Friday, June 1, 2012
THE THREAT OF DEATH
If you are like most people, you have had several encounters with bugs. Flies, bees, wasps, spiders, beetles, ants, and our favorite, ROACHES :O) We have all experienced these uninvited guests at picnics on food, on the dashboard of your car on a sunny day with the windows down, or in the cabinet of your kitchen to tell you how many cans of corn you have left. Those pesky little roaches! Regardless of which bug you remember the most or dread the most, they all have one thing in common as it relates to us as humans: THE FEAR OF DEATH. The first thing that happens immediately when a bug senses danger or the threat of death is RUN! They fly away, scurry under a rock, seek to crawl back in the wall where they came from to get out of sight from the perceived predator. For even a bug has sense enough to preserve themselves. A bug too then, wants to keep on living. And, bugs have no idea as to what is about to take place when they are seen by you and me. We are not interested in the many legs they have, the colors they come in, or the sounds they make. DIE BUG DIE is music to our ears! Thus, a bug’s death comes suddenly upon them and they cease to bug no more.
Thank God we are not bugs! The true reality is that humans and bugs not only die but die the same. Death is death. Death stings. The sting of death exists for two reasons. One, we do not know when we are going to die just like the bug. Death comes suddenly upon us. And reason number two, we do not know how we are going to die. Yes, according to the Bible in many passages of scripture the same message concerning our death as humans rings over and over again.
Jesus said it like this: Luke 17:34-36 KJV “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
Jesus also said it like this: Revelation 3:3 KJV “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
Paul said it like this: 1 Thessalonians 5:2 KJV “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
James said it like this: James 4:13-14 KJV “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
Peter said it like this: 2 Peter 3:10 KJV “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.”
Hebrews says it like this: Hebrews 9:27 KJV “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Solomon said it like this: Ecclesiastes 9:12 KJV “12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
I think Solomon paints a picture that you and I can relate to today. Death comes suddenly to animals. Death comes suddenly to bugs. Death comes suddenly to humans. The truth about God is that He never leaves us as His most prized creature of all creation in the dark. That’s right folks! God tells you the end beforehand. Before you and I were old enough to read, the word of God was written. The end of our lives has already been predestined before the foundation of the world. Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV says “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” I have given you 7 blocks of text in the Bible that plainly tell the truth of how death comes. The sting of death is that it happens suddenly and without warning. That’s scary.
What’s even scarier is that this “threat” or factual reality of death is not scary enough. The thing about fear is that it has to be near, imminent, or fresh! For example, if you knew you were going to get beat next week for something you did today it would not bother you as much. But if you were waiting in the room to get beat any minute you would be literally trembling and crying! Remember those days? Even though at any moment we can die we do not live that way. We live as if we have time. We live as if we are safe. We live as if we are in control. We live as though the preventative measures we have put in place are sufficient to keep us alive and allow us to anticipate death or even preserve our death.
Finally, the threat of death is not really a reality for those who reject Jesus Christ, the only true and living God. Rejecting Jesus does not erase truth. Denying Jesus does not change truth. Including Jesus and mixing Jesus with other beliefs does not change truth either. The truth is hell is as real as heaven is. For example, even though you cannot see my kidneys does not mean they don’t exist. Death is nothing to fear itself, in that we must die in order to return to God. This is where He will judge us and render to each on according to His own deeds. Death is a reality for all humans and, the reality of death is that you do not control when or how you will die. However, while you are alive you do have complete and total control over where you go when you die.
You can accept the truth or reject the truth. Accepting the work of salvation through the blood of Jesus gives you eternal life. Eternal life is only in Jesus. The heaven that has been glamorized in pop culture and the world is not a place where everyone goes. It is not a place where anything goes. It is not a place that all beliefs and religions can produce. The gods of these thousands of religions have never shown themselves or proved themselves to this day. Translation? They do not exist. Jesus existed. Jesus proved He was God in the flesh. Jesus lives today to do things in the lives of all those who are biblically living for Him. So to reject Jesus is to reject eternal life is to reject heaven because He is the only Way to heaven because He is the only true and living God that exists and has always existed.
Is the threat of death and the uncertainty of when and how you will die motivating enough for you to live the way God created you to? Time is ticking. Every second 1.8 people on planet earth die. You could be next before you know it!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Go to heaven. Go to hell.
TRUTH THAT BRING FREEDOM
If you were like me and most other people raised in the US then you probably had the privilege of reading many different books throughout your childhood. Yes, part of the literature and English curriculum in our good old public school system calls for taking children to the library and exposing them to the world of imagination. Everything from science fiction to horror tales to talking animals is now at the fingertips of young people. They now read stories created by other human beings that reveal a number of emotions, have many different scenes and themes, but also different outcomes. The “moral of the story” for each book changes according to the author’s discretion.
How disappointing it was for me as I read many books that ended in a way that was unacceptable to me or that I did not agree with at all. Why did it have to end this way? Ever read a book or watched a movie or experienced an unanticipated end or outcome? So it is with heaven. For heaven is only decided solely by God Himself. He alone determines the outcome for humans after they die naturally, automatically, suddenly or the million other ways people leave planet earth. Every second that ticks on any clock 1.8 people die. And here’s an even better fact. God has already determined who goes to heaven! No, it will never be a guessing game, a weighing game, a “let me calculate the life of this person” game with God. For God is the only true and living God who is all knowing, all powerful, and all present. Revelation 20:11-15 and Revelation 21:8 are great places to start.
The question of the hour remains to be asked…WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF LIFE? Here’s an even greater question…who is the author of your life? We can both agree that you certainly did not create yourself, pick your parents, distribute your genes, arrange your siblings and family members, select your abilities and so forth. Who did all of this? God did. Psalm 139 is a good place to start reading to embed this truth in your heart. You might be wondering about the rest of your life or people, places, and things more recent than the obvious. Journey with me through a string of common occurrences to determine the author of them all.
The greater question was who is the author of your life? Children out of wedlock? STDs? Divorce? Domestic violence? Theft? Murder? Homosexuality? Lies? Jealousy? Laziness? Worry? Unruly children? Getting drunk? Getting high? Drugs? Cigarettes? Alcohol? False gods/philosophy/religion? Promiscuity? Casual sex? Gangs? Who created all of these things? How did one or some of these things become a part of your life? How did one of these things become a part of you or you become these things altogether? Who made such a mess of things? Lets be honest. YOU DID!
Preacher, are you pointing those self righteous judgmental fingers again or is God holding up the mirror of His word in an attempt to find Himself in His most prized possession: YOU? 2 Corinthians 13:5 and Psalm 10:1-11 are a few scriptures that say (paraphrasing) “Look at yourself in the mirror and what do you see?” If you know that Jesus Christ is not involved in creating the unfortunate outcomes in the listing above, and if you know that you have been through, are currently involved with, or live in such a manner that the outcomes in the listing above will be your reality, then know that Jesus Christ, God Himself is not the author of your life.
