Filtered Faith

Is your faith filtered?

Filters protect us in many areas of our lives. Oil and fuel filters protect cars from dirt. Email filters keep out messages we don’t want. Water filters improve taste by removing impurities.

Then there are the faith filters we use to protect our faith.

“Now hold on just a minute! How can faith be filtered?”

It’s easy to do. If we don’t agree with something, we can ignore it. True or not—it doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t feel right, we don’t like it--and that’s all that matters to us.

William P. Young helps us understand filtered faith in his book, “The Shack.” He observes somewhat cryptically, “Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions.”

A paradigm is a model we construct in our mind about how the world works or should work. For instance, “Good guys always win and bad guys always lose” is a paradigm.

Young adds, “Most emotions are responses to perception—what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too.”

He concludes, “So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms—what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe.”

Many people are afraid to examine what they believe. A fearful person’s natural response is to say, “You’ve got your opinion and I’ve got mine. And you’re not going to change my mind.”

When we talk like that we are acting as if there is no standard of comparison higher than us! And that is the height of pride.

The Bible warns us to beware of those who “measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves.” It says such people “are not wise.”

Religious people are often portrayed in the media as mindless robots programmed by others. Or as opinionated ignoramuses who ignore the obvious. In some cases that may be true. But don’t let that be you.

God encourages us to use the minds he gave us to examine the evidence, look for truth and then put our faith in what is true. To the skeptic he says, “Come now, let us reason together.”

Over and over Jesus said, “I tell you the truth” (some versions have “Verily, verily” or “Truly, truly”). Then, in one of his most famous quotes, 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.”

Notice that it is not just any truth that brings freedom. Jesus is not speaking philosophically.

In the context he is speaking about truth that leads to salvation and freedom from sin. And it is only in listening to Jesus that we learn eternal truth leading to ultimate freedom.

Are you a truth-seeker? Or do you look only for evidence to bolster your dearly held beliefs? Like a sick man going to his doctor, only the truth can help us solve our real problems.

In “Hamlet” Shakespeare wrote, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” Being true to self demands we seek truth above all else. For only then can we live with a clear conscience. Only then can we be all God made us to be. Only then can we truly worship.

The people of Jesus’ day thought worship had to happen in a certain place. Jesus disagreed. He said, “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

In matters of faith, truth matters. So drop the faith filters and pursue truth all the way to Jesus.

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

Without Faith

Here’s a story to make you think. It is used with permission of the author, Steffi Rubin.

In the land of DONTBELIEVE, long ago, there lived a sad little people called the DONTBELIEVITS. They were little because they didn’t believe they could ever be tall. And they were sad, because they didn’t believe they could ever be happy.

In this land of DONTBELIEVE, people walked down the road and greeted each other by saying, “I don’t believe it.” The customary reply to this greeting was, “Me neither.”

The king’s name was DONTCOUNTONIT VII. He was mean and made his people work very, very hard. Every week work began early Monday morning and ended late Sunday night.

Naturally the king didn’t believe in vacations, sick pay, coffee breaks or social security.

Occasionally, the people of DONTBELIEVE would plead with the king for a day off. But the king simply grunted and recited his own name: “Don’t Count On It.” And that would be that.

At the same time a quiet young man lived in the land of DONTBELIEVE. He lived in a modest home in a poor section of the country. He worked hard in a menial job and seldom spoke.

A neighbor once greeted the young man with “I don’t believe it.” He replied, “WHY NOT?”

This unusual behavior created quite a stir. Some thought he was secretly trying to overthrow King DONTCOUNTONIT VII. Perhaps he was a rebel or a revolutionary!

Others suggested that the quiet young man bore a resemblance to exiled old King HOPE-A-LOT. They thought he was the old king’s great-great grandson.

Legend had it that hundreds of years before King DONTCOUNTONIT VII, there was an invasion. Before that time the land of DONTBELIEVE was called the LAND OF MIRACLES. It was a place where wonderful things happened every day.

Then one morning the gloomy army of King DONTCOUNTONIT III from the neighboring country of DONTBELIEVE charged across the border. He swept across the sunny countryside and overcame sweet old King HOPE-A-LOT.

