To Be Least

The constant pattering on the window pane kept me restless as I lay in bed. Moments earlier, God had opened the flood gates and released the torrents of rain upon the earth. Tossing and turning, I was not able to nod off into a world of unconsciousness and darkness. The occasional streaks of lightnening were not helping with my sleep, but something else was gnawing at my heart. Slowly it ate away at my insides, until in desperation I had to turn to the Lord.

Lord, You know that I am worried and stressed about things in my near future. Please help to put my trust in you, because I know that you are in control. Everything, Lord, works together for your purposes. Help me to fall asleep without the weight of worry on my shoulders. I am yours.

As I lay silent in bed, I began to write my thoughts. No, there was not paper nor a pencil, but I wrote. With ease, I formed sentences and words that expressed my intermost thoughts. It was complete.

When Christ becomes the very center of your life and when your trust is given unpartially to Jesus, he is a light within your soul. All the shadows of doubt and worry are no more under the brilliant light of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With Christ in control, life becomes a fountain within you that flows eternally. With this life comes a peace that is only from God.

I have found this peace.

A couple of days ago, during the rush of Christmas shopping, I decided to become a rebel. No, I did not do anything violent, disobedient or sinful. However, I did stop to take a huge portion of my day to read scripture and seek the Lord. In a culture where we are told that we must be in a hectic frenzy to prepare for the holidays, I am sure that I classified as a perfect rebel.

It was during this time that I wrote some thoughts and musings from my readings. The following is just exactly that. Slow down for a minute and read what I have to say.

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When I started this time away from the throngs of people searching for that perfect item, I wanted to more fully understand something. This something is known as love. More specifically, I wanted to understand God's amazing love for the world. Alone in my bedroom, I began to flip open the pages of scripture in order to take the first step in knowing and understanding God's love. Perhaps it was the Holy Spirit or just chance, but I opened up to the book of Ephesians and read.

After several minutes, when I was in the third chapter, I read this following verse.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (v. 17-19)

For a beginning of a quest to learn more about God's love, this verse seemed very providential. God's love, according to this section of scripture, cannot be bound by our knowledge. No matter how hard we try to understand God's love for us, we can never fully obtain a perfect understanding because His love is so deep that our minds can not fully grasp it.

The reason, we are told, for understanding God's love for us is "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." That statement seems extremely strong and awesome. The fullness of God must be exceedingly full and is most likely beyond our comprehension. Yet, although I realize the power of the statement, I do not know what it means.

Do you have any thoughts?

When I read about of the tragic events that took place in our world and when I see the death toll growing everyday, a scripture verse comes to mind. Today, many could be asking themselves and God why these people had to die. Had they done something wrong to deserve God's wrath?

Listen to God.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

Think about it.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23:25-26)

In this verse in which Jesus was talking, he makes some facts very clear. They did not practice what they taught. To put it simply, Jesus called them hypocrites.

"Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus." (Mark 3:6)

In the Ten Commandments, one of the commands is not to kill, or murder. Yet these teachers of the law, who knew the Ten Commandments, plotted and eventually succeeded in killing Jesus. This is a fine example of their hypocrisy. They taught the people to obey God, yet disobeyed his command to not kill. Again, they were hypocrites.

I agree with Keith, who said that what the Pharisees were doing was very dangerous. These men, if they continued on the same path, would end up entering hell. For as Matthew: 50-52, "He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Obviously these Pharisees, who were also hypocrites, were headed towards something very dangerous called hell.

As Christians, we should avoid becoming like Pharisees. Before we condone others for a particular sin, we should search our hearts and see if we are committing the sin.

However, we must be careful to understand what Jesus did not like about the Pharisees. He hated the fact that they were hypocritical, but he did not hate the fact that they taught. Read the following verse:“

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Matthew 23:2-3)

As you can see, Jesus told the crowds and his disciples that they should obey the Pharisees. But they should not be like them, because they did not do what they preach.

Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended into heaven, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) While we should not be hypocrites, we are commanded to teach others to obey Christ's commands.

