I believe some crazy things!

In 2006 I was writing for a local "ecumenical" magazine and realized very quickly that the things I believed...the things I thought were part of Biblical Christianity...were not what many Christians believed. So in 2007 when I came to Eastside one of the first Bible studies I taught was based on this list. I wanted to start off with everyone knowing where I was coming from in terms of my personal beliefs. I know that there are many other "crazy" things I believe but these seem to be the most notable. I posted this list in 2008 but I feel like I want to share it again!

I believe...

...God created the world in six 24 hour days

...Noah really did build an ark and that every animal was on it

...Jesus is the Son of God

...That Jesus’ mother, Mary was a virgin at his birth

...Jesus died on the cross for my sins

...Jesus was resurrected from the dead after three days in the grave

...The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and filled the church

...The gifts of the Spirit are for today–including speaking in other tongues

...In divine healing

...There is a difference between right and wrong

...In the devil

...In a literal hell

...Jesus will return before the tribulation and rapture the church

...God loves even me

...The Bible!

Only on Sunday

Yesterday in my message I mentioned that coming to church only on Sunday wasn’t enough to successfully live the Christian life. I want to further explore this area.

Because of the thanksgiving weekend we didn’t have services last Wednesday and last night (Sunday). Around 6:00 pm I was watching TV and realized that if this had been a normal Sunday Evening we would just be starting Church. As I though about that I realized that I actually missed being at church. Not because I had a great lesson to teach but because I missed seeing and being with the people of our church. And I was reminded of what I had said earlier in the day about coming to church only on Sunday morning. By the way, I didn’t say that to challenge people into coming to more of the weekly services, but because I have been thinking about all the tools we are provided with to be strong in our Christian walk, but don’t take advantage of them. One of those is being with other believers.

…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. --Hebrews 10:25

Notice that the Bible says that we should spend more time together as we see the return of the Lord getting closer. Now here is the point I want to get across to you…I really am praying for our people to have curiosity about the things of God. Because this will motivation for you to seek out all the God stuff. Here is a list in case you don’t know them. Praying, reading the Bible and other Christian books, spending time with believers.

As good as we make the Sunday morning service; it will never be enough to teach you everything you need to know about God and how to live successfully as a follower of Jesus. Let me make this offer to you. I will do everything I can to make sure that every time we come together as a church it will be worth the effort it takes to get there. But beyond that God has already promised that if we seek Him, He will be found. Here are a few suggestions for growing in the faith.

• Spend some time in prayer each day – don’t worry about how much time; just pray everyday.
• Read the Bible – start will something easy like the book of Luke.
• Find a time to regularly be with other believers – Adult Sunday School, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Men’s breakfast, Women’s Petal group, Tuesday morning prayer group, Thursday’s Holy Spirit teaching, or the Saturday Bible study. Call us and we can give you information on all of these groups and classes.

BE CURIOUS!

Five Chances to Avoid Sin

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. --James 1:14-5

There are several passages from the Scripture that every believer should know. One of these is from James. This passage shows us how we can avoid sinning. The key is that we need to always be aware of where we are in the events of each day and where they are leading us. In James the scripture shows us the five steps towards committing sin. If we know these and become aware that they are working on our life we them have a really good chance at avoiding sinful behavior.

1. Tempted – the opportunity presents itself.
2. Drawn by desire – it becomes attractive.
3. Enticed – it develops a continual place in your thoughts.
4. Desire conceived – a plan to achieve it is developed.
5. Birth of sin – you follow through and commit the action.

Every sin can be avoided by stopping on any of the first four steps towards the birth of sin. And you can know that the Holy Spirit is doing all He can to warn you at each one!

Touched By Salvation

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. --1 Corinthians 15:53

So I have been thinking lately about this passage. I used to think that when we are raptured or resurrected that everything would be put back as it was when God first created the world. That we would be given bodies like Adam had before he sinned. But when I read this passage from 1 Corinthians 15, (which is becoming one of my favorite passages!) I am becoming convinced that what God has in mind for us is way better than what Adam had before the curse.

We will have incorruptible bodies after the resurrection. (v.52) That means we will have a body that is impervious to sin. We will have bodies that will no longer be subjected to temptation. WE WON’T EVEN BE TEMPTED TO SIN! We will have bodies that cannot be corrupted! That is way better than the body Adam had because his body was able to be corrupted by sin. (obviously!)

So why the difference? Why is it that after the resurrection we will be given bodies better than Adam’s? The answer can be summed up in one word, salvation. Church, once we have been touched by the salvation of Jesus we are set on a path that will one day lead us to complete freedom from sin or even the ability to commit sin! That is why we will be able to live in the very presence of God for all eternity! Adam and Eve only got to meet with God in the cool of the day – one moment each day. But we will live with Him eternally! Why because salvation is just that powerful!

