Tue, Oct 20th - 3:32AM

The truth about living the Christian Life.

As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to point out to him the temple buildings. But he said to them, "You see all these things, don't you? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another that will not be torn down." While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered them, "See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name and say, 'I am the Christ,' and they will deceive many people. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed. These things must take place, but the end hasn't come yet. For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of the birth pains." "Then they will hand you over to suffering and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many people will fall by the way and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 

(Mat 24:1-14 ISV) (emphasis added)ⁱ

It always amazes me that all these studious Christians with degrees in Biblical Studies and leadership positions in any given church cannot remember what the Bible says about living as a Christian. I have turned off the ‘Christian’ programming because the constant message of the glorious feel good trouble free live does not match with what I read in the Holy Bible. The Bible is specific with words right from the mouth of Jesus as spoken while He was with us on earth. While being born again and following the way of Jesus and the laws of The Creator will bring about peace of mind and peace in your heart and soul, it will not change the way the world acts towards you except to make it worse. When we are ‘born again’ and give ourselves back to the Heavenly Father we cease being apart of this world. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed of this world.

Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

(Rom 12:2 ISV)¹

We are to be transformed into children of the Heavenly Father. The fighting and bickering of this world is of no concern for us any longer.

The rules and laws of men will come and go just as the leaders that create and re-create them. One thing is the same and consistent, the Heavenly Father, our Creator and His plan for our salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because of this, the persecution of His children, the ones who follow the Christ is on going and ever present. For many years the Christians in the United States of America enjoyed the comfort of living in a nation created by Christians using the foundation of Judeo-Christian values. As anyone who has been paying attention to life in America can tell the persecution of Christians and their way of life is catching up.

I am sure that those who read this are familiar with the messengers who put out the message of hope and happiness or of the rosy life with the Father. What they don’t say or prepare anyone for is the immediate onslaught of persecution from worldly forces backed by the evil one. This is a disservice to the new Christian as they are not ready to take this persecution on alone. Because of this many leave and return to the world. Ever wonder how cults retain membership? It is because they remove their followers from society. Christians should not be treated this way but they should be instructed on how to recognize and deal with the persecution and where to seek help when needed. Through out Jesus’ ministry on earth He prepared His Disciples for what was to come. Jesus imparted on His followers what was to come for all who followed Him. Like many following Him today, they do not wish to believe the bad things that can happen to them simply for doing what their hearts tell them is right. Believers seem to want to fool themselves that everything changes back to the way it was in the Garden of Eden before sin was introduced to man and the first bad decision was made. In reality this does not happen and the disillusioned stand wondering why or just return to their prior lives in sin. In Matthew 24:12 Jesus says that because of the persecution many will have the love from knowing Him grow cold.

And because wrongdoing will be increased, the love of most people will become cold.

(Mat 24:12 BBE)ⁱⁱ

This means that people will turn away from salvation because of the persecution. Why does not everyone turn away? Verse 13 tells us why;

“But he who goes through to the end will get salvation.” (Mat 24:13 BBE)ⁱⁱ

Those who stick it out and follow the Savior will receive their reward. How do we get to the end?

How, indeed, do we get to the ‘end’?

[Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' ] (Luke 13:23-25 NIV)ⁱⁱⁱ

If it was going to be easy everyone would be doing it! So we know that following the Son of God is not the easy way to go. Matthew 24:9 tells us that we are sure to be persecuted because we follow Jesus. Jesus, Himself said it so we know this to be true. But wait in the book of John chapter 8 verse 12 Jesus says that He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will never be in darkness again but have the light of life.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NIV)ⁱⁱⁱ

How can this be true if we are to be persecuted, isn’t that a pretty dark thing? Yes it is. The light of life is the light of the truth of the Heavenly Father inside you. Something that cannot be taken from you but you can give up. Belief in the promise of salvation as provided by the blood of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. To let the events of the world which are perpetrated by the agents of evil wrought with sin diminish the light of your faith and darken your heart will lead to you giving away that light of life. Hell is a real place, just as real as Heaven and earth. We do not here as much about hell as we do about heaven. This is because hell is a scary place, a place of eternal torment and pain. No one wants to hear about this! They only want to hear about good stuff! You cannot preach salvation without teaching that the alternative is hell. Do not most of us make decisions based on one option or another? How can you have anyone chose heaven honestly without telling them about the alternative? To be honest with a person you cannot do it. Jesus taught salvation by teaching what the alternative was as well, why can’t we?

i Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version^®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission

ii S. H. Hooke, ed., The Basic Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments in Basic English. Cambridge: The University Press, 1949.

iii New International Version International Bible SocietyCopyright © 1973, 1978, 1984
http://www.ibs.org/

Sun, Oct 18th - 11:42PM

The truth about living the Christian Life.

