Too Much Importance Placed On Church Membership Numbers

I just read a couple different articles about the "number crunching" of church membership rolls and the statistics games played by many churches today. The importance that is put on numbers and statistics by churches and pastors of many different denominations is very disheartening. Being on a church's membership rolls does not get you to heaven. The ONLY book I am concerned with having my name in is THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE! It doesn't matter what church membership roll you are on. If you are not in that book you are not getting in to heaven!

I am not saying that it is wrong to be on a church's membership roll, if that is what you want. I am saying that none of that will matter on Judgment Day.

Revelation Chapter 21
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them ,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said*[An * in the text marks verbs that are historical presents in the Greek which have been translated with an English past tense in order to conform to modern usage.], "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

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Marriage and Divorce...The Real Truth

Matt.5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32. but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

1Cor.7:10 And unto the married, I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband.
11. But and if she depart, LET HER REMAIN UNMARRIED, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

Mark.10:11 And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and marrieth another, she committeth adultery.

Mark.10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Nothing could be plainer than these statements. Anyone who divorces and remarries committeth adultery by doing so, for Jesus DOES NOT authorize the DIVORCE. Once married, ALWAYS MARRIED: till death do you part. This is EXACTLY how Jesus Christ sees it, and describes it.

1Cor.7:12 But to the rest, speak I, not the Lord: if any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

Once again, there is NO PERMISSION to either get divorced AND remarried in any of this. Paul simply states that if the UNBELIEVER wants to go, you may let them go. The one who is left is still divorced, and whosoever shall marry her (or him) that is divorced COMMITTETH ADULTERY. Paul takes this fact; that marriage is BINDING as long as both partners shall live SO MUCH FOR GRANTED, that he uses it as an illustration of the permanency of the Law over a man until that man has realized and embraced the full significance of the death and resurrection of Christ:

Rom.7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2. For the woman that hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4. Wherefore my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God.

1Cor.7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; but only in the Lord.

Okay, I know that this is going to be a tough subject. Marriage and Divorce... This is something I never really dug real deep into the scriptures about until recently. I was raised in a Christian home, so I always knew in my heart that God does not take marriage lightly. I knew it was a covenant in His sight. I knew that when you marry someone you are making a vow, that it is supposed to be forever. These beliefs are what kept me from walking out on my marriage years ago when the going got tough. Of course "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". My husband and I "made it" through the rough spot because we turned to God. We let Him fix our marriage. He took what was a "mess" and has made it into something beautiful. Aside from "knowing" all of these things about the sacredness of marriage and its importance to God, I wanted to know what does the Bible really say. Not what does the preacher say or what does the "church" say, but what does God say?

The above scriptures say a lot. They say a lot more than what is being taught. After reading these scriptures one should ask, "Why are churches and pastors marrying people who have been previously divorced?" It plainly says, "Mark.10:11 And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and marrieth another, she committeth adultery." I didn't make it up. That is what the Word of God says. If you are divorced and the person you divorced is still alive, to remarry is to commit adultery.

1Cor.7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; but only in the Lord.

How have WE foreshortened marriage? By not AGREEING WITH and TEACHING the SAME THINGS The Bible says about the conduct of marriage and sexual sin; we have UNDERMINED the PERMANENCE of marriage. We make EXCUSES for divorce that The Bible does not give; we make REASONS to justify both DIVORCE and REMARRIAGE in flat out contradiction to Jesus Christ, Who said: Whosoever shall marry her (or him) that is divorced, committeth ADULTERY (Matt. 5:32).

Who among you will now show me how I have misrepresented what the Bible says about these things?

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Transgender Pastor in the United Methodist Church

"Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors."

This is the slogan for the United Methodist Church. It has really bothered me for some time now. Now that the United Methodist Church has decided it needs to put transgender issues on its Judicial Council's fall docket, I decided it was time to blog about it.

Here is an excerpt from the article about the transgender Pastor.

