Carl, Albert & Martin's Note

Some time ago there was a picture taken from the Voyager space craft of Earth. At the time it was nearly 4 billion miles from Earth. Earth appeared as a tiny dot no bigger than the head of a pin.
The late Carl Sagan (1934-1996) upon seeing the picture noted,
“Look again at the dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it is everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father every hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar” every “supreme leader” every saint and every sinner in the history of our species lived there- 
on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam”
Albert Einstein wrote, “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
I’ve heard many well educated as will as not so well educated people over the years say there is no God.
I can’t buy into that. The Universe from the expanse of space to the microscopic level is too perfectly in balance for me to believe it happened by chance.
As far as I am concerned there has to be more than just the world we live in. There has to be.
The late Martin Luther King junior said,
“We thank thee for they Church, founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go our and work as though the answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee.
Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like the stars and live on through all eternity.” 
Someone has said that “I’d rather go through life believing there is a God, than not believing. For believing cost me nothing. But not believing could have eternal ramifications.”
Think about it.

I Went

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. 

Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

                                                                                                      Isaiah 40:6b

I went through a cemetery the other day. A small one. By Canadian standards it’s old. From the few headstones, I believe it was just one family buried there.
I noticed that all the headstones gave the date of birth and death. Some even gave the age of the person in years months weeks and days. Nothing more.
I assumed that these people were average although one name stood out to me. If I’m right, he’s at least related to a prominent man in Canadian history.  But still, a man few Canadians even know.
Graveyards are cold, quiet places. Places our relatives will place our bodies when we shed them.
When you come into our town, from a certain direction you pass through two large graveyards.
It’s interesting, that as you walk through them, you can hear the traffic. Every now and then you hear a high powered car with its deep, throated muffler rumbling through. It’s almost as though they’re trying to get away. A sort of acknowledgment that one day they will end there.
Sadly, several in those high powered cars have ended their days at a bend midway through.
Their bodies making only a slight detour through a funeral home and church before resting in the quiet yard.
The prophet Isaiah wrote,

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

 Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

                                                                                                      Isaiah 40:6b-8

As I looked through the graveyards, not one name did I recognize as doing anything great.
The walk reminded me of when I was younger. We lived in a house that was a thousand years old.
Nearby was the ruins of an old Abby, of which our house had been a part centuries before. On the grounds of the Abby was an old graveyard.
It’s occupants starting to take up residency around 1000 AD. The Abby, at one point, being one of the richest in England. Some famous historical people were buried there although I can’t seem to remember them now.
I guess, that’s what it’s like for all of us. Someday, the body our soul calls home will end it’s days in a quiet yard. To be eventually forgotten.
I believe it’s the grave of the unknown soldier that has the inscription “known only to God” on it.
Eventually that’s how it will be for all of us. Known only to God.
Ultimately I think that’s all that is important. That we are known only to God.
Which begs the question dear reader do you know God?

There is a Road that leads to salvation in the Bible. Listed below are scripture references that are sign posts on that road.

1/ “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.” John 3:16,17.
God never sent Jesus into the world to judge the world. That comes later in history. A history that has not yet been written.

2/     God in sending Jesus offered us a gift. A gift of salvation that does not rely on our works
“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

3/ Scripture makes it clear where our righteousness comes from.
"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 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 3:22-24

4/     Scripture also makes it clear that if we keep on with our sinful ways. Ways God does not approve of we will face spiritual death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”                                                                                                               Romans 6:23
5/ Scripture also makes it clear what Jesus said with regards to how we are saved. There is but one way to salvation.
  “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
                   John 14:6
6/ The apostle John writes,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13

7/ The apostle Paul under scoring what John 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
A Salvation Prayer

Dear Lord God
I recognize that I am a sinner and fall short of what you want for me. 
I believe that Jesus is your Son. That you sent Him to earth to show me how far you would go to bring me back to you. 
That you sent your one and only Son to die for my sins.
By faith now I accept Jesus as my saviour.
Please forgive me of my sins. Come into my life and make me your child. 
                                              Amen

Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Read 1 John 4

“We love because he first loved us. 

If anyone says, “I love God,”

 yet hates his brother, 

he is a liar. 

For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen 

cannot love God. Whom he has not seen.

