A short video that will inspire the highest ideals, the clearest and most noble biblical values, and which do so with a commitment to holiness. This is the salvation message and you got to get it!
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Life like a corn harvest can be challenging as well as tiring. Today, I as well as some other mates had the privilege to harvest corn at the Bethel foundation, which is a home for blind orphans in China. Without a good system in place, the task could have proven to be an unnecessarily tiring one. Our group decided instead of chopping all the corn stalks down and then picking out the corn cobs in the heap of chopped down corn stalks, while one chopped the other would pick and another would also bag. We did this in a row like fashion, and by time we knew it, we had harvested hundreds of corn in just a couple of hours. Our system was effective and it kept us on target. Life too has an effective “system” for its challenges, whether good or seemingly bad, that works every time. What I am referring to is faith, faith in Jesus Christ. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, but you often feel drowned in heart ache or tasks of life, then it just could mean that you feel that way because you are not using that God given privilege to go to God in prayer. It doesn’t matter what you’re facing, could be an exam, financial issues, marital issues whatever; prayer is your most effective system in overcoming any problem that you may face. If you do not know what to pray for, just pray that the Lord’s will be done and you are ready to accept the outcome of His will.
I myself for the past two days was down in my spirit. I was broken hearted by the actions of a friend and was just not my usual “up to beat” self. We all have these kinds of days, and though the Good LORD does not cause them to happen, He can and will use them for good. All we have to be is ready for Him to do so. In the past two days I have been crying out to God for strength, crying out to Him to give me a forgiving heart and asking Him to bless the friend that had hurt me. The latter of my prayer was not easy, but it’s necessary and I trust God to bring forth a good harvest having humbly petitioning it. It’s always necessary to call out the name of anyone we may have a conflict with. No one likes mentioning the name of someone that they are in some way or another not pleased with. You will even notice parents, even though they love their children dearly, will say to the other spouse “your daughter/your son did this or said that…”. During the easy days it’d sound more like “our daughter Jane/son John… ”. There’s more intimacy when things are good, but often a disconnection otherwise. So with that being said, when we pray for someone who has hurt us in some way or another, it is best to mention the person’s name or at least petition the matter with words like “God, please bless my friend”. This in no way gives the person license to what they may or may not have done, but it’s an effective “system” that harvests good character. Spending time with God in prayer is something we need to do daily, good days or not. The Bible records many times when our Lord Jesus prayed. If God the Son prayed, then we too should see this as pertinent in our lives. Don’t go another day without talking to your God, better said: don’t go any day without talking to your God, our God. Just like today my buddies and I harvested corn with an effective system which kept us on target, so too do we need to commune daily with God in order that we too remain on target, which is in His will. Praying in spirit and in truth keeps us geared towards the will of our LORD. Praying and believing that God will answer any prayer within His will, is simply known as trusting God, hoping in Him or waiting upon Him. We know what the Word says about this:
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
We should delight in the LORD always, in this way He will harvest His good character in us.
Fruit of the Spirit
Recently, I’ve had quite a few things on my mind. Dominantly, I’ve been thinking that being a Christian is quite a struggle. The fruit of the Spirit which any true Christian possesses is love which then gives birth to: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and and self-control. Almost everyday I feel as if I’ve failed to display one or more of these attributes of the one fruit, love (Galations 5:22). This can be quite discouraging. However, it is no reason to give up. Making a mistake doesn’t mean we are without Christ. Though however, when we do wrong our actions are indeed without or out of Christ. God never promised this was going to be easy. Instead He warned of the exact opposite.
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
What does it mean? Exactly as it says. We’re going to have issues, there’re going to be moments when we fall. But there’s good news, Jesus has overcome this passing world. 
So what does that has to do with us? Simple, simple. Our God did it, we lean on Him for help and we can do it too! Through our Lord Jesus, all that is His will is possible. So let me say this, it IS God’s will for us to be in a relationship with Him. So no matter what, never give up! God intends for us to be with Him.
