many could be asking themselves and God why these people had to die. Had they done something wrong to deserve God's wrath?

Listen to God.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

Think about it.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23:25-26)

In this verse in which Jesus was talking, he makes some facts very clear. They did not practice what they taught. To put it simply, Jesus called them hypocrites.

"Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus." (Mark 3:6)

In the Ten Commandments, one of the commands is not to kill, or murder. Yet these teachers of the law, who knew the Ten Commandments, plotted and eventually succeeded in killing Jesus. This is a fine example of their hypocrisy. They taught the people to obey God, yet disobeyed his command to not kill. Again, they were hypocrites.

I agree with Keith, who said that what the Pharisees were doing was very dangerous. These men, if they continued on the same path, would end up entering hell. For as Matthew: 50-52, "He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Obviously these Pharisees, who were also hypocrites, were headed towards something very dangerous called hell.

As Christians, we should avoid becoming like Pharisees. Before we condone others for a particular sin, we should search our hearts and see if we are committing the sin.

However, we must be careful to understand what Jesus did not like about the Pharisees. He hated the fact that they were hypocritical, but he did not hate the fact that they taught. Read the following verse:“

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Matthew 23:2-3)

As you can see, Jesus told the crowds and his disciples that they should obey the Pharisees. But they should not be like them, because they did not do what they preach.

Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) While we should not be hypocrites, we are commanded to teach others to obey Christ's commands.

God! Please open their eyes that they might see the truth, turn and be healed. They speak of things that they do not know and teach false doctrines that lead many to eternal damnation. Please forgive them Lord, for they do not know what they do.

My heart is deeply troubled. Words seem to fail me. I cry out to the Lord for wisdom and truth to speak to the blind, but nothing comes to mind. In the last few days, I have been in a discussion at Promomusings about homosexuality. How can people, who profess to be Christians, be so blind to the truth that is clearly presented in God's Word to us? People are promoting homosexuality as a God approved lifestyle. They ignore scripture and sound teaching all the while proclaiming lies that decieving many.

Scripture is direct about what is true, no elaborate interpretation is needed in these following verses. They point to the truth. That like all other sins, homosexuality is also a sin and a life time of following such sin will result in eternal punishment.

"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (Leviticus 18:22)

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." (Leviticus 20:13)

In Genesis, there is the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their top sin was homosexuality (Genesis 19:5 says, "They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'"). God destroyed both of the towns because of their sins. Jude 1:7 says this about Sodom and Gomorrah, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."

In Judges, a very similar incident occurred. A man and his concubine stopped at a house for rest. The men of the town came out and demanded to have sex with the man. The owner of the house refused and gave them his daughter and the concubine. They raped and killed the concubine. Because of their great sin, God commanded the rest of Israel to fight against them and kill them. (Read Judges 19-20)

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Romans 1:26-27)

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

These scriptures that I gave to you are very clear. Homosexuality is indeed a sin in God's eyes. When he created the world, he created man and women and meant them to become one. Homosexuality is an abomination of something that God created to be sacred.

Editors Bloggers Note: I found this following account at a website hosted by a church called Portland Fellowship. It shows the struggle a teenager, not so far from me, that struggled with homosexuality. This shows that this sin can be overcome, like all others, and it is not a "orientation." I hope you take the time to read it. God bless you.


Kill your television. That saying kept echoing through my mind as I sat, in disbelief, watching it happen once again. Show after show, not-so hidden messages would try to convince me to let my guard down and give in. I almost did.

What I was witnessing on TV was yet another joyful person, who had overcome homosexuality by surrendering to the Lord, being browbeaten on a talk show over national television. I saw one pastor after another, contrary to the Word they were supposed to be teaching and obeying, defend and promote this “alternative lifestyle” as something innocent and “normal.” Countless other shows blare, “it’s OK to be gay” and “not that there’s anything wrong with that” until the actors were blue-in-the-face. The nerve!

After restraining myself from throwing things at the old Zenith, I’d shut it off, run upstairs, and collapse on my bed, crying out to God, “Why am I like this? Will I ever change? Will I ever have peace? I need You, Lord. Deliver me!”

Even when I was little, I was never the type to roll around in the mud or play with GI Joes. I was an articulate little boy that often spoke too much for my own good. This didn’t make me very popular, even at preschool age, with other boys. Of course, the girls, deathly afraid of catching ‘boy cooties,’ didn’t give me a second look.

By the time I hit puberty, or rather it hit me (like a freight train), things changed. My upright, articulate image still didn’t win too many points, image-wise, with the guys. I became “a brother” to all the girls I knew, so I remained unnoticed, as a guy, by them. I felt rejected. Suddenly, I found myself being physically attracted to some of the guys at school. By then, I knew what being “gay” meant, and that it was a sin. I didn’t like what went on inside me, but would lust, anyway. As I progressed through the war-zone that is middle school, I found myself diving into fantasies every night. The more I’d experience these lusts, the more they would tear me apart. God was not pleased with what I was doing, and I knew that. I’d cry out to the Lord to relieve me of these desires, to purge whatever demons were inside of me, and to forgive me of my sins.

At school, I would hide my feelings for guys, even though my peers would constantly jeer me about how they thought I was gay. After all, I tucked my shirt in, didn’t cuss, had many female friends, and wasn’t interested in sports. Everybody knows this automatically makes you gay, right? This “image” didn’t help matters.

The summer before my freshman year, I discovered gay Internet pornography. The first time I gave into it, I ran upstairs and burst into tears asking God to forgive me. I knew I lost a big part of my innocence. I’d find myself spending hours looking at that horrible stuff when my family was asleep. All the while, I heard a voice in my head telling me that this was wrong. That summer, I also began reading my Bible daily. I wanted to know God, get closer to Him, and love Him more.

One night, the lustful thoughts crept in full-force, and I started to pray. But, the more I prayed for God to deliver me, the more intense these thoughts became. They’d tell me that I wasn’t saved, that I belonged to Satan, and I should just give up and kill myself. Frenzied, I prayed harder than ever. Then, every muscle in my body tensed to the point where I couldn’t move. My fists were clenched, my jaw was locked, and my back was rigid. It was like my flesh was physically at war with God. The thoughts intensified further toward suicide. I couldn’t take it anymore. Finally, I asked God, “Just get me through the night.” The next thing I knew, it was morning again, and I went on with my day.

The battle raged on until one day, I told myself that I shouldn’t have to resist the temptations. Confused, I arrived at school the next morning and made a beeline to the counselor. I told her about how my struggle and my faith in God were colliding. I wanted to know how I could deal with these desires. She totally misunderstood, and said that even though I didn’t want to abandon the Lord, or really ever have sex with a guy, someday I would “meet a guy, fall in love,” and my convictions would change. She called it “coming out.” As appalling as that sounds, I considered her message. I left her office more confused than ever.

It all eventually dug at me to the point where I spoke with her again, and told her I wasn’t going to accept her advice. I told her that God was more important to me than my lusts. She frowned, not understanding that the whole point of seeing her wasn’t to get advice on how I could feel better about my “feelings” but, rather, how I could deal with them and not sin against the Lord. The Holy Spirit convicted me, I realized that I didn’t want to be gay. I couldn’t just forsake my salvation, my God and His unconditional love just so I could “feel good” for a moment.

The stesses of life lead me more easily into lust and masturbation than ever. When I had free time, I’d go to a library or bookstore, looking through books and magazines promoting and explaining homosexual acts. A part of me was repulsed by it all, as it seemed nothing more than a pursuing of the “next warm body.” But, my desires were feeding off of it. I wanted so much to be pure in God’s eyes, but I felt overwhelmed by these desires. I was so exhausted and miserable.

The breaking point came one morning at high school. Five minutes into choir class, I had to sit down because I had intense physical pain. The paramedics came to work on me, as I was experiencing all five symptoms of a heart attack. Nothing turned out to be physically wrong, but I went to my doctor and told him about my struggle, and he related my struggle to my stress level. To a psychiatrist, I went.

After three full sessions of telling him about my struggle with homosexuality, I cringed at my psychiatrist’s response. He said, “Even though it may conflict with your religion, I think you should be a bit more open-minded about this struggle.” Excuse me? This guy was telling me to forsake my beliefs so I could act out my lusts? No way! I left, frustrated. I finally told my Dad about my struggle (he wasn’t surprised), and about how upset I was with my psychiatrist’s advice. He was glad to see I was fighting to please God.

But, I still had a hole in my heart. At times, I would pray for Jesus to sit next to me and just wrap His arms around me, since no one else ever would. I was just dying for the Lord to give me a solid, close friend.

He did. I met this really neat Christian guy, and we hit it off. We told each other, almost instantly, about our struggles, and prayed together every night. We even agreed to stand together for God against struggles like masturbation and pornography. Then, the enemy attacked again. I was now attracted to my friend. But, the Lord began to change me. Nervously, I told my friend about my attraction to him, and how I was fighting it. I was overjoyed to see that he wasn’t upset, but instead, encouraged me to keep fighting.

It’s been a couple of months since that happened, and things have changed. Now, I see my youth pastor instead of that psychiatrist. I haven’t given in to pornography, fantasies or masturbation for months, although they are so tough to resist sometimes.
A few weeks ago, a friend told me about The Portland Fellowship. After a few visits, I felt new strength, peace, and utter joy in being reminded that the Lord loves me, even when I fail, that this struggle will be overcome, and that someday, I will be able to rest in the Lord. My anxious, lustful heart is still a big work in progress, but the Lord is faithful. How awesome He is!

This struggle inside me is a “civil war.” My flesh is on one side, using all five senses, the media, and society against me so that I’ll give in. But, God is on the other side, telling me that His strength is enough, His blessings make it worthwhile to resist, and He loves me.

I get so frustrated when people say that homosexuals have no choice but to live “that way.” It’s such a lie. Everyone has a choice of whom they will serve: themselves, or the Savior. The Lord can change us.

“If it feels good, do it” is the message we are taught to accept today. How selfish and short-sighted it is! Why forfeit an eternity in heaven with God just to “feel good” for a minute? Unlike our own wills, God’s will is perfect, and it’s the only reason we don’t suffer eternally for the evils we commit. He has saved us, and gives us the strength to resist the enemy. He will supply every need when He knows we need it.

No matter what the world may say, the Lord is more powerful than any of our circumstances, and He’ll take care of us.

I just hope my TV can hold up to the things I may have to throw at it, as I continue my battle. No big loss if it doesn’t.

Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 14:33, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

That verse speaks strongly to me, and shows the importance and self-denial involved with following Christ. Everything, as you and I know, means everything. So in simple obedience of that statement, I plan on resting from things of this world for the rest of this year and focus on God alone. Please pray for me as I attempt to grow closer to our Savior and further away from this fallen world.

What does this mean for the blog? Well, I plan to take a short break from blogging the rest of this holiday season.

See you in 2005 a couple of days.

Today is an occasion of rejoicing and celebration. Despite many setbacks, I am proud to announce that I have scaled the first year of this blog, conquering it with much vigor.

If you have ever taken the time to look back at my previous posts, you will soon realize that I had little direction when I began this blog, my skills at writing were nonexistent, and I knew comparatively very little about the Bible. Needless to say, I have grown tremendously in my writing skill and more importantly in my knowledge of the Truth. Also, if I may add, I have long since found direction for this blog, which is the exhaustible subject of Christianity.

Many other thoughts have begun to creep from my mind into the outside world, but this post is not the place or the time. Until later, God bless you all and have a very merry celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Penned in from the outside world, these men and women have nothing but the wounds on their back and God to keep them company. More often than not, they have no Bible with them. Yet they know God. With no where to turn, they look up and offer God the incense of their prayers. You can read about their experiences in the dark pens of torture and pain where they suffered for Christ. Contrary to human wisdom, they say that those days were the happiest and joyful days of their lives. Times when they were closest to the eternal God and His Son, Jesus.

Across the Pacific, we have huge churches and an overabundance of Bibles. Entire stores are devoted to Christian literature and prayer meetings overflow the cup's brim. If that was not enough, freedom is something cheap here. It is sold from the market place and from every store window. Yet, somehow despite this abundance, we are not close to God.

We ask ourselves, How can this be? We have everything we could ever want, and more. Have we forgotten what the Lord says in Revelations 3:14-22?

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

We are the church in Laodicea. We have become rich and have begun to say to ourselves that we do not need anything, even God himself. In God's eyes, however, we are pitiful and naked, in need of what God has to offer.

Listen! God is knocking at the door, will we hear his still, quite voice and answer the door? Or are we going to ignore the knocking and continue to live lives of selfishness and materialism?

It is time that we forget about the physical things and put our focus on the eternal. To put our focus of the God that stands on the door and knocks.

Charles Templeton was an evangelist, preaching the truth of God’s Word to thousands in packed arenas. Until, that is, he abandoned the faith and turned agnostic. He wrote several books, one of which was entitled, Farewell to God: My Reason for Rejecting the Christian Faith.

During a home interview for a book, The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, Strobel asks Templeton why he turned agnostic.

Templeton begins to talk about the poverty and pain in the world and how a loving God could not allow such things to happen. So, he explains, there cannot be a God.

As the interview progresses, Strobel asked his what he thought about Jesus. Templeton replied saying that Jesus was the greatest man that ever lived and that the world would do well to model after him. Then, he unexpectedly said this:

“Uh…but…no,” he said slowly, “he’s the most…” He stopped, then started again. “In my view,” he declared, “he is the most important human being who ever existed.”

That’s when Templeton uttered the words I never expected to hear from him. “And if I may put it this way,” he said as his voice began to crack, “I…miss…him!”

With that, tears flooded his eyes. He turned his head and looked downward, raising his left hand to shield his face from me. His shoulder bobbed as he wept.

He missed the Savior who he once knew. Under the arguments and the logic, the truth was found. Templeton missed his Savior. He knew the truth, but had rejected it.

Our holiday visit with our grandparents was over, and we were headed back towards home. Preoccupied with the thick Bible that sat on my lap I hardly noticed the twirling of snow on the other side of the car window. Flipping through its thin pages, I found exactly what I was looking for.

Silently I read from Luke 14:33, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

“That verse certainly stands in the way of the modern watered-down Christianity that is being preached from the pulpits,” I thought to myself. “Christ clearly tells us that if we want to be his disciple, we must give up everything. He gave no exceptions or excuses. Does that mean that, as followers and disciples of Christ, we are to give up everything in our lives for His sake?”

I know the answer is a simple, “Yes.”

Glancing up a few verses to Luke 14:27 and read, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Again, I think. “Does this mean that I must pick up that symbol of suffering and follow in Christ’s footsteps to my own crucifixion in order to be his disciple?”

“Yes,” I can almost here the Lord saying to me, “You must.”

“Oh God, must the path to eternal life be so difficult? Do I have to give up everything to take that path marked by Jesus’ footsteps of persecution?”

The answer penetrates my heart.

“Yes.”

My fellow blogger over at Hand to the Plow recently wrote a post entitled "Striving for Perfection."

This is what we should be doing. However, many a Christian is too concerned with looking perfect rather than being it. At first glance the strive for perfection may seem stupid, because how can someone be perfect?--it's impossible. Alas, what we fail to realize is that the perfection we should be striving for is not based on the ideas of man, but rather those of God. For in the eyes of man we will never be perfect, but on that glorious day when Christ returns and we are ushered into His presence, then we will be perfect. We have to realize that the things that we are doing now--whether good or bad are affecting our eternity--either good or bad.

Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

Striving: to devote serious effort or energy. How many of us are seriously devoting energy to the things of God? How many of us are actually doing what we promise God we will do week end and week out? How many of us are truly forgetting the past and focusing all of our energy to what lies ahead?

Perfection is not some pie in the sky ideal that would be nice to have, but it is something that we can truly attain. Not through mere human methods, but through His.

Over the past months, he has had some very insightful and interesting things to say about the Bible and the Christian walk. So stop by and say hello to a fellow believer.

Until tomorrow, God bless you all.

People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

The Christmas season is just around the corner, and billions of kids are being told that Santa, that jolly old man, is coming to town. Surprisingly, ever single of these children will believe what they are told about Santa, even if it is impossible.

They believe in something preposterous without question. They have faith. That is what is needed to enter heaven. Unlike faith in Santa, we need faith that Jesus is God and that he died for the forgiveness of our sins.

As we grow older, our brains get ahead of us and we begin to think that we have everything together. Yet God calls us to have the faith of a child. Think of that the next time a kid displays unwavering faith in a fat, jolly man dressed in red.

The monotonous days tick slowly by. Every day at nine o’clock, I settle down in my favorite arm chair with my Bible in hand. After glancing at my reading schedule, I slowly scan the designated chapters, then offer God several sentences of prayer and turn off the lights. Day after day and week after week I plod along, trusting in God’s forgiveness of sins and content with my Christian walk.

But then I read the Old Testament and feel awed by the closeness with which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others were to God. Later, I make my way through the book of Acts and wonder why the church today is not like the early church. Why don’t we have the fervor to proclaim the truth of the gospel from the rooftops, without fear or hesitation? This brings to mind all those who have suffered for Jesus. They have been beaten and tortured for their faith that the cling to, yet they have unspeakable joy despite the pain.

Then I decided that I will live the life shown in the Bible. I will seek God with all my strength and soul knowing that I will find God. I want to know God truly, just as Abraham did. Without shame, I will proclaim the gospel to all men just as Paul did.

God, I will seek you without stop.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

When compared with eternity, the length of an average life is extremely insignificant. Yet so many people live their lives without regard to how it would effect eternity. They do not understand that the choices they make in this life, effect what their eternal life is like after you die.

So that brings me to my point. This life is only preparation for what is to come, whether that is hell or heaven. Some unwisely choose to live immoral and sinful lifestyles and reap the punishment of hell. Others choose to serve God and follow Jesus with all their heart. By doing so, they reap eternal life.

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

Our purpose on life is to serve God, and by doing so we are determining our eternal destiny.

The pastor was finishing up his closing thoughts, when two armed Russian soldiers walked in through the front doors.

"Get up!" they commanded threatening with their weapons. "We don't believe in your faith. It is false! We will shoot anyone who does not abandon their faith at once. If you choose to abandon your faith, move to the right and leave!"

Many church members were obviously persuaded, moving quickly to the right they headed out the door. Remaining were the faithful, those who would walk with Christ to their death. Although frightened, they were prepared to join Christ in his Kingdom.

After the unfaithful were out of sight, the soldiers smiled and put down their guns. Crying out in joy they proclaimed, "We, too, are Christians, but we wished to have fellowship with those who consider the truth worth dying for."

Would you be with those who left the church and abandoned the faith, or would you stand there ready to receive the spray of bullets? I will close on this verse from Matthew 24:12-13, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Close your eyes. Remember back to the days when the world was simple and your face was young. Like a dream during the still night, those years haunt you with strange joy and longing. Since then many years have passed. Graduations have occurred and jobs have been accepted. Your life has been lived without interruption and without stop. All goes along normally when you realize that your life has flown by, leaving you in a cloud of dust and memories. Like a perfect bubble, life has floated for a moment and then burst into nothingness. The shortness of this life reveals the urgency with which we are to seek God. Before your life is gone, serve God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

"What sins were forgiven?" the bible study moderator asked one of the girls.

"All of them," she replied without the slightest hesitation.

That's right," he continued, "Your past sins as well as your future sins are paid for when you accept Christ as your Lord. So even if you fall away, you will still enter heaven because all your sins were already forgiven."

Okay, let's stop that scene right there. Something is terribly wrong with what the man said. Can you see it?

He said that the sins you commit in the future are already forgiven. Now, is that statement biblical? Are your future sin forgiven?

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, selfcontrol; and to selfcontrol, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. (2 Peter 1)

Addressed to Christians, Peter says that they have been cleansed, or forgiven, of their past sins. Notice, it does not say future sins.

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

When we accept Christ into our life, we go from the first covenant, or from under the law, to the second covenant where Jesus forgives our sins. So, this passage states that Jesus died to forgive the sins committed before we were saved.

Although the idea of our future sin being forgiven has recently become very popular, it is not biblical. Christ died to forgive our past sins. However, when we do sin, we have to confess our sin to Christ and he will forgive us.

Good night.

In this world, there are many foundations you can build your life on. Some might include sports, your job, family, and other things of this world. However, there is a problem with these foundations. They are not stable foundations and can change at an instance notice. A family member could die over night, you injure your knee and your boss could fire you without warning.

However, there is a foundation that will never change and is always there. This foundation is called Christ. He has always existed and always will. If he is the foundation of your life, you will never fall no matter what happens in your life. You are no longer dependent on the world, but on Christ.

I am sick with the state of America. With no thought to God, people have thrown themselves to the mercy of their sin. Without constraint our country has been running down the road of destruction.

Although that bothers me greatly, I am sickened even more by something else. What is it? It is the fact that the church in America has not stopped it. We have not fervently prayed for our nation and gone out to proclaim the truth. We have become cold in the inactivity of our faith. Forgetting to do as Jesus commanded us; we have not gone out and truly made disciples.

Jesus commands us to be the salt of the earth. What does salt do? It preserves the food. We hold the truth that can prevent destruction and we are to use this to preserve the world from death. Jesus said that if we lose our saltiness, we are no longer good for anything and must be thrown out.

Thrown into the place of everlasting torment.

My friends, that is serious. We must awaken ourselves and go out into the world preaching the gospel. We must preserve America by being its salt. And if we do not, I shudder to think of those who knock at the gates of heaven pleading, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Yet Jesus will plainly say to them, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (See Mt. 7:22-23)

I am sorry for not posting for the last several days, I was away for Thanksgiving at a relatives house. Before I could remember to type away my departure, I was taken away for a car trip.

Will post later today. God bless.

A modern evangelist approached a young man in a shopping mall. "Sir," the evangelist said, "If I offered you a free gift would you take it?

"Of course I would," the young man replied, "Why?"

"Because Jesus offers you a free gift, a gift of eternal salvation," the evangelist replied. "He loved you so much that he died on a cross so that you could have eternal life. "Would you like to accept this free gift today, and have eternal life?"

The young man startled says, "Well, I suppose, what do I have to do?"

The evangelist smiling says, "Just say this prayer..."

Is this the gospel message? Is this what Christ told us to do, go around asking people to pray a prayer so that they could get to heaven?

Before Christ ascended into the sky, he told his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. (Mat 28:19) He did not tell us to make one moment decision makers, he told us to make disciples.

However, it does not end there. Through out the gospels and the book of Acts, you see a common thread throughout all conversions. What is it? It is something called repentance. Repentance is the act of turning away from our sins and toward God. When we go and evangelize, we need to emphasis that fact that they are sinners going to destruction in hell. Only when they understand and believe this can they truly repentant and turn to God for healing and forgiveness.

So I ask you the question, are we proclaiming the full gospel, or are we proclaiming a gospel that shows the benefits, without showing the consequences of rejecting it? It is time that we begin to proclaim the gospel that is truly good news.

When Christ said that, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it," in Matthew 10:39, he showed the incredible extremity of following Christ.

When you die, or lose your life, your entire life is involved. So when Jesus tells us that we have to lose our life in order to have eternal life, he is not talking about losing just one aspect of your life. No, he is talking about losing your entire life. Everything.

What does this translate to our lives now? It means full and complete submission to Christ's will regardless of the consequences. Every sinful aspect of our life needs to be completely destroyed and never touched again in obedience to Christ.

We are to give everything in our life, and even our life itself for God's use, not our own.

I have recently subscribed to the free Voice of the Martyrs monthly newsletter. I recently read about the Christians and other people in Sudan who are literally starving to death. All through this world, many of our brothers in Christ are in need of food and the basic necessities of life. Some have seen this problem and have served on the mission field helping these men and women with Christ like servant hood.

Yet, I just have to glance around at the church in America and I see something that disturbs me. I see churches expanding, building bigger and better auditoriums, gyms and other facilities. I see the church spending the majority of the money on its self.

This money could be used to provide food and clothing for those who are dying every day because they lack them. Rather then selfishly indulging in things for ourselves, should we not rather be giving to those in much greater need?

I am going to reboot this blog so to speak. So please come back soon and check out whats new with this blog!

God willing I will be back very soon.

While sitting in the school computer lab, the repetitious sounds of typing fingers and whispering voices are vibrating in my ears. My mind, however, is in a place of thought and contemplation. I begin to think...

What has Jesus called us to do? What are his standards for the Christian life? The writings of the Apostles show us clearly that we are to imitate Christ. But surely God does not expect perfection from us as only humans. Or does he?

Imagine that you are sitting on a mountainside, listening to Jesus teach. Glancing about, you see a crowd of people. Many of them listening intently and absorbing the truth the Jesus spoke to them.

Several minutes after Jesus started teaching, you hear something unbelievable. Did you hear him right? Did he say that we are to be perfect, therefore, as our heavenly Father is perfect? (See Matthew 5:48)

How can we do this? John talks about the fact that "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 Jn 1:8) So surely Jesus did not mean it when he commanded us to be perfect.

He meant every word of it. Not only does he want us to be good, he wants us to be perfect. Without sin, just as Jesus was. Even still, we are not perfect and we will fall from time to time. That is why John tells us that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1:9)

After striving with all our heart, soul, and mind to be perfect and failed, Jesus will forgive us. Then we will be purified from sin. Only then will we be perfect here on earth.

Check out this blog. She says about her blog:

My life is about live for God right now. I post things that came to my mind mostly about God though.

Later.

      In his article "Rewards For Christians," Tony Evans talked about a place in heaven for those who are unfaithful.

But those Christians who are unfaithful (Matt. 25:28-30) will have their rewards taken from them and given to those who were faithful, and, and they will be cast into "outer darkness," the place where there shall be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." The "outer darkness" described in this passage is not a description of hell, but is likely a lesser status in God's kingdom. Unfaithful Christians will see more diligent Christians rule and reign with Christ. Seeing that they could have had much greater reward and prominence in God's kingdom, these unfaithful stewards will weep and gnash their teeth in deep remorse and regret." (p 1234)

      Along these lines, Charles Stanley says this about Matthew 25:30 where it says, "And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The final verse of this parable is so severe that many commentators assume it is a description of hell. It is not . . . The point of this parable is that in God's future kingdom, those who were faithful in this life will be rewarded and those who were not will lose any potential reward . . . Before we can understand the full impact of this parable, we must first determine what the "outer darkness" refers to in the context of the parable. It certainly does not mean hell in the parable. How could a master throw a slave into hell? . . . But what actual place was Jesus referring to in the parable? He gave us only one hint: "In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." . . . To be in the "outer darkness" is to be in the kingdom of God but outside the circle of men and women whose faithfulness on this earth earned them a special rank or position of authority.

Objection #1

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:3-4)

      There will be NO mourning, crying and tears in heaven. These men say that in the "outer darkness" in heaven these unfaithful stewards will weep and gnash their teeth in deep remorse and regret.

Objection #2

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 12:41-43)

      Matthew used the description "where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" to describe the fiery furnace. This is an obviously hell. However, they took this phrase to mean a part of heaven.

These men are in error.

I was reading Mr. Standfast's blog today, and a thought came to mind when I read his post:

When we become apart of God's family, we are cleansed from our sin, and are given the Holy Spirit to help us obey God. Because of our new found righteousness, it is so easy to compare our "holiness" with the pagans. Instead of the humble heart that Jesus wants, we become proud and conceited.

However, when we look at the perfect righteousness and holiness of God, we are forced to realize that we are sinners. That we are imperfect and need a Savior daily. God's perfection humbles us.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

That was said by Jesus in Luke 18:7. When you read it, it makes you think. I look at the immoral state of the United States. I look at the statistics that say that 80% of the American population is Christian. Yet statistics also say that Christians have the same divorce rate as non-Christians.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 3:1)

We are told by the apostle John that if someone loves the world (the sin of the world), the love of the Father is not in him. That is a pretty strong statement. If you are love the world's sin, you are not saved. Period.

I know that many people who walk around calling themselves Christians live sinful lives. I know that many of them do not bear good fruit. We should examine ourselves. Are we these Christians?

Do we love the world? Do I love the world? Something to think about.

One the ten commands that God gave the Israelites was to not have any other idols or gods besides God.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:4)

My question to you today is this. Are you worshiping an idol? Before you answer, an idol does not have to be some foreign statue. It does not have to be a religious "god." Some examples might include you job, money, lusts, school, computer, and anything else that you love more then God. These are also idols.

If there is anything that is more important in your life then God you are committing idolatry. What do you do? You repent, confess your sin to God, and ask for forgiveness. He will forgive you, however you must continue to put God as first in your life, not something else.

Let me end with this verse talking about who will be outside heaven:

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev. 22:15)

Let that verse be a warning to us.

Read this passege from John 8:31-32:

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Sin is deceptive. It initially attracts you, drawing you in. It promises enjoyment and happiness. Once it entices is victim, it latches on. Unknown to its victim, it clings on tight. Months may pass, years even. The sin saturates the soul. Like a deadly poison it slowly kills. It destroys. Even with its destructive effects, you are held captive to it. You a slave in shackles. A slave to a master called sin.

Jesus tells us in this passage that we can be free from this slavery and bondage. "The truth will set you free," he explained. However, he says to the believing Jews that if the hold to his teaching they truly are his disciples. Then they will know the truth and the truth will set them free from sin.

In order to be truly set free from sin, you me hold to his commands. Then, you will know that you are really Jesus' disciples, and the truth will set you free. It takes more then belief, you must hold to Christ's teaching to be experience freedom from slavery to sin.

There once was a young man. Now, this man was a strong Christian. He knew that Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior. However, as he grew older he began to live in immorality and sin. Now, one night after about a year of this lifestyle, he died driving drunk. His family, who were Christians, were sad and greived. However, they found comfort in the fact that he once was a Christian and that God had taken him home so he would not hurt other with his sin. They knew the God called him home to be with him in heaven.

I find that story, which is based on many true stories, shocking and disgusting. The fact that people say that people living in sin are called home to be with God because they are hurting others with their sin is offensive. It is a mockery of God.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-9)

Many "reformed" Christians hold to the idea of rewards based on your faithfulnesses and obedience. I came across this quote of Stanley about Matthew 25:30 where it says, "And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Read this, and I will respond to it:

The final verse of this parable is so severe that many commentators assume it is a description of hell. It is not . . . The point of this parable is that in God's future kingdom, those who were faithful in this life will be rewarded and those who were not will lose any potential reward . . . Before we can understand the full impact of this parable, we must first determine what the "outer darkness" refers to in the context of the parable. It certainly does not mean hell in the parable. How could a master throw a slave into hell? . . . But what actual place was Jesus referring to in the parable? He gave us only one hint: "In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." . . . To be in the "outer darkness" is to be in the kingdom of God but outside the circle of men and women whose faithfulness on this earth earned them a special rank or position of authority.

