thesignpostnewsletter

2010-09-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Prayer
Our Passport To Assurance

The example of our Lord in the matter of prayer is one which His followers might well copy. Christ prayed much and He taught much about prayer. His life and His works, as well as His teaching, are illustrations of the nature and necessity of prayer. He lived and labored to answer prayer. But the necessity of importunity in prayer was the emphasized point in His teaching about prayer. He taught not only that men must pray, but that they must persevere in prayer.
He taught in command and precept the idea of energy and earnestness in praying. He gives to our efforts graduation and climax. We are to ask, but to the asking we must add seeking, and seeking must pass into the full force of effort in knocking. The pleading soul must be aroused to effort by God’s silence. Denial, instead of abating or abashing, must arouse its latent energies and kindle anew its highest ardor.
In the Sermon on the Mount, in which He lays down the cardinal duties of His religion, He not only gives prominence to prayer in general and secret prayer in particular, but He sets apart a distinct and different section to give weight to importunate prayer. To prevent any discouragement in praying He lays as a basic principle the fact of God’s great fatherly willingness—that God’s willingness to answer our prayers exceeds our willingness to give good and necessary things to our children, just as far as God’s ability, goodness and perfection exceed our infirmities and evil. As a further assurance and stimulant to prayer Christ gives the most positive and iterated assurance of answer to prayers. He declares: “Ask and it shah be given to you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” And to make assurance doubly sure, He adds: “For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Why does He unfold to us the Father’s loving readiness to answer the prayers of His children? Why does He affirm so strongly that prayer will be answered? Why does He repeat that positive affirmation six times? Why does Christ on two distinct occasions go over the same strong promises, iterations, and reiterations in regard to the certainty of prayer being answered? Because He knew that there would be delay in many an answer which would call for importunate pressing, and that if our faith did not have the strongest assurance of God’s willingness to answer, delay would break it down. He also knew that our spiritual sloth would come in, under the guise of submission, and say it is not God’s will to give what we ask, and so cease praying and lose our case. After Christ had put God’s willingness to answer prayer in a very clear and strong light, He then urges to importunity, and that every unanswered prayer, instead of abating our pressure, should only increase intensity and energy. If asking does not obtain the answer, let asking pass into the settled attitude and spirit of seeking. If seeking does not secure the answer, let seeking pass on to the more energetic and clamorous plea of knocking. We must persevere till we get it. No failure here if our faith does not break down.
As our great example in prayer, our Lord puts love as a primary condition—a love that has purified the heart from all the elements of hate, revenge, and ill will. Love is the supreme condition of prayer, a life inspired by love. The 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians is the law of prayer as well as the law of love. The law of love is the law of prayer, and to master this chapter from the epistle of Paul is to learn the first and fullest condition of prayer.
Christ taught us also to approach the Father in His name. That is our passport. It is in His name that we are to make our petitions known. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask Me anything in My name, that will I do.”
How wide and comprehensive is that “whatsoever.” There is no limit to the power of that name. “Whatsoever ye shall ask.” That is the Divine declaration, and it opens up to every praying child a vista of infinite resource and possibility.
And that is our heritage. All that Christ has may become ours if we obey the conditions. The one secret is prayer. The place of revealing and of equipment, of grace and of power, is the prayer-chamber, and as we meet there with God we shall not only win our triumphs but we shall also grow in the likeness of our Lord and become His living witnesses to men.
Without prayer the Christian life, robbed of its sweetness and its beauty, becomes cold and formal and dead; but rooted in the secret place where God meets and walks and talks with His own, it grows into such a testimony of Divine power that all men will feel its influence and be touched by the warmth of its love. Thus, resembling our Lord and Master, we shall be used for the glory of God and the salvation of our fellow men.
And that, surely is the purpose of all real prayer and the end of all true service.

Thought Provokers

Each month there will be several thoughts that might tend to provoke some thought. This is a new section for The Signpost Newsletter. The answers and some discussion will follow in the next issue.

1. Someone who advocates the killing (abortion) of babies probably thinks they are good standing with God. What do you think? Can you think of an example?

2. When God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Who is us? Was someone there with Him?

3. God tells us to put on the full armor of God. I don’t have any armor lying around. What does He mean?

4. How many people wrote the Bible, and is it inspired by God? Or, is it just a collection of good stories?

5. With the question above in mind, isn’t the Bible just interpretation of whomever is reading it?

Know when to speak #20

Over the last year and a half this section, (Know When To Speak), has laid out means of explaining in a logical, simple and precise way of sharing the gospel with our friends, relatives and new acquaintances. It is not designed to force or in any way coerce people into accepting Jesus.
An interesting experience occurred recently. A friend thought the use of death or dying was in some manner a means to scare people into some sort of conversion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Death is that point where we are separated from our earthbound temple (our body), and start on our trip to be with the Lord, or……whatever. We know there are only two options, be with the Lord or not be with the Lord, and we need to make that decision before we go. And, since we don’t know when we are going, it might be a good idea to take care of that issue before the time comes.
Many people get confused about whether or not they are going to heaven or hell. Some think that they should wait to the last possible moment before accepting Christ. That way they won’t have a chance to sin before going. Another myth…. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts, we are a new creature. The old things have passed away, and new things are coming. Our sins are forgiven past, present and future. We don’t have to keep worrying if we slipped up and won’t make it.
Another thought. We are told we will be reunited with loved ones once we get to heaven. Here’s another good reason to lock this issue in place. This mortal life is just a short period of time. Eternity is forever…that’s a very long time. It would seem logical if someone has lost someone they love that went to heaven and you drag your feet, you will miss the opportunity to be with them again. Our job is not to try and force someone to believe. We are just the messengers. Well, just a thought…….It’s your call.
A verse to keep in mind:

(Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before My Father in heaven; but whosoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before My Father in heaven".

Speaking of Logic

What is the definition of sin? In simple terms sin is anything displeasing to God. What about committing blatant sin? How
would we define that? Webster defines blatant as; unpleasant, offensively loud, and shameless. What happens if we apply that to a sin issue? This means the person is involved in a sin issue, knows it, and thinks they are alright with God anyway. This person also thinks they are quite logical in their belief. Does anyone see a problem here? Can anyone think of a situation where this applies? Think about it…….
If you would like a complete comparison of blatant sin and God’s stand in it, drop me a line. The article is quite long. Send your request to: ee1gary@aol.com. There is no charge.

A Little Humor

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
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2010-08-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

Prayerless Praying

Why do we not pray? What are the hindrances to prayer? This is not a curious nor trivial question. It goes not only to the whole matter of our praying, but to the whole matter of our religion. Religion is bound to decline when praying is hindered. That which hinders praying, hinders religion. He who is too busy to pray will be too busy to live a holy life.
Other duties become pressing and absorbing and crowd out prayer. If you Ignore your garden, weeds quickly overtake and choke out the beauty and just as easily… our prayer life can be choked to death. This way of hindering prayer becomes so natural, so easy, so innocent that it comes on us all unawares. If we will allow our praying to be crowded out, it will always be done. Satan had rather we let the grass grow on the path to our prayer-chamber than anything else. A vacant chamber of prayer means that a believer has gone out of business religiously or what is worse, made a change & is carrying out our religion in some other name than God’s and to somebody else’s glory. In the business of religion, God’s glory is only secured when we practice that religion with a large capital of prayer.
The process of hindering prayer by crowding it out is simple and goes in stages. First, prayer is hurried through. Unrest and agitation, which are fatal to all devout exercises, comes in. Then the time is shortened, desire for the exercise fades.

Then it is crowded into a corner and depends on the fragments of time for its exercise. Its value depreciates. The duty has lots its importance. It no longer commands respect nor brings benefit. It has fallen out of esteem, out of the heart, out of the habits, out of the life. We cease to pray and cease to live spiritually.
One of Satan’s wiliest tricks is to destroy the best by the good. Business and other duties are good, but we are so filled with these that they crowd out and destroy the best. Prayer holds the citadel for God, and if Satan can by any means weaken prayer he has succeeded, and when prayer is dead the citadel is taken. We must keep prayer as the faithful sentinel keeps guard, with sleepless vigilance. We must not keep it half-starved and feeble as a baby, but we must keep it in giant strength. Our prayer-chamber should have our freshest strength, our calmest time, its hours unfettered, without obtrusion, without haste. Private place and plenty of time are the life of prayer.

“Men would pray better if they lived better”

Prayer in the Old Testament is called wrestling, conflict and skill, strenuous, exhaustive efforts are involved. In the New Testament we have the terms striving, laboring fervently, fervent, effectual, agony, all indicating intense effort put forth, difficulties overcome.
“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”

Prayer is not the fruit of natural talents; it is the product of faith, of holiness, of deeply spiritual character. We learn to pray as we learn to love.
We must live for God out of the closet if we would meet God in the closet. We must bless God by praying lives if we would have God’s blessing in the closet. We must do God’s will in our lives if we would have God’s ear in the closet. We must listen to God’s voice in public if we would have God listen to our voice in private. God must have our hearts out of the closet, if we would have God’s presence in the closet. If we would have God in the closet, God must have us out of the closet. There is no way of praying to God, but by living to God. The closet is not a confessional, simply, but the hour of holy communion and high and sweet intercourse and of intense intercession.
“Then shalt thou call and the Lord shalt answer, Thou shalt cry and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth the finger, and speaking vanity.” Isaiah 58:9
We are to pray “lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.” 1 Timothy 2:8

Know when to speak #20

This will be an interesting session. A number of comments have come to me regarding the questions or statements from last month. The bulk of the comments were to question whether the Bible really deals with every question or statement. This month we’ll take a look at each question and see what the Bible says about it.

1. The rapture will take place on October 27, 2011.
Ans.: Let’s turn in the Bible to Matthew 24: 35-36; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
edit. note: I think I’ll go with the Father rather than someone’s prediction.
2. Satan can appear as an angel of light.
Ans: Look at: 2 Corinthians 11:14: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
note: Satan’s masterful deception is to appear in the guise of an angel of light. These teachers, or servants appear as preachers of righteousness.
3. There are at least a dozen ways to get to heaven.
Ans.: John 14:6 answers this one. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
edit note: There doesn’t appear to be any other way……
4. There is no hell, only different levels of heaven.
Ans.: We get an idea of hell when we look at the punishment God has established for fallen angels and humans that have chosen not to have a relationship with Him. Look at 2 Peter 4-5: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;”
edit note: I don’t see multiple levels of heaven here. I do see a hell that doesn’t look very nice.
5. There are many gods and ways to heaven.
Ans.: As we look at John 1:1, we’ll see how this works. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..
edit note: Looks like only one God to me. There are cults that use this verse and change one word in it to denote more than one god. And, the ways to heaven is answered in number 3 above with John 14:6.
6. All scripture is inspired by God.
Ans.: This one is quite interesting. I’ve heard many people state that the Bible is just a bunch of stories written by people that may have been under some influence. Well, they had the ‘influence’ part right. Look at 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness:”
edit note: The word ‘inspired’ is actually translated as ‘God breathed’. This being the case, these people were under an influence… God’s!
7. Jesus is God.
Ans: This usually brings on some interesting conversation. And….it’s good to have biblical backup when sharing this group of three words. A good place to start is back in John 1:1, (see number 5 above), and move on to verse 14 of the same chapter and book, which says: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
And, let’s put a crown on this. Look at John 20:28: “Thomas answered and said, ‘My Lord and my God!”
8. You must be reincarnated a number of times before you can be with God.
Ans: There is no indication of being reincarnated a number of times before you can be with God. In fact, as we look at Hebrews 9:27, we see the procedure: “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment;”
9. Baptism is the sole act that provides salvation.
Ans: There is a number of thoughts here regarding the act of baptism. As we look at Acts 2:38: “ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
note: Water baptism is the outward sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is through faith in Christ, not in the act of baptism.
10. Where will you find the following?
“Let not the believer take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security.”
Ans: I’m sure no one was fooled by this one. You won’t find this one in the Bible. Close examination reveals that our Lord would never state Scripture in such a way. As we look close we will see illustrated the lack of love that God teaches throughout the Bible.
You will find this piece of literature in the Koran (Qur’an) 3:28.

A LITTLE HUMOR

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.
Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; It just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping - never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
Live simply and appreciate what you have.
Give more.
Expect less

2010-08-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Persistence in Prayer

Throughout His ministry, Christ made it clear that importunity is a distinguishing characteristic of true praying. We must not only pray, but we must pray with great urgency, with intensity, and with repetition. We must not only pray, but we must also pray again and again. We must not get tired of praying. We must be thoroughly in earnest, deeply concerned about the things for which we ask, for Jesus Christ made it very plain that the secret of prayer and its success lie in its urgency. We must press our prayers upon God. Read Luke 18:1-8. This poor woman’s case was a most hopeless one, but importunity brings hope from the realms of despair and creates success where neither success nor its conditions existed. There could be no stronger case, to show how unwearied and dauntless importunity gains its ends where everything else fails. The preface to this parable says: “He spoke a parable to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint.” He knew that men would soon get faint-hearted in praying, so to hearten us He gives this picture of the marvelous power of importunity. Other parables are about persistence are found in Luke 11:5-10, about the persistence of annoying friends, and in Mark 7:24-30, the Syrophenician woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon. Without persistence, prayers may go unanswered. Importunity is made up of the ability to hold on, to press on, to wait with unrelaxed and unrelaxable grasp, restless desire and restful patience. Importunate prayer is not an incident, but the main thing, not a performance, but a passion, not a need but a necessity. Importunity, it may be repeated, is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to count the times, but to gain the prayer. We cannot quit praying because heart and soul are in it. We pray “with all perseverance.” We hang to our prayers because by them we live. We press our pleas because we must have them or die. The benefits and necessity of importunity are taught by Old Testament saints. Praying men must be strong in hope, and faith, and prayer. They must know how to wait and to press, to wait on God and be in earnest in our approaches to Him.
Jesus illustrated & perfected pleading & waiting

Abraham has left us an example of importunate intercession in his passionate pleading with Cod on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, and if, as already indicated, he had not ceased in his asking, perhaps Cod would not have ceased in His giving.
“Abraham left off asking before God left off granting.” Moses taught the power of importunity when he interceded for Israel forty days and forty nights, by fasting and prayer. And he succeeded in his importunity. Jesus, in His teaching and example, illustrated and perfected this principle of Old Testament pleading and waiting. How strange that the only Son of God, who came on a mission direct from His Father, whose only life and law were to do His Father’s will in that mission—what a mystery that He should be under the law of prayer, that the blessings which came to Him were impregnated and purchased by prayer; stranger still that importunity in prayer was the process by which His wealthiest supplies from God were gained. His all-night praying was that which filled with compassion and power His all-day work. The importunate praying of His life crowned His death with its triumph. He learned the high lesson of submission to God’s will in the struggles of importunate prayer before He illustrated that submission so sublimely on the cross. Charles Spurgeon said: “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” It is a rule that never will be altered in anybody’s case. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the. elder brother of the family, but God has not relaxed the rule for Him. Remember this text: Jehovah says to His own Son, “Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heaven for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.” If the Royal and Divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that He may have, you and I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor. Why should it be? God will bless Elijah and send rain on Israel, but Elijah must pray for it. If the chosen nation is to prosper, Samuel must plead for it. If the Jews are to be delivered, Daniel must intercede. God will bless Paul, and the nations shall be converted through him, but Paul must pray. Pray he did without ceasing; his epistles show that he expected nothing except by asking for it. If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it.” God loves the importunate pleader, and sends him answers that would never have been granted but for the persistency that refuses to let go until the petition craved for is granted.
The country is in need of help, be it economical, leadership, or spiritual. God tells us of His requirements for blessings. If the country shows humility, prayer, devotion and repentance, He will heal our land.
2 Chronicles 7:14: “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Know when to speak #19

This month we’ll look at some statements and questions that may come up in the course of a conversation you might have with someone about the Lord.
If you have a good grip on the armament shown during the last 18 months, these points will be easier to discuss. The statements come from a number of different faiths, and can be answered from the Bible.

