heaven / Judgement / Theology

Why all Religions Can’t get us to Heaven

Matthew 7:14 warns small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.images

This generation finds offensive God’s instruction that He has only one way for entering heaven. It seems more fair, more loving, more gracious for all religions to be acceptable to God so that all people can get to heaven.

The problem with this thinking is that it ignores the love of God and the sacrifice God made for saving people. (more…)

0 Comments
January 7, 2015
Christian Living / Judgement / money / obedience

Pursuing Treasure

Matthew 6:19 commands ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.’images

When God lived among us He said, ‘do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth.’ We need to read that again slowly, thinking carefully about His words. God said, ‘do not store up treasures on earth.’

Yet most of us ignore Him. We are like the Israelites we read about in the Bible who constantly ignore God’s commands so we find ourselves shaking our heads at their disobedience and subsequent negative consequences. (more…)

0 Comments
January 6, 2015
Christian Living / Judgement

Are we ‘all-in’ for God?

Luke 3:7 proclaims you are trying to escape hell without truly turning to God!image

If we are honest this is the state of most of us, we want to go to heaven but we don’t want interference from God over how we run our lives. We take the minimalist approach to God trusting that He is loving like grandma and giving like Santa Claus.

The reason for this hypocrisy is because we really want to be god, totally in control without accountability, for everything we do, think and say. This reality says a lot about us and little about God. If we knew God better we would think more highly of Him and live more trusting of Him.

What kind of a God are we worshipping Who finds acceptable our minimalist effort at pleasing Him? (more…)

0 Comments
November 19, 2014
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement

God is not Bad

Hosea 11:9 declares I am the Holy One living among you, and I did not come to destroy.images

God is good but we don’t always think so. We like the freedom to make our own decisions, to do what we want but we don’t always like the consequences of those decisions or the choices others make which impact our lives.

We blame God for the bad things that happen without considering that most of those bad things are the result of our own or other human choices. We want a god who will intervene in our lives to keep us from injury but not to command us to do good.

When bad things happen not as a result of human choice we still blame God for it feeling that He is disinterested in our affairs. This is not the picture the Bible paints of Who the One True God Who is love in character, nature and ways.

The God in the Bible is the God Who is full of compassion, abounding in mercy and unlimited in love. (more…)

0 Comments
November 5, 2014
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement

The Importance of Believing the Truth

2 Thessalonians 2:10 proclaims they are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to imagebelieve it and love it and let it save them.

Jesus, the personal revelation of God in the flesh, promised that by knowing the truth we would be set free. We know this is true for we know of many who have brought great harm to themselves because of the lies they believed about themselves.

When we make a bad purchase, when all the information that was true wasn’t quite revealed, we realize again the truth that knowing the truth will set us free from personal and financial headaches.

There is an ultimate truth, a truth that determines the eternal destiny of everyone. Jesus said He is the Truth and His Truth is that He is God in person, made visible so that we could know God and trust God for the salvation of our souls when we pass from this life into the next.

The modern definition of truth is that each person decides what is true for themselves but the foolishness of such a belief is obvious in math, science, and relationships. We would all be miserable if engineers built bridges and structures based upon whatever truth they believed. So too with doctors.

And just because we believe something to be true doesn’t mean our significant other does and they let us know sometimes how untrue our truth really is! So too if there is a God doesn’t it make sense He would want us to know Who He really is so that we could please Him the way He wants? (more…)

0 Comments
October 21, 2014
Christian Living / Judgement

Being a Good Person

Psalm 146:8 proclaims the Lord loves good men.image

If you’ve ever watched the movie Saving Private Ryan you are no doubt moved by his powerful question to his wife, ‘was their sacrifice worth it.’

Nearly every man wants to know that he is good, that he has done good with his life. It is only after repeated bad decisions as a husband or father or business man does our conscience become seared, we lose hope, and surrender to the despair of failure.

The Good News from God is that He loves good men and every day is a new opportunity to be redeemed and begin anew. God forgives the past of the repentant and invites us into an eternal future of hope and glory.

But here’s the deal. God is the definer of good. (more…)

0 Comments
October 14, 2014
evangelism / Judgement / work

Getting Paid for our Work

Colossians 3:24 reminds us that it is the Lord Christ Who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all He owns. He isimages the one you are really working for.

Work is inherent to our existence. If a man will not work neither should he eat, at least not for free from the church doles – we have the government to take care of that!

In all seriousness, it is work that determines a man’s wealth in a free society. And wealth determines a person’s comfort and opportunities.

Work in itself is good and not evil though many have been taught otherwise. God made man then set him to work in His pristine environment that guaranteed success. It was through the rebellion that work suffered a curse and therefore became inherently more difficult by yielding thistles and thorns in addition to good crops instead of just good fruit as God designed.

The real problem with work is the propensity to define ourselves by the results of our work and to use the fruit of our work for our own pleasures and wants. (more…)

0 Comments
October 13, 2014