As I Contemplate…Goodbye.

Thanksgiving 2007 will not be one my family and I will soon forget. As we set out for our home in TN, we drove the 8 hours and 500 miles, to spend the holiday with our friends and family, but it would not turn out to be. On Thanksgiving day after taking one of our children to the emergency room for an asthma attack, we soon realized that we could not stay where we were any longer. With only enough money to get back home or stay in a hotel, the choice was obvious, we had to make it back home, in MO, so we spent Thanksgiving night in our van in a parking lot of the local Wal-Mart. We did not get to spend the holiday with many of the people we had hoped to, other plans prevented that, we did get to see a friend we have not seen in awhile and it was good seeing that his life is turning around in such positive ways. Dave, man, we love you and are praying for you!

We learned a lot this Holiday, about Life, God, Family and Friendships. While in some ways, this is not a huge revelation for our family, it was a tremendous demonstration of the total awesomeness of God, see the most important thing we learned, is that God, is Alive and on His Throne, while we spent Thanksgiving night both in the Hospital and later in a 7 passenger mini-van with six people and two dogs. We spent a total of 20 some hours in tight quarters, we learned, everyone can and probably will let you down or turn on you, but the Love God demonstrates in our lives is priceless and worth whatever sacrifice, that either comes or is required. We harbor no ill will or harsh feelings toward anyone, and just pray that the Lord will guide us all to the place of total surrender to His will.

Well, I guess with the title I have chosen it might be good, to get on with it.
This will be my last post for a long while, after all, no one really reads this anyway, and I have to get more focused on God and living His will for our lives. I have begun my calling as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Good News to people whom God loves and are without hope. With a wonderful and full family, going to school full-time, working, and ministry, I simply do not have the time right now to keep up four blogs and a website. One might say I am stretched a bit thin. So, as I contemplate, this Thanksgiving past, and Christmas to come, I say GOODBYE!

From Our Family....

From Our Family to Yours!

May you have a Happy Thanksgiving! And May the Lord Bless you richly!

A Precursor!

Joshua 24:15 says… "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

In John Chapter 6 verse 26… Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled

Jesus said in John 5:40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead and all that where there were pierced to the heart and behold, they asked Acts 2:37 "Brethren, what shall we do?"

In the Beginning…just before the fall the serpent posed a question to the woman… "Indeed, has God said, `You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
To which the woman replied… From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, `You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' "

Jesus taught many parables, many that contrasted between two,’s, the parable of the wise and foolish builders, is one.

2 Samuel 24:12 says…“Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the LORD says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.” ’ ”

I love these next two, Proverbs 3:31 Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways. And, Isaiah 56:4 For thus says the LORD, “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant,


What does all this mean…? Dig in and find out...! Let me know what you discover.

Preach the Word.. NOT the World!

This is such a timely quote and every man who dares enter the pulpit or embarks to step on the platform should check himself for the properness of his heart and humbleness of spirit.

"When a man steps into the pulpit more interested in telling us about his week so that he can 'relate' to his people - he is not preaching the Word. When a man seeks to be funny behind the sacred desk rather than faithful with the text - he is not preaching the Word. When a man claims to have a 'word from the Lord' a part from the divine revelation of Scripture - he is deceived and is not preaching the Word. When a man designs his sermons to attract a target audience, appeal to the culture, and has as its primary goal a thirst to be relevant - he is not preaching the Word. When a man strives to change the world through politics, representing America as the new Israel, seeking to bring a societal morality through legislation, and honors the flag equally with the cross - he is not preaching the Word. When a man fails to tremble at God's Word privately before ever preaching it publicly - he is not preaching the Word. And when a man treats the pages of holy writ with a cavalier, seeker-friendly, watered down, cream of wheat irreverence - he is not preaching the Word."

- John MacArthur Jr.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. - 2Ti 4:1-4


May we, who dare, tremble at the very thought of our tremendous and frightening responsibility and never take it lightly, rather respectfully, humbly, fearfully and with reverence for the Creator God who called His creation to preach His Word, Jesus!

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3 (NASB)

In Response to..."Here Is Your Sign"

This post is my thoughts on a post from the site "My Front Porch"

I can understand how you feel. It reminds me of a time driving back from Mo. after a visit, the wife and I saw a Lincoln Town Car fly by with a bumper sticker that said Clergy, however it also had an inverted cross on it and in the window another, which said the church of Satan. This person dressed all in black, driving his black car, drove in front of us for nearly eighty miles, we were in TN, when we saw this guy. The thing that struck me as I drove behind him was the presence of evil. I could feel it in my bones before I saw the sticker in the window. The difference between our two experiences is that with most people they put these bumper stickers on their cars thinking they are cute. This guy had this as a proud proclamation that he is a child of the devil and that he is a servant of Satan, and an enemy forthright of our GOD.
It is not just a matter of we need to reach out, we are commanded to share the good news to those who do not know the Lord. For today they may just have what they see as a cute little bumper sticker, soon they may not just have a cute little sticker, but may have a mark that will identify them forever with the damned. The scriptures tell us that we are not guaranteed a moment here on this Earth, for those of us who know The Messiah, we have no other choice but to tell others of His mighty work in our lives and throughout history, so they too may have the opprotunity to become His. Evil is real! Far to many people, and even Christian play these little games with the culture and by entertaining evil, by opening themselves up to vile vision through the movies and television shows they watch. To grotesque mental images by the music that they listen to, or by what they read, all along saying I am a Christian, this stuff is not real, it is only make believe, when the Lord has forbid it. They look on these things as acceptable because that is what the culture does, make no mistake that as we open the door , Satan will have his way as he only need a crack to enter in and far too soon we will be no different than the culture but we will be nothing like our GOD. The enemy is real and he does prowl like a lion seeking who he can destroy, and the duty is ours to expose his lie and his way, so the veil can be lifted, so that the scales might be removed from the eyes of those who are blind, so they may see the SON and know His love and light.

Do not delay, in doing today what the Lord called you to do yesterday! For the destiny of many hang in the balance!

Lullaby, lullaby,

Lullaby, lullaby,
Do not wake and weep;
Softly in the cradle lie,
Sleep, O sleep!
Softly in the cradle lie,
Sleep, my darling, sleep.

This seems to be the clamor of the emergent church; it would appear that they want you to be comfortable, to wear your facade, to be never changing, to be comfortable in the darkness of your sins. With statements like “We don't teach from Books of the Bible because it gets in the way of evangelism.” No wonder Christianity is in such a way, such a perverse way.

