Sit with Sinners
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16,17.
Each Wednesday evening I lead a Bible study at our church. While we study the scriptures systematically I encourage discussion. We have no set period of time for going through the scriptures. Our aim is to make sure everyone at the study understands what is being said.
As a result there are times when we’ve spent the entire study on just a few verses or phrases that people don’t understand. Thanks to being in the computer age we have a multitude of resources to help us.
Our aim at the study is to show people how to live a life more acceptable to God. While at the same time showing them how to reach out to others in a positive Godly way. The way Jesus would want us to do.
Quite often after the study we end up talking for sometime. This casual talk sometimes brings up some interesting things.
At one session an older couple who love the Lord dearly. Who work as hard as they can to live Godly lives mentioned that they’d been invited to a ballet recital for their granddaughter. When they got there they were horrified at the “skimpy costumes”.
What brought it up was a picture I’d shown them on my Ipad. A picture of a ballerina pirouetting with hands raised in praise praising God in front of a cross. They found the picture offensive. Apparently this was a similar costume to what they’d seen at the recital.
I and my pastor had thought nothing of the picture. We seen it as praise to God. The costume was in no way revealing.
This couple with the best of intents had told their granddaughter and their daughter that they disapproved of the costumes. The girls had simply said they disagree and wouldn’t change.
Fortunately that event and apparently several others had not caused a rift between them but it did turn them from Christ. From what I gather they looked on the bible as a book of do’s and don’t’s.
This incident showed me that we as Christians need to be careful what we do and how we act around non-Christians especially within our families.
It turns out this couple has no television and listens almost exclusively to Christian radio and music. They have a very limited view of the world. I don’t think Jesus would want us to be like that.
I think Jesus were he walking the earth today would watch television and perhaps even use some of the content to illustrate scriptural messages.
In the above scripture from Mark, Jesus is accused of sitting with sinner and talking to them. We have no record of him ever criticizing them or speaking against their lifestyle.
Throughout the New Testament there is no mention of either Jesus or the Apostles ever criticizing those outside their faith.
They lived in the world and were it seems well aware of the society around them, Jewish, Roman and Greek.
The apostle Paul most certainly had cause to criticize the Greeks in Athens yet he didn’t he presented Christ crucified and risen. His speech in Athens is what we should pattern our witnessing after. The book of acts recording,
“So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”
At that, Paul left the Council.
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”
Acts 17:17-34
Note some disagreed, but some were saved and just as importantly some wanted to hear him again on the subject.
This is how we should be when we witness for Christ. We should be doing it in such a way as people get saved and we are invited back to speak with them again.
Think about it.
Sunday, 19 April 2015
Saturday, 18 April 2015
My Testimony
My Testimony
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans 3:23.
Forty-two years ago in a small church that an old girlfriend had taken me to. I became a youth leader. I believed there was a God but didn’t have what I can only describe as a heart knowledge of God.
The girlfriend and I split. She stopped going to the church but I continued on.
One day I was asked to give a message to the youth. I began with the above verse. Why I don’t really know. I just know that’s where I felt I had to start. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
I remember I stumbled over the meaning of the words as I spoke but those words stuck with me.
A few weeks later I went to a Doug Oldham concert and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
The words I’d started my teaching with a few weeks earlier suddenly had meaning. I realized that I was indeed a sinner. That I couldn’t live a life good enough to reach heaven that I needed Jesus in my life.
I realized the truth of John 3:16-18 that says,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:16-18.
I realized the truth of Ephesians 2:8,9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
I realized that God through Jesus Christ had reached down to me, because I was not good enough to reach up to Him.
Over the forty-one years since then life had thrown a lot of things both good and bad at me. I have done things I’ve regretted but I have never regretted letting Christ into my life.
I can attest that the words of Jesus are true when he said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
That is why I write these blogs, present the gospel to anyone who will listen, and teach the Bible at church and any other place I’m asked to.
I believe it is the most important message the world needs to hear.
Dear reader please consider reading the Bible and letting Jesus into your life.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans 3:23.
