Don't Hide Christ

This is a busy time of year. Yet we should never be so busy that the wonder of Jesus becomes ordinary to us. Ask God to overwhelm you with the glorious deeds of Jesus Christ.

His birth was just the beginning of his time on earth. He is also creator of the Universe, and the fearsome rider on the white horse. He rules in and over time and stands outside of time. He turns darkness into the light that illuminates the new heavens and earth. He wields the sword which executes his Father’s will and pierces deeply into my heart. He strikes terror for those who will not yield. And he lovingly, compassionately, compellingly calls me home.

Praise his name!

From the Gospel of John

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Ben Stein's confession

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year, which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you.

The following was written by Ben Ste...in and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. 

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. 

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

'Knowledge' in Gen. 3:5

Some skeptics see the word “knowledge” in Gen. 3:5 and conclude that God wants to prohibit man from having knowledge. They claim God likes people to be ignorant and unthinking, but they fail to consider what it is a knowledge of. But their sin brought evil into the world, and once mankind knew both good and evil, he had to choose between the two.

Before sin was in the world, Adam and Eve knew, and experienced, only good; in fact, God’s entire creation was “very good.” These same skeptics often complain about the evil they see in the world and blame it on God—yet it was because of Adam and Eve's desire to know good and evil that we now know and experience evil.

Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

The Atheist Challenge

A sincere atheist challenged me to live the life of an unbeliever for just one month. In return, he would live the life of a Christian. The rule is that each person has to be open-minded to the fact that he may be wrong in his beliefs. The Christian is not to read the Bible, and he’s not to go to church. The atheist will in turn read the Bible and go to church.

While I appreciate the kind gesture, it really illustrates that we Christians have a communication problem with some people. It’s completely our fault. We haven’t made the issue clear. So I’m going to try to make it very understandable. I will repeat and deliberately emphasize it, so that it hits the target. In doing this I risk sounding sarcastic. If that’s how it comes across, I apologize.

A Christian is someone who knows the Lord. Let me repeat that. Christians know the Lord. Actually know Him. Experientially. They know a Person, not a lifestyle. I’m talking about the God of the universe. They know Him.

I will now personalize this, but I am speaking on behalf of everyone who knows the Lord. I don’t “believe” that He exists. I know Him. Personally. I have a living relationship with the Creator. I talk to Him through prayer, and He guides me though His Word and by His Holy Spirit. I have known the Lord since April 25, 1972, at 1:30 in the morning.

Perhaps I’m not making myself clear, so I will try an analogy. It’s like actually knowing someone. Personally. It’s like having a friendship with Him—a 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year, intimate relationship. Therefore, it is self-evident that I can’t live for a month being open to not knowing Him. All the so-called “mistakes” in the Bible can’t change that fact. All the hypocrisy committed by religious people in the past can’t change it. All the atheists on God’s earth saying that He doesn’t exist doesn’t change it in the slightest. Darwin’s theory can’t change it. The storms of this life can’t change it. If I get cancer and die a horrible death, it doesn’t change the fact that I know the Lord. I not only know Him, but I love Him. I love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. He is my life. He’s my joy, my Creator, my Savior, my Lord, and my God.

My earnest hope and prayer is that you would soften your sinful hearts, and repent and trust Jesus Christ, so that you too can testify to the unchanging truth that “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

-Ray Comfort

Hosea 2:20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.

Let us Pray

“All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort...Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you.” Charles Spurgeon 

1 Kings 8:54 And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

Signs of the End Times

Few in the Church would deny that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes. These are certainly “perilous” times. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear of what is coming on the earth. There are suicide bombings, terrorist acts, nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. The neighbors of Israel are boldly escalating their hatred of the Jews. Lawlessness and the love of sin abound on every side. Economies are collapsing, and as political leaders try to keep a brave face, I can see fear deep in their eyes. They fail to even acknowledge the God who gave them life, and I think of the psalmist’s prayer, “Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know themselves to be but men” (Psa. 9:19,20).

In the midst of speaking about the dark and frightening signs of the end of the age, Jesus shone a bea- con of wonderful light: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). You and I can be a part of fulfillment of Bible prophecy. God has entrusted us (as the Church) to be lighthouse keepers, especially at the end of this age. We are to steer perishing sinners into the God-given safe haven. So make sure you show your brilliance by embracing the work that God has called us to do. If ever you were needed, it is now.

For more signs of the end times, see 2 Pet. 3:3.

2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come...