God! Please open their eyes that they might see the truth, turn and be healed. They speak of things that they do not know and teach false doctrines that lead many to eternal damnation. Please forgive them Lord, for they do not know what they do.

My heart is deeply troubled. Words seem to fail me. I cry out to the Lord for wisdom and truth to speak to the blind, but nothing comes to mind. In the last few days, I have been in a discussion at Promomusings about homosexuality. How can people, who profess to be Christians, be so blind to the truth that is clearly presented in God's Word to us? People are promoting homosexuality as a God approved lifestyle. They ignore scripture and sound teaching all the while proclaiming lies that decieving many.

Scripture is direct about what is true, no elaborate interpretation is needed in these following verses. They point to the truth. That like all other sins, homosexuality is also a sin and a life time of following such sin will result in eternal punishment.

"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (Leviticus 18:22)

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." (Leviticus 20:13)

In Genesis, there is the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their top sin was homosexuality (Genesis 19:5 says, "They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'"). God destroyed both of the towns because of their sins. Jude 1:7 says this about Sodom and Gomorrah, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."

In Judges, a very similar incident occurred. A man and his concubine stopped at a house for rest. The men of the town came out and demanded to have sex with the man. The owner of the house refused and gave them his daughter and the concubine. They raped and killed the concubine. Because of their great sin, God commanded the rest of Israel to fight against them and kill them. (Read Judges 19-20)

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Romans 1:26-27)

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

These scriptures that I gave to you are very clear. Homosexuality is indeed a sin in God's eyes. When he created the world, he created man and women and meant them to become one. Homosexuality is an abomination of something that God created to be sacred.

Editors Bloggers Note: I found this following account at a website hosted by a church called Portland Fellowship. It shows the struggle a teenager, not so far from me, that struggled with homosexuality. This shows that this sin can be overcome, like all others, and it is not a "orientation." I hope you take the time to read it. God bless you.


Kill your television. That saying kept echoing through my mind as I sat, in disbelief, watching it happen once again. Show after show, not-so hidden messages would try to convince me to let my guard down and give in. I almost did.

What I was witnessing on TV was yet another joyful person, who had overcome homosexuality by surrendering to the Lord, being browbeaten on a talk show over national television. I saw one pastor after another, contrary to the Word they were supposed to be teaching and obeying, defend and promote this “alternative lifestyle” as something innocent and “normal.” Countless other shows blare, “it’s OK to be gay” and “not that there’s anything wrong with that” until the actors were blue-in-the-face. The nerve!

After restraining myself from throwing things at the old Zenith, I’d shut it off, run upstairs, and collapse on my bed, crying out to God, “Why am I like this? Will I ever change? Will I ever have peace? I need You, Lord. Deliver me!”

Even when I was little, I was never the type to roll around in the mud or play with GI Joes. I was an articulate little boy that often spoke too much for my own good. This didn’t make me very popular, even at preschool age, with other boys. Of course, the girls, deathly afraid of catching ‘boy cooties,’ didn’t give me a second look.

By the time I hit puberty, or rather it hit me (like a freight train), things changed. My upright, articulate image still didn’t win too many points, image-wise, with the guys. I became “a brother” to all the girls I knew, so I remained unnoticed, as a guy, by them. I felt rejected. Suddenly, I found myself being physically attracted to some of the guys at school. By then, I knew what being “gay” meant, and that it was a sin. I didn’t like what went on inside me, but would lust, anyway. As I progressed through the war-zone that is middle school, I found myself diving into fantasies every night. The more I’d experience these lusts, the more they would tear me apart. God was not pleased with what I was doing, and I knew that. I’d cry out to the Lord to relieve me of these desires, to purge whatever demons were inside of me, and to forgive me of my sins.

At school, I would hide my feelings for guys, even though my peers would constantly jeer me about how they thought I was gay. After all, I tucked my shirt in, didn’t cuss, had many female friends, and wasn’t interested in sports. Everybody knows this automatically makes you gay, right? This “image” didn’t help matters.

