The Coming Mighty King

Jesus, the one name that is the most praised, ridiculed, blasphemed, mocked, cursed, debated. Jesus is the only historical figure to be so revered and reviled by man. Christianity is the only religion that is routinely demonized and made mockery of. Christians, compared to other religion followers,are more made fun of and belittled than all other religions.  Followers of Jesus are called, 'Jesus freaks' 'holly rollers' bible thumpers' 'crazies', but you don't see these same monikers being used to describe other religions like Islam or Buddhism.  Muslims follow the quran, which they consider to be their holy book, and they kill and maim people and perform various religious rituals based on their interpretations of it and yet NO ONE calls them "Muslim freaks" or "quran thumpers." It's ironic, when Christians witness to people, if the person doesn't believe, then the true Christian is to 'dust their feet off' and move onto the next person. But if a Muslim approaches you and demands you believe in Allah, and the person doesn't believe, the Muslim doesn't go onto the next person, they chop your head off, blow themselves and others up.  Men have tried for centuries to take away the deity of Christ in their various seminars and theories such as 'The Jesus Seminar' or the
'Jesus Movement'; the quran and other religions identify Jesus as just another prophet, or good teacher. And NO religious figure in history has been portrayed so heinously as Jesus Christ.  Look at the current blasphemous show on Cartoon Network, 'Black Jesus' and movies like 'Ted' and the popular animated show, 'The Simpsons' and these are just few of thousands of blasphemous shows and movies. Jesus Christ is fair game for the comedians, movies, and shows.  And the glaring fact that 'Jesus'/"Jesus Christ' is used in almost every movie since the 1980's and it's not used in a honoring way, but used as a curse word, a byword. Pop in any movie and just wait to see how long it takes before, "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" or the combination of 'Jesus Christ' with the 'f'' word is blurted out by the actor/actors.  Why can't the script writers find another word to express frustration, annoyance, surprise?  Why don't the script writers write, "OH Buddha, or OH Mohammed" for the actors' lines?

Is there a conspiracy to discredit Jesus and the Bible? OF COURSE!!! Satan's plan from the beginning was to discredit God when he deceived Eve in the garden of Eden. Satan hated the fact that man was living in paradise under the protection and guidance of God. If Adam and Eve had obeyed God they would have been able to remain in perfect paradise for the rest of their lives because death only entered into the human race when they sinned. Obey God you get to stay in paradise and live;disobey God you get kicked out of paradise into a hard barren land and you die.  The concept of living in Eden did not die when God ejected Adam and Eve out of the garden.  God has left a 'life line' to Eden through His statutes, laws, and commandments.  Obey God you get life, peace, prosperity, protection, health, protection, God walks and talks with you -just like Eve and Adam got in the garden; disobey God, you get kicked out of God's protection, you get all the curses, destruction, poverty, disease, death, hard labor, and instead of God walking with you, Satan is your blind guide. The literal life line to all that is good is God the Father and Jesus Christ.  No other religion, no other being created Eden and its life sustaining properties. There was one Eden, not two, three or a thousand gardens. Just one place where life began.  The path to complete health and wellness was through one Person, one way. It is here where Satan understood that it was too easy for mankind to get a touch of Eden if there was just one way. So what better way to get revenge on God and humankind, than to cause confusion, create a duplicate 'garden', that looks similar but doesn't have quite all the characteristics; but don't stop at just one counterfeit garden, no let's create thousands of fake gardens so man will not be able to find the one true garden. Jesus Christ says, "He is the Way, and The Truth, and The Life, and NO ONE comes before the Father except BY HIM.

When you compare Christianity to other religious practices, one has to scratch their head in confusion as to 'why in the world do some of them do the things they do?'  Walking on glass, cutting their bodies, putting pins and needles in their bodies, eating weird food, putting their bodies through severe calisthenics, piercing their bodies with hooks, getting crucified.  I was watching some travel channel like show, and it was showcasing some country village that was celebrating some religious holiday.  Part of this religion activities was to place pins and hooks in the body and hang objects off the hooks and walk up a hill bare foot on rough/rocky roads, and it was a sort of competition as the person who could hang the most stuff off their body and make it up the hill the fastest won some type of prize/recognition.  As the narrator was talking to the men participating in this, the men had pins all through their body and blood was running down their face and they were laughing and smiling. All I could think is, "They need Jesus."  But the Bible explains exactly why people follow after these bizarre religions.

  "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and

unrighteous, of men, who suppress THE TRUTH in unrighteousness,

because what may be known of God  is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are CLEARLY seen, being

understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so

THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE,

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were

thankful, but became FUTILE in their thoughts, and their foolish

HEARTS WERE DARKENED.

Professing to be wise, THEY BECAME FOOLS, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God

into an image made like corruptible man- and birds and four-footed animals creeping things. 