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1 The rapture will occur on October 27, 2011.
2. Satan can appear as an angel of light.
3. There are at least a dozen ways to get to heaven.
4. There is no hell, only different levels of heaven.
5. There are many gods, and ways to heaven.
6. All scripture is inspired by God.
7. Jesus is God.
8. You must be reincarnated a number of times before you can be with God.
9. Baptism is the sole act that provides salvation.
10. Where will you find the following?

“Let not the believer take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security.”

2010-06-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Energy of Prayer

Prayer is the greatest of all forces because it honors God and brings him into active aid. There can be no substitute, no rival for prayer; it stands alone as the great spiritual force, and this force must be imminent and acting. It cannot be dispensed with during one generation, nor can it be held in abeyance if any great movement is to be advanced. Rather it must be continuous and particular, always, everywhere, and in everything.
The book of Revelation says nothing about prayer as a great duty or a hallowed service … but much about prayer in it’s aggregated force and energies. It is the prayer force, ever living and ever praying; it is all saint’s prayers going out as a mighty, living energy, while the lips that uttered the words maybe stilled and sealed in death. The living church has an energy of faith to inherit the forces of all the past praying and to make it deathless.
Many people believe in the effectiveness of prayer, but not many people pray. Prayer is the easiest and hardest of all things. It is the simplest and the most sublime, the weakest and the most powerful. Its results lie outside the range of human possibilities; they are limited only by the omnipotence of God. Practice, and labor are required to be a skillful tradesman in all that we do, including prayer. One who is clumsy in the trade of praying will also mishandle the trade of salvation. Only toiling hands and hearts will make the workers proficient in this heavenly trade.
The burden of the apostolic effort and the keynote of apostolic success is this: Put the saints everywhere to the task of praying. Jesus Christ strove to put the saints to this task in the days of his personal ministry.
The Energy of Pentecost

He was moved with infinite compassion at seeing the ripened fields of earth perishing for lack of laborers (Matt 9:37-38) and pausing in his own praying, He tried to awaken the sleeping sensibilities of His disciples to the duty of prayer, as He charged them “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send fourth laborers into His harvest”. Before Pentecost, the apostles could get only glimpses of this great importance of prayer. But, when the Spirit came and filled them on Pentecost, prayer was elevated to its vital and all commanding position in the Gospel of Christ.
Where are the Christ -like leaders who can teach the modern saints to pray? John 15:1-5 … who will restore this branch that is sick and withering as I speak?
The lazy man does not and cannot pray, for prayer demands energy. Our prayer closet should be worn with use, stained with sweat & tears, a private place. It is the battlefield of the church, it’s citadel, the scene of heroic & unearthly conflicts. The closet is the base of supplies for the Christian and the church. The deep things of God are learned only in prayer. Great things for God are done by great prayers. Therefore, we ought to pray often, with both energy and perseverance.

Know when to speak #18

Personal One on One Discipleship
Many times this becomes a major issue. What do we try to teach a new Christian that will be helpful as they are building their own relationship with Jesus? Over the years I have seen churches try to bury new Christians in churchy activities. These activities are great, except at the beginning, a new Christian is usually excited to learn about the church and God, and most of the time it goes in that order. So, where do we start?
Why not go back through the gospel? Isn’t it a fact that most people only retain about 20% of what they hear initially? Why don’t we help to increase that number? How??
In our personal discipleship we can discuss some of the points of the gospel. We can take a small part at a time. We know the gospel is pretty much divided into five parts; Grace, Man, God, Christ and Faith. Let’s start at the beginning, Grace! We can have a series of questions that promote discussion, and at the same time solidify a foundation. Let’s start. This will be a great exercise for all of us. I’ll list a few questions that have to do with Grace. Take a little while and plug in the answers from scripture, and next month I’ll give you the exact answer, and where it’s at in the Bible. Then, I’ll give you a few more questions. Here goes:
1. Can the works of the Law give you eternal life? Yes/No___________
Where in the Bible does it say this?_______________.
2 What is eternal life called for those who trust in Christ (that is, who He is and what He did for you?)__________________________Bible verse:____________________
3 When God’s grace is received, what clothing does God
provide?__________________Bible verse_______________________
4 Have you personally believed (trusted in) Jesus Christ?_________________
5 What is the gift of God not a result of? ______________ (Ephesians 2-9)

As a person becomes more grounded in what they believe, the chance for them being snatched by a cult diminishes. I have seen the end result of a lack of discipleship on new Christians. They are swamped by cults, and end up joining them thinking they are doing the right thing. Let’s not let that happen!

Personal: Have you noticed how excited people are getting over the Muslim faith. Did you know the promoters are also trying to adopt Sharia Law? Basically, this is a justice system that would be incorporated inside our current justice system, and is considered an integral part of the Muslim faith? We’ll take a hard look at Sharia Law in the future.

ALittle Humor
…..or is it…..

Bible VS Cell Phone

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
Bible vs Cell Phone (cont.)What if we flipped through it several time a day? What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it? What if we gave it to Kids as gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of emergency? This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being Disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think 'where are
my priorities? And no dropped calls! When Jesus died on the cross, He was thinking of you!

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ENCOURAGEMENT

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to Push against the rock with all his might... So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might! Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every time)! 'You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't moved.' Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. Satan said, 'Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough.' That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of Prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. 'Lord,' he said, 'I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting all my strength to do that which You have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?' The Lord responded compassionately, 'My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed.. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be Obedient and to push and to exercise your Faith and trust in My Wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.'
At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He Wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the Faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the Mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong..........................Just P.U.S.H.
When the job gets you down........................................Just P.U.S.H.
When people don't do as you think they should..........Just P.U.S.H.
When your money is 'gone' and the bills are due....... Just P.U.S.H.
When people just don't understand you .....................Just P.U.S.H.
P = Pray U = Until S = Something H = Happens

2010-05-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

PRAYER

Purpose In Prayer

How much time do I spend alone with God each day?

The prayers of Gods saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon the earth. Great throes and mighty convulsions in the world have come about as a result of these prayers. The earth is changed, revolutionized; angels move on more powerful, and more rapid wings; and God’s policy is shaped when the prayers of his people are more numerous and more efficient.
“For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (Isa. 56:7)

“I will declare the decree … ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance” (Ps.2:7-8)
God desires a praying people, willing and obedient

The Fire that Consumes
Prayer has an incredible power to arrest and change the purposes of God. The stroke of His power is relieved by the prayers of righteous men. We can see both the possibilities and the necessity of prayer when we see how in the following examples from scripture, the prayers of Gods saints brought about a change in Gods plans.
In Genesis 20:17-18, Abimelech had been smitten by God.
Job 42:8-10, Job’s miserable, mistaken comforters had so behaved themselves in their controversy with Job that Gods wrath was kindled against them.
Jonah chapter 1, it’s doesn't pay to run from God.
Jonah chapter 3, it was the purpose of God to destroy the city of Nineveh.
The message of God to Hezekiah was a warning of death as can be seen in the passage from Isaiah 38:1-5
What other events can you think of where prayer affected the purpose of God?
All these people of God knew how to pray and how to prevail in prayer. Their faith in prayer was no passing attitude that changed with the wind or with their own feelings and circumstances.
Everything was possible to the men and women who knew how to pray, and it still is today. The prayers of these saints were short lived. The praying ones were few and far between. They had no survivors, none to imitate their devotion to God, none to preserve the roll of the elect

“The prayers of holy men appease God’s wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the Devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the store houses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire. It pleases god and supplies all our needs.”
Jeremy Taylor
1613-1667

Know when to speak #17
At first glance it may seem that a great deal of material has been covered to share the good news. In reality, it doesn’t take several months of study, or many weeks to understand, or even three days to explain the gospel. It takes about an hour to fully explain everything we have covered in the last 16 months. God has provided the armament necessary to show people in an easy, logical, factual and most of all, loving way, how we may share His most important message. We are the messengers!

During these past months we covered five main points that people are concerned about. They are; Grace, Man, God, Christ and Faith. As we go through each of these, you can see how objections and questions in general are answered. It has been found that most people have the same questions and concerns. They range from a simple, ‘who is Jesus?’ to ‘I have been so bad that I would not qualify to go to heaven.’ As you can see, the two sample concerns are easily answered before the question or objection even comes up.

The gospel is so complete that entry into a conversation usually presents itself any time a discussion about ‘religion’ shows up. As an example; A discussion may ensue about Jesus. Those in the conversation may have said something like Jesus being a good man, or even a prophet, or perhaps a teacher. What do you think might happen in this conversation if you mention that Jesus is God? Oh boy!

Let’s take another example; A discussion may be centered around whether or not we are qualified to go to heaven, that we are ‘too bad’ to even be thought of to go to such a wonderful place. Think of how the conversation will go when you state that everyone is not qualified, that all mankind is a sinner, and in the same breath explain where man is in the scope of heaven and earth. This usually brings about a movement into grace, and the explanation that heaven is a gift. And, of course, you have the scripture to back you up.

You will always encounter the objection, ‘God loves us, He created us, and would not destroy us.’ Nice try, but it won’t work. Yes, God does love us. There are countless scriptures where He indicates this. However, He also says He will not let sin go unpunished, and you’ll know exactly where this is stated in scripture. Do you see how God has provided powerful armament? The scripture is short and simple to understand. If you will notice, this also deters those who would try to twist scripture to fit their own needs.

One more example. This is a good one. In your ‘religion’ discussion you may hear, “I believe in God or Jesus.” Is that good enough for you? Your first response to that statement might be, “That’s really great! When were you baptized?” If this person is trying to derail you, a response might be, “Oh, I was baptized when I was two weeks old.” You will know where this person is at this point. You may want to explain that the demons also believe in God and Jesus, but are in a state of shudder. From there the door may open to explaining how heaven is really a free gift and how the gift may be obtained.

Enough examples….The easy part is done. Now it gets tough. What are you going to do with this person who wants a relationship with Jesus? How about, send them to a new believers class. That’s the first mistake. Think about it. If you are a new Christian and sent to a class, would you be prone to ask personal questions? I think not..

How about personal one on one discipleship? What would we study? How about going through the gospel in detail? What an idea! From there you can help them understand church, and after a period of time introduce them to a home Bible study.
As a result, you have the making of a new Christian with a solid foundation…………

A Little Humor

Judas Asparagus

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???
Through the eyes of a child:

The Children's Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother..
Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like ;the Pharisees and the Democrats.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Democrats and Republicans put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution..

-------------------------

A thought…
Is hell just a place of punishment?
Many think it is, but in reality it’s designed as a place where Jesus is not. There are those people who have said, ‘no thank you’ to the gift that is offered through grace and faith.

As a result, these people have elected to go to place where they will not see or have any type of relationship with Jesus.

Another thought….

Four things you can't recover:The stone........after the throw.
The word.........after it's said..The occasion....after it's missed.
The time..........after it's gone.

2010-04-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

CULTS
Christ SCIENTIST

Who are the Christian Scientists?
The church is recognized by the term The Christian Science Church, which was its original title and is not associated with the Church of Scientology. The organization was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. The church is also referred to as CCS, (Church of Christ Scientist). The CCS has approximately 2,300 churches in 68 countries.
The Foundation
Assuming the literature put out by the Christian Science Church, Mary Ann Morse Baker was born in 1821. As a youngster she was extremely frail and suffered from many illnesses. In 1844 her first husband died and left her in poverty with an infant son. Soon afterward she was forced to give this child up to foster care. In 1853 she married her second husband, Daniel Patterson. Mary Baker Eddy was involved in a crippling accident. By miraculous means she was healed. She claimed she had uncovered the secret of “Divine Science.” She went on to teach her techniques of healing and spiritual philosophy to all who were interested.
In 1875, after her divorce from Daniel Patterson, she moved from New Hampshire to Massachusetts and founded the Christian Science Association. It was there that she published her foundational book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. In 1877, she married her third husband, Asa Albert Eddy, and together they officially founded the CCS. Asa died in 1882, and Mary went on to establish "The Mother Church," The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. Mary died in 1910.
The Doctrine
Christian Scientist doctrine is found principally in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (S&H). Other CCS publications include The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Journal, Herald of Christian Science, The Christian Science Sentinel, The World Monitor, and Christian Science Quarterly.
Biblical Authority
Christian Science interprets the Bible in light of Mrs. Eddy's writings, particularly S&H, in which she interprets the Bible according to her metaphysical presuppositions. She questions the textual reliability of the Bible, pointing to "the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions . . . these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages" (S&H, p. 139). Mrs. Eddy went on to apply new spiritual meanings to common biblical terms. As an example; "Holy Ghost" is defined as "Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love" (S&H, p. 588).
God
They use impersonal synonyms for God, which lessens God's personal nature. "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (S&H, p. 465). These are synonymous terms that "refer to one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity." (S&H, p. 465).
Spirit & Reality
Pain, death, sin, and disease are only illusions. "The only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief…They are not true, because they are not of God" (S&H, p. 472). "The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal fear, a mistaken belief or conviction of the necessity and power of ill-health" (S&H, p. 377). Since matter, sin, disease, and death are illusions and are unreal, then people are not subject to them. "Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind" (S&H, p. 374). "Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual" (S&H, p. 468).
What About Salvation?
salvation is not the result of some special wisdom set forth in the S&H. The Bible tells us that salvation is received only by acknowledging and repenting of our sin (real, not illusion), and putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. A Christian Scientist believes that sin and death are false notions (illusions). Therefore, salvation comes through understanding and overcoming these false beliefs and recognizing that humans are divine spirit and mind.

