Atheism?

I saw this on a website today and it made me think about the absolute truth it told.

Atheism really doesn't make much sense. And if Atheism doesn't make sense then Theism (the belief in a God, Creator) must make sense or at least Deism (believe in a creator that no longer intervenes in the universe). As you can tell by this blog I believe in a God who is above all, He sacrificed himself for our sins, something only a perfect all knowing being could do.

So ask yourself if you are an Atheist, WHY? Does your belief make any sense? If it doesn't why do you cling to it? Does it have to do with a question of Morals?

If so check this out, I too was a great sinner, as a matter of fact I know I have sinned today. The difference is that I am willing to admit it to the Creator of this universe and with the admittance and acceptance of my faults and failures as an imperfect being I can then accept the amazing sacrifice of the Savior who paid the fine due for the failures and faults of my life. Then I can walk freely knowing my sins have been forgiven and my fate has been sealed to one day walk and worship in paradise with the God of Creation!

"The Fool hath said in his heart, There is no God..."
                                   Psalm 14:1 KJV

If our earthly fathers did it, how much more will our heavenly Father?

Okay so I read Hebrews 12 this morning before starting my day and I came across some awesome verses in this chapter.

First off, there is not conclusive proof on who wrote this great book of Hebrews which is sometimes considered the 2nd most important book of the New Testament behind the book of Romans. But most people believe it was Paul or Luke writing from things he heard of Paul. That being said this chapter wreaks with evidence that Paul at least influenced this chapter, and that may be a little understated here.

Either way the verses that struck me are:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:2-11 NIV-

Notice how the writer of this chapter brings up God's correction of us. I love the use of the word here in the NIV of discipline and the word the KJV uses chasteneth. God will correct, discipline and chastise the ones he loves. Like it says here, our earthly fathers disciplined us for their respect so we should expect our heavenly Father to discipline us as well. I know when we talk of God we speak so often of his love. As amazing as his unending love is do we consider correction an act of love?

I would say that if we don't we might need to consider this point. I remember my parents when they would correct me telling me this is going to hurt them more than it hurts me. Of course I never believed them, but why would it hurt them, its my backside that is getting the attention not theirs. Now of course as I get older I realize that the pain of punishing and correcting their own flesh and blood is indeed hard for parents because they have to chastise the ones they love the most. This might not cause physical pain but it causes internal pain. So why do it if it just hurts all parties involved. Simple, because they would rather correct their children then have them grow up not knowing right from wrong. They would rather punish their children then have the long arm of the law punishing their children. They want the best for their children and will do anything for them so they can have an easier go at life even if some of the rough spots are brought about by the parents disciplinary actions. It goes the same way with God, he would rather suffer us a little while then let us suffer eternally.

The flip side is if your are not being corrected at anytime in your life by God then you are illegitimate children of God. Another words, you don't have a heavenly father because you don't believe in him. That is dangerous ground for your salvation. We should desire that God correct us that way we could take joy in his new understanding that was revealed to us during our time of discipline.

This is the message that we must take to people, particularly the lost, when they ask why does God punish people, I thought he was Love. We can tell them that only a parent who does not care about his or her child would not correct them for doing wrong. It shows true love to punish the ones you gave life because it not only affects them but also you as a parent. But the great news is the benefit of this correction and discipline is a strong and loving son or daughter of God!

Take this message forward to those who could use it. Have a great Saturday and long weekend all, God Bless!

Faith...

So in my morning reading I took a journey through the new testament book of Hebrews and in particular chapter 11.

Right away this chapter jumps out with a claim about faith, here is what is says:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1 KJV-

If I could sum up this entire chapter I would by the word FAITH. Just like this passage says and the examples set forth from the writer of the book of Hebrews we see time and time again throughout biblical history the faith of the ones who proceeded Christ being displayed. Enoch's faith that he would not see death, Abraham's faith that even if he sacrificed the one son God promised to prosper him through that God would find a way to see his promise fulfilled. Moses' faith to step away from Pharaoh and be called a Hebrew as was his heritage. David, Samuel and the Prophets all showing great faith to overcome kingdoms and dominions.

