The Transforming Power of Pain

When sitting down eating a bowl of cereal or eating a sandwich with bread, most do not stop to think about about how the ingredients of their meal were made. Wheat is one of the world's most common food commodities found in many things to include cereal and bread. How wheat grows and sustains itself is one of God's fascinating creations.

Before wheat in a field can become a slice of bread it must first go through a grueling process.  To get the edible part of the wheat plant it must first have it's head cut off, then the head must be beaten down (threshing) to remove the good part, the grains, from the rest of the head (Lamb, 2008; Wikipedia, 2018); after the threshing, the grains are then taken to a mill where they undergo more trauma to be separated into three elements by crushing the grain by either being ground by stones or a machine (Lamb, 2008).  

Wheat is a self-sustaining plant, as one plant dies it metaphorically gives birth to a plant embryo which grows up in the same soil to become a new plant; the tools used may have changed, but this wheat growing process has been going on like this for thousands of years (Lamb, 2008). Farmers do everything they can to keep weeds (tares) out of their wheat crops.

This world is the wheat field of God, true Christians are the good wheat planted by God, unbelievers are the tares planted by Satan. (Matthew 13:24-30)

The life journey of wheat can be compared to a true follower of Christ. 

Just like the wheat plant that must die for its species to continue to exist, Jesus Christ had to die so that those who will believe in Him could live forever as well. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4); and, just like full grown wheat plants must die so they can give birth to other wheat plants, Christians must die to self so that their life can become a harvest to help many others. 

Without death there is no proliferation or continuing on because there is no new birth, a person who rejects God and continues to live in sin is a tare, a tare dies but it is not a death to give life to others, but instead it's a death into everlasting destruction and unending pain. (Revelation 21:8, Matthew 25:46). 

I do not understand why many who claim they are Christians question God/their faith when bad things happen to them when God tells us in His Word, in 1 Peter 4:12, Acts 14:22, John 16:33, and 2 Timothy 3:12, that believers in Christ will suffer persecution, experience various trials/trouble, and must suffer much while on this earth. 

A truth that is lost on so many is that it is through pain and the right kind of death we become the life sustaining and life giving children of God. If we will allow Him, God will use our pain to help untold amounts of other hurting people.  This world is the threshing floor of God, the sickle and stones used on us are the trials, tribulations, the abuses, the betrayals, the heartbreaks. 

Look a couple of 'wheats' and their threshing processes that gave birth to great harvests:

Karen Hands ministry: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHandsministry/

Karen is an acquaintance of pain, growing up physically, emotionally, verbally abused by husbands, rejected by family, God met her miraculously when she was on the edge of giving up on life, she had been so beaten up by those who were supposed to love her.  She could have given to the lies of Satan that her suffering was useless, but she choose to believe God instead and her painful past has now given birth to the saving grace of the homeless and destitute in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Charles.Mulli: https://www.facebook.com/MullyChildrensFamilyabout/?ref=page_internal

Abandoned by his family when he was just 6 years old, Charles had been brought up in a one bedroom hut in the slums of Kenya.  He often went to bed hungry and in terror from witnessing his alcoholic father mercilessly beat his mother to near death.  He woke up one morning finding his family gone. At a very young age he was living on the desolate streets, Satan tried to poison his young mind to hate God and people, but during his teenage years, he found Christ at a crusade.  Charles' 'death' to self, in giving up any desires for revenge and or bitterness against his parents/God AND he gave up a very lucrative lifestyle, and has allowed God to use his pain to help thousands of children over the past 30 years who have been abandoned/abused on the streets of Kenya. (Jenkins-Moore, 2018; Mully-the Movie).

These are just a few examples of men and women who did not allow their painful pasts to stop them from truly forsaking all to follow Christ which is the charge for all who call themselves Christian. 
What does a completely sold-out to Christ Christian receive in return?

God is a redeeming and rewarding God, as seen in another example from the Bible, Joseph knew about the transforming power of pain. He was rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of rape, spent many years wrongfully in prison, BUT God, never left his side, and Joseph went from slave to 2nd in command of a nation.  Joseph demonstrated how to use the power of pain when he forgave his brothers for their wickedness against him when he said this:  As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this-to preserve the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20.  Joseph's pain saved a whole nation.  