 And he gives us this command: 

Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

                                                                                           1John 4:19-21
Once again John emphasises love. The love of our brother.
Who is our brother? The people that are around us are our brothers.
We must treat all people around us as brothers and sisters. If we don’t how can we rescue them.
We need to in love go to these people and say God loves you. We need to in word and in deed show the love of God the father to our brothers and sisters in the world.
If we don’t have love enough to show to the neighbour next door, or the people we work with then how can we express our love to God.
The love God showed to us through Christ is a sacrificial love. Jesus gave his life for us while we were still sinners.
This is the kind of love we must be willing to show to the world. We must be willing to sacrifice the relationships we have with people for the love of the gospel.
We must in love be able to go to our friends and present the Gospel and if necessary face their rejection.
We must let them see that we are doing it out of love for them.
We must present the Gospel in a way that lets our friends family and acquaintances know we love them.
All to many Christians try to force the gospel on people.  Like wise all to many ‘Christians’ try to place a guilt trip on people. They point out the persons sins. They even go as far as pointing out so called ‘special sins’ as if one sin is worse than another.    I’ve even heard people point out sins that are not sins according to scripture. Such sins are only sins because someone has misinterpreted scripture.
We must avoid all of this.
We must simply present the gospel and leave it for the person to accept or reject.
That is why we must be presenting it in love. In doing so we will given them pause to think and have done our duty to God. It’s that simple.

Something to think about
The lyrics from a Beatles song that states “Love, Love, Love all you really need is Love.”  is the truth.
We need to have the love of God so strong in us that we will be willing to approach even our worst enemy with the love of God and not give him any reason to hate us.
Think about it.

The death that had to be.

“They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.   When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.  Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.   Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left....” 
                                   Matthew 27:33-38
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 
 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 
 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them.“Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” 
                               Matthew 28:2-10
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions.
On the surface it looks totally ridiculous. After all why would a group of people who want you to believe in their religion make up such a claim as someone rising from the dead unless it was true.
Jesus is God incarnate. He is God coming to earth to show mankind how far he would go to make a way to heaven for him.
God understood that we as humans were frail. We could not possibly be good enough to make it to heaven.
He knew that He couldn’t judge us justly if He didn’t know what it was like to be human.
It’s all well and good to be an almighty God. But might doesn’t necessarily give someone the right to judge.
God knew that. He I believe realized that He had to have first hand experience at being human. He needed to come down and live as a man. He needed to experience all that it was to be a man. And He needed to show mankind how far He would go to give them a way to heaven.
Jesus experienced it all he grew up as a commoner in a backwater area of the world. He as a child became a political refugee escaping with his parents to avoid the wrath of Herod. He attended weddings, funerals and other events. He performed miracles and raised the dead.
Then finally He suffered the indignity of being falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He was flogged and condemned to die on a cross.
In order for him to get to that cross both Jew and Gentile sinned. The Jewish leaders falsely accused Him. While the Roman governor realizing he’d done nothing wrong let the crucfixtion continue and an innocent man be put to death.
And through all of this Jesus knowing what was ahead of him allowed thing to continue.
He allowed them to happen so that we would see what great lengths he would go to reconcile us to him.
He allowed it because he knew He would rise from the dead and be seen by others walking on the earth before He ascended into heaven.
He did it to make it as simple as possible for anyone anywhere to get into heaven. As the apostle Paul wrote.
“By grace are you saved through faith it is a gift of God not of works so no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
Jesus paved the way for us. All we have to do is ask Him into our heart and lives. He is as close as a prayer.
Why not if you truly believe that Jesus is both Lord and God pray this prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father
I know that I am a sinner. That I have and do things wrong. That I fall far short of you. I believe that you are both Lord and God.
Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and life today.
                         In Jesus name I pray
                                  Amen  

Jehovah Jirah

Read Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd 

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down 

in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters, 

He restores my soul;

 He leads me in the paths of righteousness

 For His name’s sake.

Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

 For You are with me;

 Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

 My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

All the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

                                                                                                   Psalms 23:1-6
This is perhaps the best known psalm and for the Christian it says it all.
It has been said, correctly, that we either accept Christ for who He claimed to be,
the Son of God, God incarnate.  Or we reject Him as a fraud.  There is no middle ground, as much as some people would like to think there is.
If we accept Him as LORD of our life, here is a promise:

The LORD is my shepherd 

I shall not want.

