Give Thanks

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 

Know that the LORD is God. 

It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 

give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

 his faithfulness continues through all generations.” 

                                                                                          Psalm 100

As I write this it is thanksgiving morning in Canada. A time when we can reflect and give thanks to God for all we have.
I am not a Canadian I am simply a landed emigrant although I’ve spent most of my life here.
As a result I have been blessed richly by this country.
Thanks to the freedom of worship in this land I was introduced to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I was through serving the Lord introduced to my wife whom I have been with for thirty-four years.
As a result we have two wonderful children both of whom are serving the Lord in various capacities.
While there have been difficulties from time to time life has still been good to me and my family.
We know God will not forsake us. We know he loves us and will take us safely through even the worst storm. Which he has.
My oldest son when he was eight was hit by a car and lay in a coma for a week. With the doctors telling us every day he was in the coma meant that he may not recover fully.
After much prayer, God answered us and he today is in his mid thirties perfectly normal and planning his wedding.
My younger son just recently fell twelve feet from a ladder in Kenya and broke both bones in his lower leg.
He just happened to be near one of the best hospitals in Africa and there just happened to be one of the best bone specialist from England available to fix his leg.
He did an excellent job according to the Canadian doctors my son went to upon returning to Canada.
That to me is God.
Over the last two years both my wife and I have had to have life saving surgery after being rushed to hospital.
Surgery we came through with out any problems.
Not only that thanks to the Canadian health care system we didn’t have any medical bills.
The God I serve is a great and mighty God and I for one am thankful for all he has done for me and my family.
Above all I am thankful that God sent his one and only Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. That I upon accepting Him into my life am assured of my salvation and a place in heaven.
Dear reader do you have that assurance.
Do you know for certain that if you were to die to day that you would get to heaven?
Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. 
The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9.
All we have to do is pray a simple prayer and ask Jesus into our lives a prayer like this,
Dear Heavenly Father
I recognize that I am a sinner. That I have done things wrong in my life and fall short of what you want for my life.
I recognize that Jesus Christ is your one and only Son who came to this earth to die for my sins. To save me and show me the way to heaven.
I accept Him as my Lord and Saviour.
Please dear Jesus come into my life today. Cleanse me from my sins.
I give you permission to work within my life conforming my life to your ways.
Amen.
If you prayed that prayer and truly mean it then you can be assured of getting into heaven. It really is that easy.
Now I would urge you to get a Bible and read it. Also pray and ask God to lead you to a bible believing Church. One that believes you are saved by faith according to Ephesians which states, “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
And may God bless you.

How to Live

Read Romans 12

"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies

 a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, 

that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

For I say, “through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of 

himself more highly that he ought do think, but to think soberly, 

as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."

                                                                                                         Romans 12:1-3
To quote a friend, this chapter has a lot to chew on.  In the New King James version, it is just 142 words long, but what a collection of words.  Those few words, tell us how we are to live as Christians.  A point form look at this chapter goes like this:
* vs. 5    in Christ each member belongs to all the others.
* vs. 6,7 we have different gifts and are to use them in proportion to our faith.
* vs. 9    our love must be sincere
* vs. 10  we are to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
* vs. 11  we are to keep up our spiritual fervour, serving God.
* vs. 12  we are to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer
* vs. 13  share with God’s people, who are in need & practice hospitality
* vs. 14  bless our persecutors
* vs 15   rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn
* vs. 16 live in harmony with each other, don’t be proud, but willing to associate with those in low positions.
* vs. 17  don’t repay evil with evil & do right in the eyes of everyone
* vs. 18  as far as it depends on you live in peace with everyone
* vs. 19  do not take revenge
* vs. 20  if your enemy is hungry feed him, if thirsty give him a drink
* vs. 21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
What a list, a list we all fail to follow from time to time.
The reason, we fall short many times, is because we allow the secular world culture, around us to get into the church and into our lives.  A quick look around the church, today, shows us we have a “Christian version” of everything the world has.
Many in the church, hardly read the Bible.
These people rely on the words of pastors, preachers, and other evangelists, both in church and in the media.
All too often, as I have discussed a topic with other Sunday School teachers, I hear “this television evangelists said this” or “that radio preacher said that.”  When I question them, how those evangelists and preachers came to that conclusion, or why they themselves believe it, they can’t tell me.
They can’t tell me because they haven’t taken the time to read for themselves the Word of God.
Something to think about.
The only way to know how to be a Christian is to study God’s manual on how to be a Christian, the Bible!
No evangelist, preacher, Christian teacher, priest, bishop or pope has all the answers, simply because they are human with human frailties, like all of us.
The Bible has been called a living book, that speaks to the individual, who reads it.  Revealing to them the wonders of God, no matter who they are.

