Pause for Praise!!!

Are You Saved? Have You Been Born Again?

I have been saved, born again by the grace of God, by faith. You can read the story of my life, and know that I am not some goodie-two-shoes who thinks I’m better than someone else, nor am I someone apt to get in your face and try to convert you.  I just care.  The opportunity for you to escape the horrors that are coming upon this earth soon, are running out.  Yes I do believe the Bible is God’s written Word to man, so that we may know Him, and know the things that are coming.  The world as a whole, for the most part, and much to their detriment, have rejected God.  They have bought into the lie that “in the beginning, there was nothing, and that exploded, and from nothing, came all that there is”.  They have believed that a baby is not a baby until it is born, and before that it is merely a blob of tissue not viable on it’s own.  That is the same logic that leads people to believe it is acceptable to kill someone because of their heritage or skin color, or because they have gotten old and can’t do much if anything to “contribute to society”.  There is right, and there is wrong, there is good, and there is evil, and the further mankind moves away from God, the less they even recognize the difference.  God has said those who will not retain God in their memory, will be given over to believe lies.  If the Lord has been tugging at your spirit, if some friend or loved one has told you about your need to be born again, and you have wrestled with it, I’m asking you now, now is the time, please do not put it off.  Someone is praying for you.

Truly there is coming a moment when those who have been saved, will be taken out of this world, and those who have not, will be left here.  Revelation is full of the horrors that will take place on this Earth at that time.  Yes, I know plenty of people laugh at this.  But they will not be laughing on that day when it actually does take place.  And they won’t be laughing for the ensuing years of Tribulation.  Animals will die on a massive scale, famine will envelop the world, millions of people will perish. The “insanity” of weather and nature we have seen in recent months and years will be nothing compared to what will take place then.
A man will appear on the scene with supposed solutions to all the worlds problems and the world will be so desperate they will bow down to him.  He will be believed to be the Messiah which the Jews have long awaited, but they will learn that he is not, when he turns on them.  Are we in that period even now?  Some Christians believe that we are.  However, I believe what we are seeing now are mere foreshadows.  These things are not going to “settle down” and “return to normal”.

I am just a 48 year old mom with an upbringing in which I was blessed to be exposed to the teachings of the Bible from a young age.  I walked away from that for a time, I tried the world’s way of living, and my patient Lord and Savior welcomed me back like the prodigal that I had become, but with open arms and undiminished love for me.  You can read my blogged book in the sidebar and my testimony above.  This blog is mostly about news as it relates to these “last days” we are living in, but it is also my own personal expression of gratitude to God, who I know to be a God of love and compassion.  Life is not always easy.  The way is not always smooth.  Matthew 7:1³ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: ¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  Jesus Himself is that Gate.  You don’t have to understand that fully in order to accept it.  I hope you will do so today.

A reader contribution

In response to a reblog about a historical agreement between the Vatican and Jerusalem, a reader in the U.K, Dean Heyes, left the following comment and  video link.  (Thank you Dean.)

{ Discoveries of Ron Wyatt} Ark of the covenent ,the above footage takes a while to start and stops and starts in places , GOD commanded we test all, and keep what is good ,I have spent well over a thousand hours testing this and I have found no fault or contradiction and the Biblical suport is overwhelming . I believe this is GODS way in these last days to test of our faith ,so many Christians use their own logic to understand GOD and his ways , and therefor canot comprehend HIS truth.

I have seen parts of this video before, and I remember watching the 20/20 documentary of the discovery of Noah’s Ark when it ran in the 80′s.

I hope you will watch the whole video, but if you already are familiar with the Noah’s Ark find, you may not know about the information presented in the latter part of the video starting around 49:06.  That last 30 minutes is very compelling in regards to archeological evidence of what happened when Christ died on the cross, and about the Ark of the Covenant.

Archeological evidence repeatedly affirms the Biblical accounts, so much so that archeologists routinely look to the Bible to figure out and decide where to dig.  God would probably prefer it if we just believed His Word, but knowing our human weaknesses, I think He has allowed these things to be discovered for reasons similar to those for which the risen Christ allowed the doubter, Thomas, to see the wounds in His hands and side.

Faith becomes knowledge and certainty upon sight of the proof.

As we await the Messiah, we still live in a fallen and progressively darkening world.  It can be so easy to doubt and lose sight of what we know.  But the greatest thing in all the history of the world, is the fact that the Bible is true.  God is true, and His love and grace are real.  He devised a plan to save us from ourselves.  Jesus came to deliver us from the evil of this earthly existence.  All who are willing, can be born again, and that blood which fell on the mercy seat, is sufficient to cleanse the sins of the worst offender.  He did not come to call the righteous, but the broken-hearted repentant sinner.  Jesus died to set you free.  This old world can be cruel and life here can be excruciating, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the story.  We can mess up real bad, make horrible, costly choices that cause pain to ourselves and others, for years to come, and yet that doesn’t have to be the ending of the story, because Christ offers hope for a new life beyond this one.

It is your choice to make, but time is running out.  World History may well have nearly run it’s course.  There is a time and season for everything, and every person will die and stand before God, whether you believe that or whether you don’t is of no relevance whatsoever.  That mercy seat which is represented by the Ark of the Covenant, is a real place.  Jesus’ death bought you entrance to go and stand before that very mercy seat, but only in Jesus’ name.  We have nothing else to recommend us, no grounds of our own, on which to approach our Holy Creator and appeal for mercy.  Better to humble yourself, and approach Him on the basis of what Jesus did, and ask for that mercy now, because after death, when you stand before Him to be judged, it is too late, there will be no mercy granted then.

Jesus was sacrificed for our sake.  Anyone who goes to hell steps over that sacrifice in order to go there.  The sacrifice is before you today.  What do you choose? See my link at the top of the blogstream on “What does it mean to be saved”.

The Most Powerful Rendition of “Amazing Grace” You Will Probably Ever Hear!

(Click the image to view video)

Overwhelming gratitude

The word Thanksgiving occurs 28 times in 27 verses in the King James Bible.  Most often it is in the context of “a sacrifice” and in the other instances it is either in tandem with song, or prayer.

Thanksgiving is not just a Holiday commemorating the pilgrims first celebration of their newfound freedom in America.  It is a heart attitude that makes all the difference in life.  It is best when Thanksgiving is a natural and spontaneous response, but that is something that has been stripped out of our make-up over time here in America where we have “had it so good, for so long” that we take it all for granted.  But thankfulness can be cultivated once again.

Being thankful means living consciously.  That’s another thing most in America have forgotten.  Well, not just Americans, but all of us, most of the human race.  Always plugged in, constant vigilance that we not miss a text or an important news item or in many cases, the latest song, episode of the favorite show, or whatever.  Fill in your own blanks.