At this year’s Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference in late May, Bishop John R. Schol reappointed the Rev. Drew Phoenix as pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore. Phoenix, 48, had been minister at St. John’s for five years as the Rev. Ann Gordon. After surgery and hormone therapy in the past year, the pastor changed his gender to male and adopted a new name.

So why are they even having to "consider" what to do about this situation? This is clearly perversion. Anyway, back to the "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." According to the Bible we are not called to have open minds, but rather to have "the mind of Christ".

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 COR 2:9-16

If we have the mind of Christ we do not have to be tolerant to the things of this world. God gave us a standard, and that standard is the Bible. If anything goes against that standard, we do not have to "like" or be tolerable of it. Yes, God loves the sinner, but He does not love the sin. It is His will that sinners come to the saving knowledge of Christ and repent and turn away from their sins. EVERYONE WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS GOD SET. I urge anyone involved with the United Methodist Church to get away from such perversion, and to not be a part of it.

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More On Marriage

Here is more of the teaching on Marriage from Richard Baxter, a Puritan preacher.


Direct. V. It is your solemn duty to live in quietness and peace. To avoid every occasion of fierce anger and discord.

[I. Directions showing the great necessity of avoiding dissension.]

1. The duty of your marriage ­union requires unity. Can you not agree with your own flesh?

2. Division with your spouse will pain and upset your whole life ... Just as you do not wish to hurt your own self and are quick to care for your own wounds; so you should take notice of any break in the peace of your marriage and quickly seek to heal it. 3. Fighting chills love, fighting makes your spouse undesirable to you in your mind. Wounding is separating; to be tied together through marital bonds while your hearts are estranged is to be tormented. To be inwardly adversaries, while outwardly husband and wife turns your home and delight into a prison. (11)

4. Dissension between the husband and the wife disrupts the whole family life; they are like oxen unequally yoked, no work can be accomplished for all the striving with one another.

5. It greatly makes you unfit for the worship of God; you are not able to pray together nor to discuss heavenly things together, nor can you be mutual helpers to each other's souls. (12)

6. Dissension makes it impossible to manage your family properly.(13)

7. Your dissension will expose you to the malice of Satan, and give him advantage for many, many temptations. (14)

[II. Directions for avoiding dissensions.]

1. Keep alive your love for one another. Love your spouse dearly and fervently. Love will suppress wrath; you cannot be bitter over little things with someone you dearly love; much less will you descend to harsh words, aloofness, or any form abuse. (15)

2. Both husband and wife must mortify their pride and strong self­ centered feelings. (16 ) These are the feelings which cause intolerance and insensitivity. You must pray and labour for a humble, meek, and quiet spirit. A proud heart is troubled and provoked by every word that seems to assault your self ­esteem.(17)

3.Do not forget that you are both diseased persons, full of infirmities; and therefore expect the fruit of those infirmities in each other; and do not act surprised about it, as if you had never known of it before. Decide to be patient with one another; remembering that you took one another as sinful, frail, imperfect persons, and not as angels, or as blameless and perfect. (18)

4. Remember still that your are one flesh; and therefore be no more offended with the words or failings of each other, than you would be if they were your own. Be angry with your wife for her faults no more than you are angry with yourself for your own. Have such an anger and displeasure against a fault, as will work to heal it; but not such as will cause festering and aggravation of the diseased part. This will turn anger into compassion, and will cause you to administer care for the cure. (19)

5. Agree together beforehand, that when one of you is sinfully angry and upset the other shall silently and gently bear it until you have come to your sanity. (20)

6. Have an eye to the future and remember that you must live together until death, and must be the companions of each other's lives, and the comforts of each other's lives, and then you will see how absurd it is for you to disagree and upset each other.(21)

7. As far as you are able, avoid all occasions of wrath and quarreling, about the matters of your families.(22)

8. If you are so angry that you cannot calm yourself at least control your tongue and do not speak hurtful and taunting words, talking it out hotly fans the fire, and increases the flame; (Do not ventilate your anger as you only feed your fleshly vengenance) Be silent, and you will much sooner return to your serenity and peace.(23)