So, according to Stanley, heaven will "have weeping and gnashing of teeth" in a section of heaven. Lets compare that with scripture.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:3-4)

So the Bible says that heaven will have no more tears, no mourning, crying, and pain. Stanley says that some will experience weeping in heaven. They are in conflict with each other. They both can not be right. Who is right? Stanley is wrong, God's Word is right. There will be NO crying, tears, mourning and pain. Matthew 25:30 is not talking about a place for the unfaithful in heaven, it is talking about hell.

I found this blog today of via the Blogs4God site. It is written by a man named Howard Dimmick who is an 86 year old Christian.

He writes:

In the first two parts of this article I concentrated on the misunderstanding of unbelievers, now I want to show you how many who profess to know Christ also have an inadequate understanding of God's infinite grace.

Grace has been defined as "the unmerited favor of God". When we look at the moral condition of mankind in Jesus day, we can't help but wonder why God would even care at all about pagans who completely ignored Him or the Jews who circumvented Gods law with their own rules and regulations. But God's grace is so caring and universal that John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." This gives us a faint idea of the depth and quality of grace.

Continue to Read this Post...

He makes a lot of good points so please check his blog out.

God bless.

I have done it, I changed this blog's name. It is now "To Be Least." However, I did not change the url as this would create mass confusion and chaos.

Why the name? Because I think that the phrase "To Be Least" sums up what the life of a Christian should be. We are to follow Jesus' example and submit ourselves to complete service to God and other people. We are to die to what we want and live for what Christ wants.

Then of course, there is this verse from Luke 9:47-48, "Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest.'"

If you link to my blog, please change the text of the link to "To Be Least." Thanks.

I have been thinking about this for quite a while now, should I change the name of this blog?

Why would I want to do this? Because "Blogging Teen" does not accurately reflect what I talk about on a daily basis. My focus on this blog is entirely on Christianity.

Please comment and tell me whether or not I should change this blog's name. I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Mt 28:13-20)

We are called to make disciples. Paul was an excellent example of this. His entire life from the day of his conversion was dedicated to preaching the good news. He was not ashamed of the gospel. He boldly preached the gospel even until his death.

A verse that really struck me was when Paul said that, "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God." (Acts 20:25-27)

If there is one thing that I do not want do be guilty of, it is the blood of those I failed to witness to. I must not hesitate to proclaim the whole will of God. God help me.

The walk of a Christian is not an easy one. Temptations that threaten to entangle you again in darkness must be overcome. Every day I am tempted to sin. However, it is not a sin to be tempted, but to give into the temptation.

We are told in Cor. 10:13-14 that, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

I, as much as any human, am tempted. Sometimes the temptation are so intense I think I will not be able to stand up under them. However, God says that he will not let us be tempted beyond what you can bear. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I can resist these temptations. I have to remember that my eternity is at stake. That I must remain faithful in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is a battle for my soul.

Lord, please help me. There are times when I think I can not overcome the temptation. Times when there looks like there is no hope. Give me strength to overcome my temptations. Lord, following you is not easy, but it is what I must do. I can not do it on my own Lord, help me.

Jesus saved me from death. What more can I do than to offer my entire life as service to him? I have become indebted to serve God with all my heart, mind, and strength; this is my life.

Many people say that they have a relationship with Jesus. But I have a question for you before you so readily say that. Do you love Jesus?

It may seem basic, but love is at the core of our walk with Christ. For example, if someone was married, but did not love their partner, would their marriage last long? The correct answer is no, it would not. In the same way, we must love Jesus if we want to have a solid, continual relationship with Him.

What does it mean to love Jesus Christ? 1 John 5:3 says, "This is love for God: to obey his commands." So if you truly love Jesus, you will obey him. This is one of the essential components of the Christian walk. If you want to go somewhere, you have to strive to live a obedient life.

P.S. - I will continue the last post most likely the next time I decide to post, but I had to write this.

What has Jesus called us to do?

Has he called us to read the Bible when we find time? Has he called us to find some time in our day to pray? Did he call us to go to church when we feel like it? Does doing all of this make us Christians?

Jesus said that "the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Mt 13:44) The kingdom of heaven is something so valuable that we should give up our life for it. But would Jesus really call us to that extreme of a calling?

Look at Luke 9:24 where Jesus says that, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Again, the calling of a Christian is not something easy. It requires something more then church on Sunday, more than Bible reading for fifteen minutes, and more than a short prayer before you eat you turkey dinner. What does it require?

It requires the lose of your life hear on earth, to gain life in the Kingdom of God. What does this look like in action? I will address that tomorrow. Until then, stand firm in Christ.

      I have decided that unless I am living it, I am not going to write it. In other words, I have to walk the walk if I want to talk the talk. If I am going to tell others to live holy, I have to live a holy life. If I am going to tell others to die to their self, I must die to my self. I am going to teach others, I have to live up to that teaching myself.
      1 Corinthians 8:1 says that, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." A Christian needs to have love more than knowledge. If a theologian studies the Bible for his entire lifetime (and thinks that he is great because of that), but does not love, it means nothing. A verse that really applies is another verse from 1 Corinthians 13 which says, "²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
      Again, what is love? One thing that the Bible makes clear is that love is the foundation of the law. Romans 13:10 says, "Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law," and again in Galatians 5:14 says, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Love is the heart of the law. Jesus told us in John 14:15 that, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." This is essential to our understanding of what it means to love.
      I do not want to be one who just knows the Bible, but one who applies the Bible to my every day life. I want to teach out of experience, not out of factual knowledge. I want to spread the good news not because of what I know, but because of what God has done for me.
      Am I making any sense here? I hope so, and I will try to post more frequently.

Scientists have long tried to explain away the existence of God by forming theories on the creation of life, the creation of this planet, and the creation of this universe. Many of these theories are widely accepted among the scientific world. However, I have one question. Do these theories truly explain away the possibility and need of a God?

Scientists have tried to explain how this world and universe came together. I could ask scientist, what caused the earth into existence? They would reply with a widely accepted theory. However, no matter how far they go back in explaining the cause of existence of different things. A question remains, what caused those things into existence? This discussion could go one for an infinite amount of time. There could be an infinite amount of causes, or could there?

There can not be an infinite amount of causes. Why? Because this would take an infinite amount of time. An infinite amount of time is impossible to transverse. So we can conclude that because it is impossible to transverse an infinite amount of time, it was a finite amount of time and causes that created the universe.

However, this creates a dilemma. How can you have something caused into existence by something that has never been caused? How can you have an uncaused causer? The answer is simple. God is the uncaused causer. He was never created, yet created all things. God must exist for everything in this universe and beyond this universe to exist.

"Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." (Heb. 9:27) I will die someday, so will you. Being relatively young, it is hard for me to actually realize this. When you can grasp that you are mortal and eventually you will die, you can realize the importance of focusing your life on serving God with everything while you have the chance. You can begin to see the importance of living holy lives in light of eternity.

James says that our lives "are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (Ja. 4:14) Compare the long life of a 100 years to 100 billion years. This is nothing compared to eternity in heaven or hell, which is beyond what our mind can comprehend.

When you compare our life to this amount of time spent after our physical bodies die, you realize that our life is indeed a mist. If not less than that. It is so short, yet our life decides where we will be for a incomprehensible amount of time. For infinity to be exact. Because of this, we should "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), knowing that this is the only life we get and it is the life that determines our eternal destination.

I have been thinking about being a witness for Christ a lot recently. I am going to spill out what I know, and I hope you will share what you know about being a witness.

I think that our actions are a lot more effective than what we say. In fact, our actions either support or destroy the message that we have about Jesus. If we say that we are Christians, but act like the secular world, our witness is not going to be effective. However if we treat others with love and respect, they will want to know what is different about us and will be more open to hearing the truth.

So I think that we should first live as Jesus showed us and also be bold about sharing the good news that we possess. Working together, we can be an effective witness for Jesus Christ.

Does anyone have any thoughts, experiences, and advice on being a witness for Christ. I am listening.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

      What does it mean to deny yourself. When you think about it, that is a pretty strong word. It does not say just to try to deny what you want. It says you must deny yourself.
      When you deny the existence of God, you act as if God does not exist. In the same way, when we deny ourselves, we must act like we no longer exist. We must live our life completely for the service of others and for God. We need to come to the place where we no longer care for what we want, but have our minds set on the needs of God and others.

      "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith." (Ephesians 2:8) That said, must we continue in our faith until the day we die in order to inherit eternal life? If we do not continue in our faith, will we inherit eternal life?

      I firmly believe that we do indeed have to continue in our faith to spend eternity with God. Why? Read on.

      The following is an excerpt from my mothers post which explains some key truths on this subject.

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

      What does this verse teach us? This passage from Romans 1:17 quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 which is prefaced by the words, "a righteousness that is by faith from first to last." Another translation says, "from faith to faith." This expression implies an ongoing life of faith until one breathes his last. It is this kind of enduring faith which is required to guarantee salvation. The importance of this message is evident in that this same passage is quoted two other times in scripture: Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.

      The other passage of scripture regarding salvation that is often quoted in the New Testament is from Genesis 15:6: "Abram believed the Lord, and he was credited it to him as righteousness." In the Hebrew, the word for "believed" is "aman." This word implies an enduring, steadfast faith which is immovable. It is this kind of faith which credited Abram with righteousness. This passage, too, is quoted several times in scripture: Romans 4:3, 4:22; Galatians 3:6; and James 2:23. When a passage of scripture is repeated so many times, the reader should take note. God tells us five times in scripture that an enduring, steadfast faith will credit us with righteousness. Nowhere does it say that a fleeting moment of faith will credit us with righteousness.

      With that thought in mind, consider the following :

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

(to the Gentile believers) "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off." (Romans 11:21-22)

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:2)

"But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in sight, without blemish and free from accusation-if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel…" (Colossians 1:22-23b)

"But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and hope of which we boast." (Hebrews 3:6)

"We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." (Hebrews 3:14)

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a little while, `He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:36-39)

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

      These verses make it clear that only those who stand "firm to the end will be saved." Romans says that righteousness is "by faith from first to last." Faith that will save us is not something that is a one time decision, although it does start there. It is a faith that continues until God calls us home.

      A while ago, I had committed many sins. I had lied, stolen, and filled my heart with lust and anger. Instead of following God, I had followed my money.
      Eventually I was caught in my crimes and was brought before God to be judged. I was immediately found guilty of sinning against God. God decreed that my punishment was execution. In great sorrow, I proceeded to go to my punishment.
      When the time came for my execution, something unexpected happened. God in his great mercy intervened and had his own Son take my place. Because of his mercy, he had taken his own perfect Son and had him executed instead of me. From that day on, I vowed to be God's slave and obey God for as long as I should live.

      After the attacks on the two Trade Towers, there was an increase of the usage of "God bless America." It appeared on signs, you heard people use it and of course it was in the songs. However, will God really bless America?

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. (Deut. 11:26-28)

      This quote is God speaking to the Israelites, after God had told them all His requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands. This verse very clearly states that God will bless the Israelites if they obey his commands, but a curse if they do not.
      When you turn on the television, it does not take long to figure out that the majority of the programming is immoral. The American culture as a whole has become saturated in immorality. America as a whole has turned away from the Lord and has disobeyed his commands.
      Because the majority of America has been living disobedient lives, I think it is very possible that God will not bless America. When the Israelites started living in disobedience, God removed His blessing. He sent other nations to attack and defeat Israel. However, when they turned back to God and obeyed His commands, God blessed them and gave them victory over their enemies. I believe the same applies to America and every other nation.

²⁴ " 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36)

      I talked a lot about living according to the Holy Spirit on yesterdays post. This verse sums up why the Holy Spirit was given to us. So we can follow God's decrees and be careful to keep God's laws. That is the point of the Holy Spirit, so we can be obedient.

Why does he want us to be obedient?

'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. ²³ I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD , declares the Sovereign LORD , when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36:22-23)

      The Israelites had been disobedient again and again. Finally, God had enough and allowed the nation of Israel to be taken into exile. Because God's chosen nation was in exile it profaned God's holy name. Because of their constant disobedience, God decided that he would give them the Holy Spirit so that they could walk in obedience. Was it for Israel's sake? No, it was for God's sake. Why? So that His name will not be profaned.
      As we know, God gave the Holy Spirit to those who follow Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, taught that all men could be saved. God's forgiveness for those who repent was not only the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well.

      Well, I am going again on a family vacation. We will be gone from Saturday, July 24 to Saturday, July 31. So I most likely will be unable to post until next Sunday.

See you all then.

      Jesus told his disciples that at the end of the age God will send angels to separate the righteous from the wicked. The wicked will go to hell while the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 13:49-50) How exactly does one become righteous in God's eyes?
      When we come to God in repentance and in faith, God will forgive our sins and we pass from death to life and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. After this initial step, I believe that there are two things that need to be present in a Christian's life in order to be considered righteous before God. The first, as you will read, is about being controlled by the Spirit. If we are indeed controlled by the Spirit, we will put to death the sins of our bodies. However, even with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can never achieve perfection. When we sin and come to him in repentance and confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us our sins.

      Lets get started.

      We obviously are saved by God's grace through faith. (See Eph. 2:8-9) When we become saved the Holy Spirit comes and lives within our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit."

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9)

      To live according to the sinful nature and to live according to the Spirit are contradicting. You can not say that you are controlled by the Spirit if you were living sinfully. The truth would be that you are actually being controlled by the sinful nature.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Rom. 8:13-14)

      If we choose to live a sinful life, we will experience the second death. (For more information see this post) If we stop living in sin with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will enter eternal life. If we live according to the Spirit we will put to death our sins, which would also mean we will be living in obedience. By being obedient to God we are not being controlled by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit.

And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)

      Now to the bottom line. The righteous requirements of the law are met in those who do not live by the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit. If you live according to the Spirit, you will be obedient by putting to death your sins.

      As I stated in the intro, we as humans, even with the help of the Holy Spirit, can never achieve a perfect life without any sin. John addresses this clearly.

⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1)

      If we live a life of sin, Jesus is not in us. However, we are not without sin. If we confess our sins he will forgive us. Notice, it does not say that we automatically have all our sins forgiven. We must what? We must confess our sins in order for Him to forgive us. This verse in particular does not talk of repentance, however the scriptures are filled with the concept that repentance is followed by forgiveness. (See Luke 13:3, Luke 17:3 Acts 2:38 for starters).
      To sum it up, when we do commit willful sin, we can come to Jesus in repentance and confess our sin and he will forgive us. When he forgives us, we will be purified "from all unrighteousness." We will be seen as righteous in God's eyes.
      If we, as Christians, are to be declared righteous and enter eternal life, we must a) be living according to the Spirit and not to the sinful nature. If we are doing this, we are being obedient to God (putting to death our sins) with the help of the Holy Spirit. b) When we do sin, we must come to Christ in repentance and confess our sins and we will be forgiven and considered righteous.
      When we are living our life in such a way, we will be declared righteous on judgment day and will enter heaven to spend eternity with God. If we are not living as I have shown, we will not be declared righteous, but wicked and will be thrown into hell.

