The book of Nehemiah describes the reconstruction of the wall around Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonians. It begins with Nehemiah receiving word that the wall is in disrepair. Nehemiah becomes sadden by the news, and King Artaxerxes notices. He asks Nehemiah why he is sad, and Nehemiah tells him about the wall. The king allows Nehemiah to go back with some people and rebuild the wall. Once Nehemiah gets there, he tells the remnant still living in Jerusalem his plan to rebuild the wall. They are happy and begin the work. Even though Sanballet tries to stir up trouble and keep Nehemiah and the people from finishing the wall, they overcome his attacks and finish the wall.
Nehemiah 4: 6 explains why Nehemiah and the people were able to finish the wall, even with all the problems they faced: "So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work." Notice the last part of the verse - "For the people had a mind to work." That's why they were able to finish the wall, even with all the attacks from without and within. The people wanted to work to see the wall finished. They had a desire to complete the work.
When people have a mind, or a desire, or a want, to work, they can accomplish great things. Just look at the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11: 1-9. After the flood, the people were still in one place, even though God instructed them to go and populate the entire Earth. They stayed together and desired to build a tower that would reach heaven. Notice what God says in verse 6 : "And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.'" God saw that the people were united about building the tower, and He knew that because of it, they could do anything they imagined. When a group of people have a mind to work, they can, indeed, accomplish great things.
Which brings me to the title of this post - Where is our mind to work? The reason why I ask this question is because I think we've lost our mind to work. We've lost our desire, our want. I think that many today are like the second and third soils described in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Those soils either had no root or were choked by thorns. When Jesus gave the explanation for the parable, He said that those groups were people who didn't allow the word to take root in their lives but gave up when persecution came and who allowed the cares and riches of the world to choke the word out. People today have allowed the world to snuff our their desire and want to do God's work. They have allowed the world to extinguish their mind to work.
In order to be pleasing to God, we must get that mindset back. We must be people willing to work for God as He directs us to. I Thessalonians 15:58 tells us, "Therefore, my beloved brethen, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." If we have that mindset to always be doing God's work, then what we do is never in vain. But we must want to have a mind to work. So, the question I want to leave with you is this: Where is your mind to work? Is your mind on God, desiring to do His will, or is your mind somewhere else? If we Christians all have a mind to work for God, just imagine the good we can accomplish for Him and His cause.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Do You Love Hearing God's Word Preached?
How many times have you heard someone tell you that they love God's Word? I can tell you that I haven't heard it much. Yet, we're told that true followers WILL love it.. "My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes" (Psalms 119:48). "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day" (Psalms 119:97). "I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love" (Psalms 119:113). A love of God's Word is an important part of being a follower of Jesus. But rarely today do we hear anyone proclaiming their love for it. In fact, we hear more people complaining about God's Word instead of praising it, especially when it comes to it being preached.
People of today are perfect examples of II Timothy 4:3-4 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Instead of insisting that preachers stick to God's Word and proclaim His message, people are demanding that preachers entertain them and make them feel good. People today no longer love hearing God's Word taught; they only want to hear that what they're doing is okay.
Likewise, in II Timothy 3:1-5, we read, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Many people today, who hate hearing God's Word, fit perfectly into these categories. They reject God's Word, choosing to love pleasure more than God, and have, what Paul says in verse 5, "a form of godliness". They don't have true Godliness, just a form of it. They don't have the truth, because they don't want the truth. They only want what they think is the truth. They want someone to tell them exactly what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.
Paul, in Romans 10:15, tells us how we should view people who are willing to boldly proclaim God's Word: "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Being a preacher is something to aspire to, like an elder. Those who preach God's Word should be respected, honored, and loved for what they're doing. But, sadly, people won't respect those that preach God's Word. They'll call them names, they'll make fun of them, they'll even go so far as to threaten them in order to silence them. But true Christians will love hearing God's Word preached.
So, now, I ask you, the reader, where do you stand? Do you love hearing God's Word preached or do you despise it? Are you one who hungers and thirsts after God's Word or do you hunger and thirst for another message? The choice is clear: the true follower will desire hearing God's Word, even though it may be difficult at times, over any man-made message, no matter how pleasing to the ears. My friend, I hope you make the correct choice in your life.
