What will they say?

  What will they say?

The apostle John speaking of Jesus said,                                                                    

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, 

he gave the right to become children of God—  

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, 

but born of God." 

                            John 1:12,13 

The poet wrote,                                                      

Where are the people?

Where?

Are they but shadows in the mall?

Are they?

Are they shadows in time?

Shadows wandering looking for the latest trinkets, bobbles and beads?

What is life?

What?

Is life but a wisp of smoke carried in the air?

A wisp in the eternal aether? 

Are people wisps of smoke?

What of man's or woman's!

 accomplishments?

What of them?

Is the sum total of all ones life simply a pile of shinny tin, brass, and wood?

Is that life?

Is life simply a cacophony of sounds travelling through endless time destined to end?

Is it?

Is life a finite opera?

An opera played out on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam?

Are we as Shakespear said simply actors?

Does life end?

No!

No!

Life is real!

Played out before God.

In a world suspended between Heaven and Hell

We,

 While mere mortals here.

Are really eternal beings.

Waiting to stand before God.

Are you ready to stand before God?

Are you?

What is the sum total of your life?

What?

Individuals lives in deeds,

What will your deeds say about you?

What will "they" say about you when you pass on?

What will God say?

Please think about it.

A forgotten verse

  A forgotten verse

In the book of Exodus we read,

"You shall have no other gods before me."

                                                                              Exodus 20:3.

This verse in Exodus is perhaps the most forgotten verse in the Bible here in North America.

North America is full of God’s. God’s even those calling themselves Christians pastors and evangelist, worship false gods. God’s like Materialism, money, political parties and political leaders. 

 In the United States many even put the constitution and the bill of rights ahead of or equal to God. This should not be so.

While Christians in the United states have wonderful freedoms, and the United States constitution and bill of rights are noble documents. They are not equal to the Bible in any way.    AND the Bible never promised Christians any form of rights, within any nation or society on earth.

  If you consider yourself a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus, you need to look at what you worship. At what you put ahead of God or equal to Him.

They need to do this because Jesus said,

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.  

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24.

So my questions to you if you claim to be a Christian is;

1/ Do you put anything ahead of God?

2/ Do you truly worship God in Spirit and in truth?

Please think about it.

There is a question

  There is a question

The apostle John writes,

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  

Dear children, 

let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18.

There is a question I’ve always wanted to ask rich people and politicians and even rich evangelist and pastors; 

Are you doing your best to help those in need?

Are you at least using a part of your wealth along with what political power you have to help the poor?

The same question should be considered by those of us who may not be rich but have a good standard of living, because we can all give something.

Tony Campolo the American evangelist make a good point when he states,

"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. 

Think about it.

A Statement

  A statement 

The writer of Hebrews states,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

 and certain of what we do not see.”  

                                            Hebrews 11:1

“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

For some Christians the word FAITH means,

Forsaking 

All

I 

Take 

Him.

Faith is a very personal thing. You cannot force people to have faith in anyone or anything they must make that decision for themselves.

For a true follower of Christ, faith in Christ means we will follow him to our grave. No matter what the circumstances.

A true believer in Christ understands the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote,

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 11-13.

Please think about it.

Not a clever story

 Not a clever story

The apostle Peter writes,

“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” 2 Peter 1:16-18.

I have been a believer in Jesus Christ for over forty years now. In that time I have heard people say God does not exist. People have told me Jesus is a myth. Some while admitting Jesus lived said he was no more than a good man.

Nothing could be further from the fact. Jesus is real. He is everything Christians believe him to be, the Son of God, Saviour of mankind, God incarnate. 

If Jesus is simply a man then the apostles and Jesus himself have created the greatest lie in history. 

C. S. Lewis in he book Mere Christianity said of Jesus,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. 

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

Thus the question becomes. Who do you think Jesus is.

Please think about it.

