Christian Living / heaven

How Hard Are You Working Your Way to Heaven?

Philippians 3.10-14 records, my goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

In this passage, the Apostle who teaches us that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, reminds us of the effort we too must make in working out our salvation. (more…)

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October 9, 2019
Uncategorized

Who Determines What God Requires of Us?

John 4.22 proclaims, you Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.

One of the most offensive things a person can say today is that there is only one true religion, one true way to heaven, one true God. People become offended by this because they feel it is offensive to other people. However, these same people do not seem to think that believing and advocating for many ways to heaven and many gods to get there might be offensive to the One True God. Why do we think the One True God is copacetic with people creating whatever path they choose to get to Him? (more…)

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May 22, 2019
Christian Living / obedience

The Purpose of a Reminder

Numbers 15.38-39 commands Moses, speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

A few years ago the w.w.j.d. bracelets were popular, created to serve as reminders to us for asking what would Jesus do in any given situation. Of course the answer to what would Jesus do was to be found in the Scriptures and not to be determined by our own feelings. I’m not sure this part of the message ever got delivered to the adherents of the bands. (more…)

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May 7, 2019
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement / obedience

Is God Measuring Your Good Deeds or Bad Deeds?

Ecclesiastes 12.14 promises, God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

Omniscient is the word we use to describe God’s ability or character, for knowing all things. This is why He can command us to do good without making a show of it – to not let our right hand know what our left hand is doing, because He sees it, knows it and will one day reward it. God will bring all of our lives to light. (more…)

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April 25, 2019
evangelism / faith / Suffering

It’s Not What We Do But What We Say That Offends People

John 16.33 records, I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.

Be courageous. What does this mean for us as Christians? How about, be willing to identify with Jesus before men regardless of what they might do to us, but especially when they persecute us. They persecuted Jesus, Himself God, when He lived among us. Why did they persecute Him? (more…)

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March 26, 2019
Judgement / obedience

Is Perfection Even Possible?

Romans 7.19-20 observes, I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

There are some who claim that as Christians it is possible for us to no longer sin. I do not adhere to this belief. While I have been declared dead to sin and am recognized as such by God, it is not the presence of sin that is dead in me but the consequences of sin that is no longer condemning me and the power of sin over me has been broken. (more…)

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February 4, 2019
money / obedience / work

Pursuing Success is Our Nature

1 Chronicles 22.12-13 promises, that’s what will make you successful, following the directions and doing the things that GOD commanded Moses for Israel. Courage! Take charge! Don’t be timid; don’t hold back.

Everyone wants success, or at least the results of success. Fame and fortune, that’s the goal of all humanity. Success is defined by the applause of men and the material possessions we have accumulated. The greater the audience, the more likes, the greater the person. The more stuff, the more adventures, the greater the person. (more…)

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November 26, 2018
Christian Living / Theology

Everyone is a Priest

Hosea 4.8 observes, you can’t tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people. I’m on My way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.

One of the major doctrinal shifts that came out of the Reformation is the empowerment of all Christians to live and serve God as priests – the priesthood of all believers. This teaching throughout the New Testament and modeled by God in Jesus whose twelve disciples were not from the religious class but from the working class, was finally implemented during the Reformation after a long hiatus beginning around 300AD. (more…)

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October 30, 2018