Forty-two years ago in a small church that an old girlfriend had taken me to. I became a youth leader. I believed there was a God but didn’t have what I can only describe as a heart knowledge of God.
The girlfriend and I split. She stopped going to the church but I continued on.
One day I was asked to give a message to the youth. I began with the above verse. Why I don’t really know. I just know that’s where I felt I had to start. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
I remember I stumbled over the meaning of the words as I spoke but those words stuck with me.
A few weeks later I went to a Doug Oldham concert and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
The words I’d started my teaching with a few weeks earlier suddenly had meaning. I realized that I was indeed a sinner. That I couldn’t live a life good enough to reach heaven that I needed Jesus in my life.
I realized the truth of John 3:16-18 that says,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:16-18.
I realized the truth of Ephesians 2:8,9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
I realized that God through Jesus Christ had reached down to me, because I was not good enough to reach up to Him.
Over the forty-one years since then life had thrown a lot of things both good and bad at me. I have done things I’ve regretted but I have never regretted letting Christ into my life.
I can attest that the words of Jesus are true when he said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
That is why I write these blogs, present the gospel to anyone who will listen, and teach the Bible at church and any other place I’m asked to.
I believe it is the most important message the world needs to hear.
Dear reader please consider reading the Bible and letting Jesus into your life.
Friday, 17 April 2015
Prayers of Intercession and Thanksgiving
Prayers intercession and thanksgiving
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing."
1Timothy 2:1-8.
The Apostle Paul here is living in the time of Nero. Nero was one of the most violent opponents of the church. It would be under Nero’s reign that many Christians including most of the disciple of Christ would be murdered.
This tyrant reportedly used Christians as human torches. History regards him as one of the worst despots in history. An ancient Hitler or in modern terms, ISIS.
Yet despite this Paul writes,
“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
This is a call for today.
I once had a person say persecution brings out the pure believers. That may be true but Christianity is spread easiest when there is peace. So we should pray for peace in our country and in our world.
Peace allows us to get the message of Christ, which is the most important message of all time, out to the world.
Paul reminding us,
“This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Jesus said
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous...”
Matthew5: 43-45.
I know it’s hard to pray for such a seemingly satanically inspired group as ISIS. But we are called to do so. We are called to pray and have them change their ways. We are called to pray that they may find the way of salvation.
That they may let we and our Christian brethren live in peace and present the gospel to those around them.
The gospel of Mark records this,
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16,17
Please think about it.
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing."
1Timothy 2:1-8.
The Apostle Paul here is living in the time of Nero. Nero was one of the most violent opponents of the church. It would be under Nero’s reign that many Christians including most of the disciple of Christ would be murdered.
This tyrant reportedly used Christians as human torches. History regards him as one of the worst despots in history. An ancient Hitler or in modern terms, ISIS.
Yet despite this Paul writes,
“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
This is a call for today.
I once had a person say persecution brings out the pure believers. That may be true but Christianity is spread easiest when there is peace. So we should pray for peace in our country and in our world.
Peace allows us to get the message of Christ, which is the most important message of all time, out to the world.
Paul reminding us,
“This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Jesus said
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous...”
Matthew5: 43-45.
I know it’s hard to pray for such a seemingly satanically inspired group as ISIS. But we are called to do so. We are called to pray and have them change their ways. We are called to pray that they may find the way of salvation.
That they may let we and our Christian brethren live in peace and present the gospel to those around them.
The gospel of Mark records this,
“When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16,17
Please think about it.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Because
Because
Because...
“He (God) first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
I will...love God
Because...
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
I will...love God
Because...
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another; as I have loved you,
that you also love one another.
By this shall all know that you are My disciples.
If you have love for one another.
John 13:34,35
I will...love my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Because...
Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
and pray for those who spitefully use you.”
Luke 6:27,28
I will...love my enemies.
Because...
The Bible says, “Love suffers long and is kind:
love does not envy; loves does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things; believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
I Corinthians 13:4-7
I will...I will love.