And so many others like- Job, Paul, Ester, Elijah, and the ultimate sufferer Jesus Christ our Lord did not allow the trials of their life to overtake them.

Today we can choose to allow ourselves to despise the grace, mercy, and love of God and harbor anger, bitterness, resentments about what God has allowed to happen to us or we can choose to allow the pain to transform us into mighty agents of God where our deaths give life to many others.  The pain we are suffering is making us into the people God means for us to be. 

There is power in our pain, I plan to be wheat on this earth until that time of separation comes. The pain we experience will work together for our good, it is never wasted. Praise God! - Brother Jamal Hampton.

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth. In order for the children of Satan to become children of God they must believe  The Good News ,  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, born of a virgin; Jesus lived and died but He rose from Dead, and now offers anyone who will believe in Him Salvation.  Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believes in the shed blood of the risen Savior, Jesus, will know and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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. (Romans 6:9; 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:8, Isaiah 7:14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). 

1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave. (Romans 10:9-10)

2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus. (Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17, Acts 3:19)

3. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and God. (Romans 10:9)

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. (Acts 16:31)

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: 2 Corinthians 4:8-18; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Matthew 13:24-30 ; Revelation 21:8, Matthew 25:46; 1 Peter 4:12; Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12; John 16:33: Luke 18:29-30; Genesis Chapters 37, 39 through 50, and 50:20
References: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/wheat2.htm
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/wheat1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshing
https://www.facebook.com/KarenHandsministry/
Jenkins, L. June 2018, Father to the Fatherless in the Living Magazine

The Pain Olympics

"You just don't understand what I've been through" is a common response from those who reject to believe that God loves them and has a purpose and plan for their lives. Why can't we often see past our own pain to see the truth of God's word? Is our human suffering any greater than God's? The way people try to compare sufferings is like they are competing in a "pain Olympics" that there are awards for gold, silver, and bronze for who has the worst pain. So who would God says has the worst pain?

Is it the young woman who was sexually molested by her father when she was a child?

Is it the loving husband whose wife left him for another man?

Is it parents who lost their child in a car accident or that child killed themselves?

Is it a 25 year old, physically fit, executive diagnosed with a rare cancer whose life completely changes to where she is now not able to work and is completely dependent on others?

Is it a 9 year old boy who is kidnapped from his home and sold into sex trafficking? 

Whose pain is worse?

Is their pain relevant to the Gospel of Christ?  This is where most will stop listening and turn away in an angry, severely offended, condemning manner saying things like, "How can you disregard their suffering" or "You are belittling their situations".

As Christians, are we to be concerned about hurting people's feelings or saving their soul?
Did Jesus placate those following Him, was He worried about hurting their feelings? I will proclaim that Jesus did not care one bit about their "feelings", He often told them to STOP depending on their feelings and instead to THINK/BELIEVE the truth, irregardless of their situations:

"Which of you by worrying can make themselves 1-inch taller? " Matthew 6:27, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" Matthew 6:34.

"Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it" Luke 17:33

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. "  Matthew 10:28.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

  Not once in the entire Bible does God ever applaud feelings, give a pass for feelings because of horrific circumstances, or make statements like, "I understand how you feel".  Time and time again He would say, "Why are you feeling that way?", for example, in 1 Kings Chapter 19,  when the prophet Elijah had just demonstrated God's awesome power against the evil prophets of Jezebel, he had them all killed, Jezebel threatened to kill him and Elijah got scared and ran away.  did God respond to him and say "I understand Elijah, why you are feeling sad and alone, Jezebel is trying to kill you, and you have done nothing wrong".


Who gets the gold medal for the worst pain ever?

