Recently I was asked if I thought a person who smokes would go to heaven. My first question to this person was, of course “Has this person come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?” If the answer is yes, then without a doubt that person will be with Christ throughout eternity. Unfortunately, for some Christians, this “saving faith” is not enough. Some subscribe to the theory that if a person does “certain” things that are deemed serious sins, then they cannot be saved and can’t know Christ.

Personally, I don’t smoke. I don’t like the smell or the bad health that it creates in the smoker and those around them. I think it is a bad habit and has potential to cause one great physical harm. That being said, a person can be a Christian and a smoker. Let us remember that our salvation is not based on anything we have accomplished or any goodness on our part. Ephesians 2:8 says “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” We don’t clean ourselves up and then become acceptable to God. We accept His free gift and become covered by His blood.

Unfortunately, for many Christians, this is not enough! We must add to salvation do’s and don’ts and all kinds of rules. We judge others who don’t follow our prescription for being a Christian (besides the biblical prescription). Is smoking a sin? I would have to say yes. Is overeating a sin? Yep! What about gossip? Most definitely. Christians do the latter two without much thought but if a brother or sister is seen smoking then we start to question their salvation. When we head down this path we become legalistic, creating rules to follow. But the truth is that we all sin, even as Christians. Isn’t this why Jesus came?  So He could be our High Priest? The only requirement for salvation is to accept the free gift of salvation, through God’s grace. Smoking is not good for you, but will not keep you out of heaven!!

To most, the above statement would appear to be an oxymoron! There was a time when Christians did consider them selves “Saved” or “Redeemed”! But in today’s culture we have watered down the understanding of what it means to be a Christian to denote someone who is only remotely associated with some aspect of His teachings. A growing number of our churches do not even preach the gospel any more. But in my opinion, the worse of all possible scenarios is this: Even in churches where the gospel and salvation might be mentioned, many reject the message altogether by deed and lifestyle.

This group of individuals, people who go to church every week and name the name of Christ, but who demonstrate no evidence, or fruits of salvation, is my chief concern. I have run into people like this on an ever increasing basis! They are quick to say “I an blessed” or “I am highly favored” but in the same conversation you will hear self centeredness, a lack of compassion, an indifference to the Word of God, a dislike of doctrine and a disdain for other people.. If you ask people how are they serving Christ, they will tell you :I go to church regularly” or “I sing on the choir” or “I tithe regularly” All nice things but not exactly what Christ had in mind when he said “Be witnessed of me” and that we should “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow me”. Perhaps you are thinking that I am being to judgmental and critical? Perhaps, but let’s look at what the scriptures say about it:

2Timothy 3:1-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, (4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— (5) having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Luke 6:43-46 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. (44) Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. (45) The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (46) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

The problem is that we have gone away from preaching the true Gospel and have preached everything else in its stead. We have preached positive confession, word of faith, name it and claim it. We have preached social justice, works based righteousness, the law (but without grace). We have preached external cleanness but not inward renewal by Christ. The end result is that like the culture, the whole world revolves around our own needs and the only way we can measure our success as Christians is by how blessed we are materially or socially. There is no sense of urgency in spreading the Word, no forgiveness or compassion for anyone, no evidence of the fruits of the Spirit. How many times have you heard church folk say something like “I don’t curse, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, etc” as if that is some proof of true Christianity! Instead they should be saying “I believe in Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins”

This is a big problem to me and one that we should take to heart by examining our own hearts and then take an objective look at our churches and making a conscious effort to bring people back to the true Gospel of Grace as preached by Christ and his Apostles. Salvation and the Gospel need to be preached in our churches again so that people who go to church can be saved and redeemed!

I’d like to hear your views on this topic..

This post is more of an open ended question to all our readers. I would like to hear from everyone regarding it!

In reading, teaching, preaching and conversing, I cannot tell you how many times I heard the phrase “The letter kills but the spirit gives life.” It’s actually taken from 2 Corinthians 3:6. Please read it when you the chance!

I’d like to hear what YOU think this means and if YOU have either heard this said in the context of someone preaching or teaching and/or if you have actually said this yourself! Thanks in advance for your participation!