The summer before my freshman year, I discovered gay Internet pornography. The first time I gave into it, I ran upstairs and burst into tears asking God to forgive me. I knew I lost a big part of my innocence. I’d find myself spending hours looking at that horrible stuff when my family was asleep. All the while, I heard a voice in my head telling me that this was wrong. That summer, I also began reading my Bible daily. I wanted to know God, get closer to Him, and love Him more.

One night, the lustful thoughts crept in full-force, and I started to pray. But, the more I prayed for God to deliver me, the more intense these thoughts became. They’d tell me that I wasn’t saved, that I belonged to Satan, and I should just give up and kill myself. Frenzied, I prayed harder than ever. Then, every muscle in my body tensed to the point where I couldn’t move. My fists were clenched, my jaw was locked, and my back was rigid. It was like my flesh was physically at war with God. The thoughts intensified further toward suicide. I couldn’t take it anymore. Finally, I asked God, “Just get me through the night.” The next thing I knew, it was morning again, and I went on with my day.

The battle raged on until one day, I told myself that I shouldn’t have to resist the temptations. Confused, I arrived at school the next morning and made a beeline to the counselor. I told her about how my struggle and my faith in God were colliding. I wanted to know how I could deal with these desires. She totally misunderstood, and said that even though I didn’t want to abandon the Lord, or really ever have sex with a guy, someday I would “meet a guy, fall in love,” and my convictions would change. She called it “coming out.” As appalling as that sounds, I considered her message. I left her office more confused than ever.

It all eventually dug at me to the point where I spoke with her again, and told her I wasn’t going to accept her advice. I told her that God was more important to me than my lusts. She frowned, not understanding that the whole point of seeing her wasn’t to get advice on how I could feel better about my “feelings” but, rather, how I could deal with them and not sin against the Lord. The Holy Spirit convicted me, I realized that I didn’t want to be gay. I couldn’t just forsake my salvation, my God and His unconditional love just so I could “feel good” for a moment.

The stesses of life lead me more easily into lust and masturbation than ever. When I had free time, I’d go to a library or bookstore, looking through books and magazines promoting and explaining homosexual acts. A part of me was repulsed by it all, as it seemed nothing more than a pursuing of the “next warm body.” But, my desires were feeding off of it. I wanted so much to be pure in God’s eyes, but I felt overwhelmed by these desires. I was so exhausted and miserable.

The breaking point came one morning at high school. Five minutes into choir class, I had to sit down because I had intense physical pain. The paramedics came to work on me, as I was experiencing all five symptoms of a heart attack. Nothing turned out to be physically wrong, but I went to my doctor and told him about my struggle, and he related my struggle to my stress level. To a psychiatrist, I went.

After three full sessions of telling him about my struggle with homosexuality, I cringed at my psychiatrist’s response. He said, “Even though it may conflict with your religion, I think you should be a bit more open-minded about this struggle.” Excuse me? This guy was telling me to forsake my beliefs so I could act out my lusts? No way! I left, frustrated. I finally told my Dad about my struggle (he wasn’t surprised), and about how upset I was with my psychiatrist’s advice. He was glad to see I was fighting to please God.

But, I still had a hole in my heart. At times, I would pray for Jesus to sit next to me and just wrap His arms around me, since no one else ever would. I was just dying for the Lord to give me a solid, close friend.

He did. I met this really neat Christian guy, and we hit it off. We told each other, almost instantly, about our struggles, and prayed together every night. We even agreed to stand together for God against struggles like masturbation and pornography. Then, the enemy attacked again. I was now attracted to my friend. But, the Lord began to change me. Nervously, I told my friend about my attraction to him, and how I was fighting it. I was overjoyed to see that he wasn’t upset, but instead, encouraged me to keep fighting.

