Pay Your Admission At The Door

Hello everyone I’m back again with some interesting rumors I have been burning on for a few weeks. Not to long ago my Church had one the most successful Bible Schools I have ever been a part of and during our Bible school I heard of some local Churches right in my home town that were charging a fee for children of their own congregation to come to Bible School. Now I hope I don’t really have to tell you how many ways this is wrong but you know I am going to anyway. First and for most I will compare it to your and mine admission into Heaven there’s no charge no fee the price has already been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who shed his blood on Calvary’s Cross to pay for our sins to allow us a path to eternal life in the sinless glory of Heaven. So why in the world would a church require anyone to pay for something that should be given freely?????? By that I mean the chance for a person to learn and hear the word of God young, old, rich or poor!!! To have the Holy Spirit convict there heart of their sins the chance for a person to except what is freely given . Bible School in my eyes is an outreach to the community to the lost, for them to be able to come in and learn what God can do for them, to charge admission for that is an insult to the word of God. The way I see it a lost man is already skeptical of what the Church has to offer him. Every little thing we do is under extreme scrutiny already so to invite him into a Church and then tell him to learn what we have to offer you’re going to have to pay for it, well you might as well forget it you just drove him away from any chance you had and your probably never going to get it back. Ok Ok Ok it is just a rumor I heard but just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach, it’s just ridicules. On top of all this the reason I heard that this Church or Churches are charging admission for Bible School is the recession yea the recession. They said that if they had lets say 200 kids and or people sign up and bought all the supplies and food and only 100 showed up then they would be out all that money. Again I am getting sick to my stomach cause the way I see it let’s just say that the CHURCH were to put their trust in God and He will take care of the rest, oh my gosh did he just say what I think he said that The Church should put all situations in God’s hands, who ever heard of such a thing. Furthermore it’s never ever ever lost money for a church to witness to the lost and have just one person just one get saved, whatever sacrifices any Church has to make in this kind of situation is exactly what they are here for to stand for Jesus no matter what the cost. Now don’t get me wrong I am not for any church going out and blowing what the Lord has blessed them with but I sure don’t see witnessing and wining souls as a waist of anything. Boy I sure am glad there aren’t any recessions in Heaven.

1 Corinthians 2

1And I, brethren, when I came to you declaring unto you the testimony of God, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom.

2For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

4And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

5that your faith should not stand on the wisdom of man, but on the power of God.

6However, we speak wisdom among those who are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, who are coming to nought.

7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world for our glory --

8wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.

9But as it is written: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

10But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no man knoweth the things of God, but the Spirit of God.

12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.

13These things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged by no man. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Priceless

Sorry for the hiatus for anyone who had been reading on a regular basis. I could make up a hundred excuses for why I haven’t been writing for the past month or so but the truth is I haven’t felt like I was right with Lord. I believe that the Good Lord has let me start writing and if I ain’t right with him I don’t want to write something that I don’t feel good about or that the Lord may not bless. That gets me to my questions for today. What is your witness worth to you, what is my witness worth to me, do you have a witness at all? I see people all the time who say their Christian and go to church on Sunday and work for the Lord on a pretty regular basis but don’t set any value on their witness to the lost. You may be saying what in the world is he talking about? I am talking about Going to church Sunday morning praising to Lord working for the Lord the going home and drinking your six pack that you bought on Saturday just so you would have beer on Sunday. Now if a lost man sees you going to Church and working for the Lord and then sees you half drunk on Sunday afternoon what is he going to think? I know what I would think if I was him, I would say this guy or gal is no different me, why do I need to go to church and get to know lord and get saved if this person is just like me. Now I’m not just talking about drinking I am talking about cursing acting a fool just all around not acting like a Christian knows they should act. Now it may seem I am harking on drinking a lot but it just makes such a good example. And for those of you who know me pretty well you may say this is pretty hypocritical because I’ve seen him have a drink before, and that is why I am asking myself the same question I am asking you. I’ll give another good example let’s say you have been going to church you have been inviting all your buddies to church and witnessing to them about God. Specifically how Jesus can change your life and how He has changed you life and then these same people see you buying a case of beer or see you somewhere puking, stumbling drunk, for a lost man to see that is taking away every bit of what you have been working so hard for. All the talk about Church and God and Jesus you just threw all that out the door as far as he is concerned I know because I’ve been there. I was lost in my sins for a very long time and I have had someone who said they were a good Christian and invited me to church and told me about Jesus turn around the next day and get drunk with me and act a fool just like I was. The whole time I’m thinking what is this guy crazy, he’s no different than me why should I go to church or worry about Jesus? Or for the most part it doesn’t have to have anything to do with drinking as I said it just makes a very good example. It can be cursing or attitude or business ethic is a good one. Let’s just say you have been doing some business with someone who says their a Christian and goes to church and witnesses to you about Jesus and then turns around and lies to you about a business deal or always seems to have their hands in some kind or shady business just to make an extra buck. How does that make his witness look? Again if I was lost and wasn’t going to church it would definitely put a bad taste in my mouth about going and getting interested in Jesus. All this said second to your own salvation and your relationship with God your witness should be a very valuable part of your life. It should be priceless for a saved man. When I say priceless I mean if you had a check for 10 million dollars you’d lock it up in the safest place you could find, you probably wouldn’t even let it leave you sight or get a drop of water on it or you may even guard it with you life if it came right down to it and that is how your witness should be. You should hold it so close and set such value on it that it can’t be compromised for any reason. So if your saved do your treat your witness like a 10 million dollar check or like a few old pennies in the bottom of your ash tray and if you’re not saved come get to know Jesus for yourself and see the great gift of salvation and see what value you will set on your witness. I also want to say Christians are sinners just like every human there not perfect by any means that’s why you need to come to the foot of that Old Rugged Cross and see for yourself what the love of Jesus can do for your life.

