Monday, July 23, 2007

Hotter ’n Hell

In the middle of summer, when the weather is hot, people talk about hell. They say, “It’s hotter ’n hell!” Of course it’s not--but their expression betrays their belief that hell is real.

Some people say they don’t believe in hell but their words are still peppered with “hells” and “damns!” (To “damn” is to condemn someone to hell.) As kids used to say, “Go figure.”

Others ask how a God of love could send people to such a terrible place.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. Some folks think that all Jesus talked about was love. But Jesus spoke about hell more than all the other New Testament writers combined!

Interestingly, all we know about hell comes from the Bible. It says hell is prepared for the devil and his fallen angels and that God has done everything possible to prevent people from going there. However, God won’t keep you from going if you’re determined to go.

Instead what you usually hear is people wishing they could send their friends and family there. They say, “Go to hell!” or “God damn you!”

The Bible clearly warns that all who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior will be judged after death and spend eternity in a lake of fire called hell. God sent Jesus to die on the cross and provide forgiveness for sin so that salvation from hell could be free to all who trust in him.

God doesn’t want to damn people, he wants a personal relationship with them. He wants to be their God and for them to be his spiritual children. But, if people reject his son, Jesus Christ, as their personal Savior, there is no other way to be saved from hell. Jesus did not say, “I am A way.” He said, “I am THE way, THE truth and THE life.” He didn’t leave the door open for there to be another “way” to get into heaven—no matter how sincere a person is.

Now that bothers some people. But it’s really no different than if I told you there is only one road to my house. Stating a fact doesn’t make one a bigot.

Christians who believe the Bible is true naturally feel they must warn others of the consequences of rejecting Christ. The forgiveness, peace and joy that come from accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is something they want everyone to have.

On top of that, Jesus commanded his followers to go into the whole world and tell others the good news about him. The Bible calls that good news the “Gospel.”

According to the Bible the gospel is the news that Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to his disciples and then to more than five hundred people at the same time.

Sadly some Christians aren’t tactful in their approach to sharing this news. If you’re not a born-again Christian, please don’t dismiss Christians who share their faith with you as bigots.

When a Christian tells a non-Christian that they need to put their faith in Jesus, it’s not because he disrespects the other person’s faith. Rather it’s because he cares about the other person’s eternal soul. He wants them to repent and personally trust Jesus for salvation.

Here’s more good news: Jesus will not only save you from hell, he will be your friend, guide, protector and provider through your whole life. Being a Christian is not just about living for the hereafter. It’s about eternal life that starts right now—a life with purpose, meaning, joy and contentment. Instead of hell on earth you can experience heaven in your heart.

Yes, God is a God of love. And he loves you so much he never wants you to get anywhere near hell—much less feel “Hotter ’n hell!”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Grand Rewards

The three most important things in life are faith, family and friends. And this month my wife and I were privileged to enjoy some extra blessings with our family.

All four of our children and all five of our grandchildren were actually in town at the same time. Now that may not sound like something worth celebrating to you but it was for us!

With the oldest daughter’s family in the Midwest and the middle daughter’s family overseas, it’s a rare treat to spend time with all our grandchildren at once. To get them all under one roof at the same time was--well it was both exhilarating and exhausting. (If you have grandchildren you know what I mean!)

I have a friend who said that the two most wonderful sights in the world are the headlights of the car arriving with his grandchildren and the taillights of the car leaving with them a few days later!

Individually they are a delight, but get them all together and they will wear you out!

In ancient times, to live long enough to see one’s grandchildren was considered a great blessing. But with today’s longer life spans it’s something most modern parents will experience.

Someone once said, “Grandchildren are the reward you get for not strangling your teenagers when you felt like it!” And what a grand reward grandchildren are.

But I know someone who will never have grandchildren, even though he has children.

God never has and never will have grandchildren.

Well, hold on there just a minute! Someone might say, “My parents (or grandparents) were Christians and took me to church. Doesn’t that make me a Christian, a (grand)-child of God?”

Unfortunately not--at least according to the Bible.

Speaking about Jesus Christ the Bible says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Jesus said that to enter the kingdom of God a person must be “born again.” He described it as a spiritual birth, different from the physical birth we all experience.

Later the Apostle Paul used the word “saved” to describe the change of heart Jesus talked about. He said, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The power to forgive your sin and change your heart, to give you eternal life and make you a part of God’s forever family is not in the words you say but in the God who hears them. He is able to do all that and more.

And, yes, it’s that simple to become a child of God. It’s not a matter of who your parents or grandparents are. It’s not a matter of which church your membership is in. It’s not even a matter of who you are. It’s just a matter of WHOSE you are.

The Bible says that if your faith is in God, through his son, Jesus Christ, then you are his child. But you must consciously, personally and individually pray and tell God you want Jesus to be in charge of your life as Lord. You must ask Jesus to be your Savior. It’s not automatic.