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.  Surely He has taken up our pain and carried our sufferings;  Yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him and afflicted, But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for out iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was put upon Him and by His stripes we are healed...And The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died that the ungrateful, wicked, hypocritical, sinful man could live. God did not ask us to change first, He offered Himself first.  The pain that He must go through since the beginning that His creation rebelled against Him is unimaginable, that no matter how good He treats His creation, we still reject Him.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" Matthew 23:37.  But thank God, that because of His benevolence, we do not get what we deserve. His love for us is so amazing that He can love us in spite of our sin and rejection of Him!

Pain and suffering are part of the human condition because of sin. This earth and humankind are cursed and until that curse is lifted, all kinds of tragedies will continue to happen to us.  Yes, some sufferings are worse than others, but no human suffering can compare to God's.  

The consequences of suffering from a humanistic view point ends in nothing but futility, a wasted, useless life.
The consequences of suffering in God's kingdom is that God can make ANY situation work out for our good to those who love Him and are called (and accept that call) according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, born of a virgin; Jesus lived and died but He rose from Dead, and now offers anyone who will believe in Him Salvation.  Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believes in the shed blood of the risen Savior, Jesus, will know and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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. (Romans 6:9; 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:8, Isaiah 7:14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). 

1. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is real, He lived and died and rose from the grave. (Romans 10:9-10)

2. Believe that you are a sinner, repent-turn from your sins and realize and accept you need Jesus. (Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17, Acts 3:19)

3. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and God. (Romans 10:9)

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. (Acts 16:31)

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:  1 Kings Chapter 19; Isaiah 53:3-6; Matthew 23:27; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 41:10; Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 10:28;Matthew 6:27;Matthew 6:34; Luke 17:33
References:  biblehub.com

The Price is Right

I was waiting on my car to be fixed and sitting in the waiting room.  There was a TV in the room and the channel was on some game shows- "Let's Make a Deal" then "The Price is Right".  It had been a long time since I watched The Price is Right  show, the last time I watched it was when Bob Parker was the host, it was interesting to watch the show as although the host was different, the people were the same.

 Bob was no longer the host, a new host was emceeing the game.  Those in the audience were anxiously hoping their name would be called.  An announcer was calling the names of those lucky contestants, "Come on down";  those randomly chosen to participate and play the game were so excited, some were jumping up and down screaming, so happy to have been chosen to try to win some prize e.g.-a car, money, household appliances, trips...I could not help but immediately think of the judgment seat of Christ. 

  But those whose names are in the book of life, Jesus will say "Come on down" He will say, "come My faithful servant into the  inheritance prepared for you".  

The contestants in the game show jump up and down when they find out they have a chance to win a car, they haven't even won the car yet, but they are running around the stage like crazy...people get so excited about worldly things, that get old, break down and thieves steal. On that Day, when and if Jesus calls your name that will be something worth jumping up and down screaming about. Actually, we should be jumping and shouting for joy NOW!  The Lord is worthy to be praised, now, His mercy and grace are so AWESOME!

But, there is a serious issue, because Jesus said that many on that Day, will want the prize of eternity in paradise, but just like the contestants in The Price is Right who don't win the prize because they didn't guess the right price, (choose the right Savior), those who choose the wrong will lose the game of life.  This is not about not winning some car or money, this is about losing an eternity with God in heaven.  If that person's name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, Jesus will say, "Depart from Me, you worker of wickedness, go into hell, the place that was prepared for the devil and his angels, because you have rejected My free gift of salvation, now onto to your willful choice to be away from Me forever". 

 What a very sad Day that will be for those who are are not chosen.  Many are called but few are chosen.

Winning some prize on some game show does not compare to winning the prize of salvation.  We don't have to wait anxiously on our names to be called. True Christians have assurance their name will be called.

The price was right, Jesus took our rightly deserved death upon Himself and paid the exact right price needed to free us from the bondage of sin. There are many trials and tribulations on this earth including death, but death for the believer is just a doorway into paradise.  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and what a glorious Day that will be.