Because...
The Bible says, “Now abides faith, hope and love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love. 1
Corinthians 13:13
I will...Have faith in God..
For according to Ephesians 2:8,9:
“...by grace you have been saved through faith,
and not of yourselves;
it is a gift of God, not of works; lest anyone should boast.”
I have hope in Christ...
For
according to Romans 5:1,2:
“...having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our LORD Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have access by faith into this grace
which we stand, and rejoice in hope of glory of God.”
I have love...
For
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40:
“...you shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Because of this and much more
I will love.
Scripture assembled by Neal W. with words fromthe apostles
Matthew, Luke, John & Paul
Wednesday, 15 April 2015
IS is not the First
IS is not the first.
T.H. White wrote
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos. But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ. Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into Strom troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate. On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.”
T.H. White, The Once and Future King.
As I look at terrorist groups around the world today I cringe in horror. Still they are not new. Tyrants throughout history have been trying to impose their will on people for centuries.
Hitler alone killed six million Jews and five million other people whom he looked down on or whom he disagreed with.
Hitler I am certain has had judgment past on him as will the leaders of IS and all terrorist groups around today.
Paradise is the one place these people will not be going.
What these people who lead terror organizations fail to see is history has taught that violence and intolerance only ends in destruction. Empires founded on violence have all fallen.
One man’s Kingdom however has not and his followers reach into every country, in every strata of society around the world. That Kingdom is God’s and Jesus is His one and only Son.
Jesus was sent to point the way to heaven. To die for the sins of each and every man, woman and child.
Jesus never raised a hand in anger even to the men that condemned him to die. In fact he called out from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Napoleon wrote of Jesus,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Today there are approximately two point two billion (2,200,000,000) Christians in the world. All won over by love.
IS and other terrorist groups have but a few million under their foot at this moment, and while like Hitler they may think they are building their version of the thousand year riche they are sadly mistaken.
If these people truly want to build heaven on earth they need to turn to Jesus and follow the path of love.
Jesus is recorded in the book of John giving the two options that are available to all men,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
John 3:16-18.
Killing innocent men women and children dose not lead to paradise Jesus does.
Please think about it.
T.H. White wrote
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos. But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ. Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into Strom troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate. On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.”
T.H. White, The Once and Future King.
As I look at terrorist groups around the world today I cringe in horror. Still they are not new. Tyrants throughout history have been trying to impose their will on people for centuries.
Hitler alone killed six million Jews and five million other people whom he looked down on or whom he disagreed with.
Hitler I am certain has had judgment past on him as will the leaders of IS and all terrorist groups around today.
Paradise is the one place these people will not be going.
What these people who lead terror organizations fail to see is history has taught that violence and intolerance only ends in destruction. Empires founded on violence have all fallen.
One man’s Kingdom however has not and his followers reach into every country, in every strata of society around the world. That Kingdom is God’s and Jesus is His one and only Son.
Jesus was sent to point the way to heaven. To die for the sins of each and every man, woman and child.
Jesus never raised a hand in anger even to the men that condemned him to die. In fact he called out from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Napoleon wrote of Jesus,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Today there are approximately two point two billion (2,200,000,000) Christians in the world. All won over by love.
IS and other terrorist groups have but a few million under their foot at this moment, and while like Hitler they may think they are building their version of the thousand year riche they are sadly mistaken.
If these people truly want to build heaven on earth they need to turn to Jesus and follow the path of love.
Jesus is recorded in the book of John giving the two options that are available to all men,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
John 3:16-18.
Killing innocent men women and children dose not lead to paradise Jesus does.
Please think about it.
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
False Teachers,
False Teachers
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so differences you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
1 Timothy 1-5
Paul here is writing to Timothy and emphasizes the need to speak out and correct false teachers.
Speaking against false teaching in the church is a big thing for Paul. He wants to make sure the pure word of God is taught. This is how it should be today.
Today the threat from false teachers is greater than ever before because of the easy access to the media. That is why we as Christians need to be on the alert for those who would lead others away from the faith.