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts,

do DISHONOR THEIR BODIES among themselves, who exchanged the TRUTH OF GOD

for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen." Romans 1:18-25. 

 I am aware of some Christian 'sects' who have strange rituals.  The Gospel, as preached by Paul, got him in trouble with the 'Judaizers' because of his preaching about the 'freedoms' in the New Covenant. He debated in Galatians chapter 3 and Acts chapter 15 and other verses, explaining the difference between the Law and Grace, but the Judaizers argued that the gentiles should be keeping the old Mosaic laws too. Paul confirms loud and clear, Christians are under a New Covenant, the Mosaic law was fulfilled and completed by Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross.  The law has transformed into something even better, it is now in the hearts of every believer, the law is now even higher than when it was given to Moses on Mount Sinai,  because before you could lust after a women and not incur any penalty, but now if a man looks at a woman with lust in his eyes, he is guilty of adultery, which in the Old Testament, this sin would be punished by killing the man and woman, but we are no longer under the Old Testament, we are now under the New Covenant what was created and sealed with the Blood of Jesus Christ. I already know many are going to charge me with being a bigot/hateful for talking about these other 'religions'.  This is the world we live in, where common sense and logic have died a tragic death, and now we live in a world where you can't call something that is crazy, crazy, and that's 'crazy'.

That's what trips up a lot of folks about the Christian faith.  'It's too easy' so it must not be real. What just say a prayer and get dipped in water and have faith, that's it? Oh no, there HAS to be more to it than that, many think. There is something in man that makes them feel that for something to be important you have to do a lot of steps/actions to make it special.  They feel like the more they do, that makes it more 'holier' or worthy to follow. In the Christian faith, everyone is saved on equal ground, there is no such thing as one person is more 'saved' than the other. Now when it comes to rewards for good work, there is a measuring stick. The one's who gave their very life for Christ will be rewarded way more than someone who just stayed on the couch all of their life, as proven by the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:29, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My Name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life."  But at the same time, even a person who has many works is no better standing with God than the one who has fewer works for God is no respecter of persons.  There are two warnings when it comes to issue of works-the motivation behind the works and the actual performing of works.  The simple truth is if a person is truly regenerated, given a new heart by God, their mind renewed by Christ/The Holy Spirit, truly SAVED, it SHOULD lead to good works.  There is no such thing a 'lazy Christian' in the Bible.  In fact there are some chilling words for those who believe they are Christians but don't work:

•  "Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness (laziness) and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us...if anyone is not willing to work, THEY DON'T EAT" 2 Thessalonians 3:6 +10  
• "Faith without works is dead." James 2:17.  

And those who think they are Christians because they went through the motions of becoming a Christian, there are two passages that they should pay special attention to. The first is Matthew Chapter 7 verses 18 through 23. Jesus is talking about who are His true followers, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit (works), nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them".  Now from this verse, many say I am doing a lot of work; I volunteer at the shelter, I teach Sunday School, I donate money to the poor, I visit nursing homes, etc. Man sees the outward performances but Jesus sees the heart. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your name?" And I will declare to them, "I NEVER KNEW YOU; depart from Me, you workers of wickedness/those who practice lawlessness." 

        The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14 through 30. Jesus talked about three workers, their boss gave each worker a number of goods(talents) based on each worker's abilities.  One worker got 5 talents, one got 2, and the other got 1.  The ones who got 5 and 2 put in work and increased the number of talents they each had, but the one who had just gotten 1 talent, did absolutely nothing but bury the talent in the ground.  Now this parable translates to fact that God is the boss of His followers, and the goods-talents each Christian is given is the Gospel and the good works.  Each Christian worker is equipped by God to perform what God created them to do. Some Christians are given '5' talents, some '2, and some '1'.  Now back to the parable, the 1 talent worker, because they were afraid, had buried their talent and they called a 'wicked and lazy' servant. Jesus tells His followers, " You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and, it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16.  Christians who 'hide' their faith and do no works are lazy and wicked. What happened to the worker who buried his talent? His one talent was taken from him and given to the one that had 10 and the wicked servant was cast into outer darkness where,
"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This should really give Christians who think they can just 'coast' their way into heaven something to be very concerned about. MOTIVATION AND OBLIGATION-What drives you to work for the Lord?

Back to the main purpose of this post.  Jesus Christ, the ridiculed One, the One beaten and spit upon, the cursed and shunned One. But one day, one day very soon, ALL THE MOCKING WILL STOP!

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The Good News  is Believing in Jesus saves us from the righteous wrath of God. But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW.
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave.
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus.
3. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and God
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ.
This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.

Bible verses related to this post: Genesis Chapter 2 and 3; Matthew 19:29; Acts 10:34-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-11; James 2:14-26; Matthew Chapter 7;Matthew 25:14 through 30; Revelation 19:11-16. Matthew 5:14-16; John 14:6; Romans 1:18-25; Galatians Chapter 3, Acts Chapter 15

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR GOD LATELY?