God fashions and creates you and me after His own image and likeness. He gives you a scenario and or setting to be born in and with. The trend is that as humans we began to think that we all of a sudden know more than the God of all creation, who created everything to include thought, languages, numbers, etc. So then, we began making choices for ourselves instead of allowing the God who chose to create us the way He created us choose things for us. How backwards and lopsided is that? Instead of parents raising children I guess it makes more since for the children to raise the parents? As goofy as that sounds, it is the same thing when humans dare to live in opposition to the very One who created them.
God is the author of life. We are the authors of the life God gives us. For the most part, you and I can both agree that our lives are a culmination of choices we made. This is widely known and agreed upon by humans throughout the earth. I have good news for you today! The unfortunate listings mentioned above is not who you are because that is not who God created you to be. You are NOT your past. You are NOT your current unfortunate scenario. You are a human being created in the image and likeness of the only true and living God. Today, you can turn to Him and turn from where you are down the lane of Jesus Christ. We’ll get to that in a second. For now, lets summarize.
Authors create stories. Authors create everything in the story. Authors create the characters, write the script, themes, main plots, and the ending as well. God is the author of life. Psalm 24:1 tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof and all who dwell therein.” So God created you by allowing two people to get together and then He distributed your genes, which allowed you to have gifts and abilities. Here’s the point of this whole blog. You are the author of your life based on the choices that you are free to make however you want. Good or bad in the eyes of man and or God they are YOUR choices and no one can ever take that right from you. However, the choices you make determine the ending of your story. You cannot make any choice you want and have any ending. That’s not how math works. The sum or the answer is based off of all the integers and transactions in the equation. Are you going to go to heaven? Lets find out right now.
If you live the way you want to live apart from God you are not going to heaven. If you have added things to your life that you don’t have a problem with or if you have continued to do things that you want to do that oppose God, His word, His character, His truth, you are not going to heaven. If you do what is just enough to “get by” according to scripture regarding the life God wants you to live, you MIGHT go to heaven and that’s a gamble and an uncertainty with no guarantees. That’s hard to live with not “knowing” if you are going to heaven. If you live in sin, practice sin, habitually sin, willfully sin, intentionally sin, knowingly sin, you are not going to heaven, furthermore, you are not born again. Romans 1:28-32 is a great place to read for this. If you live as if “God knows your heart” or you say that “only God can judge me” then know that ONLY GOD WILL JUDGE YOU. John 16:8-11 is a good place to read this truth. Intention has no weight in the eyes of God. Please understand that God’s judgment against sin is hell. John 3:36 is a great place to read this truth.
As I close, know that you are not smarter than God and never will be later. You can’t out sin the word of God or come up with a loop hole to get by in this life sinning with a heaven bound ticket in your hand. If so, that ticket is one you created in your own thinking and it is in your hand now according to your own imagination. Here’s the truth. The Bible is clear about what it means to serve Him. That’s no secret. Those who obey His commandments (His words, to mean every word of the Bible) are those who are going to heaven. You know in your heart where you stand with God. If you choose to stay there and you are apart from Him then go to hell. If you choose to turn from those choices, people, places, and things that are not like Him and live for Him according to His word and on His terms, go to heaven! Now author, finish writing the ending of your life.
If you were like me and most other people raised in the US then you probably had the privilege of reading many different books throughout your childhood. Yes, part of the literature and English curriculum in our good old public school system calls for taking children to the library and exposing them to the world of imagination. Everything from science fiction to horror tales to talking animals is now at the fingertips of young people. They now read stories created by other human beings that reveal a number of emotions, have many different scenes and themes, but also different outcomes. The “moral of the story” for each book changes according to the author’s discretion.
How disappointing it was for me as I read many books that ended in a way that was unacceptable to me or that I did not agree with at all. Why did it have to end this way? Ever read a book or watched a movie or experienced an unanticipated end or outcome? So it is with heaven. For heaven is only decided solely by God Himself. He alone determines the outcome for humans after they die naturally, automatically, suddenly or the million other ways people leave planet earth. Every second that ticks on any clock 1.8 people die. And here’s an even better fact. God has already determined who goes to heaven! No, it will never be a guessing game, a weighing game, a “let me calculate the life of this person” game with God. For God is the only true and living God who is all knowing, all powerful, and all present. Revelation 20:11-15 and Revelation 21:8 are great places to start.
The question of the hour remains to be asked…WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF LIFE? Here’s an even greater question…who is the author of your life? We can both agree that you certainly did not create yourself, pick your parents, distribute your genes, arrange your siblings and family members, select your abilities and so forth. Who did all of this? God did. Psalm 139 is a good place to start reading to embed this truth in your heart. You might be wondering about the rest of your life or people, places, and things more recent than the obvious. Journey with me through a string of common occurrences to determine the author of them all.
The greater question was who is the author of your life? Children out of wedlock? STDs? Divorce? Domestic violence? Theft? Murder? Homosexuality? Lies? Jealousy? Laziness? Worry? Unruly children? Getting drunk? Getting high? Drugs? Cigarettes? Alcohol? False gods/philosophy/religion? Promiscuity? Casual sex? Gangs? Who created all of these things? How did one or some of these things become a part of your life? How did one of these things become a part of you or you become these things altogether? Who made such a mess of things? Lets be honest. YOU DID!
Preacher, are you pointing those self righteous judgmental fingers again or is God holding up the mirror of His word in an attempt to find Himself in His most prized possession: YOU? 2 Corinthians 13:5 and Psalm 10:1-11 are a few scriptures that say (paraphrasing) “Look at yourself in the mirror and what do you see?” If you know that Jesus Christ is not involved in creating the unfortunate outcomes in the listing above, and if you know that you have been through, are currently involved with, or live in such a manner that the outcomes in the listing above will be your reality, then know that Jesus Christ, God Himself is not the author of your life.
God fashions and creates you and me after His own image and likeness. He gives you a scenario and or setting to be born in and with. The trend is that as humans we began to think that we all of a sudden know more than the God of all creation, who created everything to include thought, languages, numbers, etc. So then, we began making choices for ourselves instead of allowing the God who chose to create us the way He created us choose things for us. How backwards and lopsided is that? Instead of parents raising children I guess it makes more since for the children to raise the parents? As goofy as that sounds, it is the same thing when humans dare to live in opposition to the very One who created them.
God is the author of life. We are the authors of the life God gives us. For the most part, you and I can both agree that our lives are a culmination of choices we made. This is widely known and agreed upon by humans throughout the earth. I have good news for you today! The unfortunate listings mentioned above is not who you are because that is not who God created you to be. You are NOT your past. You are NOT your current unfortunate scenario. You are a human being created in the image and likeness of the only true and living God. Today, you can turn to Him and turn from where you are down the lane of Jesus Christ. We’ll get to that in a second. For now, lets summarize.
