So, Whose Fault Is It?

In reading an article today, apparently about six scientists are being put on trial for suggested manslaughter for “failing to predict an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009 despite signs of increased seismic activity in the area,” I found something very peculiar. One of the lawyers (Alfredo Biondi) declared, “You cannot put science on trial.”

I find it interesting, because we often hear the claim from unbelievers (yet believers of science):

“If God is real, then why does He not stop bad things from happening?”

Could we not also ask, “If science is real, then why does it not stop bad things from happening?”

Would anyone doubt the existence of science simply because we do not completely understand it, sometimes incorrectly devise ideas about it, become confounded in its complexity, get lost in our formulation of the yet unseen, or its outcome is not what is expected and less than what we hoped for, while other times it is surprising and overwhelming interesting, even though we are limited in our ability to grasp its fullness?

My purpose is not to merely compare God to science or science to God, but rather the mindset of man. We find no error in putting God on trial by declaring He is either non-existent or at fault for not stopping or warning against disasters, yet we have science which has been created to warn us but declare “You cannot put science on trial” when it fails to do that which we believe it should.

But, perhaps they are right. Maybe it is neither God nor science which can be put on trial; for maybe both have indeed given the warning, and it is us (mankind) who have chosen to disregard it. Would not that then make us individually responsible for ourselves and each other? So, then, as a Christian (or a scientist in this case), it would not be God or science at fault but us who know the warning signs and refuse to warn others about it.

Dear Christians, we have the Word of God, we have the gospel of Jesus Christ. Are we sharing the warning of spending eternity in hell if one does not repent and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or will we be accused as these scientists before God: "No one expected to be told the exact time of the quake. We just wanted to be warned that we were sitting on a bomb." (Vincenzo Vittorini)

Blessings from Singing Carols of Christ

This past Friday night, December 19th, around 6:30pm, a group of close to sixty persons met in one of the nearby neighborhoods to go Christmas caroling. One of our men in the church showed up with his mule and trailer, with blankets laid out for everyone to sit on. We had the trailer and a diesel truck loaded down with about twenty-five children, sixteen youth, along with sixteen college/career and adults. It was amazing to see how many persons (fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters – by blood and in Christ) came out.

We had a list of names of persons and families from our church that lived in this particular neighborhood, and our plan was to visit and sing at each home. We also sung the familiar tunes of Joy to the World, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Harold Angels Sing, Silent Night, Away in the Manager, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and a few more that escape my mind at the present while driving down the streets. To see the bright eyes and smiling faces of the singing children was beautiful, having their fathers and mothers along with their older brothers and sisters joining in chorus with them.

It is no stretch of the truth to proclaim that each and every visit was exciting and enjoyable to us all. From the singing to those persons we passed on the streets, to those snuggled in their homes who came out to see who sung, to the doors of our church members we knocked, to all did we gleefully give remembrance to the birth of Christ. For what greater love is there, than the love of God in sending His Son Jesus into this world, and in the Savior giving Himself to redeem fallen man? There is no greater!

One of the persons we visited and had the opportunity of singing was a dear soul who has seen this world through her eyes for a hundred years. We can scarcely imagine the changes she has witnessed during her lifetime. Whether it be of the world, of politics, of people, or the church, surely there is much insight and wisdom she has gleaned through the years. To sing the marvelous song of our Savior Jesus Christ and to have her and her family join in harmony with us was truly a blessing one is not often given in this world of instant everything.

On this night, God allowed us the privilege of presenting the good tidings of the birth of our great Savior Jesus Christ to a family none of us knew. As we drove down the street caroling we saw a home with children, young people, and adults standing outside. They seemed to walk out to listen, so we stopped to share the songs of our heart with them. One of the ladies walked over to us and asked if we could all come inside to sing to her father. He is terminally ill, and lay upon a hospital bed so very weak looking. It can hardly be written concerning the site of the home, the family, the father, and his weeping daughter who had asked us to come in to sing to him.

A couple of the good men we have, who had driven us so far, guided the children and us all into the home. The children could not have stood straighter or sung more beautiful. It would have been impossible for any person to have beheld such a sight without ones heart sending forth springs of compassion through their eyes. We were able to pray with the daughter and her father, for which she was so grateful we had given but a small measure of our time and talents. Truly we were unworthy to have had that very moment to share in song and the moving of the Holy Spirit in the midst of that home and persons.