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Next month we’ll start a new series on prayer. E.A. Woods has an amazing grasp on prayer….all the how, when, where and why we need to be praying continuously.

A Little Humor

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.'
'One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.''God's second most important job is listening to prayers An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.''God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time

by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

''Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church''Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.''His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore.. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.''You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.'

'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.''If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.''But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.And...that's why I believe in God.'
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Know when to speak #16

During the past 15 months we have gone over the major points of sharing the gospel with our family, friends or even strangers we have just encountered. There are about fifteen verses from the Bible that aid in the discussion. When sharing the good news with someone, it is a good idea to have a firm idea of what the verses say, and just as important, where they are at in the Bible. Your credibility will go down the drain if you mention a verse and the person you are speaking to asks you where it’s at in the Bible, …..and you can’t take them there.

Ok! You’ve reached the point that you can ask the person if they would like to received Christ today…..right now. For the sake of this discussion we’ll say your person has said yes. Your next response is to say and ask the following:
* Are you ready to transfer your trust for your eternal life to Jesus?
* Are you ready to receive Christ as your personal savior?
* Are you ready to receive Christ as Lord?
* Are you willing to repent? (repent is defined as changing your way)
Then you might say; If this is what you want, we can go to God right now and tell Him what you have just told me.
At this point your person might be a little nervous. They may have never prayed before, and aren’t sure what to do. You can tell them that you will lead them in a prayer to God, and they can repeat after you. You can then start the prayer, and go through the main points of the gospel. Points like: thank you for eternal life, I know that I am a sinner, Jesus paid price on the cross, please come into my heart, and thanks for saving me. Then close the prayer. It doesn’t have to be long, just to the point. God knows what’s happening!
At this point get out a Bible. Turn to John 6:47, and let your person read it out loud. (“Verily, verily I say unto you. He who believes has eternal life.”) Ask your person if he/she believes what he/she just read.
Welcome to the forever family…..

Happy Easter!

2010-03-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

CULTS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)

The sources for Mormon belief are; The Book of Mormon and the Bible. They also use the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, which they believe are authoritative, and Joseph Smith is their primary prophet of the faith. The Holy Bible is the only authority in the Christian faith, and Joseph Smith is not recognized as a prophet.
The Mormon church sees God as the supreme being in the universe. However, The Mormon god is made of flesh and bones. He reached his position by living a righteous life. The Christian Church proclaims God as eternal today as always.
As for the nature of man, the Mormon church teaches and believes that we are spirit beings before birth. At birth the spirit beings are given physical bodies, and have the freedom of choice as to how they live their lives. If they live according to the church and perform temple obligations satisfactorily, that person has the opportunity to become a god of another planet. This person can also produce ‘spirit children’ to populate his new world, like God did on the earth. (what a great ego appeal!). Of course, the Christian church does not teach that we are spirits before birth, and cannot attain godhead of another planet, or even populate another world with spirit children.
Let’s take a look at how the Mormons see Jesus. The church (Mormon), believes that Jesus and Satan are spiritual brothers. God put a plan of salvation, and Satan also put forth a plan. Jesus accepted God’s plan and agreed to take on a physical form from Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross, rose in three days and established his deity. The life and position of Jesus is attainable by any Mormon who performs at a righteous level.
The Christian church teaches that Jesus existed eternally as the Son of God, the second part of the Trinity. Jesus came to the earth by a physical birth by way of the virgin Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross, rose three days later and established His deity. (This is a common way Mormons try to convince people that they are Christians.)
The Mormon church teaches and believes that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again guarantees salvation to all mankind. Spiritual death can only be avoided by obedience to God’s commandments, and forgiveness of sins requires faith, repentance and baptism by an approved Mormon priest. They also engage in the baptism for the dead. This would include those people who did not have a proper Mormon baptism while they were alive.
The Christian church teaches that we are unable to live a life righteous enough to meet God’s holy standard. We establish a relationship with God by faith in what Jesus accomplished for us at the cross, not by our own works. Baptism and good deeds are acts of obedience, not a method of gaining eternal salvation.
The Mormon church teaches that although there may be temporary punishment for the most wicked, all will end up in some degree of heaven, through a series of different levels depending on your (goodness) position.
Next month: Christian Scientist
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The Smell of Rain
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.
That afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature.
Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.
"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could.
"There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one" Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.
She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.
"No! No!" was all Diana could say.
She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.
There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce
of strength there. At last, when Dana turned
two months old. her parent were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal
life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story.
One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other
adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent.
Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"
Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied,
"Yes, it smells like rain."
Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"
Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."
Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced,
"No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."
Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.
During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.
"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."
The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its beginning, but not its end.

ANGELS EXIST but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call them FRIENDS.

______

The Human Brain
Your brain makes up two per cent of your body, but twenty per cent of the blood that comes from your heart flows to your brain. Your brain is the most protected organ in your body. The 100- 200 billion cells that
make up your brain are guarded by three different layers, the scalp, the skull, and a set of membranes that envelope the brain and spinal cord called meninges.
The brain has two types of cells, neurons and neuroglia. The neurons transmit information throughout the brain. The neuroglia protect the neurons. You are born with a fixed number of brain cells which you gradually lose. By the age of three, a human has lost half of the brain cells you had at birth, and while that loss rate decreases, the losses occur none-the-less. The brain compensates for these losses by changing its structure, connections between neurons change and become more complex. Different parts of the brain control different functions for us. Sight, hearing, etc., and even memory occurs in its own section of the brain.
We have seen an explosion of knowledge about the brain and how it does all of the things it does. The greater emphasis has been on how our senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and feeling are handled by the brain. May Pines has said it best: We can recognize a friend instantly-full face, in profile, or even by the back of his head. We can distinguish hundreds of colors and possibly as many as 10,000 smells. We can feel a feather as it brushes our skin, hear the faint rustle of a leaf. It all seems so effortless: we open our eyes or ears and let the world stream in. Yet anything we see, hear, feel, smell, or taste requires billions of nerve cells to flash urgent messages along linked pathways and feedback loops in our brains, performing intricate calculations that scientists have only begun to decipher. What we are finding as we start to decipher the brain is that there are incredible differences between various sections of the brain and some incredibly designed sections that fit our life styles. Even the differences tell us a great deal about the designed features of the brain. When you watch a movie at the theater, for example, there are 24 separate pictures being put onto the screen every second. If the subject on the film is moving, your brain interprets the object as a moving object. If the object is
sitting still, you still see it. It does not have to be moving for you to be able to see it and identify it.
A frog, on the other hand, cannot see an object unless it is moving. Place a fly that is immobile in front of a starving frog and it will ignore it. Unless the fly is moving, the frog cannot tell that it is there. If the fly starts to move, then the frog will eat it. Basically, the retina of the frog detects movement while our retina does not--we use our brain to detect motion. Dennis Baylor, of Stanford Medical School, has said it best: "The dumber the animal, the smarter its retina."2 The intricate design features used to allow all living things to survive are still being studied. Our ears can hear and distinguish some 20,000± different frequencies. Comparing the 24 images per second of the eye with the 20,000 of the ear tells us a great deal about how these sections work, but speak even more eloquently about their design. How limited would be our world of sound if only 24 sounds a second could be processed and understood.
We marvel at computers and the people who build them and program them. The human brain is so enormously more complex than any system man has designed. To suggest that this device which builds computers, creates art and music, and expresses the beauty of literature and mathematics could arise by chance defies any logical viewpoint of what we are. The Psalmist said it best when he said "I will praise thee Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that my soul knoweth right well" (Psalm 139:14) and the brain is one of the great demonstrations of that statement.
--John N. Clayton

Know when to speak #15

What is faith? This little word has done more to confuse people through the ages than anything else. Faith……Some of the popular beliefs include; ‘I believe in God,’ ‘Yes, Jesus was on the earth,’ “I have a special relationship with God, even though I don’t worship Him or thank Him, or praise Him, or, or, or……’ Do any of these sound familiar? What about the super smart one that tries to hit you with what they think is a conflicting verse when you try to explain that faith is trusting alone in Jesus and transferring all trust to Him? And, they go straight to John 6:47 to try and prove their point. (Verily, verily I say unto you; he who believes has eternal life.) If taken out of context, this verse says all you have to do is believe. Hmmm. Will you buy this one? Of course not! In verses before this and after, Jesus is explaining what He is saying.
As you are clearing the air with this super smart one, you take them to James 2:19, which says: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” If believe is all it takes, we are going to have some very undesirable company in heaven.
Now that we’ve thrown a wrench into the works, let’s take a look at what faith is not.
· Faith is not mere head knowledge. Knowing something like a historical event, a poem, a song, that Jesus was on the earth, that He was a good man, etc., does not constitute saving faith.
· Faith is not temporal. Praying to God when you have financial problems, illness, air travel, or any dangerous activity. This is like taking God down off of a shelf when you need Him. This is only temporary faith. …Let’s be more precise here. These are good things to pray about, but when that’s the only reason for prayer, well, this does not constitute saving faith.
When a person puts their trust for eternal life in the payment Jesus provided on the cross, you have saving faith. There is no other way to accomplish this. Works will not do it. Going to church will not do it. Speaking good things about God will not do it. These are all good, but are not saving faith. Let’s look at an illustration. Suppose you are looking at a chair sitting across the room. The question is, ‘will the chair hold you?’ You would probably say, yes. But, how will you know for sure? The only way is to get up and go over and sit in the chair. The same applies to saving faith. You can talk about it all day, but until you actual come to a point in your head and heart to accept Christ as your personal savior, nothing will happen, and you won’t know for sure, will you?
John 14:6 says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” He makes it quite clear and simple. Every other way will not cut it.
Next month we’ll see how to summarize and ask someone if they would like to receive Jesus as their personal savior.
-------

A Little Humor

I Like Myself

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or fornot making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They too will get old.I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventuallyremember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).
MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!
------

Daylight Savings begins March 14th

2010-03-02T17:00:00.000-08:00

CULTS
Jehovah Witness

Jehovah Witness theology has many subtle (and not-so-subtle) nuances. Here are the basics of Watchtower doctrine: God is a single being, not a Trinity. He is not all-knowing or present everywhere.
First, God created Michael the Archangel, through whom God later created all "other things," such as the earth, the universe, and all mankind. This process took place over exactly 42,000 years. When it was time for the birth of a savior, Michael became a man, in the form of Jesus Christ.
He was without sin and kept every law of God. According to Jehovah's Witness theology. Jesus was put to death on a "torture stake." It is here that He bore the sins of all mankind (except for Adam). Later, Jesus rose from death in spirit, but did not rise in physical form. Jehovah's Witnesses who faithfully abide by God's organization on earth will be spared from eternal annihilation.
Followers are asked to maintain a modest appearance and demeanor, refusing to vote in government elections, salute the American flag, join the U.S. armed forces, or celebrate birthdays and Christmas.
Jehovah Witness and Christian theology actually have some basic similarities. Generally, they both teach that God is the Creator of everything, as opposed to naturalistic evolution, and they both share the belief that Jesus Christ will ultimately return to earth to destroy Satan and establish God's eternal kingdom. However, this is where the general similarities cease.
The Jehovah Witness teachings concerning Jesus Christ clearly contradict the teachings of the Bible. Multiple passages tell us that Jesus Christ, who existed as God, took the bodily form of a humble servant so that He could die on the cross in our place. He was not Michael the Archangel.
The NWT (New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures), is not a legitimate translation, and merely reflects Jehovah Witness theology, especially its bias against the deity of Jesus Christ and the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. For example, John 1:1 in the NWT reads, "and the Word [Jesus] was a god." All other legitimate Bible translations say, "and the Word [Jesus] was God."
Through the Holy Spirit, all Christians are capable of interpreting and understanding the Holy Bible. As far as the Jehovah's Witness (WBTS – Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), claim that this is the only way to God and salvation, the Christian response is that all people who have accepted the free gift of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are saved. Salvation is "by grace through faith" in Jesus Christ alone. No amount of works or membership in any religious group is required for eternal life with God.
If a Jehovah's Witness leaves the organization, he is shunned in all ways. Outside the WBTS organization, "Christendom" is considered "demonic." Christianity is deemed "apostate," filled with pastors who are antichrists, in churches run by Satan, who support the earthly governments.