Passion for Evangelism

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Such a thought should stir in us a passion for evangelism. For verses that warn of its reality, see 2 Tim. 4:1.

“The wrath of God does not end with death. This is a truth which the preacher cannot mention without trembling, nor without wondering that he does not tremble more. The eternity of punishment is a thought which crushes the heart. You have buried the man, but you have not buried his sins. His sins live and are immortal. They have gone before him to judgment, or they will follow after him to bear their witness as to the evil of his heart and the rebellion of his life. The Lord God is slow to anger, but when he is once aroused to it, as he will be against those who finally reject his Son, he will put forth all his omnipotence to crush his enemies.” Charles Spurgeon

2 Thessalonians 1:7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power...

What is the purpose of humanity 'a existence?

The Christian has a unique knowledge that is foreign to this world. The next time you witness to a professing atheist ask, “What is the purpose for humanity’s existence?” He will more than likely say that we are here to strive for happiness. Say, “That’s what you do while you are here, but what is the actual purposefor existence?” You know that you exist to love God and enjoy Him forever, but the world sees no logical reason to exist. That is a good and humbling realization for an unsaved person to come to: that without God, he is utterly lost with no rhyme or reason for his existence.

Daniel 2:23 “I thank You and praise You,
O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”

Lamentation

The Book of Lamentations describes the spirit in which every Christian should walk. The Bible says that Jesus was a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (see Isa. 53:3). Those who acquaint themselves with the sufferings of this life, and the sufferings of the next for those who die in their sins, will lament in horror and then preach with passion. The lost, with the same loves and fears as we have, are held captive by the enemy (see 2 Tim. 2:26) and await unawares the most terrible of fates, but for the grace of God. Tragically, they do not consider their eternal destiny (see v. 9).

Lamentations 1:5 Her adversaries have become the master,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has afflicted her
Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

Free from fear

Always keep in mind that you will never be free from fear, especially just before you get up to open-air preach. Overcome it through thoughts of the fate of the ungodly, the sacrifice of the cross, and the fact that God is watching you. I have known men who said that it was less fearful for them to skydive for the first time than to open-air preach. So think of the worst-case scenario if something goes wrong with both. In skydiving, if the parachute fails to open or becomes twisted, you fall to an unspeakably terrifying death. In open-air preaching, you may make a fool of yourself and dent your ego. There is no comparison. So just do it, and God will be with you.

Haggai 2:5 ‘ According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’

God demands obedience

The ungodly often think that all that God requires of them is to “believe” in Him. However, God does not require just belief (the demons believe and tremble); He demands obedience. We are to bow to the Lordship of the One who gave us life. He is the Lord and if the world refuses to bow to His absolute sovereignty now in mercy, they will bow later in judgment.

“Salvation comes not by ‘accepting the finished work’ or ‘deciding for Christ.’ It comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole, living, victorious Lord who, as God and man, fought our fight and won it, ac- cepted our debt as His own and paid it, took our sins and died under them and rose again to set us free. This is the true Christ, and nothing less will do.

“But something less is among us, nevertheless, and we do well to identify it so that we may repudiate it. That something is a poetic fiction, a product of the romantic imagination and maudlin religious fancy. It is a Jesus, gentle, dreamy, shy, sweet and feminine, almost effeminate, and marvelously adaptable to whatever society He may find Himself in . . . He is used as a means to almost any carnal end, but he is never acknowl- edged as Lord. These quasi Christians follow a quasi Christ. They want his help but not his interference. They will flatter him but never obey him.” A. W. Tozer

Zephaniah 3:2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

Our Burden

The Christian carries a “burden.” We look around us at the unspeakable atrocities and carnage of humanity and cry out in despair to God. When we speak out about the fruits of sin, we find that the world contends with us. The unsaved suffer horribly with the disease of sin and yet refuse the cure.

One fruit of a sinful world is a system of law that eliminates any reference to God, who is the final authority, the one whose laws are perfect and just. When a nation forsakes God’s Moral Law, it produces erroneous judgments. But as desperate as things seem, God can “do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (see Eph. 3:20). He allows us to see iniquity for what it is so that we might be driven to prayer and see Him fulfill His wondrous purposes.

Habakkuk 1:1 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.

3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.

4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

5 “Look among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.