I was driving to an appointment when an old song by Janet Jackson popped in my head, part of the lyrics are “What have you done for me lately?” The unspoken message is- if you really loved me, you would show it. This got me to thinking about what I have done lately for God? This thinking came from one of my Bible studies on Numbers, an Old Testament chapter of the Bible. Particularly Numbers Chapter 20, God gave through Moses a reminder of all the sacrifices the Hebrew people were to give. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.  Two words stand out from this chapter, blood and sacrifice.  

The concept of works is one of most heavily debated issue in the Bible. Why this is such a confused issue is beyond me. What is crystal clear throughout the Bible is that serving God requires constant blood and sacrifice. But from the beginning the sacrifices were not to be compulsory, but were to come from a willing and sacrificial heart.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrews had to give daily sacrifices.  The command of daily sacrifices did not change in the New Covenant forged through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as evidenced by one of Jesus's commandments in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, AND take up his cross, and follow me." Also in Matthew chapter 6 verse 1,"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as hypocrites do in the synagogues, in the streets (on the social media sites), that they may have glory from men, assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do no let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." Notice the underlined words, 'when you do'. Jesus does not say 'if' you do charitable deeds, it's when; which indicates an assumption that His followers will doing charitable deeds.

The issue most debated is how one gets saved or gets to go to heaven/paradise in the first place.  Some believe you have to work your way to salvation. That their 'good' works will get them into heaven.  The Bible makes is clear that there is absolutely no way a regular man's work can ever reach the standards of a Holy and Omnipotent God. This is what the Bible has to say about man's 'good works', "We are ALL infected and impure with sin. And all our 'righteous' deeds are nothing but filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6. It is faith in Jesus Christ and faith alone that saves.  But the issue of salvation and walking out the Christian faith are two different things as pointed out in James 2:17, "Faith WITHOUT works is dead." The issue is NO ONE can 'work' their way to heaven.  It is not the works that save, works PROVE that you are saved.  "Then the King will say those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom of prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and YOU GAVE ME FOOD; I was thirsty and YOU GAVE ME DRINK; I was a stranger and YOU TOOK ME IN; I was naked and YOU CLOTHED ME; I was sick, and YOU VISITED ME; I was in prison and YOU CAME TO ME.' Then the righteous will answer Him saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give your drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, in inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25:34-40. Jesus immediately follows this verse to tell the people who did not do things to go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous get to go into eternal life. Jesus says the 'righteous' are those who serve others.  Not the selfish or prideful or sinful.  The righteous alone inherit the kingdom of God.

The key to issue of 'works', is what is your 'motivation' for doing what you are doing.  If you are working for selfish gains, to please others, your 'good works' will be burnt up in the Judgement. "Each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of 'what sort it is'. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures the fire, he will receive a reward". 1 Corinthians 3:13-14.

Living the true Christian life is not easy, actually it's impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit.  Over and over again throughout the Bible, it is clear that man, no matter how hard they try, cannot love and obey God as they should.  The flesh is very powerful and it takes a power greater than it to overcome our spiritual dilemma because: the heart of man is desperately wicked; the thoughts of man are futile; the works of man are like filthy rags; those who live according the flesh are slaves to sin; the natural man does not accept the things of God; Jesus Christ gave a promise that after He went back to His Father, that His Father, God, would send back a 'helper' who would abide with His followers forever. The Holy Spirit guides, teaches, admonishes, and empowers those who believe on Christ. It is God who equips us to live the Christian life. " I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME."

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The Good News  is Believing in Jesus saves us from the righteous wrath of God. But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW.
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave.
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus.
3. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and God
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ.
This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.
Bible verses related to this post: Matthew 16:24, Number 20, Matthew 6:1, Isaiah 64:6, James Chapter 2, Matthew 25:34-46. 1 Corinthians 3:13-14; Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 94:11; Romans 8:5-7; 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 14:16; Philippians 4:13 and 2:12-13; Matthew 20:28