A Thought….
Many times we see those people who do things that are wrong or just plain stupid. They do these things and if they get away with them without hurting themselves or someone else, they figure it is alright. On these occasions they look both ways to see that no one saw them in their act. However, they forget to look one direction……up.
And, of course, Scripture tells us about this person in Proverbs 12:15: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

Know when to speak #14

Last month we learned that there was no way that man could save himself. We saw that he can not earn his way, buy his way, deceive his way, do anything to merit heaven on his own. This leaves him/her with quite a problem. If he/she leaves the issue there, the end result will not be pretty.
This prompts him to look elsewhere for the answer. A good idea would be to see how God deals with our problem.
There are numerous places throughout the Bible that tells him that God loves him. For example, Jeremiah 31:3b; “The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Or, look at 1 John 4:8b; “…for God is love.”
God will forgive iniquities, transgressions and sin, however, there is a flip side to this. He also says in Exodus 34:7b; …”Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.”
Man continues to have a problem. God loves him, but He will not let sin go unpunished. Since he can not earn, deserve or merit his way to heaven God must take care of this for him. He solves his/her problem in the person of Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus? Answers to this question are countless. Some of the popular ideas are; He was a teacher, He was a prophet, He was a good man, and He didn’t do very many wrong things. You could say most anything you like, but when it comes down to the actual fact of the matter, Jesus was the infinite God man. That is, He was wholly God, and He was wholly man. And, when we make a statement like this we’d better be able to back it up with scripture. Let’s look at John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” From there go to verse 14, which says: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And, since we are on a roll here, we might just add the verse from John 20:28, which says: “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!” I think we’ve made our point. Now let’s examine what He did.
He died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place in heaven for us. It’s much like a record book of sins. This book has every sin we have ever thought of or committed. When Jesus paid the price on the cross all of these sins were washed clean. Scripture points out our position before Christ in Isaiah 53:6: “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way.” When we receive Christ things change as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says: “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
It’s at this point we are offered a gift. Next month we’ll see how this gift is received as we discuss what faith is and isn’t.
------------------------------

When there is nothing left but God, that is whenyou find out that God is all you need.
God said NO!
I asked God to take away my habit. God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up. I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary. I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you. I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me. I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No.
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you
fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things. I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me. God said... Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

2010-03-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

CULTS
Church of Scientology

To start this off let’s look at the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who said the following: “I’d like to start a religion. That’s where the money is.” Having this statement from Mr. Hubbard, we can easily see how this religion came about. As a matter of record, Judge Breckenridge, from the Los Angeles Superior Court said: “ [The court record is] replete with evidence [that Scientology] is nothing more in reality but a vast enterprise to extract the maximum amount of money from its adepts by pseudo scientific theories.”
Immediately we find that Mr. Hubbard did not believe in the Christian Christ. False Christian concepts were forced upon a Thetan (Scientologist person). The Christ legend was an implant formed a million years ago in pre-clears (Scientology rating).
Mr. Hubbard casts doubt upon Jesus as the Messiah. The Church of Scientology teaches that Jesus Christ may have believed in reincarnation. They site this on the part of religious historians showing the early education of Jesus of Nazareth as being a member of the cult Essenes, who believed in reincarnation.
Hubbard attributes Hindu teachings to Jesus. “Christ,” he wrote, “was a bringer of information. He never announced his sources. He spoke of them as coming from God. But they might just as well have come from the god talked about in the Hymn to the Dawn Child the Veda.” Hubbard looks down upon Jesus from his OT VIII position, claiming, “Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OT, (Scientology rating), according to the evidence. They were just a
shade above clear.”
Scientology’s view of reincarnation includes extraterrestrial life, evolution on other planets, evolution on earth, implant stations, forgetter implants, and engrams that keep people trapped in reincarnation. The OT III, section three, (Scientology paid for rating), material was entered into court cases, from which we find Hubbard’s journey of the Thetan. He claims this discovery was in December 1967: “The head of the Galactic Confederation (76 planets 95,000,000 years ago) solved overpopulation (250 billion or so per planet) by mass implanting. He caused people to be brought to Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H-bomb on the principal volcanoes and then the Pacific area ones were taken in boxes to Hawaii and the Atlantic ones to Las Palmas and there “packaged.” His name was Xenu”
As you can see, The Church of Scientology is designed with one goal in
mind … make money. They have a system of ratings that must be purchased as intensives. To get to the highest level of salvation it will cost more than $ 300,000.00. They have special training positions that people can work through if they don’t have the immediate funds available to purchase their salvation status.
If you desire more detailed information, plus Mr. Hubbard’s college transcripts and grades, there are books that give this information. Kingdom of the Cults, is a good reference material. This article only represents a small portion of the immense amount of material a person must purchase to attain a higher level in the Church of Scientology.

Know when to speak #13

Now you can reinforce the free gift and point out that this is something we can’t merit on our own. Turn to Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Again you may stress the fact that heaven is not obtainable by anything we can do.
Somewhere in this discussion we usually hear the comment, “It doesn’t seem possible that there is only one way to get to heaven. What about all the other people in the world who believe they can get to heaven by some other means? Surely there are more ways to get there than just one….”

Let’s look at another analogy. We’ll say you are caught in a burning house with no way out. The firemen arrive and start to rescue you by cutting a circle through the fire and burning debris. They tell you to go through the circle they have cut, but all your life you have heard a rescue must take place by cutting a square. So, you hesitate and don’t go through the rescue circle, because you feel there is another way to reach safety, and, we know the result of that action. The same is true with the gospel. It is scriptural and extremely simple, but there are those who won’t avail themselves of the simple free way to heaven because they think there are other ways to reach eternity with God.

As we progress our way through the gospel, this would probably be a good time to discuss what the Bible has to say about ‘man’.
Right off the bat. Look at Romans 3:23. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. None of us escape this one. Now that we know that we all have sinned, I think a definition of the word ‘sin’ is in order. A list of sins or types of sins can be stretched from Mission Viejo to the ocean, but we may still be confused as to what the actual definition of the word means. Suppose we make it simple. A sin is anything we do that is displeasing to God. The arguments continue to come. Now, we get those who say they don’t sin very much. We’ll try a little math on that one. What would we consider ‘not sinning very much?’ How about 10 times a day? Now that’s in thought or deed. Ok, ok, we’ll say only 3 times a day. ….That’s very close to ‘walking on water.’ Time for a little math. 3 times 365 days a year, equals over 1000 sins. That figure times an average of 70 years equals over 70,000 sins. Where do you think this person would end up if they had this many criminal counts against them? So much for ‘I don’t sin very much.’
Do we need more? Illustrations are useful, but they are not scripture. Turn to Matthew 5:48. “Therefore you are
to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It would seem the passing grade into heaven is 100%, not ‘I don’t sin very much, or any other excuse we can find.’ And, just for those who think, ‘if it feels good, it must be alright,’ here’s another point in scripture that blows that away. Turn with me to Proverbs 14:12. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Need we say more? The idea here is that man cannot save himself. Next month we’ll take a look at God, and see how He handles our problem.
Just Stay
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. 'Your son is here,' she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.
Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital –the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.'Who was that man?' he asked. The nurse was startled,
'He was your father,' she answered. 'No, he wasn't,' the Marine replied. 'I never saw him before in my life.''Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?'
'I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.'The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.
WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

A Little Humor
(Or is it?)

RECALL NOTICE:
The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality," or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed. Some of the symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion
10. Unforgiving heart

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for repair in all areas is:
P-R-A-Y-E-R.Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next,
download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control
Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes. WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.
For free emergency service, call on Jesus. DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you
for your attention!
- GOD

2009-12-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

CULTS

Church of Scientology

To start this off let’s look at the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who said the following: “I’d like to start a religion. That’s where the money is.” Having this statement from Mr. Hubbard, we can easily see how this religion came about. As a matter of record, Judge Breckenridge, from the Los Angeles Superior Court said: “ [The court record is] replete with evidence [that Scientology] is nothing more in reality but a vast enterprise to extract the maximum amount of money from its adepts by pseudo scientific theories.”
Immediately we find that Mr. Hubbard did not believe in the Christian Christ. False Christian concepts were forced upon a Thetan (Scientologist person). The Christ legend was an implant formed a million years ago in pre-clears (Scientology rating).
Mr. Hubbard casts doubt upon Jesus as the Messiah. The Church of Scientology teaches that Jesus Christ may have believed in reincarnation. They site this on the part of religious historians showing the early education of Jesus of Nazareth as being a member of the cult Essenes, who believed in reincarnation.
Hubbard attributes Hindu teachings to Jesus. “Christ,” he wrote, “was a bringer of information. He never announced his sources. He spoke of them as coming from God. But they might just as well have come from the god talked about in the Hymn to the Dawn Child the Veda.” Hubbard looks down upon Jesus from his OT VIII position, claiming, “Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OT, (Scientology rating), according to the evidence. They were just a
shade above clear.”
Scientology’s view of reincarnation includes extraterrestrial life, evolution on other planets, evolution on earth, implant stations, forgetter implants, and engrams that keep people trapped in reincarnation. The OT III, section three, (Scientology paid for rating), material was entered into court cases, from which we find Hubbard’s journey of the Thetan. He claims this discovery was in December 1967: “The head of the Galactic Confederation (76 planets 95,000,000 years ago) solved overpopulation (250 billion or so per planet) by mass implanting. He caused people to be brought to Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H-bomb on the principal volcanoes and then the Pacific area ones were taken in boxes to Hawaii and the Atlantic ones to Las Palmas and there “packaged.” His name was Xenu”
As you can see, The Church of Scientology is designed with one goal in
mind … make money. They have a system of ratings that must be purchased as intensives. To get to the highest level of salvation it will cost more than $ 300,000.00. They have special training positions that people can work through if they don’t have the immediate funds available to purchase their salvation status.
If you desire more detailed information, plus Mr. Hubbard’s college transcripts and grades, there are books that give this information. Kingdom of the Cults, is a good
reference material. This article only represents a small portion of the immense amount of material a person must purchase to attain a higher level in the Church of Scientology.

Know when to speak #13

Now you can reinforce the free gift and point out that this is something we can’t merit on our own. Turn to Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Again you may stress the fact that heaven is not obtainable by anything we can do.
Somewhere in this discussion we usually hear the comment, “It doesn’t seem possible that there is only one way to get to heaven. What about all the other people in the world who believe they can get to heaven by some other means? Surely there are more ways to get there than just one….”
Let’s look at another analogy. We’ll say you are caught in a burning house with no way out. The firemen arrive and start to rescue you by cutting a circle through the fire and burning debris. They tell you to go through the circle they have cut, but all your life you have heard a rescue must take place by cutting a square. So, you hesitate and don’t go through the rescue circle, because you feel there is another way to reach safety, and, we know the result of that action. The same is true with the gospel. It is scriptural and extremely simple, but there are those who won’t avail themselves of the simple free way to heaven because they think there are other ways to reach eternity with God.
As we progress our way through the gospel, this would probably be a good time to discuss what the Bible has to say about ‘man’.
Right off the bat. Look at Romans 3:23. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. None of us escape this one. Now that we know that we all have sinned, I think a definition of the word ‘sin’ is in order. A list of sins or types of sins can be stretched from Mission Viejo to the ocean, but we may still be confused as to what the actual definition of the word means. Suppose we make it simple. A sin is anything we do that is displeasing to God. The arguments continue to come. Now, we get those who say they don’t sin very much. We’ll try a little math on that one. What would we consider ‘not sinning very much?’ How about 10 times a day? Now that’s in thought or deed. Ok, ok, we’ll say only 3 times a day. ….That’s very close to ‘walking on water.’ Time for a little math. 3 times 365 days a year, equals over 1000 sins. That figure times an average of 70 years equals over 70,000 sins. Where do you think this person would end up if they had this many criminal counts against them? So much for ‘I don’t sin very much.’
Do we need more? Illustrations are useful, but they are not scripture. Turn to Matthew 5:48. “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It would seem the passing grade into heaven is 100%, not ‘I don’t sin very much, or any other excuse we can find.’ And, just for those who think, ‘if it feels good, it must be alright,’ here’s another point in scripture that blows that away. Turn with me to Proverbs 14:12. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Need we say more? The idea here is that man cannot save himself. Next month we’ll take a look at God, and see how He handles our problem.

Stay
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. 'Your son is here,' she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.
Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital –the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.'Who was that man?' he asked. The nurse
was startled,
'He was your father,' she answered. 'No, he wasn't,' the Marine replied. 'I never saw him before in my life.''Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?'
'I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.'The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

A Little Humor
(Or is it?)

RECALL NOTICE: The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality," or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed. Some of the symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction

2. Foul vocal emissions

3. Amnesia of origin

4. Lack of peace and joy

5. Selfish or violent behavior

6. Depression or confusion in the mental component

7. Fearfulness

8. Idolatry

9. Rebellion

10. Unforgiving heart

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for repair in all areas is:
P-R-A-Y-E-R.Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next,
download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Patience

5. Kindness

6. Goodness

7. Faithfulness

8. Gentleness

9. Self control Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes. WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.
For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you
for your attention!

- GOD

2009-12-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

CULTS
Starting with this issue we will look at cults in the United States and try to see how they affect Christianity as we know it to be true. For the most part we see cults trying to claim they are Christian faiths. However, we’ll see that they don’t follow the Bible except for small pieces they can fit into their own doctrine. They either deny or change the scriptures to fit their own belief system. They believe their faith is the only way anyone can achieve salvation.

A cult of Christianity is a group of people, which claiming to be Christian, embraces a particular doctrinal system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or organization, which (system) denies (either explicitly or implicitly) one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian faith as taught in the sixty-six books of the Bible.
Source: "Unmasking The Cults", by Alan Gomes.

This month we’ll start with a very popular cult…’New Age’. This one is sweeping the country. Let’s see if we can see why and how this is happening.

NEW AGE: A destroyer of humility! A Christian practices to be humble before an almighty God. The New Age teaches four main doctrines: (1) Knowing good and evil, (2) Your eyes will be opened, (3) You will be like God, (4) You will not die. Do these sound familiar? They should. You’ll find these four lies in Genesis 3:4-5, where Satan is speaking to Adam.
Knowing good from evil: In this new knowledge, music and arts are of the "natural": singing birds, rivers, mountains, the music of rain, storms, the oceans, the desert......But in this utopic world of knowledge, something is wrong: Feminism is at its heights, with mother earth, Gaia, at the front... abortion rights, gay rights, animal rights with abortion prohibited in animals, polygamous privileges, homosexual marriages, prostitution, gambling, drugs... all of this in the name of "God in you", for all that God can be and do is focused in the depths of your soul...
Your eyes will be opened: You become conscious of how powerful you are, capable of overcoming any problem... this is the "human potential movement" which has made the greatest inroads in the spread of New Age:

You will be like God: The "gigantic quantum leap", is when every human will realize that he is God... and this will occur "suddenly", as a "quantum leap", when enough people on earth have the consciousness of God, of being God!...

You will not die: At the core of the New Age is "Reincarnation"... and you will never even be sick with the holistic healing, exercise, diet, herbology, biofeedback, acupuncture, massage techniques, magic, the healing effects of crystals, pyramids, and many other superstitions.

"The 5th lie of Satan", of Matt.4, is included in this new wisdom: Jesus Christ is discarded, he is not God, and not even the son of man... he is only the "Christ Energy" or the "Cosmic Christ"... better try the occult.
There is something very wrong here.

The primary belief here is that everything is God. And, that you are God. All that you do is fine. You can overcome anything because you are God. Your decision will be the correct ones because of your god position. The primary thought here is the ‘Me generation’. The New Age is an umbrella, a collection of beliefs, over 1000 of them that you can find on the internet.

How do you become a god? It’s really quite simple, since you are already a god. You just have to realize it, and live as a god. It’s a completely mystical experience, not by logic or any type of reasoning.