Declaring Jesus as our Lord and Saviour marks us for life. First of all, if we declare this to a mate that hasn’t publicly claimed Jesus as their Lord, that mate is automatically, subconsciously going to be observing our now mannerisms. There’s going to be a magnification on our actions. They’re going to want to know what’s the difference between then and now, because ultimately, everyone is looking for one thing. Many say happiness or true love, but what they really mean is fulfillment of their spirit. As we know, only the Lord Jesus can meet the needs of the spirit. He made us just to connect with Him. If folks see that positive change birthed from the Spirit in us, they too are going to want to have the Spirit living in them. Yes, they really will and do want, Richard Dawkins included. So what do we do? Do we worry about what others think? No! Human beings are insatiable, we’ll never please the whole world. So what do we do? Do we search exasperatedly God’s will for us? No! God reveals His will for us when He so see it fit. Our job is to obey and follow His revealed plan. God’s will for us will never contradict Himself. So we can be assured that when He reveals a plan, it’s a plan that’ll draw us closer to Him.
I cannot emphasis how important is daily prayer and Bible study. I find that whenever I get so busy in the speed of school and the like, I often end up feeling drained and disconnected from God. Also important is attending church. I don’t mean going to a building. I mean being in a community of other followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the church. I had a friend who said she’s looking for a church in Beijing. I was quite delighted to hear this. Only to find out that she knew about the church I belonged to. She said “I know this, it is just a building, like a simple room. Not a church.” What it appears she was looking for, was a building with stained glass and all the fancy decorating of other buildings that contains a church. A church is not the building! A church is made up of followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I’ve come to realize that it is immensely difficult to continue loving others the way Jesus did without expecting anything in return. I might have said this in one of my previous posts, but how wonderful an example Jesus set before us. Remember when Judas betrayed Him? Why do you think the disciples didn’t even know who the betrayer was? It’s simple. It’s because Jesus’ attitude towards Judas was consistently of love and kindness. Had it been spiteful, no doubt the disciples would have been like “Oh, Jesus you mean Judas? Yes, we noticed how you treat him.” I’m often driven by emotions, by present feelings. This is not what God wants. He wants us to show the fruits of the Spirit regardless of our current situation. A difficult task, yes. Attempted on our own, impossible to even see a small improvement! However, if we continue to seek, listen to and obey God, in time we will become more an more like the piece of clay He intended us to be.
Thankfully we are saved by the grace of God. Had He have dealt with us according to our actions, I probably wouldn’t be typing this note now. None of us would be here actually, as we have all sinned. Wonderfully, great is the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are delivered from sin through God’s great act of mercy.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We need God’s salvation, so we continue in this race. Let it be known that:
Ecclesiates 9:11
…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
God’s mercy doesn’t just fall on one group of people, but the entire nation, the entire world. When we claim Jesus as our Lord, we don’t just sit back and say “I’m a Christian now. I’m invisible.” We’re not! It’s not going to get comfortable only until we are reunited with our Father in heaven.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
This is what we are compelled to do for it pleases God. Not to mention, everybody’s watching us now. Setting a good example, still pleases God. In the end, we do it all for the glory of God our Rock, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Jehovah Jireh, our Counselor, our LORD, our wonderful King and Saviour.
Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hello folks,
We are now well “settling” into the new year. By settling, I mean where the draft of a fresh start might be unravelling into a year that looks like it will be full of challenges. Perhaps even more challenging than 2010. If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you might be wondering where the Good LORD taking you with all this. The thing is, none of us are going to learn anything or get any closer to God if we’re comfortable all the time. Remember when Jacob wrestled with “a man” (Genesis 32:24); the two wrestled for a while, then at day break, the man requested that Jacob let him go, but Jacob insisted that he was first blessed.
Gen 32: 24″And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be assured that when our LORD challenges us, that a blessing is to come after the wrestle.
