Salutations.
Due to recent events, many states have asked churches to shut down all traditional gatherings and services done in buildings, to slow down the spread of infection. The vast majority have complied, moving to on-line services. Read the rest of this entry »
1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations.
Recently, a famous basketball player passed away in a tragic flying accident. People everywhere mourn his death in different ways. Jeff Zillgitt at USAToday.com wrote,
A few quotes from last week keep coming back to me, all connected in some way to the fleeting existence of life, the importance of living in the moment and figuring out what matters.
I can certainly agree with his points. Better yet, the Bible does, as well.
Psalm 39:4 ESV says, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
James 4:14 ESV states, “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
The psalmist writes in Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
As Jeff notes, life goes by quickly, like a candle that burns down in the night. Not only does it burn within a matter of a few, short hours, a single breeze can snuff it out well before its intended time. We must therefore choose today who we will serve and ‘live in the moment’ for we may not see tomorrow.
Joshua 24:15 ESV
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Matthew 6:24 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
And after we die, we are judged.
Hebrews 9:27 ESV
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Romans 3:23 ESV
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Thankfully, for those who choose to follow Jesus, eternal life awaits.
John 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 10:9 ESV
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Let us take a moment or three to remember these important truths as we reflect on the brevity of life. God gives us these reminders so we have opportunities to turn towards Him before we die and face judgement. Choose this day who you will serve.
Salutations!
One of the awesome things about Christianity is that we do not have a long list of do’s and don’ts that we must follow. God saves us from our sin through faith in Jesus alone. Nothing we do adds or takes away from that. Furthermore, God, though His Spirit, gives us a new heart that desires to worship and walk in His ways. We change our actions and behavior because of love for Him. Instead of enforcing holiness externally, via exhausting rules, the Bible teaches that we become Holy through the work Jesus does in our hearts. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations.
Recently, thousands of gamers raged when a gaming company, Activision-Blizzard, took steps against a gamer. During a live broadcast of a Blizzard event, the gamer shared his support of the Hong Kong movement. Gamers felt betrayed because the company they loved seemingly pandered to China by heavily punishing the offending gamer. This gaming company has a growing interest in China, and clearly hopes to grow its sales in one of the largest markets of the world. These gamers hope to force change in the company through protest and refusing to buy future products from the company. This brings up a few logical disconnects that I hope to address with this blog entry. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations!
We live in a day and age where everyone is taught to pat themselves on the back, affirm how ‘good’ they are and make sure they ‘love themselves.’ We are all taught that we are generally ‘good’ people. If you ask someone if they are going to heaven or hell when they die, most will say they are going to heaven. When you ask them why, they will say that they pretty much think of themselves as a ‘good’ person. Ironically, this goes directly against the teachings of the Bible. Let’s look at Romans 3. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations.
We live in a world where skeptics question and attack God’s Word ceaselessly. I have numerous friends who state they do not believe the Bible, primarily due to ‘all of the errors’, ‘contradictions’ or ‘heinous acts’ in it. Ironically, when I ask them about their concerns, most struggle to even explain in detail the challenges they find in God’s Word. At best, they simply parrot sound bytes they heard or read off of the internet. Yet, many of those challenges were debunked or answered many moons ago. And many more are completely without substance. Today, I go over just a couple of categories of claims.