Although this is a tough subject, I think we need to address it! Many of us are in or have been a part of a Charismatic or Pentecostal church. At the very least we have visited or know someone that does attend a church belonging to one of these two movements. Now let me first say that I believe most of these to be people who genuinely love the Lord and are committed to Him in deep and significant ways. I can never judge a person’s relationship with Christ, nor would I want to. I believe that in every major Christian denomination, there are those who are genuinely saved and those who are not. Within Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Anglican, Pentecostal, Reformed circles and even Catholic, there are true believers and non believers. We are children of God not because of our denomination, but because of our faith in Christ alone through His grace. What this means is that God’s Word and His Spirit can reach anyone in any situation. What this doesn’t mean, however, is that certain practices of these various denominations are not to be critiqued, examined and exposed by God’s Word!

My major concern with many of these churches is that they rely too heavily on the emotions and the manifestations of the spirit, like tongues, healings and prophetic utterances rather that the Word of God! The Word of God is the objective standard from which all of our doctrines and practices should derive. What happens when we rely on experiences is that we become very lax about the Word because we feel that God is providing “fresh” revelation and knowledge to us individually. But experiences  and emotions are always subjective, meaning my experience will be different than yours and there is no way for me reject your experience without also rejecting mine. The Word of God, however, is the measure and judge of every situation and if our experience does not match up with the revealed, written Word, then we know that the experience is not of God. I can’t tell you how many people have told me that doctrine is not important or that “the letter kills”. What they are saying is that the supposed supernatural experiences supersede the actual Word of God. Nothing could be further from the truth!

The bible has something to say about how we should conduct our lives as Christians! It also has something to say about what we should teach and how we should conduct ourselves in church.  As I list the individual practices in the next few posts, I will go through these scriptures in detail. But there are two scriptures I will leave with you is

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

 2 Timothy tells us that the bible comes from God and it is His revealed truth to us. It’s as if God was speaking directly to us! We can trust it because its author is the God of the universe and there is no greater authority than that. Hebrews tell us that God’s Word is not dead, but that it cuts to the chase, is living and goes straight to our hearts and minds.

I am curious to hear your thoughts and perspectives on this. Think about your experiences in church! Are your services driven by experiences and emotions or by the doctrine and the Word?

I recently viewed a video on Facebook where a woman was critiquing the statement that ‘All men are dogs”. In the short clip she was saying that women often want something or someone they are not yet ready for. I give alot of credence to what she is saying, and to her credit she did mention an aspect of spirituality (prayer) that is relevant. However, I would like to expand on that a little more! I think our spiritual condition is a good indicator of where we are at in our relationships!  

I am speaking from the Christian perspective and will show you what I mean by listing two contrasting statements:

Our culture (media, entertainment, government, education) encourages us to be individualistic and to make sure we “get ours”. Christ tells us to give of what we have and to “esteem others more highly than ourselves”.

We judge and value others based on external things such as looks, wealth, material possessions, race, status and power. The bible tells us to assess a person’s character by things such as honesty, integrity, humbleness, meekness, spiritual fortitude, compassion and love…things which may not be apparent outwardly.

For the most part our culture has failed to understand and acknowledge God’s ways. We have become our own authority on all issues and left God out of everything. Even many of our mainline churches have left the scriptural and essential teachings of Christianity. Unless we can get that back, we are doomed to become more materialistic and self centered. We must get back to real faith, real Christianity and the real message of the Gospel if we are to have any hope of turning this around.  True spirituality is this:  That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified for all of our sins, rose again on the third day and as a result, we have a relationship with God thru Him. This is the basis of true spirituality and from this flows all the good traits and characteristics we need to emulate and expect from others.

I encourage comments, other points of view, conversations, etc..

Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi

Just this weekend ex football great Steve McNair was found dead, along with his alleged mistress Sahel Kazemi. We do not yet know for sure if it was a murder suicide but it’s pretty safe to say they were having an affair. Christians believe that such affairs go against how God would have us to live, but they happen all the time, even among Christians. Is no one reading the bible or are we just overcome with our own passions and desires?

