Posts from the ‘eternal life’ Category

Watch “The Glory of the Crucified King by Dr. Maher Samuel” Easter

The Gospel Story In Arabic with subtitles – A truly inspired sermon.

Many people in the world struggle with the idea that God would become a man.

God loved his creation so much that He became one of us so he could save us from ourselves when we were separated from Him as a result of sin.

At Easter we celebrate God’s great love when He became a man, lived a perfect life, and became the perfect spotless Lamb of God who let himself be sacrificed to pay the price for our sin when He died on the cross.

When He rose again on the third day He demonstrated that He defeated death.

An almost equal amount of people in the world struggle with the idea that someone who is all-powerful could be treated so terribly and still be all-powerful.

We don’t recognize the ultimate power and majesty of Jesus Christ when it is manifested as humility and sacrifice.

God is perfect. To dwell with perfection we also must be perfect in our past, present, and future.

So only a perfect replacement for imperfect righteousness would work for us, and only God is perfect.

And God Came Down as the Man Jesus Christ to personally save us Himself.

He lived as one of us.

Dr. Samuel preaches in Arabic with English subtitles and brilliantly shows how God as Jesus was in control through the Betrayal and His trials and the crucifixion.

“No man takes my life but I lay it down freely” said Jesus (The Gospel of John 10:18)

Unlike anything found in human nature Jesus alone showed us ultimate strength present in ultimate humility for our salvation sake through the entire events of his trials suffering and death.

Perhaps strength through humility is not easy for us to recognize because it is so unfamiliar to humanity overall?

Pride, power, and forced compliance are more familiar to us.

But God through Jesus conquers hearts and minds by demonstrating supreme love for us.

Dr. Samuel also points out how Pontius Pilate and Pilot’s wife both testified that Jesus was a just man, thus fulfilling scripture of the Lamb of God without spot or blemish to take away the sin of the world.

Jesus Christ was even sovereign over death and rose from the grave on the third day.

He is the author of life and gives life to all who believe and place their hope and faith in Him for salvation from eternal judgement.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ did for you what you are incapable of doing for yourself?

The Gospel of John 1:

11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

This Is Who Jesus Christ Is to Me – An Easter Reflection for All Year

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What is it like to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? 

I’m not talking about merely knowing a lot facts about Jesus.

The point of this article is WHO Jesus is to Me, not merely what.

The HOW of Jesus is the Gospel story, but the WHO is the untold reward.

Greater than the gift is the love that gave the gift, but the Giver is greater still.

You can know Jesus, and He abides IN the hearts of all who put their trust in Him.

I will fail to tell all that Jesus is.

But I will make an attempt to share ,as best I can, just who Jesus is to me.

———————-

Jesus Christ is my best thought, my most cherished possession, He is God and man, Savior and Creator, and to know Him more is my greatest ambition.

Oh the height, depth, and breadth of all that Jesus is!

He is the only way , the only truth, the meaning and purpose of life, and the only hope for eternity.

He is the author of the language of the information of life we call DNA, and the undesigned-Designer, eternal and ever-existing, who orchestrated the fine-tuned Big Bang so that our universe could sustain life.

He is the wonder in nature and science, each reflecting His infinite beauty, order, and intelligibility.

His courage to face a grievous death and torture was driven by a boundless love for everyone.
He endured rejection so we could be accepted.

He has borne our shame and by His stripes we are healed.

He died so we could live.

He defeated death for us and rose from the grave victorious.

He hears our most distant thoughts and our most earnest prayers.

He longs for us to know and love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength and all that is in us.

Christ’s love is stronger than sin and death, and mightier than any bonds known to ensnare the hearts and minds of mankind.

Only Christ’s Spirit and love can evoke love so strong in the hearts of sinners that it burns away all other passions.

Jesus is hope when all else is hopeless.  He is love when all around us is hate.  He is the reason to live when faith in all else is gone.

Nothing can drive Him away from any who truly trust Him.
He will never leave us or forsake us.

No desire, temptation, or affection can compare to knowing Christ; and anyone who truly knows Him would never choose to leave His presence – for nothing else compares to knowing Jesus Christ who is God and who is Love.

Though I walk through the Valley Of The Shadow Of Death I will fear no evil, for He is with me.

He so loved us that He came down from His glorious throne and became one of us.
He left majesty to live in humility.

 He humbly worked as one of us with the same hands that formed the universe,

all to save us, even before we knew Him.

He is all powerful, yet for the joy before Him, He endured death on a cross for those who loved Him and those who hated Him.

After three days He opened the tomb they laid Him in and rose from death.
Even now He opens His arms to beckon to all who labor and are heavy laden to give us life and rest.

My heart is bound and accountable to Christ’s heart who gave His blood to cleanse my soul of sin.

Duty as motivation is not worthy of comparison to the intimate resolve to love Christ.
Christ’s love, when realized, goes beyond motivation, discipline, and dedication.

Christ’s love is limitless and the one who knows such love is confident in trials and courageous in tribulation.