Phillipians 3:14 “I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus.“
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. That’s because during the fall, the enemy has been giving me some serious spiritual hits. So thus I have been drowning in a sea of self-pity and feeling of unworthiness. True, no one is worthy. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:“. However, this does not give us the excuse to reject God’s hand in our lives. The devil will use any tactic to destroy our relationship with God. I myself quite enjoy watching television and listening to music. The devil is so smart, he won’t just tempt us to watch something that is full of violence, foul language and the like. He’ll start of with media that just contains an ill here or two. That way, we’ll slowly fall back into corruption. Thankfully, greater is He the Holy Spirit Who lives in us Christians. It’s very important that we continue to read the Scripture and pray daily. It’s very important that we strive to maintain a relationship with God no matter what is going on in our lives. Even if we feel spiritually alive, still we should even press for more of God. Let us never get comfortable in our relationship with God. I ask that whenever we say the Name of God that we stop for a few seconds to contemplate on Who we are really calling upon. Imagine Moses, a great man of God hair turned completely white upon being in God’s presence. God is HOLY! The angels themselves proclaim it “And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” – Isaiah 6:3. Picture it for a moment. There is ultimate power in the God we serve, let us hang not only hang on to faith that He can, but let us also hang on to faith that He will. As surely as the Lord lives, “the LORD thy God, He [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations;“.
by: Daniel R. Vess
For the longest time, I was afraid to wear deodorant. That was back when it came in a can. On the back of the can was this warning: “Caution: may explode under intense heat.” I could just imagine going out to play basketball in the gym at school and working up an intense heat and having my arm pits explode. How embarrassing as all my teammates watched my arms hurling across the basketball court and missing a free shot. Well, I had to start wearing it if I was to have any friends, but I still had to keep them on the right side of me because my mother bought me Right Guard underarm deodorant. I didn’t have any Left Guard for the other arm.
The sense of smell is one of the powerful senses God has given us. Smell alerts us to danger, such as, a building on fire. Animals need the sense of smell to survive. Smell tells us when someone else is around. There are good smells like fresh bread out of the oven, or the smell of a little baby, and a new car. Then you have bad smells like sulfur or spoiled milk and other things, such as, stinky feet.
Do your feet smell? No! You smell with your nose. How do you smell? This is not a personal question about your body odor, but a inquiry into your spiritual aroma. Paul spoke about this to the Corinthians: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
Stench of Sin and Death
Have you ever asked someone while driving down the highway, “What’s that smell?” Perhaps, you were passing by a sewage treatment plant, a paper factory or a dead skunk. We have all smelled the stench of a skunk Skunks can spray a distance of six to ten feet. However, its foul odor can be smelled by humans for up to 2.5 miles.
Spiritually, sin can spray us with its stench of death for eternity. This world is filled with the stench of sin and death. Solomon warned, “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor” (Eccl. 10:1). Death is the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), and all have sinned (Rom. 3:23). Therefore, everybody stinks.
In the resurrection of Lazarus, who had been in the grave for four days, we learn that he was not just dead, but he stunk (John 11:38_40). We are not just dead in our sins, we emit a foul odor to the nose of God. God is said to have sense of smell. If we play with dead things we will start to smell like them. Physical death has a distinct odor and so does spiritual death.
How can we remove the stench of sin and death? By victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ. Paul obviously had seen at least one Roman triumphal procession in his life. In the context, he is alluding to this tradition. After a Roman army would conquer a particular tribe or people, there would be a ticker tape parade. However, it was different from the ones that we know. After a great victory, the Roman senate would vote to give the conquering army and general a Triumph parade. First, rank upon rank of trumpeters would march by. Next came the older Roman senators, leading men of the city, such as, rich merchants, government officials, etc. Then came the army with intermittent wagon loads of spoil taken in victory. Finally, the hero and conquering general came riding in a chariot while wearing the garb associated with Jupiter: purple and gold robes. Alongside this procession were people swinging censers filled with sweet-smelling incense. Various bonfires would be burning here and there along the route. People would pour perfume into the flames so the smell of its fragrance would fill the air. Also, fragrant flowers would be cast by the spectators into the path of the parade and crushed by the hundreds of marching feet. At the very end of the procession the enemy prisoners would be executed.
This is illustrative of the great smell of victory that came when Christ arose victoriously over sin and death at His resurrection.
Aromatherapy
Not only can Christ help us with our past problem with the stench of sin and death, but He can help us as Christians to emit sweet-smelling aroma that will be pleasing to God.