There is going to be a Day of Judgment, and God will judge everyone who has ever lived, His wrath is going to be poured out on all the wicked and ungodly. The eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and their ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, born of a virgin; Jesus lived and was brutally tortured and shed His blood and died but He rose from Dead, and now offers anyone who will believe in Him Salvation. What is a person being saved from? Hell, the most horrible place we can imagine, it is an eternal place of torture away from the true and living God in a place in which all of God's goodness is removed. Salvation is not just about being saved from hell and going to heaven, Salvation is also about being adopted into the kingdom of God, you can become a son or daughter of the Most High and you inherit all the privileges of being a child of God.   Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believe will receive and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy your way into heaven because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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. Believe in the blood that was shed for you and the forgiveness of your sins, and 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:   Revelation 14:11, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 22:14; 1 John 5:13; 2 Corinthians 5:8

Who is God Preparing To Come Against the U.S.?

As I am reading/studying in the Old Testament, I am finishing up the Book of 2 Kings. I marvel at the history of the Israelites as they go from one wicked king to another; and despite the many warnings and punishments from God, the nation as a whole did not repent from their wicked and evil ways.  Their hearts were hardened against the commandments and laws of God.  This was the ancient past, but I can't help but compare their history to our current present state of affairs. The United States has been one the most blessed nations in the world. "One Nation Under God" has been our motto since our nation's inception, but when you look at the country today, this is no longer a nation "under God".  This nation has committed the exact same sins that the Hebrews committed so many years ago for which God utterly destroyed them.
How does the U.S. compare to the Israelites?  There are three main areas in which the U.S. is guilty and I believe that the United States does not have not much time before God's mercy ends and His righteous judgement begins.

Number 1: "And also because of the innocent blood that he shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, with the Lord would not pardon." 2 Kings 24:4

According to the Guttmatcher Institute since the legalization of abortions in 1973:

Number 2: "And there were also homosexuals and prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." 1 Kings 14:24


 No other area like sexual sin is the word of God so twisted to support any wicked and detestable lifestyle. Sex sells is a common advertising slogan. Pornography both child and adult is a billion dollar industry.  Homosexual 'priests' & 'pastors', child molesters, pedophiles, homosexuals, bisexual, lesbians, individuals using social media technology for hooking up for quickie one night stands; it seems almost daily there is a news report of some teacher being arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor.  The Bible is crystal clear on what God thinks about any kind of sex outside a adult male and female relationship.  ALL other forms of sex are an abomination.

Number 3: "Then He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations they are doing there. So I went in and saw, and there-every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around the walls...Then He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, "The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land ." Ezekiel 8:9-12

The number one idols today are not an asherah poles or carven/graven images of animals/creatures, no the most common idol today is man. An article in the New Age publication Science of Mind states, “The significance of incarnation and resurrection is not that Jesus was a human like us but rather that we are gods like him—or at least have the potential to be." No where is this more apparent than in the entertainment business. To see fans at concerts and games, they cry and scream and literally bow down to their favorite artist, the adoration and devotion they show towards the famous is evident in how they follow their favorite team/celebrity relentlessly, giving their time, treasures, and talent to the service of either themselves or to another human being. "American Idol" is not just a t.v. show.  

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believes will know and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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:   2 Kings 24:4; 1 Kings 14:24; Hebrews 13:4; Leviticus 20:13; Ezekiel 9:9; Ezekiel 8:7-12

References: http://www.christianliferesources.com/article/u-s-abortion-statistics-by-year-1973-current-1042; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States
http://www.allaboutworldview.org/new-age-theology.htm

The Religion Buffet

Mankind has been worshiping something or someone since the beginning of time. Why people today think because we have technology that this fact has changed is mind boggling. Nothing has changed, we all worship something. What is true since the dawn of time is the fact that when people are left to themselves, they treat religion like a buffet. "Everyone does what is right in their own eyes". Many treat the Bible or other religious texts like a buffet, "Give me a side of blessings, hold the repentance, and leave out hell, and give me a side order of karma."