      I recently wrote this comment on Real Live Preacher's blog on a post talking about the Bible in rather negative terms. Here it is :

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3)

      All Scripture came from God's mouth. All scripture can be used to teach, rebuke, correct, and to train in righteousness. The fact that the scriptures, meaning the Bible, can be used a source of teaching shows that they are in fact true. The same goes for rebuking.
      If a student stated that 2 + 2 = 5, the teacher would correct the student and state the correct, or true answer which is 4. In the same way if someone says that homosexuality is not a sin, you could correct that person with some of scripture where God says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman." (Leviticus 18:22)
      To correct means "to remove the errors or mistakes from." (The American Heritage® Dictionary). The scriptures can remove the errors or mistakes from something because it is true. If all scriptures were not true, then all scriptures could not be used for correcting.
      Some may say that Timothy was referring to the Old Testament scriptures alone. However Paul says, "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words." (1 Corinthians 2:13) The New Testament writings were not from human wisdom, but from the Holy Spirit (who is also God).
      The Bible, however, is never to be used as a weapon. The scriptures are clear that everything must be done in love. Is it not a great love to tell people of their sin and their need to change and follow Jesus Christ, which will eventually be rewarded with eternal life? Is that not what the apostles preached to the known world. They told many to repent and turn away from their sins. They called them to put their faith in Jesus so that they too could have eternal life. That is indeed an act of love.
      I have a feeling that people are offended when people use the Bible to point out their short comings and sins. I have feebly tried to point out that most are doing this in a attempt to show love, rather than hate. They want you to have the hope in a future eternal life that they have.
      RLP, could you explain why you believe that the Bible is confusing (or correct me if I have misunderstood you). I read the Bible very often and although some of it is indeed confusing, I find the majority to be rather straight forward. The more I look into it, the more I understand and comprehend, which seems contrary to your understanding is. Thanks.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Romans 8)

¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8)

      We, who by faith have received the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus, have also received the gift of the Holy Spirit. All who belong to Christ have the Holy Spirit within them. The Holy Spirit helps us to stop sinning among other things. If we, as followers of Christ, put to death sin in our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit we will live eternally. (Paul makes it clear that our "body is dead because of sin," yet our "spirit is alive because of righteousness." When he says that if we "put to death the misdeeds of the body," we "will live," he is talking of eternal life after our earthly death. How can Paul say that our bodies, as Christians, are dead, yet go on to say that we can live? It is obvious that he is talking about the eternal, not the mortal.)
      However, there is the other side of the coin. If we live according to the sinful nature, if we follow our sinful desires, we will die. (This is talking of the second death in the lake of fire as all will die the first earthly death.)

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

      We can not serve two masters. (See Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13) You can not be a slave to both sin and obedience. It is one or the other. If you are a slave to sin, you will die. As I pointed out earlier, Paul makes it clear that we all will die here on earth, however some will die a second death while others will live. (Rev. 20:14 says, "The lake of fire is the second death.") This is clearly what Paul is referring to. Matthew 13:49-50 says, "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The wicked will obviously go to hell and the righteous to eternal life.
      If you are a slave to sin, you are wicked and will enter hell. If you are a slave to obedience which leads to righteousness, you will enter heaven. Again, you are either a slave to sin which will result in hell, or obedience which will result in eternal life.
      When you are a slave to someone, you are obligated to do whatever he tells you to do. If the master says go work in the fields, you must go work in the fields. Likewise, if you are a slave to obedience, you must obey. There is no choice, only obligation. If you do not obey, you are a slave to sin. Sin is disobedience.
      Contrary to what some Christians believe, we do have an obligation. We are obligated to live according to the Spirit. We are obligated to "put to death the misdeeds of the body." By doing this we become slaves to obedience. The result of such action is eternal life. However, if we live according to the sinful nature and are slaves to sin, we will experience the second death which is hell.

      Hello everyone. I will gone from Wednesday, July 14 to Monday, July 19. My father and I are taking a canoeing and camping trip and I will suprisingly will not be able to post. So I will be back on Tuesday. God bless.

      Throughout the entire history of the world, it is clear that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)
      Moses was one of these men who was humble, yet was used in a mighty way by God. God came to Moses in the desert through a burning bush and told him to go to the Israelites to set them free from slavery. When Moses heard this he said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." This shows that he was not a proud man, but a man who admitted his shortcomings and faults. Because he had little confidence in his own ability, God allowed Aaron to go with him. The Bible says this of Moses, "Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3) Yet God used him to lead all of Israel. He was considered the greatest prophet. (Deut. 34:10) A extremely humble man was used in enormous ways.
      Later, Gideon was another man who God used. When God came to him and told him to attack the Midianites who were oppressing Israel. However Gideon replied, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15) Despite the fact that his clan was the weakest and he was the least, God used Gideon to defeat the Midianites. Again, God wanted the least to do something great.
      David was another example of God's giving grace to the humble. David was the youngest in his family. Unlike his older brothers who went off to battle, David had the low job of tending the sheep. Yet it was David, the young shepherd, who killed the giant named Goliath. He was not as impressive as his older brothers, yet God chose him to become the anointed king of Israel. God chose the man who was the least to lead the entire nation of Israel.

      Many years later, Jesus Christ taught that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Did not God do exactly this in the Old Testament when he exalted those who were humble to positions of authority. Jesus was also a living example of this. He, the Son of God, humbled himself down to the position of being a mere human. However, he did not stop there, he washed his disciples feet which is something only a servant would do.
      In Revelations, God says to the church of Laodicea, "Because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." (Rev. 3:16-17) This church was being warned that God would spit them out. Why? Because they were proud with what they had. They were so proud that they thought that they did not need a thing. However, God showed them that they are "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Obviously God opposed the pride of this church. He was going to humble this church that had exalted itself.
      God opposes the proud, but he exalts the humble. If we want God to do anything with our lives, we must learn to humble ourselves.

⁴⁵"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' ⁴⁹and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24)

      The master commanded the servant what to do, and left. If this servant obeys the master until the day the master returns, he will be rewarded. However, if the servant disobeys his master and the master comes home to the servants surprise, that servant will be put into hell.
      Jesus Christ is the master. We, as Christians, are his servants. Jesus left this earth by ascending to heaven and he promised to return to the earth. If we are wise, we will be obedient to the commands of Jesus and continue to serve Him until the day he returns.
      However, some who are servants of Christ will start to disobey Christ and living lives of sin ("beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards"). When Jesus returns when we do not expect Him, He will punish those who have been disobedient by placing them in hell.
      My brothers and sisters in Christ, I can not stress the importance of remaining faithful to our master, Jesus Christ, and walking in obedience to Him. Many call themselves followers of Christ. However, many do not follow Christ. Many call themselves servants of Christ. However many do not serve Christ. Unlike the wicked servant in this parable, let us obey Christ so that when he returns he will reward us, rather placing us in hell.

Once we become saved by the blood of Jesus, we are to remain in Jesus Christ.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6)

      This passage shows that those who are in Jesus will be saved. It also shows that someone, who was once in Christ, can stop remaining in Christ which brings the consequence of eternal punishment.

How can we be sure in we are in Christ?

This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:6)

      We can be sure that we are in Jesus if we walk as he did. How did Jesus walk? He walked a life of obedience to the Father even to his death.

      Simple to say, but hard to carry out. Perhaps that is why few travel on the narrow path that leads to life, and many travel on the road that leads to destruction.

      My youth group recently took a missions trip to Guatemala City. There they worked on the completion of a road in the dump, and ministered for those who lived in the Guatemala City dumps. The youth pastor was talking about the trip there and one part of his talk caught my attention.

      The pastor was talking about how it was so cool to see other Christians on the other side of the world. He talked about the church that they attended while there. The next thing he said shocked me, however it did not seem to bother him or anyone else for that matter. He said that the people who lived in the dump were not allowed to enter the church because they were too dirty and smelly. He said that one of the ministries that is located by the dump is trying to get these poor people a church of there own as they currently do not have a church to attend. All this was said as something of passing thought. Something that had little significance, something that is normal. Apparently it is normal to exclude those who are poor and dirty. Apparently it is common to show favoritism.

¹My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2)

      The fact that a large church would show favoritism to those who have money and prosperity troubles me. I have seen similar behavior here in America. God does not show favoritism, and neither should we.

      My mother at Blogging Truth has written a great post entitled "Saved by a Walk of Faith, not a Moment of Decision."

She begins by writing :

      The modus operandi in many modern evangelical churches is to call sinners to a moment of decision. “Repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.” Romans 10:19 is often quoted: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” God’s word is absolutely true, but is this the whole gospel message of salvation? People are instructed that they are eternally assured of salvation from the moment of their conversion. They are told their destiny is now locked into heaven. But again is this the gospel?

She makes some good points so check it out.

      I have been thinking a lot about hell recently (if you couldn't already tell). Many times in scripture hell is described as death. Revelations calls it the "second death" several times. However, I have come to the conclusion that hell is eternal punishment, not annihilation. So what does the Bible mean when it uses the word "death" to talk of hell?
      Jesus is sometimes called "the life" or "the eternal life." John writes, "The life appeared we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us." (1 John 1:2) Jesus appeared to the disciples, they testify to it and proclaim to us Jesus who was with the Father and has appeared to them. Both "life" and "eternal life" were referring to Jesus because he is the source of life. It is through Jesus Christ that we can have eternal life.
      This theme of Jesus being the eternal life can be found again at the end of 1 John. Once again John wrote, "And we are in him who was true -- Even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." This verse is much clearer, Jesus Christ is eternal life.
      When we die here on earth it is the separation of the physical body and the soul. At the end of the tribulation, we will all receive spiritual bodies. These bodies will be imperishable, they will be immortal. (1 Cor. 15:53 says, "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.") After we receive these new bodies we will be judged by God. "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:15) "The lake of fire is the second death." (Rev. 20:14)
      So the lake of fire (hell) is the second death. Why? When we are put into hell, or the lake of fire, we will be separated from God. Remember, "Jesus is the true God and eternal life." 1 Thessolonians says that those in hell will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord." The second death is the separation of the unrighteous from God. God is life. Without Him there is no life. That is why hell is often characterized as death. You are shut out from the life. Without life there is only death. That is why hell is the second death.

On a forum one person read my post on this blog on hell and shared his beliefs on hell. I responded with what I believe to be true based off of scripture. Enjoy.

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He said :

BloggingTeen: I guess I'll have to wait until after the 4th before I get a reply but I'll ask now while I'm thinking about it. I read your entry of June 19th, entitled "No Hell?" with interest and noticed that you were STILL deceived as to what hell is, what it will be, and who it was intended for and what happens in it. You are MISTAKEN in your beliefs but this is not a surprise. After all, you're only 15 and have not had much time to do much studying of scripture.

However, the first place to start would be to read again CAREFULLY the verses that you posted and to NOTICE that they do NOT say what you have been taught to believe they say.

By the way, I wanted to post a comment at your site but I was not sure how to do so. I tried clicking on both "Comments" and "Trackback" and nothing seemed to happen. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how I can respond there.

At any rate, the verses that you posted used the phrases "EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION" and "DESTROY BOTH BODY AND SOUL". For some inexplicable reason, you interpret DESTRUCTION as ETERNAL LIFE in hell.

Next, you quote a parable of Jesus (Lazarus and the Rich Man) that has nothing to do with hell and is actually a prophecy concerning Himself. If one reads this parable with logic and reason (or guidance from the Holy Spirit), he will quickly discover that this is not (and CANNOT be) a literal description of hell and/or actual events. Just like all of the other parables of Jesus, it was designed to HIDE its true meaning from ALL who it had not been given to know:

Lk. 8:10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “`though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ [Isaiah 6:9]

After that parable, you quote Rev:20:15 but you leave out a critical part:

Re. 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

Notice that it is called the SECOND DEATH! What are the wages of SIN? DEATH! No confusion, here. The TWO choices that God has offered from the very beginning are LIFE or DEATH:

De. 30:15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.
...De. 30:19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Next, you quote 2Peter 2. Verse 2:4 uses the term "gloomy dungeons' which other manuscripts have as "chains of darkness". This definitely doesn't describe a hellfire, does it? It more correctly describes a pit or a grave.

Then, it recounts the story of Noah and the Flood. What happened to Noah? He was SAVED...he received LIFE! What happened to those who missed the boat? They PERISHED...they received DEATH!

This is followed by an account of Lot and Sodom. What happened to Lot? He LIVED! What happened to the rest of the inhabitants of Sodom? They DIED in the fire and brimstone that rained down upon them. Notice:

2Pe. 2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

Now compare that verse with these:

Mal. 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that
is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.

It should be abundantly clear from these verses (and hundreds more) that the "eternal punishment" promised to unrepentant sinners is DEATH and NOT ETERNAL LIFE in hell. And isn't this in keeping with a MERCIFUL God? I mean, after all, we shoot horses, don't we?

What would you think of our government if we continuously tortured (for the rest of their lives) our guilty? Would you not call any government which did so INHUMANE? Yet, for no reason, so many people BELIEVE that God is just such a monster. Satan, as scripture declares, has surely DECEIVED the WHOLE WORLD!

Join us which dare to REJECT the lies as SPEWED OUT by organized religion kept CAPTIVE by Satan's deceptions. If your heart is pure, it won't take long before you discover just how many lies have been foisted upon an unsuspecting laity.

May God open the hearts and minds of all who read this post. If Christianity is EVER to be a LIGHT unto the world, it must rid itself of the doctrines of devils and men and REESTABLISH itself as a purveyor of TRUTH.

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      I am in agreement with you on the idea that Christianity must tell the Truth. This Truth can be found in the Word of God, the Bible. All Christians should not rely on the doctrines of men, but on the Word of God. Keeping this in mind, I will begin to look at the scriptures to find the truth about hell.

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power." (1 Thess. 1:8-9)

      This verse addresses two questions. Who goes to hell and what will happen to those in hell? The answer to the first question is simply " those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel." (v. 8) Again, the answer to the second question is plain and clear. "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power." (v. 9)
      How can destruction be everlasting as this verse states? Notice, it does not say that those in hell will be destroyed, but will go through "everlasting destruction." So those in hell will go through destruction without ever being completely destroyed.

"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Mt 3:12)

      Here God will separate the righteous (symbolized by wheat) from the unrighteous (chaff). The righteous will go to heaven and the unrighteous will be burning up in "unquenchable fire." The fire represents suffering. However, this suffering can not be stopped because it is unquenchable. Again, it does not say that the unrighteous will be completely burnt up, but that they are burning.

"And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." (Isaiah 66:24)

      When you read the first portion of this verse, it seems clear that people in hell are dead (as you believe). However, it goes on to say that their "worm will not die." When a body is decaying their are worms and maggots that feast on the flesh. Normally, the maggots would die when the body is completely eaten because their source of food would no longer exist. Here, however, the maggot does not die. So the body is always decaying (and being eaten away by worms), while never completely ceasing to exist. However, one should not take this as a literal description of hell. What this describes hell as a place where people will be going to intense suffering that will never end.
      It also says that those in hell will not have their fire quenched. This is very simply. Like Matthew 3:12, here the suffering will not be stopped. In both cases, the truth is evident. Hell is a place of eternal suffering.