The human mind may seek in vain to grasp the full scope of God’s love, but we should continually endeavor to do so.

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and everything in between.

His promises are sure and are anchored in His great love, which He publicly demonstrated on the cross for you and me.

And, believe me, when I say this; words can’t even begin to express to others this inexpressible love Christ is in the hearts of those who know Him.

Jesus is the Most Sacred Flame, the Light of the World, inextinguishable and inexhaustible, burning in the hearts of all who trust Him as Savior.

The totality of who Jesus is to all who know Him cannot be fully expressed because He transcends measure, time, and space.

He alone is worthy of our eternal praise.

 

The Cosmos Within – The Greatest Scientific Discovery of All Time – A Highly Sophisticated Language Is at the Core of All Living Creatures

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Compare this digital rendering of Human DNA with the stained glass window below it. DNA is magnificently ordered. Information with order is proof of intelligent origin.

The book of Genesis in the Bible records that God spoke all things into existence. God spoke and it was. DNA is an echo of what God said.

The question of origin is one of the biggest questions in life.

The answer to the source of life, our origin, could help answer the other big questions of, meaning, morality, and destiny.

The problem is that ideas and theories formed before the discovery of DNA.

And the facts about DNA unfolded little by little over decades, almost completely without being noticed for the deepest meaning of DNA.

Darwin formed his theory of Evolution long before DNA was even discovered, and even longer before we would discover the complexity of DNA.

DNA is not a complexity that is born out of randomness, but it is a complexity that is highly sophisticated and ordered.

In fact, the complexity of DNA transcends the realm of science and ushers us into the realm of the miraculous. Scientists agree despite themselves.

Sir Francis Crick for instance, who took credit for discovering the incredibly ordered appearance of the Double Helix form of DNA,
believed aliens must have brought DNA to Earth.

But in time we would learn that even Crick’s theory of alien supreme beings sending life on our planet only moves the question of a intelligent engineer / creator back one step without answering the question at all.

We are left to then ask, who was the supreme being who engineered and created the aliens ?

Later Crick would partially concede by calling the presence of life as we know it, Almost a miracle.

The issue here is that the universe is not old enough for random chance to assemble our level of complexity, and the same is then true for all life in the universe, such as alien life forms.

Mathematicians cannot find evidence to support Darwin’s theory of Evolution. On the contrary. When they calculated the odds of time plus matter plus chance arriving at complex human protein formation, they discovered the odds of Darwin’s theory are,”beyond ridiculous”. Even with 13 billion years since the Big Bang, our human proteins could not have formed by chance.

But we have understood far more about human proteins than we understand about our DNA language, which appears far more complex than proteins. Yes, DNA is a language. Remember that God spoke all things into existence?

One recent discovery, for example, is that geneticists recently found another layer of DNA that was previously “hidden” , it works in harmony with the previously known DNA.

And before that, scientists discovered that DNA that was labeled as unnecessary or “junk DNA” , is in fact absolutely necessary and serves functions we could not have previously envisioned.

It took years to map Human DNA, but mapping DNA is not understanding DNA. Scientists who know DNA best say that understanding the DNA language will keep them busy for the next 100 years.

Even if the universe was several times older than 13 billion years, the complexity of DNA could not have formed by random chance.

To put it in contrast, we are told that the universe has 10 to the 85th power total atoms. That’s the number ten followed by 85 zeros. A big number for sure.

Now picture a number 471 times bigger than that. That is the odds that life came into being by Darwinian random chance. It really is beyond ridiculous. That is 10 to the 40,000th power against Darwinian theory.
Even if the the presence of carbon in the universe halved that number, as some proposed, it would still be beyond ridiculous to believe Darwin.

Each strand of DNA contains 3.1 Billion bits of highly ordered information. The recently discovered additional layer of hidden DNA will no doubt increase that number above the 3.1 Billion bits of information. Our universe is 13 billion years old. You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to see evolutionary random chance simply could not have the time to assemble our DNA.

Even Hawking can’t understand the complexity of why the universe goes to,“all the bother of existing”.

Apparently Hawking discovered that in the properties of the laws of physics, the big bang had to be precise withing 1 Quintillionth of a second or the universe would have immediately re-collapsed on itself.

This was only one of some 31 contingent events that all had to happen with such exact properties and in precise correlation to each of the other that it would take more faith to believe the Big Bang happened by mere random chance than it would to believe the Big Bang was carefully orchestrated by God.

Hawking confidently stated that the universe didn’t need God?

Why does the scientific society cling to old scientific theories that have been proven false by newer scientific fact ?

That question is an even tougher one to answer.
What we now know about DNA means that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe that God is our Creator.

As time goes on and scientific gains are made in all areas of proven scientific fact, all facts increasingly support the miraculous and Biblical account of God as Author and Creator.

Science really is discovering how God did it.

God spoke, and it was, and at the core of life DNA echoes what God said. Information with order equals intelligence. The all knowing intelligence of God.