The world rejects the message that there is only one way to heaven. It defies humanistic logic. We want choices, we think the more choices we have the better off we will be, but the facts dispute this.  Actually having more choices is detrimental to peace and security. The more choices you have, the more confused you are, you are delayed more in making decisions, and you are never satisfied because you are wanting "the next thing". That is what the advertisers count on, you not being satisfied with what you have, no, to be "happy", you need the next new thing, the bigger, faster, prettier, richer, different thing. That is why so many are 'unhappy'.  They have bought into the lie that the goal of human life is to be happy and that doing what ever you want, getting material things is what will make you happy. If having material goods makes people happy, why are millions suffering from depression, suicidal thoughts/actions?
The truth is nothing in this world will lead to true happiness. "Vanity, Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity"-Ecclesiastes 12:8.  What is most important is to fear God and keep His commandments. This is what leads to true happiness.

"ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE; FOR WIDE IS THE GATE AND BROAD IS THE WAY THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION, AND THERE ARE MANY WHO GO  IN BY IT." Jesus Matthew 7:13

BROAD ROAD                     OR                      NARROW ROAD

CHOOSE THIS DAY WHICH WAY YOU WILL GO

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Salvation is a free gift from God, anyone who will believes will know and have a real relationship with the true God.  You can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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:   Judges 17:6, Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6; Revelation Chapter 13 and 14; Ecclesiates Chapter 12

References: "Making choices impairs Subsequent Self Control" by Kathleen D.Vohs

The Masochist Effect

Why do we continue to do things that hurt us? Are we born masochists? What got me thinking of this blog post was I love popcorn. I can eat a whole large bag of popcorn in one setting.  I had bought a new brand of kettle popcorn, it was a big bag.  I started to eat it and found that I really did not like the flavor, but I kept on eating it anyway, even when I could feel that I was full. I was thinking, "it's popcorn, I don't want to waste any." Afterwards, it left a funny taste in my mouth and an upset stomach.  I went to sleep but woke up in the middle of the night thinking to myself, "Why did I continue to eat that popcorn even though it did not taste good?"  Immediately, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, (not literally), "This is what sin is."  Satan loves to tempt us with our fleshly desires and they look and taste good.  All of Satan's weapons appeal to the three main problems that plague mankind-lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  You have only to turn on your TV set, cruise the magazine aisles/internet, go to a bar/restaurant, go through the rich neighborhoods, and any entertainment venue and you see the bought lies and temptations of the enemy on display.  The lie of the devil is summed up like this, "Satisfy your flesh and you will be happy."

 No where is the message more stated than in the clubs and bars around the world.  The neon/flashing lights, the dark atmosphere, the alcoholic drinks are so vividly displayed in various colors with adornments; everything looks 'cool' and 'free', and 'fun'.  "Drink, be merry, have a good time, there are no worries, live for today, do what feels good." But what's behind the bright lights and colorful cocktails is hidden, they don't display all the heart ache, pain, and suffering that comes with gratifying the flesh. "The wages of sin is death."  This truth is ignored and the lie is believed by so many as proven by the millions of addicts to drugs/alcohol, pornography, gambling, sex, food, lies, and money. If being rich and famous makes you happy, why are so many rich people killing themselves?  If taking God out of the schools, courts, and homes makes people happy, why is there a young girl or boy sexually/physically/emotionally/verbally abused every minute around the world? If following the worlds' recommendation for relationships (no need to marry, living together before marriage is good, monogamy is outdated-promiscuity is the way to go) works so well, Why is the divorce rate over 60%? Sexually transmitted diseases are an all time high? Millions of single men and women depressed and suicidal over breakups and feeling lonely or think they need can't survive without another person?

Drugs and alcohol are one of Satan's best tools for stealing souls.  "Take this, it will make you happy and feel good and take away all your problems." It seems like daily we get some new report about the epidemic of opiate abuse related deaths.  Why are young people who are born in the United States, Canada, countries that are supposedly rich and have every comfort known to man, taking substances that are killing themselves? What are they trying to escape from?

Why is America the land of the brave, the free, and the obese? There is a restaurant on nearly every block. There are reality shows on who can eat the most food. There are reality shows on food, cooking, cooking contests.  When you go to a restaurant your servings are four times a normal serving of food, and we eat the whole plate to include appetizers and desserts. Gluttony is now called, a "thyroid" problem.  Over eating is now called an, "impulse control" problem.
What ever the issue is-eating, drugs/alcohol/sexual immorality,  it all points to the same problem-sin. Living a sinful lifestyle is being enslaved to the darkness. A slave has no choice, they must obey their master and Satan is hard slave master.  He makes you eat the poison and when you throw it up he makes you eat the the vomit too.

