God's Great Love

Eph 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us," 

When we really take a look at ourselves we stand in amazement at the great love that God loves us with.  We know that we are all together unlovely when we compare ourselves to the holiness of God.  The Bible presents a parallel truth in Rom 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  The word "Commendeth" means that God demonstrated his love to us when we were totally undeserving of His love.  How did he demonstrate his love?  He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross.  Christ's death was a demonstration of God's love for us.  As humans it's hard for us to truly understand the depth of God's love for us.  As humans when someone offends or hurts us we can withdraw our love from them.  God never withdraws His love from us.  He loves us with an unconditional love.  He always wants the best for us.  The best for us is to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and yielded to God's will for our life.  When I'm happy God loves me.  When I'm sad God loves me.  When I hurt God loves me.  When I'm lonely God loves me.  There is absolutely nothing on this earth as great as the Love of God.  God demonstrated His love through the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is God's love that made it possible for us to have eternal life in Heaven, by His precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Judgment will Fall

Pro 28:5 Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things. 

It's amazing to watch people with no fear of the Lord.  They live their lives like there is no tomorrow, grabbing for everything they can acquire in this life.  The important thing that they forget is that there is a tomorrow coming whether it is in this life or out in eternity.  The Bible speaks very clearly on this topic.  Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:".  There is no one that will escape the judgment of a holy and righteous God.  We will all stand before God in Judgment.  Those who have trusted Christ by faith will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ.  Those who have lived for themselves in this life and never trusted Christ will stand before the Lord at the Great White Throne Judgment.  Listen to these verses that describe that terrible judgment in the Book of Revelation.  

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

What a tragic end for any man or woman.  Those whose names were not found written in the Book of Life were cast into the lake of fire.   Our beginning verse says that, "Evil men understand not judgment..."  If they truly understood this judgment it would change their lives.  They would realize there is a judgment for sin and a consequence that must be paid for living an evil and selfish life.   They would come to the understanding that Christ paid the penalty for their sins on the cross at Calvary.  All they have to do is repent of their sin and trust Christ by faith, believing that He died on the cross for them and that He was raised to life on the third day.  If they will do this they can become a new man.  God will perform a wonderful work of grace in their life. 

They that seek the Lord will understand all things.  How do we seek the Lord?  We seek him through prayer and in His Word.  If we spend time seeking God in His Word we will understand all things.  That is because the Bible is such a relevant Book for our lives today that it speaks to every part of our life.  The Bible will meet every need of our lives if we will seek God's answer in His Word.  It has the answers to our church needs, our marital needs, our family needs and our psychological needs.  If we'll seek God He will provide the answers and help that we need.  Are you struggling with some problem and there seems to be no solution?  Seek God's answer in His Holy Word!
 

The Crucial Aspects of the Cross

 

Colossians 1:12-22

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

The word "Crucial" means "Of vital importance, especially in regards to a decision or result.

There are five crucial aspects to the cross:

1) Salvation - It speaks of Christ as our sacrificial lamb. John 1:11-12, 29

2) Sanctification - It speaks of Christ as Lord of our Life. Ro. 10:9-13 It is an act of submission. Ro. 12:1-2

3) Who you are - It speaks of Christ as our Life. Ro. 6:4-11; Col. 3:4

4) Emancipation - It speaks of Christ as our Liberator. Lu. 4:16; Col. 2:13; Ro. 8:21; Jn. 6:36

5) Direction - It speaks of Christ as our Leader. Lu. 9:23-26; Gal. 5:6

This sermon was preached this Sunday by our faithful Pastor. Take the time to study out these verses and allow God to use them to speak to your heart and to help you grow spiritually.

When Should I Rejoice?

Php 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."

The word "Rejoice" literally means to be happy, to take delight in, to be full of cheer.  When we look at many Christians we would think they were the chief participant at a lemon chewing contest.  When and why should we rejoice in our Christian lives?  Paul was commanding the believers at Philippi to rejoice always.  There was never a time that the Christians shouldn't be rejoicing in their Lord.  I'm sure you've discovered as I have that it's easy to rejoice in the good times when God's blessings are falling like the dew from Heaven.  When we're on the mountain top and everything is going our way how easy it is to praise our God and rejoice in the fact that we are His children.