Consider this. God made us for a relationship with Him. And God has gone to even greater lengths to make a way for us back to Him.

As it is written in God’s word about Jesus in the Bible.

“giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
(Colossians 1:12-16)

Inseparable, Unchangeable, Irrevocable – The Magnificent Love Jesus Christ Has for Us

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Do you know Christ has always loved you?

His love is the most powerful force in the universe.

He loved us so much that He came to us to pay for our sins on the cross.

He loved us so much that He defeated death for us by dying and then coming back to life.

Now Christ gives life to all who choose to receive His love.

Simply ask Him.

He is listening now.

The following passage is from the Bible, God’s Holy Word.

“What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can  be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long;

“We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers,

nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth,

nor any other created thing,

shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Rom 8:31-32 ) ( Rom 8:35-39 )

Watch “The Cross – Billy Graham’s Message To America”

Witness the power and reality of a man who knows Christ to such a degree that he became God’s prophet to the nations of the world.

Millions have come to know Christ through the ministry of the Reverend Billy Graham.

Watch this video and see how God has used and is still using Billy Graham as His instrument to bring life through Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

” For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Christ is the Gospel – He Must Be Our Constant Theme

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By C.H.Spurgeon

“Beloved, because Jesus is the sum of the gospel he must be our constant theme.

“God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

So spake men of old, and so say we. 

When we have done preaching Christ we had better have done preaching; when you have done teaching in your classes Jesus Christ himself, give up Sunday school work, for nothing else is worthy of your pains.

Put out the sun, and light is gone, life is gone, all is gone.

When Jesus is pushed into the background or left out of a minister’s teaching, the darkness is darkness that might be felt, and the people escape from it into gospel light as soon as they can.

A sermon without Jesus in it is savourless, and worthless to God’s tried saints, and they soon seek other food.

The more of Christ in our testimony the more of light and life and power to save.”

Biblical Content in the Context of Biblical Emphasis is Our Biblical Imperative

Christ's Resurection from Death

Most of what Christians communicate has Biblical content. Subjects like predestination, grace,love,unity, God’s sovereignty are all typical examples of Biblical Content.

But any time we communicate Biblical Content but neglect Biblical Emphasis, we violate Biblical imperative.

What is Biblical Imperative?

“That in all things, Christ might be preeminent.”

“I am determined to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified.”

To put it another way,

Jesus said,”I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.”

The entirety of Christianity begins with the redemption of mankind.
Jesus is the only way to the Father, He is the only truth that leads us to the Father, He is the only life we can obtain with the Father, for we are all already dead in trespasses and sins.

Even discipleship means nothing without Christ.

“I am the Vine and you are the branches, without Me you can do nothing.”

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Preacher.
What could you possibly have to say that would have more meaning or relevance aside from Jesus Christ ?

God’s Love is Unconditional but A Relationship with God is Conditional – All Close Relationships Come With Conditions

jesusandalostlamb

We are saved by Grace. We know this as God’s unconditional  and unmerited love.

Some very wise people question, “How can God’s love be unconditional if I will be sent to Hell for all eternity if I reject Christ as my Savior.”

The answer is found in the realization of understanding the difference between God’s unconditional love to us,

(God so loved the World)

Christ’s having satisfied those conditions for us,

(That He gave His only  Son)

and our having met the only condition for the restoration of a relationship with God.

(that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.)

 “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)

God personally settled the condition for us to be restored to a relationship to Him.

He took responsibility for our debt on Himself.

All He asks is that we freely receive His offer.

He will also allow us to reject Him, 

But we must then accept responsibility for that decision

ourselves.

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The following link is to a half hour audio on this subject.

I gave it my own title because the audio actually covers a lot of theological ground , but covered this subject well here.

God’s Love is Unconditional but A Relationship with God is Conditional – All Close Relationships Come With Conditions.

“WHAT ANSWER FOR THE WICKED HUMAN HEART, PART 1 OF 2”

In this audio, the speaker reveals how he is often invited to speak with some of the world’s richest and most influential people.

On one occasion, the speaker was invited to go on a private yacht owned by a very wealthy man who had recently come to Christ through attending an event.

 Before the speaking event, this man told the speaker that he only came to fulfill a promise to his own wife that he would be there.

Ravi then told the man that having fulfilled his promise to be there, he could leave at any time while he is speaking if he chooses, and that would be okay.

Instead, the man accepted Christ as his Savior at the event.

This man then invited many of his own friends, and the speaker, to a private yacht cruise along the coast of Sicily.(perhaps in hope they would find new life in Christ as well).

This audio tells of a man on that cruise who also became a Christian when he finally understood true love and relationships all have conditions for them to exist.

Yacht

Yacht (Photo credit: WaterpoloSam)

The Reformers Missed The Supreme Sola – The Sixth Sola – Sola Christus Emphainein – Emphasize Christ Alone – Christ Centered

English: John Calvin Deutsch: Maße: 41 x 29,5 ...