Something to do:
Pick up the Bible and read it slowly and deliberately.
So that God can show you personally, the boundless truths He has for you.

The individual first

Read John 9

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him,

 He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered and said to him,

 “Who is He, LORD, that I may believe in Him?”

And Jesus said to him,

 “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

Then he said, “LORD, I believe!” 

 And he worshipped Him.

And Jesus said,

 “For judgment I have come into this world,

 that those who do not see may see, 

and that those who see maybe made blind.”

Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, 

“Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind; you would have no sin;  but now, you say, ‘We see.’

  Therefore your sin remains.

                                                                                             John 9:35-41
Here we have a man blind from birth healed by Jesus.  The scribes and the Pharisees question him and when he tells them the truth about what happened they reject it.
The scribes and Pharisees refused to accept who Jesus was.  They seen the evidence, it was irrefutable.  The man had been blind form birth, and now he could see.
       It was a clear miracle and God was getting the glory, yet, the religious leaders refused to acknowledge that the healing was from God.
These men seemed to have a preconceived idea of how God should work.  They knew the laws about working on the Sabbath, and this man was healed on the Sabbath.
     In their eyes, the healing shouldn’t have been done.  Their reasoning, it was the Sabbath and healing was work, therefore, it violated the law.  Therefore to them the logical conclusion was that Jesus was of the devil.
These men overlooked the fact that a good deed, a miracle, was done.  That only God could have healed the man.  Certainly, the man was not giving anyone else the praise, except God.
Something to think about
These religious leaders looked on the law as a ritual, almost as a superstition. If it wasn’t followed in a particular way their way, a person was sinning.
They seen Jesus as a sinner because he “worked” on the Sabbath and healed a blind man. Who gave God the glory on His day.
They failed to see that while the law was their to guide us to God. It was just a sign post. That God was interested in the heart of the individual not how strictly the individual followed the law.
An old Hasidic Folktale tells this story,
“A teamster sought the advice of the rabbi of Berditschev as to whether he should give up his occupation because it interfered with regular attendance at the synagogue.
“Do you carry poor travellers free of charge?” Asked the rabbi.
“Yes.” answered the teamster.
“Then you serve the LORD in your occupation just as faithfully as you would be frequenting the synagogue.”
All to frequently we in the church set up rules, regulations, and traditions that not only stop God from getting the glory but turn people from God.
We must alway, always remember it is the individual that God is interested in. While rules are necessary to point us to God it is our Faith that saves us. Ephesians 2:8,9 stating,
“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.” 

How precious is Jesus to you

Read Matthew 26:1-30

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,

a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask 

of very costly fragrant oil,

 and she poured it on His head 

as He sat at the table.

But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, 

“why this waste?

“For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor”

But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them,

 “Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me

“For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always

“For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial

“Assuredly, I say to you,

 wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world,

 what this woman has done will also be told 

as a memorial to her.”

                                                                                    Matthew 26:6-13
How precious is Jesus to you?  Would you take the most costly thing you have and give it to him?  That’s possibly what this woman did.
We need to evaluate what is most important in our lives.  All too often, going to church is just another thing we do.  We see it as serving our church, not God.  It shouldn’t be that way.
We must remember that while we are called to work within a given church congregation, it is God we are serving, not the institution.
Our service to God should be so important to us, that we get uncomfortable, if we can’t be doing the work He has called us to.
This woman loved Jesus so much, that she anointed Him with the most precious thing she had:

“...‘You shall love the LORD your God 

will all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

and with all your mind.’

