Treasure In Clay Jars

In the Book of Revelation, we marvel at the implication of taking the mark (666) as seen in Revelation 14:9-11 , where such a person is condemned to eternal damnation unable to ever turn to the Lord as is available to most people still alive. However in Romans Chapter 1, the Bible also discusses the condition of people today, where as the scripture says three times because of their behavior, "The Lord game them over..." Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. Romans 1:24 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Romans 1:26-27 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not ...

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many… (Hebrews 9:27-28 NIV) My wife and I were talking about a celebrity who we learned had died recently. One of my first thoughts (as is customary) was “were they saved”? Did that person accept that Jesus died for their sins so that they could live forever in Heaven? Though neither my wife nor I could know the real answer to that question, if we went by the “evidence” of how that person lived their public life, then it appeared highly unlikely that a salvation conversion would have occurred in their life. If so, then their death was indeed a tragedy. Acceptance of Jesus is indeed the difference between life and death (for eternity). Look at this diagram below (taken from a previous publication by author Bruce Wilkinson). The size of the circle denotes the average life span of our present life on earth. The length of the line denotes the first .000...

(Exodus 23:24 NLT)   You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.   God will not tolerate those opposed to him. He is God, creator of all things. He simply does not have to. Our decision is do we want to walk with Him or oppose Him?  The scripture above refers to an Old Testament directive of God to the Jews (His people) to destroy those nations and the people of those nations around them who God knew would never worship and serve Him. He is God. He knows who will or won't ever worship Him. If you haven't yet turned to God in worship. Do it today. Don't delay. Don't harden your heart because perhaps He might seem intolerant. He is actually VERY tolerant to those who love Him. He is very tolerant to those who don't fully know Him yet. He asked His Son our savior Jesus Christ to die in our place so that we can live forever wi...

One of the most searched for pages on this blog is a post titled "Funeral for Unbelievers" . I think it is obvious why this post is on search engines daily. People die everyday and unfortunately for most, they die as unbelievers in Jesus Christ as the savior for their sins. The Bible seems clear on the unfortunate fact that most who pass away die as unbelievers in salvation through Christ alone: Matthew 7:13-14 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (NLT- italics mine).  I implore those who may be reading this post not to be among the larger group of the many mentioned in the above scripture; don't be one of the ones for whom someone will do a web search for your funeral for an unbeliever. Accept Christ's free gift of salvation. No matter how bad of a life you may...

(John 5:21-14 NIV): ...For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life..." (John 6:35-40 NIV): ... Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of ...

I am not a leader of a church, but I oftentimes wonder how does one lead a funeral service for someone who dies without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord ? Admittedly I have not been to many funerals in my lifetime, though they are appearing to come more frequently lately, but the fact is that funerals are held daily throughout the world and as such this is a pertinent question to someone just about every day.   I’ve been to the funeral where the person lived a fairly routine life, taking care of their families and other responsibilities as best they could, paying taxes and doing the average things that we as human beings do on a consistent basis. They however had no visible relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ. When this person dies, the surviving family members are oftentimes left scrambling trying to find a person and a place to officiate the funeral services – generally because the deceased did not have a regular church that they attended. Funeral homes sometimes ...

In my reading this morning I happen to come across an article called "Breeding for God" . It makes a case for the inevitable demise of secular (non-religious) societies but incorrectly uses among other reasons, the rise of Muslim and other so-called religious populations and their devote religiosity for part of the reason of such demise. To be certain, there is no mention in the Bible of the tenets of the Muslim religion as being a part of the spreading of God’s teaching. This is simply one of many errors in this article. However, the article is absolutely correct in forecasting the demise of the secular societies of Western Europe (as well as those elsewhere in the world), due among many things to simple population redistribution. For one thing, secular societies directly or indirectly promote behavior that suppresses population growth. Abortions do not increase populations - it suppresses them. Gay lifestyles do not produce children - it tangibly reduces the opportunity fo...

Below is the Bible's answer to those who accuse God of being an angry kind of God that sends people  to Hell. He in fact begs people to change their ways before punishment befalls them. Change your hearts He pleads. Change your hearts. Joel 2:13 NLT Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead." Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.

Scripture:   It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”   Since we have that same spirit of   faith, we also believe and therefore speak.. . (2 Corinthians 4:13 NIV) I was communicating recently with someone who represented themselves as a Christian, but who stated they were very "uncomfortable" with sharing their faith  publicly. This is a very common mindset but one that does not line up with anything that I have found in biblical scripture. I include the scripture above as an encouragement to those who may be feeling this way.  The world and Satan the "unseen" god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) want nothing more than for people to "keep their religion private". If you are a Christian, don't fall or remain in this trap. Read all of 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 for encouragement!