English: John Calvin Deutsch: Maße: 41 x 29,5 cm, Johannes Calvin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” ~Jesus Christ speaking to the Pharisees~ John 5:39

Christ is due the supreme preeminence in everything befitting His supreme nature over everything.

This is what it means to be Christ Centered. To emphasize Christ Alone. Jesus is the center of our spiritual universe.

It is up to today’s reformers to have the courage to influence a more Christ-like Church as the reformers of 500 years ago.

But we will only become more Christ-like if we hear and are told about Christ.

Who is Christ?

Christ is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16)

He is Immanuel, meaning ,God with us. (Matthew 1:23)

The Five Solus came from the early reformers in response to doctrinal errors that had crept into the Catholic faith.

That is not the best way to define your doctrinal distinctions because you are limited to the perceived errors you are responding to and will likely miss something.

The early church fathers and reformers missed the need to state with absolute certainty that,”in all things Christ might have the preeminence.”

Did the reformers assume that everyone would know Christ was supreme and it need not be said?

I think a close examination of the Five Solas support that theory because they come close to making that statement.

But as they say,”good enough never is.”

The fact is that mankind is prone to selfish pride that wars against our humble Savior’s rightful place in our hearts.

Christ is our religion, it’s all about Him, yet many, maybe most sermons I hear fall short of giving Christ supreme preeminence .

A popular radio preacher, Dr.D.J. can preach about Grace for 20 minutes on the radio without mentioning Christ more than once or twice.

Does D.J. take it for granted we all know Christ brought Grace to mankind?

Or a ministry who primarily focuses on family instead of  Christ will talk about relationship issues without mentioning Christ.

Do they imply Christ is not the answer to all that ails mankind?

Do they just assume we all know that only Jesus can fix all that is wrong with society?

Practical advice should be part of the answer, but in Christianity, it should never be the preeminent answer.

Jesus saves, Jesus transforms and Jesus makes all things new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Here is a short summary of the Five Solus:

Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone
Sola Christus – Christ Alone
Sola Gratia – Grace Alone
Sola Fide – Faith Alone
Sola Deo Gloria – The Glory of God Alone

Each of the Five existing Solas depend on Christ.
Jesus is the Lliving Word of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Living Scriptura.
Christ is the one mediator between God and man, the Sola Christos.
Christ’s death and resurrection made God’s Grace available to mankind. Jesus is the Sola Gratia.
Christ said, “believe in Him whom God has sent.” Christ is the Sole Fide, in whom we place our Faith Alone.
Jesus is our bridge to Sola Deo Gloria, Christ is also our one mediator between God and man as we approach the Father in worship, thanksgiving, and praise. Without Christ, we could not know the Father.

“Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature … God’s grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace. We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God’s wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature.” – Cambridge Declaration

(Source , http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Five-Solas/)

Christ must take the place of preeminence in all that is Christian.

Our doctrine must relate to Christ and be founded in Christ who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. 

“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”(Hebrews 12:2)
Our problems must find their solutions in Christ, and in knowing Him, and becoming like Him as we grow.
“And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18)
To give preeminence is to place supreme emphasis upon.

The Five Solus deal primarily with redemption and the Biblical basis and authority concerning redemption.

The reformers came very close to making a complete distinction of Christ in this regard, but we cannot afford to assume people know the critical importance of giving Christ preeminence in all things.

We must emphasize Christ as completely as we are called to love Him completely.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
“We love Him because He first loved us.”

That is why we need The Supreme Sola – The Sixth Sola – Sola Christus Emphainein – Emphasize Christ Alone.

 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

(John 3:16)

(As always, I welcome any and all insights regarding this subject.)

The Rescue – What A Heroine’s Quest Tells Us About Jesus Christ

Susana Trimarco Hero

(Photo: Victor R. Caivano)

http://news.yahoo.com/argentine-mom-rescues-hundreds-sex-slaves-221110530.html

The Gospel story begins with the fall of mankind into sin and death and being cast from God’s presence, and God personally coming down to us to rescue us.

The whole idea of God becoming a man in order ,”to seek and to save that which was lost,” has long been a main sticking point for many.

But the story of a parent of a child who was,”lost”, into the sex trade in Argentina gives validation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The love this parent shows is not unlike the love that God our father has for all of us.

Her name is Susana Trimarco.

Her daughter was taken from her.

She so loved her daughter, Marita, that she would do anything to rescue her. She disguised herself as one of them and went where they are. She rescued many, sadly her daughter is not among the hundreds she has rescued. She has started a campaign that has changed the face of Argentina and sex trafficking in the world, an army of people rising up to set the captives free.

Today, thousands have been set free.Still her daughter is not among them.

In her quest to find her daughter I am reminded of a loving God who became one of us in order to save us.

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” —which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

Sex trafficking is a worldwide problem.

(It is likely that there is no country on Earth that has felt impact this crime.)