People of today are perfect examples of II Timothy 4:3-4 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Instead of insisting that preachers stick to God's Word and proclaim His message, people are demanding that preachers entertain them and make them feel good. People today no longer love hearing God's Word taught; they only want to hear that what they're doing is okay.
Likewise, in II Timothy 3:1-5, we read, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Many people today, who hate hearing God's Word, fit perfectly into these categories. They reject God's Word, choosing to love pleasure more than God, and have, what Paul says in verse 5, "a form of godliness". They don't have true Godliness, just a form of it. They don't have the truth, because they don't want the truth. They only want what they think is the truth. They want someone to tell them exactly what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.
Paul, in Romans 10:15, tells us how we should view people who are willing to boldly proclaim God's Word: "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Being a preacher is something to aspire to, like an elder. Those who preach God's Word should be respected, honored, and loved for what they're doing. But, sadly, people won't respect those that preach God's Word. They'll call them names, they'll make fun of them, they'll even go so far as to threaten them in order to silence them. But true Christians will love hearing God's Word preached.
So, now, I ask you, the reader, where do you stand? Do you love hearing God's Word preached or do you despise it? Are you one who hungers and thirsts after God's Word or do you hunger and thirst for another message? The choice is clear: the true follower will desire hearing God's Word, even though it may be difficult at times, over any man-made message, no matter how pleasing to the ears. My friend, I hope you make the correct choice in your life.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Homosexuality and The Bible
There has been a lot of discussion concerning homosexuality recently. Whether it was Kirk Cameron's comments a few weeks ago, or the vote in North Carolina that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, or President Obama's statement that he believed that homosexuals should have the same rights to marry as heterosexuals, people have been talking about gay marriage and homosexuality. A lot of people are talking, but what we should be interested in is what God says about the matter. So, let's go and search the Bible and see what God has to say.
In the Old Testament, we see quite clearly how God saw homosexuality. In Lev. 18: 22, we read, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." God states that homosexuality is an abomination, or sin. In verse 29 of the same chapter, God states, "For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." In Lev. 20:13, we see what the people were to do with those caught in the act - "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." There were only a handful of sins that had death as a punishment, and homosexuality was one of them. It is clear to see that God saw homosexuality as sin, and He was strongly opposed to it.
But that was in the law of Moses, which was given to the Israelites to govern their nation. We, today, do not live under that law, but under the New Law, the one instituted by Jesus Himself (Eph. 2:15). So, what does that law say about homosexuality? In I Cor. 6: 9-10, we read, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." We see a list of people who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and in the middle are two that stick out: effeminate and abusers of themselves with mankind. Abusers of themselves is translated in other versions as homosexuals, and effeminate is translated as sexual perverts. People who practice homosexuality are perverting, or corrupting, what God has designed as normal or natural.
In Romans 1: 17-32, Paul explains to the christians in Rome how God has revealed Himself through those things that are created, and how certain people have denied His existence, to the point where God allowed them to continue in their delusions. In verses 26 and 27, we see one way people were denying God and how God allowed them to do so: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Look at how homosexuality is described. "Vile affections", "Change the Natural Use", "Against Nature", "Working that which is Unseemly". This passage clearly shows how God feels about homosexuality. He is against it, calling it unnatural.
But some reading this may say that the above paragraph describes how Paul feels about homosexuality, not God or Jesus. They'll say that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, and therefore cares nothing about it. While it is true that Jesus never expressly talks about homosexuality, He does talk about marriage. Let's see what He has to say about that subject.
In Matt. 19, we see the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask Him a question about marriage and divorce. Let's focus on what Jesus says about marriage. In verses 4-6, we read, "Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." When asked about marriage, Jesus goes back to the Garden of Eden as the example of what a marriage should be - one man, one woman, for life. He says God made the first two humans a male and a female to get married and become one. He doesn't say that two people can get married, but a man and a woman. So, because Jesus never mentions homosexuals getting married, but instead speaks of God's ideal marriage as one man and one woman (Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), it actually proves how against the idea of homosexuality Jesus is. He reaffirms that marriage is between one man and one woman, and only between one man and one woman.
