Several of my friends have been asking questions about becoming a Christian. I thought it might eventually be helpful to some others if it's laid out fairly simply in writing.
So, back to the question above, what do you think? A 1997 poll by Opinion Dynamics showed that 88% of Americans believe in Heaven while 71% believe in Hell. Quite honestly, these numbers were higher than I expected.
My question is this: if you believe that there is life after death, what are you doing to prepare yourself for it? The Bible indicates that our earthly bodies are mortal and we all know that death is inevitable. Yet, if our souls live forever as the bible also teaches and as most apparently believe, what would be more important than having considered what determines where our eternity will be spent? Just as people try to save money for their retirement years, it would be even more wise to consider these matters as they relate to eternal matters.
Asking people what gets you into heaven draws a wide variety of responses. Living a good life would likely top the response list. Going to church, doing more good things than bad, having been kind to people, being a good person, or just being religious in some form would be
certain to be included as well, among other things.
Without going into great lengths on this blog discussing each of these responses, (while stating that I am a believer in both Heaven and Hell myself as based on their mention in scripture) allow me to say that according to the Bible, everyone of those answers will keep
you out of Heaven.
The Bible teaches that there is one way to Heaven. It's not good works or helping ladies across the street or attending church. It's because of what Gods son Jesus did for you and I on a cross just over 2,000 years ago. Because each of us are born and have a sinful nature (inclined to do wrong)and because sin separates us from a Holy God, He sent His only Son to live and die once and for all to pay sins price. Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death.
It's a free gift. But like all gifts, it must be accepted. We simply have to acknowledge (confess) our sin, be sorry for it, and ask God to forgive us and come into our hearts and be
our Lord (boss) and Savior. Sound easy? Yes and no.
It's easy from a procedural standpoint but most people never do it because it means yielding control over their own life to the God who created us. It means being willing to lay down our control and agenda's and follow someone else's. It is, in short, humbling yourself to say I'm
not in control and I need help God. Pride was the first sin in the Bible and was committed by Lucifer aka the devil. And Satan is still using pride to keep millions of people from knowing the joy of finding what their heart has been longing for all along.
Apart from God, we try to find satisfaction in possessions, power, family, relationships, wealth, alcohol and drugs, or something as simple as just living as we please. We are still our own boss. But, and there is no arguing this point, not a single one of us ever finds true and lasting happiness in any of these things. I've been there as have we all, I suspect.
If you've never understood how to know God or have simply been unwilling to turn over control
of your life, I can unequivocally tell you that you are missing the happiest, most contented state one can experience on planet earth. At this point in my life, Jesus is as real to me as the keypad upon which I am now typing. I know He's with me. Not to mention, more importantly, that you are guaranteeing your eternal separation from God.
Please don't miss this my friend. You were created, not to live 75 years and then cease to exist, but to know God, to serve Him, and glorify Him now and forever. I have messed up many times along the way and have a long way to go but I can promise you that life begins at the cross. It does not solve all of lifes problems, it does not make life easy, but God will give you a purpose and contentment that cannot be found outside of Him.
I am including a link to a little booklet called the four spiritual laws. It is an excellent resource which has probably been used more than any other as people give their lives to
Christ. If you have never done so, I hope you will do so now.
http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm
Feel free to communicate with me @ jball999@gmail.com
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Cartels have infiltrated the American church - A message to Christians
Yesterday 18 people were murdered just south of the Texas border in Mexico. In the past 15 years, our neighbor to the South has literally become infested by warring drug cartels who have little to no regard for human life and are ripping the country apart at it's seams.
We've all heard the adage that birds of a feather flock together. Look around. By and large, it is human nature to enjoy being around those who share like interests with ourselves. Drug cartels are primarily comprised of ruthless, no nonsense people with a bottom line of profiting from the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics. Many will simply let nothing stand in the way of that happening. Human life is cheapened and regarded as expendable and, when it comes to those who stand in the way of the groups goal, the end justifies the means in removing that threat. There is no respect for authority and police and politicians are assassinated as hindrances. Many innocent civilians and perceived threats in Mexico suffer the same fate.
