Ready to repent?

  Ready to repent?

In Johns gospel we read,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

       In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. " John 1:1-4,14.

Here John clearly states that Jesus whom he refers to as “the word” is God incarnate. John and the other apostles truly believed that Jesus was God in the flesh sent down to show mankind the way to heaven.

The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost said,

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:36-39.

The question I pose to you today is do you believe this?

If so are you willing to admit you are a sinner and turn to Christ?

Please think about it.

Evildoers

 Evildoers

Jesus said,

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  

"Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"Matthew 7:21-23.

Now I write these blogs several weeks in advance. That being said, as I write this there is an outcry that will not go away nor should it go away soon. It’s about what amounts to genocide conducted by the Roman Catholic church here in Canada. 

This is a church organization that claims to be Christian. With a Pope who is known for his good works among the poor. Yet it will not offer a sincere apology or reach into it’s coffers and live up to the agreement they made to pay indigenous people compensation for what happened.

All that aside one has to wonder about the teacher, men and women who directly run those schools. Are these people truly Christian? From their actions I think not. 

I also think unless those who are still alive and committed these atrocities fail to repent, they will ultimately be judged by God and hear the words “away from me you evildoers”. 

Please think about it.

Shown by deeds

Shown by deeds
The apostle Paul said,

“...I preached that they should repent and turn to God

 and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

                                                              Acts 26:20b.

If you claim to be a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus do your deeds prove your repentance? Do your deeds tell others the Love of God dwells in you? OR do people only see someone who calls themselves a Christian?
The apostle Paul wrote,
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1Corinthians 13:1. 
Are you a “resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”?
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy states,
“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” 2 Timothy 2:22.
If you claim to be a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus do you “flee evil desires?”
Do you “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace?”
Are you following the admonition of the apostle Paul when he said,
"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."Romans 12:18.
Francis of Assisi said,

"The deeds you do 

may be the only sermon some persons will hear today" 

                                                                                Francis of Assisi.

So the question becomes; Do your deeds show that you are a true follower of Christ Jesus?
Please think about it.

Sit with sinners

Sit with sinners
The Gospel of Luke records,
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.  
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:27-32.
Many Christians I know are like the Pharisees. They like the Pharisees focus on the sin and “good Christians” don’t associate with sinners in their minds.
Such a thing is simply wrong. You will never win a soul for Christ by associating with Christians alone. You will never win a soul for Christ by concentrating on the persons sin.
Christians need to focus more on the salvation message than on sin. Christians need to realize that they must meet a person where they are at. They must show unconditional love toward all they come in contact with.
Christians need to as Jesus did sit with sinners.
We don’t know what Jesus said to the tax collectors and other sinners in Luke’s account.
We do however have the account of the apostle Paul preaching to some other sinners in Athens. Acts chapter seventeen records Paul’s speech to those gathered at the Areopagus. Paul had been speaking in the market place about his faith. What he said perked the interest of a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Who invited him to speak at the Areopagus.
In that speech Paul never mentioned sin, even though as he wandered through Athens and seen monuments and temples to a multitude of gods.
Paul concentrated on the salvation message. As a result some sneered at him. Some became believers. While others wanted to hear more.
This is how believers in our time should be. We should be using wisdom and speaking to non-believers in such away that even if they don’t accept Christ as their saviour. They will at least ask to hear more.
If you claim to be a Christian. A believer in Christ Jesus. How do you present the gospel message?
Do you present the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus, or do you constantly focus on the sins of those you are talking about?
Please think about it.

A Special Day

A special Day
Jesus said to his disciples,
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
What Jesus spoke about here actually occurred fifty days after Easter Sunday according to tradition. Within Christian circles it is called Pentecost Sunday or Whitsunday. It is the time when Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit,
The book of Acts tells us,
“When the day of Pentecost came, they (the followers of Jesus) were all together in one place.  
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  
Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  
Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome  (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Acts 2:1-12.
Interestingly enough this occurred on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The time when the Jews celebrate God giving them The Law (the Torah) and when they celebrate the wheat harvest. It was a time when Jews from all over the world made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
If you think about it this was the ideal time to launch the church. To present the salvation message to the people. And God did this in miraculous fashion scripture telling us,
“All of them (the followers of Jesus) were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”
An incredible event that caused people to ask,
“Brothers, what shall we do?” 
Allowing the Apostle Peter to reply, 
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39.
And the promise dear reader is for you.
Jesus speaking of himself said,
“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.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.
The apostle John tells us,
“If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:9-10
The apostle John also writes of Jesus,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13.
Thus the choice dear reader is yours. Will you believe in Jesus?
  Please think about it.