Thorns, Snares, Traps, Pains, & Pricks

I was listening to the radio this morning and learned something new to think about as far as Paul's Thorn in the Flesh is concerned. I has always thought that this was a physcial illness given to Paul to keep him humble. I also believed his thorn in the flesh was an eye disease since the Bible documents Paul's bad eyesight not to mention the scales that were on his eyes for 3 days after encountering Jesus on the road to Demascus.

However, there is another way to look at this and that is as a figure of speech. Much like we say people that get on our nerves are a "pain in the neck" it doesn't mean we have an actual illness in our neck; it is strictly a figure of speech. To look at what happened to Paul I think it is wise to look at it in the symbolic, figure of speech kind of way. In Numbers 33:55 "But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell."

Joshua 23:13 "Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you."

Judges 2:3 "Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you."

Acts 9:4-5 "And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."

In the context of these passages it is easy to see that this is speaking figuratively as literal people were not sticking out of their eyes and sides.


The point of this entire post is to say that the more you read the Bible, no matter how many times you may read the same passage, God will reveal new things to you and allow you to see the passages in a whole new way. So dig into the Bible often and be amazed at what God will reveal to you.

The Great White Throne

In the previous post I talked about the Judgment seat of Christ or the Bema seat. This is for believers to be given a degree of reward based on how they lived their lives for Christ after they had been saved. The Great White Throne judgment is for all of the lost at the end of all time to be judged and sentenced to eternal Hell or "Lake of Fire". Just as there are degrees of reward in Heaven, there are degrees of punishment in Hell. For example, someone like Hitler will face a much stronger judgment than say a person in South America that never was told of Jesus. Luke 12:47-48 "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

I believe every American citizen, with the access to literally a church on every street corner, will be whipped, beaten, pulverized, pureed, etc... If you thought the visual in the Passion Of The Christ was bad, wait until these people experience the Passion of the Stripes!!! Jesus Christ will be judge and jury and will say to each of them, "Depart from me you that work iniquity, I never knew you."

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

Notice it mentions at the end of this passage the "Book of Life". In the next post I will expound on what the Book of Life is, who is in it, who is not, and whether you are added to the Book of Life, if you are blotted out of the Book of Life, or if God has a cosmic eraser and keeps adding and later blotting you out. The short answer is everyone is in the book and it's the lost who get blotted out once they die.

The Bible reveals three different judgments to come. The first is the judgment of the sheep and the goats or a judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-36). This takes place after the tribulation period but prior to the millennium; its purpose is to determine who will enter the millennial kingdom. The second is a judgment of believers’ works, often referred to as the “judgment seat [bema] of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). At this judgment, Christians will receive degrees of reward for their works or service to God. The third is the great white throne judgment at the end of the millennium (Revelation 20:11-15). This is the judgment of unbelievers in which they are judged according to their works and sentenced to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.

If I made the Great White Throne judgment sound horrible, I have done my job; it is supposed to be horrible and something to be avoided. The good news is if you haven't trusted Christ as your savior yet there is still time. Once you come to a genuine trust in Christ as sufficient to pay your sin debt, you can do what I have done and what all the christian believers have done, and that is settle out of court through our great Advocate, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Here Comes The Judgment or "Bema" Ball

All born again believers in Christ will face a judgment immediately after their physical life is over. This judgment is referred to as the Judgment Seat of Christ or the Bema Seat of Christ. This is NOT a judgment of salvation as the born again have "settled out of court" via trust in the blood of Jesus Christ to pay for all of their sins. Colossians 2:14 talks about how Jesus took our sins and "nailed it to the cross" thus blotting out our transgressions forever. No, this is not a judgment to see how bad we have been; it is a judgment to see how good we have been.

2 Corinthians 5:10 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad". Notice the Apostle Paul includes himself by use of the word "we" in this scripture. The greek word is Bema seat.

The concept of the Bema Seat comes from the ancient Olympics, where a judge would sit on the Bema Seat at the finish line. The judge's purpose was to determine what position the runners came in-first, second, and so on-and then to give out the appropriate rewards. That is the imagery behind what is known as the Bema Seat.
1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win."

1 Corinthians 3:12-15, "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." Your gold, silver, and costly stones are works done for the glory of God, with the right motive, and in dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit. The things you did for selfish motives will be examined and burned. You will not be rewarded for those.

Heaven will not be the same for everyone. Just as runners in the Olympics received different levels of medals, we will receive differently based on how we have lived after we have been saved. Jesus Himself said "Lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven." If Heaven is the same for everyone, then Jesus' statement makes no sense whatsoever. The Bible talks about different crowns we can earn by being disciples of Christ and doing good works for the kingdom. They are as follows and can be found in the listed scriptures:

CROWN 1 - Crown of Righteousness earned by loving the Lord's appearing. This is an easy crown to earn. - 2 Tim 4:8 "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

CROWN 2 - Incorruptible crown— Disciplined Bodies/Self Control - 1 Cor 9:25-27 "And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

CROWN 3 - Crown of Life — Endured patiently through trials - James 1:12 "Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him." Rev 2:10 "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

CROWN 4 - Crown of Glory — Godly leaders (teacher's crown) -
1 Peter 5:2-4: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away

