June 30, 2007 by Administrator.

There are really two sides to this topic: In part one, the point was brought up about the unjust acts have we committed. Have people cry out to God about our actions that were unjust? However, does not God hear us as well? Here are some verses to observe:

“For He will deliver the need when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.” ~Psalm 72:12 NASB  “Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper.” ~ Job 29:12 NASB 

“May He vindicate the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.” ~ Psalm 72:4 NASB

As we read, the Lord has not forgotten His children. You may feel like you have been oppressed and treated unjustly; yet you may rest assured that the Lord has seen all things. We should not glory in the falls of our foes, but glory in the Lord. We may never get to see justice come, but indeed we have a God who is greater than all things. As followers of Christ, we have the Creator as our Shield and Defender.

Posted in Christian Living, Hope, Today's World, Biblical Study | No Comments »

June 26, 2007 by Administrator.

I was reading Core Christianity by Elmer Towns and one of the descriptions made me really begin to think. It was describing the meaning of redemption which is more or less “to be bought back”. Too often the Gospel of our Lord Jesus becomes routine in evangelism, church, quiet time, and prayer. It’s so easy to say that “Jesus died for our sins” and not think anymore about that phrase. For believers, that was a very holy action that we flippantly describe in one sentence.  Do we truly understand the immensity of redemption by His blood? Will we ever comprehend the unfathomable depth of His love? He loved us through unbearable suffering and death? In return, what love do I present to Someone who gave more than everything for a completely depraved sinner like me. What love divine! The debt of love that we, I, owe to our Lord Jesus, is beyond all human knowledge. What redemptive love beyond compare! What love divine! 

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling                                                                                                                                                                                                                           By Charles Wesley 

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.  

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty. 

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love. 

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.    

Posted in Glory to God, Biblical Thoughts | 2 Comments »

June 23, 2007 by Administrator.

There have been many times in my life where I have placed my heart in the hands of the world. It’s easy to treasure the things of the world rather than things of God. Christ has often opened my eyes to my misdirection and shown me that I was building a house out of sand. This evening God asked me the question:  

 Where is the home of your heart?   

Should not our heart’s be where Christ is? Tonight when that question rang in my mind, this verse came to memory instantaneously: 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~Matthew 6:21 NASB  

My heart should treasure the Lord and find its rest in Him. All too often I live a in a house that isn’t my home. I should be living in the presence of God. This tempestuous world of sin is not our home as followers of Christ; the home of our hearts ought to be where the Lord abides. My heart should find it’s home in Christ. My place is with Him. So today, start laying the foundation of your heart’s home in Christ.

Posted in Christian Living, Encouragement | 1 Comment »

June 20, 2007 by Administrator.

Sunday night my pastor was going over James chapter five. He briefly went over how the Lord hears the cries and prayers of those who are affected by injustice. Then. In James 5:4 it speaks of those who work for agreed wages, but were never paid. Their cries against injustice were heard by the Lord. Also in Exodus 3:7 the Lord tells Moses that He has heard the cries of His people against the unjust oppression of the Egyptians. The blood of Abel was heard crying against Cain from the ground to the Lord in Genesis 4:10. As you see in these passages, the Lord doesn’t ignore the acts of the wicked. Then my pastor made the excellent point, “What cries against injustice has the Lord heard about you?” Have we been unjust? Have we cheated the system or cheated our fellow man? Have we been unkind and hateful for no apparent reason to someone? Have we been dishonest or deceitful to advance our intentions? Hopefully, no cries against injustice can be heard by the Lord about His children. We are to be set apart from the world. We ought to be self-less. We are called to live for Him in deed and thought.

Posted in Christian Living, Today's World | 2 Comments »

June 17, 2007 by Administrator.

Countless times I have heard professing Christians express their desire to not be a ”Bible-thumper”. They wish to find ways to solve life’s current issues, problems, and challenges with other methods than just Scripture. Why? They feel the Bible was dated and not relevant to the Christian’s present time. People might find them hard to approach or extreme if they referred to the Bible. 

To say that the Bible is irrelevant in our present day is to say God is irrelevant in our present day. If He was going to speak something that was time sensitive, then don’t you think He would be updating it for us living believers? For those who want to find more contemporary methods to counseling, child-rearing, pastoring, and etc., I would call them compromisers. If someone is afraid of being labeled a “Bible-thumper”, then they are really afraid of being a follower of Christ. They are ashamed of the calling that they have been called to. God gave us His Word for us to use and survive on. Those words were breathed from His very own mouth. To be labeled a Bible-thumper, Jesus freak, or narrow minded Christian is truly a compliment. Jesus has not called us to have open hearts and open minds to the worldviews of our culture. We should use Scripture as our primary tool in making decisions. Our faith is built in Christ. Our convictions are established by His Word. To set aside the Bible to appeal to society is to set aside Jesus to befriend the enemy.

Posted in Biblical Thoughts, Christian Living, Today's World | 4 Comments »

June 14, 2007 by Administrator.

Some of us view suffering for Christ as an awful experience. Others remember the verses that say it is a blessing. But have you ever thought about suffering for Christ as a privilege?      

