Time is too short to not seek the truth in the Word of God. There is never too much to know about the Lord. We do know that we must have faith in the Bible and believe that it is the divine and inspired Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. Once we believe that, there is absolutely nothing that should make us doubt that it is what it is.
The very first question that anyone should ask someone who preaches the Word of God is whether or not they believe that Jesus Christ is God. There are many scriptures that show us Who He is. First of all is the commandments tell us not to worship any other God. We cannot worship Jesus if we don't believe that He is God.
Isaiah 43:11 is an Old Testament scripture that tells us that God Almighty is the only Savior. I encourage you to read the Scripture on your own and not to merely take my word for it.
John 1:1-14 tells us that Jesus is God and the Word. This is a very important scripture just to name a few. There is a Wheel of Prophecy that you can view and it gives great scriptures on the deity of Jesus Christ.
Once you have established that they believe Christ is God Almighty manifested in the flesh, they must believe in Biblical salvation. Jesus told everyone that they must be born of the water and the spirit before they can enter into the Kingdom. Jesus also said that if you don't believe that He is He, you would die in your sins.
Jesus Christ gave Peter the Keys to the Kingdom, as Peter received a revelation of the name of the father, the son and the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19 is where Jesus tells us to be baptized in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. Peter knew that name to be Jesus Christ. When the Church age began (after Jesus ascended into Heaven), Peter preached his first sermon and commanded all to be baptized in Jesus name.
Throughout the Book of Acts EVERYONE was baptized in Jesus name. We know that when we are born of the Spirit of God, we will speak in another language as the Spirit gives the utterance. This is evident all throughout the Book of Acts and for the Gentiles in Acts chapters 11 and 19. Speaking in tongues is an essential part of salvation and it is considered being born of the Spirit.
Is it necessary to love everyone? The Word clearly states that we are to even love and forgive our enemies. Love is the greatest of commandments. Jesus made it perfectly clear that we are to love. 1 Cor 13:13
1 Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth and the fullness of God?
2 Do you believe that Peter's first sermon (in the dawning of the Church Age) is the Biblical way to salvation and that everyone must be born again of the water and the Spirit to go to heaven?
3 Is it necessary to love everyone to make it to heaven?
These are questions that you can ask any preacher. Once you have found Biblical facts of these questions, yourself, you are well on your way to finding a truth preaching pastor.
This is IMPORTANT!
It is your SALVATION!
May God bless you in your walk with Him!
You may find truth preaching churches by clicking these links:
ALJC
UPCI
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
From Faith to Faith
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
It's safe to say that with that scripture we can also say that faith is tangible. Faith is what is already there. We can see it, feel it, behold it, whatever it may be.
Our born again lives should be like crossing a tight rope and having Jesus as our net. It should be like a course where the destination is His hand reaching out. Without this mentality, we cannot please God.
It is sin to doubt. The opposite of faith is doubt and the Lord hates this.
Romans 1:17 Tells us that we (having the righteousness of Christ through the Blood of Jesus and justified through Him by the Holy Ghost) are to live by faith, from faith to faith. - For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
We are to live as such to be prepared for battle, but not to doubt; knowing that we will win in the end. As my pastor said the other night... we have conquered many battles and will continue to but we haven't won the war, yet. However, it is by faith through the Word that we will WIN that war, because it is proclaimed at the end of that Book.
A few years back, my church had purchased a slab of land. Many doubted and even left the church with the mindset that we were spending money on a church that could never be built by only 40 members. The slab sat there for quite awhile and faith dwindled.
Some faith that is. I knew in my heart that Jesus had a plan. I caught onto my pastor's dream and vision. His passion became mine. His vision, I could see as well. I saw that beautiful church sitting on the slab. Not to glory in myself but to express my passion so that other's will too follow their pastor's vision, I remember many a days where I would just go up on the slab and cry and pray.
There were times that I would take the kids and we would get out, turn up the radio and dance on the slab of dirt, thanking the Lord for making a way to build our church.
After awhile, nothing would happen. There was always a stump or hurdle to cross, reminding us that this must be God's will because the adversary was doing everything he could to stop the process of building the church. We didn't give up our vision.
Everytime my kids and I would drive through town, I would point over to the empty slab of dirt and say "look at that beautiful church guys". At first the kids laughed, but eventually they started agreeing and would say "yes, it's so big and pretty". We did this for a couple years.
I also told them about faith and that if we really want something that we must believe that it is already there. Now they can see that because they saw that beautiful church sitting there, it is becoming a reality and their vision has new dimensions.
We will be in our new church in about a month. Over $500K in donations, with a lot of prayer and the faith of at least three little kids!
It's safe to say that with that scripture we can also say that faith is tangible. Faith is what is already there. We can see it, feel it, behold it, whatever it may be.
Our born again lives should be like crossing a tight rope and having Jesus as our net. It should be like a course where the destination is His hand reaching out. Without this mentality, we cannot please God.
It is sin to doubt. The opposite of faith is doubt and the Lord hates this.
Romans 1:17 Tells us that we (having the righteousness of Christ through the Blood of Jesus and justified through Him by the Holy Ghost) are to live by faith, from faith to faith. - For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
We are to live as such to be prepared for battle, but not to doubt; knowing that we will win in the end. As my pastor said the other night... we have conquered many battles and will continue to but we haven't won the war, yet. However, it is by faith through the Word that we will WIN that war, because it is proclaimed at the end of that Book.
A few years back, my church had purchased a slab of land. Many doubted and even left the church with the mindset that we were spending money on a church that could never be built by only 40 members. The slab sat there for quite awhile and faith dwindled.