CROWN 5 - Crown of rejoicing — Soul winners crown - 1 Thess 2:19"For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
Daniel 12:3 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse of Heaven; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

Although this is a judgment of rewards, many will go through feelings of sorrow as they miss out on rewards they could have won but did not, things will be brought to recollection of people they could have witnessed to but did not, opportunities to do good for the Kingdom's sake but did not, etc. James talks about this in his epistle in the famous scripture that talks about faith without works is dead. James 2:14 "What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" Note the word profit is used which proves this is not a salvation verse. Salvation is a free gift which can not be bought or earned through works. What James is saying is when we get to the Judgment seat of Christ, and we have a life of faith without good works to show it, we will not be saved from the shame and sorrow of being exposed as a wordly, carnal believer instead of one who was a disciple of Christ, a true Christian.

So everyone needs to get ready for the Judge, Jesus Christ. As believers we must all stand before Him and give an account of how we lived on this earth. The question is, will you be able to give a good account or will Christ see you as "no count"?

How Permanent Is Your Salvation

I posted this on September 1st but after the discussion in small group last night I thought it warranted posting it again. I am not trying to pull Theological hairs here.. this is serious.. we are talking about you're eternal destiny. I urge you to not only read this post but study it, meditate on it and go check the scriptures out for yourself.


How Permanent Is Your Salvation?

I have heard this debate ever since I can remember. Can someone lose their salvation. The question should be more personal... can YOU lose your salvation. I fear that some, if not many, people are confused on this subject, or worse yet, have the teaching on salvation incorrect altogether. Let's look at what the Bible has to say about the subject. We should always defer to the Bible in these matters and not someone's philosophy, what sounds good or what people want to hear. Let's start in the Gospel of John and Jesus' own words as recorded in John 5:24

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, HAS everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (emphasis mine)

First, notice eternal life is not something you have to wait for until after you die to see if you get. There is no "big scale in the sky" to weigh your good works vs your bad works. This verse in John is a present tense verse using the word "has". Salvation is something you get the instant you believe (trust) in Christ as the only satisfactory payment for your sins. Salvation is not a process. You don't work to get it and you don't work to keep it. It is yours the moment you authentically trust Christ.

Second, it also says "shall not come into condemnation"... in the greek that is translated "you won't ever be sent to hell." No matter what you may do or not do in your future, it will not impact your predestined eternity as a believer.

Third, it says you have passed from death to life.. meaning spiritual death to spiritual life.... and it is irreversible. There is no provision in the Bible for being "unborn". You know Nicodemus was confounded by this fact when Jesus told him he must be born again. Nicodemus asked Jesus "can a man enter a 2nd time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Just as that is impossible in the natural world, it is also just as impossible in the spiritual world. Usually there are 2 biblical names that people will bring up as those who lost their salvation... Judas and King Saul. The Bible says that Judas was NEVER a believer in John 6:64 "But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him." and follow up in verses 70 & 71 Jesus answered them, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."

Judas did not lose his salvation; he never had it. King Saul became disobedient, but is in heaven today. How do I know that? The prophet Samuel told King Saul that he will be with him when he was foretelling of Saul's pending physical death at the hands of the Philistines. In 1 Samuel 28:19. "Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." Please note that Saul is told that he is to lose the battle with the Philistines and that he and his sons will be killed. Also he is told that he would be with Samuel. I think it's safe to assume that Samuel is in heaven so, as night follows day, Saul is in heaven also.

********************************************

Sidebar: If you are not saved forever, you are not saved. Let me repeat that, so there is no misunderstanding. IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED FOREVER YOU ARE NOT SAVED.
The ONLY kind of salvation God offers is eternal salvation. God offers salvation, not probation.
********************************************

Let's shift gears and look at John 6:37 Jesus gives us His promise. He says, "All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." Once again, the greek translation of "no wise" means for no reason would Jesus ever cast you out if you have come to Him. That should settle all arguments right there, but there are those that say "Well Christ might not cast me out, but I can cast myself out". However, if you go two verses down to verse 39 even this is impossible. Christ says, "And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Jesus said He is not going to lose ANYONE that comes to Him. You see, we are eternally secure because Jesus is holding onto us, not because we are holding on to Him. In fact, we often times go through rough patches in our lives and drift.. letting go if you will. The old fashioned term for this is backsliding. We have all been there. Don't shake your head, just admit it. No one goes through their entire life without at least backsliding once in a while. This is why I love the old hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". It is Christ's faithfulness that we can count on. Wouldn't it be horrible if the hymn was "Great Is MY Faithfulness." We would ALL be in serious trouble. Think about this, if Jesus lost even 1 person who came to Him for Salvation, then Jesus would be a liar.. and a liar is no one's savior. We can wrap this thought up looking at John 6:47 where Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me has everlasting life." When Jesus uses Verily, Verily it means truthfully, truthfully. He repeats Himself to make sure we understand and don't miss this important truth.

Note that in the two main verses we have looked at (John 5:24 and now John 6:47) that Jesus uses the phrase Verily, Verily. You may not understand a lot about the Bible but when you see a verily, verily verse from Christ, that is a truth God wants you to make sure you understand.

