The Two Biggest Lies?

If you have been a Christian for any amount of time and have shared your faith with anyone, you have heard one of two lies stated more than any others.  Let us just get to it.

1.)  I don't need ________(God, Jesus, Salvation), I am a good person already and my good will out-weigh my bad.

This lie is stated in several ways but usually in some form of the above.  The Word says, "all have sinned."  All means all and thats all it means!
(Rom 3:23 NKJV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Rom 5:12 AMP)
Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.

#@$%& I'm a good person Ernie!  Who the @%$#^& do you think you are telling me I'm a sinner?  I am glad you asked, and so kindly too.  Sin leads to death, 
(1Jn 1:10 NLT)
If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

Also 1John 1:8 NKJV

(Rom 6:23 CJB)
For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.

We could go on, but you get the message (I hope).  Next;

2.)  God could never forgive me for ___________, (what I have done).

The fact that you recognize that you have sinned and it is causing guilt in your life is actually Good News!  What?  YES, many go around sinning and don't even care or know it.  Your Guilt is a sign that the Holy Spirit is calling you to a new life.

Romans 5:8 NKJV
Isaiah 38:17 NKJV
Isaiah 43:25 NKJV
Romans 5:20 NLT

This last verse is referred to as the "christian's bar of soap".  If you need cleaning, confess you sins, repent and put on Jesus (trust Him)!
(1Jn 1:9 NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


(Act 17:27 NLT)
"His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him—though He is not far from any one of us.

(Act 17:28 NLT)
For in Him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring.'

Blessings
ernie

This is 2:51 long - Watch to the End

We need to follow the Cross today to get America back.

Blessings
ern

Who Do You Follow?

Recently there have been some "changes" at the church Carey and our family have been attending as members for the past ten years.  The "why" of these changes is not the focus of this blog.  I do want to address a common response to my family's position.  With both of our Pastors resigning (for their respective reasons), and some personal issues my Bride and I have had for the past ten months, we chose to step back from our service as teachers to re-evaluate what God wants for us.  This has been difficult for several reasons; however we are still members, but seeking God's personal guidance for "us".  The response to this is what I want to talk about.
(2Corinthians 13:5 MSG)
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.

Now I am not a "Message" paraphrase friend.  In other words, I don't care for this version of the Bible because it is a paraphrase and not a translation.  On top of it I am taking this paraphrase of scripture out of the context it is in.  Now it is referring to Salvation (genuine faith) first, then Ambassadorship second (growth and fruit bearing). Carey and I are secure in our Salvation and desire to grow - we have not arrived by any means.  The principle I am focusing on here is "self examination" and the reason I chose the Message version is Give yourselves regular checkups.  We are giving ourselves a checkup.  Part of my checkup has revealed that I am currently a hinderance to the Worship Service.  I also realize I may never be able to teach at church if we are directed to stay.  More importantly than all of that is I realize I am partially responsible for what has happened!  This is the most unsettling discovery of my checkup.

I want to say that this is not directed at any one individual, but can be beneficial if and unfortunately "when" this happens to some of you.  I have been contacted by people whom have asked, "What is going on at our church?"  Because my family has had personal issues besides the Pastor's leaving, I tell those that call that we can not give out any information, as we don't want to influence anybody in any direction - we ourselves don't know what direction God has for us yet.  Naturally our timing and decision to step back has not been viewed favorably and I can completely understand.  Some close friends feel abandoned and others let down while I am sure some are glad.  They just don't understand and that is ok because I understand their feelings.

My son came home one day and told me he heard someone say (he would not reveal and I did not push - better off I don't know) That those who leave were not here for the right reasons in the first place and that you don't follow a man.  Now as spiritual as this sounds, it is in reality childish or ignorant.  Let me explain - you may disagree.
"Sometimes the church that seems the perfect fit doesn't want to try us on. And sometimes the church that seems wrong turns out to be ever so right. A call to a specific church can be as mysterious as a call to ministry."
—Ed Bratcher

That statement is referring to the "calling" of a Pastor to a specific church, but I do believe God makes His will known as to where we are to attend.  You might say, "Ernie, why would you be called away to another church?"  That is a great question and the focus of this part.  To say someone didn't belong here (didn't have right reasons) in the first place presumes that they (whoever they are) know God's will for you (or in my case - me) better than I do?  I suppose people who are very close to me might be able to see God's will clearer at "times" because of "clouds" in my life. Clouds are things like emotions, stress and relationships that draw me away from God.  That is a possibility and we should recognize it as just that - a possibility.  In our case Carey and I are like minded in this issue.