Cartels are loosely organized groups who form loose agreements or "collude" in order to advance an agenda, normally illegally. It can entail controlling supply, price fixing, bid rigging, or controlling profits while limiting or reducing competition threatening the cartels
agenda or profit motive.
Last night Pastor Rick Warren tweeted that some folks who've had their souls saved now need their emotions to be saved because they are still as mean as ever. This got me to thinking about the condition of today's church. It is probable that the reason their emotions remain unchecked is because the ownership of their soul never changed hands. Worth considering!
Anyway, I got to thinking tonight about some things I have observed over time within the American church. The church is one of the primary institutions, along with marriage, family, community,etc.. that has held American society over the years. What I say from this point forward is sure to upset / possibly alienate plenty of people but this is on my heart and I
think it needs saying. With the caveat that much of this my opinion / belief / and Gods leading with me, I know that God is big enough to deal with each of us on His own terms and in His own time. Couple that with the fact that is primarily a burden I have for the church and not so much to non-churchgoers. I don't expect non-Christians to think like me.
So, here goes: While my next statement obviously does not apply to all churches, it does apply to far too many. The American church, by and large, has been infiltrated by Satans cartel and he is intent on advancing his agenda. Many clergy have grown soft and far too many preachers are unwilling to call sin for what it is - sin. Preferring instead to tickle the audieces ears, they preach comfortable, feel good messages in an effort to avoid offending the congregation. God forbid that unbelievers or nominal Christians might go down the road somewhere and take their money with them. "The church budget and its programs, powerless though they are, must go on"! Paul forecasts this very event in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. II Tim 3:5. Another way to say this is that they have a form of Godliness but deny it's power.
There was an old saying growing up that Baptists don't dance, drink, or chew, or hang around those that do. I'm willing to wager that more baptists today drink than don't. What happened? Preachers, when is the last time you spoke about the evils of alcohol from the pulpit? Most will not do it. They may talk about drinking to excess (be not drunk with wine) but how have we moved from the vast majority of Christians having nothing to do with alcohol 50 years ago to the majority of the church being social drinkers, or alcoholics, today? What business do we as Christians have associating with and financially supporting these beverage companies (aka drug companies) which are killing people and destroying lives? How do we justify that?
Does Satan have cartels operating in many of America's churches? Christians or those who profess to be who are so worldly that there is no difference, no power evidenced in their lives? Cliques and gossips intent on tearing individuals down instead of building them up? Ladies more concerned with what each other is wearing than the condition of their soul? Cartels of pride and vanity showcasing the weekly soloist or featured group, turning it in to
that of a Hollywood production? I have heard there are churches that regularly pay their
singers or choir members to "perform". We have worldly Christians (or those who believe they are) in church for appearance sake but living like Hell the rest of the week. Business people attending to make connections for the sake of making potential contacts. The list goes on and on. Sin cartels, similiar to the drug cartels, have little to no regard for the spiritual life or condition of others as they are certainly not drawing their friends closer to Jesus. In fact, they turn or lead people away from God. Are we attempting to use God for our own selfish purpose? While I do not think that most of these people are intentionally evil or that they all have ulterior motives, the fact is that it does not matter. Satans agenda is simply to keep people from knowing and serving the one true God. We know Satans intent and it matters
little to him whether they know they are being used or not. The result is the same,
the impacted people and the others they turn off remain far from God.
Bottom line, we should follow Christ and worship Him to give praise and adoration to the God we profess to love and to be a light in this dark world. If we position ourselves as believers and/or church goers for any position other than this, we are guilty of trampling the grace
under foot that has been given to us. We are heaping sins upon ourself, thumbing our nose at the one who was ransomed on our behalf that our relationship be restored to the Father as it was in the beginning.