Come with me now to Hebrews 10:10-12, a great passage talking about Christ's one time sacrifice on the Cross has sanctified us once and for all.

"10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."

Did you see that? It says we are sanctified. Now what does sanctified mean? Some get this wrong also. Some believe it means to set apart, which is not really true. Sanctified means to make pure and Holy. By application, anything that is made pure and Holy is set apart. Now of our own works we are not sanctified. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) and "There is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10) But once a person trusts Christ, at that moment he is seen by God as pure and Holy as though he had comitted no sin at all. Look at verse 11. It says religion can't do that and every priest stands daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices which can NEVER take away sins. You can be religious and go to Hell. In contrast, look at verse 14 and this is the clincher "For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

Question, if you are perfected forever in God's sight, how could you ever be lost? Simple. You can't be.

This is the "Good News" of the Gospel. Once we trust Christ we are seen by God as pure and Holy, perfected forever.

The cherry on top is verse 17 "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." All sins you have committed in the past and all sins you haven't committed yet are taken care of as far as salvation is concerned.

Suppose someone believes they can lose their salvation. If someone believes they can lose their salvation they are most likely trusting in their works and are not saved. If a person believes how they live their life between the moment they trust Christ and the day they die determines whether they will enter Heaven or not, they are trusting in themselves for their salvation. They are making themselves the Savior and not Christ. As mentioned earlier, Christ offers salvation, not probation. I believe many confuse salvation with discipleship, fellowship with God or living the Christian life. Those we can lose and regain daily depending on our obedience.

Take a look at some of the scariest verses in all the Bible, Matthew 7:22-23

"22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity." Notice, Jesus did not say I once knew you and now I lost you, He said I never knew you. Yet there are many who name the name of Jesus Christ (note the 3 times they did things in 'thy name') who are not saved and are in for a very WARM reception when they die. I am not trying to split theological hairs here, I am talking about the difference in someone's eternal destiny. So what happened? These people did good works in the name of Jesus, did healings, gave to the poor, etc but they were trusting on those acts to make them pure and Holy. Now, had they said to Christ, "Lord, didn't we trust that your shed blood on the Cross paid our sin debt and that you rose from the grave to make us righteous in your Father's sight?" If they had said that, Jesus would have said "come on into Heaven." This is one of Satan's slyest tricks. Satan presents a heavenly way to go to Hell. He misleads and confuses people into thinking they are on their way to Heaven by getting them to do all these good deeds and being religious but having them bypass the cross and trusting Jesus alone. Here is a math equation for you:

Christ + _______ = Salvation

What did you put in the blank? If you put anyting in the blank other than the word "nothing", you are not saved. Christ said I AM the way, the truth and the life... not I + something else. Let me illustrate. Turn with me if you will to Romans chapter 11:6 and this is a bit of a tongue twister but if you can understand this, you have salvation figured out.

"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."

Sounds confusing, but it is not. It is basically saying, that if you are saved by grace then you can't also be saved by works. By definition, grace is void of works. It is a free gift which we do not deserve but God in His love offers to us. You can not mix grace and works, they are polar opposites. If you add works into grace, you nullify the grace. Galatians 5:4 refers to it as "falling from grace." You have to make the decision... do I trust in the grace of God through faith in what Christ did on Calvary, or do I trust in my works to make me as Holy as I can (foreiting the grace) and then take my chances? The choice is yours but the consequences of your choice are forever. It's like being pregnant. You can't just be a little pregnant.. either you are or you aren't. You can't just have a little grace.. either you have grace or you do not. If you attempt to be saved by your works, Christ will say to you "depart from me you that work iniquity."

More on backsliding, the Bible talks about this. Look at Hebrews 10:38-39

"38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

Notice the word "we". The writer of Hebrews is including himself, and you know he is saved. When we are disobedient, God is not pleased with us but we are not of them that draw back into perdition or Hell. In the greek, we don't lose what we have because we are disobedient. We can backslide out of fellowship with God, but we can NEVER backslide out of relationship with God.

Now, the obvious objection to all of this is "If I believe this, I can live as I please and sin all I want with no repercussion." Well, yes and no. You will not face the repercussion of losing your salvation but you can not live as you please. Once you become a child of God by accepting Christ, you give God the authority to deal with you as His child. He becomes your Father for the very first time. Did you know that God is not everyone's Father? An unsaved person who prays the Lord's prayer is praying incorrectly because God is NOT his father. Once God is your "Father" through salvation, when you are disobedient, He has the authority to discipline you as any parent does to their child. Go a little farther in Hebrews to chapter 12:6-8.

6 For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8 But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not sons.

You know when I was growing up, no matter how disobedient I was, my parents never kicked me out of the house or disowned me as their child. In fact, my father was usually eager to see me, he'd wait for me in the bedroom and would even tell me which direction to lean across the bed as he would take off his belt and give me a "warm" reception. Look at verse 8, if you are WITHOUT chastisement, you are illegitimate (the King James uses a little stronger word) and not truly sons.

