Most popular Book

The Bible is the best-selling book in America, yet it remains one of the least read. This presents a paradox as one might expect the most popular book to be the most read. It raises the question: why do so many own multiple Bibles but seldom read them? Bibles are ubiquitous, found in hospitals, waiting rooms, nursing homes, and hotels. Many display a large family Bible prominently in their homes. This leads to the query: do people believe that mere possession of a Bible garners favor with God? If so, they may be greatly mistaken.

The Bible does not claim that ownership leads to salvation. It states that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone. Thus, it is advisable to become acquainted with Jesus, which involves spending time with Him daily. In doing so, He desires communication and deeper understanding, which can be achieved by reading the Bible. Hence, it is time to move beyond merely showcasing the Bible to actively reading and understanding it.

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Worldly Christians?

Bible (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Why do some many Christians look more like the world than a Christian? It seems that Christians think that they can pick and choose what they want from the Bible. Do they not know that the Bible is not a buffet? In order to go to heaven, you must put your trust in Jesus completely. The evidence of your trust in Jesus is walking in his statues. If you come and simply say some words and then pick the parts of the Bible that you like, you will still go to hell. 


Example the Bible clearly says that a homosexual lifestyle is wrong. God may allow you to live that way because of your disobedience to him. However, that means you will go to hell. Plain and simple. Revelation 21:8 says, "But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."


Another example, the Bible says that being drunk is wrong. If you have been drunk in the past, repent. Otherwise the Bible says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."


For those who do not know what orgies are below is the dictionary definition.

wild, drunken or licentious festivity or revelry.

2.

any actions or proceedings marked by unbridled indulgenceof passions: an orgy of killing.

3.

orgies, (in ancient Greece) esoteric religious rituals, especially in the worship of Demeter or, characterized in later times by wild dancing, singing, and drinking.

4.

Informal . a boisterous, rowdy party.

This means that those who like to have or go to parties that include drinking and wild dancing will not go to heaven, unless they repent. 

Repent means to turn from the sin. In other words stop doing it. In addition, during this process you ask Jesus for forgiveness. 

Notice that this scripture says that you will not inherit the kingdom of God. That means you will go to Hell. Also, notice that sexual immorality is included in this scripture. Those of you will practice such activity will go to hell unless you repent. I would like for everyone to go to heaven that is why I am trying to warn people. I have noticed that some Preachers have started sugar coating the truth. Unfortunately the same rules still apply. Therefore, sugar coating the truth only causes more harm than good. It is wrong to pat someone on the back and tell them everything is OK, when they are obvious living in sin. 

For those Preachers who still preach all of the Bible, keep up the good work. Just remember that Jesus said to love the people. All people need to know that they are loved and cared for. Many people do not like to hear that their lifestyle is not acceptable. Often times they will get very angry with you. That is OK. Just remember to keep praying for them and trying to show the Love of Jesus. 

Gay Marriage is Wrong

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In this country there seems to be a major debate over gay marriage. I have even heard some Christian support gay marriage. For a non-Christian to support gay marriage is one thing; they do not know any better. However, for a Christian to support it is another. I am horrified that a professing Christian could think to support gay marriage and then try to use Jesus’ teachings to justify the reason for support.

God created the woman to be a helpmate for the man. He created her from one of his ribs. Afterwards he commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. It is not possible for a woman married to a woman or a man married to a man to be fruitful and multiple. After Noah and the occupants got off the ark, God issued a similar command. Yes, these examples are from the Old Testament.  However, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament when he says, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them Male and Female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’” Jesus was quoting from Genesis 2:24. Because of this, it is unreasonable for anyone to say gay marriage is acceptable based on Jesus’ teachings. He clearly taught that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Yes, Jesus taught us to love are neighbors; however, he did not teach us to stand by while they openly commit sin. Even Jesus got angry and refused to allow sin to go on in temple. Therefore, let us follow his example. Let us stand up and boldly say, “Gay marriage is wrong. We will not allow it to become legal in this country”. We can say that loud and clear by going to the polls every time the issue comes up. In addition, we can say that loud and clear by writing to our congressional representatives. Let them know that you are the ones voting and you will not re-elect them.

Let us all remember that God loves the world. That includes those who practice homosexual behavior. We are to love them and lovingly try to explain to them that they need to repent for their sins. Even though God loves them, they will not enter heaven until they have given their life to Jesus. Jesus said to teach. Teaching does not include hate or violence.

According to christianity.about.com/od/denominations/p/christiantoday.htm, about 75% of the adults in America identify themselves as Christians. That is over half. Therefore, in order to prevent gay marriage from becoming legal we simple most write letters and vote every chance we get. It should be that difficult to prevent if we all work together. Remember in America the majority wins.

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Resurrection Morning

When I think about Easter Sunday many scriptures come to mind. Those scriptures are I Corinthians 11:24-26, I Corinthians 15:54-57, I Peter 2:24, John 3:16, and John 20:12-16. All of these scriptures have special meaning to me. The New Covenant was created by the death of Jesus. The elements of the Lord’s supper are only symbolic representations of the bigger picture. Jesus gives everyone the opportunity to be included in the New Covenant. Only Jesus was victorious over death, Hades, and the grave. Therefore, my trust is in him. It is wonderful that God loves me so much that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus. This great love was demonstrated by Jesus dying and three days later being resurrection. In addition, he endured a beating for my healing. I am greatly encouraged by the determination of Mary Magdalene. Despite the discouragement from the other disciples she stayed behind to look for Jesus’ body.

