Thu, Feb 27th - 10:31PM

Acts 17:30-31

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

God has appointed a day in which He will judge all of mankind. I know some people deny this or ignore this or just don’t care but it will happen. This is mentioned several times in the Bible:

Romans 14:10But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

11For it is written,
            “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME,
            AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”

12So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. (NASB)

Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, (NASB)

Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire

There are two types of people in this world: the saved and the unsaved. The saved are those who have been born again (John 3:3) and have confessed Christ as Lord. (Romans 10:9) They will spend an eternity with the Father. The unsaved are those who have rejected Christ.  They have refused to repent of their evil ways and confess Christ as Lord over their lives. They will be the ones cast into the lake of fire for eternity. It doesn’t matter how good of a person you think you are in the eyes of God you are a sinner worthy of death until you confess Christ as your Savior and allow Him to be Lord of your life.

Sun, Feb 23rd - 9:11AM

Acts 17:10-11

Acts 17:10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (NIV)

The Bereans didn’t just accept everything that Paul told them. They studied the Scriptures to ensure what Paul was preaching to them was correct and we should do the same thing. The reason we have so much false teaching today and why people fall for it is that they don’t know the Word of God for themselves. They just assume what their preacher is telling them is correct or the fall for every smooth talking preacher that comes along making them easy prey for false teachers.

Not everyone who claims to be a preacher of God is telling the truth. There are a lot of false teaching out there and a lot of false teachers. Sometimes the preacher himself has fallen under the influence of false doctrine and has yet to realize what he is preaching isn’t true but there are also a lot of wolves in sheep clothing trying to take advantage of people. That is why it is so important to know the Bible for yourself. Be like the Bereans don’t just take for granted what any preacher is telling you is true, look it up for yourself. Any true preacher of the Word of God won’t be insulted by you checking out what they are preaching. If what they are preaching is true then they have nothing to fear. It is the deceivers that get scared when people check out what they are preaching. 

It is appalling how many people who claim to be Christians have never read the Bible or never take time to study the Word of God. It is just pure laziness on the part of Christians. Bible study should be a daily routine of Christians. 

In the Old Testament Hebrew fathers were responsible for teaching the Word of God to their children:

Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (KJV)

Know the Bible for yourself. Studying the Bible, just like prayer, should be part of the daily routine of every Christian.  The greatest defense against false teaching and teachers are Christians who know the Word of God for themselves. 

Fri, Feb 21st - 11:58AM

Acts 17:1-4

Acts 17:1 When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. (NIV)

A lot of people have a hard time with accepting the fact that Christ did rise from the grave even those who claim to be Christian and believe in God. What I don’t understand is if we claim to believe in a God that created life why would we have a hard time believing this almighty God could restore life. Those who have hard time with the resurrection of Christ fail to grasp who Christ was. Christ was more than a mere man that God raised from the dead He was the Son of God. He was God in the flesh and death had no hold over Him.

The resurrection of Christ is central to the Christian faith. It proves that Christ was He said He was. It proves He was more than a great teacher that crossed paths with the Jewish authorities who had Him put to death. The resurrection of Christ proves He was the Son of God and gives Christians faith that there is life after death and someday there will be a resurrection of all believers in Christ. Paul says if Christ is not raised then our faith is in vain:

1 Corinthians 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (NIV)

Paul also says to be saved we must believe that God raised Christ from the dead:

Romans 10:9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (NIV)

If Christ did not rise from the grave than He was a liar and a deceiver because He said He would and it mean the Bible is a lie because it teaches that Christ did rise from the grave but we know this is not the case. Christ did rise from the grave and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven and someday soon will return to claim His church and judge the world of its sins and of its rejection of salvation through Him. 

I say all of this because there are many who claim to be Christian who reject the idea of the resurrection of Christ from the grave. Well first, these people lack faith and are failing to understand the Christ they claim to be follow and have allowed their judgment to be swayed by the secular world which rejects Christ instead of the Word of God and second, I would say these people can’t claim to be true Christians when they believe the Christ they claim to follow is dead and was nothing more than a mere man that was executed. 