I pray that the Blessings from Singing Carols of Christ will live forever in the hearts and minds of our dear children, young people, and adults who gave of themselves this night. I know they will stay with me.

I appreciate the young persons (our youth) and the college/career who gave great testimony to our children, that singing and witnessing Christ is not merely for little children but for all who proclaim to know Him as Lord and Savior. And to the parents and adults who not only promote the life of Christianity by mouth, but also by deed in their daily lives.

May God bless His children during this season, and may His Spirit continue to enlighten those who do not yet trust in Him.

Scriptures in China: The Word Within And Without

According to a news article, apparently the ministry Vision Beyond Borders had about 300 Bibles confiscated by customs at the airport in Kunming. It appears that the organization was hoping to distribute the Bibles to those of this city in China.

According to the China Daily, here, Amity Printing factory (located in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is ‘China's biggest Bible producer, [and] has made over 5 million Bibles for Chinese churches in the past two years and exported about 5 million copies in roughly 75 languages.’ This agency claimed to have printed 30,000 copies of the New Testament (one picture shows English Standard Version) to distributed free during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Though, according to this report, China controls the printing of the Bible and only allows them to be used in government authorized churches and the larger hotels which accommodate tourists.

Just at a glance, this does cause one to ponder why such the fuss. If indeed, China has authorized the freely giving out of 30,000 copies of the Word within their country, why would they deny the entry of a mere 300 more copies of the Word for the same purpose? Version perhaps?

According to Vision Beyond Borders’ website, they acknowledge:

In China and other countries closed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Bible has been valued over life in some instances. Knowing they need God’s Word in order to be spiritually free, people endure imprisonment, beatings, and loss of life to keep God’s word alive in their country. Hundreds of people may share the same Bible, spending countless hours hand copying it.

It appears that Klein is no stranger to the spiritual warfare surrounding the spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through the written Scripture since he has been involved in missions for over twenty years according to the website testimony, and his Vision Beyond Borders’ ministry began in 1994 (though originally under the name Asian Vision).

I am not here to promoted Patrick Klein, for I do not personally know him or his ministry, but I am happy to hear that such a ministry exist in the reaching the world with the precious gospel of Jesus Christ. I am also happy to hear that even inside China, there is being Bibles produced and distributed. Even if they are not as freely and available as we would like, every copy of the Word opens the door to unfathomable potential that can be used by the Holy Spirit inside of China.

May we be mindful of the spiritual battles that constantly take place in the material realm, putting our faith in Christ, obeying the moving of the Holy Spirit, trusting God will have His will and way in all matters. Though it sometimes seems the evil one may have his way over us, be of good cheer, for we know our great King has overcome him at Calvary. True, our lives and ministries are not empty of set backs, but may we press on finding hope in Christ and not in ourselves, knowing that souls in this world need the message of the Savior.

So, whether it is the printed Word within China, or the Word printed from without China making its way in, may the Spirit of God grant it safe passage to the hearts of those who desperately need Christ.

A Couple of Strikes, But Not Out!

"It's amazing over the past few years what God's done in my life, and how quickly He's done it," Hamilton told ESPN's Erin Andrews after his record-setting performance. "I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity."

Article

Plant, Water, God Gives the Increase (as given in La Ciudad, Mexico)

1 Corinthians 3: 1-15

According to verses 1-4, when we have envy, strife, and divisions we are being carnally minded.

As in verse 4, ‘one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos,’ we must remember we have not come to convert the people of La Ciudad to Baptist or even Southern Baptist, but are here to present to them the ‘good news’, praying the Spirit of God will convict them of sin, grant them repentance, and regenerate them to become followers of Christ. To think otherwise is to be carnally minded.

Verse 6 says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’

As Christians we are to be about witnessing and spreading the gospel message to those around us. As the parable of the sewer (or the seed) the seed may indeed fall upon various grounds, but how then shall the seed find the good ground unless we are willing to plant and water with the abilities God has given us? We shouldn’t choose by outward appearance to where or whom to plant and water, but obey the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 9 says, ‘For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.’

As Christians we must remember that by grace through faith we have been converted – by God – ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ For it is Christ who is the ‘author and finisher of our faith’ knowing He which hath begun the a good work in us continues to work in us to do His good pleasure.