Let it be known, let this be proclaimed from the highest peak, with the loudest voice! Scripture never gets in the way! It leads the way, it lights the way, it is our schoolmaster. It should be taught, it should be loved, adored, and respected and it should be the prominent in our personal library’s and be the book most worn. While this is “of my opinion” it for the most part is a command of Christ. In Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB95)
¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (emphasis mine).

How can we go and make disciples and teach them to observe all that is commanded, if we do not use the Bible? We must teach! What must we teach, what Christ taught and what the apostles taught!

Maybe there is some confusion… about what a disciple is. Let us look real quick at two definitions for Disciple the first is from “Easton’s Bible dictionary”. It defines Disciple in respect to being a disciple of Christ as follows; “A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matt. 10:24; Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 6:69).”

In the “New Bible Dictionary” it states the following, “A disciple (from Lat. discipulus, ‘pupil, learner’, corresponding to Gk. mathētēs, from manthanō, ‘to learn’) is basically the pupil of a teacher”

And from Strong’s concordance it show us that a disciple was some one who was “learned, or one that was taught”

So, even from the basics we can so clearly see that if one wants to be and do as instructed by Christ Himself, “Go and make disciples” we must also, as Christ commanded TEACH them. And that which we teach them is scripture, we do bible studies, so they can know the real power of God in their lives by seeing a radical change in who they were to who they are to be. God may want them the way they are but He does not want to keep them there!

In 1 Timothy 4:16 Paul admonishes Timothy to” Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (emphasis mine).

There is the goal, is it not? Put the Bible on the shelf and you will have shelved Salvation, for both yourself and those who hear you.

I heard this quote and do not know who to give credit for it, but it is ever so true. “The world does not need a NEW definition of Christianity, it needs a NEW demonstration of it.”

So, I leave you with final thought and a quote form Ian Paisley, first the thought, when did a preacher become so much smarter than the Author of the book to tell Him we do not need to use it, it gets in the way? When did the messenger become more important than the Message? When did the preacher reign on High, so as to tell the Almighty that he knows better? Friends, life is from and through the Cross of Jesus Christ. There is no other way, to the Father, no other way to teach, than that which is commanded by our LORD. Return to the Scriptures, hold them as they ought to be held, with both hands, in love, wonder and awe, with respect and admiration for the Blood stained pages for which the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords died, so we could know Him and His Glory. For truly that is what it is about… His Glory!

May you be moved, may you be blessed, if needed may you repent and return to your first Love. Now the quote form Ian Paisley,

“The church of Jesus Christ is largely sleeping, like a great bedroom and you have all the Christians in bed and they’re all sleeping ... and they’re saying "Please, don't wake me up! I want to sleep on!" And of course when God starts to operate a revival people cannot sleep, you can't sleep in church when the Spirit of God awakes the people. Look at the 1st verse of this 52nd chapter (Isaiah 52) ..."Awake! Awake! Put on strength!" Wake it up! You're sleepy Christians! Awake thou that sleepeth, Arise from the dead! Christ will give you life!”

-Ian Paisley

May we all by the power of the Lord be awakened to the Power, Relevance and everyone’s need of…The Word of God!

Wanna be Humbled?

As Christians, we from time to time get humbled and for some, from time to time, seek to be humbled. And that, is today’s story.

Friday August 24th, was the second day of class for this semester and our first chapel for this semester. If you do not know me or have not been told I am a 41 year old man, I am a full time student, I am married to a wonderful and godly lady, who is the most incredible mother of our four children. Life is FULL, AMEN!
So, today, I set out for my only two classes for Friday, Life of Christ 1 and New Testament Greek, which was followed by Chapel. As I made my way into the gymnasium, the place was all a buzz with the incoming freshmen and all the returning students, the podium was in the middle of the floor and behind that the praise and worship team. We come in and get settled, have a few announcements and reading of scripture.

The passage came from 1 Peter 1:3-9 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” And 1 Peter 1:13-16 “13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Amazing verses, so we stand and sing our praise of worship to our Divine Lord and this is one of those times, since it is the first Chapel of the semester when it is just amazing. About 500 of us singing praise to our King, it is enough to give (and it did) you chills form your head to your toes.

As we end our time of singing, we are introduced to the speaker today and as always a treat, it is the President of the College, Dr.Oakes. This is a man when you hear him preach you know that God is with him and using him to share His (God’s) heart with you. He has a passion for helping mold us into “real servants and real leaders”. He is one of those men that you could (at least I could) sit for hours and just listen to preach. Very few men fit into this category, but Dr Oakes fits it like a glove. I would try to give you some of the points of his message for us, but I fear that it would never do. So here is a link, please take about 25 minutes of your day today and let the Lord through His messenger Humble you. Christ said in the book of Luke Chapter 18 and verse 14 said "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

So, I ask, wanna be humbled?

Who, I am

Well, where do I begin, I almost feel as if this is another personal testimony, but that is not really, what I am thinking through. I see myself first and foremost as a servant, not a very good one, but never the less a servant. My desire is that no matter the difficulty or obstacle, that, I would be a great one, but some days I am quite uncertain on how to obtain this stature of being a great servant. I do not wish or desire that I be praised or receive acclaim or the adulation of men, rather to just live a simple and humble life of servitude. Servitude to what you may be asking yourself about now. Well, most importantly as servant of God, to be His in totality, secondly, to be to my family what God would have me be, a husband that is there for his wife, to encourage, to help lift her up when she is down and to help her in ways that make her walk and her life more enjoyable. To love her as Christ, loves His church. Again, I do not do very well at this either, most days; I feel that I am at a total loss in how to be what God would have me be to her. Next, to be a father, a godly man who shows Christ and teaches God’s plan and lesson with His love, to train my children up for God and His purpose, once again I miss the mark a lot. Next, would be my call the be a minister of the Gospel of Christ, to serve in that capacity with zeal, humility, love, honesty and righteousness, to always put God and His priorities for my life before that of my own desire or ideas about how I think things should be, as the U.S Army puts to “Be All I can be”, And while this falls last in priority of a list, they are of all great importance.

At these points, I often wonder why? Why would the God of the Universe want me, what is in me that would be so special that He would care about the numbers of hairs on my head, let alone love a miserable wretch of a man, that never seems to get it, or get it right. Last night as I prepared to go to sleep, as I have done for the past couple of weeks, I have read a chapter or two, sometimes even three of the Book of John. In John 14:15 Jesus says, “if you Love Me you will keep my commands” and I wonder, do I love Him as much as I should, am I even capable of Loving Him that much. Would I, if a gun were held to my head or the heads of, one of my own, would I love Him enough?