GO Into All The WORLD

God has been putting many messages on my heart lately because the hour is late, time is running out, things are picking up exponentially; quickly to usher in the external short reign of Satan. And most are not ready. When you read the Word of God, most of His commands are crystal clear, no ambiguity, you don't have to wonder, "What does He mean here?" One such command is Jesus's GREAT COMMISSION to His followers in the chapters of  Matthew, Mark, and Luke, "GO therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all the nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the FATHER and SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT." Matthew 28:19. and again in Mark 16:15-16," GO into ALL THE WORLD, and PREACH the gospel to EVERY creature. He who believes and is BAPTIZED will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned."; and in Luke 24:46-47,"Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that REPENTANCE and REMISSION of SINS should be PREACHED in His name to ALL NATIONS, beginning at Jerusalem." I think one of the greatest heresies today is the direction given by many churches today. It is in some of the study type Bibles that have sidebars with information. It is given in classes on evangelism.  It is the direction to 'share your faith'.  Now I know that it's about semantics. But what does The Word say? Does it say 'share your faith'? Do semantics matter to God? You can bet your life on it. How about in Numbers Chapter 20 starting at verse 7. God had commanded Moses, to SPEAK to the rock in order for water to come out. "Take the rod; you and your brother. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water',  but a few verses later Moses had a different idea about getting water, in anger, he struck the rock with his rod.  Just like Moses and other people from the past and the people today think they can change a command to fit what they think, and they think it's OK with God. Was God OK with Moses doing something different? What's wrong with striking the rock instead of speaking to it, the water came out either way. What's wrong is Moses disobeyed God, pure and simple.  And he was punished for it.  Matter of fact throughout the Bible, it is shown over and over that God is NOT OK with changing any of His laws. In fact, there is a warning to those who add to or take away from this God given Bible, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If ANYONE adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, 'God shall TAKE AWAY his part from the BOOK OF LIFE, from the HOLY CITY, and from the things that are written in this book." Revelation 22:18-19.

Why are Christians today confused about what Christ wants them to do?  Christ did NOT tell His followers to, GO TO CHURCH when it comes to preaching to THE LOST! No where in the Bible does it say, "BRING THE UNSAVED TO CHURCH". Throughout the New testament, the disciples went OUT into the cities and countrysides; After Christ ascended back into Heaven, the disciples went OUT into the cities and country sides, spreading the gospel from town to town. Church congregations were planted in cities, but they were not the vehicle for preaching the gospel to THE LOST. The apostles went to the Synagogues and taught about Christ, The apostles taught about Christ wherever they went; the unbelievers did not go to apostles or to the places where the church members were gathering to "hear the word."  Christ went to the lost.  The lost came to Him, but at that time, for the wrong reasons as revealed by Jesus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs"- Jesus told the many who were following them they should believe He was The Christ based on a number of proofs one of them being the great signs/miracles He was doing-Jesus is saying that these unsaved people were not following Him because they wanted to learn more about Christ- Jesus goes on to reveal the real reason they were following Him,"Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, NOT because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." John 6:26.  Many churches today have 'programs' to reach the lost; They direct their members to invite their unsaved friends and family to a pancake breakfast, or a luncheon, or some churches offer free food after the service.  I am not saying these actions in of themselves are wrong. This message is about what Christ gave as the Great Commission.  He did not say to bring your unsaved friends and family to a church function.  Jesus said GO OUT INTO THE WORLD and teach them The Gospel.

So what about those churches who tell their members to 'share the gospel'? There are a number of churches who do go into the neighborhoods, the streets handing out gospel tracts, there are some who stand on street corners proclaiming the gospel.  But something is obviously missing.  The statistics of the number of true converts from these methods is very low. Now on the one hand, this would be expected because Jesus does tell us that "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and FEW find it". But let's look at what the Word of God reveals about the effects of REAL evangelism.  First Jesus clearly identifies true believers in Mark 16, verse 17," And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." These 'powers' came from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It was because of these signs/wonders and the teaching of the Gospel, that 3000 souls were added to the church body from the first message. "And the Lord added daily those who were being saved." There are many churches today who preach that these powers are no longer available. To have this belief you have to 'take away' from the scriptures. Some do go out and preach the gospel, but it is without the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is why churches have a hard time getting converts and getting its members to actually proclaim the gospel outside of a church service. The excuses are, "I don't know how", "I'm not comfortable", "I don't know enough" "Every Christian doesn't have to share the gospel that's only for preachers".  Now it is true that each member of God's family has a different role to play, some are teachers, some are preachers, some are healers, some are prophets, some are elders and deacons. But we have to go back to what did Jesus say? Did He say, "Only the teachers and preachers are to go out into the world." Many churches have "How to Evangelize" classes, there are numerous books/tracts/instructions on how to share the gospel. Some say, you need to have a 'story' of how you came to Christ-ALL of these are the instructions of man, man's opinions.  It is GOD who empowers His followers with all power and ability to do what He has called us to do. Paul stresses the importance of when preaching to the lost in 1 Corinthians 2:2, that it is Christ Crucified and Christ Crucified alone is the message, not your personal story. Where does it say that we are tell our personal story when trying to reach the lost? The only time anything of our own thought process that comes into play is when it comes to if you are asked why you believe as written in 1 Peter 3:5."But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear ".  But this is not to be the starting point of spreading the gospel. The power is in the written Word of God.