Aromatherapy means “treatment using scents.” It is used to relieve pain, care for the skin, alleviate tension and fatigue, and invigorate the entire body. It has been said that certain scents can help with the body’s digestion, respiratory, circulatory and excretory systems. Some smells can relieve headaches, ease depression, and even help to improve memory. Doctors have found that a life without fragrance can lead to heightened incidences of psychiatric issues, such as anxiety and depression. The average human has the ability to differentiate 10,000 diverse scents. One Japanese firm reports that air scented with lavender cut keypunching errors by 21 %. Jasmine-scented air dropped errors by 33 %, and lemon in the air was even better by cutting errors by 54 %. Lavender reduces stress. Jasmine relaxes. Lemon stimulates. Odors do make a difference.
It is one thing to remove a bad smell. It is important to replace it with a new fragrance. Christ is the new fragrance in our new lives as Christians. “Therefore be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1,2). Just as we are attracted by pleasant smells, so the smell of Christ’s sacrifice makes us appealing to God.
Just how does a Christian smell? We are recognized by how we smell! Do you smell like dead fish? If so, you must be a fisherman. The Christian emits (in a figurative way) the very smell of Christ’s sweet sacrifice. It comes out in our attitudes, actions and words. As we travel through life, we are sending a sweet -smelling fragrance to God in a world that otherwise stinks. For example, if someone comes around you and stink, your image is created of that person. Stinky people usually don’t have many friends. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to cover up that smell by doing good deeds or by being kind to strangers, or by helping little old ladies across the street.
To improve your fragrance you need Christ. Consider Christ’s visit to Simon the Leper’s home. The smell of lepers will turn your stomach. It is the smell of rotting flesh that is dying right on their bodies. A woman came and anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, and His presence changed the smell of the entire home of Simon.
And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? “For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. “For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13. “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26:6-13).
Washing
How do we remove the stench of sin and death from our lives? Those who have been sprayed by a skunk are told to soak in tomato juice. This is supposed to remove the smell. You can’t cover up the smell! You have to wash it away.
When sprayed by sin we must wash it way. Psalm 51:7 says, “Wash me, and I will be whiter…” One of the beatitudes of Revelation states, “Blessed are those who wash their robes…” (Revelation 7:14). When Ananias came to Saul of Tarsus to tell him how to remove the stench of his sin he said, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
Stay Clean
After we have been washed, we can always go right back to the mud hole of sin and wallow in it. This is not only a possibility, it is most probable according to 1 John 1:8-10. Staying out of the garbage dumps of the world helps you not to stink again. What can we do when we sin again? Do we get re-baptized? No. As a child of God and a Christian, you can be cleansed of your sins daily by repenting, confessing and praying for forgiveness. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7,9).
Sweet-Smelling Worship
Another way to keep smelling good before the Lord is to worship Him in an acceptable manner. In Genesis chapter eight we see Noah coming out of the ark 377 days after the flood began. First, he built an alter to God. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done” (Genesis 8:20,21). Was it that the Lord was pleased by the aroma of a burning animal? No. It was more so that the Lord was pleased by Noah’s heart of worship and his offering of worship to Him.
Living Sacrifice
During the Patriarchal and Mosaical Age, animals were sacrificed. Dead animals will not do anymore. Today, we as Christians are the sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).The pleasing aroma of living sacrifice comes from the soul completely offered up to God.
Prayer Is a Fragrant Incense to Heaven
Prayer gives off a sweet smell to the Lord according to Ps. 141:2: “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” So, if you “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) you will never have to worry about your spiritual B.O
Ask others to tell you how you “smell.” This takes guts. Spiritual “B.O.” detracts from the message of Christ. Do you give off the fragrance of life or the odor of death?
Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !!
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday
Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not
bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled
trees, Christmas trees… I don’t feel threatened.. I don’t feel discriminated
against.. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t
think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I
kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this
happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on
display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu … If people want
a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians
like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in
God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where
the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t
find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should
worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who
are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew
went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little
different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to
get you thinking.
Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked
her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Hurricane
Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response..
She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for
years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our
government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I
believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing
and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’
In light of recent events… terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.. I think
it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few
years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou
shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And
we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they
misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert
should know what he’s talking about.. And we said okay..
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t
know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their
classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I
think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s
going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what
the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread
like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people
think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles
pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in
the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your
address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think
of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what
God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard
this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world
is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben S.