As a counselor,I hear too often the desperate cries of the lost, they want to get off the roller coaster from hell, but they don't want to do it God's way. They want to stop doing the drugs, they even say they don't even like the drugs anymore but they can't stop; they don't like the way they make them feel, but they can't stop. They don't like the empty existence of just sleeping around with multiple partners, lonely, unloved, their bodies just used up like trash to be thrown away, but they can't stop; They want to stop gambling their life's savings, they don't like that they are homeless, they don't like that they are afraid, depressed, anxious, jealous, rejected, but they won't make the decisions they need to address their sinful lifestyles.  They don't understand what it means to be an enemy of God.  They basically want to learn how to be 'happy' living a life of sin.  They want the blessings of God but don't want to obey Him.

Unmarried couples living together, the girl is angry at her boyfriend for having sex with another girl. Why? They are not married, virtues like 'faithfulness, loyalty" don't come from the world.  The virtues of the world are survival of the fittest, there is no right or wrong, humans are just molecules, there is no such thing as monogamy. What they don't understand is that all humans are born with free will, the knowledge of good and evil.  Every human has a choice to accept or reject God. Every human is born with the capacity for good and evil. In relationships because we are born with knowledge of good, we expect our partners to be faithful, but this contradicts the worldly view.  What these people don't understand is they are wanting 1 Corinthian's 13 kind of love, but this kind of love is only for believers.  You are NOT going to get 'long suffering' 'unselfishness' 'bearing all things' in the world.  The world is selfish, self serving, self seeking.  It's perfectly normal to be unfaithful in ungodly relationships.  But they continue to engage in sinful relationships expecting different results, but end up with the same useless, unloving, hurtful engagements, they want to stop, but can't. Atheists believe you can have rules without God, but that does not any sense what so ever.  Either there are true right and wrongs or there aren't.

I will finish with the truth's of why we can't stop sinning without believing in God and His Son Jesus Christ:

• "For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, THAT THE LIGHT HAS COME INTO THE WORLD, AND MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL." Jesus's own words. John 3-17-19.
• Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, NOR CAN IT BE. Romans 8:7
• For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.  For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do...But I see another law in my members, warring against the law my mind, and bringing me into captivity  to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25.

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Salvation is a free gift from God, you can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ and  Believing in Jesus gets us into the Kingdom of God and 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: Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:7; John 3-17-19; Romans 7:14-25
references: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fentanyl-bc-deaths-november-tally-622-so-far-2016-1.3901731

Throwing Stones

 Today the world of religion is completely divided. And there is no more divided religion than Christianity. Now true Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship with the One and Only True God. I use the term religion just as comparison label for this post. What is astounding to me is today, when preachers and teachers go out into the streets and highways and the college campuses, that people who call themselves "Christians", say that they are wrong for telling people about hell and what sins send a person to hell. This phenomena is not new.  People in the dark have been 'throwing stones' at God's people since the beginning. Throwing stones is accusing someone of doing something wrong.  David, who was chosen to be king by God over Saul, was fleeing his son Absalom in 2 Samuel Chapter 16 when a man from the family of Saul named Bahurim, came out cursing and throwing stones at David and all his people, incorrectly accusing David of stealing the kingdom from Saul and that Davids's problems were because of this.  Bahurim's belief that David stole the kingdom was wrong, David did not steal the kingdom from Saul, God took it away from Saul due to Saul's disobedience.

 Another example of people throwing stones because of false beliefs is found in Acts Chapter 7.  Young Stephen who was filled with faith and power from the Holy Spirit, was boldly preaching before the high priests at the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Stephen spoke the truth and said starting at verse 51, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just one, of who you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. (They were furious-just like those today who get enraged at the preaching of repentance from sins). But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Then they cried out with a loud voice with one accord, and they cast him out of the city and STONED HIM. 