I will present the counter argument to the main arguments presented by the churches today about 'going to church'.  Again, no where in the Bible does it tell sinners to go to church to get saved. Research it yourself. Do not just go off what I or some preacher says. The verse that is used to promote the lie about 'going to church' is Hebrews 10:25, some Bibles translate this passage to state, "Do not 'forsake the assembling of ourselves', as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Some Bible versions actually have, "go to church services".  It is this verse that they say, "Ha, see you are supposed to go to church."
But does the 'the assembling of ourselves' have anything to do with saving the lost? No. and Secondly, does this statement mean, 'go to church'?  You do not need to know Greek to find out the original words that are used to translate from the original Bible sources. There are free programs that are available to anyone with a computer and a desire to get to the truth.  There are those who believe you have to go to seminary or Bible college to be able to teach/understand the Word.  Please again, show me, where in the Bible does it say that MAN will teach you all things?  No, THE HOLY SPIRIT will teach you all things. But back to the issue, the original Hebrew word that the verbiage 'assembling of ourselves' is translated from is ''episunagógé".  It means 'a gathering together'. Now, you could assume that this means that church members should meet together because it is true that believers need to be together on this earth so we can support and exhort one another. The early church met DAILY in the houses, in the temples, they sold their possessions and lived communally. 'Corporate' worship was mostly in the houses.  But no where in the Bible did the early church members, 'go to church'. They fellowshiped one with another and they took care of each other's needs. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, an in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart." Acts 2:42-46. Now let's look at the words here in this passage starting at verse 44- 'Now all who believed 'were together'.  Is the original word ''episunagógé" used here in verse 44?  No, it is not. The original Greek words here are "én" which means 'agree' and "epi"- these two Greek words are translated in this verse 'were together', but these particular Greek words can have different meaning depending the context of the whole passage. But here it is CLEARLY not the "gathering together" that is mentioned in Hebrews 10:25.  The early church members, regularly 'met together' but it was not labeled as a 'church meeting, church service'. Sometimes it was hear Paul and other teaching, sometimes it was for a meal, sometimes it was worshiping, hearing a prophecy, disciplining errant believers, doing good works like caring for the poor/widow/orphans.  

My point in drilling down on this is to call out the the heresy that you have to 'go to church' to be saved or that the lost are supposed to be brought to church to get saved.   Let's look back at the original Greek word in Hebrews 10 that the 'do not forsake the assembling of ourselves' comes from, ''episunagógé" . Now this word ''episunagógé"  is only found in TWO places throughout the Bible. Just two.  That other word combination for 'together' is found in 896 times in the Bible. As another writer on this subject pointed out, if you have a word that is only used a few times in the Bible, it must be really special.  Good and honest study of the scriptures means you do not take away any parts of the Bible; every verse, every doctrine, every interpretation has to be taken into context with the WHOLE Bible and surrounding verses, because it is very easy to misinterpret a single verse. In fact that is how we have so many different Christian denominations and sects. They all take one or two verses of the Bible and they create a whole new doctrine based on those verses; and their 'new' doctrine contradicts other scriptures in the Bible.  

Most churches today say you have to go to church based on the Hebrews verse. But does ''episunagógé"  say 'go to church'?  It does not, and if you look at the surrounding verses and the other place in the Bible the word is used, you get a clear meaning of the word ''episunagógé" .  You have to start at the beginning of Hebrews Chapter 10.  Was Paul talking about church gatherings in this chapter? No!  Paul starts this chapter off reminding us that the LAW could not SAVE us, it was just a shadow of the good things to come, that the commandments of the animal sacrifices was not enough to take away sin. This chapter is explaining the importance of how the New Covenant was brought into fruition by the shed blood of Jesus and that now our sins can be forgiven, but that does not give us a license to sin or live anyway we want; the ''episunagógé"  is the phrase for when Christ is returning to gather His people before the Wrath of God is fully poured out on this wicked world, The DAY OF THE LORD. This is commonly referred to as The Rapture.  Paul describes what THE DAY OF LORD is all about in 1 Thessalonians Chapters 4:16, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first... and that true believers are not of darkness, and God has not appointed His true believers to wrath." 1 Thessalonians 5:9. The Greek word ''episunagógé"  in found in chapter 2 verse 1 of Thessalonians, which is the one other place the word ''episunagógé" is found:  "Now, brethren, concerning THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST and 'OUR GATHERING TO HIM {''episunagógé" }, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled." This is the only other place in the bible that the word ''episunagógé" is found. The people who believe that Hebrews 10:25 means going to church here, but 2 Thessalonians is talking the catching away on the Day of The Lord, the rapture.  This is another example of 'adding' to the scripture.  The entire context of Hebrews is clear, Paul is talking about sin and missing out on the rapture, just has he explains about the catching up in 2 Thessalonians. There are plenty of verses that talk about the saints living together, working together for the faith, praying together, eating together, and worshiping together.  But no where is it written that the people who worshiped at Ephesus were saved but the ones worshiping at Phillip were not. The fact of who was saved was not based on a building or a specific congregation or denomination. Their single solidifying fact was Christ was the head of the church, and they were members of HIS body and the church members gathered together frequently in the particular places they lived. There was no 'holy' physical building that they met at a few times week because they understood THEY were the temples of God who happened to gather at various places-houses/temples/fields. 