Having said that I know within the Christian faith there are different interpretations of some minor doctrines. That’s to be expected.
There however should be no debate on the central beliefs of Christianity. The apostles creed although not written by the apostles, I believe sums these basic beliefs up when it says,
In the apostle Paul’s day as it is today there are many people who are out there particularly trying to part Christians from their money. There are others who are out there deliberately trying to lead Christians astray.
I remember a preacher in the late seventies named Jim Jones who was a good orator who so misled people that he took them down to place in a south American country where they all committed mass suicide.
Today there are men and women in the media in particular that all they want to do is get rich. They do this by convincing Christians that by contributing to their ministry God will bless them ten, twenty, or even a hundred fold. Looking on God as if he were a ‘sugar daddy’. A divine banker who gives a hundred percent interest on their money. This is simply garbage.
As Christians we need to be watching and carefully listening to what is being preached. We need to be looking at the evangelist, preachers and teachers to see if they are truly living up as far as possible to the word of God.
We from time to time need to question them about where the money they are collecting is really going. Not only is the money being spent legally according to the laws of the country they are in, but are they doing what is morally right with the money they receive.
Is most of the money collected for example going to the ministry or is the evangelist or pastor taking the lions share?
When it comes to teaching the scriptures we need to be asking them to explain their reasoning behind what they are teaching.
I know when I teach the adult mid week bible study at our church we encourage questions. I am frequently asked how I came to the conclusion I did. We will even stop and discuss a point for as long as it takes for everyone to understand.
I and my pastor are also open to correction as we expect everyone who comes out to it to be. No one is perfect we all make mistakes.
I was always taught that a teacher of the Gospel of Christ is held up to a higher standard. This is what we should be doing to every one who is preaching or teaching Gods word.
Please think about it.
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so differences you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
1 Timothy 1-5
Paul here is writing to Timothy and emphasizes the need to speak out and correct false teachers.
Speaking against false teaching in the church is a big thing for Paul. He wants to make sure the pure word of God is taught. This is how it should be today.
Today the threat from false teachers is greater than ever before because of the easy access to the media. That is why we as Christians need to be on the alert for those who would lead others away from the faith.
Having said that I know within the Christian faith there are different interpretations of some minor doctrines. That’s to be expected.
There however should be no debate on the central beliefs of Christianity. The apostles creed although not written by the apostles, I believe sums these basic beliefs up when it says,
Apostles' Creed
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Ghost:
I believe in the holy catholic* church (*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places.): the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting.
Amen.
In the apostle Paul’s day as it is today there are many people who are out there particularly trying to part Christians from their money. There are others who are out there deliberately trying to lead Christians astray.
I remember a preacher in the late seventies named Jim Jones who was a good orator who so misled people that he took them down to place in a south American country where they all committed mass suicide.
Today there are men and women in the media in particular that all they want to do is get rich. They do this by convincing Christians that by contributing to their ministry God will bless them ten, twenty, or even a hundred fold. Looking on God as if he were a ‘sugar daddy’. A divine banker who gives a hundred percent interest on their money. This is simply garbage.
As Christians we need to be watching and carefully listening to what is being preached. We need to be looking at the evangelist, preachers and teachers to see if they are truly living up as far as possible to the word of God.
We from time to time need to question them about where the money they are collecting is really going. Not only is the money being spent legally according to the laws of the country they are in, but are they doing what is morally right with the money they receive.
Is most of the money collected for example going to the ministry or is the evangelist or pastor taking the lions share?
When it comes to teaching the scriptures we need to be asking them to explain their reasoning behind what they are teaching.
I know when I teach the adult mid week bible study at our church we encourage questions. I am frequently asked how I came to the conclusion I did. We will even stop and discuss a point for as long as it takes for everyone to understand.
I and my pastor are also open to correction as we expect everyone who comes out to it to be. No one is perfect we all make mistakes.