In the Book of Acts, in the sixth and seventh chapters, we read of a man named Stephen, probably not who I was named after (I will actually have to look into that question) and I am a “v” not a “ph”. Anyway, in Acts six and seven we read of His love for God and how He was not only willing to but did, without protest, defense or equivocation, surrender his life and became the very first person to be martyred for the cause of Christ. Can I be such a man? Would I be such a man? So the question remains, Who am I? I am not a doctor or a lawyer, not an electrician or a carpenter, as I said in the beginning I am a servant.

See the reality is we are all servants, we all serve something or someone. I never really looked at it, that way, but when I smoked, the cigarette was my master. When I was an alcoholic and a drug addict they were my masters. We can be servants of our desires, or wants, basically like I said we are all servants of something or someone. What or who do you serve? It can even be things we think of as good, donating our time to good-will type organizations, being the team mom or dad, when and what makes it bad is when it replaces God as the Master over our servitude. I am not in charge of any but my own household and that, I submit to the desire of my Master, Christ, at least I desire too and I do try, some days harder than others, I am sure that you know what I mean. Outside of home, I am a student, going to college fulltime working toward a Bachelors of Science, this I do pretty well, I guess to some I am a pretty smart man, I have a strong desire to please God and I care deeply for the people who will someday be placed in my charge. I care about these people, whom I do not even know, yet, but I know that they will be sent from Him just as I too will be sent from Him to them, we will be a match made just for each other. I know it will not all be easy, hey it is not easy now, I suspect that it will get harder as I go along but at the same time I will become stronger as I face each new challenge.

I guess to understand these things we must first realize that God sees nothing in us worthy of His Love, He made man in His own image, He made us for communion with Him and thus far through history, at every chance we are given we have turned away to follow after our own devices. So, what does God see in me? Well, He does see that I believe, that I have and continue to confess my sins and I am heartbroken over them. He sees that I was baptized into the death of His Son and raised into the newness of life in Jesus. He sees the blood of His very own, covering my frailties, my shortcomings, my sins! Without His seeing this, to Him I would be someone that He would be lamenting over.

I made God cry, please do not think that I say this in some sort of lofty arrogance, I do not, it is just understanding some of His nature and besides that, we have all grieved God’s heart. I knew deep down, that when my dad said he did not believe in God, that was wrong yet, I lived my life like my earthly dad was right. That broke God’s heart, and if you are reading this and your getting this idea that I think I am somebody then you are dead wrong, or if you think God’s heart does not break, then, I say you are wrong again. I do not like putting God on human terms but we are human, that is all we have. If you have a child and that child grows up under your love and care, turns from you and denies you, you will be heart broken. Likewise, if God’s heart were not broken over our turning away from Him then why did He send His son Jesus to die for us? Jesus was sent to make it possible for God to keep His Holiness in tact and allow us to be with Him?

Why did He go out of the way and save the human race and work the plan that would meet the requirements for Holiness, which would at the same time allow an unworthy people in His presence? Love! He loves us even though we did not and some still to this day do not love Him, it is only love that could explain the why. See darkness and light cannot inhabit the same space and time, one must be dominate and Light is that dominating force, in every situation Light extinguishes the darkness. God is Light, since we are darkness we cannot be with the light unless we become light and we are just not capable, that is why God sent His Son for you and me, to be light for us.

So in this, I am now no longer counted as darkness but rather light, not light in the sense that I emanate it, but more like the moon in the sense that I reflect it, for His Son is my light. He is my source of and for being, He is my protector, my comforter, He is my healer. He is both my cup and my portion, He is my source for peace in my time of affliction, He is the calm in my storms. Jesus is the answer to all of my questions about who I am and am to be.

Amazing Quote!

This is an Amazing Quote, that I heard recently and thought I would post it as a testimony to the original author. Lord may my spirit, faith and dedication be no less, and may those who read this be encouraged to grow stronger, and remain steadfast, it is in the Name above All names, the name of Jesus, I pray!

“I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit Power. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line the decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, platitudes or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith lean on His presence, walk by patience, am lifted up by prayer and labor by power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I’ve stayed up. I am disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, work till He stops me, and when He comes for His own, He’ll have no problem recognizing me at all!”

Author Unknown

The Five-dollar bike and a Christ-like Attitude

There it was, faded purple and looking like it had been left out in the weather for a couple of years. Six-speed and a chain that has more rust than and old Chevy, the chain was off the sprocket in the front and jammed between the sprocket and the frame in the back. For a bike, it certainly looks like it was rode hard and never put up. On the seat of that bike the sticker said five-dollars. My wife called me over and with a whisper can you fix it? My first reaction, pay me five and I will haul it off to the heap, but I tabled that, thought about it, and said yeah, I think so.

You see where we are right now the kids have not been able to ride bikes so, one of the kids has never had a bike, and two of the remaining three have outgrown the ones they have. So any way, we find this bike and looking to my oldest son and ask him well do you want it? Yeah, I would love to have it! Son, I said, it is a bit of a mess but I think I can get it to where you can ride it. That would be great, he rather happily responded.

My wife pays the clerk the five plus tax and we loaded up the bike and we are off. Once we get home, I begin undoing the mangled chain, and begin to put some lubricant on all the metal and working parts, this thing was soaking the liquid up like a sponge that had spent an eternity in the desert. I mean the more I put on the more it soaked up. I finally got the chain unstuck and straightened out the chain guard and finally get the chain to stop jumping off the sprocket. Then, on to getting the rear brakes un-jammed, now they are working, in all this my son is very patient and being a good helper.

After about an hour and a half I get the bike on the ground with two inflated tires and a son grinning from ear to ear. After two or three trips around the house in the grass my son stops his “new” bike and says thanks dad for my “new” bike I sure am lucky to have such a nice bike. I am glad that God made it so I could have this nice bike.

My friends this is a nine-year-old boy who gets it. Here is a kid that is thankful for an old junky bike that most kids today would never ride and this kid is showing it off to the neighbor boys and telling them just how great his new bike is. I heard him telling one boy, I know it is old and it has a lot of rust but I sure am thankful to have it.

At supper tonight, I told him how proud I was of his attitude I praised him for a very Christ-like attitude. My wife and I told him how most kids today would not like it very much if their parents brought home a bike like that. I told him how they might not be as grateful as he is, dad he said, this morning I did not have a bike I could ride, but thanks to God now I do.