Authors create stories. Authors create everything in the story. Authors create the characters, write the script, themes, main plots, and the ending as well. God is the author of life. Psalm 24:1 tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof and all who dwell therein.” So God created you by allowing two people to get together and then He distributed your genes, which allowed you to have gifts and abilities. Here’s the point of this whole blog. You are the author of your life based on the choices that you are free to make however you want. Good or bad in the eyes of man and or God they are YOUR choices and no one can ever take that right from you. However, the choices you make determine the ending of your story. You cannot make any choice you want and have any ending. That’s not how math works. The sum or the answer is based off of all the integers and transactions in the equation. Are you going to go to heaven? Lets find out right now.
If you live the way you want to live apart from God you are not going to heaven. If you have added things to your life that you don’t have a problem with or if you have continued to do things that you want to do that oppose God, His word, His character, His truth, you are not going to heaven. If you do what is just enough to “get by” according to scripture regarding the life God wants you to live, you MIGHT go to heaven and that’s a gamble and an uncertainty with no guarantees. That’s hard to live with not “knowing” if you are going to heaven. If you live in sin, practice sin, habitually sin, willfully sin, intentionally sin, knowingly sin, you are not going to heaven, furthermore, you are not born again. Romans 1:28-32 is a great place to read for this. If you live as if “God knows your heart” or you say that “only God can judge me” then know that ONLY GOD WILL JUDGE YOU. John 16:8-11 is a good place to read this truth. Intention has no weight in the eyes of God. Please understand that God’s judgment against sin is hell. John 3:36 is a great place to read this truth.
As I close, know that you are not smarter than God and never will be later. You can’t out sin the word of God or come up with a loop hole to get by in this life sinning with a heaven bound ticket in your hand. If so, that ticket is one you created in your own thinking and it is in your hand now according to your own imagination. Here’s the truth. The Bible is clear about what it means to serve Him. That’s no secret. Those who obey His commandments (His words, to mean every word of the Bible) are those who are going to heaven. You know in your heart where you stand with God. If you choose to stay there and you are apart from Him then go to hell. If you choose to turn from those choices, people, places, and things that are not like Him and live for Him according to His word and on His terms, go to heaven! Now author, finish writing the ending of your life.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Distance Difference
DISTANCE DIFFERENCE
If you were to measure 1 mile verses 5,200 ft there would not be that much of a difference. On the other hand if you were to put 12 inches against the measurement of 100 meters there would be a substantial difference. Anyone can recognize at face value the difference in power when comparing a boy to a man or a horse to a puppy. How about the sun from the earth or a tree from a piece of well-done steak from Outback Steakhouse? There is a big difference between the examples mentioned and anyone human walking planet earth would unanimously agree. However, when it comes to following Jesus some would beg to differ not only what the difference is but also how much the difference makes.
“What is there to differ preacher” you might ask? The end result of a life terminated, dead, obliterated and transformed from walking in, practicing, being patterned after, or consumed and contaminated by sin. I repeat, walking in sin or living in sin produces drastically different results than a heart and mind committed to, devoted to, in the following and learning of Jesus Christ. In other words, the distance difference mentioned in comparing 12 inches to 100 meters should be the same for the before Jesus lifestyle and after Jesus lifestyle.
Here is the problem. Those who label themselves Christian, believer, saved, or spiritual have never agreed on what this difference is and how much of a distance Jesus commands one to go for Him above everything else. Jesus is a separatist or exclusive faith. Jesus is not an all-inclusive or seeker friendly faith. Jesus is not for everyone, in that anyone can do and say anything and be accepted by Him. Please understand that this does not mean that Jesus did not die for the sins of the world, or rather every human being that has, does, or ever will exist. HE DID! This does mean however, that sin will ALWAYS separate the human from God. In other words, the distance between Jesus and a follower/learner of Him should be like the skin on your muscles: SKIN TIGHT. And the distance between a lifestyle before following Jesus should be light years from the lifestyle after deciding to follow/learn Jesus Christ the Lord.
The distance difference is state in Luke 14:25-34. Jesus is literally saying that to follow Him is like hating everything and everyone else. Following Jesus is to go completely in the opposite direction of everything you have ever desired, loved, or cherished in life. Does Jesus really mean this? YES HE DOES! “How so preacher” might you ask? Because He came down from heaven, wrapped Himself in flesh, living a sinless and perfect life, died and innocent horrific, painful, and dreadful death, rose victoriously from the dead, and ascended majestically into heaven and is how seated at the right hand of God the Father. In other words, Jesus did everything that could be done in order for Him to be worthy of such devotion. Yes He is God. But even if who He is does not convince you, He took it another step further and did what only God could do to prove Himself worthy of such devotion. Such devotion to Him, to be an exclusive and separated follower/learner of Him, is because of who He is and what He did, does, and can do for anybody.
Read the words of Jesus Christ yourself. Again, this is not Te`Luvv’s interpretation or Todd’s opinion, black opinion, American opinion or anything less than the literal words of the only true and living God: JESUS CHRIST. Luke 14:26 says (AMP):
“26If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [[g]in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple.
25-27One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. (MSG)
So folks, reconsider your confession of faith. Revisit yourself in the mirror before God and know that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Reconsider the only wise God of all creation who created opinion, interest, your mind, your will, your emotions. Yes, He is the very inventor of thought process and every function of your brain was fabricated by His hand only. In other words, God not only knows what thinking is and how to think. He knows what you think, even right now. He will never guess at separating sheep from goats or wheat from tares. He is not guess “Hmmm. Who is going to spend eternity with Me?” God knows where every heart is real time. God knows the very intents of your heart right now.
In other words, if your distance difference is not long enough or big enough or wide enough biblically, then the distance you have does not make a difference and where you stand with Jesus is not different than before Jesus Christ. In other words, if you died who would you really shock?
If you were to measure 1 mile verses 5,200 ft there would not be that much of a difference. On the other hand if you were to put 12 inches against the measurement of 100 meters there would be a substantial difference. Anyone can recognize at face value the difference in power when comparing a boy to a man or a horse to a puppy. How about the sun from the earth or a tree from a piece of well-done steak from Outback Steakhouse? There is a big difference between the examples mentioned and anyone human walking planet earth would unanimously agree. However, when it comes to following Jesus some would beg to differ not only what the difference is but also how much the difference makes.
“What is there to differ preacher” you might ask? The end result of a life terminated, dead, obliterated and transformed from walking in, practicing, being patterned after, or consumed and contaminated by sin. I repeat, walking in sin or living in sin produces drastically different results than a heart and mind committed to, devoted to, in the following and learning of Jesus Christ. In other words, the distance difference mentioned in comparing 12 inches to 100 meters should be the same for the before Jesus lifestyle and after Jesus lifestyle.