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Mt. 25:46)

      When read in context, the word "they" is referring to the unrighteous or the "goats." So the righteous will go to eternal life, but the unrighteous will go to eternal punishment. Eternal meaning never ending and punishment meaning punishment. Very clear.

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out." (Mark 9:43)

      Once again, this verse shows that hell is a place where the suffering never stops.

"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)

      Some will go to heaven, which is everlasting life. While others go to hell which is everlasting contempt. Hell is everlasting.

      In Revelations, it talks about the lake of fire (hell). Satan will be thrown in the lake of fire, as with all who are not saved. Satan will be "tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev. 20:10) This supports that conclusion that those in hell will be eternally punished.

      You quoted 2 Peter 2:6 where you tried to support your belief for the annihilation of those in hell. A few verses later it say this:

"Then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment." (2 Peter 2:9)

      Contrary to your statements, 2 Peter clearly shows that those in hell will not die. God will "hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment," which clearly contradicts the idea that those in hell will cease to exist. It shows exactly the opposite, those in hell will continue to exist. This verse also says that God will do this "while continuing their punishment." Once again, God will continue their punishment. They will continue to exist while being punished.

"In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 7)

      Although I just pointed out your error by not reading the complete section in 2 Peter, this verse further exposes your grave error. Although Sodom and Gomorrah did indeed die, those in hell "suffer the punishment of eternal fire." Those is hell are being punished with eternal suffering.

You said :

It should be abundantly clear from these verses (and hundreds more) that the "eternal punishment" promised to unrepentant sinners is DEATH and NOT ETERNAL LIFE in hell. And isn't this in keeping with a MERCIFUL God? I mean, after all, we shoot horses, don't we?

      When we as humans, shoot horses it is an act of mercy. By quickly ending it's life we are stopping it's suffering which would lead to death. However, when God puts people in hell it is not an act of mercy, but an act of judgment. He is punishing those who have not obeyed His commands. So, unlike shooting horses, when God throws people into hell He is punishing their disobedience, not showing mercy to them.
      However, God is merciful. He showed mercy to the entire world. How? He sent His only Son, Jesus, down to this earth to die for the world's sins and to rise back to life. It was because of God's mercy that we have a chance to have eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 3)

      The truth has been set before you. The Word of God makes a clear and concise case for the existence of eternal punishment for those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel. Each of us deserve this punishment. Thanks be to God, who in His mercy allows us to spend eternity with Him through his Son, Jesus Christ.

   Hello everyone, sorry I haven't posted as much recently. My family and I are going on vacation for a week starting tomorrow and so I will not be able to post. So to make everything clear, I will be gone from the June 26 - July 4. So come on back around at that time and I will be back in full force.

God bless.

      Yesterday, I talked about how was as Christians are to live a life of love. However, one can not do this without living in obedience to God. So, I decided to post today about how we are to live in obedience. Obviously, we are not to live in disobedience, or sin. To some "disobedience to God" would mean a lot, and to others it would mean nothing. So, I have compiled a list of sins that are often forgotten and ignored.

Greed (Mark 7:22, Romans 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:11, 1 Corinthians 6:10, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5)

Fits of Rage (Galatians 5:20)

Discord [Tension or strife resulting from a lack of agreement] (2 Cor. 12:20, Galatians 5:20)

Hatred (Galation 5:20)

Jealousy (Romans 13:13, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Galatians 5:20)

Envy (Romans 1:29, Titus 3:3, 1 Peter 2:1, Mark 7:22)

Slander (Romans 1:30, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 6:10, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:31, 1 Peter 2:1, Mark 7:22, Matthew 15:19)

Arrogance (Proverbs 8:13, Romans 1:30, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Mark 7:22)

      If we want to be obedience to God, we must not have greed, fits of rage, discord, hatred, jealousy, envy, slander, and arrogance. The list can go on, but I have not the time or energy to list more. To live a life of love means to walk in obedience. To be obedient means we must not live in sin, we must not have these sins in our life. It is something we all need to work on. God bless.

posted by Paul  # 8:19 PM 1 comments

      Galatians 5:6 says "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." What is this love here referring to? There are two seemingly different verses that describe love that come to the same conclusion.
      First, one description of love is that "⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor. 13) Obviously, living a life of love and living a life of sin can not be done together. To love contradicts what the sinful nature desires. Love does not boast. "As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil." (James 4) I could go on, but I am sure you see my point. All the things love does not do are done by the sinful nature. However, it is summed up in these words, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." So you can not be living in sin and also in love. What is sin? Sin is disobedience against what God has commanded.
      Another description of what love is can be found in John 14:15. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." That is pretty straight forward. If you love God, you will obey his commands. If you love God, you will not be living in disobedience. You will not be living in sin. You must be living in obedience.
      When you look at these two verses, which seem to say different things, they have the same message. To love God is to be living a life of obedience and righteousness. You cannot be living in sin or disobedience. So, when you again take a look at Galatians 5:6 where it says "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love," you can see that the only faith that counts if faith that expresses itself through obedience to God.
      "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:26) That seems to be in agreement with what I just wrote. Faith needs to be expressed. How is it to be expressed? Through obedience.
      "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." (Matthew 3:8) Here John the Baptist is addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees. He tells them to have changed behavior in keeping with repentance. They must act not with sinful behavior and actions, but with obedient behavior.
      "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." (Romans 1:5) We as Christians, are to call people to obedience that comes from faith.
      All Christians have been saved by grace alone, through faith, which needs to be expressed by obedience to God's word.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16)

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6)

      What is love? Here on earth people claim to be "falling in love" and think of love as a feeling. In these cases love is usually used to describe a feeling, an attraction. However, God's Word does not say that love is an attraction, it says that "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." (1 Cor. 13:4) Love is an action, it is something you learn to do.
      John addresses what love for God is. "This is love for God: to obey his commands." (1 John 5:3) Here love is obedience. Does God wants our faith expressing itself through love. He does not want faith expressing itself through feelings but through obedience. We are told that the greatest commandment is to love God. Does this mean to obey God? Is love for God something more than obedience?
      These are my thoughts on what love is in the Bible. Does anyone have any other explanations of what it means to love in the Bible? Your input is appreciated.

      I came across this post on "The Grace Pages." Apparently this Anglican Christian believes that there is no hell. I decided to comment.

You explained why you stopped believing in Hell. "I did not do so on the basis of a study of Scripture. In fact, it was more a matter of intellectual integrity: I had already stopped believing in hell; I merely had to have the courage to admit it to myself."

Then, you gave to reasons why:

1. "It was a monstrous idea to me, a horrific notion unworthy of a religion that claims to talk about a loving, merciful God."
2. "Through tears I confessed that I simply could not believe that my friend’s continual relapses into sin and earnest inner war between faith and doubt would eventually condemn him to eternal suffering, nor that two teenagers, cruelly snatched away from friends and family less than a year after their graduation, were both destined for endless and unimaginable torment."

      I will begin by the issue of not using the scriptures to confirm your beliefs. 2 Timothy 3 states that "¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." The Bible is the "God-breathed" and can be used to correct. Logically, the fact that it is "God breathed" and that it can be used to correct shows that it is the truth.

      That said, I will begin to reply to your reasons for unbelief of hell.

      You said that Christianity is a "religion that claims to talk about a loving, merciful God." I agree with you, God is a God of love. However, he is also a just God. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 says that, "God is just." Further on in that chapter talks about God. That "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." Here, this is showing how God is a God of justice. He will punish those who " who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" with everlasting destruction (everlasting punishment in Hell). This is pretty serious. God loved this world so much that he sent His Son to die for our sins, but for those who do not believe and live accordingly he will punish eternally.
      Next you said that you could not believe that God would put the teenagers and your friend in eternal suffering. I do not know these people, but you know them. If they "do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus," they will go to Hell.

     God clearly states that there is such a place called Hell:

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 5:28)

¹⁹"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
²²"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
²⁵"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' (Luke 16)

"If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:15)

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. (2 Peter 2)

      These verses show that there indeed is a place called Hell. It is a place of eternal suffering. those who do not believe that Jesus is the Savior and do not live according to the gospel of Jesus Christ will be there. For Jesus Christ himself said that, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

      After I wrote this I realized that if there was no Hell, the gospel of Jesus Christ would have no power. If there is no Hell, then there is no eternal consequence for everyone's sins. In this scenario, if there is not an eternal consequence for your sins, that means that we do not need to have anything to pay the penalty of our sins. If that is true, that means that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, down to this earth for no reason. Which obviously makes the gospel powerless and our faith futile. However, there is a place called Hell. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The result of our sin is both physical and eternal death. However, God provided a way to have eternal life. This way is through Jesus. Jesus payed for our sins. He took the penalty, so that we do not have to.

Later.

      I am sorry, but I don't have enough time to post anything important today. I will continue to talk about what if means to follow Christ tomorrow.
      Check out my "mobile" version of this blog. [http://winksite.com/othniel/bloggingteen] It contains my posts and links, but is designed for a cell phone or other mobile device.

Until tomorrow, God bless.

      Every Christian has picked up their cross and followed Christ. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." You may be asking yourself, what does it mean to pick up your cross, deny yourself and follow Christ? He tells us that we are to pick up our cross. During the time of Jesus, a cross was how people were put to death. So when it says pick up your cross, it means we are to die to ourselves. I am going to do a series of posts on what it means to do what deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Christ.

      We are to serve others and not our self. Jesus taught this very clearly by both his life and teachings. When his disciples came up to him and asked who would be the greatest in heaven Jesus replied, "For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest." (Luke 9) Often times all we think is about our needs and wants. We only care for ourselves and no one else. This could be commonly described as selfishness.
      Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus began to wash his disciples feet. When he finished, he said this, "¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (John 13) We are to follow Christ's example. The apostle John wrote, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6) If we are Christians, we are to serve others, rather than ourselves.

One day I was strolling,
when I came upon a rose.
It's red petals still unfolding,
while attracting my nose.
As I drew near,
and began to touch.
I startled in fear,
it hurt very much.
Cutting my skin,
it dawned on me.
I knew it was sin,
and I began to flee.

      Recently I commented on this post on Keith's blog "Among the Ruins."

We, as follows of Jesus Christ, are called to make "disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19)

How do we make disciples of all nations as Christ commanded us? How exactly do we become true witnesses for Christ? Some who have commented have stated that this is done by our partaking in deeds without the use of scriptures. However, our deeds are not the Word of God, but the fruit of the Word of God in our lives.

James 2 states that faith without deeds is dead. Obviously, deeds are essential, but so is our faith. How do we come by this faith? Romans 10:17 says that, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Notice that faith comes from the hearing of the message, not the seeing of the fruit of the message.

In further support of this truth, look at 2 Timothy 3:15. "How from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

These verses are clear. The scriptures play an important role in someone's decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ to receive salvation. The idea that our deeds are alone the true witness for Christ is misguided, but together the deeds with the scriptures are an effective way to witness to the lost.

      I gave this a lot of thought and searched scriptures for wisdom on this. If you feel other wise, please feel free to comment and state your position.

      God gave us eternal life. How much more then should we give God? The least we can give back to him is our life. I think we as Christians often forget that. We forget all that God has done for us. We owe him everything. God bless.

      I have decided to spend more time off of the computer and use it to develop some old talents. Sketching is one of these talents. I used to sketch a lot, but I have not done so for about a year. Anyway, I just think I will just post something on this blog once a day, and not do anything more. I also think this will free up time to study God's word and grow in my walk. So this is not one of my biblical posts, but I thought I would tell you all and encourage those of you who stay at the computer for a large portion of your day to spend it doing something else.
      So God bless you all and I'll be getting off this machine for today.

      If you have not read my "From Belief to Action" post, please do before you read the following verse. So I wrote that post yesterday, okay. Then a couple of minutes ago I was reading in Romans when I came across this verse. I was in shock, these verses summed up what I was trying to say. So read these verse. This the Word of God. It is the Truth, not my writings.

¹⁷Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; ¹⁸if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- ²¹you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Romans 2)

      Although I was drawn to these verses because of my recent post on the same subject, I was not ready for verse 24. "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." I stated in my post that, "I am sure you have realized that Christians are often categorized as hypocrites by the world." Perhaps I sound a bit over excited, that is because I am. I am excited in the fact that what I have been thinking about was written in the Bible. These verses have confirmed what I believed to be true.

Here in Illinois it is nearing 10:20, so I have to go to bed. So good night.

      I was surprise by the comments on my statement that we as Christians should not swear, curse, and cuss. My point was that we should not use profanity in our speech. (Some apparently misunderstood what I was trying to say when I said that we should not curse. I meant as a profanity, not like when Jesus cursed the fig tree).
      ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5) When we become born again, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The fruit, or what you produce, is love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
      If a man who says he is a Christians goes around swearing obscenities and cursing. I would question that man's salvation. He is not exemplifying patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness.

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4)

      Now that you have read those verses, read this verse.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Cor. 13)

      We as Christians must live a life of love. We are to follow Christ's example, and He loved us so much that He died for the forgiveness of our sins. God is love.
      This applies to our actions, and it applies to what we say. So basically, we are to live a life of patience and kindness.
      Just some thoughts before I go eat my dinner. So think about what I have said. If you disagree with something I have said please feel free to say it. I am still learning, and will be doing so until the day I die. Talk to you later.

⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4)

      This is something so simple, yet ignored. We as Christians should not swear, curse, and cuss. I feel that the Holy Spirit convicts you of talking such a way.
      In this "category" would be misusing God's name. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." (Deut. 5:11) When someone uses His name as a curse or expression, this is misusing God's name.
      "For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45) This also applies here. I would doubt that any of the words used for swearing are godly words. In fact, in most cases the are the exact opposite.

      Now that I have stated that I will continue on to talk about drinking.

¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5)

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:8)

      God obviously tells us that we are not to become drunk. One reason for this is perhaps because our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and therefore are not to abuse our bodies. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
      However, a in some cases drinking is promoted. "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Timothy 5:23)

      The Bible is clear on these issues. We are not to use "coarse joking" and we are not to be drunk. Later.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1)

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 1)

      If you have been around for a couple of years, I am sure you have realized that Christians are often categorized as hypocrites by the world.
      Why does this happen? Simply because far to many people who call themselves Christians do not act like Christians. To many people go around preaching to stop living a life of sin, when the next day they are living a life of sin. I know that in my life, I have said things and did not live according to what I have said. I have been a hypocrite and I am sure I am not the only one.
      We are to be a witness to the world by example. If someone came up to you and said that they have a friend who was a hundred feet tall. Would you believe him? Of course not, but if you saw this tall friend you would believe him. The same goes for being a witness to others. If you say that you know the Truth, but do not live by it, they are not going to believe you.

      My brothers and sisters in Christ, is this how we are a light to this world? How can they see the light in us, if we do not walk in the light.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1)

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. (James 1)

      We as Christians need to move on from the belief to action. Unless we put our knowledge of the Truth to practice, no one will see the Truth. Unless we start living in the light, no one will see the light. It is time we start living by example.