I don't write about this subject out of some hatred against homosexuals, even though that is how many today interpret anything spoken against homosexuality and homosexuals. I do it out of love. This world has been brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is natural and should be celebrated. But that's not what the bible says at all. The bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. You can try and twist the bible to make it say whatever you want, but anyone reading it with an unbiased view will come to the conclusion that homosexuality is a sin. And, just like any other sin, people can come out of it. Let's go back to I Cor. 6 for a second. We read verses 9 and 10, where Paul states which people will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now let's read verse 11 - "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." He says that some of the people that were now Christians in the church at Corinth were the people described in verses 9 and 10, but they had been baptized and had changed. Some were no longer homosexuals, but had changed. That is what God wanted when Paul wrote this letter, and that is what God wants from everyone today - no matter what sin you're doing, you can come out of it, be forgiven of it, and be baptized. Just like Peter says in II Peter 3:9 - "[God is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He wants everyone to be saved and go to heaven. In order to go to heaven, one must leave all sin behind, change his life, and follow God. No matter how unpopular it is to say, homosexuality is a sin. It's unnatural and will cause many to lose out on heaven. That is what the bible clearly states, that is how God believes, and that is what we should believe.
In the Old Testament, we see quite clearly how God saw homosexuality. In Lev. 18: 22, we read, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." God states that homosexuality is an abomination, or sin. In verse 29 of the same chapter, God states, "For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." In Lev. 20:13, we see what the people were to do with those caught in the act - "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." There were only a handful of sins that had death as a punishment, and homosexuality was one of them. It is clear to see that God saw homosexuality as sin, and He was strongly opposed to it.
But that was in the law of Moses, which was given to the Israelites to govern their nation. We, today, do not live under that law, but under the New Law, the one instituted by Jesus Himself (Eph. 2:15). So, what does that law say about homosexuality? In I Cor. 6: 9-10, we read, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." We see a list of people who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and in the middle are two that stick out: effeminate and abusers of themselves with mankind. Abusers of themselves is translated in other versions as homosexuals, and effeminate is translated as sexual perverts. People who practice homosexuality are perverting, or corrupting, what God has designed as normal or natural.
In Romans 1: 17-32, Paul explains to the christians in Rome how God has revealed Himself through those things that are created, and how certain people have denied His existence, to the point where God allowed them to continue in their delusions. In verses 26 and 27, we see one way people were denying God and how God allowed them to do so: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Look at how homosexuality is described. "Vile affections", "Change the Natural Use", "Against Nature", "Working that which is Unseemly". This passage clearly shows how God feels about homosexuality. He is against it, calling it unnatural.
But some reading this may say that the above paragraph describes how Paul feels about homosexuality, not God or Jesus. They'll say that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, and therefore cares nothing about it. While it is true that Jesus never expressly talks about homosexuality, He does talk about marriage. Let's see what He has to say about that subject.
In Matt. 19, we see the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask Him a question about marriage and divorce. Let's focus on what Jesus says about marriage. In verses 4-6, we read, "Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." When asked about marriage, Jesus goes back to the Garden of Eden as the example of what a marriage should be - one man, one woman, for life. He says God made the first two humans a male and a female to get married and become one. He doesn't say that two people can get married, but a man and a woman. So, because Jesus never mentions homosexuals getting married, but instead speaks of God's ideal marriage as one man and one woman (Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), it actually proves how against the idea of homosexuality Jesus is. He reaffirms that marriage is between one man and one woman, and only between one man and one woman.
