Striking a Nerve

Every view strikes a nerve nowadays. Whether you talk sports, religion or politics, you are bound to offend someone with what you believe and the stance you take on a topic. Politics seems to strike a nerve more than anything else these days. Views have become completely polarized. There is no longer any middle ground; you are either for or against whoever is in office. But what does the Bible tell us about how we are to treat those in charge?

Back in the book of Exodus when Moses was going through all the Laws that God had given him to instruct the Israelites, He gave them this little line: "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.” - Exodus 22:28.   Now I know that this was given to the nation of Israel and not to Christians but there are Old Testament truths that still hold true no matter what.

If you don’t think that the Old Testament laws apply to you, here you go: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work” - Titus 3:1. The New Testament gives us the same advice. We, as Christians, are to be obedient to those in office. We are to be honorable people and we are to honor the office no matter who holds it.

We do not have to agree with all things that the person in office does but we are instructed to be obedient (unless it goes against God’s Word). We don’t always agree with our spouse but we honor our spouse because we love them and God instructs us to do so. We don’t always agree with our bosses but we honor that they have authority over us and we obey them. So why don’t we do that with our elected officials?  Why do we find it so easy to throw hate and anger at them for every thing they do?

We ruin our witness to the world that doesn’t believe in God when we take part in the same things that the world does. If we don’t look any different than the world then why should they want to be Christians?  We will never fully agree with any person that is in office but we can always honor the position like God wants us to and be a great witness for Christ.

Have a great day and God bless.

Hell is Real

Hell is an actual physical place that is an eternal residence for those that don’t accept Christ as their Savior. Going to hell has nothing to do with being a bad person; there will be a lot of “good” people in hell. People always ask, “how can a loving God send people to hell?”  God doesn’t send anyone to hell, people choose hell over God. God gives the way to escape eternity in hell, people just don’t accept it.

Jesus actually spoke more about hell during His ministry than He did about heaven. That’s because hell is eternal and heaven is temporary, like I said yesterday. Jesus never spoke of hell as a pleasant place but as a place of torment. Hell wasn’t created for humans, it was created for Satan and his demons.

I hear people talk about how much fun they are going to have in hell like it’s going to be the ultimate party zone. My heart aches for people who believe that because they have no idea the horror of that place. The Bible calls it by different names: hell, Hades, the pit. It describes it as a place of utter darkness even though there will be flames, a place of unquenchable thirst, a place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth because of physical pain.

The Gospels give us two examples of the horrors of hell. The first example was of a rich man that died and went to hell. His only request was for someone to dip their finger in cool water and touch the tip of his tongue because he was in anguish from the flames. The second example was of another man that only wanted to go back and warn his brothers of the horrors so they would not follow him to hell.

Hell is not a joke and definitely not a place you want to spend the rest of your eternity. People that go to hell never have an end of their torment. They do not burn up and cease to exist. They suffer for eternity.

There is an escape from the terror of a place called hell and His name is Jesus Christ. Bow your knee now, humble yourself and accept His Lordship or you will do it when it is too late. You will do it one way or another. Do it now here on earth or do it later before you are sent to hell.

Have a great day and God bless.

Heaven is Temporary

Heaven is a temporary place. Did that blow your mind?  Most people, even Christians, think that we will spend eternity in heaven but that is not Biblically correct. Heaven is a temporary place but hell is eternal.

Heaven is called by multiple names in the Bible. It’s called Abraham’s bosom. Jesus even told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him that day in Paradise.  However, we will not spend all of eternity there. The Book of Revelation gives us a clue of how things will go.

Christians will all go to heaven at the Rapture of the church. Paul says the dead in Christ will rise first. That is everyone that has already passed away as believers in Christ. Their bodies will come out of the grave and be changed to an incorruptible and immortal body. Right after that, Paul says that those of us that are still alive and remain will be changed in a twinkling of an eye, receiving the same incorruptible and immortal body as the others. We will meet Jesus in the air and go with Him to heaven.

At the end of the Book of Revelation, John writes that we will return with Jesus to the earth for the Battle of Armageddon. When the battle is complete and Jesus has won, He will set up His kingdom here on earth for one thousand years, called the Millennial Reign.

Once that one thousand years comes to an end and Satan is defeated one last time, the current heaven and earth is destroyed and a new heaven and a new earth is created. Out of heaven comes an eternal city called New Jerusalem and that is where we spend all eternity, not in heaven.

Have a great day and God bless.

When We Get to Heaven

What will we be like when we get to Heaven?  Some think we turn into angels and float around on clouds all day with harps. That is so un-Biblical that it’s not even worth arguing over. Angels were created beings made before man and have always existed and will continue to exist as angels for eternity, but that’s a different post for a different time.

As humans, created by God and in the image of God, we will remain to be humans when we get to heaven. We will shed this human corrupted body and receive a new incorruptible human body just like Christ had when he rose from the dead.  He had a body that could be handled, He still got hungry with His new body, but He also had new abilities that He didn’t have prior to His resurrection. He was able to show up places whenever He wanted and He was able to walk through locked doors.