I am thankful that my Dad is in heaven with Jesus and with his brothers and sisters and mom and dad, who all went before him and whom he has really missed.  I am thankful we had him here with us, all of my life my Dad was present and he was my Dad.  He was faithful to his wife and faithful as a provider.  How many people can say that of their dad these days?  Our neighbor and dear friend Johnny who died the previous month, too is with the Lord.  I’ve been more attentive of our other dear friend, his widow, who has been like a second mom to me, since then and not taking her for granted as before.  We don’t neglect each other on purpose.  Just like my brothers who live nearby, we know they are there and we can see them anytime, therefore we are often less intentional about actually making that time to see them, and before we know it, they could be gone.

I am thankful that my parents took me to church, and for the many good adult influences I had in my growing-up years.  From neighbors to school teachers and sunday school teachers.  I live in a small town of about 25K residents.  It is about 4 miles in a radius as the crow flies.  That sounds like we are packed in there, but no, it is just a little “factory boom town” that mostly was built up in an era of simplicity, where houses were not gargantuan monstrosities, just simple 2 and three (small) bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and one bathroom.  For the most part we still have families here whose parents and great-grandparents immigrated here and settled here, and they remain active in maintaining the roots of the town.  There are still lots of families who know one another and speak as they meet at the post office, or will pick up the phone to let someone know if they saw their kid up to no good, and have that be appreciated rather than offense being taken.

There is lots of parental involvement in the schools, although less in middle and high school, and good cooperation between police and citizens and very active neighborhood watches throughout the city.

I am thankful that not everyone has thrown out all of the “old ways” to the extent we have forgotten them, because the longer the Lord tarries, the higher the likelihood that we are going to need to re-learn some of them.  And frankly, it would be hard but that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Even though I have staunchly stood by the probability that things are on a trajectory which is not going to turn around, in my heart of hearts I do know that with God, all things are possible.  There is possible, and then there is likely.  Still, in the event that enough of us cry out, in genuine mourning over our own sins and that of the church and the nation, and God, who hears and is ever-merciful even in the midst of wrath, He could choose to push the middle East back from the brink, see us through a dark and extremely difficult restructuring period here in the U.S., and maybe restore in us the humble submission to Him with which our Christian forebears initiated this nation to begin with.

Do I want to hang out here on this Earth with things continuing on the road this world is currently on?  NO! Not me, not my kids.  My cry as I see what is happening, is “Come, Lord Jesus” and come quickly.  I am 100 percent NOT a citizen of this world, my citizenship is in Heaven and that future City of the New Jerusalem.  But!  Here is the thing:  Jesus, being yet GOD, :thought it not robbery to be equal with God, But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.

You see, when Jesus hung on that cross, He didn’t just die for me, although if I was the only person on Earth, I believe He would have done it just for me.  Jesus who was master over Death, Hell and the Grave, was not KILLED on that cross, though He did most definitely die there.  He died, willingly giving up His life ( the words from His own lips about His life were: “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again”).  But He did so, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  It is not God’s will that any should “perish”.  Perish, here doesn’t just mean the natural death of the human body, but the eternal death of permanent separation from God, the source of all life.

I am a sinner.  I understand that I sin because I have the nature of sin in my mortal flesh, like a genetic aberration, it is a condition in my flesh that I am powerless to change.  God is not some stern taskmaster in the sky with a whip who watches like a predatory hawk, for me to slip up and break one of His laws so He can gleefully swoop down upon me with wrath and punishment.  God in His genius, instilled in us a “counterpart” to the law, called a conscience.  He gave the law to act as a mirror to reflect back to us our behaviors and actions and attitudes, and this conscience is like a sensor that reads our actions in light of the law, and if it is working properly, this sensor tells us whether what we are doing is good or is evil.  Notice I did not say “good or bad”.  When Eve and Adam ate of the forbidden fruit in the garden, it was the fruit of “The knowledge of good and evil”.  A baby of 18 months knows good and bad.  But a baby of 18 months has no ability to discern evil.  A baby of 18 months is guileless.  They may poke you in the eye and maybe even inflict real harm, but they in no way had evil intent.  Adam and Eve first walked in the garden with God Himself and in perfect innocence and yes, naivety, like that innocent baby.  Then along came the tempter Satan, and against God’s direct command, Eve and then Adam violated their own consciences and did that which they knew was “wrong”, and in doing so they opened up in themselves a “Pandora’s box” of understanding.  You see, what you don’t know, you aren’t accountable for.  What you do know, you ARE accountable for.  God would have preferred for us not to ever have to “know” firsthand what evil is.  But because He created us in His image with free will of our own, and even with curiosity, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Jesus took not just the sin of myself and other Christians upon Himself on that cross.  He took the entire “phenomenon” of Sin into Himself and became sin, so that sin itself was crucified with Him and in Him on that cross.  Therefore look at sin as a disease such as Cancer.  It literally is a very auto-immune type condition which always ultimately destroys the host.  God has offered the antidote and any fool who chooses not to take, will experience the ultimate end of that “cancer” within himself which is death.  That is WHY the Bible says the wages of sin is death.  Death is not a punishment, so much as it is just the natural course and ultimate end of disease and decay.

I am so thankful that God sent Jesus to take that sin, my sinful state, unto His own body and bear it for me, and conquer it, so that it has no more power over me.  When my Dad breathed his last breath here on this Earth 2 weeks, 2 days, 10 hours and thirty minutes ago, he went immediately into the presence of His Savior and has now seen the face of Jesus!  That is all my heart desires.  I don’t want anything in this world.  Not money, not freedom, certainly not “stuff”, but to be in the actual physical presence of Jesus, and see His face in person!

I know that when we see Him we will fall on our faces in the glory of His Holiness and majesty.  But I also look forward to getting up from that, and just giving Him a hug and saying “thank you” in person.  Thank you for saving me.  Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for all the times You forgave me when I did the wrong thing, and loved me when I was unlovely and unloveable.  Thank you for removing the scales from my eyes and letting me see truth.  Thank you for what You went through on the cross for me.

Because I am thankful, I am grateful for these things, I want others to know Jesus and be saved.  Not because of my own “benevolence toward my fellow man”.  No, seriously, I don’t have the kind of love I ought to have for others.  I am cynical, and suspicious by nature, or, well, maybe by virtue of my life experiences.  I would love to be able to say that I love everyone so much that I want to give them Jesus, and show them “the way” but the honest truth about me is that just as the Bible said would be the case in these last days, my love for people has grown cold.  I find it harder and harder in a world where most people have zero regard for others, where even life itself is not valued, to uphold that standard of love which a Christian is meant to be known by.  Even though I made a conscious choice to “care anyway”, it is a monumental struggle sometimes.  I do care.  And when I see someone hurting, I respond to them, and reach out to them, but find myself counting the cost.