Lastly, the statement, "You don't follow a man".  I disagree - we follow the God-Man.  If the Pastor doesn't follow God, we don't follow him.  If the Church doesn't follow God, we don't follow it.  We follow Christ and His leading.
(John 12:26 NKJV)
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Who or whom do you follow?  Why?

Blessings
ernie

Matt Hits "Home Run" for Abstinence!

For those of you who are fortunate enough to know him, Frank Baker is one of my best friends.  Last month while Frank was visiting he told me a story about his son Matthew, when he was a pitcher for Lynn University.  I contacted Matt to get permission to relay the following:

Matthew told me that he was approached by a young lady who wanted to "hook-up" with him.  He told the girl that he was a virgin and was not interested.  Apparently she spread the word about Matt's vow of abstinence and it eventually reached his baseball teammates.  Matt had already been picked on for not talking (swearing) like the others, however when they caught wind of this he was ridiculed by the other players.  During one of the verbal assaults which Matt usually weathered humbly, he turned to his teamates and said; "This evening I could be just like you, but you can never be like me!"

What an incredibly powerful statement which not only shut them up but gained their respect. This statement later opened doors with some of the players for Matt to share his faith in Jesus Christ.  Matthew Baker is a man of strong moral character, like his father before him and his grandfathers.  Matt currently attends a christian college and for a hobby fights in the MMA (mixed martial arts) and is single.  Mom's tell you daughters - He's a Catch!!!

Way to go Matt, way to go...

UPDATE:  I wrote this story three years ago and it is my personal favorite.  Matt has since graduated and is working at Trinity Church International, still single and still a catch!

Like Son Like Father - Dad's two cents

My son responded to his Uncle Vic’s (my brother) comments on “carry permits”.  He was being kind in not really pressing the issue but I cannot leave it where he did.  Vic said that “Concealed carry laws are good for only two groups of people--the gun industry and criminals. They make life more dangerous for everyone else.”  That is typical left wing blabber which means liberals are far more capable of thinking for us than we are of thinking for ourselves.

Let me give you just a few examples that happened within the last 30 days to give the lie to his diatribe.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

1.  “Strolling along on his evening walk, a man with a concealed-carry permit was approached from behind by a robber who thrust a gun in his back and demanded money.  He handed over his wallet, and as t he robber was distracted, he drew a .40-cal. Semi-automatic pistol from its holster.  The suspect pointed his gun at him, so the man opened fire, killing the suspect.  Police said the suspect may have fired a shot during a robbery the previous week and may have been prepared to shoot again.  “When we found [the dead suspect], he was laying on the ground with the gun in his hands and his finger on the trigger,” said Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, 05/06/10).

2.  With her husband working the night shift, a woman was home alone one evening when she heard noises upstairs.  Fearing the worst, she got her handgun before investigating.  A second floor wind was shattered and a man was waving a flashlight around in the bedroom.  “He yelled something at her,” said Calhoun County, Ala. Sheriff Larry Anmerson.  “She wasn’t sure what it meant and she was scared.”  The woman shot the intruder several times, killing him.  (The Anniston Star, Anniston, AL.  05/19/10). 

                                                                                                                  

3.  Police say four known gang members burst into an Arizona store that sells car alarms and stereos and announced a robbery.  The gang members began ransacking the store and forced an employee into a back office at gunpoint.  That’s when the store’s owner emerged onto the scene and opened fire with a shotgun.  One gang member was killed and two were wounded.  The store owner, whose forearm was slightly injured by return fire, held the three surviving suspects for police.  (Associated Press, 05/12/10).

There are many, many more stories I can recite to point out that an armed citizen who knows what he/she is doing saves their lives as well as others with them.  I have always noticed that when people try to talk against guns and gun permits, they never bother to note that in every case where gun permits are allowed, crime decreases.  A few years ago in a town in one of the Carolinas, the people voted to make it mandatory for homeowners to own guns.  When the criminal element found out that this became law, they moved their business elsewhere and crime decreased drastically because the criminals knew that they might be facing a gun no matter where they broke into.

I will make that point that if you are going to purchase a gun, then you need to take the proper training in order to use it most effectively.  Get a gun and learn how to use it, because you never know when it can save your life or the lives of ones you love.