9. Let the calm and rational spouse speak carefully and compellingly reason with the other (unless it be with a person so insolent as will make things worse). Usually a few sober, grave admonitions, will prove as water to the boiling pot. Say to your angry wife or husband, "You know this should not be between us; love must put it to rest, and it must be repented of. God does not approve of it, and we shall not approve of it when this heat is over. This frame of mind is contrary to a praying frame, and this language contrary to a praying language; we must pray together; let us do nothing contrary to prayer now: sweet water and bitter come not from one spring", etc. Some calm and condescending words of reason, may stop the torrent, and revive the reason which passion had overcome.(24)

10. When you have sinfully acted towards your spouse confess to one another; and ask for forgiveness of each other, and join in prayer to God for pardon; and this will act as a preventative in you the next time: you will surely be ashamed to do that which you have confessed and asked forgiveness for of God and man.(25)

Direct. VI. One of the most important duties of a husband to his wife and a wife to her husband is to carefully, skillfully, and diligently help each other in the knowledge and worship, and obedience of God that they might be saved and grow in their Christian Life.

1. This is not love, when you neglect each other's soul.(26 ) Do you believe that you have immortal souls, and an endless life of joy or misery to live? Then you MUST know that your great concern and business is, to care for those souls, and for the endless life. Therefore if your love does not help one another in this which is your main concern, it is of little worth, and of little use. Every thing in this world is as valuable as it is useful. A useless or unprofitable love, is a worthless love. It is a trifling, or a childish, or a beastly love, which helps you but in trifling, childish, or beastly things. Do you love your wife, and will leave her in the power of Satan, or will not help to save her soul? What! love her, and yet let her go to hell? and rather let her be damned than you will be at the pains to endeavor her salvation? Never say you love them, if you will not labour for their salvation.

What then shall we say of them that do not only deny their help, but are hinderers of the holiness and salvation of each other! [1Kings 11.4, Acts 5.2, Job 2.9] And yet (the Lord have mercy on the poor miserable world!) how common a thing is this among us! If the wife be ignorant and ungodly, she will do her worst to make or keep her husband in the same state as she is herself; and if God put any holy inclinations into his heart, she will be like water to the fire, to quench it or to keep it subdued; and if he will not be as sinful and miserable as herself, he shall have little rest. And if God open the eyes of the wife of a bad man, and show her the necessity of a holy life, and she resolves to obey the Lord, and save her soul, what an enemy and tyrant will her husband be to her ( if God does not restrain him); so that the devil himself will do no more to prevent the saving of their souls than ungodly husbands and wives do against each other.

2. Consider also that you are not living up to the design of marriage, if you are not helping each other's souls.(27)

3. Consider also, if you neglect each other's souls, what enemies you are to one another, and how you are preparing for your everlasting sorrows: when you should be preparing for your joyful meeting in heaven, you are laying up for yourselves everlasting horror.

11 Pro 19:13
12 Mat 5:23; 1Sam 15:22
13 Mat 12:25; Mar 3:25; Luk 11:17
14 Jam 1:13; 1Cor 7:5; Job 2:9
15 Lev 19:8; Psa 133:1; Pro 15:17; Rom 12:10; Rom 14:19; Rom 15:1; 1Cor 13:4­7
16 Luk 9:23; Psa 101:5; Prov 16:5; Prov 21:4; Prov 28:25; Mat 23:12; 1Pet 5:6
17 Psa 10:4; Hos 7:10; Prov 13:10; Prov 28:25
18 Jer 17:9; Rom 7:24; 1Joh 1:8
19 Eph 4:26; Eph 4:32; Jam 1:19
20 Eph 4:2; 1Cor 13:4
21 Ecc 9:9; Rom 7:2
22 Gen 2:24
23 Gal 5:15; Jam 3:5,6,8
24 Pro 15:18; Mat 5:9; Psa 85:8
25 Eph 4:32; Jam 5:16
26 2Cor 2:4; 2Cor 12:15; 1The 2:8
27 Gen 2:18 1The 5:11; Eph 4:16; Heb 12:15; 1cor 7:5; Col 2:19; Gen 35:2; Gen 35:4; Lev 19:17; Num 16:27; Num 16:32


Technorati Tags: love, marriage, christian, christianity, church, religion, Bible, Jesus, God, truth, holy, husband, wife, divorce, Richard Baxter, Puritan, sermon

Christians Call God "Allah" ?