Your faith Your works

   Your faith Your works

In the book of James we read,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" James 2:14-20

Thus the question becomes, is your faith leading you to do good works?

Please think about it.

Will He be able to say

  Will He be able to say

The Apostle John writes,

"The elder, 

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  

It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.  

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.  

They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.  3 John 1-6.

Here the apostle John commends Gaius for continuing to walk in the truth. He states, 

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Question;

If you consider yourself a true follower of Christ Jesus. If Christ were to appear to you today would He be able to say He is joyful that you are walking in the truth?

Please think about it.

Beware of the Peddler Preacher

  Beware of the Peddler Preacher

The apostle Paul writes,

“Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.”2Corinthians 2:17.

In Pauls day there were men that preached Gods word for profit. Paul did not do this. He was a tent maker. He was what we today would call a bi-vocational pastor. He preached the word of God without asking for any remuneration. 

Now I can understand paying a pastor or evangelist a living wage. One that allows him to support himself and his family. A wage that allows him to concentrate on administering the word of God. There is also nothing wrong with a pastor who is a millionaire providing he came by it honestly.

What I can’t see is these millionaire evangelist who promise riches if you give to their ministry. Promises they never keep. Making it worse by blaming it on the believers lack of faith.

I believe these preachers should be held accountable in this world. I believe they should be asked to give away at least half their wealth to the poor.

I believe every miracle healing they claim to have done should be fact checked and if proven false they should be made step down from their ministry.

We make pastors evangelist and church leaders step down for immoral conduct all the time. 

To my way of thinking making false claims about healings and becoming rich if we give to their ministries is immoral also. Perhaps more so, as they are praying on the poor and sick.

Please think about it.

Making Disciples

 Making disciples 

The apostle Paul wrote,

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”Titus 3:1,2.

Here is something many evangelicals here in North America don’t listen to. They don’t listen to it, because they believe the lie that the United States and Canada are Christian nations. Which they are not! In believing this lie they speak out against a duly elected government every time that government does something they object to. Which at times could be considered slander. Especially when they speak out against a duly elected official.

We as Christians are not here to tell a government what to do. Jesus didn’t nor did any of the apostles. They lived within the boundaries set out for them by the Roman government. And while all but one died for their faith. It was their faith they died for. NOT for speaking against the government.

The apostle Paul stated,

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? 

Are you not to judge those inside?  

God will judge those outside. 

Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.

Jesus gave those who believe in him a clear message, stating,

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

A wise son

 A wise son

In the book of Proverbs we read,

“He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”Proverbs 10:5.

The writer of proverbs reminds us that we should be like the wise son or daughter. 

We know that Christ could return at any moment. Thus we should be using this time to not only harvest souls for Christ, but drawing closer to Christ in our daily lives.

Jesus tells this parable,

“And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 

"Then he said, ‘This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  

And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 

"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21.

As believers in Christ Jesus we need to study the scriptures and draw close to God. While at the same time presenting the Gospel message to those around us.

Please think about it.

Are you ready

Are you ready

In Matthews gospel we see Jesus quoted as saying,

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come....

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”Matthew 24:42,44.

If you consider yourself a Christian. A believer in Christ Jesus are you prepared for His return?

When He returns will He see you doing His work?

Another question all who believe in Christ Jesus need to consider is Pauls advice to Timothy when he writes,

"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."  2 Timothy 2:15.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

God on your hearts

 God on your hearts

In the book of Deuteronomy we read,

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."Deuteronomy 6:5-7.

I believe the most important thing we can pass on to our children is our love for God. A life based on the love of God may go through many trials and tribulations, but if your life is founded on the love of God, you will always have hope. In Psalm 23 we read,

The LORD is my shepherd, 

I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

He leads me beside quiet waters, 

He restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, 

for You are with me;

 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; 

my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. 

                                                                            Psalm 23

Do you share your faith in God, your faith in Christ with your children?

Is God first in your life?

Please think about it.