      I have started to read through the Bible again, so I must likely will be talking more from the Old Testament. Several times God refers to "us."

   Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Gen. 1:26)

   And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Gen. 3:22)

      I had not caught this in previous readings of these chapters and I came to the logical conclusion that it was a reference to the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I looked at my "study notes" assuming that they would be in agreement with my simple
conclusion.
      I was surprised when I realized that the notes thought that it (us) was referring
to this "heavenly court."
      However, after looking at the passage again I decided that this was impossible. I came to this reasoning because of this simple fact. The first verse of the Bible states that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. With that said, I look at Genesis 1:26 where you can read "Let us make man in our image." This verse is not using "us" as the heavenly court. Obviously, God does the creating. So when it says "let us" it is referring to God. Thus, it can only mean the Trinity.
      This is not an "important" issue, but it is a topic that supports the Trinity and I found it interesting. I have two more days of finals left. May God bless you all. Later.

One word. Finals. Got to study.

God bless.

      The school year is wrapping up for me. So I have no time to post, but I did make this blog the other day. It is not meant to be a theological blog, but just a blog that I can be a witness for Christ on. I have a feeling that if a non-believer came on to this site he would be a bit confused by what I write.
      Anyhow, this blog is my "fun" blog. It is going to made up of a combination of audio posts and writing.
      Don't get the wrong impression, I am not abandoning this blog. In fact I intend to continue to write and plan to do so for a long while.

---

I have to study for finals. Be in full swing by the end of this week. God bless.

      This is new to me, but I decided to try out the AudioBlogger feature available to blogger users today. I wrote out the text for this post also, but if you can listen to my voice saying it if you want. Anyhow, here it is.


      I often here talk about what sin is. Some define it as some type of force and other nonsense. Sin is simply this, it is disobedience against what God has commanded. Disobedience against His Word.
      In Genesis, Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were tempted by Satan, who was in the form of a snake. The listened to Satan and ate some fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When God saw their disobedience He forced them to leave Eden. This was how sin entered the world. It the first time man had committed a sin.

Romans 5:12-13 says this:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

      We gain our knowledge of what is sin through God's Word, through his law. It entered because of they did not obey God. Every time you disobey God you sin. Period.

God bless.

      TallSkinnyKiwi had a post addressing the "Churchless Christians." I felt I had to put in my input and I did so.

First, the church is a body (as I will show later). This body must be made of Christians.

²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. (Eph. 5:23)

Christians need to congregate in some form.

²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10)

The church is meant to be a body.

¹²The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. (1 Cor. 12)

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (1 Cor. 12)

These verse are clear, we as Christians, are to form a body. This body can be a huge church, and it can also be a small group in a living room. However, we can not be seperated, scattered and churchless. Why?

Because you can not function as a body with your members scattered across the country.

God bless.

      I was very simply and straight forward, but I think I made some sense. Anyhow I have to go.

      My mother recently wrote this post on "Studying the Bible." Check it out.

      If you haven't noticed, I added a new link to my blog list. This blog is entitles Fantabulous Life and it is written by a male college student that is currently majoring in Biblical Studies. Recently found his blog and I have been encouraged by his writing. In one of his more recent posts he wrote this:

"So many times, especially during worship, we hype ourselves up. We use worship to make ourselves feel better about things, rather than using it to focus on God. Somewhere along the way, we got the idea that worship is about getting that "warm, tingly" feeling when in all reality worship is not about a feeling at all. It should be ALL about God."

      This is most definitely true. In the church I attend there is a sign telling people to sit in a certain children's section so that others "worship experience" wouldn't be interrupted. Since when has church been about us and our good experiences in worship time? Is not the purpose of worship to give glory and honor to God?
      Is worship about the songs, or is it about worshiping God?

---

Knowledge

      Nelly also talked about knowledge in that same post. However, even before I read this I was thinking about this concept. I am sure their are many theologians who know the scriptures very well, yet do not know God personally. I know that this was true in my life. I knew God, I knew his scriptures, but I never applied them. I never got around to not only listening to the Word, but also doing what it says.
      Knowledge is a dangerous thing. One can feel superior then other Christians simply because of your greater amount of knowledge of the Bible. You can become easily proud and arrogant, rather then humbling yourselves before God.
      When it gets down to the basics, you can know everything (even that is impossible) and your knowledge is completely useless. Knowledge itself does not save you, however knowledge applied in your life is very benificial to your walk with Christ.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1)

      Do not get me wrong, knowledge of the Truth should be sought after by every Christian. Why you ask? Read this:

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-?edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4)

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3)

      Once, when I went over to our local school's playground, I encountered two young girls. They seemed to be around seven years old and came up to me with this
abrupt comment, "My favorite place to be is heaven."
      I found this strange behavior by seven year olds, but I also saw this as an
opportunity to tell them about the Truth. Provided they did not know the Truth of course. So I followed their comment on favorite locations by asking them, "How do you get to heaven?"
      Without the slightest hesitation, one of the young girls replied, "By being good." Like many others on this planet, this young girl had made a common mistake. I decided to tell her how one really gets in to heaven.
      I explained to her how we all have done "bad things" in our life and because we did these "bad things" we deserve death in the hell (a place that feels a billion times worse then fire on your skin). Then I proceeded to tell her about Jesus, who is God. How he came to this earth and died so that we can go to heaven. We must accept Jesus as our Savior and that he is God. When I finished my simple sermon, they decided to change the subject to something of less importance. At this, I decided my part was done and I told them I had to go.
      This little girl held the same belief that most of the world holds. That in order to get to heaven you just have to be good and do a lot of good deeds.
      This is obviously not biblical. Would we need a savior if we could get to heaven by being good boys and girls? We would not need a savior, but we do not get to heaven by being "good." We all are sinners, and because of our sin we deserve death. Therefore we do need Jesus. He is our Savior and God.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

      In Acts, we are told about the early church. The Roman emperor at that time, Nero, persecuted the church often. When a catastrophic fire occurred in Rome, Nero blamed the Christians for starting it. After many Christians were convicted, Nero concocted cruel forms of death as punishment. I found this article that described what happened to the accused.

"And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man."

      Despite this persecution, the church grew! It did not scatter and fall apart, contrary to Nero's aims. God is obvious about the fact that persecution develops the maturity of the Christian. Still today, many Christians are tortured and killed for their faith. This occurs often in countries like China, Vietnam, Cuba, Libya, Pakistan, Nigeria, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and the list goes on.

      However, in the United States and other developed countries there is little persecution for being a Christian. While the fact that we are free to practice religion is great, it has taken a toll of the condition of the church. Many have fallen into the habit of going to church, and of attending the different "Christian" events. They do all the right motions and say all the right things, but the miss the essence of what it is to be a Christian. Many believe the truth, but will that save them? Perhaps once they were "on fire" for the Lord, but now they have fallen asleep.

      One may ask, why is this? The answer is simple. We cease to see the need for God, for Jesus. We are secure in our future (if that is possible). Unlike many others, we have a house, good clothes and plenty of food. Even our expensive Bible we forget to read. Do we not realize that many Christians out there have one Bible per church? God has blessed us with prosperity and we take it for granted.

      All this luxury creates a sense among Christians that we don't need God, and that we don't need Jesus. Sure, we pull him out when facing some difficulty in our life, and when we want something for ourselves. We have become proud in our wealth, thinking that we are completely self sufficient. (Do we not remember the story of Job? How God took away his family, possessions and health in the same day. Let that story be an example to us.)

      The difference between the persecuted church and the church that is not persecuted is this. The persecuted church needs him, God is their only source of strength and hope. They have nothing apart from Jesus. They are broken, they are humble, they are exactly what God wants of a follower.

      We have everything. We have freedom, food, shelter, clothes, and our family. The reason why many have fallen asleep is that they do not see need of God. The church needs to realize that with our wealth and security, we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked in God's eyes.

      I realized I talked on a bit, but it is an important subject. I will close with these verses from Revelations 3.

¹⁴"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. ¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. ¹⁹Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ²⁰Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²²He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrew 10)

      I don't have a lot of time now, but these verses really shows the importance of Christian's meeting together. This old idea of meeting together is obviously important. It is a time of encouraging each other and spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
      Another thought that has been floating around in my small head is this. In American culture (and most likely others as well) the pastor is the man who studies and gives his sermon on what he learned or already knew. There seems to be a huge reliance on this one man to supply most of the information about their faith that many of the congregation will ever learn. If the pastor should make a mistake, would his "church" be able to discern if it was true or not? How can the body of Christ discern between false teachers and ones who teach the truth. It is impossible if they don't ever pick up the Bible and learn it for themselves.

Anyhow, I will have a more complete post tomarrow. Until then, good night and God bless.

¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God's law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7)

      I am guilty of sinning against my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have fallen short of the glory of God again. Thanks be to Jesus who washes my sins away by his blood. He was the sacrifice for my sins, and your sins. It is only through the forgiveness I find in Jesus Christ that I can pick up my cross and begin to walk forward. It is only because of his blood that I can clean my slate and start fresh. I thank God that, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)
      The Bible clearly tells Christians to live apart from the world, to walk in the light. If we claim to be in the light, yet walk in the darkness we deceive ourselves. However, if we do sin we can come before Christ with a repentant heart and ask for forgiveness. He will forgive us.

      Lord I thank you for coming down to this earth to take on the humble position of a carpenter's son and eventually pay the ultimate price for my sin. Although you were without sin, you took the consequences of my sin. I deserve death, yet it is only because you, Jesus, laid down your life for me that I can live. May I walk in obedience from this day forward and continue to follow you. In Jesus' name, amen.

      Lord, on this day I thank those who have fallen to preserve our freedom in this country. They have paid a huge sacrifice, they gave up their life for their country. I also pray for those who are in combat today, those who are fighting in Iraq and other parts of the world. It is because of them we are allowed to congregate in churches today, to read the Bible, and allowed tell others of the truth. The truth that your Son, Jesus, is the Savior and Christ. In the name of Jesus , amen.

      I have been thinking about the church a lot recently. Obviously there are many different denominations of Christian churches and there is the emergent church movement (which I found of through other blogs). If you have surfed the Christian blogs for a while you have realized that many of the blogs are run by people active in the "emergent church."
      From what I have read, it appears that these Christians want to redefine what "church" exactly is. Recently, tallskinnykiwi linked to Reinhold's Journey where there was a post talking about "churchless Christians." This post caught my attention and I began to read it. I came across a definition of Reinhold's (if that is indeed his name). The definition was of the church and read "the ever changing form of God`s mission into the world." He goes on to talk about how "church is - and has to be - a reflection of the way people live and relate to each other." So, obviously, he is talking about the physical building, the physical congregation as being the church.
      While their is nothing wrong with that, the church can be much more simply put. It does not have to be formed, and it does not have to be changed. It has existed since the follower's of Christ in Jerusalem received the Holy Spirit.
      So what exactly is the church? The church is the bride of Christ. "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." (Ephesians 5:23) Thus, the church is not just a congregation of people, it is a congregation of Christians. If a group of people call themselves a church, but do not have the Holy Spirit within them they are not a church.
      Further more, a church can not operate with it's members scattered and "churchless." We are told that the church is a body. Each person has gifts given by the Holy Spirit, which are meant to function together. What good is the gift of speaking in tongues, if there is no one who has the gift of interpretation of tongues.

¹²The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³For we were all baptized by^[3] one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12)

      The church is a body. Although the church is not a building, it is necessary for there to be congregating of some sort. The place is of no importance, whether it be in a cathedral or a basement. The church needs to be in unity as a body, and it can not do so with Christians who are wandering around without being a part of the body.
      I got to go to bed now, but if you have anything to add please do so. I have not had the time to complete my thought. May the grace of the Lord be with God's people.

      We cannot love this earth and follow Christ. We are commanded not conform to the patterns of this world. If a man loves anything more then Jesus, he cannot be a follower of Jesus.

- If we love our family more then him we cannot follow him.

³⁷"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10)

- If we love our money more than him we are not his followers.

You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24)

- We cannot love our earthly possessions more then him.

²¹Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19)

      I could go on, but I am sure you get the idea. We cannot be love this world and Jesus. Instead of being strangers in this world, the church sometimes is conforming to world. As Christians, things of this earth should never take precedent over things of God. We cannot serve other gods. These gods could be ourselves, money, our possessions, ect. It is a sin to have any other gods before the true God. We cannot follow both our sin and Jesus.

"You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

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My mother discusses her journey of re-evaluating the teaching with which she was brought up with.

      I ran across this picture the other day and this brought this verse from the Bible to mind:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)

      Too often we as Christians, me included, are not bold enough about what we know is true. We do not follow the Holy Spirit's leading because we are afraid of what others might think of us. There are many different excuses that we can invent to justify our behavior, but the truth is plain. We must not be ashamed of the gospel. Do you think that someone is going to believe you if you are sheepishly telling them about Christ?

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Over at Blogging Truth, my mother wrote an excellent post about "Re-evaluating Your Christian Presuppositions," check it out.

God bless.

      Too often I think that people have the false perception that once you become a Christian life will become easier. Somehow, they get into their minds that they will not have to experience hardships that everyone in their life eventually faces.

      All one has to do is to begin to read the book of Acts. The early church was persecuted, many killed for their faith in Jesus. Many of the New Testament books were written by the apostles when they were in prison. However, they were not complaining or grumbling about how hard their life was.

      In fact they did the opposite. When Saul began to destroy the church in Jerusalem, and scattered the believers, they began to preach the gospel wherever they went. A common perception is that once a bad thing happens to them, it means that God has abandoned them. Yet, despite the horrible things being done to the physical church, the people just continued to preach and proclaim the good news. Rather then doubting God's presence they continued to do his will.

      Later, when Peter and some of the other apostles were placed in prison and were released later, they rejoiced because they were counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

On another occasion Paul and Silas were experiencing some hard times, yet read how they responded to it.

²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:23-25)

      They remained faithful, they prayed, and they sang hymns. This, I am sure, was unusual behavior for prisoners who were flogged and placed in stocks. Did they think that God had left them? No they did not. I will end this post with this verse from Romans. God bless.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:2-4)

I posted this yesterday,

      My mother has caught the blogging bug. The link to her site, Blogging Truth, is mblog/blogging_truth. She and my father have seven children, of which I am the oldest, but her real passion is studying scripture and knowing God's truth. It is worth your time, so check it out and give her a big welcome to the blogging world.

Later.

      However, I soon learned that the servers that hosted Blogging Truth went down for repairs. Also when the servers were online again, the posts were not the real posts and were simply "test" posts from before. So please check her blog out now that everything is up and running and is fixed.

      My mother has caught the blogging bug. The link to her site, Blogging Truth, is mblog/blogging_truth. She and my father have seven children, of which I am the oldest, but her real passion is studying scripture and knowing God's truth. It is worth your time, so check it out and give her a big welcome to the blogging world.

Later.

I was reading in 1 John when I came across this verse.

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. ¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. (1 John 5)

     This verse puzzled me in all honesty. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Obviously, the result of sin and leading a sinful life is death. I realize that God's word is without error, and so I was wondering what you, the reader, thought this verse was talking about and anything else that could help understand this verse. Thanks and God bless.

      I was thinking about what it means to be a lukewarm Christian during the night and this thought came to me.