How then should we react to these kinds of stories? We know that it’s wrong but what can we do about it? is it just a sign of the times we live in? is it the culture that basically says it’s ok to cheat on a spouce or at the very least it’s expected? Who or what is to blame? South Carolina Govenor Mark Sanford recently confessed to his own affair with a woman from Argentina.  Jon and kate from reality T.V. fame are splitting apparently because of an affair! What’s going on? How many affairs are going on with just regular, everyday people? Are these affairs killing us morally or are they just signs of something else going wrong in our society?

His talent and musical ability are well known and applauded, but most of us realize that Michael Jackson was also a troubled individual. I was also shocked when I heard of his passing on June 25th, 2009. The news media coverage of it is extensive and even if I didn’t want to know all the unpleasant details of his life and death, they are being spoon fed to us in every conceivable way.

Michael Jackson

But his death also made me contemplate my own mortality and also the fact that none of us know when “our time” will be. We Christians believe that after we die, we either go into the presence of the Lord to await the resurrection to live forever or we wait for the great and eternal judgment of all those who do not believe (hell).

Still, many of us do not have a concept of our own frailness and we feel that we will be here forever (or at least a long and full life). But there is no guarantee of this. Accidents and disease happen, as well as natural disasters, calamities or just sudden death.

That being said, what are your feelings on death and did the event of MJ’s passing make you consider your own mortality? Also, what fears or uncertainties do you have concerning death and the afterlife? We’d like to hear your thoughts!

First off, let me say I respect David Wilkerson as a true minister of the Gospel. He is the Pastor and Founder of the great Times Square Church in New York City. He is the renowned author of the Cross and the Switchblade. He is a great Preacher! He recently released at statement about an impending catastrophe that will hit the Greater New York City area and subsequently affect the world! 

Now let’s look at the prophecy! I think we, as mature believers in Christ, are given some answers in the bible as to how we should respond.

In I Thessalonians 5:20-21 it says

.. do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. (NIV)

And my personal favorite, Acts 17:11

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (NIV).

We have the God’s Word, and instructions from the apostle Paul as to how to handle prophecies and the words we hear from preachers. We are to test them to see if they line up with the written Word, which God has provided to us through the bible. 2 Timothy 2;15 says “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Now we do know that God’s wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness and against those who hate God in word and deed. So we want to look at the scriptures Pastor Wilkerson has given us and make sure how they are used is in the right context. (Psalms 11, Jeremiah 18). Then we want to look at the other things he said and determine if they correctly flow from his use of the verses (i.e. buying 30 days worth of groceries, etc). I will look into the scripture myself so if anyone is interested in my findings please email me and I will share them with you.

Psalms 11

This Psalms is a song of trust in the Lord. It is describing David’s trust in the Lord despite the flexing on the enemies muscle. Psalms 11:3  When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” where “foundations” mean the established law and order in a civil sense. Verses 4-7 are David’s response to the option to flee presented to him in verses 1-3. He is saying he trusts in the Lord, the God of heaven, to justly deal with his enemies, who because of their deeds are enemies of God as well.

Jeremiah 18

This chapter is a prophecy from the Lord to Jeremiah concerning His people Israel. The first few verses pertain to God as the potter, with the ability to mold and make as he pleases. Verse 7 and 8 say “ If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,  and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.” This, once again is in regards to the Jews, who were still under the law and the Old Testament. It is God explaining His mercy to His people if they turn and repent. Verse 11 is God proclaiming His right to execute judgment on His people if they do not turn. So in my opinion, this is God speaking to His people, not a reference to heathen countries (the United States? New York?)

With Pastor Wilkerson’s prophecy, and preceding statements, I very much wish that the message of the Gospel was there so as to give people a message of hope within the midst of the disaster.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Katrina and other disasters, I think it is always prudent for us, as the people of God, to have a watchful eye, be prayerful and be prepared to the best of our ability. I think it is a good idea for all of us to have extra food, some extra resources at our immediate disposal so as to not only help ourselves, but to help a neighbor or friend.