Have you looked around lately? Our world is a mess. Meanwhile, is it any wonder that little difference is observed between many professing Christians and those that don't know Him? Do we wonder why many people want to have nothing to do with Jesus? It's largely because they see no difference between themselves and many they know who claim to be Christians. Why should they want anything to do with Jesus when they see us living this way?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I would have say that I am guilty of having dabbled in certain spiritual cartels at times along the way. I certainly have been guilty of being only partially engaged. Perhaps you have been as well. Perhaps you are now? None of us can change the past but we can do something about the future.
Over the past 6-12 months, God has been calling me to do more for Him. I fully believe He is showing me that time is short and it is imperative that I / we / I make up my mind and pick a side.
Jesus is real. I know that and He has given me a purpose and zeal in life that I have never felt to this degree. That said, He is asking me how I can justify yielding only part of me to Him. I simply can't. I no longer can. I've come to a point of knowing that I can't speak for others but I'm determined that I will speak up for God as he leads me to. I will confidently stand up without regard for what others may think because I believe the one who died for my
sins is soon to return. No longer compromising or settling for giving Him anything less than all of me. Yet I remain a work in progress. But my heart is right with Him and that feels great. It's high time that we all stand up and insist that there is no room or time to play church any longer. Its time our pastors get back to preaching from the heart as opposed to speaking with the church budget in mind. And its time that we are filled with His Spirit to empower us to actually become contagious with something that the world wants to catch. There are millions more Americans that will follow Christ if we will get ourselves out of the way and allow them to see their desperate need for Him instead of a bunch of people who go to church but act no differently than anyone else. At some point, if they are honest with themselves, they will realize that there must be more to life than these temporal things that fail to satisfy here on earth. All human beings long for love, acceptance,and purpose, and there is no one, no one that holds a candle to Jesus. The old song says that "they will know
we are Christians by our love".
Speaking for myself, and you can hold me accountable, I am resolved to no longer be reserved and silent when it comes to what He has done for me. There is no time for that. There simply is no time. I hope you agree
Jim
We've all heard the adage that birds of a feather flock together. Look around. By and large, it is human nature to enjoy being around those who share like interests with ourselves. Drug cartels are primarily comprised of ruthless, no nonsense people with a bottom line of profiting from the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics. Many will simply let nothing stand in the way of that happening. Human life is cheapened and regarded as expendable and, when it comes to those who stand in the way of the groups goal, the end justifies the means in removing that threat. There is no respect for authority and police and politicians are assassinated as hindrances. Many innocent civilians and perceived threats in Mexico suffer the same fate.
Cartels are loosely organized groups who form loose agreements or "collude" in order to advance an agenda, normally illegally. It can entail controlling supply, price fixing, bid rigging, or controlling profits while limiting or reducing competition threatening the cartels
agenda or profit motive.
Last night Pastor Rick Warren tweeted that some folks who've had their souls saved now need their emotions to be saved because they are still as mean as ever. This got me to thinking about the condition of today's church. It is probable that the reason their emotions remain unchecked is because the ownership of their soul never changed hands. Worth considering!
Anyway, I got to thinking tonight about some things I have observed over time within the American church. The church is one of the primary institutions, along with marriage, family, community,etc.. that has held American society over the years. What I say from this point forward is sure to upset / possibly alienate plenty of people but this is on my heart and I
think it needs saying. With the caveat that much of this my opinion / belief / and Gods leading with me, I know that God is big enough to deal with each of us on His own terms and in His own time. Couple that with the fact that is primarily a burden I have for the church and not so much to non-churchgoers. I don't expect non-Christians to think like me.
So, here goes: While my next statement obviously does not apply to all churches, it does apply to far too many. The American church, by and large, has been infiltrated by Satans cartel and he is intent on advancing his agenda. Many clergy have grown soft and far too many preachers are unwilling to call sin for what it is - sin. Preferring instead to tickle the audieces ears, they preach comfortable, feel good messages in an effort to avoid offending the congregation. God forbid that unbelievers or nominal Christians might go down the road somewhere and take their money with them. "The church budget and its programs, powerless though they are, must go on"! Paul forecasts this very event in 2 Timothy 4: 3-4. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. II Tim 3:5. Another way to say this is that they have a form of Godliness but deny it's power.