Continue ahead a couple of verses to Hebrews 12:11
" Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

God's chastening is not meant to be pleasurable but grievous. When I was spanked as a child I never went to my father and said, "that was great, can we do it again tomorrow night? Can I invite my friends over to watch?" Of course not, it is grievous on purpose. But look at the end result in verse 11.. it yields good fruit; the fruit of righteousness. I was not a big "yes sir, no sir" kind of kid. But bet your bottom dollar after a spanking I sure did become one. The discipline I received yielded peaceable fruit in me of respect and obedience.

Let's look at two people in the book of Acts that received the "ultimate" in chastening, Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. Some believe they lost their salvation because God took their life. The fact that God took their life for lieing about selling their land for a certain price proves they were saved. God was dealing with them as His children and saying, "If you are going to act like that, come on home". This chastening produced a peaceable righteousness as we see in verse 11 when the Bible says that "great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things." I assure you, that those other people got the message from God about the consequences of lieing. They reaped the benefits of the peaceable fruit at Ananias' and Sapphira's expense.

A related verse that comes to mind about being chastened is 1 Corinthians 3:15 "If any man's works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

We can lose a lot of things when we are disobedient, but our salvation is not one of them. We can lose our joy. Remember in Psalm 51 David asked God to restore the "joy of his salvation". He did not ask to have his salvation restored because it didn't need to be. We can also lose rewards in Heaven, we can lose our fellowship and our productivity as an effective Christian witness, but not our salvation.

With all of this it seems pretty clear to me that we are saved forever if we are truly saved, but let's add some more to the discussion. Look at Ephesians 1:13-14
"13 In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: having believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Notice the progression.... You hear the word of truth, you believe what you hear, and at the instant you believe, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. A seal in olden times was a sign of a finished transaction. A king would write something on a scroll to be sent to some dignitary, they would usually put it in a pouch for travel and put wax on the latchet of the pouch. The King would then take his ring and press down into the wax with his insignia and it was sent to who it was addressed and nobody but nobody better open that letter by breaking the seal and read it except the person whom it was addressed. Likewise, God seals us. However, we are not sealed with wax.. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. To lose your salvation, something or someone would have to be more powerful than God to break that seal. In verse 14 it goes on to say that this seal is the "earnest" of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased posession. The word earnest means a down payment and is still used today in legal terms in real estate. To buy a house, you put a down payment or a payment in earnest that you are going to complete the deal. What God is saying is that I am giving you the Holy Spirit in advance, not only to seal you, but as a promise that He will complete the transaction and you will be in Heaven with Him when you leave this place.

Realizing all this, singing the hymn "Blessed Assurance" has all new meaning to me now. I used to wish I had assurance, but now I know. Not because I am so great, but because Jesus Christ is so great.

It gets even better. Look at John 10:28.. Jesus says,
"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." The Bible says that once we are saved we become part of Jesus' body. If we were ever to be lost, part of Jesus' body would have to be cut off (amputated) and that will never happen.

Does believing you have permanent salvation lead to a life of living as you please and living in sin? Absolutely not. Often times it has the opposite effect and of this I can personally testify. Because of the Grace that God has shown to me by pardoning me and bringing me into His family, I am so greatful that I want to live for Him and serve Him in any way I can. And the cool part is I can do that freely without having to worry about wasting time nervously wondering if I am saved. All of my energy can now be focused on helping others to realize this liberating truth and discipling them to become the obedient christians we are called to be.

Whether you agree with this doctrine of Permanent Salvation or not, I hope it has at least encouraged you to dig deeper into God's Word and see for yourself what the Bible says. Then you can determine for yourself "How Permanent Is Your Salvation?"

Homework Assignment - Helping Someone Recognize God's Love For Them

Roughly 30 days after completing the 4 day KAIROS program in prison, we go back in with those same inmates and do a follow up instructional day. The purpose for this reunion is to build on the weekend and then to teach those men how do get involved in prayer & share accountability groups. There are five talks that are presented by team members during this one day instructional. The theme of the talks mirrors the questions that we use in the prayer & share group. They are as follows:

1) Can you share any moment when you have known that Christ's presence was with you?

2) Have you discovered anything, anywhere (reading, a message, songs, a study) which will help you to be a better follower of Jesus Christ?

3) Has there been a time when, through some word or action, you tried to help someone recognize God's love for them?

4) Has there been a time when it has been difficult to show Christ's love for another person?

5) Are there things you are thankful for (situations or struggles) that we can pray about together?

I was given the talk to do on #3 which is talking about trying to show someone God's love for them. We are given a brief outline and need to make a 10 minute instructional talk on the subject. I thought I would use this forum to help me put my thoughts together and see how it might turn out.

I believe there are several ways in which we can try to show someone God's love for them, but I will focus on two. One way is to show the person God's love for you by personal testimony and explain that God loves them in the same way. Another way to show someone God's love is to be the hands and feet of God and do a loving act for that person. They will see your actions and see that God is working through you to send His love to them.

We must recognize God's love for us. We can not share what we have not experienced ourselves. The scripture texts are Romans 5:8 "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" and John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" and finally 1 John 3:16 " Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren".