I have been greatly inspired by my nine-year-old son today and I am writing this as a testimony of his heart. Many of today’s youth would consider this bike to be a piece of junk, that they would never ride, but to my dear boy, it is the finest bike ever made.

I want to leave you with this thought, when we drive that not so nice car, or wear that slightly worn shoe or maybe even live in that not so fancy home, can we stand before God and man as this kid with his five-dollar bike and his Christ-like attitude?


Today my son represented each of these passages below and I too am thankful, I am thankful to God for a growing young man who gets it!

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13, NASB95)

"Rejoice always;" (1 Thessalonians 5:16, NASB95)

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4, NASB95)

"as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." (2 Corinthians 6:10, NASB95)

We are a World in Need of Revival!

In Searching through some sermons, I came across this video of an audio sermon compilation that I heard some time ago and thought it needed to be posted. My you be inspired by the Holy Spirit to walk the path less traveled and my you be so inspired that a fire ignites within the deepest recesses of your spirit and may God give us REVIVAL!

A Sacrifice is Required!

Over the last three to four months, I have had some serious and sometimes intense debates with a number of people about the Bible. We have debated things from the simple to the sublime, to the down right ridiculous, and every time I come away with a new found respect for both the simplicity of un-comprehendible complexity of this one single book.

I read a quote one time that went something like this, “The bible is so simplistic that if it were a body of water, the smallest of children could not drown in it, while at the same time, so complex that the most learned theologian could never touch the bottom”
That is a powerful insight that I think many of today’s churchgoers and even some pastors have lost sight of, and that is a shame.

In some of these debates, we have discussed free-will verse pre-destination, Baptism, “is it a work”, and the authority of scripture. This is the one that I really want to concentrate on right now. Sometime ago my wife and I were talking at a football practice with one of her friends, she held the view that the Bible is just a collection of moral stories intended to guide our lives but we really do not have to read it or live it as long as we are generally good people. In our conversation I asked her how she came about to this particular belief, she very honestly and bluntly said that was her churches teaching. “God is all loving and fair and just and died for everyone so as long as we try to live good lives then we are all heaven bound,” she said. We talked about Hell and according to her belief, only Satan and his legion would be going there, if it even existed to begin with.
We continued our dialog about the Bible and our differing believes and when trying to explain some things in scripture, the most remarkable thing became evident, her mind was not open to any truth from scripture. For example I asked what her church taught about the scriptures like Rev 21:8 that say "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Frankly, her response was scary to me, Revelation, is just a book written to scare people into being obedient to the church leaders. This was somewhat of a defining moment for me, in my call to the ministry. I had a light shine brightly over this time, shortly after, I began to dig deeper into the scriptures and make even more careful observations about the nature of people and their believes about the most definitive and authoritative book ever written.

The moral character of the church going masses has eroded away along with their collective belief in God’s Holy Word as the final authority for their lives. When someone who is un-churched looks in to the church these days, he sees very little difference between his life and the lives of the average churchgoers. There are sure to be many contributing causes of this from the pure lack of day-to-day personal bible reading, to churches that wont use big words like “propitiation” in effect they are dumbing down, so as not to offend. To the continual onslaught of pastors themselves who have been caught in immoral activities from drugs to illicit sex scandals, you name it and there could be counted a reason for this slow drift from shore into the treacherous waters of disbelief.

From this conversation to some of the more recent, I have found that people are fulfilling scripture in masses and they are not even aware of it. They are living 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

With the continuing rapid moral decline and increased church attendance, yes you read that right, church attendance is on the rise while moral decay is increasing. I have been left with one single question, why. A friend commented to me the other day about how many seem to be playing church and walking around as if some kind of daze of blindness to the scriptures.
The answer seems to be clear churches are turning toward the doctrines of men, rather than embracing the hard doctrines of God. In the same text of 2 Timothy 4:1-5 we are urged to stand up for truth and for the Word of God.
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

If I am to be true to God and to myself, if I am to love, God and love His people then I must, when compelled speak out in favor or defense of God and His unyielding truth. In the past year or so, I have had conversations with many folks about the rising level of worldliness in the church. Churches supporting questionable movies, music and practices while at the same time for example not standing up for the sanctity of life. Refusing for insurance purposes to reach out to people who are infected with the disease of drug addiction, alcoholism or warning their flock about the dangers of pornography. Letting members knowingly live in a state of sin without lovingly confronting them. Having people as staff members or even volunteer’s who are living in sin, working with children, either couples living together without being married, to open and practicing homosexuals preaching from the pulpit. None of these things would be so, if, men endured what God has set out as His plan for our lives. God’s position for our lives is summed up in one passage repeated four times, three times in the Old Testament, and once in the New Testament, "because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Peter 1:16,



All of these things when approached from the position of the scriptures is at best denial of God’s word, and on the straight up and up, absolute disobedience.

When we look upon the Word and do, what it says we should not, then we are wrong, that is not a man’s opinion that it the fact of God’s Word. In John 14:15 Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep my commandments” And just eight verses later He repeats and deepens this thought, John 14:23-24 "Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me."

Being a follower of Christ is not just going to church and living life the way we want, He has given us clear directive and they are not bending, not changing and they certainly are not debatable. I know that we a humans are not perfect and will never obtain in this life anyway, perfection, but just because we know we cannot achieve it, does not mean we should not strive for it.

Living a Holy life is not something that just going to church and living life as usual will make come about, it is hard work and will require many sacrifices in the way we live life. I used to love hard core heavy metal and alternative music, when I encountered Jesus, I was convicted by His Word that what I was putting into my mind and the minds of my children was wrong. I had to give up something I loved, that is a sacrifice. The truth is as long as I opened my heart to the evil in the music I was listening to, righteousness could not grow in me. I have talked with families and they would make sure nothing bad ever went into the hearts and minds of their children. But they would send the little angels to bed and watch some “R” rated movie that is borderline pornography, movies that would glorify adulterous sex, blasphemous language, glorifying drugs, alcohol, lying stealing, and when you ask them they see nothing wrong with living this way. The hard-core truth is that living that way is hypocritical; I know it is because I used to do it too. If it is not good enough for the mind of God’s precious little gift, then you might want to remember you are God’s precious little gift too, and he does not want you watching that filth either. We have a, could, should, rule in our household, the rule works like this, if we could not watch it with Jesus, then we should not watch it at all.