So it is with our relationship to God. We are all born lost. We are all in need of saving.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but everlasting life.” John 3:16

Madam, I pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ his Son, that your love is rewarded by the rescue of your daughter who you so love,…in Jesus name. Amen

–UPDATES AND RELATED STORIES —

SexTrafficking

http://humantraffickingawareness.com/faqs-mainmenu-34.html    “80% of the victims are women and 50% are children.”

 

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 12 2012 (IPS) – The courtroom broke out in angry shouts and cries when judges in Argentina unexpectedly acquitted 13 defendants accused of kidnapping a young woman and forcing her into prostitution in 2002.
The high-profile trial for the kidnapping of María de los Ángeles “Marita” Verón, who is still missing, ended late Tuesday after a four-hour delay by the three-judge panel in the courtroom in the northwest province of Tucumán.
The judges said there was no evidence that the seven men and six women kidnapped Verón.
Susana Trimarco, Verón’s mother, said she would try to get the three judges impeached, and accused them of receiving bribes. “We aren’t going to stop until these crooks are dismissed from their posts,” she said after the verdict was read out.
Trimarco later told a local TV station about a conversation she had after the trial with President Cristina Fernández, who gave her a human rights award on Sunday Nov. 9. “Cristina was shouting; she couldn’t believe it,” the activist said.
Also, here in the Land of the Free this week:
“Colorado’s attorney general said Tuesday that child sex trafficking has become a serious problem throughout the state.”
“WECT has learned that North Carolina is 8th in the country for sex trafficking, and Wilmington is also high on that list.”
“The scenario is all too common, Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Shea Rhodes told the City Council on Tuesday in describing how “modern-day slavery” ensnares women and children into forced labor and commercial sex.”
Forbes magazine:
“The sex-trafficking of U.S. children is America’s dirty, little secret.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking is the second fastest growing criminal industry — just behind drug trafficking.Approximately half of all victims are children.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center estimates it’s a $32 billion industry, with about 50% of this revenue coming from industrialized countries. This surpasses the sale of illegal arms.”
Check out this report by Shared Hope International showing the worst U.S,Cities for Child Sex Trafficking,…You may be surprised.
Here is an excerpt:

1. Dallas,TX

2. San Antonio, TX

3. Fort Worth, TX

4. Salt Lake City, UT

5. Buffalo,NY

6. Baton Rouge and New Orleans, LA

7. Independence,MO

8. Las Vegas, NV

9. Clearwater,FL

10. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (U.S. Territory)

Jesus is The Way – “Romans Road” To Eternal Life – Take The One Way Trip!

Striding on the Roman Road

Striding on the Roman Road (Photo credit: Bods)

“For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

                                                    – Romans 10:13

Romans 3:10 tells us, “as it is written, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;” (Romans 3:10 NASB) As the Scriptures say: “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one.” (Romans 3:10 NCV)

The requirement of God is a perfect life. A sinless selfless life. Who has not sinned?

And Romans 3:23 adds, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us,” (Romans 3:23 MSG)

Why does man sin and where did sin come from?

Romans 5:12 states that sin started with Adam, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned– “(Romans 5:12 NASB) Sin came into the world because of what one man did, and with sin came death. This is why everyone must die — because everyone sinned.

(Romans 5:12 NCV) What happens to those who sin?

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NASB) When people sin, they earn what sin pays — death. But God gives us a free gift — life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23 NCV)

If all have sinned and the penalty for sin is death, what can a person do? How can anyone be saved?

Romans 5:8 tells us how we can be saved from our sin and its penalty, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NASB)

1But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NCV)

If Jesus did die for me and was raised from the dead, how does that save me from sin and its penalty?

Romans 10:9-10 is clear, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)

If you use your mouth to say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we use our mouths to say that we believe, and so we are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 NCV)

Any one who realizes he can never live a perfect life can be saved.

Romans 10:13, for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Romans 10:13 NASB) For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. [Joel 2:32.] (Romans 10:13 AMP)

Salvation is a free gift.

You may be ruled by desires for things contrary to God now. Don’t worry about that, Let Jesus come into your heart and change you. He has the power to change your desires.

Your good works cannot save you. That is why Jesus died for us. Your good works are the result of genuine salvation, not a condition for you to be saved.

Ask Jesus to come into your heart, save you ,and make you His. He is waiting.

Closing the Theological Loop of the Faith and Works Debate.

The Death of Jesus

The Death of Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cruising the blogosphere or Twitter can be very revealing.

It seems you can always find a comment or article by someone expressing concern for an apparent lack of focus on works and holiness on the part of Christians. They almost always quote James 2:17.

 “Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.”(James 2:17)

And then you have another group who only wants to quote about love.

  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”(1 Corinthians 13:3) 

Both are true. The Answer is in closing the theological loop of the Faith and Works Debate.

Faith without Works is dead.

Works without Love is Nothing.

The only question is; “How do we find this LOVE we need so our works will amount to something instead of nothing?”