Simply put, Jesus showed us the ultimate showing of God's love for us by laying down His life for us. Does that mean that we jump in front of a bullet and give up our life for someone else's? Well it could but that would be an extreme case. We can "lay down our lives" for others in simpler ways such as giving of our time and resources to help those in need. We do this not to get paid back by them but because we are compelled by the love of God. Perhaps for most of us this could mean taking the time to write a note or give an encouraging word to someone who needs it.

I believe the two ways are intertwined because it is recognition of the first that compels us to do the acts of the second. People have asked me in the past why I take the time to go into the prison and try to encourage and minister to the incarcerated. The answer is NOT because I am such a great person and upstanding citizen. Left up to my own devices, I would spend those weekends at home watching football or sleeping in. The answer is because I am so grateful for what Christ has done for me that I feel it is only worthy to attempt to do something for others in His name. It is not something I feel obligated to do; it is something I want to do and look forward to get to do. Serving is not a responsibility, it is an honor... an honor I take very seriously. In doing so, I know Christ is with me and that is the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Have there been times I have missed an opportunity to show Christ's love for someone. Of course there has been times. I am far from perfect. I had two instances at the local Food Lion this summer and I took advantage of one, but missed the other.

The first was a young man came up to me in the parking lot saying he needed an additonal $16 to pay the tow truck to tow his car. Now I did not see a tow truck there, he said it was on the way. Without thinking about it, I gave him the $16. He asked me for my address to pay me back but I told him not to worry about it. I did not tell him I did this for Jesus though as I did not want to puff myself up as being a super spiritual christian. Did he really have this crisis or was I conned out of $16? I will never know the answer to that question but in the end it doesn't really matter. I felt God laying it on my heart in that instant to give so I did.

The second instance came in the check out line at Food Lion. A woman 2 people ahead of me in line was buying groceries which came to roughly $60. When she went to pay for them, she was having trouble swiping her debit or credit card and I could see she was flustered. She had to leave all the items there, go home and come back. For an instant the thought popped in my head to go ahead and pay for her groceries but I didn't. I hesitated and then I began to try to logically think it through and rationalize why I should keep quiet and not say anything. As a result, I missed an opportunity to help someone. Who knows, it may have led to a chance to talk about Jesus with her.

I believe God, through His providence, sets up appointments with us and others and places someone in need in our path to see how we will react. Sometimes we fail, sometimes we do well. We are always in a stage of growing and learning and the only way we grow is for God to test us in moments like these. May we all recognize the next "opportunity" we have and seize it to love someone in Christ's name. I leave you with these scriptures from Galatians 6:10 and James 4:17 as food for thought.


Galatians 6:10 "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin."

Angels In The Outfield or Out in Left Field on Angels

Since as a society, we seem to get the Christmas celebration earlier and earlier I figured it wasn't too early to broach the topic which has bugged me for a while about angels and how tradition views them. If you go into any novelty store and look at a ceramic angel I imagine most, if not all, are depicted as female, a child, with wings and that they sing. There is one problem with this. The Bible NEVER depicts angels in this manner. Angels are adult, MALE, they don't have wings and they speak, not sing. Cherabim have wings but they are not angels. Cherabim are sphinx like creatures with human heads, the bodies of lions and two wings. They guarded the entrance to the Garden Of Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled (Genesis 3:24) and they also formed the mercy seat on the Arc of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18-20).


Only two angels are named by name and they are both male... Gabriel and Michael.
Jude 9
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Luke 1:19
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

When Jesus ascended to Heaven and promised to send the Holy Spirit, it was two MEN in white robes who spoke to the disciples in the book of Acts 1:9-11
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

The Angels who came to Lot were mistaken as men by the men of Sodom who wanted to have homosexual relations with them.
Genesis 19: 1-5
That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”
But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

Even our Christmas Carols (does the song "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" come to mind) have erroneously mentioned that Angels sing. The bible does not state this. The verse that many think mentions Angels singing is in reference to the birth of Christ but if we look at the scripture, there is no mention of singing, just saying.

Luke 2:13-14
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and SAYING,“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

We know there are no baby angels because angels do not reproduce. How do we know this?
Matthew 22:30 "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."

So the question is, since the Bible clearly teaches that when angels are seen, they have the form of adult men why do gift shops sell angels that look like a 4 yr old girl with wings? Answer, they sell a lot better than a figurine of an adult male would. We have been engrained by tradtion to look at the logo of an angel to be this cute little girl baby with wings. It is what sells. It is much like the logo we have of Christ (you know the long haired guy). Jesus did not have long hair as he is depicted yet it is what we accept as a logo for Him.

Now, is all the angel stuff vital as far as salvation? Of course not. However, we need to be solid on our doctrine and rightly divide the truth in the Bible and this area is one that is usually not researched or discussed much. It is just accepted by society.

Be careful if you follow the traditions of men that you are not deceived. Don't take my word for it, study the Bible and check things out for yourself. I leave you with this:

Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Tiptoeing Through the "TULIP"

Contrary to what you may think from reading the title, this is not about Tiny Tim. This post is about "Big Bad John". No, not the Big Bad John from the song made popular by Jimmy Dean, but the Big Bad John known as John Calvin who started the Calvinist movement and his false teachings. There are 5 main points of Calvinism and they are often remembered by the Acronym "TULIP" and they are as follows:

1) Total Depravity
2) Unconditional Election
3) Limited Atonement
4) Irresistable Grace
5) Perseverance of the Saints


Much like 4 out of 5 dentist would recommend Trident gum, 4 out of the 5 points of Calvinism are not scriptural and therefore are wrong.