I don't write about this subject out of some hatred against homosexuals, even though that is how many today interpret anything spoken against homosexuality and homosexuals. I do it out of love. This world has been brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is natural and should be celebrated. But that's not what the bible says at all. The bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. You can try and twist the bible to make it say whatever you want, but anyone reading it with an unbiased view will come to the conclusion that homosexuality is a sin. And, just like any other sin, people can come out of it. Let's go back to I Cor. 6 for a second. We read verses 9 and 10, where Paul states which people will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now let's read verse 11 - "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." He says that some of the people that were now Christians in the church at Corinth were the people described in verses 9 and 10, but they had been baptized and had changed. Some were no longer homosexuals, but had changed. That is what God wanted when Paul wrote this letter, and that is what God wants from everyone today - no matter what sin you're doing, you can come out of it, be forgiven of it, and be baptized. Just like Peter says in II Peter 3:9 - "[God is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He wants everyone to be saved and go to heaven. In order to go to heaven, one must leave all sin behind, change his life, and follow God. No matter how unpopular it is to say, homosexuality is a sin. It's unnatural and will cause many to lose out on heaven. That is what the bible clearly states, that is how God believes, and that is what we should believe.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
"Let Not God Speak With Us"
In Exodus 19, God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel to clean and sanctify themselves, because they were going to be in the presence of God. Then, three days later, God came down to speak to His people. In chapter 20, we read of God giving the Ten Commandments to Israel. Verses 18 and 19 tell us "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, 'Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.'"
I can't imagine what it would have been like to be there. No doubt, seeing the thunder, the lightning, the smoke and fire, and hearing God's voice like a trumpet would have been a frightening sight. But I hope I wouldn't want to hear God speak. I hope I wouldn't be so afraid that I would want someone else to tell me what He said. Yet, that is what we see the children of Israel do. And that is exactly what we see people doing today.
People today are not reading their bibles like they once did. There are many ways we can read the bible. We can read an actual book, we can read it on our computers, we can read it on our phones, and we can read it on an e-reader or a tablet. There are, also, many translations we can read the bible in (although some are better than others). The bottom line is there is no excuse for not reading the bible today. But people are just not taking the time to read it.
If you ask most people why they believe what they believe about God or the bible, they'll tell you it's because of what their pastor or reverend or minister tells them. People don't want to listen to God anymore. They, like the children of Israel, are saying, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us". People are willing to listen to someone tell them what God says instead of doing the work themselves. When people do this, they are placing their souls into the hands of someone else, by believing that person is right and obeying what they say. The question I want to ask these people, but never do, is "What if your pastor or reverend or minister is wrong? Then what?"
The bible tells us we are responsible for our own souls - "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). Not only are we responsible for our souls, we are responsible to know and understand everything that we believe - "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15).
God didn't want people to just listen to what someone else had to say, because He knew that false teachers would come in and distort the truth or lie to people and give them a message that they wanted to hear, instead of the TRUE message they NEEDED to hear. "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of" (II Peter 2: 1-2). "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Timothy 4: 3-4).
God inspired men to write the bible so that it could understood by all and read by all. Whenever we decide to stop reading and studying the bible and allow another person to tell us what he thinks the bible says, we are not doing what God wants us to, and we are placing our souls in jeopardy by listening and obeying men instead of God. Our souls are the most important things in the world (Matthew 16:26). Why would anyone treat it so carelessly?
In Exodus 20, Moses does exactly what the people want. He is brave enough to listen to God and obey His commandments. Today, we need people who will do the same. We need people to be like the Bereans who "...were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). God wants everyone to listen to Him and His word, instead of what man says. So, the question I want to leave with you is this: Will you be like the children of Israel and listen to what man says, or will you be like the Bereans and listen to what God says? The choice is yours.
I can't imagine what it would have been like to be there. No doubt, seeing the thunder, the lightning, the smoke and fire, and hearing God's voice like a trumpet would have been a frightening sight. But I hope I wouldn't want to hear God speak. I hope I wouldn't be so afraid that I would want someone else to tell me what He said. Yet, that is what we see the children of Israel do. And that is exactly what we see people doing today.
People today are not reading their bibles like they once did. There are many ways we can read the bible. We can read an actual book, we can read it on our computers, we can read it on our phones, and we can read it on an e-reader or a tablet. There are, also, many translations we can read the bible in (although some are better than others). The bottom line is there is no excuse for not reading the bible today. But people are just not taking the time to read it.