This has been on my mind for sometime now. I have been trying to avoid the issue, but now feel that it is imperative that I make a small post on the subject matter. As a Christian, I find it a bit difficult to find films or television production that delivers the message of the Gospel accurately. It seems to me that many folks rate movies/shows as Christian as long as it mentions God in a line or two. No! Media is only Christian when it delivers the message of the Gospel in accordance to what the Bible says. We should not add or take away from God’s Word! What’s wrong with the media today? The devil seems to be working hard in order to lead many astray. My friends be not caught in these fatal traps. Let the Holy Bible be your first source by which you use to measure each and everything in life.
Since I am a big television person, I find it necessary to warn of some of the media that preach false messages, which can result in one being led astray. So I will use this post as a guide to some of the media that come to our television screen that are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Touched By An Angel – Any discerning Christian can tell this show preaches a false message from its pilot episode right through to its finale. Where is the Gospel of Christ? Touched By Phonies teaches salvation by good works. I have never heard repentance, John 3:16, giving one’s life to Jesus and trying to live a Christ like life preached in that show. For instance, there was some episode in season one about some baseball coach who was a dying bitter guy and had lost his shot to play in the big leagues. So guess you can say he treated others badly. On his death bed the “angel” Monica told him that he needed to do the “right thing.” Huh? Didn’t Ephesians 2:8-9 basically say that we are saved by faith, that faith being in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour? Sure faith without good works is dead [James 2:17], because we can’t say we love Jesus and then willingly disobey Him or deny Him by our actions, but at the same time, the Bible is clear on how we are saved, John 3:16, John 14:6, Hebrews 11:6, Luke 11:23 and so many more Biblical examples..So why the constant teaching about doing good things and not a peep about Jesus and His Gospel?
Little House on the Prairie – Show has many lovely episodes, but ever so often there are some episodes which message is just false false false! Take the episode the Lord is My Shepherd 2 for instance, I know the name of the episode sounds very Christian like, however, some of the things said was down right a lie straight from the devil’s mouth. To cut the story short, the main character Laura went up to a mountain because she wanted to be closer to God. Though we can find God by just following 2 Chronicles 7:14, that’s all good. Laura was a kid and this was her understanding of how to get closer to God. Anyhow, while there, she met some guy named Johnathon which said so many outrageous things about God that it was absolute torture for me to listen to. Nevertheless, I listened. The young girl Laura wanted to know why God hadn’t responded to her prayer. So Johnathon, I’m guessing he was supposed to be some kind of “angel”, in a nutshell told her that God has many things to do and needs time to catch up with her prayer and that He is tired and taking a nap. I even remember John telling Laura that “he thinks God is sometimes even surprised about the way we feel about things.” Hello! Since when does God need time to catch up? God does not get tired and He is all knowing, nothing surprises Him. So maybe Johnathon was just trying to explain things to Laura in the way she would understand, that reasoning still does not give the right to tell lies on the Lord God. He could have simply said: “once your prayer comes straight from the heart, God has heard you and you just need to be patient”. Plain and simple. There are more examples, but I’ll just leave this just one. For those of you who watch this show, just beware of the message in some of these episodes.
Florence + The Machine’s – You Got the Love – Great melody, cool lyrics. The overall package of You Got the Love however was distorted by its anti-Biblical message found in its music video. In the lyrics:Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air,
I know I can count on you,
Sometimes I feel like saying “Lord I just don’t care”,
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through.
Mind you, throughout the song she never mentions Jesus, but many folks argue that she is in fact referring to Him. I don’t know but based on the content of the lyrics, we can generally assume she is. Anyhow, if you watch the music video, you’ll notice the way in which the artist carries herself is completely contrary to the Word of God. I don’t know if it was her intention to act as an exotic dancer, but human beings are blessed with talent. Surely there must be a more modest way in which this can be done. I think.
1 Timothy 2:9-10,” In like manner also, that women adorn (dress) themselves in modest (decent) apparel, with shamefacedness {bashfulness} and sobriety“;
And for those of you who believe that she isn’t out to preach anything, I got one verse for you. 1 Corin 10:31 - “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” After watching such a music video someone might say: “Wow, it’s really easy to be a Christian. I can call Jesus my Saviour and dress and behave like that.” If being a “little sexy”, as one blogger puts it, is right by God, I believe He intends this kind of intimacy/sensuality of the body ONLY for spouses (a married man and woman) and it should in no way be publically paraded as in how we so often see it today. In other words, kept for the marriage bed, enclosed by four walls and a roof!