Total Depravity is the one point that he got right. All of mankind is in a depraved state without Christ. Romans 3:10 & Romans 3:23 say that there is none good, no not one and that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Of this, Mr. Calvin was correct. The only way for us to break free of this depravity is through Jesus Christ and having His righteousness imputed to us based on our belief in His death, burial and resurrection as satisfactory payment for our sins.

Unconditional Election. This false belief teaches that God has already elected you whether you want to be saved by Him or not it is all based on God's will. We have no say in the matter which is what supposedly makes up the "elect". If this were true, then trying to evangelize to people would be futile. We could tell people all that Jesus did on the cross but we would not know if they were the so called "elect" or not.

Limited Atonement. This may be the worst of them all. This says that Christ died on the cross, but only for certain people, the elect (see the previous point on unconditional election). We know this to be false because the Bible says in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He sent His son. It does not say God so loved the "elect". Anyone who has ever been born on earth as a human being has the possibility of being saved. Will they all? Of course not. People have free will to reject Christ and many do. Speaking of rejection, that leads to the next point, Irresistable grace.

Irresistable Grace. When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God. You are like a robot saying "yes master". The Bible shows this to not be true in Acts 7:51 where Stephen, just before being stoned to death, is addressing the religious leaders after they crucified Christ. "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did." This shows the Holy Spirit can be resisted.. it is all a matter of free will.

Perserverance of the Saints. This is completely backwards. We are not Saints because we perservere, we perservere because we are Saints. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to perservere in the tough times. We don't perservere in order to be saved. After we are saved, there will be times when we don't always stay connected to God like we should.. we can drift away from serving Him and fellowshipping with the Saints. The key is we may drift away but we don't stop believing. The scripture that best illustrates this is in Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."
What Paul is saying here (and yes I believe Paul wrote the book of Hebrews but that is another posting for another time) is that yes, we may draw back or fall away or as some call it "get in a spirtual funk" but not to the point where we lose our inheritance in Christ. The true Christian may fall away but they will always come back. If they never come back, they were never Christians to begin with. 1 John 2:19 explains this "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

Also Peter mentions those who pretend to be Christians but end up going back to their old ways eventually. 2 Peter 2:20-23 "20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Believers in Christ are known as sheep. If a sheep falls into a mud puddle, it does everything it can to get out and get clean, but a pig once it goes in the mud, enjoys it and stays there.

So unlike the Meatloaf song that says "2 out of 3 Ain't Bad", the 4 out of 5 flaws in Calvinism are very bad. Not even Trident or a good dentist can help with that either.

Getting Our "Acts" Together or Exposing the NIV for what it is.. The Normally Inaccurate Version

I know this will not bring favor on me from many because this post is about criticizing one of, if not the most, popular Bible translation out there.... the NIV. In our small group we are studying Spiritual Warfare and the chapter we are on now is talking about how important "sound doctrine" is and how we can fall prey to Satan if we don't know our doctrine. Well, it is kind of hard to know the doctrine if the doctrine is not even in the reference material you are using for your doctrine (i.e the Bible). Never is the omission / misrepresentation of doctrine perpetrated by the NIV seen more clearly than in the Book of Acts, Chapter 8, 34-39 and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing

Now, I think we can all count and if you look at this passage you can see we go 34, 35, 36, 38, 39 .. but there is a number missing.... 37 and what does verse 37 happen to say 37 Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Now I do not know about you, but that's a pretty important verse to omit. Granted, some versions of the NIV have this verse in the footnotes, but some don't. Even if all NIV's included this in a footnote, do we really want to put such an important teaching as believing that Jesus is the Son of God in a footnote!!!

The other problem is many people who only casually read the Bible don't even look at the footnotes. It leaves them with the impression that all you need is to be dipped into water to be saved which is of course ludicrous. Friends, if you aren't already saved before you hit the water all you are doing is getting wet!!! Baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby a new believer is placed into the body of Christ happens the instant someone trusts Christ. Baptism in water is a public proclamation of an already finished transaction.

There is nothing magical in the water itself as far as cleansing your sin. Like the old hymn asks "What can wash away my sin? NOTHING but the blood of Jesus." The scripture in Jeremiah 2:22 makes a similar point "For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity and guilt are still upon you; you are spotted, dirty, and stained before Me, says the Lord. "

I could make MANY posts showing the iniquity of the NIV version of the Bible but that would take too long and quite frankly many do not care if the NIV is accurate or not. It's in simple language and people like it that way, content be damned.

I was going to also mention the error in Isaiah 14 but I found this response on the internet and it says it as well as I could have said it so here it is.