There is not a founder or world leader for New Age. The term was first brought into existence by spirit medium, Alice Bailey, who died in 1949. The term gained popularity and international recognition after the musical Hair launched the concept of the Age of Aquarius.

FROM THE INTERNET
Thought you might be interested in this information from the White House. This isn't a rumor; this is a fact. We have a friend at church who is a very talented artist. For several years she, among many others, has painted ornaments to be hung on the various White House Christmas trees. The WH sends out an invitation to send an ornament and informs the artists of the theme for the year. She got her letter from the WH recently. It said that they would not be called Christmas trees this year. They will be called Holiday trees. And, to please not send any ornaments painted with a religious theme. She was very upset at this development and sent back a reply telling them that she painted the ornaments for Christmas trees and would not be sending any for display that left Christ out of Christmas. Just thought you should know what the new residents in the WH plan for the future of America . If you missed his statement that "we do not consider ourselves a Christian Nation" this should confirm that he plans to take us away from our religious foundation as quickly as possible.

A LITTLE HUMOR

SUNDAY CLOTHES A little boy was walking down a dirt road after church one Sunday afternoon when he came to a crossroads where he met a little girl coming from the other direction. 'Hello,' said the little boy 'Hi,' replied the little girl. 'Where are you going?' asked the little boy. 'I've been to church this morning and I'm on my way home,'answered the little girl. 'I'm also on my way home from church. Which church do you go to?' asked the little boy. 'I go to the Baptist church back down the road,' replied the little girl. 'What about you? '
'I go to the Methodist church back at the top of the hill,' replied the little boy.
They discover that they are both going the same way So they decided that they'd walk together. They came to a low spot in the road where spring rains had partially flooded the road, so there was no way that they could get across to the other side without getting wet. 'If I get my new Sunday dress wet, my Mom's going to skin me alive,' said the little girl. 'My Mom'l tan my hide, too, if I get my new Sunday suit wet,' replied the little boy. 'I tell you what I think I'll do,' said the little girl. 'I'm gonna pull off all my clothes and hold them over my head and wade across.' 'That's a good idea, 'replied the little boy. 'I'm going to do the same thing with my suit.'So they both undressed and waded across to the other side without getting their clothes wet. They were standing there in the sun waiting to drip dry before putting their clothes back on, when the little boy finally remarked: 'You know, I never realized before just how much difference there really is between a BAPTIST and a METHODIST!!

Know when to speak #12

Once you’ve repeated their answer, ask one more time.. ‘May I share with you how I came to know that I have eternal life, and how you can know also?’ As stated before, we don’t want to ram the gospel down anyone’s throat, and this last question will take the threat completely away. You are asking to tell how you came to know the Lord. Most of the time the person will say ‘ok’. In the event they do not say ok, do not try to push the issue. Change the subject.

There will be another time, only if you don’t try to force anything. Remember, people are not rejecting you.

Great! Now what? Your next sentence should grab their attention. To start off we can just say, “Did you know that heaven is a free gift?” With that statement, the eyes will open, the gears in the brain will turn, questions start to form, and….are you ready to back it up? An important point to keep in mind is; never say anything you can’t back up. By back up, I mean open the Bible and go right to the spot you just mentioned. If you are going to use the Bible, know what it says and where you can find it. Can you imagine how this gospel presentation will go if the person asks you where it says heaven is a free gift, and all you can come with is that it’s in the Bible. …….Goodbye credibility.

Well, let’s see if we can back up a strong statement like the one above. Free gift, huh? For a starter, take your Bible and turn to Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We can follow this with about two to five minutes of your personal testimony. You might say, “I used to believe ……. and now I have eternal life.” Be careful not to give away the answer. The person you are speaking to will come to a conclusion on their own after you have shared the gospel. Afterwards you can tell them, “You know we can’t earn heaven, and we don’t deserve it. There is no way we can get there on our own.” Get ready…. You’ve done it again.

2009-11-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Know when to speak #11

This month we’ll start taking a look at sharing what we have learned over the last year. The first point to keep in mind is; don’t try to shove the gospel down someone’s throat. You will start an argument and possibly lose a good friend. The gospel does everything we could possibly want and more. We just deliver the facts, logic and simplicity that many people seem to miss. To give you an example of the ‘miss’ part, all we need to do is ask a person if they are a Christian. If they answer yes, ask them to define the word Christian. Immediately it’s going to get a bit tough. Your response might be, “Can I help you to define the word?” Once they have agreed that they are indeed a ‘follower of Christ’, (definition of Christian), you can agree that the Bible is the word of God. You may want to keep the conversation light for a bit here. Ask them if they would like to hear how you came to know that you have eternal life, and how they may find out the same. Most of the time the person you are speaking with will say, ‘yes’. If they say no, discontinue the conversation until some other appropriate time.

We’ll assume the person said yes to your offer to share your experience. At this point you’ll ask them if it’s alright to ask them a couple more questions. Assume they say yes. The first question: ‘Have you come to a place in your spiritual life that if you died today, would you go to heaven?’ The answer here is not the absolute key. Your next comment would be that the Bible states that we can know that we have eternal life, and you might tell them a little about your own testimony. Following this you tell them you are asking the second question, which is; ‘Let’s just say you died and were standing before God, and He should ask you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ How do you think you would respond to this question? This is where the rubber meets the road. There is only one answer that will be acceptable to God……… If the person’s answer starts with the word ‘I’, there is a very good chance it will be wrong. Why is this the case? Most of the time when someone says ‘I’, it is going to refer to something they did. We all know that going to heaven is nothing we have done. This will not be the correct answer. Once they have answered, repeat their answer back to them. This will also serve to let them know you were listening and know exactly what they said. Next month we’ll take it from there.

SOCIAL SECURITY

2010 is an election year for 1/3 of the
senate and all of the house ofrepresentatives. It would be nice if Congress
got the message; the voting taxpayers are incharge now. LET US SHOW OUR LEADERS IN WASHINGTON "PEOPLE POWER" AND
THE POWER OF THE INTERNET.IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU AREREPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT ! Propose this in 2009:
START A MOVEMENT TO PLACE POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY
SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth reading.. It is short and to the point.)
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society.. They felt they should have aspecial plan for themselves. So, manyyears ago they voted in their own benefitplan. In more recent years, no congress person has felt the need to change it. After all, it is
a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die. Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. ...... For example, Senator Byrd and
Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7, 800,000.00 (that's Seven Million,Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275, 000..00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each of those Dignitaries.Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives. Their cost for this excellent plan to them is $0.00. .. NADA !!! ..ZILCH !!!.. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab forthis plan. The funds for this fine retirement
plan come directly from the General Funds;
"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK" !

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into, every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer), We can expect to get an average of:$1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits !
Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. That change would be to Jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us. Then sit back..... And see how fast they would fix it ! If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.

A Little Humor....

God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired, "Where have you been?"

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."
Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said. "What is it?" "It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, Northern Europe will be a place of greatopportunity and wealth, while Southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of blackpeople. Balance in all things." God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel , impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?"
"That's Washington State , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and
streams, lakes, forests, hills, and plains. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of software."Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance." God smiled,
"There's another Washington . Wait till you see the idiots I put there."

2009-11-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Know when to speak #10

It’s an exciting moment when someone has accepted Christ as their personal savior. When this happens with me, I have a mental spiritual score board. On the scoreboard it has two columns. One column says Jesus and the other says Satan. When someone accepts Jesus I erase one from Satan’s side and put it on the side of Jesus.

To back up a little. When someone says they want Jesus in their life we can easily tell them we can take this request to God …right now! This prayer doesn’t have to be a major production. God knows what happened. We can tell the person, who might be a bit shy at this point, that you will lead the prayer. All they have to do is repeat what you say. At the end you can close the prayer yourself. Here are some suggestions as to the content of the prayer. State: “Thank you for the gift of eternal life”, “I know that I am a sinner and can’t save myself”, “I know that Jesus went to the cross to pay for my sins”, “Please come into my heart”, “Thank you for saving me”. The idea is to go back over some of the points you have used in your presentation of the gospel, and keep in mind you have a ‘baby Christian’ in front of you.

What happens next? Now the real work gets started. Are you planning to leave your new Christian hanging out there? Of course not…. Do we just plug them into a home bible study group? …not yet… Many home bible study groups are involved in particular studies. These are way beyond our new Christian. This new believer needs personal attention, discipleship, is what I believe it’s called. Did you notice the word personal?

Classroom study is not the way to go with a new Christian. Keep in mind, this person may be a bit nervous at first, and won’t ask questions in a classroom setting. However, they will be more open in a one on one setting. They will have the opportunity to learn, build a strong foundation and be able to tell others of their experience. What a concept!!

In a personal discipleship the new Christian will learn about baptism….be baptized, learn about the church, and have the gospel planted firmly in their heart and mind. This usually takes about 6-8 weeks to complete. After this it will be time to introduce them to a home bible study group.

During the next couple months we’ll look at a few examples of approaching people with whom we may share the good news.

A Little Humor.....

IF MY BODY WERE A CAR... My headlights are out of focus, and it's especially hard to see things up close.My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.
My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins...But here's the worst of it -- Almost every time I sneeze, cough or laugh, either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires.
CASH FOR CLUNKERS..........I QUALIFYHow about You?

2012

Here we go again….Another end of the world. This time it’s the Mayan Indian calendar and Nostradamus telling us the end will come in 20-12. The last time we packed our bags and toothbrush was at the turn of the millennium. Our computers were supposed to go haywire, our clocks were probably going to start running backwards, cash register were going to lock up…Hmmmm, we’re still here, and I lost my toothbrush.

If we take stock in these notions, then we are not accepting what Jesus has to say in the Bible, which states: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.” Mark 13:31-33.

A Sign of the Times.....

If that’s not enough to be concerned about, we have to deal with the word ‘God” being omitted from our school children’s studies. Below is a new prayer written by a 15 year old student from Ohio.

Written by a 15 yr. old School Kid in Ohio : Since the Pledge of Allegiance & The Lords Prayer are not allowed in Schools anymore because the word 'God' is mentioned... A Kid in Ohio wrote the attached... NEW School prayer : Now I sit me down in school where praying is against the rule for this great nation under God finds mention of Him very odd. If Scripture now the class recites, it violates the Bill of Rights. And anytime my head I bow
becomes a Federal matter now. Our hair can be purple, orange or green, That's no offense; it's a freedom thing.. The law is specific, the law is precise.. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. For praying in a public hall Might offend
someone with no faith at all. In silence alone we must meditate, God's
name is prohibited by the state. We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, and pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.... We can carry smut, but not the Bible. To quote the Good Book makes me liable. We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, and the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King. It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong. We're taught that such 'judgments' do notbelong. We can get our condoms and birth controls, study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles. but the Ten Commandments are not allowed.
No word of God must reach this crowd. It's scary here I must confess, when chaos reigns, the school's a mess. So, Lord, this silent plea I make: Should I be shot; My soul please take! Amen

2009-09-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Meet Me In The Stairwell

You say you will never forget where you were when
you heard the news On September 11, 2001.
Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room
with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I
held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the
peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it
is OK..I am ready to go.'

I was with his wife when he called as she fed
breakfast to their children. I held her up as she
tried to understand his words and as she realized
he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a
woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been
knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said.
'Of course I will show you the way home - only
believe in Me now.'

I was at the base of the building with the Priest
ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He
heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat,
with every prayer. I was with the crew as they
were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the
believers there, comforting and assuring them
that their faith has saved them.

I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan ,
Afghanistan ....
I was standing next to you when you heard the
terrible news. Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew
every name - though not all know Me. Some met
Me for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the
smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take
my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore
Me. But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You
may not know why, but I do. However, if you were
there in that explosive moment in time, would you
have reached for Me?

Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey
for you. But someday your journey will end. And I
will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may
be found.
Then, at any moment, you know you are 'ready to go.'

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

During the next 60 seconds, stop whatever you are
doing, and take this opportunity. (Literally it
is only 1 minute.) All you have to do is the
following:

Stop and think and appreciate God's power
in your life, for doing what you know is pleasing to
Him. Christ is strength.'

Light vs Dark

This came to me on the internet. I thought it quite appropriate with our ongoing series, ‘Know When To Speak.’ Many times we think we will say something to a friend or family member at a better later date. How do we know when that time will come when the Lord will be waiting in the stairwell?

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16…sound familiar? Let’s go a bit further with this scripture. (17) “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. (18) “He who believes in Him is not judged, he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (19) “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.” (20) “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (20) “ But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Pretty heavy……Let’s apply this to a few issues going on today. We can start with our government legislators taking God out of everything they can get their hands on. I can furnish you a copy of the preamble to every state constitution, which ties God and government together. What about abortion? Or, what about same sex marriages? Reading over the passages above from the book of John, we can see why there are a fairly large number of people who would like to take Christianity out of everything. They are operating in the dark where their evil deeds can not be seen or exposed. As sad as it sounds, we are getting what we have let happen. In 1963 we could have stopped everything. The vote came up to take prayer out of schools. The 3% (those wanting to take prayer out), outvoted the 97% who did not. We didn’t react then. Now, look where we are! Just imagine…..If we had stopped that vote from happening, things would have probably been a lot different today. Something like Roe vs Wade would never have happened. We would not have murdered 50 million children that God gave as gifts. Hmmmm….How does that last sentence hit you?

We’ve let it happen. Now, it’s going to be
A lot tougher to get things back in order. We can do it!! We need to make our voices heard by our elected representatives. These people work for us….we don’t work for them!

Be aware of tricky legislation coming at us. Presently, the government is discussing methods of trying to stop all internet activities under the pretense that there is a cyberspace security threat. It’s just another way to prevent you from getting current information. There is no cyberspace threat. There is even chatter about cutting cell phones off. We just need to watch carefully these issues that will affect us all.

If you read over the scripture illustrated here. (John 3:16-20), you’ll start to understand how many of the problem areas have started and continue to grow at a fantastic rate. It’s up to us to fix it……

Know When To Speak #9

Does this all make sense to you? During the last eight months we’ve gone over the points to discuss when speaking to someone about their eternal future. If you will notice, all points are God’s points. And, as far as any statements I have made, they are all backed up with scripture. The gospel is God’s words delivered by His children to those who have not heard the ‘good news’.

If you reach this point with someone, you might want to go through a few high points when you ask them if this makes sense. You might say: “Let me clarify what this means.”