There will never be any sacrifice that we could make that could every repay the sacrifice Christ made for us, however, there should never be a sacrifice we are not ready and willing to make for Him either. I write what I write not out of some overwhelming desire to show my superiority like some will accuse, I do not write from lofty position without knowing the cost of these kinds of sacrifices personally. Rather I write out of sacrifice and love to urge you as in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

And since 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." I write for those reasons.
So, my hope is to encourage your fight, to spur you on to let go of the things that are vile and evil in the sight of the Lord and sacrifice the filthy rags of what this world has to offer, in exchange for crowns of righteousness. To promote a higher standard of living by the body of Christ, for us to honor God by living life for His pleasure, His honor and His Glory, by living a Holy life pleasing unto the Lord. To encourage you to love one another enough to speak out when one of our brothers or sisters are drifting away form the narrow path, to lovingly help bring them back, just as the Great Shepherd does.

What are you waiting for?

This is going to be just a series of questions; I am not going to provide any answers, just a short explanation, and then just some questions.


Through the years, my wife and I have come across many couples, who will say things like “when we get the money” or “we cannot afford kids right now”. Maybe even “there are so many things going on right now we just cannot do it”. Now not all these things need to be said by couples, they can be said by anyone.


I guess the reason for this post and these questions is to get you to move beyond yourself, to move out where God has called you. Maybe it is just a dream that you want to fulfill, or new career you would like to pursue. There are many detractors in life, I have mine, and I know you have yours, like me, you too may very well be your own detractor at times, my goal is to stir you into action that will fulfill your calling, or your dream.


If you are a believer then hear these words of Jesus before I ask the first question, ponder it thoughtfully and prayerfully before you go any further. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command...If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching...He who does not love me will not obey my teaching (John 14:15, 23-24)


The reason I chose this verse is simple, first we are all called to service, secondly, when we are gifted with certain talents and do not use them, then we are in disobedience. I am called to the ministry, in the beginning I did not want to be apart of this, but that has changed. One thing I know, we have a choice, but even in that choice, we are not exempt from being obedient. If I had not left my home to pursue what God had called me to, that would be disobedience, but that choice was mine. So, as you ponder these things ponder also this, does God continue to bless us when we are disobedient to His will, His word, and His call?


Let us begin the questions!


1) Do you have unresolved issues with God?

2) What is your talent or gift?

3) Do you have a desire to do something other than what you are doing?

4) Are you using your gift or talent where you are to serve God?

4) Are you living up to your potential?

5) Do you really trust God?

6) Has God called you to do something new?

7) Has God sent you a sign?

8) Why do you doubt Him?

9) Why are you still when called into action?


Okay, that is the deal, I think for each of those questions if you are very honest with God and yourself you should be able to raise at least one or more questions of your own off each of the questions above. I understand how it is when people tell you that you cannot do it, that you just do not have the skill or talent. I understand more than you know to look at your bank account and see single digit figures, trust me I know. More importantly I know this, Philippians 4:19 says “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

If we skip back a few verses, we also find out in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

So, that brings me to my last question.

What are you waiting for?

Practice makes perfect, Perfect is Christ

Today in Sunday school we discussed being deliberate about living (practicing) the fruits of the spirit. To set out with the purpose to Love, be Patience, be Joyful, it is or at least it should be our cause as “followers of the way” that is Christians, to live our life in such a way as to “imitate” Christ. How we do that is not totally at our own discretion, we must do that which Christ did. In reading “The Imitation of Christ” by THOMAS À KEMPIS, in book 1 in the 25th chapter some insightful words, ones that should lead us to the realities of our daunting task.


“BE WATCHFUL and diligent in God’s service and often think of why you left the world and came here. Was it not that you might live for God and become a spiritual man? Strive earnestly for perfection, then, because in a short time, you will receive the reward of your labor, and neither fear nor sorrow shall come upon you at the hour of death.
There is one thing that keeps many from zealously improving their lives, that is, dread of the difficulty, the toil of battle. Certainly they who try bravely to overcome the most difficult and unpleasant obstacles far outstrip others in the pursuit of virtue. A man makes the most progress and merits the most grace precisely in those matters wherein he gains the greatest victories over self and most mortifies his will. True, each one has his own difficulties to meet and conquer, but a diligent and sincere man will make greater progress even though he have more passions than one who is more even-tempered but less concerned about virtue.
A fervent and diligent man is ready for all things. It is greater work to resist vices and passions than to sweat in physical toil. He who does not overcome small faults, shall fall little by little into greater ones.
If you have spent the day profitably, you will always be happy at eventide. Watch over yourself, arouse yourself, warn yourself, and regardless of what becomes of others, do not neglect yourself. The more violence you do to yourself, the more progress you will make.”


It is much for us to be forceful with our own selves, but it is something we must do, we must crucify our selves, we must put to death the sinful carnal self that if left to its own self would destroy us and lead us even unto death, a death from which there is no recovery.



This is a job that one cannot do our self, or should even attempt to do without Christ. He is our strength. Isaiah 40:28-31 says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary".


Christ is our victory, it is in Him, we find the strength we need to overcome temptation, and it is only in Him. Likewise, it is He, who is our place for rest and renewal.
The old adage says, “Practice makes perfect” as Christians, we need to practice being not perfect but practice being Christ, and that takes humble intention.

Time for Repentance?

Repentance, as we now know it is a intentional turning away from our sin. Leaving old ways and habits far behind, most of the times it will even involve “new friends” along with our new character. Repentance is absolutely a requirement of God; true salvation cannot be completed any other way. Yes you must believe, Yes you must confess your sins, Yes you must be baptized, however without repentance you are doomed…Doomed to perish, for doing all of the above without repentance would be like planting flowers, you have the flowers and the pot and the soil and some fertilizer, but no water. Without water your flowers are doomed to dry up, wither away and die. Likewise, it is for us when we do not have repentance.

