Going to Hell in a handbarrow

Going to Hell in a Handbarrow
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.
In his book "Essentials in Christian Faith" John B. Harrington, published in 1958, there is a quote that could have been written yesterday.
It's from Paul Gallico in Esquire Magazine in 1948. Harrington quotes Gallico as saying,
"A writer in a popular magazine has written the following words; 'We are all, if you will pardon the expression, Headed for Hell in a handbarrow. If, ever the people of the world stood in need of a spiritual revival, it is now. We are beginning to poison the face of the earth with our miserable presence. The brakes are off. The cart of the world is sliding down the way greased with hatred, ambition, lies, self-seeking and avarice toward the pit.'"
Harrington notes that Gallico makes no pretense of being "a religious man" noting that "...for him it is precisely religion in its organized forms which has in part caused the situation he deplores. He is careful to state that it is not "religion" for which he is looking. For in his opinion, religion throughout the history of our culture has advanced its control over human beings by the investment of bigotry and persecution. 
Yet, out of despair over the current human situation he says; ‘The voice for which my heavy spirit is yearning must reach us all... For if it is not heard, we are lost. Something beyond our material enrichment and lust for power and position, some rewards founded on good will, selflessness, and the innate dignity of the human spirit...honour, humility, decency courage."
What Gallico is speaking about is what the apostle Paul predicted.
Looking at the face of what passes for Christianity in the media here in North America we see men and women claiming to be Christians, who are preaching things that are clearly false.
While there are many honest men and women of God who make mistakes when preaching the word of God.
There are men and women who sadly have very high profiles in the media that are twisting the word of God for personal gain. These I believe are the men and women Paul Gallico is referring to. They are religious men and women who offer most of the time nothing more than secular ideas wrapped up in a Christian package.
They have for lack of a better term made Christianity look religious without any substance
The apostle Paul writes,
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."Timothy 3:1-5.
“...having a form of godliness but denying its power...” states Paul.
The world is looking for more than a “secular ideas in a Christian box” It is looking for the very thing that Christ Jesus has to offer.
The call of Jesus is,
“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.
This is the message we as Christians should be offering the world. For it is the only way individuals can get out of that handbarrow heading for Hell and go to heaven.
Please think about it.

God is

God is

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 

                                                                                    Genesis 1:1

I believe this and the Bible does not leave this statement up for debate. In order to be a Christian a true believer in Christ Jesus you have to believe this. I believe God is real and that he created the heavens and the earth.
I believe that science done correctly will prove it. I believe as the psalmist states,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

                                                                             Psalm 19:1-3

I don’t know if Stephen Hawking was a believer in Christ or even if he believed in the existence of God but he wrote,
“It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us,”Stephen Hawking.
I do know the father or quantum mechanics winner of the Noble prize for physics, Werner Heisenberg is a believer in God and that he said,
“The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist,
but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you” Werner Heisenberg.
The question however always comes back to you the individual. Do you believe in God?
Do you believe as Christians do?
"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.
Christians take belief in God the creator one step further. We believe that God in the form of his one and only Son Jesus Christ entered the world He created to show not just mankind as a whole but individuals, how far he would go to show them the way to heaven.
As C. S. Lewis puts it.
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” C.S. Lewis
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.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.

Maybe the Atheist cannot find God because....

Maybe the Atheist cannot find God because...

“Be still, and know that I am God; 

I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth.” 

                                                Psalm 46:10

C. S. Lewis wrote,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
I think there are two primary reasons people cannot find God. One they are simply not looking for Him. The other is they have made up their mind and are not willing to listen anything that might give insight into God’s existence.
As someone I think wisely said,

Maybe the atheist cannot find God 

for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman. 

                                                               Author Unknown

We especially here in the western democracies live in a society that is filled with a cacophony of noise and distractions. Distractions that quite often distract us from seeing God.
In order to find God we must be looking for Him. We must have faith that He exists. The writer of Hebrews stating,
“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.
In order to seek God we must be still. We must take time from our busy life sit down and simply ask, Dear Lord please show yourself to me.
The question I would ask you the reader is are you willing to be still and to ask God to show Himself to you?
Please think about it.