For this cause, we see in verse 7, ‘So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’ This does not mean our service to God means nothing, for Romans 10 shows God uses men to further the gospel in that it ask ‘how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?’ And here in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 13 it declares, ‘Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is,’ and so shall there be reward and loss based on our honest deeds toward God and the spreading of His gospel message. Honest deeds means our heart also, not just what we see each other do on the outside, for the Pharisees appear good on the outside but were corrupt within.

What this does mean is that we are not the focal point, nor is it us or our ideas which save the lost. God and His gospel of Jesus Christ is the focal point, and He is the one who saves sinners. I mean, what is it that we plant and water? We must choose to plant and water that which God has provided, for if not, we will sin in planting and watering with man-made ideas and quick ‘easy believism’ schemes which may show numbers, but not truly converted hearts. Verse 11 states, ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’

The only way that we can be ‘labourers together with God’ is to preach and teach the same gospel message He has already declared through Jesus Christ. We must humbly submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to work through us, using that which He has given us through Scripture, so that souls will be saved, lives changed, and He receives all of the glory. We do not glory in ourselves when a soul comes to Christ, but glory in the One who has opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear, the One who has given us the seed and the water and works in us to plant and water wherever His Spirit shall lead us, that others may come to know Him also.

Rapture - Spam Mail!

Posted at a group I often visit, we come across an interesting website entitled: You’ve Been Left Behind

I will not question the sincerity of these persons’ Christianity, but I do have to question such an idea.

For $40 for the first year, claiming “Re-subscription will be reduced as the number of subscribers increases,” it is suggested that 6 days after the rapture of the church one will be able to send “150mb of encrypted storage that can be sent to 12 possible email addresses” and “another 100mb of unencrypted storage that can be sent to up to 50 email addresses.”

Honestly, this sounds like one is simply paying for document storage on a server.

So, one may ask, “How exactly will the system know the rapture has occurred?”

The site states: “We have set up a system to send documents by the email, to the addresses you provide, 6 days after the "Rapture" of the Church. This occurs when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any false triggering of the system.”

Isn’t there a possibility that one of the 5 may be unsaved, and/or that within the 3 ‘fail safe’ days one could keep the system running to keep the revenue coming in?

Witness to your family and friends today, even in email if you desire, don’t put it in the hands of an email storage system that will be sending it out much later than necessary.

Removed For Having Too Much 'Cents'

Apparently, a marine has been ‘removed from duty’ because he was handing out coins with Scripture references on them at an American checkpoint in Iraq.

The article claims, ‘U.S. military regulations prohibit religious proselytizing’ (apparently ref. General Order 1A, Part 2, Section J) and a quick search returned this: U.S. Soldiers Launch Campaign to Convert Iraqis to Christianity.

Interestingly, Weistein (in the above article) considers passing out these coins to be a ‘national security breach.’ Yet, I doubt we can honestly associate passing out coins by this soldier with the other soldier's actions of using the Quran as target practice.

This article states: ‘A military statement said "appropriate action" will be taken if the reports are substantiated.’ What exactly would be ‘appropriate action’ I wonder.

Maybe they will just take all of his extra ‘cents’ since apparently he had so much he was giving it all away.

"Mayday, Mayday!"

As we find ourselves in May, I can’t help but think of “mayday, mayday” the “emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications.”

As you know, we just returned from our young people taking part in State Bible Drills in Pineville at Louisiana College. They did a great job, conducting themselves in a mature manner, representing well Fellowship Baptist Church. We appreciate their discipline to study and memorize the Scriptures, along with the faithfulness of the teachers, families, and church members with all of their support and encouragement.

Though our young people are being taught the Word of God, and give themselves over to the studying and reading thereof, there are many in our neighborhoods, work places, cities, and state that simply do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The word mayday “derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning 'come to my aid'/’come [to] help me.’” The problem is, most (if not all) sinners are not even calling out “mayday, mayday” as they fall deeper into sin, and further from the gospel call of Jesus Christ. Lost sinners simply don’t usually run around calling out to Christians to help them spiritually. Sure, they may ask for wants or physical needs, but how many lost persons have found their way to you or stumbled in to church by themselves without first being invited or introduced to such aforetime?

A source I read claims, “Mayday calls can be made on any frequency, and when a mayday call is made no other radio traffic is permitted except to assist in the emergency. A mayday call may only be made when life or craft is in imminent danger of death or destruction.”