What should we do when the dark days come?  The valley experiences, when there is trouble seemingly on every hand?  When we're tempted to crawl into bed and pull the covers over our head and never re-emerge.  What does the Bible say we should do in those grim circumstances?  We find our answer in the same verse.  REJOICE IN THE LORD  ALWAY!  One of  the greatest lessons I've ever learned in my Christan life is that God always does what is best for us.  The Book of James tells us we shouldn't be surprised when trials comes to pass in our lives.  God permits those times of testing for a purpose.  God's purpose is to strengthen us in our walk and our reliance upon Him.  God uses trials  to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We should rejoice that God loves us enough to teach us the hard lessons, to fashion us to become like His dear Son, Jesus Christ.  God understood that the Philippians would ask this same questions about times of trial and testing so He reiterated the command twice.  "And again I say, Rejoice".

Rejoice in God in times of feast and famine understanding that God always allows everything to happen in our lives for our good.  Sometime we don't understand why God is doing something, but we can always trust Him.  He loves us with an unconditional love.

Man's Real Condition

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me

Many times when we speak of another person we often find ourselves saying, "He's a pretty good guy!"  In reality none of us are good guys or gals.  We have a nature that is totally depraved.  In our Flesh there is no good thing as we see from the biblical text.  When we try to do good in our own power we find out that we are a miserable failure, because we dwell in the flesh.  The Apostle Paul understood this concept.  He knew that the good that he wanted to do he neglected.  The evil that he didn't want to do, he found himself doing it.  Paul understood the source of this conflict was the sinful  nature that he still had, even though he was a saved man.  

We have to be on guard continually in our Christian life.  If we let down our guard we are fully capable of being tempted into committing any sin that a lost man or woman can commit.  We have to give the Holy Spirit control in our life and seek His guidance.  That is the only lasting solution till the day that we lay this earthly body down and go out into eternity to be with our Lord.  We have to step down from the throne of our life and enthrone Him that deserves to reign in our lives.  Trust God to guide you safely around the traps and snares that the devil would set before you.

Solution to Strife

Php 2:3 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

In our homes, marriage, churches and on the job there is always a tendency toward strife or conflict with others.  If we would be honest with ourselves we know that we are all more selfish than we want people to realize.  I'm reminded of the cell phone commercial where the dad is passing out new phones to the family and he walks out the front door of his house, reaches into his pocket, pulls out a phone and declares, "Saved the best for numero uno!"  When we are selfish our focus is turned toward doing everything to make our own selves feel better.  We make decisions and act in our own interests first putting everyone else and their needs second.  Unfortunately, one of the people that we put second in our life is God.  We have a choice every day of our life.  We can live for ourselves or we can live for God.  If we make the decision to put God first.  He will do a work in our hearts and lives that will make it easy to esteem others better than ourselves.  He will give us a heart of compassion for others.  He will develop in us a servant's heart.  A heart that puts others and their needs ahead of our own.  We will put our wives, families, co-workers, neighbors and fellow Christians ahead of ourselves.  We will begin to serve others as Christ did when He walked upon this earth as God manifested in flesh.  Strife will not reign in our lives if we'll simply expend our lives ministering to others.

Mat 20:28 "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2Co 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
2Co 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
2Co 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
2Co 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
2Co 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

I don't know about you, but as I am starting to age I've notice some strange sounds when I rise from my bed in the morning.  There are creaking, popping and snapping sounds.  They're not coming from the bed, but my knees and back as I rise to face the day.  I know as time passes there will be more physical problems just around the next bend.  Many of you know far more of physical suffering than I do.  What a wonderful promise we have in the Word of God, that God has another body waiting for us.  It will be our glorified resurrection body.  A body that will know none of the physical pains of this body.  What a wonderful thing to be eternally pain free.  

We see another precious promise in V. 5.  God has given to us the earnest of the Spirit.  If you have ever entered into a business deal you may have been required to put up earnest money to show that you would carry through on your end of the deal.  The same idea is conveyed here.  At the moment of salvation God gives us the earnest of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit indwells us as believers.  Our bodies literally become the temple of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Spirit is God's indication to us that the transaction will be completed.  When we leave this life we will be clothed upon with immortality and spend eternity in the presence of the Lord.

In v.7 we see that we are to live our lives by faith.  We can't stare into the face of our Lord in this life so it requires us to believe and trust God without seeing him.  Moses left Egypt behind by faith.  Heb 11:27 "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."   If we only live our Christian lives by sight, we're not going to go very far in our walk with God.  God challenges us as believers to walk by faith.  Simply trust God to do what He says He will do.  Step out by faith and God will meet you there.