A Bishop from the Netherlands is urging Christians to call God "Allah" to ease religious tensions. How ludicrous is that? I find that name for God nowhere in my Bible. Muslims and Christians DO NOT WORSHIP THE SAME GOD! This is yet another example of a "Christian" wanting to compromise for the sake of unity. I put Christian in quotation marks because I would have to question whether or not someone willing to call Jehovah God, the God of the Bible, "Allah", is a true believer or not. I've said it many many times before and I will say it again, WHEN JESUS PRAYED FOR UNITY HE WANTED UNITY WITH THE FATHER FIRST. Those who are in unity with the Father are automatically in unity with each other! Someone who is willing to call the ONE true God, the God of the Bible, "Allah" is not in unity with the Father and the Son and I will not even attempt to be in unity with them!

Unity obtained by compromise is not true unity!


Technorati Tags: heresy, Muslim, christian, christianity, church, religion, Bible, Jesus, truth, news, Allah

Free Speech Being Attacked By Liberals

Only a SINGLE VOTE halted a resolution condemning "hate speech" in San Francisco! This is a BIG problem. Thank God for that single vote, but this just shows the world we are living in today. This resolution was aimed at Michael Savage for his criticism of illegal aliens in the United States. A third generation San Franciscan Ed Jew turned in the veto vote, after getting up and affirming Savage's First Amendment right to express his opinion. It is important to understand that the next thing they will want to attack is Christians who speak out against such things as homosexuality.

For Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval to even suggest that Savage expressing his opinions about illegal immigrants is hate speech is absolutely absurd! There is a war against talk radio going on in America right now. The liberals are trying to put a stop to such talkers as Rush Limbaugh and Savage. You can read more about it here.

If Christians and other conservative Americans do not take a stand, the liberals are going to try to silence any and all speech that goes against their liberal beliefs. Michael Savage is merely exercising his First Amendment rights when he speaks out against illegal immigrants. Just as I am exercising my First Amendment rights when I say that homosexuality is wrong, or that gay marriage is wrong. I don't "hate" anyone.

I believe this is all just another chapter in the story of good vs. evil. We must take a stand for what we know is right, no matter what!

Technorati Tags: love, marriage, christian, christianity, church, religion, Bible, Jesus, Rush Limbaugh, truth, news, Sandoval, illegal immigration, immigration, Michael Savage, First Amendment, free speech

Marriage...Keep God In It!

Over the next few days I am going to post some excerpts from a teaching on marriage by Richard Baxter. He was a Puritan preacher. I have been married for almost 17 years now and I can tell you that most of these things, for my husband and I are tried and true! God must be at the center of any marriage that is to be successful and full of life. We have went through some rough spots and it was putting God first that saw us through! After 17 years one thing I do know is that love is not ooey gooey and that tickly feeling in your stomach that you feel when you think you are first "in love". Love is an action word, not a feeling! Maintaining a healthy relationship with your spouse requires work and self sacrifice. Worrying about yourself and not all of your spouses "problems" is another key for a successful marriage. God is much better at changing people than we are! He does it in His time and in His way.

Direct. I. The first duty of husbands is to love their wives (and wives their husbands). Eph 5.25,28,29,33. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.­­So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies; he that loveth his wife, loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.­­Let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself." See Gen 2.24.

Some directions for maintaining love are as follows:

1. Choose a good spouse in the first place. A spouse who is truly good and kind. Full of virtue and holiness to the Lord. (2)

2. Don't marry till you are sure that you can love entirely.

3. Be not too hasty, but know beforehand all the imperfections which may tempt you to despise your future mate. (3)

4. Remember that justice commands you to love one that has forsaken all the world for you. One who is contented to be the companion of your labours and sufferings, and be a sharer in all things with you, and that MUST be your companion until death. (4)

5. Remember that women are ordinarily affectionate, passionate creatures, and as they love much themselves, so they expect much love from you.

