Evidence That You Are a Christian and Have Been Saved by God

The evidence that you have repented of your sins and were saved is that you are still repenting today.

The evidence that you believe in Jesus is that you are still believing in Him today and you are believing more than before.

The evidence that you have been truly saved by grace is that you keep walking and following Jesus and He continues changing you day by day.

The evidence that you are a Christian is that Jesus has done something in your life, and THAT something that He has done is the thing that motivates you to follow Him, and you want to be like Him and you continue on and on daily following Him.

Do not think that just because you were raised in a Christian home that you are a Christian, it is by grace you are saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Do not think that just because you read your Bible that you are a Christian.

Do not think that only because you believe in God that you are a Christian, even the demons believe (James 2:19).

The greatest desire of your heart is to be totally devoted to Jesus Christ, to honor and please Him and Him alone, continually putting away the desires of yourself, abstaining from the things that bring disgrace to His glorious name.

Are these things evident in your life? If not there is still hope.

Think about your sin and your disobedience.
Think about the Savior and that He died to save you from the wrath of God that you deserve. Agree with Him that you are a sinner and that you have been living for yourself.
Apologize to God for your disobedience and repent (turn away) from your sin once and for all and put your trust in the Savior Jesus Christ to save you and give you a new heart with new desires that honor Him.
Its called being born-again. Jesus said in John 3:3 "Unless a man is born-again he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven."

He WILL save you if you trust in Him and not your own goodness. Your goodness can never be good enough. The Bible says that our righteousness/goodness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). His goodness must be placed upon us, His goodness must be credited to our account.
Apart from Christ, not even the most kind, compassionate, loving and caring little old lady has any hope whatsoever of an eternity in heaven.

Plead with Him today to save you and He will hear; trust in Him and He will give you everlasting life; then read His word and follow His will all the days of your life, not in order to be good but because He is good.

Spiritual Warfare

During a discussion earlier this year in our Saturday men's bible study the pastor asked, "What are the things we are up against in this church when it comes to this spiritual war?"

All were a bit reluctant to answer that question and it made me think; Do we know what we are up against in this battle of good and evil?

After some thought, I considered some reasons for the inability to offer insight into the question posed; one being self implication of our own shortcomings. When we talk openly with others about the things that hinder the work of the Holy Spirit around us, we risk shining the light on our own sin. We are terrified to expose our lives that we ourselves may be lacking in some area and possibly found to be entertaining a lifestyle that displeases God.

A second reason we may not want to point out the evil around us is fear of being seen as judgmental and possibly even thought of as being better than others by pointing out the failures around us.

Another reason even being that if we expose the battles we face in our churches it could be seen as a poke in the eye of the entire congregation who for the most part claim to be believers in Christ.

We fear that someone will be offended if we stand for truth and righteousness, and we do not want to suffer the consequences.

Christians are up against a multitude of evil things that many times we do not even recognize. Spiritual warfare is the evil that we battle around us daily, it is the thing that stands in direct opposition to the word of God.

The recent messages on holiness bring to light even more the useless, evil, worthless things we entertain every day, in our lives and in our churches.

The direction of man, even with the best of intentions will fall short of God's perfect plan. The best of men are men at best.

I've since had to ask God's forgiveness for entertaining the thoughts that our selfish desires are in some way more important that His will for the church.

May we not lose heart in proclaiming the truth of scripture, daily repenting of our own sin and moving in a direction that brings glory to God while standing on the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reaching the Lost

The best way to reach lost people is to exalt the glory of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, and the wrath of God. For 2000 years He has been seeking people with His gospel, and He is sufficient to do it. - David Platt

Blessings Are Often Hidden

Youth Ministry: It's Time to be Biblical

It's becoming painfully clear that the 'Cool and Fun Gospel' doesn't work. Due to the silliness an entire generation has been lost.

What happens when more concern is placed on creating fun activities for getting youth into churches than preaching the gospel and teaching the truths of God's word? Their hearts are hardened, lives are lost, they become spiritually shallow, Christ is mocked, and blasphemy toward the Holy God is considered normal.

Youth programs are not biblical and the segregation is destroying churches, it's not too late to repent of this and trust in God's way.

Sounds like some people are picking up on the problem.
As you watch this 3 minute video please allow the Spirit of God to reveal to you the problems and use you in turning this around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vEa0O5av7c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Blood Money (Film Trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaTywSDmls&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Westboro (Baptist) Church

Recently I saw a post that read, "I get so tired of "christians" acting like idiots. Can you say "Westboro"?

When I read this I couldn't help thinking about how God's ways are infinitely higher than our ways; maybe God has hardened the hearts of such individuals in order to test the faith of others; surely there is a purpose in all of this; how and why people can read the word of God and get it so mangled has always been a mystery to me; but God's ways clearly surpass ours. Do some people not know that God is just as angry with their sinful ways as He is regarding the sins of others.

No doubt, God's plans are superior to any human mind; for example, I surely would not think that the persecution of Christians could be used to spread the gospel to unreached cities and towns as was the case when Saul was so wicked prior to his true conversion; but God did.
Read Acts 7- 9.

Terrible things used for good?
How can this be unless the sovereign God of the universe has ordained such?

Isaiah 45:7
I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Disastrous events such as hurricanes, tsunami's, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and most recently the tornados in Alabama and Oklahoma have resulted in the dispatching of relief agencies such as Texas Baptist Men (just to name only one) to assist in cleanup efforts in these areas which result in these men verbally sharing the gospel of Christ as well. God's word is advanced once again.

Could it be that the United States itself has been so neglected as a mission field or become so lost that God is moving His word along in ways we could not even imagine?

Lamentations 3:37-40
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

Punishment for sins?
It appears that is possible!
Reasons to keep fighting the good fight and not to become weary in proclaiming the saving message of the gospel? Absolutely!

Can the evil and wickedness of rulers, leaders, judges, and false prophets cause people to repent, trust the living God and turn to Him for salvation? It has for centuries!

I do tend to agree that the Westboro (Baptists) are unstable in their ways, their understanding of scripture seems to have little room for God's plan for salvation but thanks be to God for these and other opportunities so we can tell others about the true Savior of the world Christ Jesus, and thanks be to God that His ways are not only higher than our ways but His ways achieve everlasting results.

Lord please give us a wise and discerning mind as we faithfully read and study Your word, give us a heart that breaks for the souls of the lost, give us boldness of speech to proclaim Your precious word, guide us with the truth, Your word is truth.