In v.8 we see as believers that the moment that we vacate our bodies in death we will instantly be in the presence of our Lord.  Death isn't an end for the believer!  It's simply a threshold that we step across into the very presence of our Lord. Paul had a desire to be absent from his body and to be present with the Lord, but he understood that is was more needful for him to remain and be a blessing and a help to the church.  Philippians 1:23 "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." 

You may be in great physical pain today, but if you're a child of God there is coming a day when pain will be no more.  Praise be to our Lord.
 

Coming Boldly Into God's Presence

Heb 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." 

What a wonderful privilege we have as believers to be able to come boldly into the presence of an Omnipotent God.  The God that we serve is all powerful.  He stepped out into nothingness and simply spoke this entire universe into existence with the power of His Words.  What a privilege to carry our cares and concerns to Him who has the power to meet every need in our life.  The way of access was opened to us when Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary for our sins.  No longer as believers did we have to carry animal sacrifices to the High Priest that he might offer the sacrifice as an offering for our sin.  Now we are able to come into the very presence of our God through prayer.  We can petition Him directly and He will respond to us as a loving Father responds to his child.  God loves us and there is nothing in our lives that is so insignificant that it is unimportant to our God.  He cares and He wants us to spend time talking to him.  How sad it is when our earthly children don't take time to talk to us.  I think our Heavenly Father is saddened when He has done so much for us and we don't even care enough to spend time speaking with Him.  Don't ever take for granted the wonderful privilege we have of prayer.

Justification

The Bible clearly teaches us that at the moment we are saved we are justified in the sight of a Holy God.  God declares us to be righteous in His sight as He looks at us through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary.  It is like a judge in a courtroom declaring someone absolutely innocent.  As if they never committed the crime in the first place.  What  a wonderful thought, that as God looks at us He doesn't see our lives filthy and polluted by sin.  He sees the righteousness of Christ that has imputed to us.  Christ's righteousness literally placed on our account.  We will never face condemnation because we stand justified before a Holy God.  Praise God for His wonderful mercy.  Acts 13:39  "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."

Where Do I Fit In?

Many people spend their whole lives wondering, "Where do I fit in?".  Once a person trusts Christ by faith they fit perfectly into the local New Testament Church.  The Bible teaches that every believer is gifted to carry out some part of the work in the local church.  When I consider the church I think about my mom and how she always likes to work puzzles.  When she first opens the box and pours out all the pieces, some time as many as one thousand, onto a table it looks like a jumbled mess, there is chaos and disorder everywhere.  The puzzle sure doesn't look like the beautiful picture on the front of the box.  It's amazing to watch her take the pieces of puzzle and slowly, but surely fit piece by piece together, lovingly creating a beautiful picture from the confusion of pieces on the table.  When believers in the church aren't exercising their spiritual gifts the church will never be what God intends for it to be.  God has a perfect will for every believer as they carry out the work of the local church.  When the believers are sensitive to God and His leading they will fit together perfectly in the church and create a beautiful picture of unity and harmony as the church strives together to carry out the ministry that God has called them to.

If you're wondering where you fit in, I would challenge you, if you're a believer to allow the Holy Spirit to plug you into your place of service in the church.  All it requires is an obedient and yielded heart and God can show you where you fit in His perfect plan for your life!

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

If I Sin, What Then?

It would be wonderful if we trusted Christ and became a child of God and never, ever had any tendency to sin.  We know from experience that is not the case.  Every one of us has the old Adamic nature residing within us until the day that the Lord calls us out into eternity.  When Adam and Even sinned in the Garden of Eden against the Lord a sinful nature was bestowed upon every human born from that moment forward.  When we are saved we receive a new nature by the indwelling Holy Spirit, but that old nature, the flesh is always lurking in the shadows of our life.  The Bible clearly teaches us that we are tempted by Satan through the flesh, that nature that causes us to do what is wrong.  When we fail in our Christian life and sin against God.  What do we do then?  If we look in the Scriptures at Psalm 51 we find David at a point of tremendous sadness and repentance for his sin.  David had sinned with Bathsheba, another man's wife and when she had become pregnant with his child he had the man put at the front of the battle and killed in order to conceal his sin.  God sent the prophet Nathan to David to reveal to him how abominable his sin really was in the sight of God and in Psalm 51 we see David's prayer of repentance.  