Dear friends, I can’t express enough how important it is that we stay focused on the things of God, mindful of His Word, and sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Every lost soul “is in imminent danger of death or destruction.” We are to be a light to this dark world, allowing Christ to shine through us. Meaning, we should always be ready to give witness to His marvelous work of salvation to any repentant soul who chooses to place faith in Christ.

When the Spirit moves upon that lost soul, and we find ourselves confronted with their distress call of “What must I do to be saved” are we ready “to assist in the emergency?” Have we hid His Word in our hearts and are we in tune with the Spirit, whereby we may know the signs of a convicted heart, ready to repent, regardless of what fashion (“on any frequency”) it may come? Pray that God would bind the devil to have “no other radio traffic” while the gospel message is presented to this lost and dying world.

As always, let us continually pray for one another.

Jim Says: "Check Your Guns at the Door"

Check out: http://www.ccwonline.org/guns.html

---

Jim Elliff

Those of us who have a ministry of writing are usually pretty tough folks. Many of us have been in the combat zone for quite a while and can take almost anything that is said by readers of our articles. This short plea to blog and forum participants is more about my embarrassment for all of us who are web-interactive Christians than it is for my own hide. In short, I'm appealing for etiquette characteristic of believers in reader's responses to articles and blog entries.

When reading through responses on various blogs and faith-based forums, I often wonder if those who are outside the faith are looking on. What do they think about the sometimes mean and vindictive words that are used? Or what do new believers think? When they read that tart, angry or demeaning language, are they really being helped toward Christ? If it doesn't smell good to us, it certainly is rancorous to the alert souls looking over our shoulders. At best they find comfort for their own acrimony in our unguarded words; at worst, they reject our beliefs as those which produce little change in a person.

No Preaching Zone

Taking a glance over at Atheist Revolution, it appears that one may “Curb "door-to-door disciples" in your neighborhood!” by purchasing a “No Preaching Sticker ” or “"No Preaching Allowed" door plaque ” from Ring of Fire Enterprises.

Interesting…

Kaka': "I Belong To Jesus"

Click for Global icon Kaka' story.

How Dare You Repent

Most likely we have all heard of the story of Jonah in Scripture. We learn from the book of Jonah that God told him to go to Nineveh and to preach against its wickedness. Jonah eventually went after gleefully submitting to God’s will and preached “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”.

To Jonah’s surprise, I’m sure, “the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them”.

What further surprised Jonah was that “God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not”.

So we have a preacher preaching to sinners that they need to repent or be destroyed by a holy God. We have the sinners repenting and praying God will spare them. We have God accepting their repentance and changing His mind in that He would now not destroy them because they had repented of their wickedness instead of staying in it.

What did Jonah think about all of this? “It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry”. Jonah even admits “I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”, but he is still angry that God is even as he knows He is.

Then God shows Jonah that he had more pity on a gourd which God had made for him that a worm from God had destroyed than the sinners which God had made and had now chosen not to destroy.

I ponder are we any better today? Do we call people to repentance, scare them of hell to come, explain that the wrath of God is upon all that reject Him, and then when they do come we are happy for some yet mad about others?

You say, “No, not me. I am happy for everyone that comes to Christ!” Really?

Why then do we speak mockingly about deathbed conversions, jailhouse salvation, and terrorists’ enlightenment? Sometimes we act as if God can’t or will not convert, other times it is as if we believe they are merely faking it, yet still there are times when it seems that we just don’t believe they deserve it.

Think of the worse person (whether personally known to you or not) and/or the worse place you consider the most non-Christian. Ask yourself if you honestly believe they should be granted salvation by God, would you believe their testimony if given, and would you embrace them as a brother or sister in the name of Christ?

Or would you be mad like Jonah that a sinner received mercy from God?

Do We Practice Discriminatory Witnessing

As Christians, how is our burdening for the lost world? I mean really deep down inside of us. Are we discriminatory in our witnessing? You might ask what do I mean by discriminatory in our witnessing.

What I mean is this. What are your initial thoughts of the gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation and your desire and/or action of witnessing when you see a “hot” looking guy/girl, what about an “ugly” looking guy/girl, what about a “clean cut” looking guy/girl, and what about a “heathen” looking guy/girl?