                                                                         States Matthew 22:37
Something to think about:
Ask yourself these questions
* Am I serving the institution (church denomination, or congregation) I attend or am I serving God?
* Do I look on serving God in the same way I look at coaching a sports team or is there truly more to it?
* What priority is God in my life?
* Am I truly doing what God wants me to do?
* Am I honouring God?
In my work place?
Around my friends.
In my home?
Do I love the LORD my God with all my heart, soul, and mind?
                                   Think about it.

God in a Box

Read John 11

Then they took away the stone form the place where the dead man was lying. 

 And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

“And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by

 I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes,

 and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 

 Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Then many of the Jews, who had come to Mary, and had seen the things that Jesus did,

 believed in Him.

But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them  the things Jesus did.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said,

 “What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.

“If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take 

away both our place and nation.”

                                                                                      John 11:41-48
A very intelligent and wise friend, once said to me, regarding business strategies, “it is the short time thinkers, the ones who play politics that ruin a business.  Look and think to the future and not to the past.”
This truth is true, even in Christianity. Take a look at what we can now see, as a very silly statement.
Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the grave.  Something, none of the Pharisees had done.  He had performed miracles, in front of them, and all they did was try to find a reason to kill Him.  Their reasoning stated in John 11:47,48:
"Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.“If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, 
and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
They were truly worried about losing their position of political power and their nation.  Their logic didn’t extend to the fact that Jesus had just raised a man from the dead.  
  That this was not the thing an ordinary man could do. It was one more proof that Jesus was who He said He was the Son of God, the Messiah.
They didn’t clue into the fact that were they to believe and follow Jesus, they had no need to fear because God would be on their side. That the power of Rome could not stand against the power of God.
These men were short term thinkers who played politics.  They were looking out for their own needs. They worried about losing their political power, their prestigious position.
Something to think about
Many church congregations have withered away, because of this kind of thinking.
Within these church congregations and denominations those in a position of power have become to worried about losing that power if change occurs. They have put God in a box of their own making, set a series of rules and rituals by which they hope to keep the status quo.
They fail to hear the voice of God and see what God is doing around them.
Throughout history great movements of God such as were initiated by, Martin Luther, the Wesley’s, Calvin, and other reformers, have been condemned by the church. All because they didn’t conform to what was considered by those in power to be the norm.
The same is true today in the 21st century. There are many within the church that would put God in a very tight box.
We as Christians must be careful to watch that first we don’t put God in a box of our own making and that our leaders don’t keep the status quo simply because they wish to stay in power.
We must constantly pray and study the word of God asking God for his direction for both ourselves and our church leaders.

Unifying love

Read John 17

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me 

through their word;

“that they all may be one

 as You Father, are in Me,

 and I in You; 

that they also maybe one in Us,

 that the world may believe that

 You sent Me....

“I in them, and You I Me that they maybe made perfect in one, 

and that the world may know that You have sent Me, 

and have loved them as You have loved Me.

“And I have declared to them Your name,

 and will declare it,

 that the love with which You loved Me

 maybe in them,

 and I in them.”

                                                                       John 17:20, 21-23, 26
Here in Chapter 17 of John, Jesus prays for Himself, the disciples and in verse 20 to 26 for all believers.
He prays for their unity in love.  That the love of God, be in them, as it was in Christ.
We, as individual Christians, must first of all know what we believe and why we believe it.  That is why we must study the Word of God, and sit under a good teacher, we trust.
Then, it is absolutely, imperative, that we find a church congregation that believes as we do or as close as we can find.  A congregation where we feel God would have us work.  And we must submit ourselves to that group.
In order to do this, we must think, and pray.
A Bible School teacher once said to me, “most Christians think with their heart and forget God gave them a brain for that purpose.
They think their hands are only to use to pick things up with, not put together in prayer, and that their ears are the only thing they hear with.”
What he meant was, many Christians go to where they feel good, not necessarily, where God wants them.  That they never pray and seek God’s guidance about which church they should attend or what they should do.  They listen to others and what comes in through their ears, not what God is telling their heart.
Here Jesus talks about the unity of the believers, about them being one.  And He asks:
“that the love with which You loved Me  maybe in them,  and I in them.”
Something to think about:
I go back to the words of the Apostle Paul in 1Corinthinas 13:4-8a
“Love suffers long and is kind: love does not envy; love 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. Love never fails.”
This is what Jesus prayed for, for all Christians. This is the kind of love we must show to both our brothers and sisters in Christ and the whole world.