In Jesus Name

My preacher got me to thinking this past Sunday about this and it is true if you pay attention to politicians and public speakers and Clergy who say they are proud to be Christians. Why can’t they just say Jesus? It’s like they believe if you call out the name Jesus you’re a public outcast of some kind which may be true in this day and time and it’s a shame. If you’re a true Christian the name Jesus should be everything to you and you should not be embarrassed to say it even if it does make you different. In fact that’s the point a Christian should be different they should stand out in a crowd they should be proud to shout the name Jesus. There is no power in any Church without Jesus no matter what any preacher or pastor or politician says you have to have Jesus you have to call on his name for salvation. It is also politically correct today to pray to God and never mention Jesus because it makes it universal, it makes a prayer sound good to every religion it also makes it mean absolutely nothing. To say a real prayer and have it heard by God and actually mean something it has to be said by a saved person a real Christian or a person asking for salvation and it has to be said in Jesus name. I have harked on this subject plenty of times before and I’m sure I will continue to but if saying Jesus upsets someone or some group of people maybe they need to be upset. We need to stop catering to political correctness and other false religions and just give them Jesus after all that’s all we have to give. That’s all this lost and dyeing world needs is to believe and to call on Jesus. There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood and that blood was shed by Jesus on the cross of Calvary. It will wash away all sin there is nothing Jesus can’t handle or doesn’t have the answer to, just call out his name and you will see. We all need to understand that the Bible is the true written word of God there no other source except the Bible no matter what anyone says. We all sin and fall short of the Glory of God and all we have to do is believe in Jesus name.

Philippians 2
9Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Who has blind faith? Not Me!

Blind Faith: belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination

Most of the lost people of this world say this is what a Christian has. That we believe in something that we can’t see or touch or feel and don’t have any proof of. That we can’t see the truth or that we are just too silly, clinging to our religion and our guns, to see the true world that we live in. But I ask what do they believe in? That we came from an ameba and evolved over millions of years and this ameba came from a big bang. A bang with force so unimaginable that it started a chain reaction that led to life as we know it. So where did this big bang come from and who saw it who has proof of it, can any scientist reproduce any type of force that creates life from nothing? What other explanations do people have? That we have just always been here that the earth is billions of years old and life has just always been and our finite minds will never comprehend this, and that explanation is not an explanation at all. Or one of my favorites there are greater powers that we don’t know and understand but it’s not the God that Christians believe in. Oh and another good one is the God that is nature and the natural harmony of nature bla bla bla. In my opinion all these are a worship of the creation, I worship the Creator. Most people will ask so where is your proof. I like to start with actual written history starting with the Bible which only continues to be proven the greatest written history of all. I have seen and heard of scientist and historians that set out to prove the Bible to be fiction and only end up supporting Biblical history and finding clue after clue to support the great stories of the Bible. There are also ancient non Biblical writings that support the people and stories of the Bible. Wow actual written records you say. Well what about something you have actually seen for yourself? OK, Have you ever known someone who was just bad I mean bad to the bone always in trouble or doing something stupid. Someone who just always seemed to be headed down the wrong road and then one day they start going to church and get saved and their life does a total 180. They may not be perfect but far from where they were before and getting better every day. Or have you ever seen a newborn baby and seen the joy in a new mother or father’s eyes? I don’t care who you are a child is a miracle of God there is no other explanation as far as I am concerned. Me personally I have felt the touch of God in my life since the day I got saved I don’t even really know how to explain it, it’s amazing and powerful. Have you ever been just really bad off and had your mom or dad just wrap their arms around you and say I love you and everything is going to be ok. It’s like that except 24/7 and it can never be taken away. It’s the most awesome and powerful thing that has ever happened to me. It changed my life and only for the better. I could really go on for days about the things I have seen and felt in the short time I have been a Christian. Praise Jesus!! He died for my sins and for yours and whether you want to believe or not, He is there and somewhere in everyone’s soul there is that need to understand a greater power. That power is Jesus and he is waiting for you to come to the foot of that old rugged cross and say, I believe, please help me, please save me. The good Lord is giving you the proof everyday you just have to choose to see it.