Again, back to Hebrews 10:25.  Paul is saying here in Hebrews that believers should not continue to live a life of sin or they will miss out 'forsake' on the coming of the Lord, that the Lord will NOT take them from the earth to avoid the Wrath of God because they have continued to sin. Paul tells the believers starting in verse 19 to 'enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus...for us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works."  Believers are to live a life that is HOLY, but if they do not, Paul gives a warning starting at verse 25, "if you are doing evil, you will forsake the gathering of His People when He comes, which is the manner of some,{some live a selfish and sinful lifestyle}, but true believers are not to live like that but instead are to exhort one another{admonish, warn those as stated in 1 Timothy 5:20-Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.}, and so much more as you see THE DAY approaching. For IF WE SIN WILLFULLY after we have received the knowledge of the truth, THERE NO LONGER REMAINS A SACRIFICE FOR SINS!" vs 26.  

What happens to those who continue to live in sin and reject the saving faith of Jesus Christ? They are and will be under the bondage of Satan; they will NOT BE CAUGHT UP IN THE AIR WHEN JESUS COMES; they will believe the lawless one's signs and lying wonders; that they are under unrighteous deception because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved; And that for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonian 2:11-12. Unsaved people are condemned.  They will suffer the Wrath of God.  This is one of the main points of the Gospel.  Why do the lost reject the truth? Because they don't believe that they will have to suffer any of God's wrath, either because they believe He doesn't exist, or He is really is not that mad, that everyone gets to go to heaven, that a loving God would not hurt people. None of these reasons are true. 

1. God IS REAL- the heavens declare His glory -Psalms 19:1; 

                   2. God IS ANGRY ABOUT SIN- the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience because of their fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and covetousness/idolatry- Colossians 3:5. 

3. GOD DOES NOT SEND EVERYONE TO HEAVEN- Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for hem. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.  And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.  And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And ANYONE NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. Revelation 21:11-15

This message will be rejected by most because we have too long been deceived about this issue. But I am to tell the truth in love. I am not really saying anything that has not been said by others. And people know in their heart that something is very wrong with the church system today.  Statistics show that people are leaving 'organized' religion in droves.  That church buildings are being shut down.  There should be no wonder, because what kept the early church members together, that emboldened them to preach the gospel even though they were being put in prison, thrown to lions, cut in half, hanged, crucified, skinned and boiled alive is because they had the genuine, true Holy Spirit living and demonstrating His power within them and they were a REAL family who spent quality time together.  The Word is clear that it is impossible for ANY of God's true children to be taken from Him. IMPOSSIBLE for someone to truly taste and experience the power of God and to then say, "Nope, I don't want it." "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and Put Him to an open shame." Hebrews 6:4-6.  Unbelievers have more discernment about the churches than the 'believers'.  

The lost are outside (and inside) the church buildings.  They are in the clubs, the bars, the restaurants, the neighborhoods, the concerts, the schools, the colleges.  They ARE NOT coming to a church building. Christ has told all of us who believe on Him, to tell this message to every creature in all the world. Are you willing to look into your self and believe the truth? Yes, we as believers should congregate together, but it should be more than Wednesday night bible study and Sunday or Saturday worship service. There are a large number of people who do just that.  Superficial, no Holy Spirit, just country club/social gatherings that slap on the Christian label but the real Christ is no where to be found. This does not apply to all church bodies. Take of this message what you will.

 My prayer is it challenges you in the name of Jesus to look at your own standing with Christ; Together with the Holy Spirit we can reach those God has chosen for ever lasting life. It is not our place to pick and choose who to share the gospel with. Jesus tells us to tell them the gospel, if they don't believe, 'shake the dust off your feet' and move on the next person.

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The Good News  is Believing in Jesus saves us from the righteous wrath of God. But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW.
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave.
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus.
3. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and God
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ.
This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.
Bible verses related to this post: Matthew 28:19, Revelation 22:18-19, Luke 24:46-47, Numbers 20; Matthew 7:13; Acts 2;47; Acts 2:41;1 Peter 3:5; Acts 2:42-46; 1 Timothy 5:20; Thessalonian 2:11-12; Psalms 19:1; Revelation 21:11-15;Hebrews 6:4-6; Matthew 10:14; John 14:26

Resources: http://biblehub.com/greek/1997.htm

ARE YOU READY?

I was watching the movie, "Apostle Peter and The Last Supper". A very good and poignant movie about Peter before he was martyred upside down on a cross because he felt he was not worthy to die the same way as Jesus Christ. There were many thought provoking lines in the movie, but one that stood out was at the end, as Peter was being led to his 'death'. He said something that resonated in my soul. He said, "Take me to Jesus, and be quick about it."  Wow,  Peter knew his physical death was imminent and that it was not going to be a pain free death either.  We don't know for sure what Peter said before he died, but we do know that he went boldly to his death because he knew that death was just a door to his Lord and Savior; that death was just a transition to his eternal peace and joy.