What Really Matters

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

                                                                          Genesis 1:1

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...

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 1:1-3, 14

Perhaps one of the most controversial parts of the Bible is the Genesis chapter one, the creations chapter.
Non Christians point to it and say how could the world be made in six twenty-four hour days. They claim it took aeons.
Frankly I could care less. It doesn’t make any difference to my faith if the world was made in a hundred forty-four hours or a hundred forty-four billion years.
I believe the universe and everything in it was created by God. AND more importantly I believe that Jesus is God.
That he came to earth to live among His creation, to point mankind to heaven.
Jesus said of himself,

“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
God gives us a free will but he makes it clear that we have only two choices in this life.
To either accept Jesus for who he says he is. The very Son of God the Saviour of the world, or to reject him as a liar who has perpetuated the most monumental lie in human history.
The choice dear reader is yours.
Do you believe Jesus is Lord and God. The creator of the universe who came to earth to pay the price for your sins?
If you believe, then the question is, if you were to die tonight are you certain you would get to haven?
If not hear is a prayer you may want to pray.
Dear Heavenly Father
I know that I am a sinner. That I fall short of what you want for me in my life. 
I recognize that Jesus is your One and Only Son. That he came to die to take away my sins.
Please forgive me of my sins.
Please Lord Jesus come into my heart and life this day. Lead me and guide me from this day forward.
Amen

If you prayed this prayer and really meant it then Jesus will come into your life. I urge you to read the Bible. Start with the New Testament and read through the whole Bible.
Pray before you read each chapter that God will reveal Himself to you and that He will reveal what you are reading means to you personally.
The next thing is to pray and find a good church in your area.
I personally would recommend a good Baptist church as I have found their teachings to be very well balanced and in line with the word of God.
But above all of this Pray, Pray, Pray, that God would lead you to the right church or group of believers that can help you grow in Christ.
And remember always that with God in your life, if you let Him, He will change your life in a wonderful way.

Blessed is the Man

“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” 

                                                                                                    Matthew 11:6

John who is now in prison hears of Jesus ministry. He then sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if He is indeed the Christ.
Jesus in essence tells him to look at the signs. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the leper is cured, the deaf hear, the dead raised and the good news is preached to the poor.
Then Jesus adds “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
It is so easy to fall away from Christ especially in our day and age. We are and have been waiting for Christ’s return for over two millennium.
It takes a lot to wait that long.
Jesus is the only founder of a religious group that said he will return. This is something we must hold onto as a true statement.
We are called to follow Jesus by faith.
We must have faith that the Bible is true. That the miracles spoken of in the Bible are true.
We must have faith in the words of the apostle Paul when he says in Ephesians that we are saved through our faith not our works.
Christianity is very much a walk of faith. We are presented the truth about Jesus in the Bible and are asked to make a decision as to wether we believe it or not. There is no middle ground.
Moreover we must live our faith openly before those around us.
We must not be ashamed of what the Bible tells us about Jesus no matter what those around us say.
Jesus performed miracles, something that in the twenty first century or for that matter in any century can seem far fetched. Yet the Bible asks us to believe them.
And through the ages the words Jesus said to John the Baptist calls out to us, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”  

Something to think about.

Do you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he did indeed perform all the miraculous things spoken of in the Bible?

Beware

Read Matthew 16:1-12

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came,

 and hailing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.

He answered and said to them, 

“When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;

“and in the morning, “It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky,

 but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

“A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign,

 and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” 

 And He left them and departed.