Here is the problem. Those who label themselves Christian, believer, saved, or spiritual have never agreed on what this difference is and how much of a distance Jesus commands one to go for Him above everything else. Jesus is a separatist or exclusive faith. Jesus is not an all-inclusive or seeker friendly faith. Jesus is not for everyone, in that anyone can do and say anything and be accepted by Him. Please understand that this does not mean that Jesus did not die for the sins of the world, or rather every human being that has, does, or ever will exist. HE DID! This does mean however, that sin will ALWAYS separate the human from God. In other words, the distance between Jesus and a follower/learner of Him should be like the skin on your muscles: SKIN TIGHT. And the distance between a lifestyle before following Jesus should be light years from the lifestyle after deciding to follow/learn Jesus Christ the Lord.
The distance difference is state in Luke 14:25-34. Jesus is literally saying that to follow Him is like hating everything and everyone else. Following Jesus is to go completely in the opposite direction of everything you have ever desired, loved, or cherished in life. Does Jesus really mean this? YES HE DOES! “How so preacher” might you ask? Because He came down from heaven, wrapped Himself in flesh, living a sinless and perfect life, died and innocent horrific, painful, and dreadful death, rose victoriously from the dead, and ascended majestically into heaven and is how seated at the right hand of God the Father. In other words, Jesus did everything that could be done in order for Him to be worthy of such devotion. Yes He is God. But even if who He is does not convince you, He took it another step further and did what only God could do to prove Himself worthy of such devotion. Such devotion to Him, to be an exclusive and separated follower/learner of Him, is because of who He is and what He did, does, and can do for anybody.
Read the words of Jesus Christ yourself. Again, this is not Te`Luvv’s interpretation or Todd’s opinion, black opinion, American opinion or anything less than the literal words of the only true and living God: JESUS CHRIST. Luke 14:26 says (AMP):
“26If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [[g]in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple.
25-27One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. (MSG)
So folks, reconsider your confession of faith. Revisit yourself in the mirror before God and know that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Reconsider the only wise God of all creation who created opinion, interest, your mind, your will, your emotions. Yes, He is the very inventor of thought process and every function of your brain was fabricated by His hand only. In other words, God not only knows what thinking is and how to think. He knows what you think, even right now. He will never guess at separating sheep from goats or wheat from tares. He is not guess “Hmmm. Who is going to spend eternity with Me?” God knows where every heart is real time. God knows the very intents of your heart right now.
In other words, if your distance difference is not long enough or big enough or wide enough biblically, then the distance you have does not make a difference and where you stand with Jesus is not different than before Jesus Christ. In other words, if you died who would you really shock?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
THE TRIAL AND ERROR OF GOD
THE TRIAL AND ERROR OF GOD
Trial and error is very costly and time consuming in many other facets of life, whether fixing on something or launching and shutting down business plans or even trying different things on a menu at a diner. But what about God? Is God so wise that He needs to use trial and error to figure out things? 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that “all who shall live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 1 Peter 4:12 says “think it not strange…the fiery trials…” The trials of God are to make us more like Him. As much as it hurts and causes discomfort, anxieties, stress, and downright frustration it is still at the end of the day the hand of the Lord working for us and for our good and for our profit as well. So the trial of the Lord is a necessary developmental component for all who claim to follow Him. It’s just like a coach who makes you run 2 miles every practice after practice in the rain at night on a dirt track in cleats. You may see the running as dumb, painful, and pointless. But that coach knows how much faster you will run and how much better you will be able to see catching passes for him as a wide receiver. Coach knows best. Bo knows best :O) God knows best.
The error of God is not so much error as it is His perfect will. The “error” of God or what appears to be error is simply the supernatural divine order of God. In other words, why does every human start out as sperm and egg mixed together? Because God designed it accordingly. Or why do cakes consist of egg whites, salt, butter, and flour whipped over and over again? What may seem like errors is God’s perfect will at work in our lives. We think they are errors, but God knows as the potter of all clay exactly what’s going on at any given moment in time with every person in every place. He is God! This isn’t another human being with the same capacity to sin like you and me. This is the God of all creation who created create.
Just sharing a little bit in regards to this season of my life right now. Please keep me in prayer. I’ve got my MADE UP MIND amour of the Lord gear on and I’m fighting God’s way. He is the coach and I’m listening intently and walking carefully.
Trial and error is very costly and time consuming in many other facets of life, whether fixing on something or launching and shutting down business plans or even trying different things on a menu at a diner. But what about God? Is God so wise that He needs to use trial and error to figure out things? 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that “all who shall live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 1 Peter 4:12 says “think it not strange…the fiery trials…” The trials of God are to make us more like Him. As much as it hurts and causes discomfort, anxieties, stress, and downright frustration it is still at the end of the day the hand of the Lord working for us and for our good and for our profit as well. So the trial of the Lord is a necessary developmental component for all who claim to follow Him. It’s just like a coach who makes you run 2 miles every practice after practice in the rain at night on a dirt track in cleats. You may see the running as dumb, painful, and pointless. But that coach knows how much faster you will run and how much better you will be able to see catching passes for him as a wide receiver. Coach knows best. Bo knows best :O) God knows best.
The error of God is not so much error as it is His perfect will. The “error” of God or what appears to be error is simply the supernatural divine order of God. In other words, why does every human start out as sperm and egg mixed together? Because God designed it accordingly. Or why do cakes consist of egg whites, salt, butter, and flour whipped over and over again? What may seem like errors is God’s perfect will at work in our lives. We think they are errors, but God knows as the potter of all clay exactly what’s going on at any given moment in time with every person in every place. He is God! This isn’t another human being with the same capacity to sin like you and me. This is the God of all creation who created create.
Just sharing a little bit in regards to this season of my life right now. Please keep me in prayer. I’ve got my MADE UP MIND amour of the Lord gear on and I’m fighting God’s way. He is the coach and I’m listening intently and walking carefully.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Time 1:1
1/24/2011 Time 1:1
Bible scripture? No. Formula for something very important to every human being on planet earth today? Yes. Prosperity gospel formula? No! Never that! Time 1:1 is simply the ratio of 2 things that are equally important, significantly crucial, and absolutely essential for every born again believer to understand. Lost, ignorant, and those who are out of the way are automatically in on this too. In fact, this applies to those living in remote parts of the world to those living the high life on the high rise of uptown cities and downtown slums and the gutters of third world countries.
Time. Why is it important? Each #1 represents the greatest “times” in every life of humans. These two distinct events, moments, transformations can never be repeated. In fact your life literally depends solely on these two events. You should live your life after the first #1 with the second #1 on the forefront of your every decision in life. The first number 1 in the Time 1:1 formula or ratio represents birth!
Ever been hot on a bright and sunny day? Especially if you’re in Memphis. 125 degrees is outrageous. When black folks run from the sun, that’s when you know it’s hot! :O) A little cultural humor for you. But even in Memphis, the ice cream man is busy. Freeze pops are a favorite for kids and parents alike. As soon as you get a freeze pop out of the freezer, the temperature is drastically increased and what happens to the freeze pop? The minute it is outside of the freezer it instantly begins to melt! It’s the same thing with birth. The minute a human come out into the world, it begins to age, get old, mature, or…DIE!!! Which leads to the second part of the Time 1:1: Death!