So, if not motivated by love for others, then what is my motivation to tell others the Way?  Is it because I think it will earn me heavenly “points”, a “favored status”, or other rewards?  Nope.  I’m about the most uncompetitive person God ever made.  I’m pretty satisfied with the simple basics even here in the Earthly sphere.  Though the one “reward” I would like to earn is to hear my Lord say “well done, thou good and faithful servant”.

My motivation is this:  If Jesus died for all the sin of every human who ever lived, so that not a single one had to perish, just think about that for a second.  Have you ever been just overcome by the sheer magnitude of evil in this world.  Maybe you watched the tragic loss of life during the Columbine High School Massacre, or even just the unceasing wars.  Aren’t you sick to death of wars?  I know I am.  That is just the evil of one generation.  It can weigh on you and make you feel tired, hopeless and depressed about life.  We most of us love this Earth, nature, the beauty around us and recognize the tragedy of defiling it.  That is just a drop in the bucket of evil, and we “feel” the effects of that and we mourn it.  Jesus had ALL of that evil, all the evil of the Crusades, all the evil of the Holocaust, all the evil of human trafficking, all the evil of slavery, all the evil of the entire history of the human race converged in His body on that cross.  It wasn’t the crown of thorns, the cat of nine tails and multiple lashes which ripped his skin to shreds, nor the pulling out of his beard.  The real agony was to take all of that evil into Himself and then to experience the separation from God the Father in that instant, when God had to turn away and the world went dark for half an hour.  If Jesus did that, for every person who ever lived, what a horrific shame it is, that even one solitary human being ought to go to their death without having had the opportunity to know about it, and choose to receive the benefit of it.  If they reject it, that is their prerogative, but for me as a beneficiary of that kind of grace, generosity and love, to take my lovely “gift” and keep it all to myself and not extend it to others, well that is the most ungrateful act any Christian could ever do.  It is a slap in the face of Jesus in return for what He did.

I am not promoting the movie “The Passion of the Christ” one way or another.  I know it has “doctrinal issues” but it moved me greatly.
There are two parts of that movie that are burned permanently in my memory.  I was a mother of young children when I watched it, and the scene where Mary sees them leading the wounded and bleeding Jesus to Golgotha, and she flashes back to his childhood, when he would get a boo-boo and her mere hugs and kisses could take away his pain, OH how my heart squeezed.  To be the mother of Jesus?  To have raised him from a baby.  Surely, blessed are you among woman, Mary.  Though human and not to be worshipped.  And the most moving part was really a tiny segment.  Jesus has uttered “it is finished” and given up the ghost.  And the camera pans from above, away, up up up, and we are viewing the scene as through a water droplet.  Then the droplet falls and a deluge of rain splashes over the entire scene.  That effect was lost on a lot of people because of the rain.  But that first droplet wasn’t a rain drop, and symbolically neither was the rain itself, meant to be rain, but God’s own tears as He sacrificed His only son.  To recognize the world through a falling tear, you have to have spent some time crying.  I have. Have you?

I have mourned my own sinfulness.  I have mourned the evil in this world and I have mourned and grieved in weeping and tears and pleadings with the Lord over this nation.  And others have as well.

But the loss of freedoms, and even the loss of the greatness of the good old U.S. of A. is nothing, when laid alongside the tragedy of millions who will spend eternity in hell unnecessarily because we didn’t give them the gospel, or because they chose not to receive it.  Your free will is intact.  You can take it or leave it.  But I give you Jesus.  He died for you.  He did not die to give you a better life.  He is not interested in turning you into a “saint” who must forsake all fun and freedom and change everything about your life.  What He has to offer, is completely free and there is nothing you can do to earn it, only believe it and receive it.  That means faith.

“But I just can’t believe all that stuff in the Bible, I mean, Noah’s Ark, a worldwide flood?”

That’s okay.  You don’t have to “know” it for a fact, you can choose faith and take God’s word for it.

“Oh, come on, there are a million and one religions in this world, don’t you think it is just a tiny bit arrogant and closed-minded to think yours is the ‘right’ way?”

This is not a religion I am talking about.  Religion is man reaching, striving, to reach God. Christianity is not a religion.  It is the only belief system wherein God seeks YOU, comes to YOU, and accomplishes the mending of the breach, the divide that is between you and Himself.

A lot of people will say “God is a gentleman” He won’t force you.  No, God is not a gentleman.  What He is not, is a beggar.  And frankly because of that fact, I don’t believe I ought to be either.  Nor should the preacher be.  Nor should the evangelist.  We are not responsible for what anyone chooses.  We are responsible to extend only the truth and the invitation.  The choice is yours, but there will come a day of winnowing.  A day of judging and sorting.    On one side, will go those who acknowledged Jesus as Lord.  On the other, those who did not.  When we are gathered at that judgment bar, there is only one matter that will be weighed, and that matter is, what did you do with Jesus.  Those who remained in their sinful state, reconciled with God via the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, will hear “depart I knew you not”.  But those who are reconciled with God through Jesus will have the blood on their hands, of the lost whom they personally had opportunity to reach, and the agonizing realization that that soul is condemned to hell for EVER, when that Christian might have prevented it.

I don’t want to ever experience that moment.  It is not fair to Jesus.

And so, for my many Christian friends who do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, who have questioned me “what will you do when the tribulation starts and you are still here, then what will you do” I say this: I deserve everything that I have coming.  I do see the pre-tribulation rapture in scripture, and I expect it, not because I am under any delusion that I have earned an escape, any more than I deserve the salvation Jesus so graciously has given, or the eternity in His presence I look forward to.  God’s nature is love, and that is why He loves us.  Not because we are so darn loveable, because anyone who is honest will admit we are not.  I don’t know why He loves me, but I know He does.  I don’t know why He saved me, but He did.  I can’t explain everything about salvation and God and how He operates any more than I can explain to you the ins and outs of my car’s engine and transmission and drive shaft, torque, combustion, and all of those principles.  But I don’t have to know all that in order for my car to get me from here to the grocery store.  I just have to have enough faith in my car to get in, insert the key, start the engine, put it in gear and go.

That is how it is with being a Christian.  Like the funny videos I reblogged, we like the Pharisees of old, make things much more complicated than they really are.  It is the faith of a child that saves us.  At Christmas, a 5 or 6 year old kid doesn’t deal with “oh, but I didn’t get YOU anything, and that makes me look like such a loser”, no, he sees a package with his name on it and is immediately filled with excited anticipation and wonder.  When the gift is offered, he receives it eagerly and tears into the wrappers with gusto.  How simple is that?  How pure?