If you ask most people why they believe what they believe about God or the bible, they'll tell you it's because of what their pastor or reverend or minister tells them. People don't want to listen to God anymore. They, like the children of Israel, are saying, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us". People are willing to listen to someone tell them what God says instead of doing the work themselves. When people do this, they are placing their souls into the hands of someone else, by believing that person is right and obeying what they say. The question I want to ask these people, but never do, is "What if your pastor or reverend or minister is wrong? Then what?"
The bible tells us we are responsible for our own souls - "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). Not only are we responsible for our souls, we are responsible to know and understand everything that we believe - "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15).
God didn't want people to just listen to what someone else had to say, because He knew that false teachers would come in and distort the truth or lie to people and give them a message that they wanted to hear, instead of the TRUE message they NEEDED to hear. "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of" (II Peter 2: 1-2). "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Timothy 4: 3-4).
God inspired men to write the bible so that it could understood by all and read by all. Whenever we decide to stop reading and studying the bible and allow another person to tell us what he thinks the bible says, we are not doing what God wants us to, and we are placing our souls in jeopardy by listening and obeying men instead of God. Our souls are the most important things in the world (Matthew 16:26). Why would anyone treat it so carelessly?
In Exodus 20, Moses does exactly what the people want. He is brave enough to listen to God and obey His commandments. Today, we need people who will do the same. We need people to be like the Bereans who "...were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). God wants everyone to listen to Him and His word, instead of what man says. So, the question I want to leave with you is this: Will you be like the children of Israel and listen to what man says, or will you be like the Bereans and listen to what God says? The choice is yours.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
"After Everything He Has Done For You"
The title for this blog post comes from an actual coversation I heard in college. I was living in a house with some of my friends at the time. It was a Saturday night, and two of my roommates had just come home from Saturday evening Mass. As soon as they came in the door, they were complaining about how the priest had gone over the scheduled time by about 5 minutes. After hearing them complain for a few minutes, another of my roommates had enough and said to the two roommates, "After everything He has done for you, you can't give God a few more minutes of your time." As soon as he said this, my two roommates ceased their complaining.
People today want religion to be easy and simple. They want to go to church services for an hour, and only an hour, have the preacher speak for 30 minutes or less, and be out the building and onto their lives. That's about as much commitment that people make to God these days. And it's truly saddening to see people who proclaim to be Christians act this way "after everything He has done" for them.
Probably the most recognized and memorized verse in the bible is John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Many people focus on the latter part of the verse, but I want to draw your attention to the first part - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." God loved everyone that has lived, is currently living, and will live so much that He sent His only Son to die for them. God sent His only Son to die for you and me. Just take a moment to think about that. God sent His Son to die for us. Jesus willing died on the cross for us.
In Romans 5, Paul wrote to the Romans concerning Jesus' death. In verse 7, he points out that people usually won't die for others. Rarely will someone die for someone else, but only if that other person is a good person. In verse 8, Paul tells us why Jesus' sacrifice for us was so incredible - "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Every person on earth is unworthy of the gift of salvation, but God sent His Son and Jesus willing died for us anyways.
I know it's hard sometimes to live a true Christian life these days. And sometimes we might complain about how hard it is. I know I have done my fair share of complaining. But whenever I do, I remember Jesus, I remember the life He lived, and I remember "everything He has done" for me, and those complaints suddenly disappear. It's when I remember the sacrifice made for me that I begin to understand exactly what Jesus means when He said, "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matt. 11:30). Jesus has done the hard part for us. How can we not rejoice and gladly obey Him "after everything He has done" for us?
People today want religion to be easy and simple. They want to go to church services for an hour, and only an hour, have the preacher speak for 30 minutes or less, and be out the building and onto their lives. That's about as much commitment that people make to God these days. And it's truly saddening to see people who proclaim to be Christians act this way "after everything He has done" for them.
Probably the most recognized and memorized verse in the bible is John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Many people focus on the latter part of the verse, but I want to draw your attention to the first part - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..." God loved everyone that has lived, is currently living, and will live so much that He sent His only Son to die for them. God sent His only Son to die for you and me. Just take a moment to think about that. God sent His Son to die for us. Jesus willing died on the cross for us.