Time 1:1 stands for “ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE.” Each #1 is equally important and equally powerful because opportunity, chance, potential, destiny follows afterward. True, birth is viewed more favorably by most humans. It is agreed that everything from college, marriage, career and family life, retirement and the likes are looked forward to upon birth. What about death? Many people, even those who call themselves Christians fear death. Death is just like birth, in that there are things to look forward to. Heaven, the saints, the angels of heaven, God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the glory of God, eternal worship of God, eternal praise of God, eternal magnification of Jesus, the elders, the prophets, the apostles and so much more!
When a baby is born excitement is in the air. Even at the news of pregnancy, the typical response is excitement and joy. Another human is scheduled to arrive on planet earth. Another fresh life, that has a chance to do anything from ride a bike, speak a second language, travel the world, discover a new insect species, build a bridge, write a book, and the list goes on and on and on. Well, what is the typical response upon death? Sorrow fills the air, frowns with droopy lip faces, slobber and snot occupy kleenex, and lips are chapped from mouths being opened for extended periods of time crying, screaming, and being in a frantic state of mind.
Reader, if you are born again…you are filled with the Spirit of God according to the word of God (Ephesians 2:19-21). Reader, if you are born again…the Spirit of God literally living on the inside of you enables you to live a life that is pleasing to captain of your salvation (Hebrews 2:10, John 15:8, 2 Timothy 2:4). Reader, if you are born again…you will spend eternity with Jesus Christ and look forward to streets of gold, rejoicing with those who lived for the same reason as you between birth and death! You have so much to look forward to and guess what else? What is after death is so much greater than what comes after birth.
The greatest thing to look forward to after birth is to be born again, meeting Jesus personally, and serving Him in a personal relationship for the rest of life on earth. Money comes and goes. Friends come and go. Cars tune up and break down. Economies rise and fall. Politics are a joke. Careers are abundant and layoffs or downsizing occurs. Athletes and sports teams rise and fall. Get my drift? In other words reader…WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO LIVE FOR? Can I ask you a question? Why do you get up every single day? What are you living for? What is the point of your existence? What opportunities are you seeking to look into or what potential are you seeking to live up to? Why do you do what you do everyday? What is the meaning of your life? Why are you motivated to keep on living?
These are hard questions, real questions, and ultimately the truths that sum up each human being. Sure there are nice clothes, great cars, nice houses, great times of leisure and relaxing and so forth. But in each moment of each day that goes by a heart beats within every human. A mind thinks in every human the same. A spirit longs in every human for fulfillment to exist. A body beckons recklessly and wars with each human for control of the inner man. What are you going to do about it?
What are you going to do with your Time 1:1 “ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE” truth of your life? You may even be living in some of the “successes” highly esteemed by men and according to the world right now. But where will you live after death? What will you live for after you die? What will happen to you when you die? Where will you go when you die? What do you have forward to look to when you die? If you say, “well there is no hell or a devil or a burning lake of fire or none of that so I’m not going.” Who rose from the dead to tell you what happens when you die? If you cannot answer that question that is because no one rose from the dead to tell you anything. There is only One who rose from the dead, and He rose with GOOD NEWS for every human (1 John 2:2)! CHRIST JESUS THE ONLY TRUE AND LIVNG GOD!!!
All born in the world will die in the world. That’s it. That’s what “life” is about. You’re born. You go to school to get a job. You work to obtain a life that gives you memories to talk about when you’re old. Then you die. The truth is, that every human is born without Jesus, apart from Jesus, separate from Jesus (Romans 5:8). Time 1:1 is simply a one-way ticket headed straight towards death (which starts the second that baby is born) in 1 of 2 ways:
You can die being born again (John 3:3, Matthew 3:11), which means you will die physically and live eternally (John 3:16).
Or you can die without being born again, which means you will die physically and die eternally (Revelation 20:12-15, Romans 6:23, John 3:36).
After being presented with the truth I have one final question to ask you. DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE? Free from what you might ask? Free from living a pointless life. Free from living a life in van. Free from living a life as a toaster trying to be a bicycle. Free from the fear of death with heaven to look forward to. Those potentials and opportunities people look forward to after birth can never satisfy the longing that lives within you. It does not take an old man to figure that out. Just an honest man willing to admit that those things truly do not satisfy or fulfill the purpose of their existence. Time 1:1 is simply another chance for you to examine yourself as to whether you are bond by those opportunities and potentials the world indoctrinates you to believe is the purpose of life (Colossians 2:6-8, Psalms 78:1-8, Mark 7:6-23). And ultimately how you will continue from this very moment to respond to your self examination.
Reader, you are dying right now. Your body is wasting away. Time 1:1 is in effect for you and me both right now. You are going to skip this message, ignore this message, blow this message off and blink 2 times and be dead. No human knows when they are going to die or how they are going to die. What humans do know is that they are going to die. But the truth is you are dying right now. With that being said, I testify to you today that Jesus is real. I have no strings attached to your decision to try Jesus, surrender your heart to Jesus, devote your life to Jesus. In other words, I’m not seeking you to be a member of my church, give your money to me, buy my CDs, pat me on the back, tell me I’m a great writer or preacher. Nothing. The only reason I’m still serving Jesus today is because on November 29, 1998 I met the Jesus Christ of the Bible for the first time in my life. He changed my life. More importantly I pursued Him aggressively because I wanted to find out whether He was real or not so that I would not waste my time. With every piece of life in my body, I charge you reader, the more I sought Him, the more I found Him. The I found Him, the more I loved Him and still do to this day more passionately and fiery than ever.
Ephesians 2:1-3 and Ephesians 2:12 is how you are born (every human) and where you are right now. John 10:10 and John 16:22-24 is what you want deep within your heart here on earth. Revelation 21:22-27 and Revelation 22:1-6 is what you can look forward to after death. 1 Corinthians 7:9-10 is what you need in order to get to John 3:14-21, which will motivate you to Romans 10:9-13, that will cause you to live by John 15:1-11.
Your Time 1:1 is unique to you, your birth and your death, your ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE. If you take the rest of your aging, maturing, one-way ticket headed straight to death seriously, stop living like a basketball trying to be a pencil sharpener. If you, the created human, live according to the God, the Creator, you will be human according to how He created you. No one else can say how you should live or what you should live for because no one else and nothing else created you. God (the Creator) says to you (the created) this one thing concerning Time 1:1 for His creation (Psalm 24:1):
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Time 1:1 is ticking rapidly for you right now. You can never get time back. Yesterday is gone. Today will be yesterday. Tomorrow will be today and today will be yesterday. And one day will be your last day. With all these truths being said, what will you do with the time you have right this very moment? Do not waste your Time 1:1 (Revelation 22:10, James 4:13-14, Hebrews 9:27). Make your Time 1:1 count right now. Make your time count for what you were designed. Make your time count for what the bottom line truth is to every human. Is life according to the grandness of mountains, the splendor of waterfalls, the radiance of the sun, the light of the moon, the shine of stars or the vastness of deserts? Should I live after the council of insects, birds, fish, or various animals? Shall I the adult live according to children? Shall I go to a statue that I created or a wooden image that I created for how I should live? Nothing else and no one else can answer correctly. Nothing else and no one else can answer satisfactorily. Only God (the Creator) can and His answer for humans (the created) is CHRIST JESUS (Hebrews 1:1-5).