6. Remember that you are under God's command; and to deny marital love to your wives, is to deny a duty which God has urgently imposed on you. Obedience therefore should command your love.

7. Remember that you are "one flesh"; you have drawn her to forsake father and mother, and to cleave to you; (5)

8. Take more notice of the good, that is in your wives, than of her faults. Let not the observation of their faults make you forget or overlook their virtues. (6)

9. Don't magnify her imperfections until they drive you crazy.

Excuse them as far as is right in the Lord. Consider the frailty of the sex. Consider also your own infirmities, and how much your wives must bear with you. (7)

10. Don't stir up the evil of your spouse, but cause the best in them to be lived out. (8)

11. Overcome them with love; and then they will be loving to you, and consequently lovely. Love will cause love, as fire kindleth fire. A good husband is the best means to make a good and loving wife. (9)

12. Live before them the life of a prudent, lowly, loving, meek, self ­denying, patient, harmless, holy heavenly Christian. (10)

1 Luk 6:31­32; 1Cor 10:24; Gal 6:2; Phil 2:4; 2tim 3:2; Jam 2:15; 1Joh 3:17; Gen 4:9; 1 Sam 25:3­11; Esth 6:6; Isa 56:11; Joh 6:26
2 Pro 18:22; Pro 19:13­14
3 Pro 18:13
4 Mat 5:32; Mat 19:9; 1Cor 7:39; Col 3:19; Gen 2:24
5 Mat 19:5; Mar 10:7
6 1 Cor 13:7; Phil 2:3
7 Psa 103:14; 1Cor 13:7
8 Pro 10:12
9 Rom 12:21; 1Pet 3:9
10 Eph 4:1; Col 1:10; 1The 2:12; Pro 11:30; 1Tim 4:16; Jam 5:19­20; 1Pet 3:1­2

Direct. II. Husbands and wives must live together. 1 Cor 7:2­5

Direct III. Abhor not only adultery itself, but all that leads to unchasteness and the violation of your marriage­covenant. [Mat 5.31,32; 19:9; John 8,4­5, of adultery; Heb 13.4; Prov 22.14; Hos 4.2­3; Prov 2.17; 1 Cor 6.15,19; Mal. 2.15; Prov 6.32,35; Deu 23.2; Lev 21.9; 18:28; Num 25.9; Jer 5.7­9]

Direct. IV. Husband and wife must delight in the love and company, and lives of each other. When husband and wife take pleasure in each other, it unites them in duty, it helps them with ease to do their work, and bear their burdens; and is a major part of the comfort of marriage. [Prov 5.18,19]

Technorati Tags: love, marriage, christian, christianity, church, religion, Bible, Jesus, God, truth, holy, husband, wife, divorce, Richard Baxter, Puritan, sermon

God is....a Just God!

God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;
The LORD avenges and is furious.
The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.
The LORD has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.
The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.
But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.

------Nahum 1:2-8

God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.


------Psalms 7:11

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not
believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." --------John 3:36



But
in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God,
who "will render to each one according to his deeds":
eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For there is no partiality with God.

--------Romans 2:5-11

God is ______. Most people, if asked to fill in the blank, would say "LOVE". God is a God of love, but all too often pastors, teachers, etc... fail to mention the other side of God. God is a God of wrath and full of anger against those who are not His. He is a just God and He WILL pour out His wrath upon those that are not His. Everyone will stand before God one day and be judged. You will probably not hear these scriptures mentioned in most pulpits today, especially in America. After all, people want their ears tickled and may not come back if they don't leave "feeling good". The offering buckets may not be as full if such harsh words were spoken. The TRUTH is... Heaven is for those who are born again and trust in God, Hell and the anger and wrath of God are for EVERYONE else. I didn't make it up, I am not being judgmental, merely telling the WHOLE TRUTH.