It’s been a couple of months since that happened, and things have changed. Now, I see my youth pastor instead of that psychiatrist. I haven’t given in to pornography, fantasies or masturbation for months, although they are so tough to resist sometimes.
A few weeks ago, a friend told me about The Portland Fellowship. After a few visits, I felt new strength, peace, and utter joy in being reminded that the Lord loves me, even when I fail, that this struggle will be overcome, and that someday, I will be able to rest in the Lord. My anxious, lustful heart is still a big work in progress, but the Lord is faithful. How awesome He is!

This struggle inside me is a “civil war.” My flesh is on one side, using all five senses, the media, and society against me so that I’ll give in. But, God is on the other side, telling me that His strength is enough, His blessings make it worthwhile to resist, and He loves me.

I get so frustrated when people say that homosexuals have no choice but to live “that way.” It’s such a lie. Everyone has a choice of whom they will serve: themselves, or the Savior. The Lord can change us.

“If it feels good, do it” is the message we are taught to accept today. How selfish and short-sighted it is! Why forfeit an eternity in heaven with God just to “feel good” for a minute? Unlike our own wills, God’s will is perfect, and it’s the only reason we don’t suffer eternally for the evils we commit. He has saved us, and gives us the strength to resist the enemy. He will supply every need when He knows we need it.

No matter what the world may say, the Lord is more powerful than any of our circumstances, and He’ll take care of us.

I just hope my TV can hold up to the things I may have to throw at it, as I continue my battle. No big loss if it doesn’t.

Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 14:33, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

That verse speaks strongly to me, and shows the importance and self-denial involved with following Christ. Everything, as you and I know, means everything. So in simple obedience of that statement, I plan on resting from things of this world for the rest of this year and focus on God alone. Please pray for me as I attempt to grow closer to our Savior and further away from this fallen world.

What does this mean for the blog? Well, I plan to take a short break from blogging the rest of this holiday season.

See you in 2005 a couple of days.

Today is an occasion of rejoicing and celebration. Despite many setbacks, I am proud to announce that I have scaled the first year of this blog, conquering it with much vigor.

If you have ever taken the time to look back at my previous posts, you will soon realize that I had little direction when I began this blog, my skills at writing were nonexistent, and I knew comparatively very little about the Bible. Needless to say, I have grown tremendously in my writing skill and more importantly in my knowledge of the Truth. Also, if I may add, I have long since found direction for this blog, which is the exhaustible subject of Christianity.

Many other thoughts have begun to creep from my mind into the outside world, but this post is not the place or the time. Until later, God bless you all and have a very merry celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Penned in from the outside world, these men and women have nothing but the wounds on their back and God to keep them company. More often than not, they have no Bible with them. Yet they know God. With no where to turn, they look up and offer God the incense of their prayers. You can read about their experiences in the dark pens of torture and pain where they suffered for Christ. Contrary to human wisdom, they say that those days were the happiest and joyful days of their lives. Times when they were closest to the eternal God and His Son, Jesus.

Across the Pacific, we have huge churches and an overabundance of Bibles. Entire stores are devoted to Christian literature and prayer meetings overflow the cup's brim. If that was not enough, freedom is something cheap here. It is sold from the market place and from every store window. Yet, somehow despite this abundance, we are not close to God.

We ask ourselves, How can this be? We have everything we could ever want, and more. Have we forgotten what the Lord says in Revelations 3:14-22?

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I 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.”

We are the church in Laodicea. We have become rich and have begun to say to ourselves that we do not need anything, even God himself. In God's eyes, however, we are pitiful and naked, in need of what God has to offer.

Listen! God is knocking at the door, will we hear his still, quite voice and answer the door? Or are we going to ignore the knocking and continue to live lives of selfishness and materialism?

It is time that we forget about the physical things and put our focus on the eternal. To put our focus of the God that stands on the door and knocks.

Charles Templeton was an evangelist, preaching the truth of God’s Word to thousands in packed arenas. Until, that is, he abandoned the faith and turned agnostic. He wrote several books, one of which was entitled, Farewell to God: My Reason for Rejecting the Christian Faith.