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Then Jesus said to them, 

“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

Then they understood 

that He did not tell them to beware the leaven of bread, 

but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

                                                                                             Matthew 16:1-6,12
Do you know what you believe, and why you believe it?  Is what you believe based on the Scriptures?  Can you support your beliefs from the Bible and not take verses out of context?  Is what you believe based only on what you have heard from pastors, priests, evangelist, and those on television?
We are not all Bible scholars, but we should all have a good idea of what the Bible says.  We should believe it, read it, as often as we can, from cover to cover, and ask God to reveal His truths in it.
Most Pastors, priests and evangelists are good people, they truly believe what they teach.  I know I thank God for some very well educated pastors, that have come into my life.
One in particular, couldn’t emphasize enough the need to read the Word of God.  “Study to show thyself approved.”  (2 Timothy 3:15) was a quote he used.  He always asserted that any teacher, no matter how good is “human”, therefore, imperfect and prone to make the odd mistake.  He noted that no church, no denomination has it all right, all make mistakes although, they do their best to get it right, for the most part.
It is therefore, up to us as individuals to read the Scriptures, to know what God is saying.  To know that we are in the right place with God.
Throughout the history, the church, has let the leaven of the Pharisees creep in, every now and then.
The Pharisees simply put, let traditions and man’s interpretation of Scriptures get in front of what God’s word actually said.  They covered the spirit and original intent of the Word of God with traditions and mistaken interpretations, thus changing it’s meaning.

Something to think about

Millions of books have been written, interpreting the Scriptures. Each writer with  a slight bias derived from what they were taught.
That is understandable no factual book has ever been written without some kind of bias. It’s the consequence of “being human” and the free will God has given us.
The bottom line in all of his however, is to be aware of what is being taught.  Read the Scriptures.  Question doctrines that you don’t understand.  If it is truly based on the Scriptures, it will stand to independent scrutiny, and those preaching it will not be afraid to have it questioned.

He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Read Matthew 23

“But he who is greatest among you 

shall be your servant.

“And whoever exalts himself 

will be humbled, 

and he who humbles himself

 will be exalted.

                                                                         Matthew 23:11,12
A subtitle in my New King James Bible for this chapter reads, “woe to the Scribes and Pharisees.”
Jesus made it clear that the religious leaders of his day, had placed so many rules and regulations in place around worship, that the meaning God had intended was being lost.  They were even being hypocritical themselves in how things were done.
God intended the laws to point the way to Him.  He wanted to have a relationship with mankind, not rule him like a slave.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ time had placed all these regulations around, that had to be followed so precisely, that it made man a slave to the law.  God had never intended it to be so.
God knows the heart of man.  He knows what we are like on the inside.  God knows if we bring a gift to the altar, whether it is from the heart, out of duty or to impress those around us.
He wants our faith and our love.  It’s really that simple.
God wants to be in our lives and His ways are not the ways of man.  God wants us to be humble, and He in His time, will give us the acknowledgment we deserve.
“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” States Jesus here in Matthew 23.
It is only when we have a servant’s heart, that we can succeed for God. Even those, most successful men and women in the secular world have a servant’s heart.  I’ve spoken to many, and they all say, “I provide a service people want.”
These people are successful because they find ways of providing the service better than anyone else.  They are constantly working on how they can improve that service.
As Christians, we must always remember that we are God’s servant and that we cannot do that if we are trying to exalt ourselves.
It is all about God and others, not about us.
Someone once gave me this analogy.  She said:
“Serving God is almost like being the manager of an exclusive hotel.  God is the owner.  He had put the investment into the place.
He has a plan and the best hotel in the world.
We are His managers and it is our job to go out there and implement the plan.  To bring people into the hotel.
In order for us to do this, we must first catch the vision that He has and then go out there and show the people how God can meet all their needs.
      We must show the people that we are willing to serve them for in doing so, we are serving God.”
Something to think about:
All too often, we loose track of the fact that even God humbled Himself and became a man.  That the creator of the universe came down to us, lived among us, served us, and died for us. That he became a servant setting the example for us.  Thus we should do the same.

Christ's Ministry/Our Ministry

"Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only,

 but in the one who sent me.  

When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.  

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 

“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. 

For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.  

There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words;

 that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.  

For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.  

I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” 

John 12:44-50

Points to ponder about what Jesus says about himself.
• when someone believes in Him they also believe in God who sent Him.
• He as come as a light to the world.
• Anyone who hears Jesus’ word and does not keep them, Jesus at least while on this earth dose not judge him, because he came to save the world.
• There is a judge that will judge in the last days
• Jesus spoke not of his own accord but of the Father
• The words of Jesus leads to Eternal life.