Heretic, False Messiah, Cult Leader, Satan's Servant...All of the Above

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is the founder and leader of Growing in Grace International Ministry, based in Miami, Florida. He has the number 666 tatooed on his arm. "The spirit that is in me is the same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth," de Jesus says. He says he is God. De Jesus preaches there is no devil and no sin. His followers, he says, literally can do no wrong in God's eyes. His followers are now also receiving 666 tattoos to declare their allegiance to him. The Bible tells us that in the last days many will come saying they are the Christ and that they will lead many astray. (Mathew 24:5)

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda also claims there is no hell. Yet Jesus taught more about hell than He did heaven. The reality of hell is all throughout the New Testament. He claims there is no devil, yet Peter—after the resurrection of Jesus—says that Satan goes about like a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8). Finally, regarding Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda view of the futility of prayer, how can we regard prayer as futile when Jesus not only taught about it (Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 11:1-13; 18:1-8), but practiced it all throughout His ministry. Similarly, the Apostle Paul opens every one of his letters with prayer and thanksgiving, and frequently asked for his readers to pray for him. Far from being futile, prayer is vital to the Christian life.

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is a false Messiah and a heretic. He claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ despite the preponderance of Biblical evidence that belies his claim of divinity. His teachings are heretical in the sense that, far from leading people into a life of greater holiness and righteousness, seem more likely to lead people to a life of licentiousness and debauchery (no sin + no law + no hell = no consequences for my actions). Finally, look at the life of the man. He is a former drug addict and convict. Now, anyone can be saved from their sin and become a Christian, but would Jesus Christ “integrate” Himself with one such as this? How about his lifestyle? He lives well beyond his means off of the “generosity” of his followers. Would Jesus do that? Jesus lived the life of a peasant with “no place to lay His head”—He took advantage of no one. The Bible tells us to “beware of false prophets.” Concerning them we “will recognize them by their fruits.”

This man is clearly a servant of Satan himself !!!

Jesus will return again to judge the living and the dead, and to establish a kingdom that will have no end. In Matthew 24:30-31 (NIV), Jesus is quoted as saying that He will return during the last days of man: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

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Great Quotes

The following quotes are from Leonard Ravenhill:

"The last words of Jesus to the church (in Revelation) were ?Repent!'"

"A true shepherd leads the way. He does not merely point the way."

"You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there's a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it."

"I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."

"Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes pride, lust, materialism, and other sin."

[Concerning the darkness that has enveloped most of Christendom:] "When you're sitting in a dark room, you can either sit and curse the darkness-or you can light a candle."

"Children can tell you what Channel 7 says, but not what Matthew 7 says."

"Maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age."

"The Bible is either absolute, or it's obsolete."

"Why do we expect to be better treated in this world than Jesus was?"


[Concerning one of the new "movements" in the church that was causing a stir among Christians:] "There's also a stir when the circus comes to town."


"When there's something in the Bible that churches don't like, they call it: legalism.'"

"There's a difference between changing your opinion, and changing your lifestyle."

"Our seminaries today are turning out dead men."

"How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don't even have the strength to turn off your TV?"

"Everyone recognizes that Stephen was Spirit-filled when he was performing wonders. Yet, he was just as Spirit-filled when he was being stoned to death."

[Concerning the fixation that today's church has with numbers, with growth at any price:] "The church has paid a terrible price for statistics!"

"You can have all of your doctrines right, yet still not have the presence of God."

"If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified."

Leonard Ravenhill was one of Britain's foremost outdoor evangelists of the 20th century. God used him to help bring thousands of people to Christ throughout Britain. Unlike the case with many of today's evangelists, the conversions that Leonard helped to bring about were generally lasting conversions. That's because he did not water down the Gospel when he preached it.