What brings to life the truth of the Bible is what I see happening today. Jesus and all the apostles warned of a coming apostasy.  Paul said that there would come a time that they-the lost- will not endure sound doctrine, "For a time will come (that's now) when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Timothy 4:3-4. We have this truth before our very eyes!!! Practicing homosexuals in the pulpits, practicing adulterous and sexually immoral teachers, preachers, leaders in the church, and the church members. What 'sound doctrine' are they not enduring?

• "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie." Revelation 21:14-15.

• "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. IT IS AN ABOMINATION." Leviticus 18:22. 

• "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, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which is due, 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 are not fitting; being filled 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 1-26:32. 

They will not tolerate the truth as evidence here in this picture, "cursing" these guys, "Homo sex is awesome".

I ask myself all the time, when I see on TV, like it did last night, on the news, a gay 'pastor' and his 'husband' talking about how 'God', wants them to help people; are they not reading the whole bible? What part of 'abomination' do they not understand? and the same goes for heterosexuals who have sex outside of marriage or commits any other sin. The bible is crystal clear that those who practice these things WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!! The bible warns to not just be readers of the Word, but be DOERS of the word or else you DECEIVE yourself. Many show that they are doing this very thing. They go to church services every Sunday and Wednesday, but they live a wicked and immoral lifestyle. But they still believe they are going to heaven because they 'go to church'. Many who do not even go to church believe they are going to heaven, because 'everyone goes to heaven' no matter how they live. Many people do not think about the afterlife. They live like they are going to live forever in the state they are in. Many people are worried about the temporary pleasures of this life, but not what's going to happen to them when they die. Which is kind of crazy given it is an absolute guarantee that you will die some day. 



But today, those who tell these parts of the bible are derided by other's who say they are 'Christians'. "You are being judgmental, you can't tell people what to do, they are in control of their own lives" "God is a God of love, He doesn't send people to hell." Jesus gave His disciples the 'Great Commission". We are to GO into all the world, teaching them to observe all things He had commanded. Jesus taught about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Jesus talked about heaven and a very real and horrible place called hell.  Christians today are to talk about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, and we are to do so in and out of season. The truth is most definitely 'out of season' right now, but that does not change the duty of all those call themselves Christians.

Those who reject the truth have been throwing stones since God revealed His righteous laws. They throw literal stones and 'stones' of false beliefs.  They were going to stone Jesus when they heard something they didn't like in John 8:58-59.  Jesus said to them (the unbelieving Jews),"Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Jesus is God in the flesh. They didn't like this, not only did they not like what He said, they wanted to kill Jesus for saying it. The Truth.  He came to die for our sins, He took our rightful place on the cruel cross of Calvary, to SAVE US FROM OUR SINS!  How can people know what they are being saved from if they don't know what sins are in the first place? and How can people know what is the purpose of getting 'saved' without talking about what they are being saved from?

To those who feel called to take the gospel to where it is needed most, the streets, the colleges, the highways and byways, and the communities, stand firm in the faith.  Let them who are perishing throw stones. If you are getting stones thrown at you, you are in good company, because all the true prophets of God had stones thrown at them, they were hated, and lied upon, they were ridiculed and persecuted.  And they were part of the minority.  Jesus said that FEW find the true gate and narrow road.  So don't be discouraged when you are alone, but understand that we are never alone, because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is with us all ways, where ever we go. He will never leave us or forsake us.  They tried to keep our Savior locked down with a large stone, but no stone could hold our Savior, that stone was rolled away, He has risen and now we have a High Priest Who fights our battles and gives us power to remain true to His calling.

Tomorrow is not promised to any one.

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 eyes of the unrepentant wicked need to be opened and the ears unplugged so they can see and hear the truth.  The Good News  is Salvation is a free gift from God, you can't work for it or buy because the price has already been paid with the Blood of Jesus Christ. and  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: 2 Samuel 16:5-8; Acts Chapter 7; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Revelation 21:14-15; Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-32; James 1:22; John 8:58-59; Matthew 7:14;
references: none