Jesus, tells us in, Luke 13:3-5 (NASB95) 3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
No better time than the present, right? Why put off to tomorrow what you can do today? These are just two sayings of the dozens, I am sure, but the wisdom they provide are immeasurable, what they mean in the area of repentance is that we must do it now and do it often. Even as believers we will fall into sin, sometimes we may not even realize that, an attitude is sinful or dwelling on certain feelings can lead to sin. However when we realize or are convicted by the Holy Spirit, we must confess and repent, scripture teaches us in, Revelation 2:5 (NASB95) 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
This is a serious warning, some might want to take it as a threat but God does not threaten, He will warn us and let us know the consequences of our chosen actions, but it will be our choice to turn or not to turn. Make no mistake God’s desire for this would be to turn but it will be your choice. In Genesis, we are given the account of the Noah and the flood. God told the people to repent and to turn from the wicked ways, to abandon their lives of immorality, He was overly patient with them in fact, and He gave them over “One Hundred years” during this time Noah built the ark and preached to the people of his day, letting them know of Gods heartbreak over their condition. The people choose to remain in their sin, they clung to their idolatry and to their sexual immorality, you see they refused to turn to their creator and turn from their evil ways,
One of the things that I have found most interesting of the account of the days leading up to the flood is that even though Gods heart was grieved and His intention was to destroy everything. His intention was to destroy every man, woman and child, every animal, be it in the water the air including to the tiniest insect, every plant, tree, literally every living thing. God was going to destroy it all, but Noah found favor in Gods eyes and he alone with his family was spared the doom. There is a great lesson here for us today, while in those days your own righteousness was accounted to you and maybe even your family, however God knew that when left to our own righteousness there would not be many who would be able to achieve. It is here Gods love for us is shown through Jesus, again one mans righteousness was to be salvation for others. God is truly amazing and awesome in love and mercy.
John the Baptist began his ministry preaching in the wilderness of Judea with some very hard words Matthew 3:2 (NASB95) 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” These are the very words that Jesus started His ministry with as well, in Matthew 4:17 (NASB95) 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The word repent from the Greek is the word “Metanoeo” to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.
Now in looking at the last part of this identical statement we see that the “Kingdom of God is at hand” looking at the last word “Hand” this is the Greek word, “Eggizo” the phonetic spelling is “eng-id'-zo” this word literally means to draw or come near to, to approach
So both John the Baptist and Jesus explained or need to change our mind toward our sin (repent) for Gods Kingdom has drawn near or is to approach. With that in mind, it is very easy to see that now is the time for repentance.
We should find ourselves sorrowful over our sinful condition; our heart should be broken to the fact that we have done such evil in the face of a Holy God. In this state of sorrow we can go before God and confess our sins, and repent of them and in our sorrow, we can be made joyful. God’s formula is clear and concise, a contrite heart sorrowful over our sinful condition, given to repentance, leads to salvation through Christ.
2 Corinthians 7:9-11 (NASB95)9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Gods heart made joyous… You and I make our Lord’s heart sing when we come to repentance, in Luke chapter 15 Jesus tells two parables the first of the lost sheep and the second of a lost coin, and the joy that is derived when the lost is found. Now, in our natural sinful state we are lost, not that God cannot find us but that we cannot find Him. For most they do not even look for him, but Jesus tell us that God is drawing us to Himself by other people that He sends into our lives by His word, by the Holy Spirit, all who call us to this repentance, by showing us our condition. In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tell us of the joy of the angels of God over one sinner who comes to repentance. Luke 15:10 (NASB95) 10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
How awesome to know that God and His angels are so joyful over one sinful person who come to repentance. Also in the gospel of Luke Jesus tells us that he came for this purpose to call sinners to repentance not the righteous. Luke 5:32 (NASB95) 32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
I want to wind down with a trip over to the gospel of Matthew, where we will see where God stands on our self-perception of being a good person, how easy it is to be self-righteous, and some places where we set up idols or where we make other things the object of our worship. God cannot come second to anything or anyone nor should He have to.


God loved us so much that he let the true righteousness of one man Noah, keep the bloodline alive. God has loved us so much that He came and took our place of punishment, so we could know Him. While for most the cost is to high, they just could never give up the pleasures of this world for the pleasure that is to come. I dare say that is as much a lack of faith as it is a lustful desire for their own selfish pleasure, pleasure not delayed but the gratification of doing it all now. Oh how selfish man is, how depraved, how undeserving of the expensive love that God has given so freely.

If you have a child think about this…Would you let your child die out of your selfless love of another? What I am asking is consider God for just one moment. Could you send your child to be brutally beaten, spit on, nailed to a cross, just so you can have a relationship with the people who your child died for, could you do that? Lets look at the verses in Matthew, 19:16-26 (NASB95)16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. 23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them, Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”


Jesus was clear and the message is that with God “ALL” things are possible; it is only God through the blood of Christ that can get you and me through this life and be able to enter into he Kingdom of Heaven.
Who can be saved? Only the one who has been washed in the blood of Jesus!
The only way that one gets washed in His Holy blood is to accept the gift of salvation, believe that Jesus is, confess your sins to God, Die to this world, and eternity can be yours. God is the only one who knows your heart, but I can say this much, the condition of your heart will be reflected outwardly to the rest of this fallen world. After we repent we die to this world we must choose to take the narrow road, as Jesus said it is the only path to life, but he also said that few will find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB95)13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Therefore, Time for Repentance is today lay down your sinful selfish life, deny yourself pick up your cross and follow Jesus. My friend if you are not a “follower” then now is your time. Follow in the Greek is the word “Akoloutheo” and the definition is 1 to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him. 2 to join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple.
I wanted you to clearly understand what it means to follow but you must also know one other word and it is Deny, in the Greek it is “Aparneomai” to forget one's self, lose sight of one's self and one's own interests.
We cannot do this on our own, nor does God ask it of us, but we must come to that place in ourselves that say no matter the cost “I Will Follow Jesus” no matter the cost. In Matthew 16:24 (NASB95) 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Today the hour of Repentance has come, what will you do?