The invaders brought dark clouds of negativity and depression. For centuries, there wasn’t a glimmer of hope in all the land…until the day the quiet young man asked, “WHY NOT?”

Opinions about the young man flew thick and fast: “Well,” said one, “if he is the great-great-grandson of the old king, where are his royal robes?” “Quite true,” said another, “and where is his royal horse and servants?” “Of course,” said a third. “Where is his royal ring and scepter?”

So it was decided that he was not, in fact, a king at all. And that was sad.

Indeed, the young man was the true heir to the throne of the land. He was the great-great grandson of King HOPE-A-LOT. But the people of the land just kept sighing their customary sigh: “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.”

Nearly 2,000 years ago a king came to the Jewish people. He didn’t wear royal robes; he didn’t ride a royal horse; he didn’t carry a royal scepter. He lived quietly among his people and came to them as a soft-spoken carpenter. So they didn’t believe he was their king.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is more than the rightful king of Israel. He asks you to make him king of your life. He died so that we DONTBELIEVITS can have a new life. And he rose from the dead to dispel the clouds of doubt and fear so we can live in the sunlight of God’s love.

The Bible says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

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

Enough Faith

Did you ever feel like you were low on faith?

As I write these words I’m waiting for my car’s oil to be changed. Oil is critical to a car’s life.

I know of a driver who drove a new car until the oil light finally came on--never checked it or added any! Didn’t even think about it. As a result, the engine was ruined.

That’s why I taught my children to check their car’s oil every time they stopped for gas. If it needed some, they could add it before it was too late.

Unfortunately some people ignore their faith like the driver that never checked the oil.

“Now hold on just a minute! How is ignoring one’s faith like failing to check a car’s oil?”

Good question. Here’s how: Some folks completely forget about their need for faith. They say, “I’ll know if I need it” but never think about it.

Faith is like the oil. If you forget about it, your life will end in ruin. So don’t wait to check it.

The good news is that you don’t need a lot of faith. Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.”

Now you may think you have at least that much faith—enough for small things. But many often feel inadequate to trust God to use them to do something big. Just like Jesus’ disciples did.

But here’s a wonderful truth: The key isn’t how much faith you have (Jesus said you only need a little). The key is in whom you place your faith and trust.

Some people have faith in faith. They think if you have a lot of it, you’re fine. They might say, “What matters is to sincerely believe.”

Others have faith in themselves. They believe they can overcome any obstacle in their way. And they get along fine until something happens beyond their control.

Still others take Jesus’ words as kind of Christian magic. They believe all we have to do is trust God and he will give us whatever we want. But that’s not what Jesus is saying.

The important thing to remember is Jesus was speaking to people who were already following him and seeking to serve him. When we do that we will face obstacles, but they are not insurmountable if we trust in the God of the Bible.

The journey of faith begins when we personally trust God to do what he says he will do. The Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” That means the place to begin is the Bible.

Then the Bible adds, “But to as many as received him, he gave the right to become sons of God, to everyone who believes on his (Jesus’) name.” So the next step is to trust Christ as our Lord and Savior. When we do that we become children of God.

After that the Bible says we are to obey his commandments. Part of obeying Christ is telling others how they, too, can have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus warned us that would be a difficult task. But he also promised to help us. He said that nothing he asks us to do would be impossible if we trust him. So as we share the message of Christ with others, we find that God protects and provides for us.

How much do you trust God? The next time you feel your faith is inadequate, stop and check it. Just like you check the oil in your car. And the thing to check is not how much faith you have but in whom you are trusting.

Why? Because a little is enough when your faith is in Jesus Christ.

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

True Friends

The sign outside of my office door usually makes people smile. It reads, “I ain’t from the South, but I got here as quick as I could!”

Humor diverts attention from the fact that I’m from the North. North Jersey to be exact.

When I head back for a visit, as I did recently, I tell people I don’t miss the traffic. What I miss are the places and the faces. And I saw both during a recent 40th High School Reunion.

The summer of 1969 was the end of an era--several, to be truthful. Not only were the 60’s ending, but it was also the exciting culmination of man’s amazing effort to reach the moon.