The NIV is full of errors
Hello Sir,
I tried to find your name on your web site but could not locate it. I agree with a lot you mention on your website about eternal security and other topics, but one thing I need to tell you about, the niv bible is not what it makes out to be. I as a 30 year pastor and Bible teacher have found that there are very many subtle errors in it, errors that can not be over looked. Go to Isaiah 14 : 12 First read the KJV and you will see the correct translation from the Hebrew manuscripts, here the fallen being is called Lucifer, correct he is the fallen being. But going to the NIV you will see that this version drops the name Lucifer, and puts the name morning star there, well excuse me this name belongs to JESUS and HE NEVER EVER FELL FROM GRACE…………..

Some will argue and say yea but the devil is also called son of the dawn, and this is what is implied. No sir. Even if this is the case, the doubt should never ever have been put in the mind of the new believer as to the fallibility of JESUS. Now you may say this is just an over sight, then I want to tell you that this is but only one of the many errors in this translation. You can go to our web site and see an exhaustive study we did on comparing these two translations.

As far as saying that the NIV reads easier then the KJV, the KJV is an Anointed Bible and the Lord is faithful in helping one to read it easily and correctly if we would but ask Him.
And finally the KJV has no copyright which means one can copy any section from it as its author is God through the power of the Holy-Spirit, whereas the NIV has a copyright and you can not copy sections from it because the bible company makes money from it. It has man's ideas mixed up in it, and not all men involved in the creation of it were committed Christians.

This version is an ecumenical version which is a version mutually acceptable to all faiths and therefore very watered down, so as not to offend so called uncommitted hardliners.

Still, here are other verses which either are distorted, the meaning is lessened or they are downright inaccurate.

They omit Christ and add man - this is wrong!
John 4:42 (KJV) And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
John 4:42 (NIV) They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

NIV omits by Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:9 (KJV) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 3:9 (NIV) and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

Notice the NIV omits "Christ" and "is come in the flesh". This is important to us who are saved.
1 John 4:3 (KJV) And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1 John 4:3 (NIV) but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

The NIV omits the BLOOD and question the Deity of Christ in these verses.
Colossians 1:14-15 (KJV) In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 1:14-15 (NIV) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

The Word of God is our authority for salvation and to defeat Satan.
Luke 4:4 (KJV) And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Luke 4:4 (NIV) Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"

The NIV does not stand on the great doctrine of salvation by grace through faith.
The translators were out of "works" backgrounds. The NIV staff was quoted as saying, "A Christian never 'IS' but always 'IS BECOMING'". Notice how they take God's grace out of your heart.
Colossians 3:16 (KJV) ... with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16 (NIV) ... with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Let's consider the model prayer in Luke 11:2-4.
a. You will notice that the NIV changes "Our Father" to "Father", why? Because we live in an age that believes in the universal fatherhood of God, that is "everyone is a child of God". This Devil crowd uses the prayer given in the NIV as a prayer to their father, Satan. They also omit, "which art in Heaven,". We must ask, "Who is this father in the NIV?" They also omit, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth". What is the will of God for this earth? It is for the Lord Jesus to return and put all of His enemies under His footstool and for Him to reign in power and glory.
Luke 11:2 (KJV) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luke 11:2 (NIV) He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

They omit the second coming.
The devil hates the second coming because he knows his time will be over.
Matthew 25:13 (KJV) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.
Matthew 25:13 (NIV) "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Look how the NIV attacks the rapture of the church. The whole verse is omitted.
Luke 17:36 (KJV) Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luke 17:36 (NIV)

The Doctrine of Hell - how does the NIV treat this all important truth?
Quote NIV editor, R. Laird Harris, "Hell may stand FOR ETERNAL DEATH,". He goes on to say, "It refers to death, not to any punishment." Of course these modernist line up with all the - No Hell cults of our day.
1. Verse 44 and 46 are omitted in the NIV.
Mark 9:44 (KJV) Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mark 9:44 (NIV)

2. The NIV plays into the hands of those cults who teach the annihilation of the wicked.
The idea that sinners will just be burned up and that will be it. If I were Satan, I wouldn't want people to believe in a real hell.

At least 36 times in the NIV - Hell is changed.

The NIV changes "Hell" to death in these verses ( 6 times ).
Deuteronomy 32:22 Job 26:6 Proverbs 23:14; 27:20 Isaiah 28:18; 57:9

They change Hell to "the grave" in these verses ( 22 Times).
Job 11:8 Psalm 9:17; 16:10; 18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3 Proverbs 7:27; 15:24 Isaiah 5:14; 14:15 Ezekiel 31:16, 17; 32:21, 27 Jonah 2:2 Habakkuk 2:5 Acts 2:21, 31

The NIV changes "Hell" to "the depts." - ( 3 times ).
Psalm 139:8 Matthew 11:23 Luke 10:15

There is a great deal of difference between weakness and infirmity. Infirmity happens because of outside influences, but weakness speaks of one's character. Our Lord was entirely without sin.
Hebrews 5:2 (KJV) Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Hebrews 5:2 (NIV) He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.