In the Apostle John’s first letter, he wrote “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”  I look forward to being like Him, do you?  I look forward to having a body without the aches and pains of getting old. I look forward to having a body that doesn’t know sickness or death anymore.  And I know people that are blind, deaf or handicapped that look forward to having a totally restored body.

I’ve heard many commentators say that we will all be around the age of thirty-three in heaven because that was about the age of Christ when He died and rose from the dead. I’m not sure how true that is and it really doesn’t matter to me, I just want to be wherever He is for all of eternity.

I think the best thing about heaven, other that being with my Savior and my Heavenly Father, is being able to spend eternity with friends and family that know Christ as their Savior and being able to spend time speaking with the great men and women of the Bible. I can’t wait to sit and talk with the Apostle Paul, I have hundreds of questions for him. Who do you look forward to spending eternity with?

Have a great day and God bless.

Rapture - Part 2

So, is the Rapture fact or opinion?  Well, first off, my opinion doesn’t matter!  The only way to check if the idea of a future Rapture is true is to check it against what the Bible says about it elsewhere. We can’t, as Christians, take certain sections of Scripture and make it fit what we want it to say without checking it against other portions of Scripture to make sure it matches up.

Does the Bible show anywhere else, besides the writings of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, that the Rapture is a factual event?  There are two other places in the New Testament that seem to show proof of an event that mirrors the future Rapture.

The first place is in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul speaks of knowing a man (himself actually) that was “caught up” into the third heaven and heard things he was not allowed to speak of again. That term “caught up”, is the same term he used it his letter to the Thessalonians, the Greek word “rapturo”.  So that is the first cross reference to a Rapture.

The second place where the Rapture of an individual happens is in the Book of Revelation, chapter 4. The Apostle John, in writing the letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor, says that he heard a voice from heaven telling him to “come up here” and immediately he was in the Spirit and was in heaven before the throne of God.

Both of these event show the Rapture of only individual people, but could it be that the events in which they were a part of will be very similar to what will take place during the worldwide Rapture of the church?  In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, the description is almost exactly the same as the two events that happened to Paul and John.

The Rapture will happen as describe in the Word of God. Are you ready to go or will you be left behind?

Have a great day and God bless.

Warning - Rapture Ahead

WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  There will come a day when people you know might go missing. There will be no sign left by them that they are gone. They will just disappear off the face of the earth with no explanation.

Sounds like something from a science fiction movie, doesn’t it?  Actually, the event I’m talking about is from the Bible. It’s called the Rapture. Even though it’s not mentioned by name, the Apostle Paul describes it in his letter to the Thessalonians. It’s the next event to happen in the prophetic events of God.

“For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”- 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

That phrase that Paul uses, “caught up” is the Greek word “rapturo” where we get “rapture” from.  Believers in Christ will be snatched away in the twinkling of an eye and will be forever with the Lord.

If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, the Bible says you will be left behind when the Rapture happens and the church (believers in Christ) are taken away. You will not want to be left behind for the coming tribulation that will then begin. The time for salvation is now!  Do not wait until the Rapture happens!

If these posts all of a sudden stop one day and millions of people are missing with no explanation, you now know why and what happened. Don’t miss out.

Have a great day and God bless.

Radio

I admit it, I cried a little last night watching the movie “Radio”. If you’ve never seen it, you have to watch it at least once and make sure you have the tissues. It a true story about a man named James Kennedy, nicknamed “Radio” that has a mental handicap. He is befriended by the local high school football coach in Anderson, SC. James Kennedy is played by Cuba Gooding Jr.

It doesn’t start out too well for Radio as he is terrorized by the high school star football player named Clay. He, along with some of his other teammates, tape his hands and feet together and lock him in an equipment shed. Later in the movie, Clay tricks Radio into going into the girls locker room. Radio refuses to name Clay as the one who told him to go into the locker room.

By the end of the movie, Clay finally comes around to seeing what a great person Radio really is and he and his teammates purchase Radio a letterman’s jacket.

Radio’s unconditional love for all of those around him, especially Clay even when he didn’t deserve it, reminded me of the unconditional love of God. We serve a God who knows every detail of our lives, public  and private, but still loves us unconditionally anyway. The Bible says, “that even when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Even though he knew who we were and what we had done, He loved us so much that He was willing to give up His life in place of our own. That is unconditional love!

Friends, it doesn’t matter what you have done in your past, or what you are doing in your present; God love you!  He loves you so much He wants to make you part of His family. He wants you to confess your sins, repent from them and accept His free gift of salvation.

It didn’t matter what people did to Radio, he loved them unconditionally just like family. We serve a God who loves the same way and He wants us to love others just like Radio did with those that picked on him. It’s hard, I know, but that’s what God wants from us.

Have a great day and God bless.