FAITH, a simple 5 letter word that can transform lives.

Isn't it interesting how we are told to share our faith with people?

That's what we have to do, share the faith we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Share how he came into this world. How he lived, died and resurrected. Share why he had to do this, to save us from our sins and hell's fire and judgement. Without our faith in Christ we are as good as dead. Most people today are good people at heart but when we own up to the fact that God is a perfect God with a perfect law and that he will not bend the law or provide loop holes to squeeze through judgement on the merits of good deeds then we realize that the judgement must stand up firm. The fine or time has to be paid for or served.

The Great News 4 Everyone is that God sent his only begotten Son to the earth for this very purpose. God realizing that man could never obtain his perfect law created a way for us to come into relationship with him and escape the sentence from the righteous judge. As I close with probably the most quoted scripture of all time, don't just let it pass your eyes like "oh I have seen this before", but really thing about what this is saying, think about how awesome it is that God came down to rescue the creation he loves and how sacrificial, and painful and joyful this all was. Have a blessed weekend friends!

"For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,. For GOD sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."

John 3:16-17 KJV-

There are so many people to reach...ahhh

So be honest, have you ever felt like this. There are so many people to reach with the gospel, how can we reach them all.

I experienced this yestereday walking through a local mall. I thought to myself, man look at all of these people eating in the food court, look at the lines for that cash register. I began to feel quite overwhelemed. I felt like no matter what I did I could not possibly make a dent in the amount of people that need to hear the message of the gospel. It can really disable your ambitions of sharing the word with those who need it.

After a few moments of defeating thought I turned to the one place I could for the answer, no not the Oakland Raider Image store, which by the way I did stop by, but of course, God!

It was amazing what clarity he gave me on this subject. He put this on my heart, "IF YOU REACH OUT TO JUST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IT MAKES THE SIZE OF THE LOST ONE LESS!"

I never looked at it that way, if we chip away at the total of the lost each day by one then they will number one less each day. It kinda makes it all possible then. I then had another thought, what if I wasn't the only one doing this in that same place I had this thought, what if there was a group of us, then we would be making a serious dent in the numbers!

That is my invitation, try to reach the lost, just by one a day. I encourage of course more but hey one is better than none. If you want a partner and you live in the Bay Area give me a shout, I will come with you, we could even video tape it and post it for others to see that its not that hard or scary.

I hope your weekends were great and get out there and share the gospel , afterall its this same gospel that gave us the life that is in us, why wouldn't we want to share that.

God Bless my brothers and sisters in the Lord!

He is good in times of trouble

This morning in my quiet time with the word of God I read a great little passage in the Old Testament book of Nahum the prophet and it made me think about this world and the lost. It made me think that though they try to fill their lives will all sorts of things in vain from money, to women, to cars, to jobs, to drugs and any other host of things they are missing the promise of this verse that I read.

Ok, Ok so what does the verse say???

"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."

-Nahum 1:7 KJV-

How awesome is that. He is a strong hold in the day of trouble, isn't that comforting?

Now I know we would like to think, believer and non-believer alike, that life should be easy, no worries, perfect harmony and all that good stuff, but the truth is life is far from that. We are destine for troubled times, but to some of us if not all of us this happens daily! But the promise here can be the same for all of us if we do what it says in the later part of the verse.

TRUST IN HIM!

Will you do this today? Will you trust in him?

If so hand God the keys of your life and he will drive you wherever you need to go! It is not complicated but it definitely takes some courage and surrender. You cannot begin to feel the love of the Savior if you haven't surrendered to the one who does the saving. But I promise you his is just the one who can save you from these troubles of life. Trust in Him and begin your new walk in this life confident that when all is said and done you will be in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

If you are struggling with accepting this Jesus into your life, email me, or post a comment below any post, I would love to have a chance to answer any question you might have, negative or positive, tough or easy, God will guide the response and make sure it helps where you most need it.

Have a blessed day!