Psa 51:1 "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 

Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 

Psa 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

In I John 1:9 we notice the word "Confess" that world literally means to "agree with God".  When we see our sin as a Holy God sees it, then we can respond in repentance and confession and God will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

In Ps. 51:3 We see David acknowledging his transgression to God and realizing whom His sin was really against.  Our sin is a direct affront to the God who loved us and gave himself for us.  We should always be quick to confess our sin to God to ask God for His forgiveness.  I have a dear friend that pastored for many years and he always preached from the pulpit, "Keep short accounts with God!".  He was reminding Christians that when we sin against God we should immediately upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit make things right between us and God by confession of our sin to God.  When we see our sin for what it is and confess it to God, He is always standing faithful to forgive us and cleanse us so we can preserve the right walk with Him.

Loving the Unlovely

One of my friends caught my attention this morning with a comment that she put on her Facebook page.  She said, "There's never a shortage of people standing in line to mentor/ disciple those who appear to have a promising future, but the only ones standing in line behind those who really need help are waiting to mock, judge or condemn."  It's easy to spend time helping those who have it all together.  They have a nice car, a nice house, lots of money, a good family and great friends.  We want to spend time with them and fellowship, but what about those people that get saved and trust the Lord that carry with them the dress, the markings and the scars of their previous life away from God?  Don't these new believers deserve to have someone to sit down with them and begin the necessary process of discipling them.  I can't help but be reminded of Saul when he got saved on the road to Damascus.  The new believers were afraid to have anything to do with Saul because he had been a persecutor of the Christians.  He had been responsible for putting many Christians into prison and condemning them to death.  God appeared to Ananias and told him to go to Saul, but Ananias protested.  Act 9:13 "Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:"  God responded by telling Ananias to "Go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me".  You never know what God is going to do with the person that God calls you to disciple.  When Ananias looked at Saul he only saw a killer and persecutor of the Christians.  God saw a man that was to be the Apostle to the Gentiles.  Whose life can we impact today as we follow God to disciple fellow believers?

Increase our Faith

That was the prayer of the disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we consider our own faith we would echo the prayer of the disciples.  It seems far too many times we don't trust God when we pray for God to work in our lives.  For true faith to occur it's know it enough for us to have a head knowledge or even a heart knowledge, we have to put faith to work in our life.  We have to step out on faith and trust God to do what He has promised that He will do.  We can live our lives limited by sight or we can trust God.  It's sad when people live their entire lives limited by sight.  We only want to trust God as far as we can see.  God's response to us, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."  II Cor. 5:7  We cannot allow our Christian lives to be limited by sight.  We have to trust a God that can see what lies ahead of us tomorrow or the year after.  We must walk by Faith trusting our God to guide us every step of the way.  Lord increase our faith.  

Blessed Assurance

I am convinced that next to our personal salvation the greatest thing we can possess is the assurance of our salvation.  If we trust Christ by faith and are saved the Devil will come along and try to tell us we're really not saved.  Salvation can't be that easy!  The Devil has a method to his madness.  If he can convince us that we're not saved he will render us ineffective for the cause of Christ.  If we're not sure of our own salvation how are we ever going to help others?  On the other hand, what a wonderful peace and joy comes from knowing that Christ is ours and we are His.  What a wonderful thought as we think about the home that has been prepared in Heaven for us.  Once we have repented and trusted Christ as Savior the Bible teaches us that we are eternally secure in our salvation.  Some Bible references for you to consider as you study assurance of salvation are John 10:38; Ephesians 4:30.  All we have to do is take God as His Word.  If you're saved you're secure and you've been promised an eternity with God in Heaven.  That's good news in a bad news world!

Confronting Doubt

As humans it seems we have so many weaknesses.  If we're not careful we can allow our doubts and fears to keep us from doing what God has called us to do in our lives.  Satan uses doubt and fear as weapons in his arsenal to make us quit short of carrying out the mission God has given us.  If we allow Satan to convince us that we can't do it then we will not do it.  Satan will point out every weakness and shortcoming that we have in order that he might convince us to not even try.  We need to remember that where God calls He will equip and provide.  Don't let Satan control you by fear and doubt.  You need to remember the wonderful promise that we have in Philippians 4:13.  "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  We need to believe God's Word and move forward for the cause of Christ.  When Satan wields the weapons of doubt and fear respond with the most powerful weapon of all, God's Word!