Clinging to the feet of Jesus

What a week of tragedies, many times these tragedies can be means that crack the stone heart, other times people use tragedies to reinforce the wall and add another layer of height or the depth of the wall.
Though we look at life choices as many, but the truth of the matter there are generally two choices to any situation. One we can rebel, turn and haw at God claiming that He is not a God of love or justice. When we do this we set ourselves up in judgment of God, imagine, the created judging the Creator. I suspect that some who will read this will not agree and will go on their merry way, for those very people I ask one favor, please read on.
There are a few facts that we need to get clear, when Adam sinned, death and tragedy were introduced into this world.
God had given man a wonderful place to live and dwell and meaningful work to do, more importantly, He gave man a relationship with Him, He loved him enough that He walked in the garden where he dwelled. He loved man so much that He knew it was not good for him to be alone so He made him (Adam) a suitable partner/helper (Eve). Being that God is Holy and Loving and Just, He had given them one rule do not eat form the tree in the center of the garden. The day that Eve ate form the fruit and gave to her husband who was there, began a downslide that continues to this day. Tragedy and death entered this day into the world this very day. In talking about death, it was not physical but rather spiritual.
The eviction from the garden came with some harsh realities, the earth would no longer just produce, it would be by intense labor and on that note, and the woman would feel increased pain, in giving birth.
Over the history of man, we seem to come repeatedly finding ourselves staring at our own rebellion to the God who gave us life and loved us enough to give us a perfect place to live and a relationship with Him. Through all this, man continued to rebel and God continued to love. Being a Holy and Just God there were times when God had to hold us accountable, which is proper. If we are honest, we have to agree that God has always been just in His dealing with us. Actually He has been far more just than we would have been if we were able to sit on His throne.
Through it all God was willing and determined to provide for us something we were not able to and in some instances no longer interested in, a relationship with Him.
That brings us to the very means by which God would ultimately give to us as a means of relationship with Him, His very Son Jesus. It is through Jesus, through our belief in Him and by confessing Him, and following all that He commanded. Jesus taught many wonderful and inspiring truths, but one of the best for our condition and the pain that comes into our lives as a result of the nature of a fallen world is found in Matthew 11:29. It is here that Jesus instructs us “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Clinging to the feet of Jesus? When tragedy comes into our lives we will choose one of two Reponses, and as discussed earlier, we will either turn our hearts from the one who truly loves us or we will turn and cling. I do not mean to minimize anyone’s lose or the magnitude of any tragedy on ones life. My prayer is that if you are not the one who clings to the feet of Jesus, that you will.
Many people wrongly blame God for every wrong that happens in their lives, parents who lose a child, a child who loses a parent. As a parent, I cannot imagine the pain that must accompany losing of a child; I can however understand the pain of losing a parent, I lost my father at age 14. Life has taught me many things, very few were all that great, for in the eyes of the world we must rely on our own selves to get our comfort in our times of tragedy. Drugs and alcohol were then and are still the worlds antidote to suffering. This led me down a horrible and even more tragic existence, than that of a fourteen year old boy who would have just grown up without a father.
I am forty-one now, and came to truth late in life, but it is so very important, for me to convey the power of these truths. Where I came to find the most comfort and relief for my pain, the pain of a child, who turned to drugs and alcohol and who had to lived the hardest part of a child’s life without a dad, I came to this relief at the feet of Jesus.
My friends we cannot change the days passed by, we can only live today and change tomorrow. If you are at a place in life where you are dealing with the tragedy of a loss, please know that the one true God of the universe feels your pain and He shares your hurt and sense of loss. See, if you do not know the story, God knows the story of loss and of tragedy. He created this place, created two people, asked only two things, that we get to know Him, and asked us to obey only one rule. The result of that as we seen from above, the two failed and this broke His heart, several thousand years later, God sent Jesus, so He would die for us, so we could once again be able to dwell with Him. God loves you and I so much, that He sent His only Son to die for us, that is love in the highest degree. I know many do not understand or cannot equate this to love, but think about this would you send your only son to be brutalized and to die for people who do not even care? The fortunate part for us is that He did and we have a chance while we are still here to learn and apply that knowledge to our life.
If you have lost someone, especially a little one, a parent, or maybe a sibling, know this truth, you can know that God loves that child, and He is taking such wonderful care of that child. The child will experience no pain, no scrapes or boo-boo’s, never a tear to be shed. However, one does still grieve and shed tears, that one is God, He loves us so much and He does not want us to miss an opportunity to be with Him, and experience a hope in this life and in the life to come, a hope that is liberating from the may pains of this world.
We all live in this world, the same world that Jesus left Heaven to come to, so we could have the ability to come to Him in faith and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Without Jesus, there is no hope, for us or for those little ones.
Therefore, if you know Jesus, do not let the devil get a foothold in your times of tragedy, Cling to the feet of Jesus. If you do not know Jesus, I urge you, know this, we are not guaranteed one day on this planet, do not let another breath proceeded from your lungs, please turn today and ask God to forgive you of your sins, ask Him to save your soul, go and be baptized. Get into a bible believing and preaching church and get to know Jesus, and you can know the peace, He so wants you to have in Him, and you can be confident that He is not alone in wanting to see you in Heaven. Turn my friend and cling to the feet of Jesus.

The Church of Cultural Relevance or The First Church of Idolatry

It is said today that we in the church must conform to this world, or at the very least make the world comfortable in our midst. How sad of a day when the 10 Commandments are removed from our society because they offend a minority of people. How much worse when the Church of the very God who gave those commands removes them because they may offend someone?

The truly offensive here are the ones who remove Gods Word because someone may become offended. That is the worldliest bunch of garbage I have ever been confronted with. Where are the bold men of God who proclaim His Holy and Mighty Word without fear of anything or anyone? Where is this man of God today? He is not in too many pulpits today.

In our culture right now we have men in charge of the largest churches in America, and they stammer around the issues afraid to say that sin is sin. You have these wimpiest of men afraid to say that Christ is the ONLY way to be SAVED, that He alone is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE! We have men who will associate themselves with ungodly, unbelieving men who represent a cause, just because an ungodly world sees them as popular. It is akin to having Satan preaching in the pulpit. I am being general for a reason, I know who these men are and more than likely you do too. I am being so general because it is the right thing to do. My purpose is that if you are in the congregation of one of these harlots, that you yourself confront them, according to the biblical standard. Go to your brother, and confront him is he repents, you have won your brother, if he does not, go to him with two or more witnesses, and confront him again, if he refuses to repent remove the evil from your presence.

I am not in favor of churches splintering or splitting, at the same time, there are procedures for discipline in the church and they must be followed to remove those who are distorting the truth of God’s Holy Word.

Recently I listened to a sermon based on the message of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, I was completely appalled! The message of Paul was ripped out of its Historical context, and became a message that we should embrace this world and that we need to immerse ourselves in the culture, read what the culture reads, listen and watch what the culture listens to and watches, the only good in the message was he did say that we are not to sin, when we do this. According to this preacher, that is what Paul did. The only problem with that is the fact that the Apostle Paul, also know as Paul of Tarsus, who was a Jew, but was a Hellenized Jew, he grew up in a culture that was predominantly Greek/Roman. This pastor said that Paul went so far as to learn the poets and philosophers of the day, this is contextually wrong, he knew some of these things because he grew up in that culture. Let it also be known that He (Paul) considered himself a Jew of Jews. He took what he knew and used it to confront people about there unknown god, to show them that this God was not unknown to him and did not have to be unknown to them. A couple of things that this pastor forgot were, that we are not to do things which could cause another brother to stumble, and we are to be Holy for the Lord our God is Holy.