“For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,” ~ Philippians 1:29 NASB     

When I read that this morning, I stopped. My eyes focused on the word “granted”. Not only have we (as followers of Christ) been called out of the darkness into His light, but we also have been granted the privilege to suffer for Him. Thinking of it that way reaffirms that no one else can suffer for His account but His children. That suffering is a granted privilege by His grace. The fact that He suffered even to death for the sins of His children should make us all the more willing to endure all things for Him. If love endures all things, then we should be willing to suffer all things for the sake of our love for Him. What a privilege of grace to belong to Christ! What an honor to serve Him in any way, shape, and form… even suffering.   

Posted in Biblical Thoughts, Biblical Study | 1 Comment »

June 11, 2007 by Administrator.

I have heard lots of discussion about the first martyr among Christians. Stephen is credited as being the first to die for his faith in Christ Jesus. Yet, I have always wondered if it would be more proper to say that John the Baptist was the first martyr. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, but he did believe that Jesus was the Messiah and he was killed by Herod. John was executed because he spoke against the unholy marriage of Herod, but was he a follower of Christ. John the Baptist was always pointing the Jews to Jesus as their King. So should we call him the first martyr? Even if Stephen was the first, we will never forget his or John’s sacrifice for Christ. They gave their all for Someone who gave so much more.

Posted in Biblical Thoughts | 3 Comments »

June 9, 2007 by Administrator.

Well, our church’s Vacation Bible School has come to an end. This year I was more thrilled with VBS and my class more than any other previous year. My class had the most original questions and arguments against Scripture that I have ever heard. The mind of a child can present the most surprising of conversations. Thanks to our wonderful government, they have been taught that the Bible is a book of fairy tales not to be taken seriously. They tried to argue that a man might have possibly made up the whole Bible. Out loud I called the names of numerous writers of the Bible and how they were inspired and led by God’s very own mouth to write His Word. I smile as I remember the fascination in their faces. They were also confused how God could be loving if He let His own Son get killed. They were silenced when they heard that the Son loved them just as much and allowed the people to kill Him for our sins. After discussing the life of Jesus on our final night, I presented them with a series of questions: Why do you think I am teaching you guys? They replied saying that I wanted them to know about God. So asked them why I wanted them to know about God. They said, “So that we can go to heaven?” My final question made their gears really turn: Why do I want you to go to heaven? This hard question stumped all of them. It might seem harsh, but I had their complete attention. I told them that I did all of this because Jesus lived in my heart and had saved me from my sins. He changed me and wanted me to tell the world about Him. I told them that I desired all of them to one day give their lives to Jesus and follow Him forever. My prayers are that they will all one day be godly young men and women following Christ with their whole being. This VBS left an impact on me. I got to see a young boy reformed from his wild, rebellious behavior. I got to see kids hanging on my words to hear what God did next. I got to see 10 young hearts softened to the Bible. Hopefully, they will carry something with them as they continue to grow up in this world. I recommend Gospel Light for Vacation Bible School literature because of it’s thoroughness in presenting the gospel. It’s literature was great at presenting the gospel in their homework and activities. I think I had more of a Vacation in the Bible School than my own class.

Posted in Today's World | 1 Comment »

June 6, 2007 by Administrator.

If Jesus were your boss, would your work ethic change? Would your attitude change? Would you be early in getting to work? Would you be prompt in doing what He wanted? Would your thoughts, conversations, and acquaintances change? Hopefully nothing would change. Why? We already work for Christ. We may not see Him in our workplace, but our lives should be devoted to His service as followers of Christ. He is with us at work. He is our boss. He is the one who takes breaks and lunch with us. He is the one who hears all the latest gossip and backbiting from our friends and sometimes, from our very own mouths. He is the one who hears our thoughts. Jesus gave His all for us, should we not do the same? We need to give our all for our Boss.

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” ~Romans 12:1-2 NASB

Posted in Christian Living, Christian Applications | 1 Comment »

June 3, 2007 by Administrator.

Tonight my church began our Vacation Bible School. This week I am to teach the 3rd and 4th grade kids. Before we began, all I could think about was the possibility of me confusing these kids. Teaching children is not something foreign to me, but this fear has never quite left my conscience. Speaking in public or to a group has never been a worry of mine, but misinterpretation has. I was very worried that I would distort their view of Christ and God with just a few misplaced words. All I could do was pray. I continued to think about how I was the one that needed to be taught. My imperfections and faults stood bluntly in the forefront of my mind. After the pastor prayed and dispersed the groups, my fears slipped away. The peace of God just took over. There is no way to explain it, but my heart calmed. I had peace! All I know is that when it came time to open the Word, everything felt so natural. I was discussing the Book that meant the world to me. It contained the stories that shape my convictions and life. These stories became alive in their eyes. They eagerly awaited my next words to unveil more of the story. Their excitement gave me joy and made me remembere that I was called to spread the good news. Even though I am always in need of teaching, Christ has called all His followers to share the Gospel. He will provide the time, words, and peace for His children.

Posted in Christian Living, Encouragement | 1 Comment »