During a home interview for a book, The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, Strobel asks Templeton why he turned agnostic.

Templeton begins to talk about the poverty and pain in the world and how a loving God could not allow such things to happen. So, he explains, there cannot be a God.

As the interview progresses, Strobel asked his what he thought about Jesus. Templeton replied saying that Jesus was the greatest man that ever lived and that the world would do well to model after him. Then, he unexpectedly said this:

“Uh…but…no,” he said slowly, “he’s the most…” He stopped, then started again. “In my view,” he declared, “he is the most important human being who ever existed.”

That’s when Templeton uttered the words I never expected to hear from him. “And if I may put it this way,” he said as his voice began to crack, “I…miss…him!”

With that, tears flooded his eyes. He turned his head and looked downward, raising his left hand to shield his face from me. His shoulder bobbed as he wept.

He missed the Savior who he once knew. Under the arguments and the logic, the truth was found. Templeton missed his Savior. He knew the truth, but had rejected it.

Our holiday visit with our grandparents was over, and we were headed back towards home. Preoccupied with the thick Bible that sat on my lap I hardly noticed the twirling of snow on the other side of the car window. Flipping through its thin pages, I found exactly what I was looking for.

Silently I read from Luke 14:33, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

“That verse certainly stands in the way of the modern watered-down Christianity that is being preached from the pulpits,” I thought to myself. “Christ clearly tells us that if we want to be his disciple, we must give up everything. He gave no exceptions or excuses. Does that mean that, as followers and disciples of Christ, we are to give up everything in our lives for His sake?”

I know the answer is a simple, “Yes.”

Glancing up a few verses to Luke 14:27 and read, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Again, I think. “Does this mean that I must pick up that symbol of suffering and follow in Christ’s footsteps to my own crucifixion in order to be his disciple?”

“Yes,” I can almost here the Lord saying to me, “You must.”

“Oh God, must the path to eternal life be so difficult? Do I have to give up everything to take that path marked by Jesus’ footsteps of persecution?”

The answer penetrates my heart.

“Yes.”

My fellow blogger over at Hand to the Plow recently wrote a post entitled "Striving for Perfection."

This is what we should be doing. However, many a Christian is too concerned with looking perfect rather than being it. At first glance the strive for perfection may seem stupid, because how can someone be perfect?--it's impossible. Alas, what we fail to realize is that the perfection we should be striving for is not based on the ideas of man, but rather those of God. For in the eyes of man we will never be perfect, but on that glorious day when Christ returns and we are ushered into His presence, then we will be perfect. We have to realize that the things that we are doing now--whether good or bad are affecting our eternity--either good or bad.

Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

Striving: to devote serious effort or energy. How many of us are seriously devoting energy to the things of God? How many of us are actually doing what we promise God we will do week end and week out? How many of us are truly forgetting the past and focusing all of our energy to what lies ahead?

Perfection is not some pie in the sky ideal that would be nice to have, but it is something that we can truly attain. Not through mere human methods, but through His.

Over the past months, he has had some very insightful and interesting things to say about the Bible and the Christian walk. So stop by and say hello to a fellow believer.

Until tomorrow, God bless you all.

People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

The Christmas season is just around the corner, and billions of kids are being told that Santa, that jolly old man, is coming to town. Surprisingly, ever single of these children will believe what they are told about Santa, even if it is impossible.

They believe in something preposterous without question. They have faith. That is what is needed to enter heaven. Unlike faith in Santa, we need faith that Jesus is God and that he died for the forgiveness of our sins.

As we grow older, our brains get ahead of us and we begin to think that we have everything together. Yet God calls us to have the faith of a child. Think of that the next time a kid displays unwavering faith in a fat, jolly man dressed in red.

The monotonous days tick slowly by. Every day at nine o’clock, I settle down in my favorite arm chair with my Bible in hand. After glancing at my reading schedule, I slowly scan the designated chapters, then offer God several sentences of prayer and turn off the lights. Day after day and week after week I plod along, trusting in God’s forgiveness of sins and content with my Christian walk.