The world, the flesh, and the devil

We are to reckon the sinful nature dead to our threefold enemy (the world, the flesh, and the devil) as it hangs with Christ on the cross of Calvary. However, to effectively do this, we need the assistance of the Ten Commandments to kill our sinful nature (see Rom. 7:10,11). The Law sends us to the cross and keeps us there. “You shall not commit adultery” keeps our heart from lust. “You shall not covet” keeps our eyes off this attractive world, etc. See Rom. 13:8–10 for what the Commandments do for the godly.

2 Samuel 18:14 Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. 15 And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him. 16 So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people

Thanksgiving

I received this letter from my pastor today and wanted to share:

This one will be a little more personal to me.  As I have mentioned many times I have had some great mentors in my life.  Each one provided a special need for me at the right time (God’s timing I learned later).  This morning I had three reminders from friends asking about a time when I pastored a Landmark Satellite called Landmark of Monte Forte Heights.  It is in the west side of Cincinnati adjacent to I-74. 

 

It was Thanksgiving 1986.  I had just turned 36.  I challenged the church to feed 1000 people that Thanksgiving.  We had done this before with a good measure of success but not many decisions.  This time, however, we decided that we should hold a revival along with it.  I was impressed to ask Bro James Hollingsworth, my mentor to preach.  Stop and think about it.  During the Thanksgiving season the members of this church gave up all their family traditions and committed themselves to spreading the gospel.

 

We had 11 buses that brought in several hundred children and their parents.  We had many who drove in.  Our people worked all night cooking turkey at the kitchen at the Landmark Christian School.  We had all the trimmings.  Many businesses donated funds and one turkey farm donated “giblets” for the gravy. Grocery stores gave us discount prices.  You get the point.

 

We were expecting a great crowd.  We put up a tent for the children grades 1-3.  Our nursery was beaming with babies and preschoolers.  Our choir was prepared led by Jim Steward and Bill Hillard.  I had trained at least a dozen of men and women to work at the altar.  (I just knew that Bro Hollingsworth would bring a powerful message. We prayed and worked and prayed more.  We were ready!

 

When the busses began to arrive we began to get excited.  We fed almost 600 people.  But the best news is that when Bro Hollingsworth preached 66 people came forward to receive Christ. Most of them were adults.  It was awesome.

 

Today I was asked about this from two sources.  Mark, one of two best friends, wrote me last night asking about the details.  See Bro H has had a stroke and he didn’t remember the meeting.  This morning James George, who was on Bro Hollingsworth staff, wrote his memories of the day and said that every Thanksgiving he is reminded of that special time of God’s Spirit doing a work in Cincinnati.

 

So today I am thankful that God has done great works in our lives.  But I’m also thankful that He wants to do it again…anywhere and anytime.  All we have to do is believe and attempt great exploits for the Lord.

 

Daniel 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

 

Psalm 126:1  A Song of degrees.When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

Psalm 126:2  Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.

Psalm 126:3  The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Psalm 126:4  Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.

Psalm 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Psalm 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

 

May our Lord receive the thanks for His wonderful works.

 

Bro Jim

Thanksgiving with Meaning

The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins.

–Psalm 34:18 (TLB)

It is the custom of many Christians to bow their heads in public places and give thanks for the food that has been placed before them. I have had scores of waiters and waitresses tell me that when we bowed our heads, it was the first time they had ever seen that happen in their restaurant.

Millions never pause to give a word of thanks to God for the food provided. Few homes have a moment of thanksgiving at the beginning of the meal or at any other time of the day. Even at Thanksgiving time only a minority will pause and give thanks to God. 

Thanksgiving is recognition of a debt that cannot be paid. We express thanks, whether or not we are able otherwise to reimburse the giver. When thanksgiving is filled with true meaning and is not just the formality of a polite "thank you," it is the recognition of dependence.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, I know that apart from You I can do nothing of lasting value. Help me to come to the end of self and allow You to control the reins of my life.

If the wages of sin is death, when I die I'll pay for my sins.

It is true that the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Those who say such things are gambling the whole of their eternity on the meaning of one word: “death.” They assume it means the “termination of existence,” but their assumption is erroneous, as a little reasoning should reveal.

For instance, Hitler was responsible for the cruel deaths of six million Jews, many of whom were children. Was his death the “wages” of his unspeakably terrible sins? If death is the end, then God will give you the exact same wages as Hitler. That would mean that God is unjust, which is unthinkable.