For me, though, it was more personal. 1969 was the bittersweet end of my High School days. Bittersweet because in mid-senior year, my father took a position that moved our family to South Jersey. And I went from a small town school to a large regional high school. I felt lost.

Instead of graduating with my hometown friends, I ended the year with new acquaintances. Bummer. At their 20th reunion, classmates from the new school didn’t even remember me.

For years I wished I could go back and change that decision to move so I could have graduated with my friends in my hometown. But, as they say, “There’s no going back.”

However, as I learned at this reunion in my hometown, my old classmates are still my friends. True friends. Some seem almost like family!

What’s odd about that is, for the most part, I haven’t seen some of them for 40 years. Sure, there’s been the occasional reunion, but the last one was ten years ago.

“Well, hold on just a minute. How can you feel close to people you hardly ever see?”

The Bible says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” True friends are like that.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Friends are family you choose for yourself.” And I guess that’s true. Plus, there’s something about living through adolescence together that forges bonds deeper than we know.

Most of us have aged a little. No surprise there. Some looked very much like they did in High School. Others have changed. But the saddest thing to see was the memory board listing names of classmates who have passed away. At every reunion the list grows longer.

Sadly, the reunion was over before we knew it and it was time to leave. It was hard to say “Good-bye” because I don’t know when or if I’ll see my friends again. Tomorrow has no guarantee. And that made me think about the only friend who guaranteed he wouldn’t leave us.

Jesus told his friends, “Never will I leave you.” And if you are a friend of Jesus, if your faith is in him as your Lord and Savior—there is nowhere you can go without him. In fact he is the only friend who can walk with you through the “valley of the shadow of death.”

When a friend or loved one passes away, we still have their memory with us. But Jesus gives us more than that. Jesus said he would not abandon his followers. He said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

How can Jesus be with us? When he returned to Heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The King James Bible calls him the “Comforter.” Other versions refer to him as the “Counselor” or “Helper.” And part of his ministry today is to bring us peace and joy.

Throughout life, friends come and go. True friends stick with us no matter what happens. But Jesus Christ is a true friend forever. He is the only one who says, “I will never leave you” and is able to keep his promise.

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

Living Words

Is the Bible just empty words--or do its pages point us to a path leading to eternal life?

There is no doubt the Bible is unique. It is the only book ever written where you need to know the author for it to make sense!

You can read it and understand the history. But you have to meet the author in the person of Jesus Christ for it to change your soul.

“Now hold on just a minute! How can you meet Jesus? Didn’t he live 2,000 years ago?”

You meet him in the New Testament of the Bible. He changes your life when you personally accept him for who he claimed to be: the divine Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Unfortunately not everyone who reads it believes it. In fact there have been people who memorized much of the New Testament but never met Jesus or believed in him.

On February 11, 1962, Parade Magazine published a brief article about such a person called “Still Munching Candy.”

“At the village church in Kalonovka, Russia, attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed, pugnacious lad who recited his Scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it.”

“The priest took a liking to the boy and persuaded him to attend church school. This was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him.”

“By offering other inducements, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, he won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in church.”

“Now, 60 years later, he still likes to recite Scriptures, but in a context that would horrify the old priest. For the prize pupil, who memorized so much of the Bible, is Nikita Khrushchev, the former Communist Premier.” [Khrushchev died in 1971, nine years after the article was written.]

As this story illustrates, the “why” behind learning is just as important as the “what” that is learned. The same Nikita Khrushchev who mouthed God's Word as a child, later declared God to be nonexistent -- because his cosmonauts had not seen Him.

Khrushchev memorized the Scriptures for the candy, the rewards and the bribes, rather than for the meaning it had for his life. Artificial motivation produced artificial results.

Sadly, Nikita didn’t believe what he read in the Bible. For him it was dead words.

But Jesus said, “The words I have spoken to you are life.” So what happened to Nikita?

Jesus once compared the good news of the Gospel to seed. Even though seed resembles an inanimate object (like a pebble), it contains life.

For the life to show itself, the seed must be planted in good soil. If you put seed in a rock garden it will never take root or bear fruit.