I was always taught that a teacher of the Gospel of Christ is held up to a higher standard. This is what we should be doing to every one who is preaching or teaching Gods word.
Please think about it.
Monday, 13 April 2015
How to preach the gospel
How to preach the gospel
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.
On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 10:16-22
Here is something directed to the disciples at the time that can be directly used by followers of Christ today.
When we go out to present the word of God to unbelievers we are to be careful know our surroundings be wise to what is happening. At the same time we are to be as innocent as doves.
The Message of the Gospel of Christ is one of peace. If we present it in the right way no one will be able to truthfully accuse us of doing wrong.
All we should be doing when we present the word of God is saying this is what we believe. This is how you get to heaven. That simple.
Paul speaking in Athens used this technique very effectively. He was invited by the stoics and others philosophers to speak to them. He simply presented Christ in a polite way to them and left it up to them as to whether they believed or not.
As a result some did believe others did not but still others wanted to hear more.
This is the way it should be with us.
Jesus also notes that no matter what we say some will object to what we are saying and bring us before the courts. Some of us will be put to death. It sadly is the way of the world.
But we are told to stand our ground that God will tell us what to say as we stand before the magistrate.
We are told to keep the faith until the very end.
Question to Christians reading this. Is your life modelled after what Jesus is telling his disciples to be like here in Matthew ten?
Think about it.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.
On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 10:16-22
Here is something directed to the disciples at the time that can be directly used by followers of Christ today.
When we go out to present the word of God to unbelievers we are to be careful know our surroundings be wise to what is happening. At the same time we are to be as innocent as doves.
The Message of the Gospel of Christ is one of peace. If we present it in the right way no one will be able to truthfully accuse us of doing wrong.
All we should be doing when we present the word of God is saying this is what we believe. This is how you get to heaven. That simple.
Paul speaking in Athens used this technique very effectively. He was invited by the stoics and others philosophers to speak to them. He simply presented Christ in a polite way to them and left it up to them as to whether they believed or not.
As a result some did believe others did not but still others wanted to hear more.
This is the way it should be with us.
Jesus also notes that no matter what we say some will object to what we are saying and bring us before the courts. Some of us will be put to death. It sadly is the way of the world.
But we are told to stand our ground that God will tell us what to say as we stand before the magistrate.
We are told to keep the faith until the very end.
Question to Christians reading this. Is your life modelled after what Jesus is telling his disciples to be like here in Matthew ten?
Think about it.
Sunday, 12 April 2015
New Wine
New wine
“Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
Neither do men pour new wine into old wine skins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wine skins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wine skins, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:14-17.
Here’s a quick explanation of this passage based on several commentaries I’ve read.
Basically here Jesus is comparing himself to the bride groom and he makes it clear that the guests of the bride groom, his disciples, his followers, do not fast while the bride groom is with them. They rejoice.
He goes on to note that “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.”
He’s comparing his ministry to new wine.
In the time of Jesus wine was kept in goat skins. Old skins were already stretched to the maximum putting new grape juice into them would cause the old skins to burst as the as the new juice fermented and expanded spilling the wine.
Jesus is saying his ministry is a new ministry that can no longer be contained in the structure of Judaism.
His ministry is for the whole world. Not just Israel. Jesus saying,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
John 3:16-18
Up until this point in time while there were converts to Judaism, Judaism itself was not a religion that evangelized.
Now Jesus was changing all of that by taking the belief in the one true God to the whole world.
This is why Jesus came to take the salvation message. The Love of God to all the nations of the world.
The message of Christianity is this.
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
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: 11-13
Christians ask people to believe by faith that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. That he came to this earth to save each and everyone who would have faith in Him.
True Christians will never force their faith on anyone. They will simply present their faith and let the individual decide for themselves. Which is what I have done here.
Please think about it.
“Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
Neither do men pour new wine into old wine skins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wine skins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wine skins, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:14-17.
Here’s a quick explanation of this passage based on several commentaries I’ve read.
Basically here Jesus is comparing himself to the bride groom and he makes it clear that the guests of the bride groom, his disciples, his followers, do not fast while the bride groom is with them. They rejoice.