15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

      The first thing that comes to mind when I think of a Christian that is not "hot" is this. They are not growing in the Lord. Then when I read this verse it seems to me that deeds have something to do with there present condition if you will. Apart from God we cannot grow in our walk with Christ. We can not be in fellowship with God, with Jesus, if we are walking in darkness. We "lie" to ourselves if we think we can be walking in darkness and have
"fellowship with him."
      Another thing that brings to mind is a lack of love and fervor for the Lord. God tells us in his word that if we love him, we will obey what he commands.
      Why would God want to spit out Christians that are lukewarm? "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:9) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (Matthew 5:13)
      Many people on this earth claim to be Christians, the say that they love God and Jesus. Yet they continue to walk in the darkness, in sin. Will the grace of God continue to pour out on those who are not truly repentant? Surely not, God knows our heart and he will not be mocked. However, if we come to him in true repentance seeking forgiveness for our sins, and do so with a pure heart, Jesus will forgive us.

⁴The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2)

Tim, my friend and classmate, brought up the issue of lukewarm Christians in his recent comment. He stated that:

This is exactly what I mean when I say lukewarm Christians...They do not deny God, but rather, they deny his teachings and principles.

I read this and decided to add to this statement:

Tim, the Bible talks about lukewarm christians.

"So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelations 3:16)

However, the difference between a "hot" Christian and a "lukewarm" Christian is not whether they acknowledge his teachings and principles. It is that they know them, but do not apply them.

They are like that "salt" that loses its saltiness and thus needs to be thrown away. [Matthew 5:13] They are like the branches of the vine that do not bear good fruit. Because the do not bear good fruit God cuts them from the vine. [John 15:1-2]

God bless.

After reading what I wrote for my comment, I have remembered this verse:

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1)

      When you look in the mirror the purpose is to see what you look like. Now, if you look in a mirror, and once you step away from it you forgot what you looked like, looking in the mirror was completely pointless. In the same way, a Christian that reads the Bible yet does not do what it says is doing something completely pointless. We are to do what it says. Perhaps a "lukewarm" Christian does exactly this.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on what it means to be a lukewarm Christian?

¹My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2)

      In one of my previous posts I wrote about living in the light or darkness. If we say we have fellowship with God, but are living a life of sin, or darkness, we are essentially lying to ourselves and we are not saved.
      However, thanks be to God who will forgive us of our sins if we do sin. That is what this verse is talking about. Even though we are commanded not to sin, we are not perfect and thus we do sin from time to time. When this happens we must repent, or turn away from our sins, and ask for forgiveness from our Savior Jesus Christ.
      However, forgiveness can be easily twisted. When we repent, we are turning away from our sin. If we repent and immediately return to our sin, did we truly repent from our sin? "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked."(Galatians 6:7) "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." (Acts 26:20)
      In the same way that God forgives us, we are to forgive others. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15)
      We are to walk in obedience, but if we do sin we can ask for forgiveness and he will forgive us our sins. Glory be to God.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1)

      Recently I mentioned this concept. However, what I did not realize was that God's word talked about it very clearly. What is this that I refer to?
      We as Christians must "walk in the light." What does this mean, how can we as Christians walk in the light? This is a simple analogy that is used to describe whether we are living a life of sin or righteousness.
      The book of Ephesians in chapter five talks about this quite plainly. "⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
      Every time I go to church or even the public school, I see teenagers who claim to be Christian. However, when I hear this I am shocked. I had never ever guessed they were Christian by simply how they treated me and others every day. They use course language, are filled with lust, lie, and think nothing of it.
      What this passage in 1 John says is this, if we say that we are Christian and that we have fellowship with Him, yet even still we are living a life of blatant sin, we are lying to ourselves and we do not have the truth.
      Whenever I decide to write my next post, I will go into greater detail of how we as Christians can walk in the light. Until then, may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.

      The glory of God. The thunder resounds and sky illuminates. God seems to have opened up the floodgates here in Illinois. As I was sitting at our computer watching the dark clouds move past our office window I could not help but think of the day that Jesus will return.

²⁹"Immediately after the distress of those days
   " 'the sun will be darkened,
       and the moon will not give its light;
   the stars will fall from the sky,
       and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

³⁰"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁴I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24)

      Just as Jesus left this earth in the clouds, he will also return to this earth in the clouds. (Acts 1:11) The disciples thought that Jesus would come in their lifetime. However, Jesus himself taught that no man knows the hour or day when he will return. If it is in my lifetime, I do not know. But this I do know, that when he does return it he will do so with glory and power. Until he comes, we are to fulfill what he commanded before he ascended into the clouds. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[1] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

      The world rejects and hates Christianity because it teaches the truth. They know that Christians teach that we are all sinners. This sin results in death, because of this we need Jesus, the Son of God, who died and rose again to pay for our sins. They are not willing to accept that they are sinners, for they love their sinful life.

      Many times people cannot except the fact that all the other nice people will not enter heaven. What if they never heard the gospel they say. All I can say to that is that God is a just God. Not only that but Jesus said those who knock the door will be opened to them, and those who seek will find. When Thomas asked Jesus how they will know the way, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6)

      I will talk more on the questions sceptics of the faith have, but I will do so in the future posts. God bless.

Here is a good tool for witnessing. [Here]

      For the first time today I entered the "Church of Fools." After wandering around a bit I entered the crypt where I started chatting with others. It did not take long before I discoved, much to my astonishment that the majority of people did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah and God. There was one individual there who was a Reverend from the "Universal Life Church." Upon questioning I realized that he thought that some parts of scripture were true while others were not. Further more he did not believe the Jesus is God. Anyhow I told him the truth. How God sent his Son, Jesus, to this earth to pay for his sins, and how we can have eternal life.

      Despite the fact that it was lacking in true Christians, I did have a chance to spread the gospel. Check it out, tell me what you think.

P.S. I searched for this Universal Life Chruch and realized that one could become a minister there in three minutes. Further more, "The Universal Life Church will not stand between you and your God and recognizes that each person must choose his or her own path. Each person in the ULC is free to follow any path as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others." I could be wrong but I think that this "church" is not Christian.

⁹Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12)

      These verses are very straight forward. We are to hate evil, love each other, serve others, share, and be hospitable. It goes on, we are to bless those who persecute us, be humble, and not conceited. When someone does us wrong, do not respond by doing them wrong, for it is God's to revenge.
      We are to be witnesses on this earth, we are to be the light. How can we do this if we, ourselves, are full of darkness. If we are to be witnesses to the truth, we must also live according to the truth.
      In the same way, if how can we teach and offer biblical advice to our brothers and sisters in Christ if we are not walking in obedience. As Jesus taught, "How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Luke 6:42)

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:15)

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'(Matthew 4:10)

What does it mean to worship God?

⁷ All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
⁸ "He trusts in the LORD ;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him." (Psalm 22)

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)

      This verse brings in mind David. He was the youngest of all his brothers, and was a shepherd boy. When the Philistines want to war with the Israelites, a giant by the name of Goliath challenged the Israelite army. "⁸Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. ⁹If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." (1 Samuel 17)
      When David was sent by his father to bring provisions to his older brothers who were in Israel's army, he saw this giant and how frightened the Israelites had become of him. Then this young boy is brought to Saul. David asks him to fight Goliath and Saul offers him his armor to go fight. However, David takes only a few stones and his sling and approaches Goliath.
      Goliath cursed David and David replies, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." (1 Samuel 17) Then taking his sling David slew him with a single stone.
      The thing that amazes me was David's trust in God. He put his life at risk because of his faith in the Lord, that he would hand over Goliath to the Israelites. Instead of trusting Saul's armor, he trusted the Lord. Rather relying on himself, David relied on the Lord. How often do we rely on ourselves when we should rely on God, the creator of this universe?

If you haven't noticed I have just finished this design. Instead of all the links, email and ect. of being on one page I have now created more pages.

Tell me what you think. God bless.

¹⁰A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

I thank God for all the mothers out there. God bless them.

⁶He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Rev. 21)

      In order to drink "from the spring of the water of life" we must overcome. What are we to overcome exactly? This brought me to this passage in 1 John 5.

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ²This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

      This seemed very clear to me. We as Christians believe that Jesus is God, and we love God. "This is love for God: to obey his commands." (v. 3) So everyone who loves God overcomes this world because they obey his commands. We have "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev. 2:11)

He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. (Rev. 3:5)

      It is very clear. We as Christians must overcome this world, we must overcome sin. We must not be slaves to sin, we become slaves to righteousness [more]. If we overcome this world we will not be hurt by the second death, he will eat from the tree of life. However, all the "cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur."

      On my last post (It's been a while) a man by the name of "Bobber" commented on Christianity and the Bible.

It is always a sad matter to read bible obsessed christians. IS god in a book? Ask yourself that question once slowly....you may discover (I hope) that god is bigger than a book. That is where you well intentioned christians fail....you are nothing but book readers....

      To begin with I would agree that God is not a book. The reason why thousands of Christians read the Bible is because it is God's Word to us. It is the truth and "the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). Bobber thought that Christians are "bible obsessed christians." While it is true that Christians should be reading the Word of God or the Bible, we are to do more than that. We are to actually to apply what we read.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1)

      So according to this text we are to obey what we read in the Bible. Yes, we may be Bible obsessed Christians, but every Christian also applies what they read. "Do what it says" (v. 22) If any man who claims to be Christian reads the Bible and does not do what it says, I would doubt the validity of their relationship with Jesus Christ. John 14:15 states that, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
      To be a true Christian means more then reading the Bible. It means actually doing what it says. Later.

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. ²⁶What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16)

³⁵Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9)

      Jesus was a perfect example of what he taught, he put himself as the least among all, thus he was the greatest. In this world the majority of people care only for themselves, they only want to serve themselves. For them, it would be unthinkable to serve others. We are to serve others, place ourselves last. We are to follow the example of Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (John 13)

      I recently found this post about the "Jesus is my Homeboy" shirts that have become popular. After reading the post and the comments I decided to throw in my two cents.

I think that putting Jesus's name on shirts is wrong simply because...

Exodus 20:7 states that, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

Also Deuteronomy 5:11, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

From what I see, putting Jesus's name on a shirt is lowering him down to the position of mere sinners and humans. Jesus is God, not a basketball player. This seems to be clearly a misuse of His name.

Later.

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. (1 John 1:6)

³⁵Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." (John 12)

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5)

      We as Christians must walk in the light, if we do not "we lie and do not live by the truth." We are the only ones who are "sons of light" in this dark world, we are to be witnesses to the truth. We are to proclaim the truth bodly without being ashamed of the gospel.

¹⁶ Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6)

     I was thinking after I wrote my previous post about the concept of being a slave to either sin or obedience. I realized that is one or the other. You either are a slave to sin, or a slave to obedience.

²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. (2 Peter 2)

     Some people believe that this passage is talking about a person that was not genuinely saved. However, I noticed that "they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ." Like I said before, you are either a slave to sin or to obedience and righteousness. There is no middle ground. This passage states that they escaped. The only way to escape the corruption of the world is through Jesus as this passage states. He is the only way. So if this person had not truly been saved, he could not have escaped the corruption of this world. You are either saved or your not saved, period.
     If they have not saved, they have not genuinely escaped the world. Because of this it is impossible to be "again entangled in it and overcome" if they were already entangled in it all along. You can not be entangled in something again that you have always been entangled in.
     The only way someone can escape the corruption of this world is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you have not truly accepted him as your Lord and Savior and committed your life to him, then you are not going to heaven and sin is still your master. Let me close with this verse from Matthew 6:24.

"No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6)

      I was thinking about this whole concept recently. Before we became Christians we were slaves to sin. However, now that we have been freed from the bondage of sin we are now slaves to righteousness. As this passage states, we either are slaves to sin (which leads to death) or we are slaves to obedience (which leads to eternal life). As Christians we obviously love Jesus. "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'" (John 14:23) Another verse that supports this idea is 2 John 1:6, "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."
      So we are either slaves to sin, or slaves to obedience. When we become Christians we are now slaves to obedience. The only way we as humans can be saved is by God's grace, and because of this we love him. As the previous verses I pointed out stated, if we love God we will obey his commands. Previously, sin was our master and now Jesus is our master. We no longer obey our sin and we now are to obey God.

²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2)

      This seems to all fit together. If someone claims to be Christian, but does not obey God, is not his faith useless? This is idea is supported by the well known verse in Matthew 5:13.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

      When we are born again we are now slaves to rigtheousness, slaves to obedience. If we truly love God we are to obey him. Belief alone can not save you. If you have faith, but no deed you are like the salt that has lost its saltiness. "It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

³At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

      That says it all in a couple of sentences. That is the essence of Christianity. Paul also addresses in this book how we as Christians should behave. immediately after this verse he writes, "And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." (v. 8) Previously, "¹Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, ²to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."

May the grace of the Lord be with God's people.

¹³"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

      I often stumble upon statistics of top world religions, Christianity being usually the top, and I begin to wonder. I wonder if every single person included in these statistics is truly a Christian. Is Jesus Christ truly their top priority in their life. Is furthering His kingdom important to them? Many people think that by attending a local church they are Christians. Some even think that attending the Christmas Eve service will get them into heaven. Are these masses considered Christians? Many of my friends treat Christianity as simply something of repetition. It is a Sunday event during which they go through the motions. Are these considered Christians?
      Matthew 7:13 states that only a few find the road that leads to life. As I grow older I am beginning to see that this is indeed true. Many think they are on the right road, but they are deceiving themselves. Many think that they are "good" enough to get into heaven. Many think that by attending church they will enter heaven. Some even think that by going through the communion and reading the Bible will get them to heaven.
      The truth is simply this. The only way that we, sinners, can live eternally with our maker is through Jesus Christ, his son. He is the only way.

      I heard this story on the radio today. A young boy was allergic to bee stings and when he saw a bee fly near him he became increasingly frightened. His father reached out and crushed the bee with his hand. However the bee still fly away and the boy again became scared. His father opened his hand and showed his son that he had no need to fear the bee as the stinger was on his hand.
      In the same way Jesus has taken the pain, the suffering, and death in order that we may no longer fear death. He has conquered death by dieing and because he did not deserve death he rose again in three days. We have the opportunity to live eternally with Jesus forever.

He has risen!

      Today, my family and I finally went to see the film "The Passion of the Christ." The pain, the suffering Jesus went through was shown clearly, his love for those who hated him was obvious. I have heard some say that the film was too gory, or that it was anti-semetic, or that it was anti-feminist. I feel that these individuals were projecting their rejection of the message on the film. It was not the blood they had a problem with, it was the message. The message that Jesus, the Son of God, was tortured and crucified upon a cross to pay for our sins. That they are sinners, and that Jesus came to this earth to pay the penalty for their own sin. Three days after Jesus died, he came back to life, which is an idea that they reject. They cannot accept the truth.

Matthew 27

The Crucifixion

³²As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). ³⁴There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁸Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴²"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " ⁴⁴In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵²The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

⁵⁵Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' (Matthew 16:24)

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. (Mark 9:35)

      Jesus was a perfect example of this concept of denying your self, of putting yourself lower then others. He was the least of all, and because of this he was the greatest.