It’s all great that we believe in God but it’s salvation! when we believe in what He did for us on the cross, strive to live a life like Him, a life out of sin. A life of continual repentance and desire to draw in a closer relationship with God. The Gospel of Christ is very simple. I don’t know why folks feel they can teach something else and then brand it Christian.
We are to know that we are sinners, that we cannot get to heaven without complete dependence on Jesus Christ. We are to love God, follow His commands and hate sin. We are to feel remorseful of our sins and repent of them. We know we are seeking out/living the Christ like life when we enjoy the Word of God, enjoy chatting to friends about the Lord Jesus, deeply bothered when we disobey God…these things. There’s no Christian without Jesus CHRIST as King and Lord of our lives. Just believing in God, doing “good” things does not bring forth salvation. We got to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we have to love Him, love others and love our selves. When we say we love Him, we got to strive to live the way He did. It’s hard with all the temptation in the world, but He is the narrow gate to heaven.
If you want the Gospel, read the Bible. If you want to see references of it onscreen, watch movies like Flywheel, Fireproof, the Board. Want to hear it through music? Listen to Don Moen, Natalie Grant, Phillips Craig and Dean…plus many more. Either way, let the Spirit of God lead you. Not sure about something? Just keep reading the Bible, keep praying and speak with other believers who know and love the Lord.
Watch out as the enemy is quite crafty, the creep.
God bless!
Many are under the impression that once someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they suddenly get this “no more trouble for me armor”. On the contrary, this is not so at all. When I received Jesus Christ, I felt as if I had another chance with life to fix all the damage that I had done. I was granted God’s Holy Spirit and He became and is my guide to the life I live now.
John 7:
38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive….
I so too have received a best friend, my Comforter whom comforts me in times of trouble. This trouble, is the prime of this post. The world that we live in today is much so governed by sin. Once upon a time when I was so blind in my sin the amount of trouble in the world didn’t seem to be so great. By the power of the Holy Spirit, my eyes and ears have be awakened to the corruption of the world. I’ve come to the revelation that a lot of the media, such as movies, music that we watch and listen to does influence our minds whether we want to admit it or not. I remember back when I didn’t care too much about God I listened to and watched some very dark media. These all perverted my thoughts. Whenever I got angry I listened to popular rappers, 50 Cent/Eminem, or heavy metal album Queen of the Damned. Now, I’m not mentioning these because I’m saying they should be banned. I’m just saying that hey, what we put inside of us changes us.
Music is pretty much everywhere, in all forms of entertainment. We hear it in movies, television commercials, many of us play it when we study, when we go to sleep, while driving and even when we wake up. So with that, the lyrics that we listen to, the essence of the sound influences our minds, bodies and even our very souls.
Thank goodness that God caught my heart in time before I acted on some of my thoughts. I say some of my thoughts, because to be honest, I did act immorally on many; cursing, cutting, lusting..just to name a few.
Now what does this have to do with trouble coming? Well, since I was once a part of this junk I couldn’t really see anything since my eyes were dimmed with darkness. Now, one of the troubles that one faces as a believer is lack of hope. This is a faith shattering trouble. The lack of hope comes as a result of the corruption in the world. I see so much corruption in the world that we live in today, murder, rape, folks being so hateful towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ/the Gospel of perfect love, that I wonder to myself sometimes what’s the point. Whenever the Holy Spirit calls us to speak the Gospel and we keep quiet we believers ourselves are rejecting God. When we reject God, we sin, and as many know, sin separates us from God. Then through our separation we often feel drought-ed of God’s presence. Then we start questioning our own faith. I have a mate whom once believed in God and then sadly, for whatever reason, could be this, just stopped believing in His existence. How devastating!
Hebrews 10
26 “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
This is just one of the many forms of trouble, which kills our faith without our even knowing. Spreading the Gospel is every believers’ mission. For one, when eyes are opened to the Truth and the love of Jesus Christ is felt, one begins to hate the things that which the Lord hates, sin. The only anti-dote to sin is Jesus Christ. No other way can save us from our sins.