Daniel 3:25 (KJV) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Daniel 3:25 (NIV) He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

The Ascension of Christ.
They leave out "I go to the Father" this attacks the all important doctrine of the ascension of Christ. If Jesus did not resurrect and if He did not ascend back to the Father, then we have no hope of salvation and we have no hope of the second coming.
John 16:16 (KJV) A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
John 16:16 (NIV) "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

They put part of verse 8 and call it verse 7. This is corrupt and evil.
1 John 5:7-8 (KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
1 John 5:7-8 (NIV) For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

There is no greater verse in all the Bible to teach the doctrine of the Trinity than (I John 5:7), yet the modern versions omit them, and textual criticism have a heyday with this verse. Yet this verse if found in "The old Syriac A.D. 170, old Latin A.D. 200, Vulgate: 4th and 5th century, Italian 4th and 5th century". Also many church fathers quoted this and it is found in "Liber Apologetic A.D. 350, Council of Carthiage A.D. 415." The idea that the True Word of God was lost for 1800 years, and then found by our Catholic friends, is an insult to God Almighty and His ability to preserve His Word.

Note: At least 70 times, the NIV omits GOD! * Jesus - 15; Christ - 25; Lord - 16; God - 13.
*Somebody must not like Jesus, Christ, Lord, and God.

What The Hell? or The Greatest Love Of All

I heard a message from our church yesterday morning that I thought I would never hear... the subject of Hell. So many "modern" churches only seem to want to talk about the love aspect of God because that is what people want to hear. This was confirmed when I was at the coffee pot between services. I told someone I wanted to hurry up and get back into the auditorium because the message was so good the first time I wanted to hear it again. In an excited tone they asked me what the message was about. I replied in a manner-of-factly tone, "Hell". The person's facial expression changed immediately to one of "ugh!!!" and the reply I heard was "well that's no fun."

That, in a nutshell is what is wrong in many of our modern churches. Too many people want to come to church to be entertained. The Bible mentions nothing about being entertained but it does warn that in the last days people will flock to hear messages from those who will "tickle their itching ears". Take a look at 2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." This ties in to my previous post on sound doctrine.

Ok, getting back to talking about Hell. God has two major qualities... Love and Holiness. Most modern churches do a bang up job teaching about the love of God. That is why so many just don't believe a God of love would send a person to Hell. However, they fail miserably in teaching the Holiness, the Justice and the Wrath of God. As I have said before, if someone teaches the love of God to the exclusion of the Holiness and wrath of God they are teaching a half truth and when a half truth becomes the whole truth it becomes and untruth.

The message Sunday was dead on. God is Holy and Just and He requires payment for sin, no one is immune from this. No one should ever get the false idea that being a "good person" will get them to Heaven. There are two flaws in that way of thinking. First, no matter how good a person may think he or she is they are not good. Romans 3:10 says there is none righteous, no, not one. The second flaw is that even if a person could somehow be "good" goodness doesn't earn your way to Heaven. Heaven is not something a person can achieve (earn). Heaven is not a reward for the righteous, but a gift for the guilty. As the pastor said yesterday, the good do not go to Heaven, only the forgiven do.

As I think of it, the holiness, wrath and judgment of God only goes to show His love even more. Contrary to what Whitney Houston might think, the "Greatest Love of All" was God sending His son to die on the cross to satisfy the payment of sin that had to be dealt with. We as mere humans can not comprehend the amount of love it took for God to do that for us. Romans 5:8 says "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." That was truly the "Greatest Love of All".

The question we should try to answer is not why does God send so called "good people" to Hell, but how is it that a Holy and Just God could allow sinful man into His Heaven. Actually, God does not send people to Hell.. people send themselves their by their own free will. As it is written in Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live".

The only thing I would have like to have seen added to the message yesterday would to have a reading of the account of Lazarus and the rich man as told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke 16:19-31
Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.
And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house for I have five brothers in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.
But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.

Some have mistakenly believed that this is a fictious event or a parable, but Jesus never calls this a parable. Also, in all of the parables Jesus taught on He never used a person's name. Here he names Lazarus by name. No my friends, this was a historical account because Jesus wanted us to have a glimpse of what Hell would be like. In fact, Jesus taught more on Hell than He did Heaven because He did not want us to go there.

As I told a few people at church yesterday, while the message was being given it was one of the few times I REALLY felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the building and at work. This was reaffirmed when a young lady made the decision after the message to be baptized in the 2nd service. That is what church and christianity is all about.. building the Kingdom of God by adding believers to the Body of Christ. This is producing fruit.

So if you are not a believer in Christ the question still remains... will you choose life or death? There is no alternative. It's Jesus' way or the Highway (to Hell). Those aren't my rules, those are God's Holy rules. People need to stop playing the game of church and do business with God for real and accept the free gift He is offering. All it takes is faith and belief. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." So as Bill Clinton once said "It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is" only this time we are refering to "it" not "is". In this verse I believe the word "it" has a double reference. I believe the gift of God is both grace and the faith to believe and accept that grace.

I urge anyone reading this who has never truly and faithfully accepted Christ as his or her savior to do so now. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 Behold, NOW is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, NOW is "THE DAY OF SALVATION".

Our life is nothing more than a vapor that can fade away in an instant. We never know when we are going to leave this earth so it is imperative that if you do not know Christ as your savior to make that decision NOW. When you die, it will be too late. Don't go to hell... you don't have to. Jesus is providing the way out of eternal death and offering eternal life. You'd be VERY wise to take Him up of on that offer.