He goes on to note that “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.”
He’s comparing his ministry to new wine.
In the time of Jesus wine was kept in goat skins. Old skins were already stretched to the maximum putting new grape juice into them would cause the old skins to burst as the as the new juice fermented and expanded spilling the wine.
Jesus is saying his ministry is a new ministry that can no longer be contained in the structure of Judaism.
His ministry is for the whole world. Not just Israel. Jesus saying,
“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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
John 3:16-18
Up until this point in time while there were converts to Judaism, Judaism itself was not a religion that evangelized.
Now Jesus was changing all of that by taking the belief in the one true God to the whole world.
This is why Jesus came to take the salvation message. The Love of God to all the nations of the world.
The message of Christianity is this.
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
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: 11-13
Christians ask people to believe by faith that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. That he came to this earth to save each and everyone who would have faith in Him.
True Christians will never force their faith on anyone. They will simply present their faith and let the individual decide for themselves. Which is what I have done here.
Please think about it.
Saturday, 11 April 2015
False Teachers
False Teachers
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough....
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
2 Corinthians 11:3,4,13-15
The Bible is the ultimate base for our Christian beliefs. Sadly the truths contained in the Bible have been twisted by many preachers and evangelist over the years. It happened in the time of Paul it is happening today. The easy access to the media we have today makes it even easier for false teachers to propagate their message.
The Apostle Paul here writing to the Corinthians warns the Corinthians and through them us about such false teachers.
Paul makes it clear “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.”
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 7:15-23.
As Christians we need to be vigilant. Paul referred to the false teachers at Corinth sarcastically as “super apostles”. They apparently were far more eloquent of speech than he was. And there in is the danger. People that speak well and sound good but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I remember when I was much younger a couple of us went out side during a break at a Christian conference.
We were dressed in suit and tie and so we looked like we had integrity. We simply went out and started to point into a sky that had scattered clouds. All we said was “there it is. I can see it” “yes it’s there. Just there.” within a few minutes we had half a dozen people pointing and saying they seen “it”.
We didn’t even say what “it” was. It didn’t matter however there was nothing in the sky.
We didn’t have the nerve to tell the people nothing was there, so we simply walked away.
“It” however showed how people could be easily misled by a few people who looked honest.
Christians who are taught to be trusting can also be led away easily by preachers and evangelist who look honest and trusting.
The best way for Christians to know the truth is to read the Bible for themselves. To find several commentaries and books on church history and Jewish culture in the day of Christ. There are a lot of good books out there.
Make sure however that you don’t put the commentaries ahead of the Bible. The Bible is the supreme authority for all Christian teaching.
A good commentary will point out both sides of an argument over what may be a contentious portion of scripture.
Also be careful some groups and evangelist put out their “own commentary”. While claiming to be a commentary these are frequently really one person’s thoughts on scriptures. They give only what they believe and not the whole picture.
When it comes to church history there is a lot out there. Read about the early church and the various movements that lead up today.
As for Jewish culture, it is rich in symbolism and meaning. For the Christians learning about Jewish holiday and the various customs opens ones eyes to greater meaning within our own faith.
The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy wrote,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
2Timothy 2:15-19
What Paul is saying could be said to people today. As can everything that is written in the Bible.
The Bible is a living book showing believers how to live. It is a beacon to the none believer to come into a personal relationship with God.
Please think about it.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough....
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
2 Corinthians 11:3,4,13-15
The Bible is the ultimate base for our Christian beliefs. Sadly the truths contained in the Bible have been twisted by many preachers and evangelist over the years. It happened in the time of Paul it is happening today. The easy access to the media we have today makes it even easier for false teachers to propagate their message.
The Apostle Paul here writing to the Corinthians warns the Corinthians and through them us about such false teachers.
Paul makes it clear “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.”
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 7:15-23.