The person who believes that our demise is the end is in for the shock of their death. Their physical death (separation from their body) is just the beginning. There is going to be a resurrection of every human being, both “the just and the unjust” (see Acts 24:15). This is not referring to the good and the bad, because the Scriptures tell us that there are no “good” people (see Psa. 14:1–3; Mark10:18). There are only those who have been made “just” before God, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Through the gospel, God freely justifies all those who come in childlike faith to the Savior. That means He proclaims us innocent—as though we had never sinned in the first place—and we become part of the “just.” However, those who die in their sins, the “unjust,” will “fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb.10:31). That is a very fearful thing, because He will give them justice—their exact wages due to them—and if that happens, there will be hell to pay. They will be thrown into the lake of fire, “which is the second death” (Rev. 20:14; 21:8).

Revelation 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Hulk Hogan Suicidal Thoughts Led to Awakening; Wrestler Now Has God's Peace in His Life

Former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, aka Terry Bollea, seemingly had it all, but in 2007 things began to change for the man responsible for the phenomenon known as "Hulkamania." He found himself thinking that suicide was the answer to his problems, but then heard a voice that brought him back to himself and set him on a new path that includes God.

Hogan found fame working for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) as the "all-American" hero.

He enjoyed a successful career and after finally leaving the WWE, appeared on the reality show "Hogan Knows Best," which featured his everyday life and family, including daughter Brooke and son Nick.
While the show enjoyed some success, it didn't last long and was canceled in 2007. That was the same year that Nick was in a serious car accident, severely injuring his passenger and best friend and sending Nick to eight months in jail.

"After the show I kinda hit rock bottom," Hogan told Oprah on her show, "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" "Everything got dark, everything happened at once. I was drinking alcohol very heavily. It just all kept piling up, it all kept mounting and mounting. I didn't know how to handle it. I always wondered how could someone possibly take their own life, and so I got to that point where I said, 'You know what, maybe this would be easy. You know, maybe this would be an easy way to fix things.'"

However, on New Year's Eve, Hogan had a life-changing, and life-affirming experience that put things in a new perspective.

"I walked outside, some kid ran up and hugged me and was like, 'Oh I grew up watching you. I didn't have a dad, you're like a dad to me.' And there was another person that said, 'Hey Hulk, we love you.' And I went, 'Oh my God' – it was right then. I didn't understand what was going on, but it hit me that there's clean air and that there's dirty air. I realized I couldn't take it anymore. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I got sick and tired of the hating, the negativity, the verbal abuse – just everything that I was hearing," Hogan said.

Hogan decided to finalize the divorce from wife Linda in 2009, clearing the way for him to marry his girlfriend, Jennifer McDaniel in 2010. That, he says, also helped him figure out who he is supposed to be and what is truly important in life.

"I now realize I had to go through all this stuff to be who I am today, to make me who I am today," Hogan explained. "And then I realized all that stuff – the peace, love, the joy, that still, small voice, the energy, that God presence – is part of who I'm meant to be."

Worship Service in the Philippines

I'm sorry. Why did you say you couldn't make it to church?

Baptized for the dead

Mormons are well-known for their interest in genealogy because they believe it is their responsibility to be baptized on behalf of the dead. They believe those who have died without accepting Mormonism can still make it to heaven if their names are taken to the Temple and someone is baptized on their behalf. Because they don’t have a body, the ordinance is done for them by proxy, giving the dead the opportunity to accept Mormonism in the spirit world. Mormons base this practice on 1 Cor. 15:29, but Paul disassociates himself from the pagan practice by using the word “they,” not “we.”

Some Mormons are even married on behalf of the dead, by going through the marriage ceremony in their place. This supposedly enables a dead person to make it out of “Spirit Prison” and into a higher level of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

Con-science

Human understanding is “darkened” (Eph.4:18), but the conscience is the area where God has given light to every man. The word “con-science” means “with knowledge.” The conscience is the headline warning of sin; the Scriptures give the fine print. None of us can say that we don’t know it’s wrong to lie, steal, murder, or commit adultery; that knowledge is written in large print on our heart. However, in the Scriptures we see the true nature of sin: that God requires truth even in the inward parts (see Psalm 51:6). The fine print reveals that lust is adultery of the heart, hatred is murder of the heart, fibs are bearing false witness, etc.

“Conscience is the internal perception of God’s moral Law.” Oswald Chambers

Romans 2:15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them

Why are there so many races ?

Some have wondered, if we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, why are there so many races? The Bible informed us 2,000 years ago that God has made all nations from “one blood.” We are all of the same race—the “human race,” descendants of Adam and Eve, something sci- ence is slowly coming to realize. Reuters news service reported the following article by Maggie Fox:

Science may have caught up with the Bible, which says that Adam and Eve are the ancestors of all humans alive today.