But then I read the Old Testament and feel awed by the closeness with which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others were to God. Later, I make my way through the book of Acts and wonder why the church today is not like the early church. Why don’t we have the fervor to proclaim the truth of the gospel from the rooftops, without fear or hesitation? This brings to mind all those who have suffered for Jesus. They have been beaten and tortured for their faith that the cling to, yet they have unspeakable joy despite the pain.

Then I decided that I will live the life shown in the Bible. I will seek God with all my strength and soul knowing that I will find God. I want to know God truly, just as Abraham did. Without shame, I will proclaim the gospel to all men just as Paul did.

God, I will seek you without stop.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

When compared with eternity, the length of an average life is extremely insignificant. Yet so many people live their lives without regard to how it would effect eternity. They do not understand that the choices they make in this life, effect what their eternal life is like after you die.

So that brings me to my point. This life is only preparation for what is to come, whether that is hell or heaven. Some unwisely choose to live immoral and sinful lifestyles and reap the punishment of hell. Others choose to serve God and follow Jesus with all their heart. By doing so, they reap eternal life.

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

Our purpose on life is to serve God, and by doing so we are determining our eternal destiny.

The pastor was finishing up his closing thoughts, when two armed Russian soldiers walked in through the front doors.

"Get up!" they commanded threatening with their weapons. "We don't believe in your faith. It is false! We will shoot anyone who does not abandon their faith at once. If you choose to abandon your faith, move to the right and leave!"

Many church members were obviously persuaded, moving quickly to the right they headed out the door. Remaining were the faithful, those who would walk with Christ to their death. Although frightened, they were prepared to join Christ in his Kingdom.

After the unfaithful were out of sight, the soldiers smiled and put down their guns. Crying out in joy they proclaimed, "We, too, are Christians, but we wished to have fellowship with those who consider the truth worth dying for."

Would you be with those who left the church and abandoned the faith, or would you stand there ready to receive the spray of bullets? I will close on this verse from Matthew 24:12-13, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Close your eyes. Remember back to the days when the world was simple and your face was young. Like a dream during the still night, those years haunt you with strange joy and longing. Since then many years have passed. Graduations have occurred and jobs have been accepted. Your life has been lived without interruption and without stop. All goes along normally when you realize that your life has flown by, leaving you in a cloud of dust and memories. Like a perfect bubble, life has floated for a moment and then burst into nothingness. The shortness of this life reveals the urgency with which we are to seek God. Before your life is gone, serve God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

"What sins were forgiven?" the bible study moderator asked one of the girls.

"All of them," she replied without the slightest hesitation.

That's right," he continued, "Your past sins as well as your future sins are paid for when you accept Christ as your Lord. So even if you fall away, you will still enter heaven because all your sins were already forgiven."

Okay, let's stop that scene right there. Something is terribly wrong with what the man said. Can you see it?

He said that the sins you commit in the future are already forgiven. Now, is that statement biblical? Are your future sin forgiven?

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, selfcontrol; and to selfcontrol, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. (2 Peter 1)

Addressed to Christians, Peter says that they have been cleansed, or forgiven, of their past sins. Notice, it does not say future sins.

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

When we accept Christ into our life, we go from the first covenant, or from under the law, to the second covenant where Jesus forgives our sins. So, this passage states that Jesus died to forgive the sins committed before we were saved.

Although the idea of our future sin being forgiven has recently become very popular, it is not biblical. Christ died to forgive our past sins. However, when we do sin, we have to confess our sin to Christ and he will forgive us.

Good night.

In this world, there are many foundations you can build your life on. Some might include sports, your job, family, and other things of this world. However, there is a problem with these foundations. They are not stable foundations and can change at an instance notice. A family member could die over night, you injure your knee and your boss could fire you without warning.

However, there is a foundation that will never change and is always there. This foundation is called Christ. He has always existed and always will. If he is the foundation of your life, you will never fall no matter what happens in your life. You are no longer dependent on the world, but on Christ.