I think when people here, particularly in the west, look at that phrase they assume God will give them everything they want.
We, here in the west, and particularly in North America equate want with excess.  “I want a million dollars: “I want a new car every year”, when what God is saying is, I will meet your needs, essential needs food, and shelter.
There is no record in Scripture of millionaire apostles, although, there were those within the early church who were wealthy and used that wealth for the glory of God.
The apostles accepted God’s provision, no matter what it was.  They gave their lives to God completely, and in some cases, found the roof over their heads was a jail cell.
The apostles were not focussed on their physical condition, which would have taken them away from the spreading of the Gospel.  Instead, they focussed on what God wanted for them in their lives.  As a result, even in a jail cell, they could rejoice in God.

Something to think about:

He makes me to lie down 

in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters, 

He restores my soul;

 If we are truly trusting God, and letting Him lead our lives, we will find those green pastures in places we never dreamed of.
We will find He will restore our soul, even in the worst of conditions.

Salvation Road

Read John Chapter 10
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 
 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—   just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.   I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.  The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 
                                        John 10:11-18
Throughout John chapter ten, Jesus makes it clear who He is, but the people don’t believe Him.  They even accuse Him of blasphemy and want to stone Him.  They have been asking Jesus, if He is the Messiah, yet, when He answers, they turn against Him.
Many people today, are like this, they refuse to accept the evidence put before them.  They accept that Jesus is a good man, that He is an important historical figure, but, refuse to accept that He is LORD and God.
Jesus states clearly that He has the power to lay down His life, and to take it up again, something that was seen, when He died and rose from the grave.  No other religion in the world claims resurrection from the dead.
Jesus is LORD and God, He has the power of life and death.  He has the power to forgive sin.  These things are the cornerstone of our beliefs as Christians.
As Christians, we may disagree on many things, but on these things we cannot:
* Jesus is LORD and God
* Jesus died for our sin
* Jesus rose again from the dead conquering sin and death
* Jesus has the power to forgive sins
* It is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved through grace, not our good works.
Something to think about:
The first church I ever attended had a large banner over the pulpit that  read,
“What think Ye of Christ”
Question: What do you think of Christ? Is he your Lord and saviour? Do you know if you are going to heaven?

God’s Rules for Salvation
Jesus is not a respecter of persons. He dose not care who you are or were you are from. He doesn’t care about your ethnicity or lifestyle or anything about you.
He simply loves you for who you are. And he loves you so much he was willing to demonstrate it by giving the ultimate sacrifice in human terms.
Giving up his life.
However he did not stay in the grave but rather he arose to life going on to ascend into heaven. Leaving us with a simple road map to follow him and a free will to choose wether we do it or not.
The scriptures listed below are that road map. A map I leave for you to choose wether you follow or not.

1/God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16, John 10:10)
“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”. John 3:16
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

2/Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,  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. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—  he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

3/Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:3-6, John 14:6)
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.   Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

4/We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8,9, John 3:1~8, Revelation 3:20)
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12

“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

If you would like to accept Jesus into your life today why not say this simple prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus
I confess that I am a sinner.
I believe that you are the Christ God’s One and Only Son.
That You died for my sins, that rose again to life and then ascended to heaven.
Please forgive my sins and come into my life to day.
                                  Amen

Then 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

What’s a Christian to do. We are told to go into all the world and make disciple of all nations. 

This is what I believe.

 believe

"That God so loved the world 

that He gave His one and only Son

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

That God did not sent his Son into the world

to condemn the world

but that the world through Him

might be saved."

John3:16,17

I believe

Ephesians 2:8,9

For by grace you have been saved, through faith,

and that not of yourselves,

it is a gift of God,

not of works,

lest anyone should boast.

I believe

We are saved through faith in God.

That faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen."

I believe

Jesus when he said in John 14:6

"Jesus said to him "I am the way the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me."

I believe

Romans 3:23

"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

I believe

Romans 6:23 when it states.

"For the wages of sin is death, 

but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I believe

1John1:9

"if we confess our sins,

He is faithful and just to forgive our sins

and to cleanse us form all unrighteousness."

I believe

Psalms 139:13-16

"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;

you 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."

That God knows our very make up physically, mentally, and spiritual.

That God understands fully our physical, emotional and spiritual problems.

That God knows our very genetic make up.

I believe

God always meets us were we are at,

physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I believe

it is important to share my faith with others.

Mark 16:15,16 makes this clear " He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

I believe

That God has given all people a free will, 

and that salvation is a matter between God and the individual.

That individual must choose to follow God. God will never force them to follow Him.