A receptive mind seeking truth is good soil for God’s word. When a person hears the good news that Jesus died on the cross for their sin and rose from the dead to give them new life, the seed is sown. When they believe it and trust it to be true, new life takes root in their soul.

“Believe” is the key word. The reader must personally believe Christ died for him or her and trust in him. When they do, God forgives their sin and gives them the gift of eternal life.

This is why the Scripture says, “For the word of God is living and active.” Far from being dead words, the Bible is the only book in the world that can bring hope and life to the hopeless.

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

Alive to Deer

I will never forget the dark Sunday night 20 years ago when I hit a deer.

We had just left the country church I served. After a long day I was looking forward to home.

In the back of my 1980 Pontiac Safari Station Wagon was a full load of firewood. In the front seat my daughter and I were settling in for the 90-minute ride.

Because it was so dark, I turned on the headlight high beams to see better.

Suddenly my daughter yelled, "Dad, look out!"

Then I saw it--a deer in the headlights!

I stood on the brakes, hoping the wood didn't end up in the front seat. The deer stood in the road staring back.

There was a THUD and a CRUNCH as the deer shattered the car’s grill. Then it rolled off the front bumper and bolted into a cornfield.

We got out of the car, shaken. After surveying the damage, we got back in the car and continued home. But, believe me, the rest of that ride was different than it had been.

Suddenly I was aware of deer like never before. Now I looked for them everywhere.

Someone once said, “Life is what you are alive to.” If that’s true, then let me tell you, I was alive to deer! My eyes constantly scanned the road and nearby fields looking for deer.

Wooded areas that once looked beautiful were now dangerous. Why? Because I knew the truth. There were deer lurking in those woods waiting to run in front of my car!

I was as alive to deer as the most eager hunter! If I saw deer standing near the side of the road, it made my heart pound and my palms sweat.

Several lessons have occurred to me about this episode in my life.

One is more obvious: Deer hunting should be done without using a car.

Another idea was more insightful: Is it possible to be just as alive to God as I was to deer?

Now hold on just a minute! What does hitting a deer have to do with being alive to God?

Here’s my take. Ever since that day, I think a lot more about deer. I think about where deer live, when they roam, where they hide and what I would do if one jumped out in front of me.

The Bible says that when a person comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ, he or she is “alive to God.” Suddenly there’s an awareness of God previously unknown.

While the average person ignores God, the Bible says, “In him we live and move and have our being.” It says he wants people to “seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.”

God is the source of our life. He knows all about us and loves us anyway. The Bible says he wants to forgive our failures, bless us and have a personal relationship with us.

Here’s my question for you: “Are you alive to God?” If not, will you seek him more than money, pleasure, success or security?

Millions have sought and found him. You can, too.

God promises, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

So, as I see it, you’ve got a choice: You can live life as though God didn’t exist (and miss out on his blessings, provision, wisdom, guidance, peace and eternal life). Or you can seek him.

Take a lesson from the deer. They’re always around. But normally you don’t see them until you’re aware of them. By then it can be too late.

It’s the same with God. You must choose to become alive to him before it’s forever too late.

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

Believable Hope

Is the USA “the hope of the world”? If so, we’re in big trouble.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love my country. It has a lot going for it.

But to say this country is “the hope of the world”—as a politician did several weeks ago at a national convention—is a little over the top.

Talking about hope is all the rage this election cycle. And hope is a good thing. But if our hope is in the wrong thing it will be a sad thing. A disappointed hope.

In his book “The Audacity of Hope,” Presidential candidate Barack Obama sees a future that involves repairing a “political process that is broken” and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with people.

Amazon.com asked Obama to summarize the main idea of his book in a follow up interview. He said it was, “Get involved in an issue that you’re passionate about.”

Passion is good but, unfortunately, passion by itself doesn’t save the day. We live in a day of political polarization. The right and the left are full of passion. But they seem more intent on destroying each other than on governing effectively.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. If that’s the case, where can we find hope?

What people desperately need is the true Man of Hope. And according to the Bible, Jesus Christ and his church are the hope of the world. Jesus is the real deal.