My only other concern was with the last statement, and I will quote it here “Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.” Perhaps I am taking wrong but it almost sounds like he is saying “I did my job and told you, now you do whatever you want with the info” What I would hope that might happen, is that he meet with some other respected Christian leaders and pray with them about it. We know that Proverbs says that “In a multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14 and 15:22). At the very least, a call to believers to watch and pray and to be encouraged in the Lord because He loves His people. I am concerned that people will do things out of fear, without thinking and praying.

So concluding I just want to say that it could be true so let us not despise his words but let us also, as believers “test all things” and pray that God would lead us in whatever way He sees fit.

We would like to think the democratic style of government we have here in the United States provides the necessary checks and balances that we need to correct any problem we face. This economic crises we are now in, and the steps our government is trying to take to rectify it is a good example. When I go to the doctor with an untimely illness or injury, the physician usually gives me a pretty good diagnosis,  based partly on my input, the reasons why I am in my predicament!        

Well, the U.S. economy is in a predicament that we may not be able to speedily fix. Is it just the economy, or is the real problem a more serious sickness? I think it is the latter. The sickness is called sin and it manifests itself like a cancer in all of our undertakings. More specifically, the economic woes can be attributed to greed, selfishness, deceit, lying and coveting. Those who have a lot of dough want more. Those who don’t have it, want it by any means necessary. For years we’ve made money on money, money on other people’s money, made money on other peoples future money, made money on other peoples perceived money. The result now is that it has bottomed out and now no one has money to even pretend (or lie) they can manipulate.

History tells us the no government, empire, civilization or philosophy has ever stood the test of time and endured. There’s a long list to support me: the Romans, the Persians, the Egyptian, the Ottomans and the Greeks, just to name a few.  Do you think the United States is any different? Unfortunately, I would say history is on my side. You might call me a preacher of doom and gloom, but I’m just trying to get you to understand that any man made system is ultimately doomed to failure. Sometimes we need to hear the diagnosis from the doctor before we can do things to temporarily alleviate the problem. Only Christ’s kingdom will last forever!

I am not saying that this is the curtain call for America. I am not saying that this economic crisis will spell the ultimate doom of the U.S. (although it might). What I am saying is that we need to be mindful of the times and learn from history. We need to go back to God’s Word and understand what is everyone’s role in helping us recover from this mess. A mess that we all have a hand in and hopefully one in which we can all participate in fixing.

.. 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

President Elect Barack Obama and Pastor Rick Warren

Seems like Barack Obama and Rick Warren will forever be linked for two reason now! First the presidential debate which Warren hosted and moderated between Barack Obama and John McCain, and now Warren will perform the swearing of the President elect on inauguration day.

However, it appears that not everyone is happy with the choice of Warren. Gay rights activists have expressed their dissatisfaction for the choice, and I quote: “By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans have a place at your table.” (Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign). Other gay rights groups have expressed similar displeasure. If you extend their reasoning to it’s logical conclusion then they are saying that they would not approve of and true Christian or evangelical minister performing the swearing in! Why? Because they would all have views similar to Rick Warren that homosexuality is not supported or encouraged by the Bible and is actually spoken against many places in Scripture.

These Gay Activist groups try to make an association between human rights and the rights of organizations like the church to speak out against the lifestyle. They are two very different things. No one questions the civil rights of gay people. As citizens of our country they have all the freedoms and constitutional rights afforded to us all. This includes the right to free speech, to participate in the political process, to protest, etc, etc. So just because a Christian Pastor in performing the swearing in for the President, doesn’t mean that a gay person’s civil rights are being violated. It just means that a person with a different point of view is performing a function that in my opinion, honors God because at least for one moment during the ceremony, He will be honored.

Just because I don’t personally agree with the gay lifestyle doesn’t mean that I don’t love, respect and interact with people who are gay. As such, they should respect my views and the predisposition of many people to view things in a traditional, biblical manner. In my opinion, the Bible cannot be both for and against homosexuality, any more than it can be both for and against murder, adultery or lying. What do you think?