Jesus is Victorious
On Easter Morning, Jesus rose from the dead. I Corinthians 15:54-57 says, “… “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thanks be to God I do not have to fear death. The fear of death is sin. Jesus took away the power that sin had over us when he did and rose again. Now it does not matter what anyone says or does to me, I have victory over everything through Jesus.
About 4 years age my ex-step dad was always threatening to blow the house to kingdom come because my mom and I was late getting home from church. After reading this scripture, it occurred to me that if he carried through on his threat, I would go straight to heaven because I have put my trust in Jesus. Therefore, I should not be afraid of dying. Jesus has already concurred death.


God Loves the World
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus rose again on Easter morning. That is my guarantee that the promise of everlasting life is true. Only someone who defeated death can fulfill such a promise. Therefore, I can be confident that as long as my trust is in him, I will not perish. I can also be confident that God really loves me. I have a son and in my human capacity, I could not give him up for anyone. Therefore, I know that God really loves me. He was willing to give up his son for 3 days so that I could be saved.

Healing
Every time I think about Easter, I cannot help but remember the pain and suffering that Jesus endured. I Peter 2:24 says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” Just to think that someone loves me so much that he would endure a beating so that I could be healed. He had to die to be resurrected, but he did not have to be beat. He could have chosen no to endure the beating before he died. However, I would not have the added blessing of healing.
Because Jesus endured the beating, I was able to go to Jesus and ask for healing for my husband. My husband is a construction worker. One day he came home with severe muscle pain in his shoulder. Because our trust is in Jesus, we were able to ask Jesus to heal the muscle. Because Jesus’ promises are true, my husband has not had any more problems with his shoulder. Sometimes Jesus gives doctors the knowledge to solve problems and other times he supernaturally solves the problem. This time he just healed the shoulder.

Determination
Lastly, I think about Mary Magdalene. She went to the tomb early on resurrection morning. She discovered that Jesus was not there. She then told the other disciples. They came and saw that the stone had been rolled away and then left. She stays behind. As she was weeping, “she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).” (John 20:12-16). Unlike the men, she was determined to find Jesus. They went back home to hide, but she asked everyone she saw “where have you taken him?” At this time, she did not know that he was alive. She only knew that she had to find him.
I think about her and her determination. It did not matter to her that some people believed that he deserved death, nor did it matter that there was still people that hated anyone who closely followed Jesus. The other disciples were afraid that people would remember that they were closely associated with Jesus. We should all have the determination that Mary had. She stood by her friend even though she thought he was dead. He rewarded her determination by coming to her and talking to her. O joy, she must have felt to know that he was alive and was concerned about her tears.

Violence in Schools

It is sad that we are seeing more and more violence in the schools. School should be the safest place for a child. Unfortunately, in today's world it could possibly be the most dangerous place. Parents send their children to school expecting them to learn reading, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, and P.E. Instead, they are learning how to hide from bullies or run from bullets. They are learning various theories. Many reach high school without ever learning to read. 

I have talked with some teachers. They all agree that teachers should receive hazard pay. Teachers are there to teach. However, more and more they are having to breakup fights. They never know when a student is going to pull a knife or a gun out of their backpack. 

I am not one that normally likes to place blame. However, let's consider who is to blame for the shape of education in America. A teacher's job is to teach the academic subjects. The parent's job is to raise the child. Some how children are growing up with the belief that fighting solves problems. 

I personally have seen kindergartners behave cruelly to each other. In one kindergarten class that I visited, one child hit another child in the nose with a small building block. Another child lost her shoe as she was walking. One of her classmates run over, got the shoe, threw it onto the roof of the school building. I visited this classroom in August. It was only the second week of school. I am asking you to decide who should have done a better job of teaching the children, the teacher or the parent? 

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Flying High

When I was a child, I went to a church that sung songs from a Hymnal. We sung songs like “In the Garden”, Sweet Hour of Prayer”, “Victory in Jesus”, and “I’ll Fly Away”. This songs had special meaning to the people. The songs were always sung with such emotion. The emotion was never sad, yet many times the people had tears in there eyes and a smile on their faces.

I loved these songs and would often sang them as I played outside. Sometimes I would swing in the swing. One day while singing “I’ll Fly away”, I closed my eyes while singing and swinging. I could see angels. They were coming from and going to heaven. After that I almost always closed my eyes when swinging. I would try to swing just as high as I could. It seemed that I was flying with the angels. My mom would see me and say don’t swing so high. I would just giggle. I felt safe, warm, and loved.

Later I read about Jacob and his dream of the Angels Ascending and Descending from heaven. I believe that those who open their spiritual eyes and close that natural eyes could see amazing sites like what I saw. However, you must have faith like a child in order to do this. Even Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mathew 19:14).

Do Children Know Their Call?

Cover of Stories from the Bible

My great-grandma, Pearlie Mae, used to tell us stories. One story she told was about my grandfather, Mark, and something that he did when he was very little. 


Pearlie Mae had to take her four children to the field where she worked. Mark had been in Sunday School all of his life. The young children who could not work played at the end of the row. 


According to Pearlie Mae, one day Mark found a tree stump and climbed upon it. He then started telling stories from the Bible that he had heard at church. When asked, “Why are you doing this?” He would reply, “Me Preacher, Me Preacher.” Grandma Pearlie Mae told us that Mark did this for years. 


When Mark grew up, he became a preacher. This makes me wonder if some children know their calling at a young age. In the Bible, some people were called at a young age. 

• John the Baptist was called in his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:13; Luke 1:39-45)
• Joseph was just a teenager when he had his dreams. (Genesis 37:5-10)
• Samuel was a boy when God called to him as he tried to sleep. (1 Samuel 3:3-14)
• David was anointed as a youth. (1 Samuel 16:9-12)