Judgement / obedience

How to Get to Heaven

James 2.12 commands we speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that givesimages freedom.

God plans to judge everyone. We inherently know this to be true yet suppress it as much as possible from our conscience. When we do think about God holding us accountable we normally give ourselves a passing grade as to our adherence to His commands.

The answer to what God will judge us on and how He will judge us has all been revealed by God so that we can pass the test. (more…)

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November 20, 2015
Christian Living / obedience

Maintaining Integrity with God

image1 Chronicles 10:13-14 explains, Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

Imagine being hand chosen by God to be the first king over His people. Pretty high honor. You would also think the vetting process would have been the best. Yet, like the first man created, Adam, this first king was a failure. (more…)

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November 18, 2015
Christian Living / evangelism

A Christian Definition of Courage

Proverbs 28.1 describes the righteous (being) as bold as a lion.image

When we think of courage we think of near death experiences where some type of threat is about to take our lives but we somehow fight, resist or escape to avoid the intended result. We also think of those who went into such an event knowing they probably would not return and many didn’t. Our soldiers live in this category as do Christians who remain in hostile countries.

Certainly these are accurate descriptions of courage but maybe there is a more mundane description that all of us can and should embrace if we are going to live courageously. (more…)

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November 12, 2015
Judgement / obedience

Remaining in God’s Love Part 2

John 15.9-10 warns us to remain in Jesus’ love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,image just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

If I must remain in God’s love am I not working my way to heaven, the antithesis of orthodox Christianity? Of course not for we cannot even know God until He reveals Himself to us. God must draw us to Himself for us to have a relationship with Him. In addition, He must supply the power and Person we need to remain in that relationship. (more…)

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November 10, 2015
obedience / work

Lessons to be learned from the ‘Greatest Generation’

2 Kings 17.41 observes even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.image

The so called, ‘greatest generation’ were the parents of the children who attended high school in the late 1940’s and 1950’s. These people became the parents of those who attended high school in the 1960’s to 1970’s.

The ‘greatest generation’ was considered such because of the selflessness by which they lived their life. They suffered much and paid much to make the life of their children better. (more…)

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November 5, 2015
Judgement / obedience / Titus

Why We Need to Read the Bible

Titus 1.16 observes they claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, A Call to Worship and Obediencedisobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

How can anyone know God? Conversely, if there really is a God doesn’t it makes sense He would want us to know Him?

Assuming God would want us to know Him then the answer to how can we know God is simple: read the book He has given to us describing Himself and His requirements for us. Simple enough, but which one? (more…)

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November 2, 2015
heaven / Judgement / obedience / Theology

Truth Hurts

2 Thessalonians 2:10 observes, they perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.image

Truth hurts. Most of us don’t really like the truth because it has a nasty way of disagreeing with the way we want things to be.

Truth is not swayed by our will or wishes; it doesn’t change because we cry or scream. We become deceitful and lie in order to create an illusion of truth so that we get what we want.

God says He is truth. (more…)

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October 21, 2015
evangelism

Earning Eternal Wages

John 4.36 promises the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life.image

God warned us, while living among us, as one of us, not too place our life pursuit upon things that didn’t last like houses, clothes and money. God might have added cars to this mix had they been invented while He lived among us.

These are the very things most of us pursue for defining our success and significance in the world. God is not opposed to working for reward. (more…)

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October 20, 2015
evangelism / obedience

End Times or Bad Times?

Matthew 16.4 describes a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given itimage except the sign of Jonah.

There are many in the Christian camp who believe we are close to the ‘end times.’

This belief has been prevalent in Christianity since its inception almost, the Apostle Paul discusses this issue in his letter to the Thessalonians who seemed to have quit working so they could stand around and watch for Jesus to return. Paul rebuked such behavior. (more…)

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October 16, 2015
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement / obedience / Theology

Believe, Receive and Cleave to Get to Heaven

Colossians 2:6 commands, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in imagesHim. What makes a person a Christian?

The debate has long raged because unlike all of the other religions, there are no ‘3 steps’ to making oneself a Christian. There are however 3 principles that if not evident in our lives should cause us much concern about our belief that we truly are Christians. (more…)

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October 14, 2015