I believe

A person who truly comes into a personal relationship with God, 

who truly lets God into their heart and life,

 cannot help but be changed.

I believe

I should share that faith in a none judgmental way.

I must present the hope I have in Jesus Christ to others and not impose it upon them.

I believe

I have no right to judge any man,

Luke 6:37 makes this clear

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged.

 Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.

 Forgive and you will be forgiven.

As does Matthew 7:1

"Judge not that you be not judged."

I believe

Matthew 7:2

"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged,

and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

For that reason if for nothing else I must as far as humanly possible be careful not to judge my fellow man.

I believe

the apostle Paul when he writes in Romans 12:18

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, 

live at peace with everyone."

I believe

the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbour as yourself.'

 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:37-40 (niv)

I believe

Jesus also when he said,

"You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.

' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

Matthew 5:43,44

I believe

That the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 13:4-8a,13 

describes what Christian love should be,

"Love suffers long and is kind: love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, 

is not provoked, thinks no evil.

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.... And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

I Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

I believe

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."

Romans 13:1-5

I believe

That the only time when we are to go against the governing authorities is when those authorities forbid we as Christians from practising our faith.

I believe

The Bible is a book of fact and faith.

The sole purpose of the bible is to point mankind to God.

It is not intended as a science book.

Nor is it intended as a book of judgment.

It is a book of hope.

A book of faith, pointing man to the one true God.

I believe

God’s word is the same yesterday today and always.

I believe

That God delivered the same faith message to those in Old Testament times 

as He did to those in New Testament times.

 That, that message is still there to day for all to see.

I believe

The bible was written at a time when mankind had a limited

knowledge with respect to what we have today.

I believe

God in his wisdom did not try and explain genetics or advanced Physics or modern medicine or any kind of advanced scientific theory to man in biblical times simply because mankind wasn’t ready for it. And it was irrelevant to the salvation message.

Nor was it important to him following God by faith.

I believe

That God layed the way of salvation in the simplest of ways possible in order that all people may come to know Him, no matter how limited their understanding.

I believe

That all Christians as individuals need to study the scriptures.

To ask questions of God and those teachers around us whom we trusts.

Because as 2 Timothy 3:16,17 states,

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

that the man of God maybe complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"

I believe

that it is only in studying the bible

 that we can grow in Christ.

We cannot solely and blindly follow the teachings of any one man or group of men.

For all men are fallible.

Therefore I believe 

we must study the Bible earnestly.  

Called to Reach out Not to Judge

“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

Is it me am I the only one that is getting sick of hearing Christian, particularly evangelical Christians judging the world.
I am fed up of hearing preacher after preacher in the media trying to stomp out those whom they disagree with.
I am sick of Christians playing politics with the goal to destroy those they disagree with.
Jesus never sent Christians out to judge the world. He sent them out to save the world.
Jesus made things crystal clear when he said,

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, 

but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” 

                                                                                                                Mark 16:15,16.
He also said in Matthew,

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  

Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and 

as innocent as doves.” 

                                                                                              Matthew 10:16
Note those last three words of Matthew 10:16, “innocent as doves”
If we are innocent as doves people can’t possibly get upset with us and they are more likely to open dialogue with us.
Opening a dialogue with any group of people is the only way we will ever win them to Christ.
It is wrong to make people think they have a “special sin” all sin is equal and we should be careful what we call sin.
You can’t just look back in the old Testament and cherry pick laws that we think apply to the twenty-first century.
We are under grace and we should be presenting God’s grace to all mankind.
To the Christian who is reading this I would ask are you judging people, perhaps even without realizing it.
I live in Ontario Canada and we’ve just got our first female premier, she also happens to be openly gay.
As soon as she was elected I heard Christians criticizing her. They had never met her and they haven’t given her a chance to accomplish anything.
The same people who judge her are not judging the leader of the opposition that while in office under another party leader never voted against his party even though they did things against the poor that Christians should have stood up too.
Christians need to step back and take a good look at themselves and see if they are truly doing the work of God or are they attacking people simply because they don’t agree with them.
God allows the governments to reign over us. He allows all groups to have their say.
In God’s world everyone has freedom of speech. They have the right to their own beliefs.
We all, Christian and none Christian will one day be judged by God, NOT by Christians.
 It is a Christians job to evangelize the world. To turn people against us by attacking them has eternal consequences.
Think about it.

What's is with some Christians????