1. Transfer trust to Jesus alone.
2. Receive Christ as savior
3. Receive Christ as Lord
4. Repent (Turn direction of life)
Pray with them to receive Christ.

Next month we’ll discuss this further.

(Sorry…No humor section this month)

Special Prayer Request!

A friend of mine, Angela, who lives in Colorado, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. Please include her healing and speedy recovery in your prayers.

2009-08-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

What Is Hell Like?

Many people have told me they are looking forward to going to hell. They feel they will be with their friends and have an eternal party. These same people usually state that we are in hell right now, and going somewhere else will be an improvement. I would be willing to bet that most of you have heard the same thing, or remarks very close to these. What does that suggest to you? The first thing that comes to mind is this person does not know Jesus. It also points out that they have probably not read the Bible, and don’t understand the message.
If we look deeper we might find an underlying cause for this person’s rejection of the Lord. Many times it has to do with something they have experienced, or seen some horrible occurrence happen to someone else, perhaps a loved one, or even simple street talk downgrading God or Jesus. We need to keep in mind some of the loose laws we live by, such as; abortion and same sex marriages. I have run into those people who have had an abortion that feel they will never be accepted by God. The same is true for same sex marriages. Some of these people think they have done such an awful wrong that there will never be hope for them. So, they turn the other way…..start looking forward to going to hell. And, sad as it may be, the government is trying to provide for free abortions in the new health bill if it gets passed.
Let’s look at what hell is like. In very basic simple terms it’s the absence of God, hope and peace. Something I heard on the radio which is very good at explaining hell. Hell was designed by God for Satan and the fallen angels. It’s also available, by choice, for the only specie dumb enough to select it as an option….humans. People who have decided that they want nothing to do with God elect to go to hell. I think they are in for a bad news surprise.
Where am I going with all this? It’s coming down to those of us who know the Lord to get the message out. It doesn’t matter if we are 5 years old or 105 years old. The message is the same, and it’s our responsibility to share it with as many people as we can.

Know When To Speak #8

Last month we took a look at what faith is not. Sometimes we get a bit confused when a friend or family member says they believe in God or Jesus. For the most part, this is a quick escape for those who are not really sure about their faith.
So….what is real faith? I’m going to try and explain this as simply as possible. Real Faith or saving faith is when you have come to a point in your spiritual life where you have put all your trust in getting to heaven in Jesus. That is, you believe He is the only way you will get to heaven, and you have transferred all trust to Him to get you there. A simple illustration; You are sitting in a chair. A few feet away from you is another chair. The chair looks like it might hold you. This is an example of, I believe. How do you know it will hold you? The only way to know for sure is to get up and go sit in the other chair. The same is true with saving faith. You can talk about it, have discussions about it, but until you actually transfer all your trust to Jesus for your eternal life,it won’t happen.

A Little Humor...

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
'One for you, one for me One for you, one for me,' said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence. Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me..' He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off.
Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. 'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.' The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.. Standing by the fence they heard , 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'
The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.' Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.' They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.. SMILE, God Loves you.

Something to think about………..

A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'
The Lord led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table..
In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.
But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell. They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, 'I don't understand. 'It is simple,' said the Lord.. 'It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves.'
When Jesus died on the cross, He was thinking of you.
This illustration is not so funny. It gives us good reason to be sure about our eternal final destination.

2009-07-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Is Our Number Up?

This last couple of weeks has been pretty shocking. People we have known about are going by the wayside. Ed McMahan, Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and just today, Billy Mays (the TV Oxy-Clean spokesperson. He was only 50 years old also.)

Our Lord has His plan, and all we know is that it is perfect. This doesn’t mean that we won’t suffer when a loved one passes on. BUT, it does tell us something. God tells us to be ready at any time. He also tells us to spread His word. Matthew 28:19-20 tells it all: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I know I have mentioned this before, but it stands. These passages do not specify pastors, ministers, or professional people, it speaks to us. It doesn’t specify age, sex or race. It says get the Word out. Well…….Do we need anymore convincing? The next number could be someone very close to us.

Know when to speak #7

What Faith is NOT!

Faith is faith, right? To have faith simply means believing in something. We have all kinds of faith in different items and issues in our lives. We have faith in our spouses, our children, our jobs, our homes, our vehicles, our government (most of the time), our friends, and, oh yes, our God. For the most part, we take all of these for granted.
Jesus offered us the gift of eternal life, and we can receive it through faith. Are there any conditions here that we should be aware of? Is this faith principle that Jesus offers us the same as the faith we have in other issues in our lives? Or, is there something different in the scheme of things? Let’s look at a couple of faiths that are not considered ‘saving faith’.

The first one we’ll examine is what is referred to as head knowledge. We all believe certain things have happened, such as historical events. We believe they occurred. Many say they believe that Jesus existed, and that He was a good man, did good things, is well known. They believe these facts. They say they have faith by this explanation. Is this saving faith? I don’t think Jesus had this type of faith in mind. Many say that all these issues in our lives fall under faith. Absolutely! However, we are missing a key ingredient that ignites everything. We’ll get in that later. Now let’s take a look at another type of faith that is not ‘saving faith’.

We’ll call this one temporal faith. Another word for this is temporary faith. You can probably guess what this one means. It’s like taking God off a shelf when you need Him. Things like, illness, air travel, financial stress, and anything else that comes on suddenly. When through asking God for whatever it is your asking for, we put Him back on the shelf. Now, let’s not confuse this with actual faithful prayer, which covers all of the above mentioned items, plus much more.

If we look at scripture carefully we will see how God illustrates some of these faiths that are not really faiths. For an example, let’s
look at James 2:19: ¨You believe that God is one, You do well; the demons also believe,
and shudder.” If just believing is the key, it would appear that we are going to have some strange company in heaven, as the demons also believe. Do we think for a moment they are going to heaven?

Possibly this will give you something to chew on. Next month we’ll take a look at ‘Saving Faith’, and what it is…really.

A Little Humor

The 8th OF JULY??
What is so different about the 8th of July this year?At five minutes and six seconds after 4 AM on the 8th of
July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09.
This will never happen again.

-------------------------------------------------

Here we go…..The Man Rules-------------
At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down

Finally, the guys' side of the story.

We always hear "the rules" from the female side.
Now here are the rules from the male side. Please note these are all numbered "1"
ON PURPOSE!
Men are NOT mind readers.. 1. Learn to work the toilet seat.You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.We need it up, you need it down.You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Sunday sports: It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides.Let it be. 1. Shopping is NOT a sport.And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work!Strong hints do not work!Obvious hints do not work!Just say it!
1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question. 1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. When ever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1.. Christopher Columbus did NOT
need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors...like Windows default settings.Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no Idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched We do that.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing, " we will act like nothing's wrong.We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or golf.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1. Thank you for reading this..Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But, did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
-------------------------------------
I know this was quite a bit of ‘Humor’, but sometimes we need to laugh a bit more. I sure would like to see some ‘humor’ stories coming in. We can use a bit of fun.
….Editor

My book has finally been released. If you would like to see the Press Release, please go to:
http://eloquentbooks.com/BeneathTheSurface-MX02.html
It will tell you a bit about the book and author.

Another Note:

If you are new to the Signpost Newsletter and would like to read previous months, you can go to our blog and catch up.
http://TheSignpostnewsletter.blogspot.com.
See you next month,
Hope you have a—

Happy 4th of July !

2009-05-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

What If The Bible Is Right?

In our world today we have come to the point where we accept certain things to be true or untrue. This is most apparent in our relationship with God and His word. If the Bible says something we like, we’ll go along with it. If it says something we don’t like or are not interested in, we seem to omit it from our behavior and belief system. In this article we’ll take a look at some of the more popular notions or should we say beliefs of people today.

Let’s start right at the top. In this session we will look at abortion, and same sex marriage. The facts according to the Bible, will be laid out here. Of course, you make your own decision on which god you wish to serve, but just remember the title of this article; What If The Bible Is Right?

Abortion: The dictionary defines abortion as: An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus / embryo, resulting in or caused by its death. We have this one down solid. Some 50 million+ deaths have resulted from abortions in this country since Roe vs Wade. Probably the most looked at verse in the Bible concerning children can be found in Psalm 127:3: “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; The fruit of the womb is a reward.” If children are a gift from God, what gives us a right to destroy that life just because we want to? Many young girls and older women make a mistake about this because they have been taught that its ok, nothing wrong or bad here. There are many of these women who have realized the offense to God, and have repented for their sin. There’s another word we should take a quick look at. What is a simple definition of sin? How about; anything displeasing to God? We all know that God will forgive us of our sins. But, will God forgive a blatant sin? Many will dismiss this, but the Bible says in Proverbs 14:9, “Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is good will…” What if the Bible is right?

Same sex marriage: The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. More and more states are legalizing marriage between single sexes. I guess it must be alright if everyone is doing it, and it feels right, so it can’t be wrong, can it? Politicians keep endorsing this act, as well as backing up the abortion issue. Does that make it right? Who will answer if we are doing the wrong thing? Many people say they are Christians, but are they really? Suppose we define the word Christian before we go on. It’s quite simple. Christ – ian. Christ follower, or just follower of Christ. It would seem that if we are followers of Christ, or Christians as some say, that we would follow the Bible, because this is God’s word, His instructions, His guide, and in all, His game. He set the rules. We can either play accordingly, or get out of the game. This is another of those issues where blatant sin is going to draw consequences. Turn to Exodus 34:7b, “….He will by no means let the guilty go unpunished.” Let’s see what the Bible says about same sex activities or marriage. We’ll look in the New Testament at the book of Romans.
Turn to chapter 1:24-32. “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
I’ve read the Bible over several times during the last 25+ years, and this is the only spot where it actually appears to me that God is turning His back on a particular activity. It all boils down to where you stand. You may say you are a Christian, (follower of Christ), but if you are backing government leaders that say this activity is alright…..remember how we defined sin….anything displeasing to God. These two topics look like they may be very displeasing to God. To continue to back those who endorse the activity, would be considered a blatant sin, and subject to God’s consequences. A little note for politicians…If you call yourself a Christian
how long you are here on this planet…. try to
think how long eternity will be and where you will spend it. Again it needs to be noted here…..What if the Bible is right? It’s your call.

If you would like further accounts of ‘What If The Bible Is Right’, just drop me an email and let me know. (ee1gary@aol.com)
…Editor
A Little Humor
My Times UP?
A 62 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God she asked 'Is my time up?'
God said, 'No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.'
Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it.
After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.
Arriving in front of God, she demanded, 'I thought you said I had another 43 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?'
- God replied: 'I didn't recognize you.'
----------------------------------------------

If we exalt ourselves, He will humble us. If we humble ourselves, He will exalt us.

Know when to speak #6

Last month we determined that Jesus was in fact, God in the flesh. Through the years I have heard a great deal of people comment about God not knowing what they were going through, or how much pain they were feeling. All we have to do is think of the pain and suffering Jesus endured as He was being whipped. You know, those whips had barbs on the end of them. They dug in when they hit, tore flesh and muscle. How many of us have had to go through pain like that? We’ll take that another step further. Can you imagine how it felt to have a stake driven through your hands? I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and suffering He went through for me….for you.

Jesus didn’t have to go through this, but He did it to pay the price for us. He went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. I can’t see myself going to the cross to pay for someone’s sins, but Jesus did it. A little sidebar here….That’s what I call love!

It’s interesting to note how people see who Jesus was. Many say He was a good man. Others say He was a great teacher. Some say He was a prophet. We know He did all these things, but the main point here is that people either don’t know, or are trying to hide from the truth. If they admit Jesus is God, they will have more feelings of guilt from their own behavior.

When Jesus was on the cross He said a word that pretty much tells all. He said, ‘tetelestai’. This is an accounting term for that period of time. It means, ‘paid in full’. He paid the price for our transgressions….in full, and He offers eternal life with the Father as a gift. This gift is received by faith. Next month we’ll take a look at what faith is NOT.

Comment:
During the last few months we’ve looked at a few helpful hints at sharing the gospel of our Lord. The idea is to share, not to engage in an argument, which leaves hard feelings and sometimes a very negative outlook on the part of the person we are trying to reach. As you can see, it doesn’t take a bible scholar to relate your testimony and the good news of Jesus. So far, you will have also noticed that there is no slamming other faiths. If we are going to share good news, let’s share good news, and that would be how the person you are speaking with can come to know the Lord and have eternal life.
We sometimes think the timing is not right. Occasionally this is true. But, keep in mind we are not the determining power for life. If we ever wonder whether the time is right, just think of that person leaving this earth without knowing the Lord. Forever is a long time, and time is precious. If we let the opportunity go by, and the person dies, we are left with the thought, what if…/….I tried to reach my father before he died, but was rejected. The thought is still with me, what if I tried a little harder to reach him……
We can’t dwell on the past, just learn. God wants us to be His messengers of His word, and it doesn’t take a title to accomplish this. Matthew 28:19-20 does not specify pastors, ministers or priests. These passages are talking to all of us. We are to go out, teach, baptize and instruct in God’s way. Can you imagine what would happen in Washington if everyone who calls themselves Christian, reached one person in a year? WOW!!
We’ll start looking at faith next month.

2009-05-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

‘I Don’t Talk About Religion Or Politics’

How many times have we heard this comment? Years ago I used to wonder why people didn’t talk about religion or politics. It’s taken some deep study and thought to answer this very popular idea of not speaking about religion or politics. Could a main reason be, we don’t know enough to carry on an intelligent conversation? If you ask a person who states this as a reason, he will never agree that he doesn’t know enough to speak about these topics. But, if we push further, we will find that this is probably the real reason for no conversation in two very controversial subjects.

Now, how do we tie religion and politics into the same realm? The easiest way to demonstrate the why is to show an example. This is not meant to be a political discussion. It is only a comparison. Let’s look at Talk Radio. How many successful liberal talk radio shows are there in this country? The answer is not very many, if any at all. Why? Liberal politics has never made it a practice to be very deep or far thinking in its programs, or for that matter, its discussion. The discussion must be very shallow. People, on the other hand, have become more demanding in their understanding of programs and how they work. They want more than shallow end results. For this reason liberal talk radio does not do well in this country

Using the same premise, conservative talk radio, which is thriving in this country, does just the opposite. Conservatives go to great pain to explain details of how programs or benefits will work, and how they will be paid. They also explain how liberal programs will not work and why. This is a very brief explanation of liberal vs conservative talk radio. It’s used only to show a comparison.