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Tammy Faye's Service Conducted by a Gay Minister

"Tammy Faye", someone that almost everyone has heard of. She recently passed away and has been touted in the Christian community as someone who knows "how to die". Tammy Faye is remembered for her past with Jim Bakker and the whole PTL thing. She remarried and "made a comeback". Tammy Faye Messner's private funeral service was conducted by an openly gay minister. This, according to her second husband, was one of her "final instructions". In my opinion this speaks loads of Tammy Faye and her so called "Christian" beliefs. You either believe in the infallibility of scripture or you don't. The scriptures clearly state that homosexuality is WRONG. How can anyone who claims to be a minister of the Gospel, or just a Christian for that matter, think that it is open to interpretation?

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. -1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you truly become saved and Jesus is your Lord, you allow Him to deliver you. You STOP practicing homosexuality because God's Word says it is wrong. This is just another example of the time that we live in. Men create their own gospel to tickle the ears of the people. No where does God's Word tell us that we have to compromise to fit the times. Homosexuals can be saved, but Jesus always told people to "go and sin no more". Grace is not a license to sin. It is great to tell of the love of God, but God is also a Just God and a God of wrath.
The truth Must be told and the lies exposed. Homosexuality is WRONG! It is a SIN! God's Word says that those who practice it WILL NOT inherit the Kingdom! "Repent" means to turn away from.

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Are You Really A Worshipper?

Conversation....

God: “Would you say that a person who watches 20 minutes of television a week worships the TV?”

Us: “Probably not.”

God: “Then why would you say that someone who worships ME 20 minutes a week is a worshipper of God?”

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Unity Means Compromise

"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."
-John 17:20-21

When Jesus prayed these words, he was praying for true unity. To be in true unity, one must be in unity with the Father. To compromise the very Word of God to have unity with other so called "Christians" is a false unity. It is COMPROMISE!
2 Timothy 4:3- "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
The church in America today is full of itching ears wanting to be tickled. As a result, we have hirelings in the pulpits willing to compromise the Word to remain "popular" with the people. Pastors are too busy worrying about how to keep the numbers up than in preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a "me" centered society. We want to go to church and "feel good." The entire ecumenical movement is wicked and from the devil. If you truly believe the Word of God, you can not be in unity with churches, faiths and denominations that compromise the Word of God to suit their needs. Paul told us to "come out from among them" and to be separate from the world. As true believers we do NOT have to try to be like the world. I urge you to be sure that you are not compromising for the sake of a false "unity".
The following quote describes well the difference between the true Gospel and the gospel of Satan.

The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great ‘brotherhood.’ It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to ‘the best that is within us.’ It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed.

–A.W. Pink

Christianity

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Something To Think About

I really am trying to get back to blogging! I do miss the outlet it provides for me. I get so busy. Just a few things to ponder....

"Christian" is a word used way to loosely. (Are you really following Christ?)

Why is church more like a social club than anything else?

Why is it that some of the most gossiping, backbiting people on earth are so called "Christians"?

What if the church today walked in power and love like the first church in the book of Acts?

When did Jesus say to run church like a business?

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Great Quotes!

Some one, then, must undertake the ungracious task of probing and laying bare the evils of the age; for men must not be allowed to congratulate themselves that all is well. If others will not, he will. If others shrink from the obloquy of such a work, he will not. He loves the age too well; he loves his nation too well; he loves his fellow-men too well. They may upbraid him; they may call him a misanthropist, or a prophet of evil; they may ascribe his warnings to the worst of motives, such as pride, or arrogance, or self-esteem, or malice, or envy; but he will give no heed to these unjust insinuations. He will prefer being thus misunderstood and maligned, to allowing men to precipitate themselves upon a ruin which they see not.



Rather than that they should perish, he will allow his own good name to be spoken against. He will risk every thing, even the hatred of brethren, rather than withhold the warning. If they give no heed to it, he has, at least, saved his own soul. If they do, he has saved both his own soul and theirs. He would rather take up the glad tidings of peace, and tell men of Him who came the first time for shame and death, and who is coming the second time for glory and dominion; but he feels as one who has a special and personal message to deliver, which cannot be postponed. He must remember that he is a watchman; and, having seen danger pressing on, he must not hesitate to make it known. He must speak his message of forewarning and rebuke, sparing no arrows, and neither smoothing down nor hiding any form of sin, but laying his finger upon every sore, and beseeching men to turn from their ungodliness.