“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

I just heard today about a Christian organization that receives some government funding to drill wells and build latrines in third world countries, had it cut because they had anti gay material on their website.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report that, “Until Tuesday, the organization's website carried a list of "sexual sins" deemed to be "perversion": "Turning from the true and/or proper purpose of sexual intercourse; misusing or abusing it, such as in pedophilia, homosexuality and lesbianism, sadism, masochism, transvestism, and bestiality."
  I happen to have a great deal of respect for the organization. Still however they are very much old school. They tend to without realizing it I’m sure have “special sins”.
Here they linked pedophilia, bestiality with homosexuality and lesbianism what garbage. There is no “special sins”.
I don’t care what you are, gay or strait the bible makes it clear when Paul writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,  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”
                                                                                                             Roman’s 3:21-24
It’s interesting that my pastor this past Sunday noted that all sins are equal. There is nothing special when it comes to sins. And I would raise the question is homosexuality a sin? And YES I know what the Old Testament says. But we can’t go back to the Old Testament and cherry pick what laws we want to obey. What laws apply to today.
Consider these laws,
“Keep my decrees.
Do not mate different kinds of animals.
Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.
Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.”
                                                       Leviticus 19:19 
Note the last line, do you wear a cotton polyester mix, or a cotton wool mix?
Here's another one,
“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” 
                                                                                                                  Leviticus 19:27
How about eating pork or shellfish, the list goes on and on.
It is not the church’s place to judge sinners. It is the church’s place to be as all inclusive as possible.
We are to go out and evangelize the world. To reach the world for a loving God who wants all people to come to know Him in a personal way.
God is no respecter of person. He loves and cares for all people.
Read the words of Paul to the stoics and epicureans in Athens,
"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’s 17:24-32 
Neither Jesus or any of his followers every spoke out about the sins around them. They went into a world that I am sure shocked them. They were Jews going throughout a secular world that had practices dynamically opposed to what they had been brought up with. Yet they simply presented the gospel and let God do the rest.
In doing so they changed the world.
It is something the Church in the twenty-first century needs to be doing.
We have no need to list sins on our website’s. We've all sinned, be we the average person on the street, the pope or the leaders of the organization that prompted this blog post.
We need to extend our hand to people in every walk of life and say “God loves you, and show them the way to heaven.
            Think about it.

Life

Read Ecclesiastes chapter 1

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”

 Says the Teacher

“Utterly meaningless!

Everything is meaning less....

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun;

 all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 

        What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.” 

                                                                                     Ecclesiastes 1:1,14-17

Carl Sagan looked at the above picture taken from the Voyager space craft over six trillion miles from earth and said,
“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor, and explorer, every teacher of moral, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar’ every ‘supreme leader’ every saint and sinner in history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam”
I have Bi-polar affective disorder and when I get depressed sometimes I believe what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes one. Yet I know he’s not right. That all there is, is this life, and everything in it is meaningless.
I cannot believe even though we are as Sagan put it “on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam’, there is not more to life.
Albert Einstein wrote, “Human beings vegetables or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
I think he was close to the answer.
            The late Martin Luther King Jr. Said,
“We thank thee for thy Church, founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee.
Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through all eternity.”
I believe Martin Luther King jr. was right. We are eternal beings. We are destined to live on throughout eternity. The question is where will you spend eternity?
Think about it.

We can't choose the laws we want to obey

Read Galatians 2

For through the law I died to the law 

so that I might live for God. 

I have been crucified with Christ

 and I no longer live, 

but Christ lives in me. 

The life I live in the body, 

I live by the faith in the son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me.

“I do not set aside the grace of God for 

if righteousness could be gained though the law

Christ die for nothing.

                                                                                                        Galatians 2:19-21
Paul makes it clear we can’t choose the law when it suits us and lay aside grace. Either we live under the law which cannot save us or we live under grace.
Many in the church today mix the Old Testament teachings with the New Testament. They conveniently pick the laws they choose to follow and forget about the rest.
The law is their to show us right from wrong. This in itself is not a problem. The problem arrises when those within the church choose to pick which laws they wish to observe.
There are many out there who say capital punishment is supported by the bible. Which it is. But the bible also forbids the eating of shell fish and pork.
Do those who are out there justifying capital punishment by using the bible also refrain from eating shell fish and pork?
You can’t have it both ways. This is what Paul was saying. We now live under grace.
I firmly believe that Christ came at a crossroads in time. God knew a new era in the world was beginning. That’s why he sent Christ when he did.
God knew the gentile world would have a hard time with some of the laws. That in parts of the world especially in the times of the early church it may be impossible to even obey the laws, especially the food laws at times. That’s why he made it easy for us to obtain salvation.
The Council in Jerusalem recognized that there was a new era coming. In Acts 15 it made a simple statement to the gentile believers.