When we see a person do we find ourselves instinctively without thought placing people into different categories based on preconceived ideas we have already generated in our minds? Does this affect our desire and how we witness or whether we witness to them?

Take the “War on Terror” of today, can we see a Middle Eastern person today and witness to them the same way we witness to an American of our own racial, ethnic background? We should, but do we?

Are we consciously or subconsciously practicing Discriminatory Witnessing in deciding who receives the gospel of Jesus Christ and who does not right here in America?

Evangelical Atheist – Say What?

Recently in my last post the term “evangelical atheist” was mentioned by a commenter.

Personally I don’t like the use of “evangelical” and “atheist” together, but I didn’t coin the phrase and people will say what they want to say. Of course, I don’t go around calling myself an “evangelical Christian” either. I simply use Christian or Baptist.

I tried to do a little surfing to find the term to see what I could come up with. The reason is because it is most often heard from atheists that they want Christians to keep religion to the church, their homes, and themselves and to reframe from proselytizing (their word). So I found the term “evangelical atheist” interesting because in it carries the meaning that they are indeed atheists which go about to proselytize/convert theists to atheists; which would go against what atheists are telling Christians to stop doing.

Here is the article and a small bit from it:

None of this means, however, that there aren't some atheists who really do want to convert theists. What everyone must remember is that this does not indicate that such atheists are just trying to convince themselves. There are many Christian evangelists who spread all over the world to convert people to Christianity, but are they all trying to convince themselves as well? I doubt many Christians would accept such a conclusion, but if so then they shouldn’t claim that it's true about atheists.

In fact, some atheists think that theism, or at least religion, causes a great deal of harm in society, so they try to get people to change their minds. This isn't much different from someone having strong political convictions and trying to get others to change their minds and agree with them. An advocate for laws against abortion or gun control isn't trying to simply "convince themselves" — they are, instead, trying to improve society by promoting particular ideas and/or arguing against others. An evangelical atheist who argues against theism and/or religion is doing much the same.

So two things:

1] Before atheists scream at the Christian for obeying the Word of God and witnessing to every creature, please call off your own from witnessing that God does not exist; or simply except both exist and when a Christian knocks on your door simply say I am not interested.

2] As a Christian take into account that some people may not want to hear the gospel message. I am not saying don’t witness, I am saying when they say they are not interested, don’t cram it down their throats. We don’t convert people, God does, we simple present the gospel message to those that may accept or reject it.

Almost, But Lost

“Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian”

In Acts 26, we have the story of Paul speaking before King Agrippa. Paul could have cried and fallen into such self pity that he would have been useless as a testimony for Christ and surely King Agrippa would have tired and sent him away, but instead Paul chose to use the opportunity to give witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.

28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

My dear friend Almost is not close enough. To be at the very edge of the narrow way, to gaze upon the finish line through the haze, to witness those which stride with purpose as they run the course, to wave and ponder the joy they must have, yet you yourself sit in the broad way pointed to the way of the narrow, with your eyes and ears fixed upon the glorious wonders of such a race, yet without faith you dare not cross the paths to come over, is burdensome to my heart.

Why friend do you sit when you could run, why ponder when you can know, why deny when you can enjoy, why reject when you can embrace, why feel rejected when you can be accepted, why doubt when you can have faith?

Don’t be an Almost statistic. Almost is still lost, and lost is without Christ, and without Christ there is no fellowship with God, and without fellowship with God there is no hope.

Trust him fully today, I pray that you would.

Are you in the race and know of one that is Almost? Do not leave the race by jumping to the broad way, but pray that the Spirit moves them, and bid them come to the narrow. Encourage them so they may believe, share your testimony so they may understand, bear the torch so they may follow, reach out your arms and beg them to come!

Playing the Fool

Scripture declares in Matthew 5:22, “whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire”, but the fool himself is indeed headed to the chastisement and/or the wrath of God. No one should desire to be called a fool, and none should take joy in calling one as such.

Our interim pastor recently preached on this topic, so I thought I would present the points he used to share with the readers here, along with my thoughts. I believe they are important and should make us aware that we need to witness to those around us before it is too late for them, and that may be things that we need to repent of.

Today we will see four (4) classes of which the scripture calls fools:

----------
[1] “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” [Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1]

This class can be broken down into two groups, but literally they are actually only one.