The evils around him press upon him sadly; the coming evils are foreshadowed upon his spirit, and, therefore, he lifts up his voice like a trumpet. Satan has many snares which need to be detected; the world has many spells and lures which must be disenchanted; religion has many guises which must be unmasked, many devious paths of inconsistency which must be pointed out, many cherished errors which must be condemned, many carnal taints which must be abhorred and shunned. All these he must protest against without fear or favour.


--Horatius Bonar

More One Thousand Gifts

So much to be thankful for when you really think about it. I am thankful to be so blessed in so many ways.

151. Sitting around the freshly decorated tree with the children, talking about which ornament is our favorite.
152. The many memories brought about by looking at ornaments from years gone by
153. big, fat old fashioned Christmas lights
154. the look on my daughter's face when she looks at the lit up tree
154. children's' laughter
155. family time
156. using the easy bake oven with my daughter
157. tree swings
158. long, hot baths
189. Christmas cookies
160. glue sticks
161. lots of white Christmas lights
162. my favorite, great big frying pan
163. help in the kitchen!
164. an extra few minutes under the covers on a cold morning
165. talking to my sister
166. wrapping presents
167. Peace and quiet!
168. finished school work!
169. friends that are like family
170. the sound of rain falling
171. sunny days!
172. warm bathrobes
172. Christmas cards from old friends
173. decorating the house for Christmas
173. great movies!
174. crayons
175. a trustworthy mechanic

One Thousand seems so far away!

Church Growth Hormone - a Biblically Banned Substance

A great article by Ray Baumann talking about how he was addicted to "church growth hormone". In this article he warns the church about this dangerous substance and the damaging effects of it.

More One Thousand Gifts

Here they are, more things I encounter each and every day that I am thankful for.

135. Driving around on a cold night looking at Christmas lights with my family
136. Laughter
137. my new couch!
138. my fleece slippers
139. the joy I get from watching my dogs cuddle with each other
140. watching my children play together
141. the sight of the last few roses blooming on the rose bush before it is too cold
142. my phone call from my mom every morning
143. getting the pictures I ordered in the mail and getting to be the first one to view them
144. getting into a freshly made bed with clean sheets!
145. toast with peanut butter and a cup of tea
146. warm shortbread with my coffee
147. the feel of a fresh clean mouth after you brush your teeth! (can't imagine what life was like before toothpaste!)
148. stealing a quiet moment to look at my new cookbook
149. the fact that I still get excited (after 16 years) when my husband pulls in the driveway after work!
150. the fact that he wants to come straight home from work

To the Church in Laodicea/America

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit[12][Lit vomit ] you out of My mouth.
'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' "
- Revelation 3:14-22 (NASB)

Here is another version, The Message. It really brings in to full understanding what Jesus was saying.

Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God's Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God's creation, says:

15-17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

18"Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

19"The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

20-21"Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors!

22"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
-Revelation 3:14-22 (The Message)

Powerful words to ponder. Jesus was not talking to unbelievers, He was talking to THE CHURCH! I don't know about you but I do not want to be thought of as vomit by God.

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More One Thousand Gifts!!

116. watching my 7 year old pack her new purse (too cute!)
117. watching a 7 year old write in her diary (also too cute!)
118. pumpkin pie
119. the joy of looking through old photo albums
120. online shopping (the best kind, you do it in your jammies)
121. cordless phones (better than the 20 ft. cord my mom used to have!)
122. warm blankets on a cool night
123. sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal with my family
124. mousse for my hair, without which I would look like a clown!
125. the end of football season!(can't come fast enough)
126. dancing, singing 7 year old girls
127. my favorite frying pan
128. the smell of turkey in the oven
129. the beauty of a lit tiffany lamp
130. extra long morning cuddles with my daughter
131. the bottom of the laundry pile!
132. buying Christmas gifts for others
133. the opportunity to give
134. that moment when the house is ALL CLEAN! (look quick, it doesn't last long!)

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