Giving the gospel to others is also as simple as that.  It is our own pride that prevents it being as simple as God made it.  I must not look foolish.  I don’t want them to think me a kook.  To be honest with you, I have never had anyone react to the gospel that way.  Even if people disagree, they generally appreciate the thought behind my sharing.  The recognize it as concern and genuine, even if their opinion is that it is a misplaced or unnecessary concern.  The only people who react negatively are the churched.  Pride rears up in them.  “Don’t tell me about Jesus, I have been teaching Sunday School for Thirty Year, young lady, so you just take your tract and give it to someone who needs it”.

Oh boy, those are the ones I pray for the hardest.  Because even if they are saved, they still have not come to terms with just why they needed a Savior.  Because when you fully realize your own defilement and stench when compared to God’s own Holiness, all pride is obliterated.

Some of us have been “Saved so long” we begin to believe by now we have earn  some credit for our own goodness.  We give Jesus credit for the initial redemptive act, but we intend to retain unto ourselves ”credit where credit is presumably due” for “all that we have done for the Lord” since then.

I hate to break it to you but I don’t care if you are D.L. Moody himself, YOU have done nothing.  God has done it all.  You have merely been permitted the privilege of being a vessel.  Or perhaps you have so thoroughly fooled yourself that God has gone on without you, and you’ve been building houses of straw on foundations of sand and will be among the shocked an appalled who will cry “I healed the sick and cast out demons in your name”, but will hear “depart, I knew you not”.

My friend, I am no one special.  I am a 48 year old mom who has broken all of Gods law.  In me is no good thing.  Like Paul, I am the chiefest of sinners.  I have contributed to the statistics that reflect poorly on Christianity, by divorce, but the words of my mouth, by actions unbecoming.  I am not better than you.  The fact it is likely you are more gracious, more selfless, more charitable, more trusting, more forgiving, and nicer than I am.  Maybe.  Or maybe you are sitting in a prison, guilty of murder or rape or worse.  We are the same, you and me.  The difference between us as far as “how good or bad we are” is as negligible as the physical differences between identical twins.  The difference that makes the ultimate difference, lies solely in whether or not one of us has embraced the pardon freely offered in Christ, and the other has not.  I have received that pardon.  Have you?  I am 100 % positive that like my Dad, when I close my eyes in death here, I will wake up in Heaven with Jesus, or go up to Him in the rapture if that comes first, regardless of it ‘s timing in relation to the tribulation.  Are you?  Do you have that peace? You can.  If you see the truth in what I have said, you see it only because God has witnessed the truth of my words by way of the Holy Spirit and your own “answering” conscience in your heart.  If that is the case, then you need merely to admit that you understand you are a sinner, and ask Him to save your soul by applying His righteousness to you, in exchange for guilt.  You’ll still be a sinner but your sin will no longer be accounted against you.  You will be “reckoned” as righteous by virtue of Jesus having already borne that guilt on the cross and fulfilling the due sentence.  You see, for infinite guilt, you must either have infinite and eternal punishment, or a once and for all punishment must befall an infinite being, in order to be sufficient atonement.  God is your judge, your jury, your executioner.  God has pronounced your guilt and the penalty, which is death, but then He did an amazing, unimaginable thing.  He took off his judges robe, stepped down off the bench, and received the indictment, and served the sentence for you.

But don’t think “well, then I’m covered, there’s nothing more to be done”.  No, it doesn’t work that way.  By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not “of yourself” (doesn’t come from within) but is a gift of God, lest any man should boast.  Even the faith to believe what I have told you, comes from God Himself.  That’s why you “can’t believe it”.  That’s why it seems “too good to be true” and “too easy, there has to be a catch”.  If you are unsaved, God does not even hear your prayers.  There is only one prayer of the unsaved man which God will listen to.  That is the prayer asking to be saved, or the prayer asking for the faith which is needed in order to entertain the plausibility of His offer of Salvation.

If you don’t pray that prayer, you will go on being blind to these truths.  And your literal ticket out of hell will sit at the “will call box” unclaimed and tragically and needlessly wasted, while you spend eternity in hell,  literally having had to walk around Jesus to get there.  Not His “dead body”, for He rose back up from the dead, and that is the other difference between Faith in Jesus, and “religion”.  We don’t worship a dead prophet.  We serve a living Savior and God.

And for that, I am most thankful of all!

As you sit around the table this Thursday, celebrating “Thanksgiving” ask yourself this:  “Who am I thanking?”  Our Holidays don’t need to be hollow and meaningless.  When you sit there on January 1, after partying it up yet another year, or after crying yourself to sleep, at the futility of it all, facing the futility, wishing there was “more to life”, I want you to remember this. Because there IS.  Jesus is real.  God is good and He cares about you personally.  He knitted you together in the womb, He picked out your eye color, deliberately put those dimples there and that freckle here.  He gave you your personality, and your gifts and abilities and has a purpose for you life.  It’s all true.  Do you have the courage to believe it?  Don’t take my word for it.  Ask Him yourself.  He speaks your language.  May you truly be blessed to meet my Savior and discover you are not a random accident of “nature” with no purpose and no hope. Even in face of these troubling times, my heart overflows with hope.

This world is not my final destination, and death is not the end but the beginning.  Praise Almighty God, Elohim, the great “I AM”, the Alpha and Omega, JHVH Jireh, my provider, JHVH Nissi, my banner, JHVH Rapha, my healer.  He never leaves, He never forsakes or abandons, or abuses.  Praise my wonderful Savior!

Truth Really Does Set You Free!

A couple of years ago, I was involved in a ministry of intercessory prayer.  As the leader of the group for ten months or so, I found myself privy to much more information about my fellow-church-members than I ever want to be privy to ever again.  There were many things that the Lord taught me during that period, but one of the things that transformed from “head-knowledge” to “heart-knowledge” during that period was the powerful fact that “The truth shall set you free”.

Because I dealt with very sensitive issues, and was in a position of teaching as well, there were sometimes things that had to be confronted, and as is usually the case with confrontation, this required tact, delicacy, not to mention courage.  Satan suddenly got really interested in my life during that period.  Go figure, since it was all about intercessory prayer, with fasting.  He hounded me constantly with potential traps and snares and pitfalls, and I was acutely aware and hyper-vigilant against miss-speaking, inadvertently divulging more than I should in sharing prayer needs, and keeping a moratorium on gossip by a zero-tolerance policy with the rest of the group.  There were several instances of interaction with the church leaders in which I had to take a stand or convey something that might not be received well, and I really fretted about it to the point of serious anxiety, until the Lord sort  of(figuratively) tapped me on the shoulder and said “Is this thing you need to convey true? (Yes) “Then just say it! You can’t go wrong as long as you stick with the truth, and the Word”.  From there on out, all my qualms and second-guessing and agonizing over how to say things, whether to say it or “leave well enough alone”, etc., just vanished.  I spoke the truth boldly, letting the chips fall where they may, on issues where the position of God in Scripture was clear!