Peter Underhill of Stanford University in California remarked on findings published in the November 2000 issue of the journal Nature Genetics...Geneticists have long agreed there is no genetic basis to race—only to ethnic and geographic groups. “People look at a very conspicuous trait like skin color and they say, ‘Well, this person’s so different’...but that’s only skin deep,” Underhill said. “When you look at the level of the Y chromosome you find that, gee, there is very little difference between them. And skin color differences are strictly a consequence of climate.”

“When the families scattered from Babel, they each took different combinations of genes with them. In such small populations, trivial differences (such as skin color) can arise quickly in only a few generations. Even evolutionists admit this is true. But different shades of skin and slightly different genetic traits are trivial and do not constitute different ‘races.’” Carl Kerby, Answers in Genesis 

Acts 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.

Acknowledge Your Sin

A woman in Florida was in court for running over a bike rider with her car. As she was in prison awaiting her sentence (which was predicted to be one to four years), she was allowed to take a phone call from a friend, and laughed as he made jokes about the victim’s death. When the judge heard the recorded phone call, he threw the book at her, and gave her the maximum sentence of more than ten years. Why did he do that? Because her laughter revealed that she had no contrition (true sorrow). She didn’t see the seriousness of her crime.

What is it that will bring swift mercy from the Judge of the Universe? What is it that will open the door of the grace of God to guilty sinners? It is what the Bible calls “godly sorrow.” It is only when we see the seriousness of our transgressions against God that we will have godly sorrow, and it is godly sorrow that produces repentance. Each of us has a choice. We can be a fool and mock at sin, or we can see sin as being “exceedingly sinful.” You have God’s Word on it: He will throw the Book at the proud and impenitent, but He will give grace to the humble. So humble yourself today, acknowledge your sins, and as you trust in the Savior, you will taste of the grace of God.

Leviticus 26:40 ‘ But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—

God Abhors Evil

“All who, without commission from God, dare to execute private revenge, and who, from ambition, covetousness, or resentment, wage war and desolate kingdoms, must one day answer for it. But if God, instead of sending an earthquake, a pestilence, or a famine, be pleased to authorize and command any people to avenge his cause, such a commission surely is just and right. The Israelites could show such a commission, though no persons now can do so. Their wars were begun and carried on expressly by Divine direction, and they were enabled to conquer by miracles. Unless it can be proved that the wicked Canaanites did not deserve their doom, objectors only prove their dislike to God, and their love to his enemies. Man makes light of the evil of sin, but God abhors it. This explains the terrible executions of the nations which had filled the measure of their sins.” Matthew Henry 

Numbers 33:51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; 53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants ofthe land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.54 And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

Bound by His Character

The world often gravitates to the concept of a god who is “all loving.” Such a loving god would never judge people and damn their souls to hell. However, it is more biblical to say that God is love, but He is also the essence of truth, judgment, and righteousness. Therefore, God is bound by His own character to do what is true, just, and right.

“If we exalt one of God’s qualities over another, we can get a distorted view of God’s character. In fact, overemphasizing any one of God’s attributes to the exclusion of others can lead to heresy. For example, teaching only about God’s mercy and neglecting His role as a judge will prevent people from understanding God’s hatred of sin and the future punishment for wrongdoing.” Bill Bright

Jeremiah 4:2 And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.”

Real Business

“If any person is an honest unbeliever and sincerely wants to know God, he will come to a saving faith. Folk with whom I have dealt who say that they cannot believe are not being honest. The fact of the matter is that no man’s eyes are blindfolded unless he himself chooses to be blindfolded. If a person really wants to know God and will give up his sin and turn to Christ, God will make Himself real to him. In our day the problem is that a great many folk do not really mean business with God.” J. Vernon McGee

Jeremiah 9:6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.

“If we tell people to trust in Jesus to go to heaven and avoid hell, won’t that motive create false converts?”

Think of the story Jesus told of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–32). The father had great pleasure when the son came into a right relationship with him. The son cried, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (vv. 18,19). Obviously, his father would not have rejoiced in the same way if a happy but impenitent son had returned with a prostitute on each arm. Obviously, it was the son’s humble turning from his sinful lifestyle that pleased the father. The son’s happiness was irrelevant; righteousness was the issue. The world has no concern for righteousness. Its chief goal is the prodigal’s happiness, whether he is in or out of the pigsty.

Christianity’s goal is absolute righteousness, which we are told in Scripture will ultimately result in the glory of God and the pleasure of man (see Psa. 16:11). That is why we must always focus on man’s depravity (revealed by the moral Law) and God’s righteousness (revealed in His Law and in the cross; see Rom. 1:16,17). The gap between depravity and holiness will reveal the need for righteousness. Happiness is irrelevant to the gospel proclamation, even though (because of God’s kindness) it is ultimately the end result.

However, we need never feel any sense of guilt because someone responded to the gospel with a desire to live. It was self-preservation that motivated the prodigal to get up out of that pigsty (“I perish with hunger!”; Luke 15:17), and every sane human being likewise has been given an instinct for self-preservation. We have been endowed by our Creator with the good sense to know that life is better than death, and that heaven is better than hell. We came to Christ because of a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, and the ultimate end of righteousness will be “pleasures forevermore,” to the glory of God.

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

Who made the Earth!

Law of probabilities refutes evolution. “The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.” Sir Fred Hoyle, professor of astronomy, Cambridge University

“The likelihood of the formation of life from inanimate matter is one out of 1040,000. . . It is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of evolution. There was no primeval soup, neither on this planet nor on any other, and if the beginnings of life were not random, they must therefore have been the product of purposeful intelligence.” Sir Fred Hoyle, Evolution from Space

“I believe that Darwin’s mechanism for evolution doesn’t explain much of what is seen under a microscope. Cells are simply too complex to have evolved randomly. Intelligence was required to produce them.”Michael J. Behe

“Contrary to the popular notion that only creationism relies on the supernatural, evolutionism must as well, since the probabilities of random formation of life are so tiny as to require a ‘miracle’ for spontaneous gen- eration tantamount to a theological argument.” Chandra Wickramasinghe

George Gallup, the famous statistician, said, “I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone— the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is just a statistical monstrosity.”

Revelation 14:7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

Pretenders...

Hypocrites may show up at a church building every Sunday, but there are no hypocrites in the Church (Christ’s body). Hypocrite comes from the Greek word for “actor,” or pretender. Hypocrisy is “the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold.” The Church is made up of true believers; hypocrites are “pretenders” who sit among God’s people. God knows those who love Him, and the Bible warns that He will sort out the true converts from the false on the Day of Judgment. All hypocrites will end up in hell (Matt. 24:51).

1 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Seek Souls!

“Now concerning the salvation of our fellow-men; we shall never compass it unless our eyes look right on and our eyelids straight before us. Before we win souls we must live for souls. We need men and women who live to convert others to Christ. The minister had better quit his pulpit if it be not his one burning desire to bring hearts to Jesus’ feet. If a divine impulse be not upon him driving him to seek the souls of men, let him go elsewhere with his windy periods. Professors have little right to be in Christ’s church unless they are passionately in earnest to increase his kingdom by the salvation of their fellow-men. O my brothers and sisters on whom is the blood-mark of redemption, I charge you concerning this matter to “let your eyes look right on and let your eyelids look straight before you”! Seek souls as dogs hunt their game; eye, nostril, ear all open, and every muscle strained. Converts are not gained by dreamers. We cannot imitate Jesus as a Savior of men by being dull and heartless. In any point in which we follow our Lord let us do it with all our soul.” Charles Spurgeon 

Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.

An I for an I

This verse, in Mat 5:38, is so often misquoted by the world. Many believe it is giving a license to take matters into our own hands and render evil for evil. However, these are judgments for civil law and not revenge for personal grievances. The spirit of what Jesus is saying here is radically different from the “sue the shirt off the back of your neighbor” society in which we live.

God’s Word is practical. It makes sense that if someone destroys another’s property, he should make restitution. Nowadays, criminals often destroy property and go to jail without paying any restitution. The victims remain uncompensated for their losses. So if someone steals your ox, he is to restore the ox. If someone steals and wrecks your car, he is to buy you another one...a car for a car, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Matthew 5:38 “You have heard that it was said,

‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 

Good Karma

It is popular in Western culture to embrace something called “karma.” Hindus, Buddhists, New Agers, and others believe in this concept of a cycle of cause and effect. It is popular because it sounds reasonable—you bear the consequences for your own actions—and seems to give an explanation for suffering. The problem with the philosophy of karma is that it is tied to the error of reincarnation. Supposedly what you did in your past life affects you now, and what you do in this life will determine your future reincarnation.