The hope offered in Christ is a peace that Jesus said is “not of this world.” It involves a complete reconciliation that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet—reconciliation with God and with our fellow man.

The hope offered by politicians and governments is the absence of conflict. “Peace” treaties don’t actually bring peace. All they bring is the cessation of war. Ending hostilities doesn’t automatically end conflict. Anyone that’s been in a schoolyard fight knows that.

To end conflict requires changing the human heart. And the only hope of changing the human heart is the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ.

The good news is that, even though we can’t meet God’s standard of goodness (the Ten Commandments), God provided a way for us to be forgiven. And what a plan!

Jesus Christ met God’s standard perfectly. But on the cross he took sin’s punishment as our substitute. God accepts that and forgives us when we repent and turn from our sin.

Then the Bible says, “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” And if you have ever met someone who is truly converted, the change is remarkable.

What about the church? In the New Testament book of Acts we see a church focused on serving God and serving others. They proclaimed the simple gospel of Jesus Christ: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” Lives were changed. Needs were met.

What the church does that’s unique is offer Jesus Christ to the world. And when people turn to Christ they find hope where they were hopeless.

In the church people find a community that accepts, loves and encourages them to be all that God made them to be. When a church is working right it’s an amazing place!

No church is perfect. But we have a perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. Through faith in him we have peace with God and man, joy in our hearts and the forgiveness of sin.

All of that plus God’s promise of eternal life--now that’s a hope you can believe in!

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

Identity Theft

If someone stole your identity, how could you get it back?

Identity theft is the 21st Century crime. My dictionary defines it as “the fraudulent acquisition and use of a person's private identifying information, usually for financial gain.”

Maybe you’ve already had your identity stolen. I have. And it’s hard to get it back.

Several years ago someone emptied my bank account by posing as me on the Internet. Two months ago I began receiving 30 telemarketing calls a day. Someone tried to harass me by signing me up for information from online companies.

My tormentor even went so far as to sign me up for a long distance service I didn’t want.

Now each of those companies thought I was someone I was not—either a potential customer or, in the case of the long distance company, an actual customer. But I wasn’t.

Someone with a hidden agenda was misrepresenting me and I had to convince the companies who I really was. And the same thing has happened to Jesus Christ.

Now hold on just a minute. Jesus Christ suffered from identity theft?

Yes. And if those who misrepresent him fool us, it will result in more than a financial loss!

There are those today who tell us that you can become a god like Jesus. Others say he was less than divine. That he was just an ordinary man but a great teacher. Or he was a prophet like Buddha or Mohammed. Some refer to a sacred mushroom as “Jesus.” Really!

You owe it to yourself to discover the truth. Why? Because where you spend eternity rides on your answer to two questions: 1) “Who is Jesus Christ?” and 2) What will you do with Jesus?

The Bible gives God’s answer to both questions. First it calls Jesus the “Word of God.” It says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

Not “a god” but “God.” And if anyone tells you differently, they have stolen Jesus’ identity.

Listen to Jesus words: “Before Abraham was born, I AM!” The words “I AM” translate a special holy name for God in the Jewish Bible—what Christians call the Old Testament. And since Abraham lived around 2000 B.C., Jesus was saying he existed before Abraham.

Another time Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Those who heard him understood he was claiming to be the Creator God of the Bible. They told Jesus they were going to stone him “Because you a mere man claim to be God.”

So be careful where you get your facts about Jesus. Even some groups calling themselves a “church” have tried to steal Jesus’ identity and misrepresent him. But the truth is easy to find.

Your best source is the Bible itself. Don’t take my word for it. Pick up a Bible and read what it says about Jesus. Get a reliable modern translation. Avoid groups claiming to be the only ones with the truth or the right translation. Run if they won’t let you question what they teach.

A good place to start is in the New Testament Gospel of John. John was one of Jesus’ friends and records what he saw as an eyewitness. Plus he doesn’t have a hidden agenda.

What should you do with Jesus? John tells us: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

The truth is that through Jesus Christ you can live your life the way God intended. You can experience true forgiveness for your failures. You can find a lifelong purpose. And you can have an assurance and a peace about eternal life that is available nowhere else.