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. – 2 Peter 3:10 (NIV) Oftentimes the Lord suggests in scripture that people condemn themselves with their own words. Many in this world seem to be pre-occupied and alarmed by what they call “Global Warming”. With each passing day, the earth (and many of it’s inhabitants) are indeed moving closer to the scripture prophecy above. The earth is getting warmer indeed.

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Romans 2:13 NIV) I hear all the time how much America is a "Christian nation". I see how people perform in church on Sunday mornings...shaking hands, lifting "holy hands" etc.; then I see how people behave during the rest of the week...no eye contact or even acknowledgement when we walk past each other in the grocery stores or perhaps jointly pump gas at the gas station. No "hello how are you" before declaring  our custom order at Starbucks. No "thank you" to the over stressed cashier after finishing our order at Starbucks. Lamenting how much we "need a drink" while dealing with a difficult circumstance at work. No desire to participate in a corporate prayer meeting during "off-peak hours" (i.e. non Sundays) at church. Not giving thanks in a restaurant before eating the food that God ...

You may have seen this before...but if you haven't, just enjoy. Look at what true worship to Jesus does to people!

The lottery fever comes around a few times a year when the nation’s Powerball lottery swells into the hundreds of millions of dollars. This was the case previously when a group of eight ‘ordinary’ people who worked for the same company in Nebraska won $365 million dollars by selecting the winning lottery numbers. Each person in the group ended up with approximately $15 million dollars each. This is generally the dream of the millions of people who buy lottery tickets each week. The chance to instantly become millionaires with all the ‘benefits’ that it supposedly brings. To be certain, there are many who don’t play the lottery “religiously” (a curiously common term used here purposefully), but who can’t resist the lure of the big jackpot. Most of these probably invest a relatively small sum, proportion to their income (say less than $20), for the chance at millions. Others however are probably a lot more liberal in their pursuit investing hundreds or thousands of dollars each year. ...

All living people likely fall into one of the three groups listed below:           People who are hostile to God           People who are ambivalent to God           People who love God All three know God exists but express that knowledge in profoundly different ways: People who are hostile to God This first group typically display hostility to God because they don't like what He represents - an all powerful force who will not allow them to live as they please - therefore the hostility. Their lie is public expression of a lack of belief in Him or His sovereign nature. Otherwise their hostility to God is paradoxical. Why be hostile to something that does not exist? If you sit next to one during extreme turbulence on an airplane, you'll understand why I call their lack of belief a lie. They fear dying and in most cases refuse to deal with this subject unless it cannot be avoided i.e. t...

For those of us Christians who are bewildered at the result of the US elections, keep in mind the following scripture which I believe is very applicable to the United States at this time: "...mene, mene, tekel, parsin..."  which is translated by the prophet Daniel as "weighed, weighed, wanting, divided" (Daniel 5:25-26) This was a warning to the nation of Babylon on the eve of their destruction. As for us Christians, here has always been God's warning to all of us: "...if my people , who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Psalm 14:1 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile...

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:44 NIV) In reflecting on my experience when I do door to door evangelism, it’s one thing when someone answers the door and listens to you even so briefly and then declines. However, I sometimes think about those who answer the door and who immediately decline when I identify myself as an evangelist. To put it in very secular terms: there I am standing at the door ready to offer them something that is worth far more than the richest winning lottery ticket in history, and when I identify myself with the ticket visually in hand (the Bible), they respond, “I’m not interested”. I always say “…no problem” and “thank you very much” and then I move on. The words spoken in red above was by Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself. Can you imagine the reaction of those who reject the message of Christ or the opportunity to h...

It was with sadness that I read about the death of famed atheist Christopher Hitchens who died after a battle with cancer on Thursday December 15 th . As a Christian and a very flawed one at that, my “natural” instinct was to muse about how Mr. Hitchens is now face to face with the test of his theory of atheism. However I find myself praying for him and what he actually did with his waning days than anything else. Not many people are given an opportunity by God to basically know for some time that they are about to die before the actual moment of death. For most, death comes unexpectedly i.e. accidents, violence etc. rather than via protracted illness the latter stages of which are spent in Hospice care. According to the Bible, for those who die with minimal or little warning, a life lived apart from accepting salvation through Christ is followed in rapid fashion by death and then judgment from God on that life: …as man is destined to die once, and after that to face...