As Christians we need to be vigilant. Paul referred to the false teachers at Corinth sarcastically as “super apostles”. They apparently were far more eloquent of speech than he was. And there in is the danger. People that speak well and sound good but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I remember when I was much younger a couple of us went out side during a break at a Christian conference.
We were dressed in suit and tie and so we looked like we had integrity. We simply went out and started to point into a sky that had scattered clouds. All we said was “there it is. I can see it” “yes it’s there. Just there.” within a few minutes we had half a dozen people pointing and saying they seen “it”.
We didn’t even say what “it” was. It didn’t matter however there was nothing in the sky.
We didn’t have the nerve to tell the people nothing was there, so we simply walked away.
“It” however showed how people could be easily misled by a few people who looked honest.
Christians who are taught to be trusting can also be led away easily by preachers and evangelist who look honest and trusting.
The best way for Christians to know the truth is to read the Bible for themselves. To find several commentaries and books on church history and Jewish culture in the day of Christ. There are a lot of good books out there.
Make sure however that you don’t put the commentaries ahead of the Bible. The Bible is the supreme authority for all Christian teaching.
A good commentary will point out both sides of an argument over what may be a contentious portion of scripture.
Also be careful some groups and evangelist put out their “own commentary”. While claiming to be a commentary these are frequently really one person’s thoughts on scriptures. They give only what they believe and not the whole picture.
When it comes to church history there is a lot out there. Read about the early church and the various movements that lead up today.
As for Jewish culture, it is rich in symbolism and meaning. For the Christians learning about Jewish holiday and the various customs opens ones eyes to greater meaning within our own faith.
The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy wrote,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
2Timothy 2:15-19
What Paul is saying could be said to people today. As can everything that is written in the Bible.
The Bible is a living book showing believers how to live. It is a beacon to the none believer to come into a personal relationship with God.
Please think about it.
Friday, 10 April 2015
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
This is a statement that is echoed in other faiths, the so called golden rule.
I find it is something Christians at times forget.
They in the name of God go around preaching and judging others. They try to force what they believe on others.
Many Christian groups have tried over the years to restrict the rights of others. This should not be so.
We should be helping preserve the rights of others whether we are in a democracy or not.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
We as Christians owe it to ourselves and to others to treat all people in the way we wish to be treated.
We should always take time to think before we act and ask ourselves the question would I like this being done to me.
Tony Campolo the American evangelist wrote,
“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.”
Tony Campolo
As Christians we should be standing up for the rights of others even if we disagree with them. By standing up for the rights of others we open a dialogue and that helps to spread the gospel message.
Think about it.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:12.
This is a statement that is echoed in other faiths, the so called golden rule.
I find it is something Christians at times forget.
They in the name of God go around preaching and judging others. They try to force what they believe on others.
Many Christian groups have tried over the years to restrict the rights of others. This should not be so.
We should be helping preserve the rights of others whether we are in a democracy or not.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society. Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
Abba Hillel Silver
We as Christians owe it to ourselves and to others to treat all people in the way we wish to be treated.
We should always take time to think before we act and ask ourselves the question would I like this being done to me.
Tony Campolo the American evangelist wrote,
“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.”
Tony Campolo
As Christians we should be standing up for the rights of others even if we disagree with them. By standing up for the rights of others we open a dialogue and that helps to spread the gospel message.
Think about it.
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Two Masters
You can’t serve God and man
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
Matthew 6:19-24.
Let me make it clear from the outset being wealthy is not a sin. Having a lot of money earned honestly is not a sin. The Apostle Paul makes it clear
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10
Here in the above scriptures Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus is talking about greed. Like is said, money and riches in themselves are not bad. The church needs wealthy people to help in the spread of the gospel.
It’s what you do with your money. Don’t hoard it for the sake of hoarding it.
There’s a very famous story of a miserly woman in the late eighteen hundreds. She had substantial wealth enough to pay doctors to help her sick son. Yet the son died because she didn’t want to pay out the money and was looking for a charity hospital to help him and save her money.
While this is an extreme case it is what Jesus is talking about.