Luke 16:15
And He said unto them, "Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

A Christian?

A Christian is not all ways a good person. A Christian is not always right. A Christian is not perfect and does not know the answers to all life’s problems. A Christian has hard times and bad times. A Christian can be mean, rude, and angry. A Christian is not always supposed to be happy and cheerful. A Christian does not always want to do the right thing or be with the right people. A Christian can be stubborn, ignorant, and foolish. A Christian is not always a winner or popular. A Christian doesn’t have to be physically beautiful. A Christian is not always rich and prosperous. A Christian is not always honest. In fact the one and only difference between a lost sinner and a saved one is the blood of Jesus Christ. After you are washed in the Blood of Jesus and Gods grace has filled your heart you want to be different. Doesn’t mean that you always are different, it means that the Love of Jesus is always there and you know right from wrong, you know good from bad. Your heart is convicted of your sins and you pray you pray so hard for forgiveness and for God’s blessings on your life and that you be led in his way. You want to hear and learn the word of God and fellowship with other Christians. You want to work for the Lord so lost people can gain what you have. So maybe just one less person goes to an eternity in Hell because you were open to Gods will for your life. So for those who are saved listen to God he is there all you have to do is listen and for those who are not saved don’t try to look into the life of a Christian and pinpoint every flaw look into you own heart, are you seeing clearly, have you been washed in the Blood of Jesus?

Reality?

Have you ever had reality just slap you right in the mouth? I know, I know your saying “reality slaps me every day”, but I mean the true reality of this world or maybe just this country or just the town you live in. I had a rude awakening this week and I’m not really going to elaborate but let’s just say it slapped me right upside the head and the mouth. I get up every morning and unless I don’t turn on the TV or the radio or get on the internet or have a conversation with anybody. I don’t hear anything bad about the economy or someone losing their job or being sick and tired or having some type or tragedy in their lives and honestly it all just brings me closer to God and lets me have more appreciation for Jesus and what he did for me. Times like these should remind us all of Job the Lord had blessed Job in many ways he was a very wealthy man that had everything a man could want. He had what we would call a huge farm with many animals and many servants many Sons and Daughters and most of all he feared God and turned away from evil and yet God allowed Satan to test him in every way imaginable. Job lost everything all his animals most of his servants, his children, his health everything gone in the blink of an eye. Yet we can all learn a valuable lesson from Job for he did not blame God he blamed himself. Why you ask, because even though he feared God he had not raised his children to fear God he had not appreciated all the things that God had blessed him with and he knew it. He had let his children run wild and let them party and drink and run head on into evil. His farm was so large and his greed so blinding that he most likely didn’t even know what he possessed. Then when it was all taken away he didn’t blame God, he knew who was to blame, Himself. In fact the Bible says he refused to curse God but cursed the day of his own birth. I think that this relates very well to the times we are in right now in this country. This country has a whole has refused to see God’s blessing on or lives refused to see all we have been given, we have not taught our children to fear God and see what Jesus did for them. We have run into some hard times and it’s our own fault because we sit idly by and watch the people of this country loss faith in Jesus or even forget who Jesus is. It is our own ignorance and greed that is the problem we are only getting what we ask for in my opinion, we have put our faith in man instead of God. I have already stated before that we can’t even always trust ourselves much less other men. My good old gospel preacher said it well he said “Job may have cursed the day he was born but there is one day you won’t curse that is the day your reborn”. I am going to keep saying this until someone listens, learn who Jesus is, get saved, witness to someone, work for the lord, blame your own stupid decisions that you made without the good Lord in your life on yourself. Remember God will give you what you ask for so my question is what are you asking for?

What Are You Doing?

There are people in this country this morning who have lost their jobs after 20 years of employment. There are mothers and fathers who are going hungry to feed their children. There are thousands of homeless, drug addicts, drunks, and thieves. There are probably people living within a couple of miles of your home right now that don’t have power or running water. There are disabled people living on their own barley able to feed themselves. There are people so wealthy that they lose billions of dollars and have to adjust their lives to live with only millions and yet don’t feel any need to give a few hundred dollars to help any of these people. There are also people working hard living comfortably in middle class America who feel no need to go out of their way to give or to help. There are people who think it’s alright to kill babies because they do it with medical precision. There are people who think the government is responsible for taking other peoples hard earned money and giving it to them for absolutely no reason except they were raised to feel entitled to it. I think you get the point I am trying to make here and my belief is there is one answer to all these things. JESUS!! So my question for you and myself this morning is what are you doing? Do you know Jesus and if so what are you doing to witness to these people and show them the love and salvation that has been given freely to this lost and dyeing world. All any of these people need is Jesus and Christian fellowship. Good moral people are dying and going to hell every minute of every day and most of us have the answer sitting right in front of us and are to lazy to get up and spread to word.
John 3:16"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
So for you and myself get up get out and do something that matters God has already given us the answer all we have to do is believe and want his will to be done in our lives.