Walk in the Spirit

I had the wonderful opportunity today of teaching the Jr Boys Sunday School class at church.  I challenged these young men with what the Bible teaches about "Walking in the Spirit".  In Gal. 5:16 we are instructed that if we will walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  Every day of our life we have to make a decision, will I be flesh controlled today, living selfishly, or will I allow myself to be controlled by the Holy Spirit?  It is a constant struggle day by day.  The Apostle Paul understood the battle that we face.  In Romans 7 Paul said that the things he wanted to do he found himself not doing them.  The things that he didn't want to do that's what he found himself doing.  One of the greatest fears that Paul had in his life was the fear of becoming a "Castaway."  That word "Castaway" means to be rejected.  Paul wanted to serve God with his life, not be rejected because of the flesh controlling him.  We can relate to the same struggle in our own life.  If we will daily spend time in the Word of God and in prayer and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit working in our lives we can and will be Spirit led and we can fulfill the mission that God has given us in our life.  My prayer for you today is that you will yield yourself to the leading of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work in and through you.

Investing in the Lives of Other Christians

Tonight as my wife and I were working through our new Sunday School curriculum we were discussing our involvement in the lives of other believers.  God revealed something to me as I prayed and studied.  God in His sovereignty places us exactly where we are in order that we can edify those believers that He has placed around us.  If you consider the friends that you have at church, just in your Sunday School class, there are believers at every level in their walk with Christ.  Some have only been saved a few months and are just beginning to learn about this joyous walk with Christ and there are others that have been saved for decades and work at keeping their love for Christ fresh and new.  We should never be afraid to invest ourselves in the lives of others.  There are people around us every single day that need a Word of encouragement, a helping hand, to share a laugh or simply to have us to stop and take time to pray with them about something that is going on in their life.  God calls us as believers to strengthen and build up one another in the faith.  Take time today to invest in a fellow believers life and share with that believer something that God has taught you.  "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..."  Matt. 28:20

Agreement in the Life of the Believer

In the Old Testament book of Amos 3:3 we see an interesting question posed to the reader.  "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"  The Bible has much to say about agreement in the lives of believers.  There is a warning in the Bible to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.  When we examine the goals and aims of our life as compared to unbelievers there are some stark contrasts.  The utmost goal of our life should be to bring honor and glory unto the Lord.  If we are yoked to an unbeliever there will not be a common striving together for that goal.  I once heard an old country preacher explain the concept of "Fellowship" by describing it as two men together in a boat, both rowing in the same direction.  If one of the men in that boat was a believer and the other an unbeliever the boat would go nowhere.  It would just sit there going in circles no matter how hard the two men rowed.  

The same thing occurs in a marriage where one spouse is a believer and the other is an unbeliever.  They may both be working hard, but their goals are different and as a result they end up feeling alienated toward one another and it doesn't take long to see that their marriage isn't going anywhere and unfortunately many simply call it quits.  

A business relationship is no different.  If one business partner devotes his energy toward honoring the Lord and the other is only interested in personal fulfillment you will have the same conflict at work in the business relationship.  The goals of the two partners will be diametrically opposed and the business will suffer as a result.  

In the church setting believers must be united in their striving toward a common goal.  The goals for the church have been established in His Word.  We are to preach the Gospel (Death, burial and resurrection) of Christ.  We are to lead people to Christ and once they become believers through salvation we are to disciple them, that they might grow spiritually and become more Christ-like and train them to reach others.  If we want to see our marriages, family relationships, business partnerships and churches move forward for the cause of Christ we must walk in agreement with other believers. The Word of God challenges us in Philippians 2 to, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus".  When we are like-minded with the mind of Christ we will walk in agreement.

Bible Institute

I'm excited that our local church is beginning a Bible Institute.  It is a place where believers can join together and study the Word of God.  We can encourage each other in the faith as we search out the treasures that the Bible holds for us in our daily lives.  The Bible is a practical Book that holds the answers for so many of the questions that perplex modern man.  It's sad that in our society so many people go through life finding no joy or happiness because they lack purpose for their lives.  If these drifting ones would come to Christ, by faith, He would reveal His perfect will for their lives and give them a wonderful reason for living.  Do you know real peace and contentment in your life?  Is there something missing?  The greatest discovery of my life is the day that I realized whom Christ was and what He did for me on the cross at Calvary.

Qu'ran Burning

Pastor Jones in Florida at the Dove World Outreach attracted international attention this week with his plans to burn the Qu'ran on September 11th.  Pastor Jones aim seems to have been to secure some type of deal with Muslims to move the Muslim Center in New York to another location.  The Qu'ran burning was called off in the eleventh hour when a supposed promise had been made to the Pastor by a local Muslim authority that the Muslim Center would be moved if he would stay his hand from burning the Qu'rans.  It was later revealed that the local Imam was simply telling the Pastor what he wanted to hear in order to save the Qu'rans.  A pastor in Kansas has declared that he will burn Qu'rans regardless of what the Florida pastor does.  We need to remember that hate only begets hate.