John 14:
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
We believers are called to spread the Gospel, because Jesus Himself commanded us to do so. To reject His command is an act of disobedience and is sin.
Matthew 28:
19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Other troubles may come in financial bankruptcy, loss of a family member. We cry out to God, why? Why me, or why us? We never really know why God does the things He does. However, we know that God is eternally good and He never gives us too much that we cannot bear.
1 Corinthians 10:
13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Plus with Him as our Rock we can overcome any trouble we may face. All physical bodies return to the ground from whence it came at some point. A family member/relative or friend physically leaving the earth is inevitable. Sure we miss them, but the way I see it, the real loss is when while still on earth, the passed away one rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Money is great to have. However, we can’t take it along with us when we leave this earth. So basically, we shouldn’t get too attached to it. Besides, any earthly riches that we gain are to be used for the glory of God. That is, to help others in need. Accumulating money whereby it remains stationary in an account is pointless. Earthly wealth is temporary, so we should not let our desire for it consume us. Let God be always first in our hearts.
Sometimes we need to break something down, like a house, to make it into a better one. I believe many times God does this in our lives. As we did not create ourselves, God did, we can’t possibly know everything about ourselves. However, God does. He knows the number of strands of hair on our bodies, the very nature of our hearts. Sometimes there’s something that’s preventing us from becoming the person God intended us to be. So a certain amount of “trouble” comes into our lives in order to bring us into “full mode” with God. We go to school, study, and at the end of the semester we get a bunch of exams. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like exams much, but it’s a wonderful reward when the results come out and my performance was outstanding. It’s then that I realize that I truly know my academics. In the same instance, when we overcome our spiritual troubles, it is truly wonderful. Our faith is strengthened and we walk a step closer to God. God always allows Himself as a solution to our troubles. No matter what they may be.
Our walk to glory was not intended to be easy.
Luke 24:
26 “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
If we intend to be Christ like, it can’t be any different for us.
John 16:
33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Followers of Jesus Christ, like Him so too shall be persecuted by worshipers of hate. More trouble! But….
Matthew 5:
10 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Non-believers themselves face many more troubles. Non-believers most often live by the standards of society. Clearly the standards of society have be corrupted. Since non-believers have no faith or hardly, little faith, they often have a harder time getting out of their ditch. It is only through God, through the love of Jesus Christ, that we are delivered out of despair, out of our troubles. This is why it is the duty of us believers to spread the Gospel, those who chose to receive shall be saved. Those whom do not shall remain slaves to unrighteousness.
John 8:
34 Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
One might say there are non-believers whom live moral lives. True, but none of us are without sin. Sin separates us from God so we need to have faith in His plan for salvation to gain eternal life. Physical death is only to be feared when one have not received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Non-believers claim that we believers often “shove our God down their throats”, and want non-believers to believe in God out of fear. Certainly not! Believers of the One True living God are often so overwhelmed by God’s love they just want folks to know it as well. A relationship with Jesus Christ is the best relationship of anyone’s lifetime! Many believers were once slaves of sin, once enslaved we searched endlessly for ways out and found the only way out through Jesus Christ. We feel it to be our duty to tell others of this remedy. My mates, the scary place is hell, an eternal hell is even scarier. You don’t believe in the existence of hell? Well, this is your decision but I do believe with this mentality you’re headed for trouble! An eternal one at that. Dear non-believer, it is of your best interest to sought out Jesus with your heart. It’s not going to be easy, life on earth is not easy for any one. Well, it certainly hasn’t been easy for me. So what’s the difference? The eternal love /comfort of God is. I shouldn’t tell you this, but before I used to make my passwords all related to folks whom I care for. We human beings often let each other down. As a result, my passcodes have changed many times. My passcodes are now all related to God in one way or another, the relations haven’t changed since. God does not fail me! I don’t often understand His actions, but should I really? He wouldn’t be God if I did. I don’t even always understand my own actions, much less!
Psalm 73:
28 “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”
Regardless of the troubles we face, in everything we do, may we do it for the glory of the Lord God. May we love Him, love others and love ourselves!
Hebrews 10:
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,
“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Amen!
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