Narrow is the Road

Narrow is the road
John’s gospel records Jesus as saying,
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.
I’ve heard many non-Christians say there are many ways to heaven. The question I would ask is, are there?
What if as Christians believe there is only one way to heaven, that being through Jesus?
Jesus said,
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13,14.
It to my way of thinking is logical that God would make a single road to heaven. A road that I believe is through Jesus Christ.
The way I see it is if I and other Christians like me are wrong then we have nothing to fear by following the teachings of Jesus, because in doing so we will have lived a good life.
C. S. Lewis said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. Lewis.
I believe it is of infinite importance.
What do you think?
Please think about it.

God or Country or Anything Else

God, or Country, or Anything else?
In the book of Exodus we read,

"You shall have no other gods before me."

                                                 Exodus 20:3.

Here is a hard question for many who claim to be Christians particularly her in the western democracies. Who is first in your live, your country, your civil rights, your sports team, or God?
It should be God.
In Exodus God makes it clear that,
"You shall have no other gods before me."Exodus 20:3.
Anything that comes before God be it our country, our civil rights, our politics, or anything else even something as mundane as a sporting event, is wrong.
Around the world today there are many men and women, Christians who are imprisoned for their faith. Imprisoned because they put their faith first in their lives.
Now just because we put our faith first does not mean we cannot support the country in which we live. Quite the contrary. We can support the country we live in by obeying its laws. It is only when those laws contradict God’s laws that we cannot support that country.
The Apostle Peter reminds us to live good lives wherever we may be on this earth. He also reminds us that we are not citizens of this world when he states,
“Dear friends,
 I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:11,12.
Thus my question to anyone who claims to be a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus.
Who truly comes first in your life?

Equal Unconditional Love

Equal Unconditional Love

The Apostle Paul wrote this definition of Christian love,

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, 

it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

                                                     1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

Do you love? Do you love each person you come in contact with equally? For example do you love a refugee that comes into your country as much as those who live on the street in your country?
While I know we have a special affection for our immediate family which we know well. Do you show unconditional love to your neighbours, friends and even enemies?
Loving someone be it your immediate family, friends, neighbours and especially your enemies in a Christian manner, in the way God intended us to love can for many, if not most believers in Christ Jesus, be very difficult. Yet we are called to love as Jesus loved, and we know that, that love took Jesus to the cross.
Francis of Assisi wrote this prayer,

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

                                                                     Francis of Assisi.

Question: Can you honesty pray this prayer and mean it?
Please think about it.

He Got it right

He got it right
In the book of Job we read,

“He (God) spreads out the northern  skies  over empty space; 

He suspends the earth over nothing.” 

                                                Job 26:7.

The writer of the book of Job writing in second millennium BC (somewhere between 2000BC to 1000BC) got things right when he wrote,

"He (God) spreads out the northern  skies  over empty space; 

He suspends the earth over nothing." 

                                                Job 26:7.

Yet this man never left the earth. What proves Job right are the various pictures taken of earth from space. Look at each of these images taken by various NASA missions. From left to right. Earth from Apollo 8 while orbiting the moon. Earth taken from Apollo 17, 45000 Kilometres from earth on their way to the moon. Earth from Voyager the furthest picture ever taken of earth at a distance of 6 Billion Kilometres.

They all show Earth hanging on nothing.
This shows me that God gave the writer insight.
Also the more I look into science done right. The more I see the hand of a creator God.
Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics said,
“The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist,
but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you” Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics noble prize in physics.
Another Nobel Prize winner William Philips,
“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it"William Philips Nobel prize winning Physicist.
God is very real. For me personally it does not matter how God created the Universe or how long it took him be it billions of years or six twenty-four hour days. The fact is the Bible tells us.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 

                                                                        Genesis 1:1.

The fact is in the Gospel of John 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.
The fact is the God who made Heaven and Earth came to this world He created in the form of His One and Only Son Christ Jesus to point the way to heaven.
The fact is the gospel of John records Jesus speaking of himself as saying gives us a choice, 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.
Thus my question to you the reader; Do you believe this?
Please think about it.