Take some of your Time 1:1 and talk to God, the only true and living God who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Tell Him how you do not want to waste your time, but that you want to solve your Time 1:1 formula. Tell Him how you do not want to live anymore like a broom trying to be a frying pan. Ask Jesus to give you a new life. Ask Jesus for you to be born again. Talk to God from your heart right now in your Time 1:1. Pray to Jesus Christ, the only TRUE AND LIVING GOD, the only means of salvation and forgiveness of sins…like your life depends on it. Time 1:1 is true and in existence because you have been created. The second The rest of your Time 1:1 depends on what you do with what you have heard with this message during this time right now. Jesus Christ is standing by, waiting to solve your Time 1:1.
Bible scripture? No. Formula for something very important to every human being on planet earth today? Yes. Prosperity gospel formula? No! Never that! Time 1:1 is simply the ratio of 2 things that are equally important, significantly crucial, and absolutely essential for every born again believer to understand. Lost, ignorant, and those who are out of the way are automatically in on this too. In fact, this applies to those living in remote parts of the world to those living the high life on the high rise of uptown cities and downtown slums and the gutters of third world countries.
Time. Why is it important? Each #1 represents the greatest “times” in every life of humans. These two distinct events, moments, transformations can never be repeated. In fact your life literally depends solely on these two events. You should live your life after the first #1 with the second #1 on the forefront of your every decision in life. The first number 1 in the Time 1:1 formula or ratio represents birth!
Ever been hot on a bright and sunny day? Especially if you’re in Memphis. 125 degrees is outrageous. When black folks run from the sun, that’s when you know it’s hot! :O) A little cultural humor for you. But even in Memphis, the ice cream man is busy. Freeze pops are a favorite for kids and parents alike. As soon as you get a freeze pop out of the freezer, the temperature is drastically increased and what happens to the freeze pop? The minute it is outside of the freezer it instantly begins to melt! It’s the same thing with birth. The minute a human come out into the world, it begins to age, get old, mature, or…DIE!!! Which leads to the second part of the Time 1:1: Death!
Time 1:1 stands for “ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE.” Each #1 is equally important and equally powerful because opportunity, chance, potential, destiny follows afterward. True, birth is viewed more favorably by most humans. It is agreed that everything from college, marriage, career and family life, retirement and the likes are looked forward to upon birth. What about death? Many people, even those who call themselves Christians fear death. Death is just like birth, in that there are things to look forward to. Heaven, the saints, the angels of heaven, God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the glory of God, eternal worship of God, eternal praise of God, eternal magnification of Jesus, the elders, the prophets, the apostles and so much more!
When a baby is born excitement is in the air. Even at the news of pregnancy, the typical response is excitement and joy. Another human is scheduled to arrive on planet earth. Another fresh life, that has a chance to do anything from ride a bike, speak a second language, travel the world, discover a new insect species, build a bridge, write a book, and the list goes on and on and on. Well, what is the typical response upon death? Sorrow fills the air, frowns with droopy lip faces, slobber and snot occupy kleenex, and lips are chapped from mouths being opened for extended periods of time crying, screaming, and being in a frantic state of mind.
Reader, if you are born again…you are filled with the Spirit of God according to the word of God (Ephesians 2:19-21). Reader, if you are born again…the Spirit of God literally living on the inside of you enables you to live a life that is pleasing to captain of your salvation (Hebrews 2:10, John 15:8, 2 Timothy 2:4). Reader, if you are born again…you will spend eternity with Jesus Christ and look forward to streets of gold, rejoicing with those who lived for the same reason as you between birth and death! You have so much to look forward to and guess what else? What is after death is so much greater than what comes after birth.
The greatest thing to look forward to after birth is to be born again, meeting Jesus personally, and serving Him in a personal relationship for the rest of life on earth. Money comes and goes. Friends come and go. Cars tune up and break down. Economies rise and fall. Politics are a joke. Careers are abundant and layoffs or downsizing occurs. Athletes and sports teams rise and fall. Get my drift? In other words reader…WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO LIVE FOR? Can I ask you a question? Why do you get up every single day? What are you living for? What is the point of your existence? What opportunities are you seeking to look into or what potential are you seeking to live up to? Why do you do what you do everyday? What is the meaning of your life? Why are you motivated to keep on living?
These are hard questions, real questions, and ultimately the truths that sum up each human being. Sure there are nice clothes, great cars, nice houses, great times of leisure and relaxing and so forth. But in each moment of each day that goes by a heart beats within every human. A mind thinks in every human the same. A spirit longs in every human for fulfillment to exist. A body beckons recklessly and wars with each human for control of the inner man. What are you going to do about it?
What are you going to do with your Time 1:1 “ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE” truth of your life? You may even be living in some of the “successes” highly esteemed by men and according to the world right now. But where will you live after death? What will you live for after you die? What will happen to you when you die? Where will you go when you die? What do you have forward to look to when you die? If you say, “well there is no hell or a devil or a burning lake of fire or none of that so I’m not going.” Who rose from the dead to tell you what happens when you die? If you cannot answer that question that is because no one rose from the dead to tell you anything. There is only One who rose from the dead, and He rose with GOOD NEWS for every human (1 John 2:2)! CHRIST JESUS THE ONLY TRUE AND LIVNG GOD!!!
All born in the world will die in the world. That’s it. That’s what “life” is about. You’re born. You go to school to get a job. You work to obtain a life that gives you memories to talk about when you’re old. Then you die. The truth is, that every human is born without Jesus, apart from Jesus, separate from Jesus (Romans 5:8). Time 1:1 is simply a one-way ticket headed straight towards death (which starts the second that baby is born) in 1 of 2 ways:
You can die being born again (John 3:3, Matthew 3:11), which means you will die physically and live eternally (John 3:16).
Or you can die without being born again, which means you will die physically and die eternally (Revelation 20:12-15, Romans 6:23, John 3:36).
After being presented with the truth I have one final question to ask you. DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE? Free from what you might ask? Free from living a pointless life. Free from living a life in van. Free from living a life as a toaster trying to be a bicycle. Free from the fear of death with heaven to look forward to. Those potentials and opportunities people look forward to after birth can never satisfy the longing that lives within you. It does not take an old man to figure that out. Just an honest man willing to admit that those things truly do not satisfy or fulfill the purpose of their existence. Time 1:1 is simply another chance for you to examine yourself as to whether you are bond by those opportunities and potentials the world indoctrinates you to believe is the purpose of life (Colossians 2:6-8, Psalms 78:1-8, Mark 7:6-23). And ultimately how you will continue from this very moment to respond to your self examination.