So many today claim to be Christians, but if the truth be told, how many of those "Christians" when faced with a certain and cruel death, would continue to claim Christ or would they deny Him. There are some who were faced with this very choice; 21 brave men in Libya who were cowardly beheaded for- not stealing, or raping, or murdering-; no, they were ruthlessly killed because they WOULD NOT DENY CHRIST!  and so many more saints around the world have been killed and are being killed now, and if not killed, they are harassed, they are beaten, they are jailed, their property destroyed, all because of their faith in The One True Savior, Jesus, the true Lion of Judah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. The fact that people believe in killing another because of their 'belief', not their actions, but what a person thinks about in their head, that the Bible is ABSOLUTELY TRUE! "Oh but what about the crusades?!" It is ridiculous to charge true Christianity with the crusades.  The fact that those people killed and tortured people if they would not covert to Christianity PROVED they were NOT real Christians!!  True Christianity is responsible for the hospitals, the orphanages, the soup kitchens, the homeless shelters, the end of slavery.  Jesus Christ said you would KNOW His true followers by their fruit- the fruit of TRUE Christians is love and sacrifice.

Christians are to pray for God to 'teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom' because as James proclaimed in James chapter 4 verse 13, "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will* go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is EVEN A VAPOR that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

Tomorrow is NOT promised To ANYONE. Each day is a blessing from God, but we don't know when our last day on this earth will be.  Jesus has a warning for all who play the middle/sit on the fence, those who say, "I will seek Jesus when I am older, I want to have fun now and I want to build my empire."  The warning is in a story, in Luke 12 chapter 12, Jesus spoke another parable, "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' "So he said, 'I will do this: I will will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods, 'And i will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods  laid up for many years; take your EASE, DRINK, and be MERRY." "But God said to him, 'FOOL! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided." "So is he who lays up treasure for himself and not rich toward God."
So ask yourself, are you ready to die today? If you were given the choice to deny Christ or be killed, what would you do? Will your answer be, "Take Me to Jesus."? If you can't answer that question today, this per the Word, shows your faith is in question. That is not me saying this, that is God speaking. Don't rest in unbelief, do everything you can to get to the bottom of why you can't answer this question. You don't want to gamble your eternity on a maybe.

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The Good News  is Believing in Jesus saves us from the righteous wrath of God. But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW.
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave.
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus.
3. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and God
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ.
This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.
Bible verses related to this post: Luke 12:16-21; Psalms 90:12; James 4: 13-14

The Handwriting on The Wall

I already know that most will ignore this message or scorn or mock it. I am not writing anything new.  There have been watchmen on the wall calling for America to repent for over 50 years. David Wilkerson, D.L Moody, Billy Graham, and many other contenders for The Faith.  People don't want to know the truth. How do I know? Because it has been proven over and over through out the existence of mankind, people don't want to hear the truth. They would rather live their lives as if they will continue on forever, unchallenged. All people want to here today are "kumbaya" messages and the prosperity gospel.  Most people only want to talk about the love of God.  Most like to skip, ignore, and disbelieve the numerous parts of the Bible that clearly talk about God's wrath and absolute hatred of sin and His coming Judgement. Why I am repeating a message that is hated and ignored and has been and is being repeated by many others? Because I am to follow God, and not man. God calls all His people to WAKE UP! and the commission is not over, Jesus commanded His true followers to go out into the world and tell THE WHOLE GOSPEL. The writing IS on the wall for America and the world. "MENE, MENE, TEKEL...MENE-God has numbered the days of the United States reign and will bring it to an end; TEKEL-The United States have been weighed on the scales and found wanting". Destruction is on the horizon.  The age of grace is quickly coming to an end. I know the Bible is true.  I just have to turn on the TV, read the newspapers to see the predictions of the Bible made over 3000 years ago have come and the rest are coming true before my very eyes.

What prompted this blog post was yesterday, I was reading the news stories, so many stories that prove we are in the 'birth pains' Jesus warned His people about in Matthew chapter 24, but a few stood out. The first story, According to the World Health Organization, 25% of pregnancies in the world end in abortion; that 56 million babies were killed by abortion between 2010-2014. 56 million innocent baby's blood is crying up to God!  Bloodguiltiness is upon all the nations who shed innocent blood. This is just one indictment against the US and the world.

Another story was interesting about the poisoned river Ganges in India. According the reporter this river is one of the largest in the world, but it is now on the brink of extinction. It is polluted with  human waste and toxic chemicals from man made machines. What really stood out to me was a portion of the article about how the Hindu's worship this river, a quote from the article,"Hindus revere the Ganges as a god, They believe she came down from heaven to Earth, and that bathing in her waters can wash away sins."  The only thing that can wash away mankind's sin is the shed blood of Jesus Christ! I am not surprised that India is currently having the worst drought and heat wave than they ever have. The issue of pollution is happening all around the world, you can't breathe in China, you can't swim in Rio, unless you don't mind getting any number of diseases. In fact according to the World Health Organization pollution is every country around the world. The Bible tells us that when innocent blood is shed it pollutes the land, the whole world is guilty of killing all those babies, the whole earth is polluted.