In the end, God did some amazing and really big things through that intercessory ministry.  He weeded out some issues in that particular body, helped a family through a very difficult time, and definitely it was a period of real spiritual growth in my life and the lives of others.

As I was watching the video “Hacking Democracy” which I posted earlier today, there was a surprising catharsis that took place for me. Though I am far from niave about the dirty deeds of government, it is not as easy to face just how ignorant and niave I once was, and that I fell for a lot of “stuff” myself for a while, when it came to the candidates.  I can certainly recall the 2000 elections and the long suspense while everyone waited on recounts and heard the words “hanging chad” way more times than we ever cared to.  I remember the “righteous fervor” of the conservative Christians during that election.  I remember all the e-mails circulating that talked about George W. Bush’s faith, how he stopped at the table of a young man during a dinner, and led the boy to Christ right there and then, and all the “There’s a New Sheriff in  Town” mentality, which I enthusiastically and very hopefully embraced.   I remember thinking as we waited for the re-counts and court decisions, that “those crooked Democrats will do anything to win the election even if it means cheating”.  Well, as we all know, Bush “won” and many of us cheered our good fortune that such a “man of action” was in office, especcially when the “terrorists attacked the twin towers on 9-11”.  Yeah, our boys in uniform were going to go over there and kick some Taliban Butt!

At this juncture, I now truly believe that a majority of Americans are not so far apart as we think we are, on what we hold dear.  The monstrous “spin machine” which is “politics and the mainstream media and Hollywood” however, has convinced us otherwise and pitted us against one another, resulting in a nation that is more polarized and divided than just about any time in it’s history other than the Civil War.

I hate to admit this, but even though I have followed politics closely for a good 20 years now, I didn’t begin to really see the light on the corruption in the U.S. government until well into Bush’s second term.  When Obama was elected, many pf his votes coming from Christians who claimed to be pro-life and pro-family, even though Obama is not, I was gob-smacked!  Their reasoning; “Oh, this is historical, of course I want to vote for the first black president!” Let me tell you, there was no one more pleased with the fact that America seemed to have finally moved past our racial differences.  I noticed in my son’s generation, there seemed to be almost no note whatsoever, taken of skin color.  Lots of mixed-ethnicity couples, just a wonderful lack of prejudice.  And my how that changed when Obama took office.  It saddened me.  And of course the things Obama has done these 4 years saddened me as well.  During these four years, I have gotten wise to the fact that the whole Democrat vs. Republican-Conservative vs. Liberal dynamic is in large part a ploy designed to divide the populace.  I went to the Tea Party March on Washington, and the Prayer Rally, and I saw the numbers who showed up.  At the Tea Party rally I saw the courtesy with which they conducted themselves, even on the interstate coming into town that day, the courtesy on the Metro trains, the jovial and friendly chit-chat between strangers from all over the nation, and the respect for property, cleaning up after themselves, and each other.  By the time we started nearing the beginning of the campaign season again, I also saw that the Tea Party hadn’t take long to be contaminated and hi-jacked by the same divisive and D.C.-game-playing mentality and was soon just an arm of the Republican Party.  That wasn’t what I saw in D.C. In D.C. it was black, white, hispanic, Republican, and Democrat.   It took a mere 2 years for that to disintegrate.  The “Occupy Movement” was similar.  Idealistic young people marching for hope and a future, hijacked by the Marxist-Lenonist former hippies-turned college professors.  Many of them still unaware of how they have been used, and the fraud that has been perpetrated on them via their indoctrination.

What I saw at the prayer rally disheartened me even more.  We went to that rally, and took our kids, because what we expected to see were real God-fearing, Bible-believing patriots, on their knees and in tears before the Lord, pleading en-masse for our nation.  Instead I saw Herman Cain mingling and pressing the flesh with people, a non-stop line up of “praise band” music, people milling around in front of the stage with hands raised and eyes closed, “blissing out” like groupies at a Justin Bieber concert, families having picnics, and a few scriptures being read, but curiously, other than a few pre-written “prayers” read from note cards, I didn’t see anything that looked like prayer going on.  No tearful pleading before the Lord.  More of a party atmosphere, really, a “look at us, what we are doing for the cause of God and contry!”  That was when I really knew that this nation was in BIG trouble!  If this huge and clueless crowd represented “the church” the church had clearly forgotten how to pray!

A couple of years prior to that, our family took a guided tour of D.C. with a prominent Christian pro-family group.  We so wanted to give our kids the Christian history of the founding of America.  A leading Christian author was our guide on the tour.  Only a few years later, we find that this author has been less than truthful in his representations of the founding of the nation, in his writings, and what’s more, a couple of years later we also had a “run in” with the leader of this very large “pro-family” organization which we formerly had supported monetarily for years.  It was a real eye-opener.  We watched this Christian institution take on such ecumenical and compromising alliances that we already were beginning to have reservations,  but when a conflict arose between them and another ministry, that was the final straw.  The president of this pro-family outfit blatantly pretty much blackmailed a minister who had been working with both ministries, that if he did not renounce all ties with the other ministry, that he was going to drop him from the broadcasting line-up, thereby taking away access to a massive  audience, and thus the minister was forced to choose, and renounced the other ministry.  It was a blatant abuse of power, and we called the president of the pro-family organization on it, in a hand-written letter.  We were surprised by the arrogance and the self-justification in the reply from the president, and were saddened that we could no longer support that ministry in good conscience.

Lines in the sand are being drawn right now.  There is a division between the mega-church, and the tiny independent churches that are remaining true to the old paths.  There are a few lone-voices in government who keep standing on Biblical morals and values though they are in the midst of a cesspool of corruption and immorality.  God has His soldiers in all those arenas.  His remnant, who continue, “having done all, to stand”.   But we are facing increasing harassent, and even persecuti0n.  I believe we will eventually face life and death choices here in America.

Many Christians are anxious, worried about the coming tribulation, believing that they will as Christians remain here to endure it.  If you believe that, then there is something missing of your understanding of both the scriptures, and the character of God.  Perhaps you are not right with God.  Perhaps you have done what you sincerely thought you needed to do, (walked down to an altar, repeated a prayer) in order to be saved.  What if you were misled by mealy-mouthed posers, wolves in sheep’s clothing? The Bible tells us many will discover when they stand before the Lord, that He will say “depart from me, I never knew you”.  People who “called Him Lord, and performed miracles and cast out demons in His name”.

You must believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You must be born again.  You must ask, and you must believe.  You don’t need to “accept Jesus” you need to realize that you are a rotten sinner, bound for hell, unless you can somehow become acceptable in the sight of God and the only way that happens is when you cry out to Jesus asking for the salvation that He secured for you with his blood, by his voluntary “laying down” of his life, by His death on the cross, and His resurrection 3 days hence.

As to the future of this nation, it remains to be seen.  Though I have not held back in voicing my conviction that a turn-around is unlikely at this juncture, it isn’t over until it’s over, as they say! But one thing is for certain, it is liberating to face the truth.  It takes a lot of energy to maintain denial.  We are where we are, and it is what it is!  And that should be okay, for any Christian who truly understands that we are strangers and aliens here.  Whether I go, or whether I stay,  God’s plan is fine with me.  If I go on to my “blessed hope” and new life in eternity, or whether  there is such an outpouring of repentance and prayer that God pulls us back from this brink, and even through hard times of recovery and re-building, we get a few more years and another chance to be the salt and light we are meant to be in this world, it’s okay with me.  In my case, staying would mean my husband and I get to see our kids grow up , and to enjoy those empty-nest years of re-discovering one another, maybe eventually having grandkids.  But either way, it is all the same to me.

I am very weary of the world the way that it is, though, that is for certain.  As it is, and with further decline, this is not a world I want my kids to have to know.

Truth could set us free.  If we’d only accept it!

There is a freedom that comes with admitting that a.) There is a God, and b.) I am not Him.

There is a freedom that could come with giving up the ruse that in the beginning, there was nothing, and then nothing blew up and created something from nothing, and life spontaneously occurred.

There is freedom in coming out of the darkness and into the light.   And freedom in giving up the pretense of being “good” and wise, when we are really wretched and poor and blind.

Satan is the father of deception and lies.  He may have told you that life is worthless, you evolved from monkeys, a fetus is a blob of tissue, and sex with whomever, whenever, and wherever, is your prerogative and is fulfilling.  Well, how is that working out for you?  Seriously, it’s just you and me, here.  I can’t even see you.  What is the TRUTH?  Frankly it takes a lot of faith to believe that “moral relativity” makes one whit of sense.  It takes even more faith to believe that all the beauty and diversity and wonder of this world is all a freak accident of spontaneous combustion.   You’re smarter than that!  You were created in the image of God, your Creator, and whether you believe in hell or not, doesn’t change the fact that there is one and you’re headed there.  Today is the only day you have to think about this and admit to Your Creator that you have been doing it all wrong, this “life’ thing.  It is not too late, right now, to say, “Hey, God of the Universe, I am not sure I believe in you, but if you are there, would you reveal yourself to me?”.  Now, don’t go looking for signs and mystical wonders, feelings, tingles, and all that.  He will not conform to your terms and wishes.  He sets the terms.   But He promises that “if thou wilt call upon Me, I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not”.

The world is getting pretty dark.  Isn’t it about time you allowed the light of truth to be turned on? Give up the struggle, exhausted single mom.  Stop trying to “fit in” and please people you don’t even like, depressed teen.  Get off that hopeless treadmill, ambitious executive, and lay down the enormous chip on your shoulder, disillusioned young black man. Get off your pride, successful white “wonder-woman” and feminist.  Your enemy is not  “all men” ‘the white man”, the absentee dad, the boss, or “Tha Man”.  Satan is your very real enemy, and he’s been feeding you a line of bull all your life. Whichever lie suited and served your personal wounds best.  Whether you know it or not, if God is not your God, then Satan is.  Satan IS the God “Pan” who is all things to all people, and “anything you want him to be”.  Through your wounds and vulnerability, through sexuality, through drugs, through some music, movies and lots of television, he has lured you into his trap and you are a prisoner.  That’s why you feel like one!  See how logical that is.  It’s simple.  Because it’s truth!

Give truth a chance.  Try Jesus!  Try God.  He’s calling you, He’s waiting for you.  He loves you with an everlasting love so enormous that he gave His only begotten son to be beaten, scourged, tortured, and to shed his blood to satisfy your guilt-penalty (the wages of sin is death) so that He did not have to impose that penalty upon you and could still satisfy Justice while still sparing your life.  He is not ignorant of those who have wronged you, nor is He letting anyone “get by with anything”.  He IS going to address every wrong, but on judgment day, that will include your own sin, and I guarantee you, those are the only sins you’ll be worried about when that time comes.  What others did to you will not suffice as an excuse.  The Bible says “it is appointed unto men once to die, and then, judgment.

Think about it!

Dazed! (News and commentary ,with a side of gospel. Hold the cynicism)

I am a die-hard realist and sometimes cynical  I always want the unvarnished truth, no matter how painful.  So it is a little crazy the way that the reality of where we are in the timeline toward the tribulation, can still leap up and get in a sucker-punch that knocks the wind out of me and leaves me dazed.  I’ll shake it off and go on, but I think yesterday’s “Jack Van Impe Presents” sort of had that effect on me.  Maybe it was that veteran watchman’s projection that certainly in the next 4 years the tribulation will likely be well underway.  Though I, like many, have been expecting the dam to break just any day, there is still the routine of life just rolling on along, that we also tend to count on as a matter of un-conscious habit.   I am one of those who believes that though no one knows the day nor hour of Christ’s return, we who study scripture, will certainly recognize the final moments leading up to the tribulation by the developments that get ticked off the prophetic list.  Certain wars, certain changes in world government.  We’re seeing them develop.  It is a sober, and a somber time. Prayer and fasting would be wise.  Not for the nation, not for a turn-around, but for lost souls to be saved, and for our own preparation that we will stand, wearing the armor, until the last moment, whatever that last moment is for each of us.  Because even as “He who now lets” continues for a little longer to restrain the self-destruction mankind, by God’s permissive will, is about to wreak, there will still be terror, bombings, riots, natural disasters, and satanic mayhem as the rain continues to fall and both the “just and the unjust”.  Because this is not God’s wrath.  This, what we are seeing now, is merely the natural reaping of the consequences of what mankind has sown.  But we are closing in on days that will be like none ever experienced in the entire history of mankind.  Days worse than any we could ever imagine.  Be very sure that you are saved and your sins are under the blood of Jesus.  While the buying, selling, eating, drinking, and marrying continue to go on, business-as-usual, the very last seconds on the clock are even now, ticking away.  Whether Obama wins or loses this election, he will not be out of office until late January of 2013.  I shudder to imagine the UN agreements he is even now committing this nation to, handing the U.S. over on a platter.  I said many times during his first year in office, that as soon as the election ended, he started a new campaign, for some position in the world government.  Hillary has those aspirations as well.  They knew and intended that we’d be where we are.  “Obama’s administration” didn’t fail to accomplish what they set out to do.  They merely had one agenda publicly, and a whole other agenda in reality.  I put those 2 words in quotation marks because I have never believed Barack Obama was in charge or that he was brilliant and calculating, no there is an entire “machine” behind the public face.  He is just the interface, projected to the world.  Sort of like the “image of the beast” which will be given life.  We are not dealing with flesh and blood.  For all those who have shaken a fist toward heaven and railed at a God you didn’t even believe in, demanding to know why He allows suffering and injustice; He will soon answer in the whirlwind.  And you will be sorry you asked.  Whether you realize it or not, you are guilty before Him yourself.

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U.S. Plan to Attack Iran With Nuclear Weapons, devised under Bush

New World Order Education: Useful Engines in the “One World Schoolhouse”

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Iran denies report of plans for nuclear talks with US

What Happened to the October Surprise?

End-Times Christian Movie Series ‘Left Behind’ Set for Hollywood Reboot (& Starring Nicolas Cage?)

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Articles: Waiting for Obama. And Waiting. And Waiting…

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Jihad and Christopher Stephens *** Warning-Graphic!***

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Were the  Reptillian Annunaki on the verge of being revealed in a film? How Jurassic Park 4 character designs would have looked

My commentary on this last link:

Tom Horn and some other’s have been talking about the return of the Nephilum that they believe will take place during the tribulation.  A mingling of seed, demonic hybrids, part-human.  This theme of hybrids is poppular among the horror genre.  And there may or may not be truth to the theory, but the idea has always fascinated people.  Why anyone likes to dwell on evil, and view hideous depictions of evil-in-the-flesh, is beyond me.  But I will say this: there is not a special-effects genious alive who can create cinimatic imagery that compares to the very real horror of the demonic presence that will be unleashed on this earth soon.  People like to scare themselves for fun, now, by toying around with evil things as if they are all harmless imaginary bogeymen, when in reality, what is coming will be much worse than any of our worst nightmares.  I thank God He saved me, because we are all infested with that same evil.

Lost sinner, please call on Jesus to save you today, while you still can.  Time is quickly running out.

We have all sinned.  Jesus came to Earth as a human, was tempted in all the same ways we are, but never sinned.  Because He was sinless, He was the only One eligible to serve as a sacrifice, and take our punishment for us, thereby seeing that justice was meted out for crimes committed, yet allowing guilty sinners to be declared justified, but only by faith in Jesus as their Savior and in what HE did on the cross.  Jesus died on the cross, and was buried, but if that were the end of it, it would have meant nothing.  However it was not the end.  He rose up again from the dead after 3 days, and even now is living, and sits at the right hand of God,  interceding with God for you and me.  He is your advocate with the righteous God, Creator of you and the entire universe, who could rightfully destroy all His creation if He so chose. But that is not God’s desire.  For His son, He will spare some.  You can be one of them.  If you cry out to Jesus and ask that what He did on the cross, be applied to your own “account”.  For God IS keeping account.  It is appointed unto man once to die, and then judgment.

Do you have any righteousness of your own, to speak for you on judgment day?

There is only one place to get that covering.

Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Call upon the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved.

The Open Door

I have always liked to write.  Letters, journals, poetry. When my babies were small, I kept journals written to them “from Mommy” so they could look back at their childhood selves through my eyes when they got older.  An entry might say “Today you said the funniest thing…” -or- “You have a very distinct personality and before you even had words, you had a way of making your feelings perfectly clear…”  Things that gave me a clue as to the young men they would become.

This morning as I spent time with the Lord, I was reading in Revelation chapter 3.  Verse 8 was underlined and I’d written a marginal note.  It’s the verse in which the Lord is speaking to the church at Philadelphia  The one church with whom God really expressed no specific disappointment or fault and the one which I believe is the end-time remnant.

He says, “I know thy works, ….. for thou hast a little strength, and has kept my Word, and hast not denied my nam.

As I read the verse, it put in my mind an image of our Heavenly Father reviewing, as it were, the whole of our (the church’s) lifespan as a mother cherishes and holds in her heart all the moments of her children’s lifetime.  He is recording for us, from His singular perspective, what He knows about us, that we don’t perceive or understand about ourselves.  Clearly, we are special to Him, and i can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness that our gracious Heavenly Father gave the sacrifice of His one true Son for the sake of His many adopted sons and daughters, and His omniscient pronouncement about us when it’s all said and done at the tail-end of the Gentile age is; “thou hast a little strength”.

Though perhaps it is not sad, He knowing our frames, that we are “but dust”, all things considered perhaps He is sincerely glad to know that this remnant handful grasped His promises with our puny and extremely limited strength and comprehension, and held on! Nothing takes Him by surprise, obviously.

But note what else He said:  (This is no small thing, this, if we let it really sink in, should be revolutionary!)  He says “I have set before thee an open door that no man can shut”.  What does that even mean?  What open door?  Well, I looked at the handy-dandy center-column (of my Nelson KJV Study Bible with Annotations, Doctrinal Footnotes and beaucoup other goodies) and it said to me “hey, take a look at I Corinthians 16:9!”

So I did.  And guess what?  Paul was in Ephesus, on His way to Macedonia and said “For a great door  , and effectual, (Producing an effect, or the effect desired or intended; or having adequate power or force to produce the effect, as in: My Word shall not return unto me void)  a great door, and effectual is opened unto me (and there are many adversaries)…..Hmmmm……What is this open door?……..

Then there was another clue (like a progressive treasure hunt, one clue leads to the next until finally, BINGO! you found the treasure) Acts 14:27  And when they were come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed (reviewed) all that God had done with them and opened a door of faith unto the gentiles. ( Did I emphasise that enough? Ha!)

This Door of Faith opened unto the Gentiles is speaking of the Age of Grace, the gathering together of a BRIDE from amongst the Gentile peoples, for His Son Jesus Christ.  THAT DOOR!

Wow, are you excited?  I am.

A door no MAN can shut.  Fields white unto harvest stand on the other side of that door.  They are out there for the plucking.  Do you realize what this means?  This door no man can shut was there at the birth of the church, and still stands open to us, the remnant.  It is not a door the apostate church can walk through (they are not equipped).  It is up to you and me to take God at His Word and walk through it and start picking because (verse 7) These things sayeth He that is Holy and True, He that hath the Key of David (Jesus) says He that openeth, no man shutteth, and shutteth, no man openeth.  The Key of David has to do with the promises God gave David regarding Jews and God’s covenant with them (which cannot be broken-see Jeremiah 33) and Jesus’ future earthly reign on the Throne of David.  But note also Matthew 16:19 where Jesus is talking to Peter and the disciples and says: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  If you have studied the history of the church in the New Testament, you know that the disciples were Jewish, and the New Covenant was given among Jews first, who had to be convinced to extend it to the Gentiles.  These Jews were believing Jews, but this mystery of the church was sooooo new to everyone that it took a while for the disciples to begin to understand.  (Behold I show you a great mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed…I Cor. 15:51  Paul was talking about the church, imagine His excitement as he tried to share this unbelievable news to new believers about this “number taken from among the Gentiles” some of whom would never see death, but all of whom would be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the rapture.