This is how,…

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. He is God in flesh and He came here just to save us and make us His own.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and His cross. Jesus was born to die there. He took our sins on Himself. He was perfect and Holy. Christ alone was worthy to pay our debt.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. He conquered death so He alone could give life to all who come to Him in faith, believing Christ died for them and accepting Him as Lord and Savior.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

“We love because he first loved us.”(1 John  4:19)

These Great Minds Believed in The God and Father of Jesus Christ

There is no shortage of great minds professing belief in God. Let no one insult your intelligence for joining the ranks of these men: Paul of Tarsus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, John Damascene, Origen, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Boethius, Erigena, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Bonaventura, Scotus, Ockham, Nicholas of Cusa, Cajetan, Luther, Calvin,

ThomasAquinas

Thomas Aquinas

copernicusgod

Copernicus

johanneskepler

Kepler

English: Self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. R...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leonardo Da Vinci

J

 Michelangelo

BlaisePascal

BlaisePascal

galileo

 Galileo

SirIsaacNewton

Sir Isaac Newton

LouisPasteur

Louis Pasteur

Tolstoy

Tolstoy

FyodorDostoyevsky1

Dostoyevsky

chesterton

G.K.Chesterson

CSLewis

C.S.Lewis

TSEliot

T.S.Eliot

TimKeller

Tim Keller

Kepler, Bacon, Ignatius Loyola, Dante, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, Berkeley, Copernicus, Newton, Kierkegaard, Newman, Pasteur, Jaspers, Marcel, Galileo, Tolstoy, Chesterton, Dostoyevsky, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis and Tim Keller.

https://www.facebook.com/Logical.Faith/posts/412949245438955

Come to Jesus and Obtain the Fullness of Love and of Grace

image

“The best way to come to Christ is to come meaning to get everything, and to obtain all the plenitude of grace, which he has laid up in store, and promised freely to give. Some poor souls who come to Jesus Christ seem as if they wanted a little relief from fear, a hope that they may just get saved, and a fair chance of going to heaven when they die. Pray do not come in that way, my dear friend. Come intending to obtain the fullness of love, the uttermost of grace.” C.H.Spurgeon

Ephesians 1:13,14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

The Very Best Place To Live

 

 

heavens

heavens (Photo credit: Mystic Musings…)

 

“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

 

Heaven.

 

Think of it.
Living with God in God’s city!
Streets paved with pure gold.

 

Jobs- Don’t need them. Everything is God’s and all who received Christ are His royal family! We will have no want or need except to be with God.
Crime rate – eternally zero.
Climate – always perfect, never storms or cloudy, never too hot or too sunny, in fact, it is always day time because Christ is always there and His glory is it’s light!
Health- Our bodies are totally changed into perfect bodies when Christ returns to take us home. No more illnesses or death, weaknesses or bad health ever. Our new bodies will be incorruptible.

 

Ethnic diversity- People from every kingdom,nation, and tribe on Earth.

 

Things to do- Basking in the full and continually abundant love of almighty God. Worshiping God in His presence will be a natural response.

 

The ultimate best place to live is literally out of this world!
But we can have our citizenship to that city now.
The price of our residence in Heaven has been paid for already by a generous benefactor, God.

 

” for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16)

 

In fact, if we decide we want to go there, God will personally seal the deal.

 

(Ephesians 1:13,14)” And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

 

If you want to be sure now of where you will live for eternity, ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior now,…He’s listening.

 

The Many Facets of Jesus’ Love – The Gospel of Jesus in Verse – 80 Ways To Know Jesus Loves Us

 

Jesus loved us before we knew Him

Jesus loved us when He came down to us.

Jesus loved us by associating with the most humble.

Jesus loved us by doing without.

Jesus loved us by garnering lowly sinners to follow Him.

Jesus loved us by being bold for the truth.

Jesus loved us by fearlessly facing moralism.

Jesus loved us by enduring rejection.

Jesus loved us by standing up to oppression.

Jesus loved us by giving warnings.

Jesus loved us by showing the way.

Jesus loved us by speaking the truth.

Jesus loved us by fasting 40 days and nights.

Jesus loved us by allowing himself to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus loved us by not giving in to the temptation of the devil.

Jesus loved us by living the life we should have lived.

Jesus loved us by telling stories that make us think.

Jesus loved us by being one of us, only He lived a sinless life.

Jesus loved us by praying often.

Jesus loved us by praying for us.

Jesus loved us by being gentle with real seekers of truth.

Jesus loved us by being hard on leaders who thought they knew it all.

Jesus loved us by enduring unjust shame, accusations, and insults.

Jesus loved us by enduring being despised and rejected by men.

Jesus loved us by publicly railing against corruption of God’s house.

Jesus loved us by doing miracles.

Jesus loved us by challenging our lack of faith.

Jesus loved us loved us by becoming the Bread of life.

Jesus loved us by warning us about hell.

Jesus loved us by telling us about heaven.

Jesus loved us by accepting His reason for coming down to us.

Jesus loved us by enduring the rejection and unbelief of family.