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Another story that caught my eye, was about the epidemic of opiate use related deaths in America. According to statistics, someone in America dies every 19 minutes from an opiod related drug over dose.  Every 19 minutes someone loses their life to get high.  The very chilling fact is this phenomenon is only in the United States.  The United states is known to have not the largest population in the world but the US is the biggest abuser of all drugs and alcohol in the entire earth.  There are millions of Americans who are not contributing to society but instead are addicted to either drugs, alcohol or both and the lifestyle that comes with being an addict in no way contributes to society other than keeping jails/prisons and hospitals overflowing. Why is that in America where we have every luxuries, more freedoms, more opportunities, but millions of people use drugs/alcohol to escape from what ever reality they believe they can't handle?  Despite ALL the medical knowledge that is now available about how drugs work on the brain/body, millions still try and get addicted to mind altering drugs and alcohol. So knowledge obviously isn't really the answer to the problem.

My heart was very heavy after I read these articles, and as I thought about all the other sad and heart wrenching stories of murder, war, genocide, abuse, human trafficking, disease, pestilence, and killing of innocent blood, I said in my heart with tears, "How long oh Lord, Holy and True before you avenge the death of the babies and your saints on and all the vile abominations committed by those who dwell on the earth?" I said my prayers and went to bed.  I woke up unexpectedly early the next morning, and a name came to my mind. I know it was from the Holy Spirit, the name was 'weeping prophet'. I sat up, thinking, the weeping prophet, who was that? I do study my Bible but for the life of me I could not remember which prophet was the weeping prophet, so I googled 'weeping prophet' and who popped up in the search was Jeremiah.  I thought, "yes, now I remember." The google search had brought up verses in the middle of the book of Jeremiah, Chapter 31 verses 27-34, but I decided to start reading from chapter 1, I read through the first verses but my heart stopped when I got to verse 11 and started reading: "Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."....And the Word of the Lord came to me the second time saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north."  Then the Lord said to me:

"Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling

all the families of the kingdoms of the the north,"Says the Lord;

"They shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, Against all the cities of Judah.  I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands"  11-16

The pronouncements did not stop there. On through chapter 2, starting at verse 7, 

"I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness, But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' And those who handle the law did not know me; The rulers have transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit."

This is America! The nation started out by Christians trying to escape oppression and to have the right to worship God freely, but it did not take long for the evils of slavery and the murder of the Indians to stain the land with innocent blood. But goodness tried to over come the evils, but the evil seed was laid and now it has hatched.  Our rulers have passed laws contrary to God's law:

1. They have legalized abortion- "..Do Not kill the innocent and righteous" Exodus 23:7

2. They have legalized same sex marriage and 'common law' relationships-" "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. IT IS AN ABOMINATION." Leviticus 18:22; "Therefore God also gave them up to their uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie...for this reason God gave them up to VILE passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is AGAINST NATURE. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is SHAMEFUL." Romans 1:26-28

3. The preachers today prophesy and live falsely and God's laws and truth are no longer in the school systems, the entertainment industry, or the government-"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filling with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are DESERVING OF DEATH, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1:28-32

4. The pride of the flesh, the pride of life and lust of the eyes are the moral values of most Americans today.

God is getting ready to pull back His restrainer, and just like in Jeremiahs day, God once again is giving His people time/mercy to return to Him, by giving His warning message through people like me and the others with the same message REPENT!.  God promises to heal its backsliding if this nation will repent, humble itself and return to God, but if not He comes quickly and NONE will stand or prevail against the True and ALL Powerful and ALL Mighty Wrath of God!

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The Good News  is Believing in Jesus saves us from the righteous wrath of God. But that is not all, He gives us a new heart and mind NOW, and we receive some of His blessing from heaven NOW and are equipped to be able to live a life that is holy and acceptable to Him NOW.
1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave.
2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus.
3. Confess that Jesus is your Lord and God
4. Find a local Bible preaching church that does obey the commandment for water baptism for the remission of your sins and to identify yourself with Christ.
This is just the first step to a lifelong journey of growing in truth and love with the God who created this earth and everything in it, including every human being that has ever lived.
Bible verses related to this post: Matthew 24; Deuteronomy 19:10; Numbers 35:33; Romans Chapter 1, Exodus;
resources: www.bbc.com/news; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_polluted_cities_in_the_world_by_particulate_matter_concentration
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/11/health/sanjay-gupta-prescription-addiction-doctors-must-lead/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool