Christians believe

  Christians believe

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

        If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10

For the most part I believe people believe in an after life. They believe in a heaven and a hell. Most people however believe that if you live a good life, a life where the good outweighs the bad you'll get to heaven. Christians don't believe it's quite  that way.

While Christians believe you must do as much good in this life as you can we are still not perfect enough to stand before a Holy God.

Christians acknowledge that man makes mistakes big ones, and little ones. That no man is completely good. That even the best people has the potential to do evil things. That even the most evil of men have the potential to repent of their wrong doing.

C. S. Lewis said,

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us." C.S. Lewis

Lewis also said,

"He (Jesus) died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less."   C.S. Lewis

Do you believe this?

Please think about it.

A Message from Athens to us

 A message from Athens to us

Two thousand years ago give or take a few years, the Apostle Paul was invited by the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers of Athens to speak to them about Christ. The message he gave that day is as relevant today as when he spoke it. The book of Acts records the incident.

“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.  

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  

A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  

Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  

You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”  

(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  

For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  

And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” 

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  

At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.” Acts 17:16-34.

As I said this message is as important today as it was then. And interestingly enough people today seem divided as the Athenians were. Some will sneer, some want to hear more and some will become followers of Christ Jesus.

In which group are you.

Please think about it.

Truths about Jesus

  Truths about Jesus

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.  

The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  

But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:  

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1John 1:5-26

Some simple truths from John.

1/ “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

2/ “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not  live by the truth.”

3/ “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,  and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

4/ “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us....”

5/ “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

6/ “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and  purify us from all unrighteousness.”

7/ “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands...”

8/ “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” 

John also makes it clear that if we sin we,

“...we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

As Christians it is important for us to live a life as close to the ideals Jesus set out for us as possible.

John recognizes that we are human and that we do sin and thus have one who speaks in our defense, Jesus Christ.

Please think about it.

A workman Approved

  A workman approved

The apostle Paul when writing to Timothy states:

“Do your best to present yourself to God

as one approved,

a workman who does not need to be ashamed

                                and who correctly handles the Word of truth.”                                                                                                     2Timothy 2:15.

Here Paul tells Timothy and through Timothy us to correctly handle “the Word of truth” 

In chapter four of 2Timothy we read,

"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." 2Timothy 4:3,4.

It is easy to deliberately misuse the scriptures. There are many high profile evangelist and pastors out there who have done and still are misinterpreting God’s word. As such, as believers in Christ Jesus we must be careful. We must pray and study the scriptures for ourselves. We need as Paul states,

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Getting to Heaven (a hot button issue)

 Getting to heaven (a hot button Issue)

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Psalm 139:13-16.

Someone trying to put me on the spot in front of my pastor and others, asked me, “Can a Gay man get to heaven.”

I quoted the above verses from Psalm 139. 

I informed the man that God knows us intimately that according to the Psalmist God created our inmost being. That He knitted us together in our mothers womb. To me that means God knows our very genetic code and what makes us, us.

God does not discriminate against anyone be they gay or strait, from Canada or from anywhere else in the world. God Loves all people equally and knows why they are like they are.

When Jesus said,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

He did not put limits on God’s love. He did not discriminate between races or sexual orientation. He simply said, “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

So yes anyone can get to heaven. They simply have to listen to the words of Jesus who gives all people everywhere a choice when He said,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.

Jesus said,

Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matthew 7:1.

This is especially true when judging where a person will spend eternity. That is between them and God.

The apostle Paul wrote,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.

Salvation is a free gift from God open to all who will believe in Jesus Christ no matter who they are.

Please think about it.

Who is the greatest

 Who is the greatest

     “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 

He called a little child and had him stand among them.  

And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  

Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 18:1-4.

What makes a person great, education, being a great orator, Power, being a mighty hero, What? 

Most people when asked to name a great leader they may mention the name of a politician, soldier, artist. And in human terms they may well be great. But in time their names fade from memory. I read an article that asked teenagers who Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt were. Few could answer. Fewer still in Canada could name the fathers of confederation. In the united states it was the same. Few could name those who signed the deceleration of independence.  

One man’s name however is known around the earth. Jesus of Nazareth. Two point two billion people still follow him today.

Dr. James Allan Francis in 1926 wrote a poem called One Solitary Life, it reads,

He never wrote a book 

He never held an office 

He never went to college 

He never visited a big city 

He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born 

He did none of the things usually associated with greatness... 

Nineteen centuries have come and gone 

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race 

And the leader of mankind's progress 

All the armies that have ever marched 

All the navies that have ever sailed 

All the parliaments that have ever sat 

All the kings that ever reigned put together 

Have not affected the life of mankind on earth 

As powerfully as that one solitary life 

Christ Jesus.

Jesus taught us what it was to be humble. He came to do the work of God. To do the will of his Heavenly Father. In doing so he showed us what it was to be humble. 

Jesus humbled himself to the point of washing the feet of his disciples. 

Humility is in short supply among most people today. How many politicians have fallen because they refused to humble themselves and admit what they were doing was wrong. 

How many wars have started because the leaders of a country have refused to back down because it was a case of honour. And to back down would be a disgrace.

Jesus the Son of God who was there on the day of creation. The one who created the world. Humbled himself to become a man and to die for the sins of man. To die for sins he didn’t commit. 

We as individuals need to look at the teachings of Christ. We need to look at his life, learn the lesson of humility he taught and put that lessons into action in our life.

In doing so I believe we will make the world a far better place.

Think About it.

The reason for Christs coming

 The reason for Christs coming

The apostle Paul writes,

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  

‘ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”1 Timothy 1:15,16

Here Paul is simply stating why Jesus came. “to save sinners” 

Sinning meaning, falling short of Gods ideals for your life.

Paul makes it clear that all of us have sinned. When in Romans he states,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23,24.

We are all sinners according to the Bible and all means all, from the Pope, to priests and pastors, to televangelist to the person sitting in the pews to the person on the street. All means all.

Sin separates us from the love of God that is why Jesus came to this world.

The apostle John noting there is hope for all of us stating,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:9-10.

The apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians states,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”      Ephesians 2:8,9

Paul writing to the Romans states,

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:1-8

The Christian message is clear. Salvation and eternal life is a free gift paid for by Jesus Christ.

Please think about it.