The Bible says Jesus is the Son of God who died for sin and rose from the dead. Trust in him.

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

Cold War

For two weeks I’ve been battling a rather nasty virus.

It began with a burning feeling in my chest. Then it tried to steal my voice.

My response was to declare all out war. I drank plenty of fluids, took the best cold medicine I could find and got plenty of sleep. But when the medicine wore off, I woke up coughing. The cold had won. I knew I was in for the long haul.

All my life I’ve been fighting another nasty condition called sin. Once I realized I had the condition, my response was similar to my battle with the cold: I tried to fight it. And the outcome was the same as with the cold. Sin won and I lost.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. What’s the big deal with sin? Isn’t that just a hang-up for religious people?

Most honest people recognize a dark side to their personality. Sometimes alcohol lets the beast out. Other times it rears its ugly head on its own. Most of the time we try to hide it and pretend its not there. But those we’ve hurt and those to whom we’re close know the real truth.

To deny our evil self is as foolish as spitting into the wind.

I fought it as long as I could. But as a child I discovered that, try as I might, I couldn’t be good all the time. I wanted to obey my parents and knew I should. But that knowledge had no power to help me overcome my rebel’s heart.

Not only did I disappoint my parents, I disappointed myself because I wanted to do right.

Why is it when we hear “Don’t” something inside of us says, “Do it!”?

This “dark side” to humanity is cross-cultural and affects both men and women. To discover the source of this “criminal” behavior governments have spent great amounts of time and money. But the only definitive answer is found in the pages of the Bible.

In Genesis Adam’s disobedient choice inflicts sin and its consequences on the human race. In Exodus God reveals a Law to show us our shortcomings and our need for mercy. Then in the New Testament God holds a mirror up to our soul to show us we “all have sinned.”

Most religions recognize the reality of sin. When I was in Japan I visited several famous religious shrines. At one the faithful believed that smoke from a fire would cleanse their sin. At another, the faithful washed their faces and hands and then rinsed their mouths with water to wash away sin. They hoped these rituals would cleanse them. At least temporarily.

But there is only one permanent remedy for sin that can remove its penalty and its grip on the human heart. Jesus Christ said that he could forgive sin. And it’s not just for Christians.

Jesus’ disciple Peter made it clear that God’s intention is for all people to receive forgiveness through Christ. He said, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).

Salvation from sin doesn’t belong to one ethnic group or a particular religion. The God who made the heavens and the earth offers it to people of every nation, language and tribe.

For almost 2,000 years people worldwide have discovered the truth in Peter’s message. They’ve been set free from all kinds of addictions and destructive behaviors. The reason is that the good news about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is more than just words. It is more than just a fact to believed. It is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

The Gospel has worked for millions of others. It changed my life. It will work for you.

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

Do It Yourself Religion

There are only two kinds of religion in the world: Jesus Saves and “Do It Yourself.”

All of the world’s religions, except one, are of the “Do It Yourself” variety. The down side to a DIY religion is that you can never be sure you will make it to paradise, nirvana, reincarnation or whatever it is you hope for.

Well hold it right there for just a minute. Are we without hope? How can a person be sure of what they will find on “the other side” after death?

Most religions offer a “maybe”—and that’s if you do everything you should just right. Interestingly, radical Islam tells its followers that there is one way they can be certain.

Walid Shofrat, a former Muslim PLO terrorist, describes it like this: “In the case of Islam, the way to assure yourself to go to Paradise is by dying yourself as an offer to God.”

Muslim suicide Jihadists believe that, by killing themselves, they are offering Allah their most precious gift: their soul. The problem is that no suicide Jihadist has ever come back from “the other side” to tell if they made it.

There is only one book and one person that offer the promise, proof and assurance of an eternal life in a true paradise called Heaven. The book is the Bible and the person is Jesus Christ.

In the fourteenth chapter of the New Testament Gospel of John, Jesus promises that he will prepare a place in Heaven for those who believe in him. He offers his word, as the Son of God, that he will take believers to be with him forever. Then he proved his power over death by one of the best-documented events in history, his resurrection.

