A well known entertainer was asked about his faith in God and whilst he spoke about Jesus as Lord and Redeemer, when asked if he was going to heaven, his reply was, “I hope so.” Given that he sometimes sang about God and that he was of the Protestant persuasion rather than Roman Catholic, I was surprised to hear that response. Over the years I’ve heard a few well known people speak of their faith in God, and, “I hope so,” in relation to heaven. But in listening closely, their hope was based on their religious behavior, denominational beliefs, or charitable good works. Heaven may be where they are now, but how sad, “I hope so” was Continue reading “Self-righteousness Is Not Righteousness”
The Despised Experience
Because a great deal of my life had been given to dissipation, ignorance and superstition before I encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, after encountering Him, I made up my mind that I would spend the rest of my life getting to know Him as well as stand for all that He stands for. Until I read the gospels, I had no idea that truth could be defined as the Lord Jesus Himself. To discover Jesus as being the way the truth and the life John 14:6, was a mind-blowing experience for me; nobody ever told me that before. I had known church-going people prior to that, but I never Continue reading “The Despised Experience”
God Likes Us That Should Be Enough
A bishop, seeking to make Christianity relevant to the lives of people in the communities of his diocese, asked a group of secondary college kids why most of them don’t go to church anymore. He knew they had once done so as younger children with their parents. The answers they gave were pretty much the same as those given to me over twenty years ago when ministering on the streets of my community, ‘ it’s boring’ ‘it’s really outdated’ ‘all the hymns and whatever, it’s really kind of depressing in a way’ and, ‘you have to remember all the stuff priests did to children and adults, that’s obviously a huge factor why not as many people go to church’ … referring Continue reading “God Likes Us That Should Be Enough”
Romanism Is An Offence To God
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly visited here recently and in a TV interview he was asked if he believed in a god. His response, “…….. I don’t even know if I don’t believe in God – I think the question is too big – but I know I don’t believe in the church.” In reference to horrific revelations of the Catholic Church covering up sexual abuse, Mr Connolly said, “I’m totally baffled by it because if it was, like… Suppose it wasn’t the Catholic Church, supposing it was the army that had been doing that or a company, like Apple, where all the CEOs had been doing it and been covering it up, they would be out of business tomorrow….. They would all be in jail.” Indeed, suppose. Continue reading “Romanism Is An Offence To God”
There’s God-given Authority and there’s Boldness!
The preacher said to his congregation, “Church people don’t believe God anymore so they’ve lost their God-given authority.” When I think of that living and powerful word that God has given the Church; when I look at the command, authority and promises of the word that Jesus gave His disciples and then look at the state of the world around us, I’m having difficulty in disagreeing with him. I doubt there’s any other way of explaining church people that remain silent when a nation’s president or prime minister, for example, expresses with Continue reading “There’s God-given Authority and there’s Boldness!”
If There Were Such a Word as ‘Evilist’…..
For a few brief minutes every work-day morning my wife and I have the TV on so as to catch up on news and weather reports. As far as the “news” is concerned, we are aware that they’re only reporting that which they want us to know rather than that which we ought to know, but oh how so brief it all is! Unless there’s been a disaster somewhere, the news report is over in two to three minutes … and then they move to the sport report, which can often be treble that time. Talk about a Continue reading “If There Were Such a Word as ‘Evilist’…..”
Jesus is God, God is Jesus!
A young man came to give me a quote on a new home appliance recently and as I was signing the contract he asked what my background was in relation to work. When there’s time to sit and talk I usually share some of my experiences, but that day there was no time to sit and therefore, no time to talk other than to say, “I’m a servant of the Most High God, His name is Lord Jesus.” He said, “I’m a Jehovah Witness.” He didn’t deny my proclamation but he politely asked, “how can Jesus be God, when the Scriptures say He is the firstborn Son?” That’s a common Continue reading “Jesus is God, God is Jesus!”
God Did Get It Right The First Time
The other day I got some deeper insight into why much of the church is where it’s at spiritually throughout the world. I listened to a preacher on You Tube tell his church that they, “need to understand that there are people even in the translation of the Bible who have a low view of the Bible.” I was startled by the statement initially, then saddened as he explained it further. He said, “They feel that the prevailing power which reigns over the Scripture is the contemporary reader rather than the author. So the idea of the translation is not to Continue reading “God Did Get It Right The First Time”
You Can’t Get More Closed-minded Than That!
In sharing my testimony with people about how I first encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, the response has sometimes been something along the lines of, “I’m a Christian too, but I’m not a fundamentalist … I don’t base my Christianity solely upon the Bible, like you do.” When asking what else it is they base their Christianity upon they’ve referred to a variety of things: holding to church traditions, religious rituals and ceremonies, extra-biblical writings or, books and teachings of their church leaders and theologians. Whatever their answer, it has usually Continue reading “You Can’t Get More Closed-minded Than That!”
The Need To Hear What We Don’t Want To Hear
In a telephone conversation with a Christian man recently, he asked me to pray for a man in his church who is thinking of marrying an eastern European single mother in her mid-30’s. The man, in his mid-50’s, hasn’t met this woman face to face but from what he knows about her he apparently thinks the marriage would work out and so he’s doing all he can to get her here. I know nothing about the success rate of such marriages, but I asked my caller if the man had permitted his church to bring him wisdom, counsel and caution on such a serious matter. Some have, but he Continue reading “The Need To Hear What We Don’t Want To Hear”