Can

Can
John’s gospel records this conversation between Jesus and Martha.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
The other day I was asked if I believe a gay man can get to heaven. I answered with the words of the American evangelist Toni Campolo who said,
“We ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.”Tony Campolo
Jesus speaking about himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  Romans 10: 9,10.
The psalmist writes,
 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
Only God knows why we are the way we are. No one can truly tell what is in the heart and mind of another person. No one knows an individual as well as God does. Thus we have no right to Judge other people when it comes to where they will spend eternity.
Jesus told his disciple and through them us,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20.
He did not tell those who believe in him to judge people with respect to where they will spend eternity. He told them to go out and show the world how they can spend eternity in heaven.
Please think about it.

Be wise

Be wise
The apostle Paul writes,
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” Colossians 4:5,6.
I was in a church not so long ago. It was during the gay pride parade in Toronto. When someone said. We need to pray for “those people”. “They” are in need of God’s salvation”.
What the implication was, was that gay people by simply by being gay were sinners. What a lot of hogwash.
The fact of the matter is 100% of heterosexual men and women are sinners as is everyone that has ever been born. The apostle Paul states,
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23.
That all means all. No matter who the person is, their lifestyle or for that matter what they believe. “All have sinned”. Even people sitting in that church with me that morning were sinners according to the apostle Paul.
The person who spoke those words would never win a member of the LGBTQ community to Christ. Quite the contrary they may have pushed the person away.
They obviously had not taken to hart the words of the apostle Paul to the Colossians
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” Colossians 4:5,6.
We must remember that Jesus told us,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:1,2.
If you are speaking out and judging anyone especially in a negative way they will judge you also. Not only that but if they perceive your judgment to be in error they will not listen to you.
The bottom line is we should not be judging anyone. We especially should not be centering out anyone person or any group.
Billy Graham the American evangelist rightly said,

“It is the Holy Spirits Job to Convict, 

God's job to judge

 and my job to love,” 

                             Billy Graham

Jesus said,
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12.
Please think about it.  

Would a...?

Would a...?
James the half brother of Jesus wrote,
“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” James 2:12,13.
Here is are some simple questions.

1. Do you show mercy to those around you?
2. Do you show love to those of different faiths and lifestyles?
3. Would a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, be welcome as a guest in your church congregation?
4. Would a gay couple be welcome?
5. Would you be willing to listen to what a Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist believes?
6. Would you be willing to listen to what a gay couple believes?

As you think about this answers to the above questions. If you truly believe you are a follower of Christ Jesus keep in mind the words of Jesus who said,

So in everything, do to others 

what you would have them do to you,

 for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” 

                                                                Matthew 7:12.

I firmly believe that the only way we can win souls for Christ is to show mercy toward them. To treat them the same way we would want to be treated. To love them and not judge them.
Please think about it.

What Kind of Christian

What Kind of Christian?

Someone asked me what kind of Christian I was. Was I with a so called main line church, Presbyterian, Anglican, Catholic, etc. or was I an evangelical. A Baptist or Pentecostal type.
I said I was a Christian.
I do not like labels when it comes to my faith. Friends do call me a liberal evangelical but that’s largely because I’m hard to define.
I simply call myself a Christian and try and live up to the teachings of Christ. There are far to many “types of Christians” today. Not only that many who label themselves Christian and have pulpits in the media are not Christians at all.
I see my job as a Christian as one of reaching out to all people. I believe the God I worship is an all inclusive God.
I believe Jesus would have sat down and ate with gay’s and members of the LGBT community. That he would have reached out to them in love and not criticized them because of their lifestyle.
Jesus certainly sat down with tax collectors and sinners the bible tell us that in Matthew nine.
Sadly many pastors and evangelist in the media and in may local churches, cannot sit down with not just the gay community, but other groups, simply because they’ve poisoned  the waters so to speak.
They’ve in some cases virtually shouted from the housetops  Gay’s and Lesbians are going to hell and said the same about many others.
The bible doesn’t say that. A gay man can just as easily get to heaven as Billy Graham.
Paul writing to the Romans states,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
                                               Romans 3:23,24.
That all means you, me, Billy Graham and anyone else who has ever been born. Not only that we cannot be good enough to enter heaven. That is why Christ came.
Christ came to not only pay the price for OUR sin but to point us the way to God and eternal life.
Paul writing to the Ephesians states,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”
                                                                     Ephesians 2:8,9.
No man can look into the heart of another and know why they are the way they are. Only God knows what makes a person tick.
The Psalmist wrote,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” 
                                                                  Psalm 139:13-16.
It is precisely because only God knows what goes on inside us that Christ admonishes us not to judge (Matthew 7:1,2).
Rather Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 
                                                                        Matthew 28:18-20.
This for me is what a Christian should be doing. Pointing the way to Christ and teaching new converts the ways of Christ.
God will one day Judge all humanity but then he is God and has that right.
The important thing for me is making sure those I know and those I have a chance to speak to verbally or by the written word are given the opportunity to come to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Do you. Do you have assurance that were you to die today that you would go to heaven?
Think about it.

By way of an Apology

By way of an apology

I feel the Christian community needs to apologize to the secular community in general and particularly the LBGT community for judging them.
Individual ministers, and evangelist both in the media and out of the media need to in all humility go to the secular community and say “I’m sorry for judging you.”
Tony Campolo an evangelist said,
“We (Christians) ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.”
                                                                                Tony Campolo
It is the Christians duty to tell people what they believed.
The Apostle Paul did just that. In his travels he went to Athens. The book of Acts describes what happened. What he said is what I as a Christian truly believe.
“So he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” 
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  
     At that, Paul left the Council.  
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
                                                                                         Acts 17:17-34
I leave the above for those reading this blog to decide for themselves what Christ is to them.
I only ask that you think about it.

A Dance intoned by an Invisible Player

A Dance intoned by an invisible player
“Human beings vegetables  or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
                             Albert Einstein.
I believe Einstein was right that, “We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
I believe that player is God. That he wants every man and woman on earth to turn to him.
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                      Matthew 11:28-30.
To hear some evangelist and pastors today you would think only a select few can get to heaven. That is not true. There are things that everyone must do in order to get to heaven but anyone can do them.
The Psalmist wrote,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” 
                         Psalm 139:13-16.
The way I read psalm 139:13-16 is that God knows the very genetic make up of everyone. He knows not only our hart but what makes us what we are. That’s why I think Jesus warns us not to judge. Simply because we don’t know what’s inside a person.
Someone told me a gay man cannot get to heaven. I’ve even known evangelist in the media who are saying that.
That is untrue. Anyone can get to heaven.
When the apostle Paul wrote,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
                                                                     Romans 3:23.
He meant all.
God does not differentiate between a gay and strait man. “All have sinned” is what the apostle Paul says.
That preacher or evangelist that is judging someone because of their way of life or lifestyle is also guilty of sin perhaps even more so because the Bible tells him not to judge.
Jesus said,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 
              Matthew 7:1,2
Sin is sin, to God. Sin separates us from God. Sin is “an equal opportunity employer”. There is no special sin. Sin is simply falling short of God’s ideals for our life.
The way to heaven is simple we must start by admitting to God we are a sinner. That we have flaws and faults that keep us from living a perfect life.
John noting,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
       1 John 1:9,10.
God has made it clear to all  Christians and non-Christians alike that we all are all sinners who must do our best to confess those sins we know we have.
Paul make it clear salvation is not something we can work for. The apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians stating,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                  Ephesians 2:8,9
Ultimately salvation is an act of faith, Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”
Hebrews 11:6
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                              Hebrews 11:1
What do you believe?
Think about it.