Jesus loved us by going to Jerusalem even after being threatened.

Jesus loved us by riding a lowly donkey instead of a horse.

Jesus loved us by washing the disciples feet as a leadership example.

Jesus loved us by loving everyone even though Judas was there.

Jesus loved us by devoting himself to even more prayer.

Jesus loved us by waiting for His capture.
.
Jesus loved us by allowing Himself to be betrayed by Judas.

Jesus loved us by not calling His father to send Angels to his rescue.

Jesus loved us by suffering being forsaken by all His disciples.

Jesus loved us by His silence before His own people and captors.

Jesus loved us by withstanding beatings from His own people.

Jesus loved us by being disrobed and whipped.

Jesus loved us by enduring a crown of thorns.

Jesus loved us by suffering mockery.

Jesus loved us by allowing His beard to be plucked from His face.

Jesus loved us by not defending Himself against lies and false accusations.

Jesus loved us by enduring more whips and beatings from Pilate.

Jesus loved us by facing an angry,merciless crowd.

Jesus loved us by enduring rejection by His own.

Jesus loved us by submitting Himself to angry cries to crucify Him.

Jesus loved us by carrying the cross that He would die on.

Jesus loved us though the heavy load of the cross made Him stumble.

Jesus loved us by letting soldiers nail His hands and feet to the cross.

Jesus loved us as He was crucified between two thieves.

Jesus loved us as He watched them cast lots for His clothing.

Jesus loved us as He endured pain and physical suffering.

Jesus loved us as He continued ongoing mockery and accusation.

Jesus loved us as He watched His mother agonizing for Him.

Jesus loved us as His mouth was to dry to speak.

Jesus loved us as He refused Gal, a drink with a sedative in it.

Jesus loved us they gave Him vinegar instead of water.

Jesus loved us He carried the sins of all mankind.

Jesus loved us as the Father turned away from Him.

Jesus loved us as He agonized over why God had forsaken Him.

Jesus loved us as He cried out,”it is finished!”

Jesus loved us as He passed from life to death for us.

Jesus loved us as His side was pierced and blood and water flowed down.

Jesus loved us as His body was placed in a tomb and a stone was rolled over the doorway.

Jesus loved us as He died our death so He could give us life.

Jesus loved us as He conquered death and rose from the grave.

Jesus loves us as He went back to Heaven to prepare a place for us.

Jesus loves us as He freely gives life to all who believe in Him as Savior.

Jesus loves us as He comes into the believer and changes us.

Jesus loves us as He promises He will make all things new.

Jesus loves us as He promises to never leave or forsake us.

Jesus loves us as He gives us The Comforter, His Spirit in us.

Jesus loves us and He promised to come back for us.

All I really know in life is…

Jesus loves us…

Jesus! The Savior Of My Soul!

Jesus!

The Savior of my soul,
He is the promise of eternal tomorrows,
the fact that He resides in me,
and the thought that He will never leave me,

He lives in me as the promise of life unending,

A promise that God who cannot lie, has made!

He is the seal of an eternity of tomorrows!

His Spirit in me!
His Spirit teaches me,
His Spirit guides me,

His Spirit changes me,

His Spirit comforts me,
and gives me peace that passes understanding,…

theses are only a few reasons I worship my Jesus.

What Kind of Tone Is Appropriate in Christian Discussion?

 

What Kind of Tone Is Appropriate in Christian Discussion?

I think it depends.

Are you trying to encourage?

Are you exhorting and spurring others on?

Or are you defending the most precious ,life-giving Gospel of the Blood of Jesus and Grace of God from the self-righteousness of moralistic legalists who always demand our own works be tacked on to Christ’s work? (Legalism)

Christians today need to find their voices!

Our insight as to when to speak up and which tone we can use may make the difference as to whether we speak up at all.

Unlike the message we are all getting from our Post-modern world today, God never meant us to keep silent, He said ,”Go and Preach the Gospel.”

A lot of essential Biblical examples stand out in regards to what tone is right and when to use it.

I really think we can learn a lot from this and hopefully develop the ability to speak up in a Godly manner.

God never wanted us to be timid and passive. Too many issues demand our voices!

How about this video that went,”viral”, as they say, and caused an uproar with some of the so-called,”pillars” in Christendom today?

In the video,Jefferson Bethke Kicks the Snot Out of Legalism!

He has a much more subtle tone than Jesus does in Luke 11:44 !

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

Or Jesus in Matthew 23:13

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

Just sayin…He’s well below the tone Jesus used to beat down the self-righteous Pharisees of His day!

And Bethke is also doing the Church a service just like the Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians!

Only Bethke is milder than Paul too! Like in Gal.1:6

“If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

In fact,Paul was far more direct as he beat down the legalists, and he even,”withstood Peter to his face.” This is the big ,long earful that Peter heard from Paul in front of Barnabas and many others. Galatians 2:11- 21

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 1Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

17 “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 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 faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

POW!!

Wow! Here that?