This particular pastor went as far as to say, “we are in sin if we do not contextualize” the Holy Word of God, which is to take the scriptures out of their natural context and make them apply however, the situation warrants. I am here to warn us against such pagan principles.

Situational ethics are not scriptural and they are wrong, just as this too is wrong! One the first part of this pastors statement, he is dead wrong, and man cannot pronounce what is sin, only God can tell us what sin is! As for the way we present scripture, we do need to make application that applies to our present life and time, but we cannot rip them out of their context so we can apply some cockamamie and half-baked truth. The biggest danger with these pastors is their inherent desire for us to mold to the culture to win people to Christ.

Friends we cannot win one person to Jesus, scripture is clear, faith comes by hearing. We are to be faithful in our preaching of the word of life. We are to come out of the world, we are not to be defiled by the world. In James 4:4, we see the message is clear, “You adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Do you and we really want to become once again at odds or become enemies of the God who saved us from sin and death?

Brothers and sisters, remain faithful, remain strong in the faith and challenge these ungodly methods, these worldly ways that have been introduced either by men who are blinded by the enemy or are willing participants in evil. We are called to be a Holy and Blameless people of God. James the brother of our Lord Jesus tell us in “James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

I desire to make clear they way we are to be toward this heresy that has entered into our midst, we are not to love the world or the things in it. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

We need to go forth and preach the Gospel as we are commanded but we are not to compromise with the world or the enemy or anyone in that task. NO COMPRIMISE! When we compromise our faith and God’s Word we step out of the obedience that we are called to. I want everyone who hears me preach come to know God’s mercies, His love, and the Joy that waits for His children, but I cannot compromise His Holy word to get the job done. When any man puts himself in the position that he compromises the Word of God, he just tried place himself above the Thorne of God, and that is exactly what Satan tired to do and that is the reason he was cast down form Heaven.

Friends it only makes since that Satan would continue to try to exalt himself above the Throne of God as he did before, and it makes even more sense that if he can get a man who is preaching the Word of God to stray he will get him to try to place himself above God’s Throne as well.

If we set out to make ourselves the apple of the world’s eye, if we desire their love we will find ourselves in an awful way. We have been called out of the world for a reason, and the reason is so very simple to share our joy with those we come in contact with, to share the love of Christ, to Preach His Word, to those around us, not to compromise with them. We are not going to have the love and the friendship of the world because of Christ. Jesus told us this in, “John 15:19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”


Lastly, I plea with you to fight the good fight, to race the race with a desire to win, we must confront the evil in our midst. We need to be steadfast on our resolve that we never compromise the Word of God or our relationship to Him, for any reason. Diligently seek Him and His Wisdom, for it is not the wisdom of this world. Paul tells us in Romans “12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

If you find yourself in one of these worldly churches, confront your pastor or your leadership with your concerns; confront them with love and with scripture. We have no business compromising the Word of God for when we do we set ourselves up as a supreme authority, over and against God. We are the created not the creator and should respect our place, Jesus said “if you love me then you will obey me” and we are not to add or remove from His word, and we are to do all that He commanded and teach other to do the same.

May the Lord grant us the strength we need for the battles that lie ahead!

Understanding Repentance

Repentance…

Contrition…

I wanted to start with those two words, many times we hear people speak of “repentance” or even of a “contrite heart”, so what are these and how do they help, hurt or affect us.

First, let us look at the definition of each word, to get a firm foundation to begin our understanding of what these terms mean, how and what their affects on us will be. We will look at both side of these and the affects thereof.

Merriam-Webster’s defines “Repent” as 1 : to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life 2 a : to feel regret or contrition b : to change one's mind (transitive senses) 1 : to cause to feel regret or contrition 2 : to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for. They define contrite as : grieving and penitent for sin or shortcoming 2 : proceeding from contrition


As we see, “Repentance” is a physical turning from sin, and an intentional dedicating of one’s self to the amendment of one’s life. In essence first we must have a deep rooted grieving for the sin that we commit against God and others, then we must confess and intentionally turn from these sins and never commit them again, so we may further a right relationship with God.

Let us take this a step or two further and dig deeper for a deeper meaning and an even better understanding of the true meaning of the word. Looking at the Easton’s Bible Dictionary, we find that there are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote “Repentance”.
(1.) The verb metamelomai is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas. Matthew 27:3 (NASB95) 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, (2.) Metanoeo, meaning to change one’s mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge. This verb, with (3.) the cognate noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.

For Judas (who betrayed Jesus) this would have been to turn away from his betrayal of Jesus before, not to take the money, or even after taking it, refusing to lead them to Christ, but as we know this was not to be.
So it is clear that one can have a form of repentance without saving knowledge, or as stated “to which remission of sin is promised” and in order for us to have this saving type one must have a firm grasp on their own sinfulness, their own guilt before God. However, it still goes deeper than just that; we must have hatred of sin and a rightly defined conception of God’s mercy in and through Jesus. Furthermore, you must turn in submission to God and from your evil sinful desires and actions. Scripture tell us in several passages how we should treat sin and repentance.

Psalm 51:1-4 (NASB95) 1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

Psalm 130:4 (NASB95) 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
Psalm 109:21 (NASB95) 21 But You, O God, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;

Psalm 119:128 (NASB95) 128 Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way.

Psalm 51:9-11 (NASB95) 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NASB95) 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

While we now have a better understanding, we must do a little more here, like application. God has called us to repent, to turn from our wickedness to Him who is Righteous, He is our creator and the day is coming that we will acknowledge Him and His Glory. Today we may do it by our choice but the day is fast approaching that we will do it before our judgment to eternal hell. “For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess” There are three things we must do “Believe, Repent and be Baptized”,

I want to leave you with several scripture texts that hopefully will convey the urgency for our need to “Turn” May the Peace of the Lord God be with you.

Romans 14:11 (NASB95)11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.”

Philippians 2:8-12 (NASB95)8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

Revelation 3:15 (NASB95)15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

Revelation 3:19-21 (NASB95)19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Revelation 14:11-12 (NASB95)11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Scripture plainly tell us that we will be a slave to sin or a slave to God. The big difference is being a slave to God has an inherent freedom, that is beyond reason and understanding, on the other hand being a slave to sin has also eternal consequences, while some might think hell is the worst of those, truly the worst is not hell but separation from God and His creation forever.

Next time we will look at why now is the time for repentance.