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit  and to us 

not to burden you with anything 

beyond the following requirements; 

you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, 

from blood, 

and from the meat of straggled animals

 and from sexual immorality 

you will do well to avoid these things. 

                                                                                   Acts 15:28,29

Something to think about.
The message of Christianity is one of love and forgiveness. Not rules and regulations that cannot save anyone. It is about freedom not do’s and don’t.
God want’s us to live for him and not sin. We should never sin deliberately. Paul make it clear in Romans salvation through faith is not a licence to sin.
Still when we sin, and we all do, it is important to know we can turn to God and as John states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
                                 1 John 1:9  
That is the message of Christianity. God’s loving us so much that he sent His Son to die for the forgiveness for our sin.

In the Morning of My Life

 the Morning of My Life

 In the morning of my life

 I will look to the Sunrise

At a moment in my life 

When the world is new.

And the Question

I shall ask only God can answer.

Will I be brave and strong and true,

Will I fill the world with love my whole life through?

Will I fill the world with love my whole life through?

In the evening of my life

I will look to the sunset

At a moment in my life 

When my life is through.

And the question I shall ask only I can answer 

Was I brave and strong and true.

 Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

 Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?

                                                                                By Leslie Bricusse
                                                                             From the Musical Good by Mr Chips
I seen the Musical Good by Mr. Chips in the late sixties just after its release. For some reason the words of the song written above have lingered with me all of my life.
The questions posed in the song seem to me worth answering.
I am now approaching my fifty-ninth year on this earth. I have seen massive technical advances from the first satellite in space to man on the moon, to robotic ships sending pictures form the surface of Mars and around the various planet, to the establishment of the internet and the massive social media complex we now have.
I watched from my perch here in Canada as a teen the horrors of the Viet Nam war.
I watched as the Americans turned the dogs and fire hoses on black demonstrators who were peacefully demonstrating for their basic human rights.
I grew up in a household in which my parents were not Christians as I would define them but they but never the less were active in trying to make the individual person better.
All of his life my father was an active trade unionist and did manage to get better wages and benefits for those he worked with.
He taught me that it was the individual that mattered and should be lifted above all other things.
When I became a Christian in my late teens I could see through the teachings of Jesus that my father was correct.
Jesus always catered to the needs of the individual.
Although I was saved through a Baptist church I became involved in what some called the Jesus movement. I was frequently called a ‘Jesus freak’.
It’s a movement that crossed denominational lines and sought to return to the roots of Christianity.
In the case of those I associated with we were searching for our  Jewish roots.

Jesus was Jewish He lived by Jewish ethics
One principle of Judaism that I firmly believe needs to be a mainstay of the Christian faith is ‘Tzedakah’.
Tzedakah is a duty that all Jews are called to perform.
In English it is translated Charity. In Judaism however giving to the poor in not viewed as a generous or magnanimous act, it is considered an act of justice and righteousness. The performance of one’s duty giving the poor their due
Philip Bernstein said of Tzedakah,
If there is one area that identifies and unites Jews, no matter what their personal beliefs and practices, it is Tzedakah.  Tzedakah is more that charity or philanthropy, noble as they are, more than man’s humanity to man, exalted as that is, more truly it is righteousness and justice.  Without these qualities civilization would perish.
It is the highest ideal in Jewish teaching—for it is the highest application of Jewish ethical values.  It is Judaism in action—and Judaism is inherently and deeply a religion of action, a way of life, a way of living.”
I believe the ideal of Tzedakah is an ideal of Jesus. One only has to look throughout the New Testament to see Jesus and His disciples putting this into effect.
The apostle Paul wrote.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 
 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
       1 Corinthians 13:1-8a,13 
True Love is the ideal of Christianity it is this love I believe I and all Christians must live by.
It is something I believe I need to strive for everyday of my life so that I can answer the questions posed in the song lyrics quoted above with one word, ‘yes’.
As this new year begins it is something I believe all within the church needs to look at.
Are you filling the world with love? Because love, as corny as it may sound can and does change the world. Jesus did and we can too.
Think about it.