Jesus Christ is the only one to ever bring himself back from “the other side” –and have many witnesses to prove it!

When man attempts to create a religion, it is always of the “Do It Yourself” variety. You must keep certain laws, observe sacraments, or do “penance” for your sin. In every case you die in uncertainty. There’s no assurance you “did it right” or proof you attain “paradise.”

God’s plan in the Bible is far different. His plan involves the perfect Son of God, Jesus, dying on the cross in our place for our sin. Then God offers forgiveness for sin and salvation from sin’s penalty as a free gift to those who accept it. It’s free to all with no strings attached.

Like a condemned prisoner on Death Row accepting a pardon, all you have to do is believe it’s true and put your trust in the one who pardons you. Sadly, some find that hard to do. They choose instead to believe that eternal life is “Do It Yourself.”

It goes against our pride and self-reliance to accept a gift as valuable as eternal life. That’s why God sent Jesus Christ into the world. The Bible says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

When Christians announce that “Jesus Saves,” they are not trying to judge other religions. They are not being religious bigots full of hate and intolerance. It is simply a joyful announcement to other seekers that what they are seeking is found in Jesus Christ!

The truth of Christianity is that the assurance, joy and purpose of life--both life in the here and now and eternal life in the “by and by”--is found in Christ alone. And the best part of all is that it’s a free gift. No assembly required. It’s by faith alone. Faith in Jesus Christ.

Life has many choices. Religion has two: Jesus Saves or “Do It Yourself.” Think it over and then choose carefully because you will live with your choice for a very long time.

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

Understanding Our Times

It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times.

Two terrible wars are going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Terrorism is spreading around the globe. But, in spite of worldwide market fluctuations and the mortgage mess, people are still buying flat-screen televisions, new cars, iPods and iPhones like there’s no tomorrow.

Well, what if there was no tomorrow?

Frankly, I think there will be a tomorrow. But what if tomorrow brings a very different world than today? That’s a more likely scenario.

Now hold that thought for just a minute. Could the world be all that different tomorrow?

Absolutely.

We know from recent history that the world can change overnight. It happened several times in my lifetime. It’s just a matter of time before it happens again.

The day after President Kennedy was assassinated, our world was a different place. It changed forever the day after the Columbine School shootings. After 9-11-2001 people talked about a “New Normal.” And six years later we’re still learning to cope.

It seems like every day the newspaper or television reports a catastrophe somewhere: Earthquakes and hurricanes; terrorist attacks planned, thwarted or perpetrated. Every night the news from the Middle East is more disturbing than the day before.

Does anyone really understand the times we live in?

Someone does. More than 2,000 years ago, God told the prophets of Israel about what would happen in our times. They recorded this “future news” in the Bible for our benefit. Author Joel C. Rosenberg calls prophecy “Intelligence intercepts from the mind of God.”

God revealed to the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel that in the last days Russia would enter an agreement with Iran. For more than 2,000 years there has not been a Russian-Iranian treaty--until now. God says that Babylon (in Iraq) will one day rise again to be a world power.

Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples about the end times. He described worldwide wars and earthquakes. He talked about the rise of false religions and cults. He said evil would increase and then there would come a time of great distress, unmatched in human history.

The Prophet Joel talked about all the nations turning against Israel and seeking to divide it. In the New Testament book of Revelation, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse brings a devastating worldwide food shortage, which leads to massive inflation.

These events sound as if they could be ripped from today and tomorrow’s headlines!

One of the purposes for the Bible is to help us understand the times in which we live and to enable us to see history from God’s perspective. It tells us that part of God’s plan is for Jesus Christ to return one day and fix the mess we’ve made of planet earth.

Students of Bible prophecy and signs of the times tell us that recent history and current events seem to line up with many of the Bible’s predictions. Our world could change overnight.

What should we do? How should we live in such a time as this?

The Bible gives us the answer. Peter, the disciple of Jesus, wrote that since “the day of the Lord will come like a thief,” that is unexpectedly, “you ought to live holy and godly lives.”

I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God. Maybe it’s been a while since you were in church. But consider this: Now just may be the right time for you to seek the Lord.

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