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?" (Matthew 26:64)

The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" 65And they said many other insulting things to him. (Luke 22:63-64)

²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. ³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:28-31)

      Jesus, the Son of God, was insulted, beaten, mocked, and spit upon. To the world, a king should have a crown of gold, expensive garments, and a golden scepter. Yet Jesus has a crown of thorns, a scarlet robe, and a staff. This was not a sign of reverence, of respect, but a sign of mockery. Jesus was the "king of the Jews," however he was the opposite of a wordly king.

Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:38-40)

      Jesus was crucified in between two robbers, men who deserved the crime. Yet Jesus had done no wrong, had committed no sin. Jesus was not the one who deserved to be on that cross, we are the ones that deserve to be on that cross. Yet he took our place, he payed for all our sins.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

      I think often time we forget what Jesus did for us. He put himself as servant of all, the least of all. We deserved the what he went through on the cross, but Jesus took our place on the cross. God bless.

   Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
   Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
     In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

      Tomorrow being Sunday I thought this verse would apply. God asks us to honor the Lord's day. Here, this psalm starts out by simply saying that unless the Lord is with you, whatever you do is in vain. However, the next verse really pulls it together for me. In the foot notes it says that it can also be translated as, "for while they sleep he provides for." You get up real early, go to bed real late, just to work. But according to these scriptures, he will provide while you "sleep."
      So is there any need to work on the Lord's day, whatever day that might be for you? Of course not, God will provide, he will take care of you. God bless.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been updating recently, I've been feeling rather sick. By the way I am officially 15 years old. My birthday was the twenty fifth.

During my short life so far, I have seen three types of people that attend the church.

1) A person that is not ashamed of the gospel in church as well as in the secular world.
2) The most common type of person is one who is ashamed of the gospel in the secular world, but is not in the church.
3) Finally, a person does not even believe the gospel, period.

      I often see kids during the youth group service who seem to be devout Christians. Later, I see them in school and they are completely opposite. It is very rare to see a someone who is not ashamed of the gospel in both church and in school. Just some thoughts.

May God's will be done. Later.

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.

Let us look at the first verse here. Now, Jesus is not saying that we are to actually hate our family. He is extremely exaggerating the idea that we are to love him, Jesus, more then our own family. If we love things of this world more then him, we are not his disciple. However, he goes on to say that we also must love him more then ourselves. I know that in my own life I often fail miserably in this aspect. It is always about me, for me, for my pleasure. Pride is rooted in selfishness, all we care about is our image, others perception of us. I can not emphasis enough the truth in this statement. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we are putting his will, ahead of our will. We are putting him ahead of us.

I am yours Lord, do with me as you will. Amen.

4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Rev 2:4-5)

      What did God hold against this church? The have "forsaken" their first love. What does forsaken really imply?

forsaken
1. To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart or withdraw from; to leave; as, false friends and flatterers forsake us in adversity.

2. To renounce; to reject; to refuse.

[Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary]

      So obviously these Christians have abandoned, renounced their love of Jesus, the Son of God. If they do not repent, God will remove their "lampstand." What is the lampstand exactly?

20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Rev 1:20)

      So a lampstand is symbolic for one of the churches. So God, if this church does not repent, will remove the church from them. All Christians have the Holy Spirit in them; a church is made of Christians. If these Christians do not repent for their sins, they will no longer be a church, the will not have the Holy Spirit in them. The Holy Spirit, as I pointed out in an earlier post, is a "deposit" which guarantees what is to come, eternal life in heaven.

I am interested what your interpretation of these verses is. God bless.

     Jesus states in Matthew 5:11 that, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." This idea was displayed by the apostles actions in Acts 5:41, "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."

In the book of James the issue of how to respond to "trials" is discussed.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1)

     This passage restates the idea of being joyful and glad when you encounter trials and persecution for you faith. As it clearly says these trials develop perseverance which "must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete."

     I have read many accounts of persecution of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ where despite all the persecution they experience for their faith in Christ they are firm in their faith. Through out all the trials they grow in the Lord and in their walk with Him. I have concern for these Christians, but what even more concerns me is that fact that here in America Christians can grow lukewarm all too easily. Being a Christian becomes a habit, not a lifestyle.

God bless.

      My fear is that many people when they hear the idea that you can not lose your salvation once you have received it will grow dormant, cease to grow and turn back to their sinful ways. If eternal life is definite, then what will make us keep living according to God's will?

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people.' 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:26-31)

      Look closely at these scriptures. The first reference to losing your promise of salvation is talking not about a casual knowledge, but an in depth personal knowledge that they have received. They have become Christians. However, even more convincing to me is the talk about the man who "who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" Notice that it says the blood of the covenant that sanctified him. He was sanctified by the blood of Jesus. He received Christ into his life at one point! He committed sin, he disregarded the Son of God. Obviously looking at the context this was not one action, this was deliberate sin continuously.

      With this idea in mind lets look in the prophetic book of Revelation where John writes to the church in Ephesus.

4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Rev. 2:4)

      These are Christians who have fallen, they need to repent and turn away from their sinful ways by doing what they used to do as practicing Christians. However, if they do not repent God will remove the church, or "lampstand" (Rev. 1:20). What makes a church a true church of God? The presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters us when we become Christians. This church if they do not repent will cease to become a church, cease to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Does this not apply to the church of today? Is it truly possible that if we keep on sinning, forsake our "first love" and do not repent the Holy Spirit can leave us?

"Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Cor. 5:5)

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor. 1:22)

      The Holy Spirit guarantees what is to come. What is to come? Eternal life with our God in heaven is what is to come. So if the Holy Spirit is removed, so is the guarantees which we have as long as we have the Holy Spirit in us.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.

      These words really spoke to me. Jesus, our Lord and our Savior, went through incredible pain and torture. He was so disfigured that he no longer looked human. He went through all this for you, and me. It was our sins that placed him on that cross, our sins that he carried.



      A mere human most likely could not endure that pain, that agony that our Lord did. He was willing to die even though he was perfect and without sin.



      The penalty of sin is death. Jesus had committed no sin, yet he was put to death. Because he had committed no wrong death had no hold on him. Three days after he died on that rugged cross he rose again and met with the disciples. He talked with them and ate with them for a period of forty days. Then he ascended into heaven before their eyes.

      What joy do we as followers of Jesus Christ have that we possess the promise of eternal life with him. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has defeated death. Through his death and resurrection he paid for each and every one of our sins. That after our body here on earth dies we can live in with our Father for eternity.

      I praise God for his goodness and faithfulness. How is it that I, a wretched sinner, would be shown amazing grace by God? I am humbled by his forgiveness and love for me. I pray to Lord Jesus Christ that I would continue in him, who's blood has set me free from bondage of sin.

Words are not enough to express my appreciation of all that he has done for me.

God bless.

While I was reading the March 6, 2004 edition of a christians news magazine called World I came across this disturbing sentence about homosexual marriage.

"Former talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell called Mr. Bush's announcement 'the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president.'"

The fact that today's culture labels good as evil and evil as good troubles me. We need to pray that the truth would be seen as truth and sin would be seen as sin.

God bless.

      We are to be a light in the darkness. What good is it if we are only light in with others who also have the light? In the same way, we should not hide the light in us. No, a light is most needed in the dark. There in the dark, it can be of good use.
      We are to represent the Lord Jesus our Savior in the secular world. We are to spread the good news throughout the nations. What good is it if we only act like Christians among other Christians? No, we are to be the beacon of truth for the lost. Among the lost they can see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.


"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  (Matthew 5:14-16)

     I think often time in this modern culture we as a society put to much emphasis on success and money. We put all our effort into obtaining things of this world, yet forget of things of eternal value. We want to be like people with their high paying jobs, with a mansion for house. We work our entire life to gain success. Eventually however, we die like the rest of mankind before us. I heard an interesting survey of the whole human population which stated that one hundred percent of humans have died. As shocking as this may be, we as Christians have nothing to worry about as we have the promise of eternal life as long as we continue in him, as long as we remain in him. Unfortunately, we as Christians fail at this; we put worldly things ahead of Godly things.

     We need to reprioritize our life. God bless.

      As the new movie the Passion of the Christ was released today some kids in my school who went to see it with their church had some thoughts on it. Every one of them thought that it was an excellent movie, however they were not fond of the gore. One girl in my English class, who happens to be Christian, thought that Christians would appreciate it much more then the non-Christians as believers understand what all this pain and suffering was for. Either way they were just stunned when the movie ended. Apparently the audience in that particular theater just sat and starred after the film had ended. It had a very deep impact.

God bless.

"They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God."

I was reading the Bible in lunch today when I came across this verse. It struck that today people in the name of their God blow themselves up, some in hatred to America which they believe to be a "Christian" nation. Don't get me wrong, this type of activity has been happening since the beginning of the church. Saul, later Paul, thought he was doing a service to God.

Just something to think about, God bless.

"6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

      Notice that this passage says that the person that "does not remain in me" we will end up being thrown into the fire and burned. Earlier in this passage Jesus says "Remain in me, and I will remain in you." (v. 4) Now what exactly is "remain in me" mean?

3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 Jn 2)

      Look closely at the last verse here, "This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." So if we are to be in him, we must walk as Jesus did.

"10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (John 15)

      I just pointed out that we must walk as Jesus did to be in him. Jesus obeyed his Father's commands, and because he obeyed his Father's commands he remained in his love. All this aside, this verse clearly supports this idea of obeying God is a necessity to remain in him.

"16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. " (1 John 4)

"6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." (2 John)

      We have to live in love to live in God, we have to live in obedience to live in God. If we live in obedience to his commands God lives in us. How does God live in us? By the Holy Spirit. When we become Christians we receive the Holy Spirit.

      "If a man remains in me and I in him" (John 15:5) closely relates to 1 John 4:16 where it says "Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." In order to be remaining in him you have to be living in him. To live in him you must be living in love. To be living in love is to be obeying God's commands.

      Obviously we have to live in love, live in obedience in order to live in God. Whoever "Does not remain in me" clearly does not live in obedience. God lives in us as long as we live in obedience to his commands just as Jesus did. If we do not live in obedience, if we do not remain in him and he in us, we will cut off and will be thrown into hell.

   The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
   But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) We truly love God when we become Christians. He commands us to live a holy life. "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8) Notice he did not call us to make a holy one month, but a holy life.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with God, with Jesus. A relationship is a not a one day thing, it is not a one time decision. The church is Jesus's bride, a marriage requires commitment until the end of our lives.

Is being a Christian a walk or a one time decision?

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

      Here Jesus is clearly addressing Christians shown by verse 3 in which he states that "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." We are cleansed by Jesus's blood which he shed for mankind.

      "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." We as Christians are identified by our fruit. The unsaved can be identified by their lack of fruit or the quality of their fruit. "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." (Matthew 12:33) So we must remain on the true vine (Jesus) in order to produce good fruit.

      "6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." The key word here is "remain." If we do not remain in Jesus, we will be ultimately thrown into the fire and burned. So is it our decision whether or not we remain in him? We can choose to leave and reject God by embracing sin, however he will cut us off if we do not produce fruit. "2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit..."

      Now what exactly is fruit? First of all we as Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit when we become Christians. The Holy Spirit dwells in us as Christians. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" (1 Cor. 6:19) Knowing this, there is something called fruit of the Spirit as talked about in Galations 5. "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control." So there is some of the fruits that we as Christians produce.

      "14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2) Here James notes that faith without deeds or actions is dead. Notice faith comes first, faith that Jesus is God's Son and that he died for our sins. Faith that we will enter heaven if we continue to lead a holy life. "Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7) We are in fact a slave to Christ now that we are saved. We promise to obey his commands to our ability although we all fall short of the kingdom of God. Because of this we perform actions and deeds according to his commands. To sum up what James is saying is simple. We become Christians by faith. Now that we are Christians we obey God and thus have actions and deed. Faith without obedience is in a sense dead.

      According to the scripture God will obviously cut us off of the "true vine" or Jesus. We will be thrown away, and in the end will be "thrown into the fire and burned." This is an obvious representation for hell. When it comes down to it, if we as Christians do not produce fruit, do not have actions and deeds to back up our faith, we will be thrown into hell unless we again repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior before our death, realizing that we are sinners in need of Him and begin to produce fruit.

God bless.

Praise the Lord , O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord , O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord , you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord , all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord , O my soul.

      During the church service today there were several baptisms, one of which struck me deeply. It was an older man who had recently accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. One of the things he talked about was the very subject that I posted yesterday. He said for most of his life he had a "relationship with the religion and not with the Lord." I think many people are in that same position. They love everything about the religion by going through motions and putting an act on the outside, forgetting to tend to the inside. Christianity is not about religion, it is about a personal relationship with Jesus.

"Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness." (Luke 11:39)

May the grace of the Lord be with God's people.

You may have noticed the new design, tell me what you think.

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However, that is not what I am going to talk about today. When attending youth group and bible studies I get the impression that many of the kids are spiritually dead. They are dormant. From what I have seen there is something seriously wrong with that picture. When once Christians (or claim to be, only God knows each persons heart) cease to grow, cease to produce fruit, it troubles me greatly. I see this more and more in "Christian" teenagers who attend church, or pronounce themselves to be Christian. "So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Rev 3:16) As I this scripture points out, God will spit out anything that is lukewarm, anything that is neither hot nor cold for the Lord. Anything that believes that Jesus is this world's Savior and Lord, yet somehow have not done anything about it. This is exactly where I see many people in the church today.

Is this where we want to be?

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Matthew 13)

      In a simple parable Jesus has summed up what we as Christians have done. We have found the truth, and accepted it. The kingdom of God has such great value that we as Christians are willing to give up everything we have.

      In fact the book of Matthew says this as well. "21Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" We are clearly to give up everything, and then follow him.

      "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) What are some things that we should leave behind? Our old secular ways, our sinful desires. We can not be consumed about ourselves, we must "deny" ourselves. As followers of Jesus Christ we must be leading a holy life as a pointed out earlier. All of our energy, all of our strength is focused on serving Jesus Christ.

God bless.

Matthew 6

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

      The amount of time we spend our life on earth is nothing compared to the eternal life in heaven. To often we do worry about things of earthly importance, while brushing things of eternal importance underneath the rug. We put our time with God, whether in his word or in prayer, on the way side. "Those things can wait," we say to our selves. We as Christians need to prioritize the doings of our lives here on earth and place what is important in God's eyes first in our daily walk, instead of the opposite.

God bless.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

      Jesus is obviously stating that not everyone will enter heaven, only he who does the "will" of God or his "Father who is in heaven." So we have to do the will of God to enter his kingdom. I began to search for a passage from scripture dealing directly about this concept of God's will. Here is what I found.

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4)

      Now this entire book, which was supposedly written by Paul, was addressed to the church of the Thessalonians. So it is obviously addressed to Christians. So what is the will of God according to this passage of scripture? It is that we should be sanctified. We should "avoid sexual immorality," and it goes on to give reasons for this. This God inspired letter also states that God called us to live a holy life. So I am sure that we as the body of Christ agree that it is the will of God that we do not live in blatant sin. However, you may say, we all are sinners who are saved by God's amazing grace. While this is true, there is a definite difference than living a life of embracing sin and living one of attempting within our human capabilities to live a sinless life while responding to God's discipline. So God's will is that we live a holy life.

      Here is another example of God's will, another one of many example, supports this idea of living a holy life, not a life of embracing sin. The well known story of the Noah and the flood.

"The Lord saw how great mans wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD sai