[a] There is the one that claims there is no God, which is called the atheist. Within this group you have those which could care less about God and then those which work to rid the world of everything that says God. They are in need of the very God they reject, and without trusting in Christ. For in denying the Savior, they are ridding themselves of the only way to escape the wrath of God.

[b] There is the one that claims there is a God but lives as though there is none. Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:5, describes them as “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” and tells us “from such turn away”. This is both detrimental to the very soul of the lost and to the testimony of the saved. Neither are pleasing in the sight of God.

----------
[2] “Fools make a mock at sin”. [Proverbs 14:9]

This class can include both the saved and unsaved. To make a mock of sin is sickening in the eyes of God. We are told to depart, abhor, and repent of sin, we are never told to make fun, mimic, or encourage it. We are in a perverse generation that will be judged for endorsing, promoting, and embellishing sin instead of calling on men, women and children everywhere to repent and flee from such wickedness. “The wages of sin is death” [Romans 6:23], it is far from being something to be mocked.

----------
[3] The fool trust in his own works and not in the work of Christ. [Luke 12:19-21]

This class, yet saved or unsaved, is those which trust in riches of this world and lay not up treasure for the next. Scripture says, Revelation 3:17, there are those which “sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. Don’t let the riches of this world keep you from trusting in Christ, nor let it allow you to get cold to the things of God and forget that we are to be about His work.

----------
[4] “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” [1 Corinthians 1:18]

This class is the unsaved that fail to see the importance in trusting in the only begotten Son of God to have sins forgiven and fellowship restored with God through the finish work of Christ on the cross. They see no need of a Savior. Maybe once they have “sowed their wild oats” or come to a tragic time in their life, but not while they are young and full of energy, not while everything is going well at the office and they have plenty of money, not while they are enjoying retirement and traveling the globe, but maybe in that quiet time right before they enter eternity. My dear friend, what if you never make it there?

----------
If you find yourself in one or more of these classes today, it is easy to get out. Come to the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, confess yourself a sinner, repent and turn from your sin, by faith put your trust in Him that He was crucified for your sin, was buried, and was raised that you may be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness and have fellowship with God forevermore!

Are you Playing the Fool?

Deny the flesh and embrace the Spirit!

Let today be the day of your salvation!

Passive Acceptance, Lazy Brute Force (Pt. 2)

Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you disagree with others that believe differently? We need to consider this concerning our biblical thinking, so that we may be a better witness and testimony for Christ and a better Christian in our daily walk.

Lazy Brute Force
What is usually your first plan of action when presented with someone that disagrees with you? Is it to coward down or to come out fighting? What about honest debate, mingled with a hint of charity? Do you quickly say, “You are wrong because you are a (insert a denomination, pastor, school, etc.)” or “I have always believed this way, so you are wrong to think differently”? Yeah, you might not say them out loud, but do you think them? Remember simply because you believe it does not make it right, and because they believe it does not make it wrong; the Word of God is the final authority. Sometimes we may need to consider what the other person is saying, get up from the couch and television, blow the dust off our Bibles, and take a look inside to see what we find. And don’t forget to pray and ask the Spirit to give you godly wisdom and grace to accept the knowledge that you may be given. I am afraid that too often, it may be, we take offence to the fact that someone is challenging our beliefs, and since we have never really taken the time to study them out for ourselves, all we are left with is Lazy Brute Force to reply with.

Am I saying that one should listen, consider, and test each belief that one hears from others that disagree with them? Again, if you cannot personally present clear scripture as to the fact that what they present is unbiblical, then yes I would say it would be a disservice to yourself and others you may encounter if you do not consider taking the time to study it.

---

** And don’t forget charity. **

Proverbs 3:7; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 13; 2 Timothy 2:15-16; 1 John 4:1

Passive Acceptance, Lazy Brute Force (Pt.1)

Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you disagree with others that believe differently? We need to consider this concerning our biblical thinking, so that we may be a better witness and testimony for Christ and a better Christian in our daily walk.

Passive Acceptance
Do you simply believe something because dad and mom or grandma believes it? Is it because your denomination, your preacher, or Sunday school teacher has said it is so? I am not saying that they are all wrong, but in and of itself, because one believes it does not make it so. We have a wonderful Book from God, called the Bible; it is God’s Word and should be the final authority as we grow in knowledge and wisdom in our walk as a child of God. Our question should be, “Does it match what the scriptures say”, not does it match what so and so says it means. Don’t get me wrong, we need godly parents, pastors, teachers, and friends and a wealth of knowledge is taught and learned through fellowship we have with each, but the standard of Truth lies within the Word of God alone, whereby all our convictions and beliefs should be judged. Pray, read, study, and meditate on God’s Word, don’t just sit there in Passive Acceptance of everything you are told.