Reader, you are dying right now. Your body is wasting away. Time 1:1 is in effect for you and me both right now. You are going to skip this message, ignore this message, blow this message off and blink 2 times and be dead. No human knows when they are going to die or how they are going to die. What humans do know is that they are going to die. But the truth is you are dying right now. With that being said, I testify to you today that Jesus is real. I have no strings attached to your decision to try Jesus, surrender your heart to Jesus, devote your life to Jesus. In other words, I’m not seeking you to be a member of my church, give your money to me, buy my CDs, pat me on the back, tell me I’m a great writer or preacher. Nothing. The only reason I’m still serving Jesus today is because on November 29, 1998 I met the Jesus Christ of the Bible for the first time in my life. He changed my life. More importantly I pursued Him aggressively because I wanted to find out whether He was real or not so that I would not waste my time. With every piece of life in my body, I charge you reader, the more I sought Him, the more I found Him. The I found Him, the more I loved Him and still do to this day more passionately and fiery than ever.
Ephesians 2:1-3 and Ephesians 2:12 is how you are born (every human) and where you are right now. John 10:10 and John 16:22-24 is what you want deep within your heart here on earth. Revelation 21:22-27 and Revelation 22:1-6 is what you can look forward to after death. 1 Corinthians 7:9-10 is what you need in order to get to John 3:14-21, which will motivate you to Romans 10:9-13, that will cause you to live by John 15:1-11.
Your Time 1:1 is unique to you, your birth and your death, your ONE TIME TO LIVE AND ONE TIME TO DIE. If you take the rest of your aging, maturing, one-way ticket headed straight to death seriously, stop living like a basketball trying to be a pencil sharpener. If you, the created human, live according to the God, the Creator, you will be human according to how He created you. No one else can say how you should live or what you should live for because no one else and nothing else created you. God (the Creator) says to you (the created) this one thing concerning Time 1:1 for His creation (Psalm 24:1):
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Time 1:1 is ticking rapidly for you right now. You can never get time back. Yesterday is gone. Today will be yesterday. Tomorrow will be today and today will be yesterday. And one day will be your last day. With all these truths being said, what will you do with the time you have right this very moment? Do not waste your Time 1:1 (Revelation 22:10, James 4:13-14, Hebrews 9:27). Make your Time 1:1 count right now. Make your time count for what you were designed. Make your time count for what the bottom line truth is to every human. Is life according to the grandness of mountains, the splendor of waterfalls, the radiance of the sun, the light of the moon, the shine of stars or the vastness of deserts? Should I live after the council of insects, birds, fish, or various animals? Shall I the adult live according to children? Shall I go to a statue that I created or a wooden image that I created for how I should live? Nothing else and no one else can answer correctly. Nothing else and no one else can answer satisfactorily. Only God (the Creator) can and His answer for humans (the created) is CHRIST JESUS (Hebrews 1:1-5).
Take some of your Time 1:1 and talk to God, the only true and living God who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Tell Him how you do not want to waste your time, but that you want to solve your Time 1:1 formula. Tell Him how you do not want to live anymore like a broom trying to be a frying pan. Ask Jesus to give you a new life. Ask Jesus for you to be born again. Talk to God from your heart right now in your Time 1:1. Pray to Jesus Christ, the only TRUE AND LIVING GOD, the only means of salvation and forgiveness of sins…like your life depends on it. Time 1:1 is true and in existence because you have been created. The second The rest of your Time 1:1 depends on what you do with what you have heard with this message during this time right now. Jesus Christ is standing by, waiting to solve your Time 1:1.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Homeless man denied ?
12/2/2010
Tuesday this week was my son's 4th birthday. I took him to Burger King because he got a gift card from my mom in the mail. So, spending time with the boys we went and sat down for chow. When I came in I noticed a man at the table who appeared to be homeless. The usual dirty run down wild hair look with those dirty finger nails and hands eating a burger. After we finished our meal between my two sons there was almost enough fries to fill the paper container the fries came in to begin with. So, I was immediately impressed with not waisting the food and decided to see about the man who appeared to be homeless.
I walked over to the table and asked the man if he was homeless and he said "NO. Why do you ask?" And I skated around the fact that he looked like he was homeless because I did not want him to get the wrong impression in what I was trying to do. I told him "if you were homeless I was going to offer you these fries instead of throwing them away." As I turned towards the trash can he said with enthusiasm "Oh, I'll take those fries!" So I turned around and said "I give you these fries with the love of Jesus!" He started eating those fries and I took the opportunity to witness the gospel of Jesus Christ to him. He told me he was Mormon and assured me that he believed in God. I told him that Mormons and regular biblical Christians are not the same. He said he did not know it. Right before he asked me this off the wall question about seeing 2 clocks at once or being in 2 different days at the same time I prayed for him and reiterated that my act was simply me showing him the love of Jesus.
Folks, this man was as homeless as it got, but he denied it. He did not want to be in the association of homelessness and tried to include himself in the "regular population." What he failed to realize is that he did not need to deny his current condition and situation, which is the reason I was impressed to go and be a blessing to him and show him the love of Jesus! In other words, Jesus said He came to save the world (John 3:17) and that He came for those who are sick (Luke 5:31-32). So if this man in the state of need denied me, then those fries, the blessing, the love of Jesus would have passed him by!
Admit, confess, own up to your situation, your spiritual condition, the truth of the matter of you being where you are. God is...He is an "everPRESENT" help in the time of trouble. If you deny the truth about any aspect of yourself, you will not only remain homeless, but helpless....
Tuesday this week was my son's 4th birthday. I took him to Burger King because he got a gift card from my mom in the mail. So, spending time with the boys we went and sat down for chow. When I came in I noticed a man at the table who appeared to be homeless. The usual dirty run down wild hair look with those dirty finger nails and hands eating a burger. After we finished our meal between my two sons there was almost enough fries to fill the paper container the fries came in to begin with. So, I was immediately impressed with not waisting the food and decided to see about the man who appeared to be homeless.
I walked over to the table and asked the man if he was homeless and he said "NO. Why do you ask?" And I skated around the fact that he looked like he was homeless because I did not want him to get the wrong impression in what I was trying to do. I told him "if you were homeless I was going to offer you these fries instead of throwing them away." As I turned towards the trash can he said with enthusiasm "Oh, I'll take those fries!" So I turned around and said "I give you these fries with the love of Jesus!" He started eating those fries and I took the opportunity to witness the gospel of Jesus Christ to him. He told me he was Mormon and assured me that he believed in God. I told him that Mormons and regular biblical Christians are not the same. He said he did not know it. Right before he asked me this off the wall question about seeing 2 clocks at once or being in 2 different days at the same time I prayed for him and reiterated that my act was simply me showing him the love of Jesus.