In Romans 5, Paul wrote to the Romans concerning Jesus' death. In verse 7, he points out that people usually won't die for others. Rarely will someone die for someone else, but only if that other person is a good person. In verse 8, Paul tells us why Jesus' sacrifice for us was so incredible - "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Every person on earth is unworthy of the gift of salvation, but God sent His Son and Jesus willing died for us anyways.
I know it's hard sometimes to live a true Christian life these days. And sometimes we might complain about how hard it is. I know I have done my fair share of complaining. But whenever I do, I remember Jesus, I remember the life He lived, and I remember "everything He has done" for me, and those complaints suddenly disappear. It's when I remember the sacrifice made for me that I begin to understand exactly what Jesus means when He said, "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matt. 11:30). Jesus has done the hard part for us. How can we not rejoice and gladly obey Him "after everything He has done" for us?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Salvation only in Jesus?
If you listen to the popular religious leaders today, there are many ways to get to heaven. I had a college professor describe religion as being a mountain. He said that there were many ways to get up the mountain, but every path got you to the top. He was telling the class that even though there are many religions on earth, they all save you in the end. It doesn't matter what you believe or who you believe in. Just follow your path, and you'll be saved.
Nowadays, many who claim to be Christians and claim to believe the bible is God's inspired word are saying the exact same thing: that one doesn't have to be a Christian to go to heaven. When one studies the bible, he finds that there is only one way to heaven: through Jesus Christ. Let's see what the bible has to say on how one can be saved.
Everyone who claims to be a Christian should listen to what Jesus has to say on any subject. So, what does Jesus have to say about getting to heaven? In John 14: 6, Jesus tells his disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus says that He is THE way, not A way; He is THE truth, not A truth; and that He is THE life, not A life. He is not one of many, but is the only. Many people will probably say I'm making too much out of the use of the word "the" before way, truth, and life, but notice what Jesus says at the end of the verse - "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." No one is getting to God, who lives in heaven, except through Jesus. It is only through Jesus that a person can be saved and get into heaven.
People who think that there are many ways to be saved, and thus many ways to heaven, are really missing the point of Jesus' death. Jesus came into the world to die on the cross, so that the world would have salvation (I Thess. 5: 9-10; Acts 4:12). When Jesus was praying in the garden, He prayed "Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26: 39). The cup, which Jesus is referring to, is His death on the cross. He is praying that, if there is any other way for salvation to come to the world, then let it come another way. However, Jesus was willing to die on the cross if that was the only way to save mankind. Since Jesus did die on the cross, we know that there was no other way to save man. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
We live in a world where we have options. If we don't like one way of doing something, there is always another way to go about it. However, when it comes to salvation, there is only one way, and that is through Jesus Christ. People may not like it, but that is the truth. If anyone wants to be saved when Judgment Day comes, he has to go through Christ. Just like Jesus says in Matthew 7: 13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." You can go down the path that says that there are multiple ways to heaven and end up in hell, or you can find that narrow path of Jesus that leads to heaven. The choice is yours.
Nowadays, many who claim to be Christians and claim to believe the bible is God's inspired word are saying the exact same thing: that one doesn't have to be a Christian to go to heaven. When one studies the bible, he finds that there is only one way to heaven: through Jesus Christ. Let's see what the bible has to say on how one can be saved.
Everyone who claims to be a Christian should listen to what Jesus has to say on any subject. So, what does Jesus have to say about getting to heaven? In John 14: 6, Jesus tells his disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus says that He is THE way, not A way; He is THE truth, not A truth; and that He is THE life, not A life. He is not one of many, but is the only. Many people will probably say I'm making too much out of the use of the word "the" before way, truth, and life, but notice what Jesus says at the end of the verse - "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." No one is getting to God, who lives in heaven, except through Jesus. It is only through Jesus that a person can be saved and get into heaven.