There was an old saying growing up that Baptists don't dance, drink, or chew, or hang around those that do. I'm willing to wager that more baptists today drink than don't. What happened? Preachers, when is the last time you spoke about the evils of alcohol from the pulpit? Most will not do it. They may talk about drinking to excess (be not drunk with wine) but how have we moved from the vast majority of Christians having nothing to do with alcohol 50 years ago to the majority of the church being social drinkers, or alcoholics, today? What business do we as Christians have associating with and financially supporting these beverage companies (aka drug companies) which are killing people and destroying lives? How do we justify that?
Does Satan have cartels operating in many of America's churches? Christians or those who profess to be who are so worldly that there is no difference, no power evidenced in their lives? Cliques and gossips intent on tearing individuals down instead of building them up? Ladies more concerned with what each other is wearing than the condition of their soul? Cartels of pride and vanity showcasing the weekly soloist or featured group, turning it in to
that of a Hollywood production? I have heard there are churches that regularly pay their
singers or choir members to "perform". We have worldly Christians (or those who believe they are) in church for appearance sake but living like Hell the rest of the week. Business people attending to make connections for the sake of making potential contacts. The list goes on and on. Sin cartels, similiar to the drug cartels, have little to no regard for the spiritual life or condition of others as they are certainly not drawing their friends closer to Jesus. In fact, they turn or lead people away from God. Are we attempting to use God for our own selfish purpose? While I do not think that most of these people are intentionally evil or that they all have ulterior motives, the fact is that it does not matter. Satans agenda is simply to keep people from knowing and serving the one true God. We know Satans intent and it matters
little to him whether they know they are being used or not. The result is the same,
the impacted people and the others they turn off remain far from God.
Bottom line, we should follow Christ and worship Him to give praise and adoration to the God we profess to love and to be a light in this dark world. If we position ourselves as believers and/or church goers for any position other than this, we are guilty of trampling the grace
under foot that has been given to us. We are heaping sins upon ourself, thumbing our nose at the one who was ransomed on our behalf that our relationship be restored to the Father as it was in the beginning.
Have you looked around lately? Our world is a mess. Meanwhile, is it any wonder that little difference is observed between many professing Christians and those that don't know Him? Do we wonder why many people want to have nothing to do with Jesus? It's largely because they see no difference between themselves and many they know who claim to be Christians. Why should they want anything to do with Jesus when they see us living this way?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I would have say that I am guilty of having dabbled in certain spiritual cartels at times along the way. I certainly have been guilty of being only partially engaged. Perhaps you have been as well. Perhaps you are now? None of us can change the past but we can do something about the future.
Over the past 6-12 months, God has been calling me to do more for Him. I fully believe He is showing me that time is short and it is imperative that I / we / I make up my mind and pick a side.
Jesus is real. I know that and He has given me a purpose and zeal in life that I have never felt to this degree. That said, He is asking me how I can justify yielding only part of me to Him. I simply can't. I no longer can. I've come to a point of knowing that I can't speak for others but I'm determined that I will speak up for God as he leads me to. I will confidently stand up without regard for what others may think because I believe the one who died for my
sins is soon to return. No longer compromising or settling for giving Him anything less than all of me. Yet I remain a work in progress. But my heart is right with Him and that feels great. It's high time that we all stand up and insist that there is no room or time to play church any longer. Its time our pastors get back to preaching from the heart as opposed to speaking with the church budget in mind. And its time that we are filled with His Spirit to empower us to actually become contagious with something that the world wants to catch. There are millions more Americans that will follow Christ if we will get ourselves out of the way and allow them to see their desperate need for Him instead of a bunch of people who go to church but act no differently than anyone else. At some point, if they are honest with themselves, they will realize that there must be more to life than these temporal things that fail to satisfy here on earth. All human beings long for love, acceptance,and purpose, and there is no one, no one that holds a candle to Jesus. The old song says that "they will know
we are Christians by our love".