As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to point out to him the temple buildings. But he said to them, "You see all these things, don't you? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another that will not be torn down." While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered them, "See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name and say, 'I am the Christ,' and they will deceive many people. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed. These things must take place, but the end hasn't come yet. For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of the birth pains." "Then they will hand you over to suffering and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many people will fall by the way and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 

(Mat 24:1-14 ISV) (emphasis added)ⁱ

It always amazes me that all these studious Christians with degrees in Biblical Studies and leadership positions in any given church cannot remember what the Bible says about living as a Christian. I have turned off the ‘Christian’ programming because the constant message of the glorious feel good trouble free live does not match with what I read in the Holy Bible. The Bible is specific with words right from the mouth of Jesus as spoken while He was with us on earth. While being born again and following the way of Jesus and the laws of The Creator will bring about peace of mind and peace in your heart and soul, it will not change the way the world acts towards you except to make it worse. When we are ‘born again’ and give ourselves back to the Heavenly Father we cease being apart of this world. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed of this world.

Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.

(Rom 12:2 ISV)¹

We are to be transformed into children of the Heavenly Father. The fighting and bickering of this world is of no concern for us any longer.

The rules and laws of men will come and go just as the leaders that create and re-create them. One thing is the same and consistent, the Heavenly Father, our Creator and His plan for our salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because of this, the persecution of His children, the ones who follow the Christ is on going and ever present. For many years the Christians in the United States of America enjoyed the comfort of living in a nation created by Christians using the foundation of Judeo-Christian values. As anyone who has been paying attention to life in America can tell the persecution of Christians and their way of life is catching up.

I am sure that those who read this are familiar with the messengers who put out the message of hope and happiness or of the rosy life with the Father. What they don’t say or prepare anyone for is the immediate onslaught of persecution from worldly forces backed by the evil one. This is a disservice to the new Christian as they are not ready to take this persecution on alone. Because of this many leave and return to the world. Ever wonder how cults retain membership? It is because they remove their followers from society. Christians should not be treated this way but they should be instructed on how to recognize and deal with the persecution and where to seek help when needed. Through out Jesus’ ministry on earth He prepared His Disciples for what was to come. Jesus imparted on His followers what was to come for all who followed Him. Like many following Him today, they do not wish to believe the bad things that can happen to them simply for doing what their hearts tell them is right. Believers seem to want to fool themselves that everything changes back to the way it was in the Garden of Eden before sin was introduced to man and the first bad decision was made. In reality this does not happen and the disillusioned stand wondering why or just return to their prior lives in sin. In Matthew 24:12 Jesus says that because of the persecution many will have the love from knowing Him grow cold.

And because wrongdoing will be increased, the love of most people will become cold.

(Mat 24:12 BBE)ⁱⁱ

This means that people will turn away from salvation because of the persecution. Why does not everyone turn away? Verse 13 tells us why;

“But he who goes through to the end will get salvation.” (Mat 24:13 BBE)ⁱⁱ

Those who stick it out and follow the Savior will receive their reward. How do we get to the end?

How, indeed, do we get to the ‘end’?

[Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' ] (Luke 13:23-25 NIV)ⁱⁱⁱ

If it was going to be easy everyone would be doing it! So we know that following the Son of God is not the easy way to go. Matthew 24:9 tells us that we are sure to be persecuted because we follow Jesus. Jesus, Himself said it so we know this to be true. But wait in the book of John chapter 8 verse 12 Jesus says that He is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will never be in darkness again but have the light of life.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NIV)ⁱⁱⁱ

How can this be true if we are to be persecuted, isn’t that a pretty dark thing? Yes it is. The light of life is the light of the truth of the Heavenly Father inside you. Something that cannot be taken from you but you can give up. Belief in the promise of salvation as provided by the blood of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. To let the events of the world which are perpetrated by the agents of evil wrought with sin diminish the light of your faith and darken your heart will lead to you giving away that light of life. Hell is a real place, just as real as Heaven and earth. We do not here as much about hell as we do about heaven. This is because hell is a scary place, a place of eternal torment and pain. No one wants to hear about this! They only want to hear about good stuff! You cannot preach salvation without teaching that the alternative is hell. Do not most of us make decisions based on one option or another? How can you have anyone chose heaven honestly without telling them about the alternative? To be honest with a person you cannot do it. Jesus taught salvation by teaching what the alternative was as well, why can’t we?

i Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version^®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission

ii S. H. Hooke, ed., The Basic Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments in Basic English. Cambridge: The University Press, 1949.

iii New International Version International Bible SocietyCopyright © 1973, 1978, 1984
http://www.ibs.org/

Wed, Oct 14th - 6:25PM

Help Pinky return home!