Get real???

2nd Timothy 3:1-6 & 12-14

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Any of the above sound familiar? We have families nowadays run by the children, not by the parents. Many children aren't taught right from wrong, and even if they are, if it's not based on the word of God it holds no value. There's a wonderful movie out there, and it's not easy to find. It's called "Time Changers". The premise of the movie is that teaching right from wrong without mentioning that it's the word of God is basically useless. When you explain that God set up a way for us to live based upon His word, then it makes more sense. If you tell a child that it's simply wrong to steal, he or she may ask you, "Who says it's wrong? Feels right to me!" We also have many churches turning from the teachings of God and allowing an inclusionism mentality to seep in. That basically means they believe all paths lead to God so why not have a Wiccan (witch) come in and teach us their ways. If you want to unite under the banner of Christ.......those who don't believe in the deity of Christ are not going to go along with you. No matter what you call yourself you're my brother/sister if you believe what the bible teaches is necessary for salvation. And what is that? Believe in your heart (and confess with your mouth) that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for your (our) sins, and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. That's the foundational belief system that's required for salvation according to the bible. That is what a Christian, or follower of Jesus believes. Check out Romans 10:9-13. The word of God is not confusing on that point. It's quite clear. That doesn't mean we have to be rude to folks from other faiths, but we cannot expect them to accept our ways, nor can we accept theirs. Jesus spoke about the way to heaven, and He was also quite clear. He didn't say there were many ways to heaven. He said that He was the only way. In
John 14:6
He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." He didn't apologize or go along to get along.......He told it like it is. Many folks nowadays want a pleasing gospel. Let's not talk about sin, heaven forbid. Sin is why we need Jesus. We can't defeat it, or stop doing it completely. You're a sinner.......I'm a sinner. We don't practice sin, but we do fall into it. We are all being sanctified daily.......granted we are reading our bibles and seeking the Lord daily. We see in
Romans 12:1-2
that we need to (verse 1) present ourselves (our bodies even) as living sacrifices to God. And we should also (verse 2) be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need a good "brain washing". We all picked up garbage throughout our lives before submitting to Christ and giving our lives to Him.........being born again (see
John 3:1-21). Again these are not my words, or my opinion. This is the word of God folks. Who instituted the law of gravity? God, right? So you can go stand up on 10 story building and proclaim that you don't believe in the law of gravity until you're blue in the face. But once you step off the edge of that building, does your unbelief make it not so? Of course not. The law of gravity will apply whether you believe in it or not. Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven. He wanted to make sure that no one went there. Your salvation was paid for by Jesus' death on the cross, and was sealed by His resurrection. But if you never acknowledge that gift, and receive it.........where will you go? Jesus has the only answer to sin. You don't have to work for it, you don't have to (nor could you ever) earn it. Your salvation is God's free gift to you. Are you going to receive it, and share it with others, or not? It's up to you. If you receive that pardon of your sins, that forgiveness that you and every human yearns for.........you will want to share it. I don't believe in forcing people, or jamming Jesus down people's throats. Tell them what He's done for you. Who you were before, and who you are now. That's what I do. I'm not proud of who I used to be, and how I used to be. But I know I couldn't be where I am now without Jesus. And every part of my life before prepared me for what I'm doing now. Are there things I wish I wouldn't have gone through that weren't my fault or my choice (as well as things that were my fault & choice)? You bet. But I can now minister to others who are going through the same things. I can't pretend to be perfect because I know I'm not. I am being perfected, but I'm not perfect yet. Again, I've said it before, but I wish I could get a T-Shirt made that says, "Under Construction, God's still working on me". I think that would be a great shirt. Maybe I'll copyright it, and get it done. Hehehehe. Please be careful, because there are folks out there who will try and confuse you and try to get you to believe them rather than the word of God. DON'T DO IT!

I'm sorry I didn't get to post today (Oct 11th, 2005) but I am posting tonight for tomorrow (10/12/05) as I have an early appointment and don't want to miss posting again. I pray that you read all the scriptures I put in these posts for a better understanding of everything that's said. On my blog On average it takes me between 30 minutes and an hour and half to do these posts, depending on their length and depth. It's well worth it to know that we are all being strengthened in our walk with the Lord. In my blog site of JesusfreaksRus (http://jesusfreaksrus.blogspot.com/) I provide clickable links for every scripture I mention and I'm putting that feature in this post as well. Hope it works here in my email. Have a great day and God bless........I'll see you friday. :-) Pastor James