The idea of karma requires an impersonal “force” that is able to see all people everywhere, keep track of all their deeds, determine whether each is good or bad, tally the results to see if each individual should be rewarded or punished, and assign their identity in the next life. That would require an entity that is eternal, intelligent, omniscient, omnipotent, moral, fair, and just. This describes our holy, righteous Judge rather than some unknowable, impersonal, universal force.

Although the idea of karma is erroneous, we can use it as a springboard for witnessing. If you encounter people who embrace the concept, simply ask them how they are doing—are they living a good life? How do they think they will do in the next? Most believe they are doing okay. Then say, “Let’s suppose that there is a heaven. Do you think you are good enough to get in? Are you a good person?” Take them through the Ten Commandments to show God’s perfect standard, and then tell them about grace, repentance, and faith.

Obadiah 1:15 “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

Raising Godly Children

If you want “godly offspring,” it is essential that you make the time to establish a family altar. Build it out of the unmovable rocks of resolution. You will need to be resolute about this because it will be a battle. Your flesh will fight it, and you can be sure there will be a continual spiritual battle within your mind. “Circumstances” will constantly crop up. Your kids will occasionally groan when you announce that it is time for devotions. Loved ones may subtly, subconsciously discourage you. However, your time of family devotions should be a priority for your whole family. Don’t be legalistic about it, but as much as possible, put all other things aside before you postpone or cancel family devotions.

It will be an altar of sacrifice, as you sacrifice your time, your energy, and sometimes your dignity. For years, our kids heard, “Six o’clock—reading time.” My wife and I dropped whatever we were doing, and the children learned to do the same, and we gathered as a family. Making it a priority for your family’s growth will speak volumes about its importance in their lives.

Again, you will find that there are manyexcuses for not having devotions. You may be pressed for time, feel tired, or think you are unable to teach the Bible. However, there is one very powerful reason why you should have daily devotions: the eternal salvation of your children.

Malachi 2:15 But did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks godly offspring.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

"Two Scariest Lies in Our World Right Now" Francis Chan from Doctrine Yo...

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"Bill Gates" Open-Air

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Hot!!!

Make sure you don’t miss the magnitude of what God accomplished in creating the sun. Its surface temperature is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, with the temperature at the core around 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot. The sun’s diameter is about 870,000 miles (109 times greater than Earth), and it is 333,000 times heavier—and that is only one of over 100 billion stars that God made. It burns an incredible seven million tons of natural gas every second.

And Almighty God spoke it into existence.

Genesis 1:16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

A Need for God

Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.
–Colossians 1:27 (TLB)

The age-old issue, “Can man save himself, or does he need God?” is still raging across the world as furiously as ever. As long as the world goes on, people will build towers of Babel, fashion their graven images, and invent their own ideologies. Now, as in every period of history, people think they can manage without God. 

Economically, they may manage; intellectually, they may manage; socially, they may get by. But down underneath the surface of rational man is a vacuum—a void that can be met only through Jesus Christ. The most astounding fact of all history is that the great and almighty God of heaven can live in your heart. It makes no difference who you are.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

You fill the emptiness and longing of my soul. I need the presence of Your Spirit, dear Lord.

"Jesus Christ never existed"

Surprisingly, some skeptics claim that Jesus didn’t exist, though to do so they have to reject the entire New Testament historical record. The New Testament contains hundreds of references to Jesus Christ, and in terms of ancient manuscript evidence, this is extraordinarily strong proof of the existence of a man named Jesus of Nazareth in the early first century A.D.

While skeptics may choose to reject the Bible’s moral message, they cannot deny its historical accuracy. Over 25,000 archaeological finds demonstrate that the people, places, and events mentioned in the Bible are real and are accurately described. No archaeological finding has ever refuted the Bible. In fact, the descriptions in the Bible have often led archaeologists to amazing discoveries. Non-Christian journalist Jeffery Sheler, author of the book Is the Bible True?, concluded, “In extraordinary ways, modern archeology is affirming the historical core of the Old and New Testaments, supporting key portions of crucial biblical stories.”

In addition, a surprising amount of information about Jesus can be drawn from secular historical sources. According to Richard M. Fales, “Writings confirming His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection include Flavius Josephus (A.D. 93), the Babylonian Talmud (A.D. 70–200), Pliny the Younger’s letter to the Emperor Trajan (approx. A.D. 100), the Annals of Tacitus (A.D. 115–117), Mara Bar Serapion (sometime after A.D. 73), and Suetonius’ Life of Claudius and Life of Nero (A.D. 120).”