Speaking for myself, and you can hold me accountable, I am resolved to no longer be reserved and silent when it comes to what He has done for me. There is no time for that. There simply is no time. I hope you agree
Jim
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Vive la difference
This saying, translated "long live the difference", is usually used as an appreciatory term concerning the differences between genders. For the purpose of this post, I would like to take it in a different direction and focus more on the differences between people.
Were we all the same, life would be very boring. I believe we can all agree on that. God has uniquely created every one of us and we each have different personalities, looks, and behaviors, among other attributes. We are each gifted in various ways, each bringing strengths and weaknesses to the table.
This is why a strong team is comprised of various individuals who have certain roles to play which contribute to the success, or failure, of the team. I could manage a football team of the NFL's 11 best quarterbacks and put them up against the worst arena league team. The quarterbacks would lose because they are primarily gifted in the same ways. The diversity of the other teams athletes would propel them to victory. The quarterbacks would suffer from too much ego, not enough size, too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Putting football aside, the same holds true in life. That which can make us strong can also divide us. The greater the diversity among us, the greater the opportunity for misunderstandings, conflicts, and problematic issues. Different beliefs, politics, language, levels of understanding on certain issues, upbringings, etc.., often complicate matters. A good team has to work hard to "gel", learn their roles, set aside differences, and learn to appreciate the strengths that each person brings while mitigating any areas of weakness.
My main point: I am learning that it is important that we value others viewpoints and treat them with the same respect that we appreciate ourselves. It is important that we learn to be open-minded and at least give the ideas of others a fair shake. We do not all have to believe the same things but if we will all get outside of our comfort zone and realize there are things we can all learn from each other, wouldn't our job, our church, our entire life be much more pleasant and enjoyable? I believe it would.
Were we all the same, life would be very boring. I believe we can all agree on that. God has uniquely created every one of us and we each have different personalities, looks, and behaviors, among other attributes. We are each gifted in various ways, each bringing strengths and weaknesses to the table.
This is why a strong team is comprised of various individuals who have certain roles to play which contribute to the success, or failure, of the team. I could manage a football team of the NFL's 11 best quarterbacks and put them up against the worst arena league team. The quarterbacks would lose because they are primarily gifted in the same ways. The diversity of the other teams athletes would propel them to victory. The quarterbacks would suffer from too much ego, not enough size, too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Putting football aside, the same holds true in life. That which can make us strong can also divide us. The greater the diversity among us, the greater the opportunity for misunderstandings, conflicts, and problematic issues. Different beliefs, politics, language, levels of understanding on certain issues, upbringings, etc.., often complicate matters. A good team has to work hard to "gel", learn their roles, set aside differences, and learn to appreciate the strengths that each person brings while mitigating any areas of weakness.
My main point: I am learning that it is important that we value others viewpoints and treat them with the same respect that we appreciate ourselves. It is important that we learn to be open-minded and at least give the ideas of others a fair shake. We do not all have to believe the same things but if we will all get outside of our comfort zone and realize there are things we can all learn from each other, wouldn't our job, our church, our entire life be much more pleasant and enjoyable? I believe it would.
Positive attitudes
Isn't it a blessing to be around those who are happy? Happiness can be a temporary state or a permanent choice. People who constantly fluctuate would be referred to as moody and the good Lord did not bless me with much of a tolerance for moodiness.
But there are others that naturally look on the bright side of things. These are people I love to be around. I was reminded of this yesterday while working closely with a few co-workers on a little project.
Is happiness or our attitude really a choice? Take a look at my favorite quote and decide for yourself.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.
Charles Swindoll
But there are others that naturally look on the bright side of things. These are people I love to be around. I was reminded of this yesterday while working closely with a few co-workers on a little project.
Is happiness or our attitude really a choice? Take a look at my favorite quote and decide for yourself.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.
Charles Swindoll
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