Am I saying that one needs to question every belief they have? If you cannot personally give a testimony of it in scripture, then yes I would say it would be a disservice to yourself and others you may encounter if you do not consider taking the time to study it.

---

** And don’t forget charity. **

Proverbs 3:7; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 13; 2 Timothy 2:15-16; 1 John 4:1

Plant, Water, Trust

I have never been a farmer, per say, but I have planted seeds as a child and plants as an adult around my yard. As a child we were taught to plant the seed in good soil, water it but not too much, and make sure it is in the Sun to let it grow.

As a Christian, I believe we have lost sight of the simplicity found in that learning we received as a child. Sometimes I believe we spend too much time prodding and over watering the seed, tilling at the soil, and forgetting that it needs the sun to grow; so, we continually muscle it because we don’t or can’t see it growing.

We can hear the cry, “Calvinism is wrong because it forces man against his will”, but we will talk (to and down) to someone till we are blue in the face trying to convince them, against their will, that they need to “pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts” - right now! And God forbid that they deny us that pleasure, we will shake the dust from our garments and gladly hand them over to Satan, and all the while walking away with our head held high that we have done “our duty”, a great service unto the Lord.

Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 3:
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

We are to plant, we are to water, but God gives salvation when, where, and how He wants. Just as with our little gardens, we may do all the right things by planting and watering, but without the Sun, will we really see much of a crop? We can keep tilling up the ground, playing with the seed, drowning it in water, but all is for naught without the Sun doing its job. Did you get that? It’s job.

Our job is to witness; God’s job is to save. Salvation is not by us, but by God. God’s Word, the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation [Romans 1:16], not us and/or our presentation.

By planting and watering the seed (the gospel) through witnessing of the truth, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, through the love we have being now in Christ, we are being obedient to God. By our obedience we shall be given reward by God for our honest, pure labor done selflessly for the cause of Christ. Our job is to live a life honoring and pleasing to God.

God’s job, or power, is shown by taking our frail attempts at obedience through the planting and watering of the gospel and opening the eyes, ears, and mind of the unregenerate to see the marvelous light of Jesus Christ where one finds the forgiveness of sins.

Why Me?

Who has never asked the question, “Why me”, when it comes to something that has taken place in our lives that we find depressing, catastrophic, unfair, or anything that we believe should not have come our way? The alternative, when sometime good happens to us, which may also be unfair (meaning we didn’t deserve it) we usually don’t hear, “Why me”, but “Thank you” or “I deserved it”. I would like to pose three things to think about next time either yourself or one of your friends have something happen in their lives to cause one to ask, “Why me”.

[1] I believe that some things happen to the unbeliever to bring them to Christ. It is ashamed to say, but some people seem to need drastic measures in their life to bring them to the place where they see their need for Christ as Savior. It is easy for the unbeliever to further reject God, but a healthy fear of God can draw them to Him in repentance. The fear is not to cause one to run from God, but to run to God for forgiveness and protection from His wrath. But also the love of God can cause them to run to Him for peace and comfort found only in faith in Christ. [Job 28:28; Matthew 11:28]

[2] I believe that when a Christian is disobedient in lifestyle, as in acting as a lost person by knowing what God has said but is living in open rebellion to it, God indeed will chasten them. God does not do this out of meanness, but out of love. As a loving father desires to see his child do well and enjoy good things, so much more is God the Father to His children. One should not get mad at God, but come to Him in repentance and obedience. [1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12]

[3] I believe that some things happen to Christians that are for examples to others, and not based on anything wrong they may have done. It is a test of faith, which brings them closer to God, and allows others (both believers and unbelievers) to see Christ through their obedience and character through unpleasant and sometimes unexplainable situations in life. [James 1:3; 1 Peter 1:7]

Regardless of which situation you find yourself, the thing to remember is that putting your trust in God is where we should start. Point the unbeliever and remind the believer of the grace and mercy found in God through the Savior Jesus Christ. [Romans 8:28]