Mon, Feb 17th - 11:32AM

Acts 16:29-31

Acts 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

As Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Christ.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

I believe Romans 10:9-13 says it best:

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

That is it. We are saved by our faith in Christ that He is the Savior that died on the cross for our sins and that He rose from the grave, that He is seated on the right hand of God and we confess Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. There are no rituals to gain salvation, you don’t have to belong to a certain church or denomination, you can never do enough good deeds to earn salvation and you can’t earn salvation through yourself, and there is no other way or religion that is going to lead you to salvation. It is only through Christ that we are saved from our sins and the just punishment of our sins. It is more than a onetime prayer or confession of faith it is a life time of living in obedience to God. 

In our modern pluralistic society it is not considered politically correct to claim that Jesus is the only Way to heaven but I am sorry but God does not change and neither does His Word and truth does not change because it is not convenient for everyone. Jesus Himself declared that He is the only Way to the Father in John 14:6:

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

And in John 3:3 Jesus declares unless we are born again we will never see heaven:

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This is a spiritual re-birth. We are born once physically and when we receive Christ as our Savior we are born again spiritually. We are no longer spiritually died living in slavery to our sins but we are born again as a new creation in Christ. We have been freed from the bondage of our sins and we are no longer facing eternity in hell but a heavenly home with the Father. 

Fri, Feb 14th - 11:38AM

Acts 16:16-18

Acts 16:16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (NIV)

There are a lot of people including those who claim to be Christian who go to fortune tellers are read horoscopes. Now a lot of these things are phony but the ones that do seem to have special abilities you have to understand there are only two forces in this world, God and Satan and if it is not of God than it is of Satan. The people who partake in these activities are dealing with demonic forces rather they realize it or not. Besides as Christian do we not believe that God has control over our future? Are we not in His hands? 

This spirit that was in this girl was not trying to tell people how to be saved. It was mocking Paul and those with him until Paul showed who had the real power. It wasn’t through Paul that this demon was cast out but through the power of Christ. 

God forbid His people from anything to do with practices such as this:

Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13You must be blameless before the Lord your God. (NIV)

God put fortune telling on the same level as witchcraft and child sacrifice because it all comes from the same source, Satan. In our modern society Hollywood as tried to put a tame face in such things as witchcraft and witches. They have even made kids shows out of witches trying to sell the idea that there are good and bad witches. Don’t be fooled by this. There is no such thing as good witches or good witchcraft, it all comes from Satan. All of this is just an attempt by Satan to dull people to the reality around them, which isn’t very hard. If you really want an eye opener do some research into the connection between Hollywood and the occult. I guarantee it will be an eye opener for you. 

Satan is a deceiver and he is on a mission to destroy mankind and lead them away from God and he is going to use every means available to him including the entertainment industry to lead people away from God. There is a reason we see so much hatred toward Christians coming out of Hollywood. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying you should move out into the woods somewhere and close yourself off from the world. I am saying beware of the efforts of Satan to deceive people and it is no secret the effect media has on people especially the young. Like I said there are only two true forces in this world, God and Satan, and if aint of God then it is of Satan. 

Wed, Feb 12th - 11:49AM

Acts 16:6-10

Acts 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (NIV)

Paul had his plans but God had His own plans. When we declare Jesus as Lord we are declaring Him to be Lord over our lives and that we are willing to submit to His will for us. Many people readily declare Jesus as Savior but not so much as Lord. They want salvation but when it comes to submitting to His will and doing what He wants and obeying His commandments that is another thing. They want salvation without actually having to follow Christ and be a disciple and obey Him. They want to be saved but do their own thing. 

Even Jesus submitted to the will of the God. In the Lord’s pray Jesus prayed that God’s will be done:

Matthew 6:10 This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (NIV)

And in the garden before His trial and crucifixion Jesus prayed:

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (NIV)

Now if Christ sought to do the will of the Father then shouldn’t we do the same? When we declare Christ as Lord then that means He is Lord overall not just on Sunday but He is Lord at work, school, our home, and our future and that we seek to please Him in all these things and seek to do His will in all of these things. For true Christians Christ is Lord over everything in our lives not just on Sunday morning. There are way too many Sunday morning Christians in the church and not nearly enough who have surrender their lives completely to Christ because if ever person who has claimed to be Christian truly followed Him as they should this world would be a totally different place. 