The Word of God Stands Forever

The Word of God Stands forever
Isaiah the Prophet wrote,

"A voice says, "Cry out." 

And I said, "What shall I cry?" 

"All men are like grass, 

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

because the breath of the LORD blows on them. 

Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, 

but the word of our God stands forever." 

                                                          Isaiah 40:6-8.

I make no apologies I believe in God. The Bible that was written to believers does not debate the existence of God. For those who believe strongly in anything need not convincing. So it is with me. I believe strongly that God exists and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God incarnate. The Saviour of mankind.
Over the centuries however there are many that claim God is not real. Many that have predicted that the word of God would one day fade away. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Many years ago I read this poem,

“Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door,

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor

Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvils have you had," said I,

"To wear and bater all these hammers so?"

"Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye,

The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, thought I, the anvil of God's Word,

For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil is unharmed - and hammers gone.”

                                                                        Anonymous   

God is real. Jesus Christ is real and just because some sceptic says it is not does not make it so. As C. S. Lewis put it,
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
Thus questions I have for you the reader are.
 Do you believe in God?
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnate the Saviour of mankind?

Enjoy safe pasture

Enjoy safe pasture
The Psalmist writes,

“Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 

for like the grass they will soon wither, 

like green plants they will soon die away. 

Trust in the LORD and do good;

 dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”

                                                                  Psalm 37:1-3.

There is a lot of evil in the world today. Men and women who succeed by lying, cheating, stealing. And those who are succeeding by evil methods are not just organized crime, or the common criminal who robs a bank, or corner store, or even someone who murders and doesn’t get caught.
There are men and women who are in the business sector, sports and even politics who have become successful by doing things that are against the law or morally wrong.
The psalmist here tells us not to be envious of those people. He states,

“for like the grass they will soon wither, 

like green plants they will soon die away.”

                                                                 Psalm 37:2

James the half brother of Jesus states,
“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.  Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.  
Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.  
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.  
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.  
You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.” James 5:1-6.
Ultimately all who do evil of any kind will answer to God. The writer of Ecclesiastes states,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes12:13,14. 
Thus all who believe in Christ Jesus. All who believe in God, should not envy those who are succeeding by doing wrong. Instead they should follow the advice the Psalmist gives,

“Trust in the LORD and do good;

 dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture”

                                                                   Psalm 37:3.

The should follow the advice of the writer of proverbs who said,
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."Proverbs 3:5,6.
                         Please think about it.

Everyone

Everyone
Jesus 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.
If you claim to be a Christian do you believe this? If you attend church do you believe this? For it is this message that can change the world one person at a time. It is a message that can change your life.
On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter 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 apostle Paul backs up Peters words when he writes to the Romans,
“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:12,13.
Are you willing to call on the name of the Lord right now and accept God’s forgiveness that comes through the Saving Grace of Christ Jesus?
Please think about it.

Remember them

Remember them
The writer of Hebrews states,
“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”Hebrews 13:3.
If you claim to be a Christian. A follower of Christ Jesus. Do you pray for those fellow Christians who are in prison?
Today there are thousands of Christians in prison for their faith around the world. It is said that a Christian dies for their faith every seven minutes somewhere in the world.
Lately we are hearing a lot about the persecution of various groups. Yet it seems to me we hear very little about the persecution of Christians.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Christianity is "the most persecuted religion in the world." 
Today as you read this Christians in North Korea must meet in secret. To be caught worshipping God is at the very least a prison sentence doing hard labour. And while North Korea is considered the worst place to be a Christian, there are many other countries around the world where being a Christian can get you thrown in prison, attacked, even murdered.
Thus we Christians in the western democracies with all the freedoms we have, must remember to pray for and support those around the world who are suffering for the sake of Christ.
 Thus I would ask anyone reading this who claims to be a Christian, please pray for those brothers and sisters who are suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.
Please Pray.

Give Thanks

Give Thanks
The Psalmist wrote,

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 

Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 

Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever." 

                                                                                           Psalm 118:1-4.

I you consider yourself a Christian. A follower of Christ Jesus. Why not take time right now to thank God for his love toward you.
Please think about it.