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!

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.

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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.
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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!
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Daylight Savings begins March 14th

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.
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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.

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

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

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.

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."