Furthermore, in the Revelation3  passage (v. 9) I will make them of the synagogue of satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie, behold I will make them come and worship before thy feet and know that I have loved you.  See, He was speaking to Saved Jews in the Age of Grace, AS JEWS.  These are the few Jews in that age who actually recognized Jesus as the awaited Messiah.  (Yep, the first Messianic Jews).  Who are those who say they are Jews but arent?  It was the unfaithful Jews who were “blind in part” and unable to recognize their Messiah, then and now.  But also I believe it is the modern-day church who embrace Replacement Theology and wrongly believe that the Old Covenant was cancelled when the New Covenant came into effect.  God says over and over, the Old Covenant with the Jews is a “never-ending covenant” which cannot be broken because He is God.

Can I tell you something?  Those of you, who, like myself and our family, have been through your period of disillusionment with “the church” (maybe you are in it now), who sincerely hunger and desire the sincere meat of the Word and perhaps you learned, much to your resentment and regret, that those you looked to as teacher and mentor and shepherd/pastor were actually wolves or goats, causing you much confusion.  God will worry about them.  Forgive, and learn this: The Holy Spirit is the only teacher you need.  If you apply yourself, work at it, study diligently, He will open your understanding and then He make you able to discern the trustworthy teachers.

And when it comes to sharing your faith?  You don’t have to be a Bible Scholar with 30 years of in-depth study under you belt to bring another lost lamb into the sheepfold.  You don’t have to be a D.L. Moody (Or Ray Comfort for those who aren’t old enough to know who D.L. Moody was.)

The door sits wide open before you.  Share your testimony and the 5-point Gospel

1. Grace of God Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5
2. All have sinned Romans 3:23
3. God is love but He hates sin Romans 6:23
4. Christ is God in the flesh Acts 4:12
5. Jesus brings salvation through faith in Him and what He did John 3:16

There.  Simple.  Back to the Basics.

You can also harken back to your V.B.S. days and make yourself one of those leather bracelets with 7 beads: Black, Red, White, Blue, Green, Yellow and Clear.

• Black=filthiness of the sinner without Christ
• Red=the blood of Christ which cleanses away that sin
• White= How clean we are after He washes us whiter than snow (Isaiah 1:8)
• Blue=both baptism as an outward declaration, and living water, which is needful for sustenance (Acts 2:42 and John 4:7-14)
• Green=the admonition to join a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing church, get a good Bible, and GROW in the faith
• Yellow=the streets of gold in heaven they can now look forward to, not fearing death
• Clear=God’s clear mandate that I had an obligation to witness to them, and now they have a mandate to share with others Ezek. 3:16-18 I Peter 3:15

I even have passages for the knots that are tied on either side of the row of beads so that they will remain in place.

• First knot=He knit you together in your mother’s womb, knows you intimately, hairs on your head, etc
• Final knot=God will eventually “tie up all loose ends” judge and repay in righteous wrath, anyone not under the blood according to his evil deeds, as well as rewarding those who were saved and faithful, for obedience and works which advanced the Kingdom.

There you have Sandee Lloyd’s own personal system: (Evangelism for Dummies  Ha Ha.)

Do not be afraid to talk about hell and guilt.  Take them through the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20) and explain the law is not like soap that cleans us up, it’s more like a mirror that can only show us how contaminated we are with our sin.  The law works, by God’s design, to speak directly to the conscience and if their conscience is at all tender, you will be able to make them see that they are guilty before a Righteous and Holy God.  Remind them that the commandments and Gods law (the whole Bible) is one law, sin is transgression (violation) of the law, and if they broke one, they have broken the whole law because, like the chain that is holding up the swing on the playground, if you only break one link, the chain itself is broken and no longer intact..  Jesus fulfilled the law, and God is willing to apply Jesus’ Righteousness to their account in trade for having applied their sin to Jesus to bear the punishment for them on the Cross.  Not a fair tradeoff, seems to good to be true, but there it is!

Hey, if you like the bracelet idea, here is another idea.  I use tiny rectangles of colored construction paper in colors that coordinate with the bracelet, and a wee bit o cellophane tape, and make corresponding tabs at the verses( in a pocket Bible or New Testament) that are applicable to the color.  Example: Sin/Black, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one to his own way, but the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all”.

I have made up countless New Testaments marked in this way so that after I witness to them, I can hand it to them to keep.  I also write a “key” in the front duplicating the bracelet beads in a drawing, and put those scripture references beside them.  THEN, I turn to the first one, underline or highlight it, and write the next reference in the margin so that after I or they read it, they can go easily to the next verse which will also be underlined and have the following reference written beside it.  Even maybe the page number…

Sooo Easy-Peasy even a CaveMan can do it.

Now, go walk through that door and bring someone into the fold or plant a seed today.  The quicker the bride is complete, the sooner we are OUTTA-HERE!   Jesus is the Open Door!

Happy fishing!

Usually I take the time to creat links for every scripture reference.  This is time-consuming, and I figure if you care enough, you’ll look them up.  Good way to start remembering them.  Stay tuned for the Daily News!

(Oh, and, Thank you, Cathie M. for your prayers.  God answered!)

 

 

Do You Know Jesus?

There is a God, and He is not happy about how we are behaving.  We have moved outside of any semblence of obedience to Him as a nation, as a world.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10 All have sinned. Sin has consequences..  God is just and requires atonement for sin.  Jesus never sinned, and was the”spotless sacrificial lamb”  that died to pay the penalty for our sins.  We must confess our sinfulness, ask Jesus to apply his substitutionary atonement towards our guilt,  and in exchange have the righteousness of Christ attributed to “our account”, thus satisfying God’s  wrath, and reconciling us to Himself.  That’s how it works.  You don’t have to understand it, you just have to accept it as true, believe it, confess Christ as your own Saviour, and be saved from the wrath that is coming, because my friend, “we ain’t seen nothin yet”!

Giants Part II (Mike Hoggard’s Watchman Video Broadcast on Blip TV)

Giants Part II   The much-anticipated second installment!  (I believe a Part III is also forthcoming next week as well).  Many of Pastor Hoggard’s videos are also available on Youtube and at www.visitbethelchurch.com