Paul got in Peter’s face in front of everybody, to defend the blood of Jesus as the ONLY means to be saved!

So don’t let them make you back pedal Bethke. Take heart!

You aren’t bashing the Church. On the contrary!

If a person loves Jesus and His Bride the Church, then he will defend the ONLY means to establish the Church.

The pure, true Gospel established by the washing and regeneration of the pure, perfect blood of Jesus Christ on the cross is the ONLY way the Church can ever exist.

Your statement  is right in line with guys who have made all the difference when it counted, like Paul, and Luther, and countless others.

Jesus vs. Religion? Jesus always will win!

God bless!

 

A Muslim Convert To Christ Tells How To Share The Good News of Jesus

 

This is a must read in today’s world-An Example of How to be a Christian Witness to a Muslim, even online..

 

Eternally Secure In Christ – “I Shall Lose None of All”

These are the Words of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

All that 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 all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

 (John 6:37-40 ,NIV 84,The Holy Bible)

The above words of Christ settle every conceivable scenario a person could imagine for loosing one’s salvation.

ALL the Father gives Jesus Will come to Him.

Jesus will NEVER drive you away.

Jesus SHALL LOSE NONE OF ALL, so that means that if you really know Him you won’t want to leave Him either. NONE of ALL.

EVERYONE who looks to the Son AND believes in Him SHALL have ETERNAL LIFE

Anyone who can see that God has loved them completely is now free to also love God completely in return for His matchless, incomparable love!

href=”https://christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/the-secret-ingredient-to-eternal-life/” target=”_blank”>The Secret Ingredient To Eternal Life (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)

Final Events – The Signing of a Treaty With Israel Reveals The “Beast” and Day One of the Great Tribulation

 “because they did not receive the love of the truth”

 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that  Day  will  not  come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

 “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

And then the lawless one will be revealed,

whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

The coming of the lawless  one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

(II Thessalonians 2:1-12)

The Secret Ingredient To Eternal Life

mixed

“For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”(Hebrews 4:2)

Many have stumbled to their doom attempting to comprehend the “how” of the saving power of the Blood of Christ.

Faith is that secret ingredient that when mixed with God’s truth in the heart of the sinner results in salvation.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”

(Ephesians 2:13)

Natural means cannot grasp the supernatural truths of God’s supernatural ways.

Faith is the means to grasp the supernatural truth of God’s salvation for us.

Death…the one thing we cannot conquer, but don’t have to worry about.

Death…the one thing we cannot conquer, but don’t have to worry about..

The Gift – Eternal Life – John 3:16

jesus_on_the_cross_In_storm

Eternal Life – Christ Paid For it

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

(John 3:16 )

Eternal Life Is His Gift to whoever believes and asks Him

~The Gift He Gives Because He Loves Us So~

A Reason For Living – An Audio Sermon By Dr. Tim Keller – Redeemer Presbyterian Church- Manhattan, NY- Keller Answers The Big Question- “What Is The Reason,Meaning, And Purpose For Life?”

Christ's Resurection from Death

What is the reason for living?

All the big thinkers, atheist , agnostic, and believer, have written about the reason for our existence and the meaning of life.

In this sermon, Keller does what many big thinkers refuse to do, and that is to honestly and logically examine the premise, or basis on which to answer the big question.

If God does exist and we can know Him, then we have hope in this life because we know this is not the end, the best is yet to come.

This view also gives hope to all who suffer in this life because they too can say they have a ,”future hope”.

Keller exposes that the typical atheist view is built on the premise that if God does not exist then the individual experiences ,

“Freedom”, but that view is not enough reason for living.

The problem is that ,”freedom”, as the sole reward in life ,robs us of any hope for a future beyond this life,

and results in a lack reason, purpose and meaning, and results in a loss of hope.

But the answer to life’s big question is that God does exist, we do have a future hope, and we have a reason  for living.

His name is Jesus.

————————————————-

How I Post Sermons

I typically listen to a sermon 6 or more times before I recommend, comment and post them ?

This is especially true of Keller’s sermons.

I do this in part because I’m following Keller’s own example of how he studies the great early American revivalist, Jonathan Edwards.

Keller has mentioned that he reads, and re-reads Edward’s books and sermons over and over again.

Re- reading Edwards, Keller says, allows the benefit of learning how Edwards thought, and gives the benefit of applying that kind of thought to all of life,

as if to anticipate how Edwards would have answered any question himself.

Since I can’t listen to Edwards audio sermons,( since none exist), but Keller studies Edwards,

then I figure Keller’s audio sermons are the practicle choice for the student of deep theological issues.

This Sermon – In Summery

Keller answers the big question by dwelling on the basis for question, for most of sermon.

At one point in the sermon Keller receives applause for one of his comments, to which he replies,”that has never happened to me before, no wait,

I should say , that has never happened to me in a white church before.”

Another great sermon by Keller.

Free online. Click on the link below.

http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/reason-living

Enjoy.

This is Eternal Life

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:  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 10:8-10) 

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