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 ...

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.

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

"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...

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth 
and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 
Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. (Isaiah 29:13 NIV) This scripture from the "ancient" book of Isaiah was written at that time about "God's people" - the Jews. Though they professed love and obedience to God, this scripture clearly says otherwise! Oh they obviously went through with the outward appearance of religion. "…honor me with their lips", but the Lord knows who are his (2 Timothy 2:19 NIV). Before us religious people of today read this and shake our heads at those hypocritical Jews of yesteryear, we should pause and examine our own behavior. It is not uncommon for Protestants (a label that likely would be applied to me) to turn up our noses at say the Catholics or other religions whose expression of worship appear to be built largely on "merely human rules they have be...

(Isaiah 8:19-22 NLT): Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

(Habakuk 2:2 TLB): And the Lord said to me, "Write my answer on a Billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others..." (Psalm 107:2 NLT): Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.

Recently my wife and I were discussing the issue of people's perpetual search for happiness. Here in the western world, from the time we are small we are constantly bombarded with so-called enablers to happiness: toys, clothes, a beautiful mate, money, cars, houses, vacations, status etc. The result is oftentimes the perpetual pursuit of one or more of these "tangible" rewards towards our satisfaction. Sound familiar? The all too common result however is that the achievement of one or more of these and other goals or pursuits never really brings the so-called happiness that one is often seeking. Oh it may be satisfying for a time, but the pursuit usually picks up again for the next accomplishment towards that elusive happiness goal. The parallel universe of this happiness axiom also is the failure to achieve your pursuit. Also perhaps the loss of the pursuit. The loss of a mate (married or not); the job loss; the reduction in earning power etc. These outcomes oftenti...

My wife and I were having a conversation this morning over the subject of sinful strongholds in the lives of men and women. We discussed how though there are similarities in these strongholds among the sexes, but more often than not, those strongholds will tend to differ based on gender. One such stronghold that we discussed was that of men's lusting, such as the desire even compulsion of men to stare at women's body parts, in person, on TV, on the Internet or in Magazines. To be sure, this is indeed a sinful stronghold among many men and some women, but one thing to understand is that it likely does not occur by itself. I have often thought about this topic, as I like many men have dealt with this stronghold myself over the years. I think about what I consider to be one of the major themes of the Bible's Old Testament...that being the Holiness of our God and the holiness to which He calls us as Christians. The beauty of the Bible is that God never leaves us having to w...

For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the LORD,” he says, “and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18 NLT) I wanted to post the above scripture because it is a simple and direct rebuke from God of those who hold to the belief that the world was not created by an “intelligent designer” (man’s phrase not mine). Our esteemed schools insist on vehement denouncement of anyone who would dare to suggest that creationism be taught because there is no "proof". The sun hanging above their heads everyday providing light so all can see apparently is not enough "proof". I for one have taught my children that God is the creator and sustainer of all life…period. The above scripture is plain speaking and unambiguous. If one wishes to argue this point, they will not be arguing with me but the God of all creation. The God who created them. The God who allows them to w...

An interesting area of concern raised by this so-called Healthcare Bill being promoted by President Obama and Liberals throughout the country is that of the elderly and the not so hidden reality that the bill will likely lead to the rationing and ultimately withholding of medical treatment from the elderly because in reality it is not “cost effective” to continue extending their lives. Picture an 80-something grandmother who requires more chemotherapy or Alzheimer’s treatments or additional MRIs to try and diagnose her persistent fainting spells. To the liberals (translation: ungodly) proponents of the so-called healthcare bill, it is impractical to spend “scarce resources” on this life that is going to end shortly anyway. Sure it sounds insidious, but think about it: it is no different than the already raging reality of ending the life of the child unborn, because it will be impractical to spend “money or emotional energy we don’t have” to raise it to adulthood. Make no mistake about ...

The doorbell rang at my home yesterday morning to a not uncommon visit from two members of the Jehovah Witness Church. This is I’m sure a common occurrence for many readers, as I can remember my home receiving similar visits from the time I was a child. Over the past several years, I have made it a point to use these visits as an opportunity for me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Jehovah Witnesses which is usually the opposite intent of their visit to my home. I don’t pretend to know a whole lot about the beliefs and tenets of this Church, and I certainly don’t consider myself any more of a saved sinner than they may be. As it happened on this occasion, after welcoming the couple (a middle aged man and woman…about 10-20 years my senior), I immediately identified myself as a Christian. My initial point to them was that I was a believer in the entire gospel of Jesus Christ, and though we may have some doctrinal differences, if they too believed and accepted that Jesus Chri...

With the question of governmental funding of stem cell reasearch the specter of support for this program casts a spotlight on an issue that forces people, Republican and Democrat to display their true feelings on the "value of life". The abortion issue is somewhat easier for people to take one side or another, particularly if you have never been touched by it personally. This post however takes issue with those who scream "protect the unborn" on the issue of abortion, but who also says that stem-cell research is OK because of the "hope that it gives to save millions of lives". The sanctity of the unborn’s life seems awfully relative in this position. It seems that for these stem-cell supporters, the unborn who can "help save the born" are discardable. The paradox of former President Bush's position was that he took a supposedly "moral stand" by refusing to use federal money to fund stem-cell research, but appeared publicly ambivalen...

The passengers on the miracle crash landing of US Airways Flight# 1549 that landed in New York’s Hudson River recently evidently experienced a phenomenon that I’m sure many Christian air travelers have thought about once or twice. The high likelihood that when faced with imminent death, many people will involuntarily lose their veneer of independence from God, and call on His name for…salvation, mercy, miracles, repentance or all of the above. To be certain, many of the people who were on this US Airways flight recalled the praying that took place on that brief flight prior to impact with the river. This was captured by a passenger in this CNN.com news story below: After he (the pilot) told us prepare for impact, it was pretty evident we were not going to make the runway." At first, it felt like the plane was gliding, Berretta said, as if no engines were working."People started praying, and there was a lot of silence, and the realization that we were going in was really hard ...

I must state up front that I am not a believer in the Global Warming hysteria. Honestly, I don’t believe in Global Warming primarily because of the make-up of the crowd who do. I am not a scientist, so I have no idea whether or not the earth is truly warming beyond dangerous levels caused by “human activity”. There is however an irony at work in the global warming headlines that I know points to a truth that most of the global warming worshippers WILL miss. With so called global warming, the effects of the sun is coming closer to us and will eventually cause the demise of many IF we don’t change our behavior; IF we don’t stop polluting our world with our filth. This may or may not be true. However this much I know is certain: the effects of the Son (Jesus the Christ) is coming closer to us and will eventually cause the demise of many IF we don’t change our behavior; IF we don’t repent (individually) for polluting the world with our filthy behavior and acknowledge the Son who’s ret...

The Book of Revelation covers some incredible scenes of horror and bloodshed. So much so that it scares many people into not reading it. “It’s too scary…” someone once said to me as to why they had not read it. The fact that it is a prophetic book about future events for this world should be the scary thing for many of us. One particular event that is incredibly horrific is the account of one of Christ’s judgment that is subtitled by many Bibles under the heading “The Earth Is Harvested”. I looked and saw a bright cloud, and someone who seemed to be the Son of Man was sitting on the cloud. He wore a gold crown on his head and held a sharp sickle in his hand. An angel came out of the temple and shouted, "Start cutting with your sickle! Harvest season is here, and all crops on earth are ripe." The one on the cloud swung his sickle and harvested the crops. Another angel with a sharp sickle then came out of the temple in heaven. After this, an angel with power over fire came from...