Some faith that is. I knew in my heart that Jesus had a plan. I caught onto my pastor's dream and vision. His passion became mine. His vision, I could see as well. I saw that beautiful church sitting on the slab. Not to glory in myself but to express my passion so that other's will too follow their pastor's vision, I remember many a days where I would just go up on the slab and cry and pray.
There were times that I would take the kids and we would get out, turn up the radio and dance on the slab of dirt, thanking the Lord for making a way to build our church.
After awhile, nothing would happen. There was always a stump or hurdle to cross, reminding us that this must be God's will because the adversary was doing everything he could to stop the process of building the church. We didn't give up our vision.
Everytime my kids and I would drive through town, I would point over to the empty slab of dirt and say "look at that beautiful church guys". At first the kids laughed, but eventually they started agreeing and would say "yes, it's so big and pretty". We did this for a couple years.
I also told them about faith and that if we really want something that we must believe that it is already there. Now they can see that because they saw that beautiful church sitting there, it is becoming a reality and their vision has new dimensions.
We will be in our new church in about a month. Over $500K in donations, with a lot of prayer and the faith of at least three little kids!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Answer His Call
Being someone who ran from the Lord for about 6 years, I can honestly say that I am grateful that he spared my life and I just ended up in the hospital for over a week. Here are some very different stories of others who weren't as fortunate as I. These are true stories.
Today our evangelist preached on heeding to the Spirit of God. If you feel that the Lord is drawing you, you shouldn't hesitate and respond to that call. Here are a few different stories about different people and in different walks of life.
During one service a man came to the alter and cried out, begging the Lord to touch him. He was there for about 5 minutes and got up from the alter. He stated that the Lord will never listen to him and out the door he went. He peeled out speeding out of the driveway. The pastor went after him just to find him around the curve, where he crashed into a tree. He was dead. Maybe the Lord had called him before and he never responded. Worse, maybe he blasphemed the Holy Ghost which is the only unforgivable sin.
My pastor told us of a story about a really nice man who loved God's people. He came to church, cleaned the church, paid his tithes and did all that he could to love those around him and even love the Lord. However, he never had a relationship with God. Never came to the alter. He never would draw close to the Lord, but he was a great man. One day they drove by his place and saw that he was outside working. He was sitting down and Sis Holley approached him. He had died there, probably never knowing God.
Being a nice person will not save you. Yes, kindness is a gift from the Lord. He created us to be this way. However, kindness and salvation are entirely different.
Then there was a man who was prayed for all the time. He had been invited to church on several occasions. One day he spoke up in arrogance and knowing that there was no service on Friday, said "I will be at church on Friday!" He was arrogant and crude in the way that he said it, almost as if to mock. He was at church that Friday alright, in a coffin.
And my story in short form:
I had repented for past faults in my life and felt the Lord for the first time when I was almost 17. A couple years later I was even slain in the Spirit at a church. The Lord had been drawing me to serve Him, but with things in my life and sin, I just kept running from Him. It wasn't until six years later when I was 23 that my running brought a spirit of fear and me to my knees. It landed me in the psychiatric ward for 9 days. My running was over and I called out to the Lord. I asked Him what I should do, forsaking all I knew about religion and growing up in the Catholic church.
Forsaking all I knew by family and those around me and what they believed. Even forsaking my own beliefs and thoughts, I decided to ask the Lord to show me what to do and that is when he opened the Book of Acts up to me and revealed His perfect plan of salvation. This is hid from so many people.
Yes obedience is great and we should obey the Word. However, we should also desire a relationship with the Lord as well. No relationship can last without that communication, that bond, that friendship and love.
This picture is me right after I started running from God - I was 17.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Shake it Off
Right now we are in revival and the Lord has been moving. In fact we had a youth rally at another church, then revival service at ours. That was about 4 hours of worshiping and praising the Lord. He is amazing.
The other night our evangelist told us a story about a goat. I felt it worthy enough to blog about. It was an awesome message, so I wanted to share it. I even started another blog just for Biblical inspirations. They encourage, uplift and bless others.
Getting on with this parable:
There was a farmer and a goat in the field. One day while the farmer wasn't looking his goat fell into a deep well. There he sat, helpless. The farmer knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to save the goat, so he decided to go ahead and bury him in the well.
Meanwhile, in the well, the goat was thinking that he was going to get up out of that well and was thankful that the farmer was shoveling down dirt. The more dirt he threw down there, the more he shook it off and jumped on top of it.
The farmer just kept throwing more and more dirt down there and the more he tried to bury the goat, the better off the goat was. He would just shake it off and jump up a little higher.
Whenever the enemy tries to bury you, just shake it off and put it under your feet. A child of God is a child of God. The Lord will see to it that whatever others try to do to hurt you, He will turn it around for the good.
The other night our evangelist told us a story about a goat. I felt it worthy enough to blog about. It was an awesome message, so I wanted to share it. I even started another blog just for Biblical inspirations. They encourage, uplift and bless others.
Getting on with this parable:
There was a farmer and a goat in the field. One day while the farmer wasn't looking his goat fell into a deep well. There he sat, helpless. The farmer knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to save the goat, so he decided to go ahead and bury him in the well.
Meanwhile, in the well, the goat was thinking that he was going to get up out of that well and was thankful that the farmer was shoveling down dirt. The more dirt he threw down there, the more he shook it off and jumped on top of it.
The farmer just kept throwing more and more dirt down there and the more he tried to bury the goat, the better off the goat was. He would just shake it off and jump up a little higher.
Whenever the enemy tries to bury you, just shake it off and put it under your feet. A child of God is a child of God. The Lord will see to it that whatever others try to do to hurt you, He will turn it around for the good.
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