I hear a lot of preachers especially in the media condemning the world and those who espouse different beliefs or lifestyles. This aught not to be.
We as Christians are called to present the Gospel of Christ. To point people to heaven not to judge them. That is God’s job not ours.
I firmly believe that in screaming hell fire and brimstone at people you only push them away.
I have seen too many ministers in the media pointing to a persons or group of person’s sin and telling them that they are going to hell.
I at one time was heading to hell as was every preacher that has ever lived.
Fortunately for me I had a wonderful pastor who accepted me for what I was. He slowly pointed me in the right direction and let the Holy Spirit work in my life, showing me where I was going wrong.
The climax came for me at a Doug Oldham concert in Hamilton Ontario Canada when he was led to ask people who wanted to give their life to Christ.
I stood and while I didn’t go to the front, I became a believer that night and have never looked back.
That was close to forty years ago now.
Today when I look to the best way to present the gospel I look to the Apostle Paul when speaking in Athens, Acts 17:16-32.
He was invited by Stoics and Epicurean to speak in the Areopagus.
Paul simply started at a point they were familiar with and presented the unadulterated message of Christ for them to accept or reject.
He never once condemned them for their beliefs or way of life. As a result some believed some sneered but others wanted to hear more on the subject.
And I think the key here is some actually wanted to hear more of what Paul had to say. Which many times is all we can hope for.
Think about it.

The Strongest Bulwark

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
All societies around the world believe in an afterlife, weather their governments or the intellectuals of their society believe it or not. Likewise the majority of people believe in God. Some in many god’s.
I wonder without God would mankind even be around today?
Think about it. In order to exist mankind needs a set of morals to live up to. A set of guidelines to live by.
I grew up in the “do your own thing” era. As long as is didn’t hurt anyone you could just do what you wanted.
Still even those who espoused this kind of lifestyle realized there was a basic of rules we had to live by. Do not murder for example, don’t bare false witness. Be honest in all you do.
Which begs the question where did our morals come from?
Was it possible for the cave man to write a universal set of morals? A moral code that even the most ardent atheist follows today thousands of years on?
It seems to me that the basic moral code all people live by is with us from the moment we are born. Perhaps proving it is part of our very make up as human beings. Psalm 139:13 hints at just such a thing,
“For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb”
For me I cannot believe that all of what we have today is by chance or random acts in the universe that just happened to result in us. There has to be a creator.
As I look at what Atheist and many scientist believe I wonder who has the greater faith, them, or me?
I think it takes greater faith to believe there is no God or Creator of the universe than it does to believe.
I see the world as carefully crafted. Very much in the same way an engineer would build it.
Just looking into something as common as a tree leaf fills me with amazement knowing that beyond what I can see with my naked eye are intricate arrangements of cells. All of which work together to make the leaf what it is.
Such structure to me cannot be mere chance. There has to be a God.
It is my firm belief that given enough time and provided scientist keep an open mind they will one day prove there is a creator. That the universe is not just chaos and random chance.
I see such proof coming to light as scientist study fractals. Its something that has been around for several centuries but only recently, with the advent of modern computer capacity has it started to be studied in depth.
I have a definition of Fractal’s that comes from, what is .com, it states,
“The term "fractal" was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975. It comes from the Latin fractus , meaning an irregular surface like that of a broken stone. Fractals are non-regular geometric shapes that have the same degree of non-regularity on all scales. Just as a stone at the base of a foothill can resemble in miniature the mountain from which it originally tumbled down, so are fractals self-similar whether you view them from close up or very far away. Fractals are the kind of shapes we see in nature. ...
We find trees, mountains, rocks and cloud formations in nature, but what is the geometrical formula for a cloud? How can we determine the shape of a dollop of cream in a cup of coffee? Fractal geometry, chaos theory, and complex mathematics attempt to answer questions like these. Science continues to discover an amazingly consistent order behind the universe's most seemingly chaotic phenomena.”
I like that last sentence “Science continues to discover an amazingly consistent order behind the universe's most seemingly chaotic phenomena.”
Science is an on going process. It is not complete. All good scientist are continually asking questions searching for answers.
Much of humanity is looking for answers this is most prominent when they are near death or someone close to them is near death.
Sadly today all to many people are looking for the answer to life in all the wrong places.
They need to turn to the Bible and learn about Almighty God and the saving power of His Son Jesus Christ.