Our Rescue!

So last night I went to bed early, but I woke up around midnight and turned on the TV. The second of the Chilean miners was being brought up out of the mine. Those men had been over 2,000 feet below the surface of the earth since early August. I couldn’t help but see the comparison between those miners and our own situation as Christians waiting for the day when we hear the blast of the trumpet and are rescued from our present life.

On that day many people who have been in the ground for a very long time will be brought to the surface and then immediately rocketed into the sky to come face to face with the rescuer. (This by the way is exactly what savior means!) Reunited with family and friends just as that miner. Also think of the change that is coming, their lives will never be the same. And the same goes for us! There will also be a change in living conditions. Just as those miners were forced to live in darkness only receiving occasional messages and help from above to encourage them to hold out until the day would come. We too are looking forward to living in a world that far surpasses where we are now!

But more than that, for almost 70 days these men have been living in captivity to their underground world. And while they were down there they spent those days preparing for their freedom from the ground. Believe it or not they worked 12 hour shifts to help clear debris away from the area where the hole would be drilled for their rescue. Church, every thing we are doing during our 70 or so years ought to be in preparation for the coming of our rescuer! The culmination of our earthly existence is for our ascension to our heavenly home.

Lastly, we no more belong on this earth than those miners belonged in that half mile deep hole in the ground! Someday soon a light will pierce through the clouds, the sky will open the blast of the trumpet will sound and we will be set free!

The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. --Psalms 90:10

The Power of Salvation

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV)

We are starting a new series of messages, “The Kingdom of Heaven”. As I am thinking about heaven it occurs to me that while Heaven certainly is a literal place, it also is the representation of man’s restoration to God. When we get to Heaven we will be in the very presence of God without the barrier of evil that hinders us in the world today. So when we get there we will be able to relate to God in ways that are unimaginable to us now!

Heaven will put things back to way they were before sin interrupted our relationship with God. But there will be one difference between the way things were before man sinned and the Heaven that awaits us – SALVATION! The power of salvation is so great that after it is all said and done, things will actually be better! When we get to Heaven we will go to Paradise, not the Garden of Eden, we will always be in the very presence of God, not just in the “cool of the day” (Genesis 3). When we get to Heaven there will be the tree of life (Revelation 22), but not the tree of “Knowledge of Good and Evil”. God will be there, Jesus will be there, the Holy Spirit will be there, but Satan will not. Why? Because Jesus’ salvation is so powerful that the eternity originally planned for Adam and Eve in the garden is surpassed. The freedom we get from salvation also means eternal freedom. Freedom from the wickedness of sin that tempts us. The Garden Eden was not perfect, it contained temptation and a tempter, but heaven will be perfect! There will be nothing to entice us away from God!

The Devil meant to destroy us, to ruin God’s plan for eternal fellowship with Him, but salvation gave us an even better future and left Satan with nothing! You and I will go beyond the Garden of Eden to Heaven by the power of salvation!

Between Here & There

For just a moment I want to take you on a journey, a journey much like the one Dad embarked on Saturday August 14, 2010.

What if when you closed your eyes instead of darkness there was a great light? What if when you closed your eyes instead of the fogginess of a dream there was clarity and focus? What if when you closed your eyes instead of shadows there was revelation?

Imagine if you will, being inside a vessel that is slowly but surely shutting itself down. Parts of this vessel no longer operate; they don’t function as they had before. You just have snippets of awareness as you start to leave this vessel in which you have traveled for 81 years. There are your loved ones around you as you awake and then sleep and then awake again. Light, darkness, light again for a brief time.

You ask yourself if you’re dreaming. It may be hard to know what is real and what is not. This happens to you for some time, it is an experience that you have never had before, yet somehow seems familiar. You awaken and hear someone praying and then a brief flash of awareness as you hear someone say the name of Jesus. As you open your eyes you see the people you love and then back to the dream. And then there is something that draws your attention far off in the distance. At first you’re not sure, but then you recognize that someone is calling your name. A voice that you can’t place at first, but then you know that you have often heard it before. You have heard it in the middle of the night, when you couldn’t sleep, you heard it speaking to you when you prayed, and you’ve heard it give you comfort, guidance, and even understanding. You still can’t see who it is that is calling you; they are just too far away.

But then there He is, is it really? Am I dreaming again? But now the voices and prayers of your loved ones have slowly faded, and now all you hear is the voice of the Master calling your name.

I also wonder if somewhere in heaven an angel taps my mother on the shoulder – come follow me I want you to see something…Imagine Dad walking into the gates of heaven with multitudes waiting for his arrival.

You know we can never know for certain what Dad experienced on that day but I do know this. For him that was the greatest moment ever for him as he crossed from this life to his eternal reward.