Folks, this man was as homeless as it got, but he denied it. He did not want to be in the association of homelessness and tried to include himself in the "regular population." What he failed to realize is that he did not need to deny his current condition and situation, which is the reason I was impressed to go and be a blessing to him and show him the love of Jesus! In other words, Jesus said He came to save the world (John 3:17) and that He came for those who are sick (Luke 5:31-32). So if this man in the state of need denied me, then those fries, the blessing, the love of Jesus would have passed him by!
Admit, confess, own up to your situation, your spiritual condition, the truth of the matter of you being where you are. God is...He is an "everPRESENT" help in the time of trouble. If you deny the truth about any aspect of yourself, you will not only remain homeless, but helpless....
Friday, November 26, 2010
Black Friday Gospel 2010
11/26/2010 BLACK FRIDAY GOSPEL
Black Friday is a time when businesses have these outrageous deals on everything from blue ray players to LCD TVs to vacuum cleaners. Well, I was talking to a friend of mine about going out and sharing Jesus on Black Friday (the day after thanksgiving…today). He thought it was a great idea. He sent me a text inviting people to come with him to share Jesus with the super early bird special patrons. I was in! We met up at a strip mall with Target, Best Buy, and some other stores. IT WAS FREEZING COLD! When I pulled up there had to be already about 60+ people outside one of the stores. The store opened at 0400 hrs and it was 0200 hrs and some change when I parked my van. I prayed. I sang. I worshipped the Lord in preparing my heart and mind to embrace and have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way (Hebrews 5:2).
As time drew near for the others to come the line got longer and longer and more cars were busy circling the parking lot. There were several Memphis police cars and a blue crush trailer for all to see. When the others got there we huddled together in the freezing cold and prayed. After prayer we split up and went to share with the different patrons in front of the different stores. Here are some of the responses I was told by the masses today:
It’s too early in the morning for this…
This is not a good time right now….over dinner….
Why are you asking me so many questions….
Why are you talking to me….
I’m Jewish…I was told not to debate with you…we do not believe in Jesus…
I don’t go to church…
I go to the church over there….
Out of all the people I talked to and prayed with there were, as usual, only a few sincere hearted persons toward God. I did not speak or share to get a profession of faith intentionally. I’ve learned that if you want a profession of faith you can say certain things to make that happen. This was a Mark 4 and Matthew 13 sowing seed initiative and, when the truth is preached God will draw a person to Himself…not a person. Too often, people want to see immediate fruit from their labor so they manufacture results apart from God. Faith and patience obtain promises (Hebrews 6:12). I have learned after speaking with many and “getting” professions of faith that professions of faith people are just talkers. They have bought into the set up and said the right thing for the right place and time. But after being connected to the True Vine, Jesus, God has purged me to bear much fruit and be His disciple (John 15:8).
As usual, the great majority of people looked miserable because of the cold even after the sound of the wonderful name of Jesus. This blog is to encourage you to be creative, selfless and service oriented. Not to mention, some of the people (6 others) brought a little toy wagon pulling Gatorade water coolers and gave out hundreds of cups of hot chocolate. God blessed them in their effort because none of the store employees or police officers said anything. Patrons actually thought it was a service on behalf of the store! You know the hot chocolate was a “way in” and it worked for them to share the love of Jesus and the truth of God with many.
Again, you and I will both die one day soon. Our life is as a vapor appearing for one moment and gone the very next. What makes our lives a vapor is because the time we spend each second of our day, we will never get it back. We are constantly evaporating, melting away. You will stand before Jesus (Hebrews 4:11-16). What will you tell Him as to the reason or excuse you have for why you did not accept His plan of salvation for you (to redeem you from your fallen state)? What excuse do you know will work (Romans 1:20, Romans 2:1, Romans 2:11)? What will you say as to why you rejected His love for you? And for those who call themselves professors of His word, Christians, what will you say as to why you did not preach the gospel and make disciples after Him?
Black Friday is a time when businesses have these outrageous deals on everything from blue ray players to LCD TVs to vacuum cleaners. Well, I was talking to a friend of mine about going out and sharing Jesus on Black Friday (the day after thanksgiving…today). He thought it was a great idea. He sent me a text inviting people to come with him to share Jesus with the super early bird special patrons. I was in! We met up at a strip mall with Target, Best Buy, and some other stores. IT WAS FREEZING COLD! When I pulled up there had to be already about 60+ people outside one of the stores. The store opened at 0400 hrs and it was 0200 hrs and some change when I parked my van. I prayed. I sang. I worshipped the Lord in preparing my heart and mind to embrace and have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way (Hebrews 5:2).
As time drew near for the others to come the line got longer and longer and more cars were busy circling the parking lot. There were several Memphis police cars and a blue crush trailer for all to see. When the others got there we huddled together in the freezing cold and prayed. After prayer we split up and went to share with the different patrons in front of the different stores. Here are some of the responses I was told by the masses today:
It’s too early in the morning for this…
This is not a good time right now….over dinner….
Why are you asking me so many questions….
Why are you talking to me….
I’m Jewish…I was told not to debate with you…we do not believe in Jesus…
I don’t go to church…
I go to the church over there….
Out of all the people I talked to and prayed with there were, as usual, only a few sincere hearted persons toward God. I did not speak or share to get a profession of faith intentionally. I’ve learned that if you want a profession of faith you can say certain things to make that happen. This was a Mark 4 and Matthew 13 sowing seed initiative and, when the truth is preached God will draw a person to Himself…not a person. Too often, people want to see immediate fruit from their labor so they manufacture results apart from God. Faith and patience obtain promises (Hebrews 6:12). I have learned after speaking with many and “getting” professions of faith that professions of faith people are just talkers. They have bought into the set up and said the right thing for the right place and time. But after being connected to the True Vine, Jesus, God has purged me to bear much fruit and be His disciple (John 15:8).
As usual, the great majority of people looked miserable because of the cold even after the sound of the wonderful name of Jesus. This blog is to encourage you to be creative, selfless and service oriented. Not to mention, some of the people (6 others) brought a little toy wagon pulling Gatorade water coolers and gave out hundreds of cups of hot chocolate. God blessed them in their effort because none of the store employees or police officers said anything. Patrons actually thought it was a service on behalf of the store! You know the hot chocolate was a “way in” and it worked for them to share the love of Jesus and the truth of God with many.
Again, you and I will both die one day soon. Our life is as a vapor appearing for one moment and gone the very next. What makes our lives a vapor is because the time we spend each second of our day, we will never get it back. We are constantly evaporating, melting away. You will stand before Jesus (Hebrews 4:11-16). What will you tell Him as to the reason or excuse you have for why you did not accept His plan of salvation for you (to redeem you from your fallen state)? What excuse do you know will work (Romans 1:20, Romans 2:1, Romans 2:11)? What will you say as to why you rejected His love for you? And for those who call themselves professors of His word, Christians, what will you say as to why you did not preach the gospel and make disciples after Him?
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