Tue, Feb 11th - 11:35AM

2 Samuel 7:16-17

2 Samuel 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. 17According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

Now God told David that his kingdom would be established forever but yet we know the Kingdom of Israel and the King of Judah both were eventually destroyed and a few years after the death of Christ the nation of Israel was destroyed by the Romans and was recently restored in 1948. So did God lie to David? Did he change His mind? No, God wasn’t talking about the physical kingdom of David. He was talking about the Kingdom of God established in Christ. It was through the seed of David that the Kingdom was established forever. Jesus was a descendant of David through His earthly parents. It was through the death of Christ on the cross that the Kingdom was established forever. 

The Kingdom of God has been advancing against the powers of darkness in this world since the death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. It is a Kingdom made up of all who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and have allowed Him to reign in their hearts. This Kingdom will continue to advance until Christ returns and established His Kingdom on the earth. But before the return of Christ all believers were given a mission to fulfill in the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Because the Bible says before Christ returns the Gospel will be preached unto the entire world:

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Christ is going to return soon but God in His loving patience is going to allow all the world to hear the Gospel and have a chance to respond to God’s offer of salvation in Christ first because when Christ returns the second time it will not be as a lowly carpenter’s son but He will return as King to gather up His people and to judge those who rejected His gift of salvation in Him.

Thu, Feb 6th - 7:51PM

Acts 15:5-11

Acts 15:5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (NIV)

These believers of a Pharisee background were trying to force the Law of Moses on the new Gentile believers and this was completely contrary to the purpose of the death of Christ on the cross. Christ died on the cross so that whosoever believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can be saved. That is it. Accept Christ as your Savior and follow Him as Lord and you will be saved. You can never do enough good deeds, do enough sacraments or any other tradition or ritual to be saved. Romans 10:9-13 says it the best:

9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^e 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (NIV)

Declare that Jesus is Lord and believe that raised Him from the dead you will be saved. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (KJV)

We are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Christ. That is it. You are saved by the grace of God, not baptism all though Christ directs us to be baptized we are not saved by baptism we are baptized because we are saved, we are not saved by doing sacraments, by traditions, or belonging to any particular church or denomination in fact in many ways denominations have become an idol for some because they put the teachings of their denominations before the teachings of the Bible just as traditions have become an idol for many because they put the traditions of the church before the teachings of the Bible. We are saved by the blood of Christ which was shed on the cross for our sins so that whosoever believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can have their sins forgiven and eternal life through Him. 

Mon, Feb 3rd - 1:30PM

Acts 14:21-22

Acts 14:21  They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. (NIV)

Paul was warning these early believers that they can expect many hardships while living the Christian life. We are in a war against the forces of evil.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (NIV)

And the life of a soldier is never easy. A soldier knows we must face hard times to gain the victory because the enemy is not going to make his life easy for him. Well we are in a war against the forces of Satan and if you think Satan is going to go down without a fight you are very foolish. Soon as you publicly declare yourself a Christian or take a stand against the evil practices of our society you have just put a bull’s eye on yourself. Just look at any time someone in this country takes a stand for Christ publicly or publicly takes a stand on evil practices in this country the liberal media goes after them with a vengeance. But Christ warned us about that:

Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (NIV)

There are a lot of Christians who have no idea what I am talking about. That is because they have never taken a stand for anything in their life. They are content to play Christian for a couple of hours on Sunday morning and turn a blind eye to the sins of society saying live and let live. In fact they are the first to throw stones at the true Christians who do publicly take a stand for Christ. In fact I almost never get negative comments from non-believers, it is always those who claim to be believers. I guess my words are too strong from some. But the truth is they lack the faith, the courage, and the conviction to put on the whole armor of God and do battle with the forces of evil in the name of Christ.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (NIV)