The first-century Roman Tacitus, considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world, mentioned superstitious “Christians,” named after Christus (Latin for Christ), who was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote of a man named Chrestus (Christ) who lived during the first century (Roman Annals 15.44). Renowned Jewish historian Josephus wrote:

Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man [if it be lawful to call him a man], for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. [He was the Messiah.] And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him [for he appeared to them alive again at the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him]. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this date.

1 John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God...

Women in Evangelism

In Christ there is neither male nor female. We are all told to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God (see Rom. 12:1). Never let anyone convince you that women shouldn’t be actively involved in the Great Commission. When we each appear before the Lord, none of us want to be empty-handed; we want to bring as many people as possible into the Kingdom.

Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.

Protect Your Mind

Keep yourself busy warring against the world, the flesh, and the devil. You cannot let down your guard for a moment. Protect your thoughts, and keep your heart free from sin. Don’t let your mind wander into lust. The Scriptures warn that lust brings forth sin, and sin when it is full grown brings forth death (see James 1:14,15). The enemy knows your Achilles heel. If you are a male with red blood in your veins, you will have a battle with lust, but you are not alone in your fight.

2 Samuel 11:1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. Andsomeone said, “ Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

God doesn't send anyone to Hell

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance (see 2 Pet. 3:9). This is why it is biblical to tell sinners that God does not want them to go to hell. It is not His will. He does not send anyone to hell, in the same way a righteous judge does not delight to send anyone to prison. The criminal’s crimes send him to prison; the judge merely executes justice. In the case of our salvation, God prefers mercy over judgment, but if we refuse His mercy shown in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we will get exactly what we deserve.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: ‘ As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

A Canvas and A Painter

“The canvas never quarrels with the painter. He is free to paint on it what he likes, be it a beggar or a king. The Christian accepts any condition in life as coming from God. If he is successful, he does not boast of it. Can a brush boast that a beautiful picture has been drawn with it? Only the master painter deserves glory. Such is our relationship with Christ. A Christian seeks glory from no one.”Richard Wurmbrand 

1 Thessalonians 2:6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Onward Christian Soliders

Some years ago a traditional church dropped "Onward Christian Soldiers" from their song index because it made reference to war. That's understandable for people who have never been born again. War is the last thing on their minds. They are "peacemakers" meeting in a building which they think is the "church." They are not born of the Sprit, so they live in a natural world. They are spiritually insensitive because they are spiritually dead. The world may think there is peace between man and God, but the Bible makes it clear that unregenerate man is an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works, that anyone who is a friend of the world is an enemy of God (see Colossians 1:21, Romans 5:10, Romans 8:7, James 4:4). Many within the Church have lost sight of this important truth, something evident by their passive lifestyle. We have become like the Dead Sea. It is dead because it has water flowing into it, but no outlet. The water has become so salty, a human being can't sink into it. Nothing lives in it, no one can penetrate it . . . just like the contemporary Church. If the average church made as much noise about God on Monday, as it makes to God on Sunday, we would certainly see revival.

Are we hot for God? Can we say that we have witnessed to more than 12 people in the last 12 months? Do we have the testimony "to live means opportunities for Christ?" Is there a zeal to witness burning in our bones? It doesn't matter how much we pray, tithe, and sacrifice. Sure, those things are basics of the Christian faith, but if we are not sharing that faith we are not fulfilling our commission. We are like survivors of the Titanic singing songs as we polish brass in the lifeboat, when there is room for many who are drowning around us. There is nothing wrong with polishing brass . . . but not while people are drowning around us. We are commissioned soldiers. True Christianity is not a pleasure-cruiser on its way to Heaven, but a battleship stationed at the very gates of Hell.

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Law for the Rain

Centuries after Job wrote this, scientists began to discern the “law for the rain.” Rainfall is part of a process called the “water cycle.” The sun evaporates water from the ocean. The water vapor then rises and becomes clouds. This water in the clouds falls back to earth as rain, and collects in streams and rivers, then makes its way back to the ocean. That process repeats itself again and again. About 300 years ago, Galileo discovered this cycle. But amazingly the Scriptures described it centuries before. The prophet Amos (9:6) wrote that God “calls for the water of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth.” Scientists are just beginning to fully understand God’s “decrees for the rain.”

Job 28:26
When He made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt,