Christian Living / evangelism

Short term or Long term Investments?

Ezra 9.10-12 says, and now, our God, after all this what can we say for ourselves? For we have thrown your commands to the wind…Whatever you do, don’t cultivate their good opinion; don’t make over them and get them to like you so you can make a lot of money and build up a tidy estate to hand down to your children.

We should want to cultivate the good opinion of men but for the singular purpose of glorifying God. Our lifestyle, our morals, values and behavior, should reflect the character, nature and ways of God Himself for we are His adopted children and we call God our Father. (more…)

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January 9, 2018
Christian Living / evangelism / Judgement / obedience / Suffering

Who Is Willing to Suffer for Jesus?

Acts 5.41 records, they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

The Church was able to grow from a handful of believers in Jesus into a world wide religion because it has been willing to suffer dishonor for the proclamation of Jesus as the only God and Savior of the world. When the Church has lost influence it has been the result of those who profess Jesus as Savior privately being afraid to do so publicly lest they suffer for proclaiming His ways. (more…)

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July 18, 2017
evangelism / obedience

God’s Marketing Department

Deuteronomy 18.18 promises, I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

This promise has already been literally fulfilled. It is one of more than 300 promises Jesus fulfilled making Him the unequivocal option for Messiah the Jews have always longed for. However, what this promise communicates and what Jesus communicated, is that God is committed to using people for marketing His Personal reality and His ultimate destiny for humanity. (more…)

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June 13, 2017
Judgement / money / work

What Concerns God Should Concern Us

Luke 16.15 warns, Jesus said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.

This statement by God, warning us that what we value He despises, should terrorize us. Now certainly this cant be true in everything. (more…)

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March 2, 2017
Christian Living / Judgement / money

What Really Keeps Us From Serving God.

Luke 16.13 observes, no one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.image

The Bible has many warnings against the pursuit and accumulation of wealth. It is interesting that God observes that our greatest competitor to Him will not be some strange idol from a weird man-made religion but a desire to be wealthy. Why do we want wealth? (more…)

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December 2, 2016
evangelism

All In for God

Nehemiah 1.11 is the prayer; O Lord, please grant me success today by making the king favorable toimage me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.

Things were bad in Nehemiah’s day, real bad. The nation of Israel, the people of God, were no longer living free under their own rule but were disbursed and distributed to the nations around them to live as slaves and servants of their captors. But some still had hope in God. (more…)

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January 11, 2016
heaven / Judgement / money

Building Heavenly Treasure Part 2

1 Timothy 6.19 promises, in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for imagesthe coming age. God encourages us to create and store treasure for ourselves in heaven. Think of it as the ultimate retirement savings account.

To earn heavenly treasure we have to think in the economics of heaven. We also have to choose which priority we will live for: short term this life existence or long term eternal life existence.

God warns us we cannot love money and God: we will focus on accumulating either the treasure of this world or the treasure of the world to come. In the passage today God lists additional means for us to accumulate heavenly treasure besides working at reconciling people to Jesus as Savior of the world. (more…)

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October 28, 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
Christian Living / Judgement

Living Burden Free

Psalm 68.19 declares, praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens. Godimage bears our burdens.

Does that really make any sense? No other religion other than Christianity makes such a claim.

Surely allah doesn’t bear anyone’s burdens. Most gods place burdens on humanity forcing us to get better by their impossible demands.

Our idols have the same burdensome propensity. We beat ourselves because we are not strong enough, smart enough, rich enough or pretty enough so we keep working trying to pacify that voice in our head that is never satisfied. (more…)

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May 11, 2015