Now, let’s apply this idea to religion. We know that only 5% of Christians in the United States have ever led anyone to the Lord. If only 5% have spoken up, that leaves 95% who haven’t said anything. Again, why? Using some of the same ideas from the talk radio explanation above, we find that most Christians can only give a shallow accounting of the gospel. They say things like, ‘just believe and you’ll receive the Holy Spirit’, or other such phrases, which only a Christian understands. I know in my B.C. (before Christ) days, if anyone said that to me, I would be looking for a door or some other quick exit.

As I said before, people are more demanding today. They want facts, logic, simplicity, and want to understand what’s being said. The gospel is simple if explained correctly. The very best part is, it’s not your words, it’s the Lord’s words, and the Bible backs you up all the way. If you explain the gospel in this manner, you will be glorifying God to the max!

This editor’s book is about to be released! It’s a fiction novel about one person’s method of dealing with banks that write bad mortgages. I think you would find it entertaining. Unless you indicate otherwise, an announcement from the publisher, by way of email will come to you telling you about the book and it’s author (me). If you do not want to receive this announcement, please let me know. (ee1gary@aol.com)

A Little Humor

An eye witness account from New York City, on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.
A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'
'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,' was the boy's reply.
The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.
She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.
By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.
She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'
As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her,
'Are you God's wife?'

Know when to speak #5

Who is Jesus? There are probably a number of books written on this subject. There are about as many statements as to who Jesus is as there are books. Some of the more popular descriptions are; great teacher, prophet, nice person, heretic, fool, or wacko. I think I covered both ends of the spectrum here. Of course we are going to defend anything that we know is not true. In our defense can we back up our claims as to who Jesus is? This is another example of fact vs emotion. We all know how we feel about Jesus, but can we prove our feelings? Suppose we take a look at what the Bible says.

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Sounds pretty good so far, but it doesn’t prove a thing. Let’s go a bit farther. Drop on down to verse 14: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory; glory from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Ok, now we have a firm grip on it. Who was the Word? ..God. The Word became flesh. Who was that? ..Jesus.
Who is Jesus? You only get one guess here. God became flesh….Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is God! Jesus is wholly God and wholly man.

I don’t know how everyone else feels, but I usually like to back up strong statements, and this one is no exception, in fact, it can use everything we can assemble. Many churches in this country have minimized the importance of Jesus……bad mistake. In any event, turn with me to John 20:28: In this passage ‘doubting Thomas’ is checking the piercings on Jesus’ hands as the verse says; “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God’.

I think we have the picture here. Next month we’ll discuss what Jesus did that was so important to the people of this world.
________

Take a look at Matthew 28:19-20. Does it say only pastors, priests, or ministers are to go out and reach the world?
I don’t think so…We’ll be getting into this.

2009-04-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

PRAYER IS POWERFUL

The economy is in the tank. Folks have lost their jobs, their homes, their families, and some of have lost their lives. The worst part of a bad situation is, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
We are seeing changes happening in this country that will take decades to fix. As we look upon this grim picture we must keep in mind who is the ultimate winner in what appears to be a country headed for very dark times. Examples would include; spending by the new administration that will have our grandchildren in debt up to their eyes; cutting back on strategic defense initiatives; tossing out moral values that have been so long a part of our lives; and the giving away of our national parks to the U.N. (ratification to come). I know this last one has eyebrows going up. If you would like the whole story, and it’s not just a story passed on, but an actual happening that I experienced concerning Carlsbad Caverns National Park, just drop me a note and I’ll explain it to you, and tell you how you can locate information on how this will come about.
In the meantime, prayer is the way things get done. We need to ask God to guide the new administration in His ways. We know if we follow God’s way, things have a way of working out for the best. Do keep our country and its leaders in your prayers!

Know when to speak #4

Last month we were able to see how man does not have the ability to save himself. We learned that he cannot work his way into heaven, which means saying that you go to church, or help those in need. Don’t get me wrong, these are good things to do, but they will not purchase a place in heaven.

We also found out how much little sins can add up. I can’t imagine 70,000 sins getting me anywhere except the wrong places. And, my number would be considerably higher….

Now that we have an idea where man’s sin nature stands, perhaps we should take a look at how God feels about this. After all, He created us, right?

With respect to the last comment above, we know that God loves us. Many people feel this is good enough. God created us, He loves us, and He won’t destroy that which He loves or created. To back this up we can look at 1 John 4:8, which says; “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” If you would like to understand this more completely, just read the verses surrounding verse 8.

Now that we are feeling good about our chances for heaven, we’d better take a look at another piece of scripture that deals with the sin issue, (something we would like to hide). Turn with me to Exodus 34:7, about the middle of the verse; “….who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished…” Ouch! God loves us all. However, He is our spiritual father. Most of us know when raising children, we love them, but when they do wrong we punish them. The same is true for God. In this instance, He will punish sin, and we all have the sin problem.

Again it comes down to the fact that man cannot save himself. We try to do things that we think will earn us points to get to heaven, but they mean nothing towards securing heaven. God recognizes this problem for man, and has provided the answer and the only way to heaven. He sent Jesus. Next month; Who is Jesus, and what did He do?

A Little Humor

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY

In Florida , an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter & Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews & observances of their holy days. The argument was~ it is unfair that atheists had no such recognized day(s). The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, 'Case dismissed.' The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, 'Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case?
The Christians have Christmas, Easter & others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur & Hanukkah. Yet my client & all other atheists have no such holidays.' The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, 'But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant.' The lawyer said, 'Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.' The judge said, 'The calendar says April 1st is' April Fools Day.' Psalm 14:1 states 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day.
Court is adjourned.

Would you like to be able to share the gospel with ease, simplicity, no fear of intimidation, or feel that you are lacking in biblical knowledge? You can! It doesn’t take a bible scholar to share bible facts, a logical approach or just simple discussion; it takes someone who makes a commitment to God to spread His Word to those who don’t know, and there are many of those. You will be surprised at the number of people who are looking for answers. Can you imagine how they will feel when you give them those answers in simple conversation?

If you feel God is calling you to do this, just email me, let me know. I’ll call you, and we can talk a little. If at that time you are still feeling called, we can meet, go into more detail, and see about teaching you how to communicate the gospel simply, but very effectively. Please keep in mind, there is no pressure here. If you decide against it, there is no one who will think less of you. Sometimes things are not exactly as we think they might be. Not to worry!!

2009-02-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

PRAYER IS POWERFUL

Please lift up an anonymous prayer request for church families who are really struggling with a lot of private and financial issues right now. The pressures of “life” are putting a real strain on their marriages and there is talk of giving up and walking away from these long standing marriages. It seems to be a repeated theme in our recent prayer requests, and it is definitely an obvious attack from our adversary to discredit and destroy the institution of Godly marriages.
So let’s pray for ALL our church families and their marriages, that God would protect their bond of marriage, and would strengthen it during these challenging times. Finances really put a strain on relationships, and many couples now are fearfully faced with losing their current situations, so lets respond to this by praying for God to intervene and stop these waves that often strike at the base of our relationships. It is like these assaults are like crashing waves in a storm and our marriage couples are in tiny boats on the sea trying to weather out each hit from the stormy angry sea, and yet God is calling us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and FINISHER of our faith. Let’s pray for God to seal tightly our marriages, to “water seal” them from the assaults of the enemy, that God would hold them in the palm of His hand during these uncertain times, and that our married couples would cling to one another as well as the cross at the core of their relationship. Pray for God to be glorified in the midst of these trials.
I also encourage you to be supportive of one another, and for those struggling. Please do not isolate yourself. The enemy would want to get you off by yourself and beat you up even more about how hopeless things appear. Instead… reach out to your Christian brothers and sisters so we can be here to support you and help in any way we can. That’s what the Body of Christ here on earth is called to do!

Know when to speak #3

What does one have to do to receive this gift? We’ve learned that eternal life is a gift from God. Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9 back this up completely.

As we take a look at ‘man’, we see how the verses in Ephesians play an important part. We find in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Man is a sinner. That would be everyone except Jesus. At this point there will be those who say they don’t sin very much, and they will let their good deeds weigh against the bad they have done in their life. As you point out that all mankind is a sinner you may run into the objection from some that they don’t believe all that is contained in the Bible. They say the Bible was written by man. Well, guess what! The Bible was written by man, inspired by God
To be more precise, the Bible was written by some forty different people comprising sixty six books, and written over a period of fifteen hundred years. At this point I usually ask the person to imagine that they are God. Would they let the Bible be in error if it was their way to communicate the plan of salvation??

Now we’ll get back to the person who says they don’t sin very much. This would be a good time to define the word sin. Ask the person you are talking to what sin means to them. You’ll receive a number of answers, all of which are probably correct. After about three or four ideas come forth, just mention that sin can easily be defined as something displeasing to God. That would be anything done in thought or deed. With that, let’s look at an example how this works.

A good person probably sins ten times a day. For this example we’ll say the person only sins three times a day. Pardon the expression…that’s just about walking on water. Three times 365 days per year; that’s over 1000 sins. Now multiply that by about 70 years. Wow! Over 70,000 sins. Where do you think you would end up in a court of law with 70,000 counts against you?

As these numbers sink in, explain that God has a passing grade into heaven. Matthew 5:48 says it pretty clearly; “Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” Sounds like 100 percent to me.

Still there are those who think they can hide their ‘little’ sins. Let’s take a look at another example. You are making an omelet. As you are cracking the eggs and putting them in a bowl, you realize you have cracked one that doesn’t look real good. You figure, ‘what the heck’, and finish putting about six eggs in the mixing bowl. You figure, ‘no one will know’. But, you know…The same is with God. You may try to hide the little sins, but God knows.

Can you see why man can not save himself? Next month we’ll see what God has to say about man, and how He deals with the issue of sin.
…Editor

A Little Humor (But a whole lot of truth…)

HEAVEN'S ENTRANCE EXAM

A man dies and goes to Heaven. Saint Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and says,
"Ok, here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into Heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I'll award you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says...."I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never once cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says Saint Peter, "That's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he asks.
"Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithes and service."
"Terrific!" says Saint Peter, "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point”?!!
Hey, I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans!"
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points, " Saint Peter says.
"Two points?!!" the man cries.
"At this rate, the only way I'm going to get into Heaven is by the Grace of God!"
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"

**Note** If you would like to receive your own monthly Signpost Newsletter, just drop us a line at: ee1gary@aol.com, and say subscribe. IT’S FREE!

February 2009

2009-02-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Are you standing in the power of Christ?

Ephesians 6:10 tells us to put on the full armor of God. What does that mean in today’s culture? Better yet, what does that mean in the Christian churches of today? Many churches feel that if you just show someone that you are a Christian, that will be just fine. I think we’ve determined the only one to receive glorification is the person themselves. We need to use our mouth to communicate the Gospel of Jesus. And, of course, that’s where the fear of rejection or the lack of knowledge comes in. What do we say to a person who is trying to find facts about the Bible or who Jesus is, and what He did that was so important.

Know when to speak #2

Last month we learned that it was a good idea to have permission to share the Gospel. It’s common knowledge that if you try to share the Gospel without their permission, you might find them trying to end the conversation with; Oh, I’m late to meet someone, or can we hold this thought until next time? Or, I am supposed to pick someone up, and I’m late, or any number of other excuses to get them away.
Ok, we have their permission to speak. What’s next? How about a statement like; we can’t do anything to earn our way to Heaven. This can be followed with another attention getter; Heaven is a free gift! Now you will have to do some backing up of the statements. Start with Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Reemphasize that eternal life is a gift, not earned or deserved. As an example of this you might say; If I give you the keys to a new car and tell you it’s a gift, are you expected to pay for it? If you earn it or pay for it, it’s not a gift.
Now is a good time to share another verse from the Bible. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourself, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works that no one can boast.” At this point you might want to be sure the person you are speaking to understands that Heaven is a gift, not a reward, or not payment for being good, or going to church, or giving to charities. These are all good notable acts, but have nothing to do with entering Heaven.
We are all in the same boat, so to speak. We are all offered this gift. The question here is how to I receive this gift? Let’s go back to our original gift example; what does the person receiving the car keys have to do?
Next month we’ll see how man fits this picture.

Christian Democrat / Democrat Christian
Oxy-Moron?

Whoa! “What do you mean a Christian Democrat fits the description of an oxy-moron? I have been a Christian for over 20 years, and I’m a Democrat.” This is a common response to the term ‘oxy-moron’ and being a Democrat. Actually, many people get quite irate when you make such a comparison. They say things like; “I don’t go along with all the social issues so much, but I think the President has done things wrong with respect to the war in Iraq.” These people are not thinking about the millions of lives lost, and the millions more lives that will be lost to abortion since 1973. More human lives have been given up since the Roe-v-Wade Law passed than we have lost in all the wars the United States has ever been engaged in. Probably the best way to look at this in a completely objective way is to take a look at the Democrat, Republican and Christian platforms. These are the operating instructions by which the outgoing President Bush and the previous Democrat nominee Senator Kerry and the practicing Christian must operate. Each may stress different points during the campaign, but in the end run they will be adhering to their operating instructions, that is, if they wish to have the blessings of their party or God. We’ll take a look at the three platforms, and compare them to see which is closer to which.
The two political parties, Democrat and Republican platforms pretty well define themselves. There seems to be some difference in what the Christian platform is all about. So, right off we probably need to define the word ‘Christian’. We don’t want to include anyone who doesn’t feel they are in this grouping. Webster defines Christian or Christianity as; “the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies.” A little further, Christ-like is defined as; “resembling Christ in character, spirit, or action.” This is very close to a simple definition portrayed throughout the Bible as a Christian being a follower of Christ, someone who lives their life obeying the commands of Christ and displaying the love He tells us to have for others.

With the three platforms established, let’s take a look at some points illustrated in these platforms. We’ll start with:

ABORTION & EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH

* The Democratic platform sees it this way. They believe in the privacy and equality of women, and stand proudly for a woman’s right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. They also strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. And, they believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. Embryonic Stem Cell research will be pursued under strictest ethical guidelines looking for assistance from the government.

* The Republican platform sees it this way. They desire to keep their pledge to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence. They state that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. They support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make it clear that the 14th Amendment’s protection apply to unborn children. They support judges who respect family values and the sanctity of
human life. Embryonic Stem Cell research is opposed. They believe the current use of adult stem cells should be continued.