While I enjoy my children and my grandchildren, God’s delight is in each of his children. In fact all of heaven celebrates every time someone is born into God’s family. Jesus said, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Entertainment and Eternity

Harry Potter has the world agog. But the greatest story ever told isn’t about Harry.

Now hold on just a minute. I like a good story as much as anyone and, if she’s anything, author J.K. Rowling is a good storyteller. But while Harry’s adventures make good stories--and amazing profits for Rowling--there’s more to life than entertainment and money.

If all you want is feel-good entertainment and adventure with a suspect morality, then Harry is your guy. But, as the Romans used to say, “Caveat emptor”--let the buyer beware.

As a reader--or the parent of one, you need to be aware that Harry’s adventures are not based on a Biblical World View. The God of the Bible is strangely absent in Harry’s world. But the devil sure gets his due! (Hello! Who’s the source of magic and witchcraft?)

To listen to the media you might think today is the day Harry Potter saves the summer for theaters or that he’s the answer to the bookstores’ summer reading slump. And maybe he is. But if you need hope for the future or help with a wounded heart, “Next please!”

Harry Potter (or J.K. Rowling for that matter) cannot save your soul. And he certainly cannot mend a broken heart, a broken marriage or a broken life. But Jesus can.

The Greatest Story Every Told is about Jesus Christ. In the past 2,000 years, millions of people have discovered him to be the real Savior of the world. And his story is not fiction.

Jesus is more than a figment of some author’s vivid imagination. For anyone who cares to investigate, the evidence points to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, that he lived and died the way the Bible says and that he said what it reports he said.

Although the Potter phenomena and the number of books it has sold mesmerize the media, the Bible remains the best selling book of all time. Why is that? One reason is because its message can change your life and make an eternal difference for you and your family.

If you’re in business to make money, it makes sense to write a successful story and turn it into a cash cow. But if you care about eternity and people’s souls, it makes more sense to point readers toward a book containing the words of life.

There is much more to life than money, power or fame. Jesus once asked, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Indeed.

I’m amazed at the adults who are Potter fans. When do they have time to read it? Kids think they have all the time in the world. Adults know it’s limited. Why read a book that won’t matter a 100 years from now when you could be reading something that matters for eternity?

Have you read Jesus’ story? Do you know he lived and died to be your personal Savior? Do you understand he came to save you from the sin that will destroy your world and give you a fulfilling life beyond what you can imagine?

If you want to read an exciting story that’s life changing and WILL matter in 100 years, pick up a Bible. Turn to the New Testament and read the Gospel of John. Then keep reading.

It’s a story that changed my life and the lives of millions around the world. Many have found that Jesus Christ is the answer to the problems of life.

Do you need wisdom to deal with life? I do. The Bible says, “In whom [Jesus] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

The secret to a fulfilling life is not Harry Potter. It’s been Jesus all along.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Monday, July 2, 2007

Truth Freedom

Just imagine if God allowed George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to see what's become of their country. Would they recognize it?

Today we're a nation where rights replace responsibility. Licentiousness (the unrestrained pursuit of one’s desires) replaces liberty. Diversity is celebrated instead of dignity. We do things out of convenience instead of conviction.

On top of that, the American Civil Liberties Union seems hell-bent to give us freedom FROM religion instead of the freedom OF religion. What’s going on?

Well, hold on just a minute.

If you didn’t know otherwise, you might think America was founded to give us a government and schools that are religion-free zones. Sadly most Americans have no concept of the religious heritage that helped make America great.

What Americans need is a refresher course in American History. Christian thinking was a major influence on our founding fathers. If you take a tour of Washington D.C.’s main monuments, you will see a multitude of quotes from Holy Scripture used by our founding fathers. Even the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is imprinted with a quote from the Bible.

George Washington said, "I am sure there never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition [intervention] in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence [complete power] of that God who is alone able to protect them."

Thomas Jefferson was defending religious instruction at the University of Virginia when he said, "The relations which exist between man and his Maker, and the duties resulting from those relations, are the most interesting and most important to every human being and most incumbent on his study and investigation."

Theodore Roosevelt recognized the need for religious instruction when he said, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

But it was Jesus Christ who said “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Usually you hear that quote from politicians around election time and they take it completely out of context. Interestingly it’s not even about political or social freedom!

In the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 8, Jesus talked about being set free from sin. He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” After pointing out that we are all slaves to sin, he added, “So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

The truth of Christ brings freedom from sin.

This week, as we celebrate the blessings of freedom, don’t neglect the greatest freedom of all: freedom from sin. America cannot provide that freedom. No government can.

Freedom from sin can only be found in the Kingdom of God.

The Bible says that people are set free from bondage to sin by putting their trust in the truth that Jesus Christ died in their place. And that his death, burial and resurrection provide forgiveness of sin, a new heart and the beginning of a new life. It’s a life of true freedom.

Real freedom starts with The Truth. Not just any truth but the truth about Jesus Christ.

Listen to the Bible; it’s good for your soul!

Lake Side Church of the Brethren

http://www.lakesidecob.org/

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