Some people put their trust entirely in money. Proud they are self sufficient. Thus quite often they miss the blessings of God.
You can always tell where a persons heart is.
Over the years that I’ve been in church work I’ve met people that are earning an excellent base wage but work long hours of overtime to get the extra they want to buy a new toy, be it a $500 dollar cell phone, half million dollar house or a fancy car.
They work so much they can’t enjoy their toys.
While they claim to love God they are so absorbed in making money that they don’t have time to serve Him.
The Apostle Paul noted in his letter to Timothy,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10
Jesus made it clear “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
We all need money but my cousin use to say “you can’t go anywhere without it. But you can’t take it when you go.”
We all as Christians need to take a long hard look at were our treasure is. Is it hear on earth or is it in heaven?
Do we really need all the toys of this world?
Or could our time be better spent serving God even if it’s only in a small way.
Please think about it?
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
Matthew 6:19-24.
Let me make it clear from the outset being wealthy is not a sin. Having a lot of money earned honestly is not a sin. The Apostle Paul makes it clear
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10
Here in the above scriptures Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus is talking about greed. Like is said, money and riches in themselves are not bad. The church needs wealthy people to help in the spread of the gospel.
It’s what you do with your money. Don’t hoard it for the sake of hoarding it.
There’s a very famous story of a miserly woman in the late eighteen hundreds. She had substantial wealth enough to pay doctors to help her sick son. Yet the son died because she didn’t want to pay out the money and was looking for a charity hospital to help him and save her money.
While this is an extreme case it is what Jesus is talking about.
Some people put their trust entirely in money. Proud they are self sufficient. Thus quite often they miss the blessings of God.
You can always tell where a persons heart is.
Over the years that I’ve been in church work I’ve met people that are earning an excellent base wage but work long hours of overtime to get the extra they want to buy a new toy, be it a $500 dollar cell phone, half million dollar house or a fancy car.
They work so much they can’t enjoy their toys.
While they claim to love God they are so absorbed in making money that they don’t have time to serve Him.
The Apostle Paul noted in his letter to Timothy,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10
Jesus made it clear “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”
We all need money but my cousin use to say “you can’t go anywhere without it. But you can’t take it when you go.”
We all as Christians need to take a long hard look at were our treasure is. Is it hear on earth or is it in heaven?
Do we really need all the toys of this world?
Or could our time be better spent serving God even if it’s only in a small way.
Please think about it?
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
How to Pray
How not to pray.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Matthew 6:5-8
Her Jesus tells us how not to pray.
1/ Don’t pray to be seen by man. To have men say “look at the prayer warrior.” “Look at how pious she or he is.”
I know people who in church like to pray “in tongues” out loud.
Paul writing to the Corinthians states,
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.”
1 Corinthians 14:27,28.
This is not what Jesus had in mind when he wanted people to pray.
2/ We should pray in private with the door closed.
Now this does not preclude praying in church but it should be in a known language and appropriate to what is happening.
3/ Avoid constant repetition. Don’t babble on that’s what the pagans did.
Jesus points out that God knows what you need before you ask.
Payer is thus an act of faith. Even though God knows what we need he wants us to act in faith and ask Him for our needs in our own language.
Because as the writer of Hebrews notes,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
Think about it.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Matthew 6:5-8
Her Jesus tells us how not to pray.
1/ Don’t pray to be seen by man. To have men say “look at the prayer warrior.” “Look at how pious she or he is.”
I know people who in church like to pray “in tongues” out loud.
Paul writing to the Corinthians states,
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.”
1 Corinthians 14:27,28.
This is not what Jesus had in mind when he wanted people to pray.
2/ We should pray in private with the door closed.
Now this does not preclude praying in church but it should be in a known language and appropriate to what is happening.
3/ Avoid constant repetition. Don’t babble on that’s what the pagans did.
Jesus points out that God knows what you need before you ask.
Payer is thus an act of faith. Even though God knows what we need he wants us to act in faith and ask Him for our needs in our own language.
Because as the writer of Hebrews notes,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
Think about it.
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