* The Christian platform sees it this way. The Bible states it is wrong to take a life in such a fashion. Psalm 139:13-14 gives insight; God formed the baby inside the woman, and is fearfully and wonderfully made. In the Old Testament book of Exodus the case of miscarriage fines were levied if the child died before it was born. It would seem that the Bible takes a dim view on abortion (killing children before they are born). Embryonic Stem Cell research is committing murder. The Bible states in the book of Exodus, “You shall not murder”.

SAME SEX MARRIAGE

* The Democratic platform sees it this way. They support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation. They support equal responsibilities and benefits for these families. They state that they believe that marriage be defined at the state level.

* The Republican platform sees it this way. They state that a few judges and local authorities have taken it upon themselves to change laws concerning the union of a man and a woman in marriage.

President Bush defended the Defense of Marriage Act, which was supported by both parties and passed by 85 votes in the Senate. This law reaffirms the right of states not to recognize same sex marriages licensed in other states.

* The Christian platform sees it this way. Ephesians 5:31 supports the Christian platform by stating that marriage will take place between a man and a woman, that the two will become one flesh. Romans 1:24-32 spells out how God feels about homosexuality in general. It would easily appear by these platform guidelines that God would turn his back on men and women who engage in a same sex relationship.

LOVE

Interesting…..A topic that perhaps should be listed, seems to be lacking on two out of three platforms.

* The Democratic platform sees it this way. This is not a topic addressed on this platform.
* The Republican platform sees it this way. This is not a topic addressed on this platform.
* The Christian platform sees it this way. It would appear that this item is paramount to this platform. John 13:34 tells us to love one another as He loved us. This is a command. The Bible tells us that this form of love is not just being nice or having good thoughts or intense emotions. He explains that this love is on a much higher level. The love indicated here is one full of sacrificial acts carried out to the Father’s will, not our personal will or satisfaction. The Bible is quite descriptive and makes its point clearly, as stated in 1 John 4:7-8, where we are told if we love we are born of God and know God. It also goes on to say if we don’t love we don’t know God. The Bible is full of this particular subject. It seems to be one of the main topics to supporting the Christian platform.

Even at this time after the election, Love does not seem to flourish. There are many hate comments coming from a wide range of places. Of particular notice are the comments coming from known Democrat figures. In these comments come pieces like, ‘we need to learn how to talk to these people’, (The Red group), or ‘we need to have a rebirth to communicate.’ I have even heard the comment that if Jesus was here today that He would be a Democrat. By the platform put forth by the Democratic party, I seriously doubt whether this would be the case.

ANALYSIS

There are other points that could be discussed here, such as; the environment, and war, but for this discussion we have only addressed the obvious items. From here we will compare the platforms to see which seem to go together.

Abortion & Stem Cell Research

The Democratic platform stands alone on this one. It does not mix with either the Republican or Christian platforms.

The Republican platform is advocating many of the same principles as that of the Christian platform. It looks like a good match between these two.

Same Sex Marriage

The Democratic platform stands alone again on this one. It will not mix with the Republican or Christian platforms.

The Republican platform and the Christian platform seem to agree on most points on this item.

Love

The Democratic platform does not address this point on their platform.

The Republican platform does not address this point on their platform.

The Christian platform stands alone on this point.

COMMENTARY

I think we can see where the term ‘oxy-moron’ comes from when we see those who say they are good Christians as well as being a Democrat and supporting the Democratic platform.

From information secured on the internet there appears to be some 224 million people in the United States who call themselves ‘Christians’. This would also take into consideration the children. If we use the average size of a family of four, we find two adults that could vote. That would be some 110 million or more people who call themselves Christians that could vote. The 2008 vote for the Republican John McCain was 57 million plus, hmmmm……

Looking at statistics like these can only make a person wonder. We all go through life with priorities that we have guiding our lives. Those people who live their lives by the Democratic platform guidelines have chosen to place this standard at the top of their priority list. If they claim to be Christians too, then it would also appear that this platform (Christian platform) has been placed in second place. Before we go any further, let’s keep the air clear of any rash conclusions. People who are Democrats or Republicans are good people. The idea behind this comparison is to try to look at where priorities for life are located. It has been said that moral values were a major contributor to the 2004 election.
If we approach this from a slightly different angle, we may become even more confused at the picture that is being portrayed. What does that mean? If we say we are a Democrat and support the Democratic platform, and are a Christian supporting the Christian platform, aren’t we sending out a double signal? The Democratic platform and the Christian platform do not in any way compliment each other, in fact, they are at odds. To say we support both can only suggest a warm support for each of the platforms. I don’t think the Democratic platform really wants their members to be only warm to their cause, and I know the Christian platform does not go along with a warm support. To be more precise, the Christian platform (Bible) specifically has something to say about it. In Revelation 3:15-16 we are told quite bluntly that we are to be hot or cold, not to be warm. Being warm will cause us to be vomited out of the mouth of God.

In closing, I hope people who call themselves Democrats and Christian in the same breath take a look at the picture they are painting. When reviewing this comparison of platforms and how they fit the scheme of life, many of us may re-think our position taken after absorbing the information presented here. If this does not hold true for some, maybe they should consider becoming hot or cold on one platform or another. There are those who think by talking the talk they will gain entry among those who live and believe by the Christian platform. I think they will be in for a shock, as those who talk the talk and walk the walk will be wise to the deception. This, in the end run will divide the platforms even more. Again, let’s be clear. This is not to say that those who are Christians with Republican political views hate all Democrats. That is not true, and anyone who says or thinks it is, is very wrong. If a person subscribes to the Christian platform, and professes anything but love for their neighbor, they will have to answer for that behavior, and I don’t think it will be a reward.

In this comparison I used only information from each of the platforms. Based on the information available, you can now see why many who say they are both Democrats and Christians are referred to as an oxy-moron. If you have an issue with the Democratic or Republican platforms, please contact the DNC or RNC for assistance. If you have issue with the Christian platform, please don’t contact me to argue points. Contact God, as He is the author of the Christian platform. The matter is totally your choice.

From the internet…….

Cell phone vs. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several time a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm....where is my Bible? Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

January 2009

2009-01-01T11:29:00.004-08:00

Back in 1999 I wrote this newsletter indicating the thoughts of many people during that time. They thought the end of the world as we know it was coming to a climax by the end of the millennium. Guess what? We’re still here. As the Bible so clearly points out to us, we will not know when the end will come, no matter how much we think we know.

We still see church attendance dropping, even though we have churchy activities going on seven days a week. Again the question is, why? There must be some hidden bible passage that says we just have to live a good Christian life and people will come to the Lord based on our presentation of godly living. If you really believe that, you shouldn’t be reading this newsletter. I guess we are still in the ‘build it and they will come’ syndrome. So many of us think that the pastor is the person who leads the unsaved to the Lord. Somehow I just can’t seem to find that passage. My bible says it one way in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.”

As I understand things, people see our Christ like behavior and just want to know the Lord. Looking at this position, all I see is the glory going to the person, not to God. It all boils down to a couple of fears. The fear of rejection and fear of intimidation, which will keep us from sharing the good news to those people who are looking, but don’t know how to find what they are looking for. If we just opened our mouths and gave them logical thoughts and scripture to back it up, just maybe……But you say, “We do call on our visitors.” Great! What do you talk about? Possibly things like how did you like the service or event? Do you think we should have more events like this? Or, Do you know anyone who might like to come to an event or service like this? Do we make an attempt at sharing some scripture with them and leave them dangling, hoping they might call us or come to church on Sunday? Maybe we even try to give some sort of account of the Gospel…Good for you! At least you’re trying. Did you know the Gospel can be explained to an unsaved person without hitting them with ‘church jargon’ or condemning their own beliefs or church activities? Did you know you can share the Gospel in an effective simple manner in less than an hour? Did you know many people accept Jesus as their personal savior as a result of such a discussion? Did you know that you don’t have to establish a long term personal relationship with these people before you share the Gospel with them?

Did Jesus and the disciples send letters or establish long term relationships before sharing the ‘Good News’ with them. I kind of thought they actually went face to face with people. Letters and phone calls are a very coool (as in icy) way to contact people. But, I have to agree, there is NO rejection possibilities here.

This is the beginning of 2009, of a monthly column looking at sharing the Gospel with our friends, relatives and acquaintances, and we will be dealing with this matter with some very heavy weights attached. This column is not taking shots at any fundamental Christian faith. Rather, it will identify the areas that need a little or maybe a lot of help, and plug in the pieces that God instructs us to carry out. Church events are not wasteful times if they are designed to fulfill the direction of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. If we are conducting church events with our own church body in mind, we are missing pieces in the big picture.

We can do so much with our church activities. Let’s get with it! The Bible tells us to be fully armed. (Ephesians 6:10) What are we waiting for?

Each month we will attempt to cover a particular area of reaching people for the Lord. You don’t want to miss an issue of this newsletter.

♦ This arrived on my email one day. I don’t know where it came from, but the message is quite appropriate.

A Christian
Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston , Texas . Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.' Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.' When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.” The driver, with a smile, replied,

“Aren't you the new preacher in town?” 'Yes' he replied. 'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.

I'll see you at church on Sunday.”When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, “Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.”

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember –

You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself 'Christian.'
Watch your thoughts; they become
words.
Watch your words; they become
actions.
Watch your actions; they become
habits.
Watch your habits; they become
character.
Watch your character; it becomes your
destiny.

†
Making a List
….I’m making a list, checking it twice, maybe even thrice, finding out which merchants are ungodly or nice……Sound a little familiar. The words are changed slightly, but the meaning is there.
Christmas is over, but the wonderful happening of the time is not forgotten. We’ve exchanged gifts, had great fellowship with friends and relatives, and in general, had a smile on our faces. As we sit and recall what happened during this period approximately 2000 years ago, we see a small baby in a manger, nothing too fancy, but adequate. We also see the Wise Men bringing gifts for the Christ child. Even then gifts were used to celebrate this wondrous event.
That brings us to things happening today. There are special interest groups determined to drive Christ out of Christmas.

These groups are not large, but they make a lot of noise about being offended by a ‘religious holiday’. As a result many retail businesses have done away with anything that might lend some sort of credence to Jesus Christ, or God in general. They have done away with Christmas music, or any display of what Christmas is all about. I would ask you, what about the large group of people who celebrate the birth of Christ during this period? Are they not offended now? I don’t know about you, but now I’m offended by the actions of these merchants across the land. To try and take on one of these merchants alone would amount to nothing, but there are over 200 million of us across this great country that are not going to sit back for this treatment. Hence, I’m making a list, checking it twice or even thrice, of those merchants that want to cater to the small noisy groups. If you know of any merchants that have fallen over to the other side, let me know by email: ee1gary@aol.com, and I’ll add them to the list. About next September we’ll start letting people know about those merchants who don’t really want your patronage.

Know when to speak
“How do I know when to speak about the Gospel?” This is one of the most interesting times in a conversation. If you are talking with a person who visited your church, it’s pretty easy to get into a conversation about the Gospel. If you are having coffee with a neighbor or relative, it might be a little more challenging. Let’s look at a couple examples of how you might approach a topic like the Gospel without causing any rough feelings.

When you visit with a church visitor, a conversation can go from secular to spiritual topics with an easy transition, from asking what they liked about in the church to asking them a couple questions. Always ask if you may ask the questions. The first question would be: “If you were to die today, have you come to a point in your spiritual life that you know you would go to heaven, or is this something you are still working on?” Answers will vary from yes, I will go to heaven, to I don’t know, or I don’t believe you can know whether or not you are going to heaven.

This is a great time to point out that the Bible tells us we can know that we have eternal life, (1 James 5:13).

A second question would be: “Let’s say you died and are standing before God, and He asked you why He should let you into His heaven.” How do you think you would respond to this question? Answers will encompass everything you can think of. Usually if the answer starts off with the word “I”, it’s a sign of a works answer. If the person just doesn’t have an answer to give you, that’s a pretty good sign that they need someone to share the ‘good news’ with them.

Ok, you’ve gotten this far. What happens next? An easy way to move into the Gospel is to ask the person if you may share with them how you came to know that you had eternal life and how they may know also. You have taken the threat of intimidation right out of the picture. It is very likely they will say, “sure, go ahead.”

You now have their permission to share the Gospel. Feelings will not be hurt. No one feels threatened, and God is with you all the way.

First words out of your mouth….
Heaven is a FREE gift!!!!

We’ll discuss Grace next month.

2008-12-25T10:23:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!
Ooops….Happy Winter or Merry Holiday??

A couple thousand years ago in the town of Bethlehem, several miles south of Jerusalem, a child was born. Nothing so fancy about that, in fact, the conditions of birth were not what you would expect of a king. But, it happened. God became flesh, (John 1:1, 14), and was born of Mary by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was among us. He brought a message that is still being heard throughout the world. If anyone had some ‘Good News’, it was Jesus, and many people are still listening and turning their lives over to Him. Take a look at Ephesians 2:8-9 for a brief description of God’s description of the ‘How to get to Heaven’.

In His adult life for just a couple years He was able to spread the word of God and His way to have eternal life with Him in heaven. There have been educated Bible scholars who have said the way to heaven was too simple. This would account for the many religions that include much ritual in their services.

In any event, no matter where you are, there is something happening out there. All of a sudden saying, ‘Merry Christmas’, has become a no, no. There are over 110 million adult voters in this country that say they are Christians. Take that and add another 100 million or so children that also say they are Christians, and we come up with a bunch of people in this country who are now being told not to say ‘Merry Christmas’. Schools are forbidding Christmas (oops…there I go again), let’s see, winter programs that have any religious meaning attached to them.

Here’s an interesting thought I had back in September when I first starting hearing about this ‘no Christmas’ move again. My thought when I heard this bit of garbage was, the merchants are not going to like this. It’s going to hamper their sales. As it is happening, the merchants across the country to one degree or another are going along with this ‘no Christmas’ move. Guess what! They are walking themselves right into disaster. Just recently, I watched the news as they were showing how the stores were already having sales because people weren’t coming to shop. Perhaps they didn’t realize taking Jesus out of the season would take the spirit out of the people. In addition, they may also have forgotten that Jesus is the reason for the season.

The 200+ million of us in this country who want to celebrate the birth of Jesus need to step forward. It has always been that we didn’t want to offend anyone. We still don’t want to offend anyone, but now there’s millions of us who are being offended. We need to make our stand known in our schools, and let the entire country know, we want to put Jesus back where He belongs during the Christmas season.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!