People who think that there are many ways to be saved, and thus many ways to heaven, are really missing the point of Jesus' death. Jesus came into the world to die on the cross, so that the world would have salvation (I Thess. 5: 9-10; Acts 4:12). When Jesus was praying in the garden, He prayed "Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26: 39). The cup, which Jesus is referring to, is His death on the cross. He is praying that, if there is any other way for salvation to come to the world, then let it come another way. However, Jesus was willing to die on the cross if that was the only way to save mankind. Since Jesus did die on the cross, we know that there was no other way to save man. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
We live in a world where we have options. If we don't like one way of doing something, there is always another way to go about it. However, when it comes to salvation, there is only one way, and that is through Jesus Christ. People may not like it, but that is the truth. If anyone wants to be saved when Judgment Day comes, he has to go through Christ. Just like Jesus says in Matthew 7: 13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." You can go down the path that says that there are multiple ways to heaven and end up in hell, or you can find that narrow path of Jesus that leads to heaven. The choice is yours.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Church's Mission Statement
Every successful business has a mission statement, something that defines who they are, what they do, and why they're doing what they're doing. A mission statement is usually one of the first things a company comes up with, so that they have a direction to go, a course to take them where they want to go. A company will only be successful if they keep to their mission statement. If they stray too far from it, they risk going out of business or going in a direction they never planned on going.
The church has a mission statement. It's the same mission statement that its head, Jesus, had: to seek and to save the lost with the gospel (Luke 19:10). It's that simple. Sometimes the problems and worries of the world will confuse us or make us forget, and sometimes we get busy and lose sight of the goal, but the mission of the church is to get as many people as we can to heaven by the preaching of the gospel. That's it. It's not to make the church building the most comfortable place to be, the potluck meals the most appetizing in the world, or the activities the most fun and entertaining they can be. It's to preach the gospel to all men everywhere (Mark 16:15-16).
And the church's mission statement never changes. From the very beginning, it's been to preach the gospel to save men. And until Christ returns, it will always be to preach the gospel to save men. Period. Many today want to change the mission statement, but they do so at their own peril. The gospel is "...the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth..." (Romans 1:16). Hearing the gospel preached convicts the sinner to repent of his sins and be baptized for the remission of sins. Without the gospel, no one could be saved. But too many today want to change the mission statement to something that Jesus never intended. They think that entertainment will save people or that people will be saved with activities and games and good food. People may attend more services, but they're not saved. But the only way to save is with the gospel.
What are you doing to save the lost? Are you preaching the gospel to them? We may not be able to reach the entire world with the gospel like Paul did (Col. 1:5-6), but we can try to reach those around us. If every Christian in the world reached out to those around them, we could teach the whole world. So, let's not hesitate to do our part. Let's strive to make 2012 the best year yet by preaching the gospel to the lost.
The church has a mission statement. It's the same mission statement that its head, Jesus, had: to seek and to save the lost with the gospel (Luke 19:10). It's that simple. Sometimes the problems and worries of the world will confuse us or make us forget, and sometimes we get busy and lose sight of the goal, but the mission of the church is to get as many people as we can to heaven by the preaching of the gospel. That's it. It's not to make the church building the most comfortable place to be, the potluck meals the most appetizing in the world, or the activities the most fun and entertaining they can be. It's to preach the gospel to all men everywhere (Mark 16:15-16).
And the church's mission statement never changes. From the very beginning, it's been to preach the gospel to save men. And until Christ returns, it will always be to preach the gospel to save men. Period. Many today want to change the mission statement, but they do so at their own peril. The gospel is "...the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth..." (Romans 1:16). Hearing the gospel preached convicts the sinner to repent of his sins and be baptized for the remission of sins. Without the gospel, no one could be saved. But too many today want to change the mission statement to something that Jesus never intended. They think that entertainment will save people or that people will be saved with activities and games and good food. People may attend more services, but they're not saved. But the only way to save is with the gospel.
What are you doing to save the lost? Are you preaching the gospel to them? We may not be able to reach the entire world with the gospel like Paul did (Col. 1:5-6), but we can try to reach those around us. If every Christian in the world reached out to those around them, we could teach the whole world. So, let's not hesitate to do our part. Let's strive to make 2012 the best year yet by preaching the gospel to the lost.
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