Tag Archives: Christianity

What Does Jesus Do?

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Jesus will forgive your sins.  How would it feel to have a clean conscience for a change? Will others understand?  No, but you will.

He will teach you to listen.  If you let him, he will teach you how to obey his Heavenly Father.  Even if you are full of rebellion and are difficult to teach, he will provoke you to obedience.  If only you will continue to call on him.

He will teach you of the eternal way.  What men say is good, changes from hour to hour.  He will teach you what lasts forever.

One thing at a time, you will overcome difficulties in your life that you did not even know you had.  Then as the appearance of maturity arrives, you and He will do a significant work to obliterate rebellion.

In the process of becoming a man of God you will develop peace.  With a clean conscience, and proof in your soul that God has accepted you, you will find you have no fear.  And the longer you walk with Him as your Lord, the deeper that peace will penetrate.

You will find yourself teaching others.  Not because someone told you you have to go out and evangelize, but because you simply can’t keep your mouth shut.  And you will not only tell them the words, but you will act them out in the their presence.

In time you will come to know you have eternal life.  You will not just believe the words that you were told, you will know, with clarity, those words are true, and that they belong to you. 

Because he is always reliable, you will find yourself looking to him for every possible solution to every possible problem.  It won’t be a matter of discipline to go to prayer.  You will find you never leave it.

What does jesus do?  He will create such a change in you, that you will not be any resemblance to what you were.  And if you continue in the way, all this will happen to you while you were here.  Yes he can prepare you to be a citizen of heaven here.

By His Grace

Bruises and Stammering

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When you were a baby learning how to walk, you fell down a lot.  Did they beat you because you fell down? 

Eventually you learned how to walk.

When you went to school to learn how to read, did they pluck out your eyes because you didn’t read well?

Eventually you learned how to read.

You have learned how to do a great many things that humans are supposed to do.  Unfortunately for all of us, we were taught by imperfect people.  Still we learn.

They didn’t always love us through our troubles.  But we pushed ahead anyway.  We found the reason to make it happen.

An awful lot of Christians just tend to give up.  It seems to me that they attributed man’s form of love to God.  The expectations are steep.  But God’s patience and love are much higher.

When did you stop trying?  When did you start looking for the encouraging words?  At what number of attempts did you finally decide you can’t make it?

Look back.  I doubt you can remember, but you bruised your butt a whole lot before you took five steps.  Why didn’t you give up?  You struggled with letters until you thought you’d go blind.  Why didn’t you give up?

Christianity is only a matter of “want to”.  You had it then.  Why don’t you have it now?

By His Grace

The Resilient Church

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The persecution of the Christian Church does not work.  It’s been proven through the generations, that the more you beat Christians, the more Christians there are.  There’s a very logical reason for this.

It’s like a man who was brought before the judge for social disobedience.  When he refused to mend his ways, he was sentenced to 30 lashes.  When the lashing was completed he was sent with his bloody back to sit in a jail cell until he healed.

Two months went by.  He was called again before the magistrate.  “Did you love the lashes?”   The prisoner was asked.  The reply was matter of fact, there was no defiance in the man’s tone.  “No sir, I did not love the lashes.”

“That’s a good reply.”  Said the magistrate.  “Are you willing then to return to society and never repeat your wicked behavior?” 

“Sir, with all due respect, I did nothing wrong.  I was speaking the words of the Living God in public.  Many took offense at the words and the disturbance came up.  I was arrested as a social dissident.  But I did nothing wrong.”

“Then you will receive 30 more lashes and spend time in jail to heal.  Perhaps then you will change your mind.”   The judge’s sentence was firm.

“Your honor, I must confess.  I did not love the first lashing.  I will not love the second.  And I will refuse to capitulate with a society that is so corrupt, and hold so highly such unjust laws.”

My friends you cannot stamp out Christianity by violence.  But you have obviously learned your lesson.  You could not make us join your corrupt society.  So you have sent your corrupt society in among the family of God.

These have feigned allegiance to the Christ, long enough for the family of God to love them.  Then with heartbreaking stories they appealed for inclusion.  Willingly denying the call for holiness.

Now the family of God in Christ is bewildered.  They have loved you are corrupt people.  They do not desire to send them back outside.

You are succeeding in corrupting the church where beatings offered no profit.  But I will tell you this.  Christ Jesus is busily planting his crop outside your corrupted churches.

You thought you had finally succeeded in what beatings could not accomplish.  The church had become located in a prominent and conspicuous place.  But the Lord has anticipated and responded to your wicked behavior.

Christianity is on the rise!  You failed once by violence.  You will certainly fail by corruption.  No matter what you do, you will never stamp out the Church of Christ Jesus!

By His Grace

Love Doesn’t Hyde (pun intended)

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The gospel of Christ Jesus is far more than to simply say, “God is love”.  The proverbial “Kum-by-ya” stuff isn’t the whole story. The gospel of Christ Jesus requires us to prove it.

In case I’m misunderstood, which is highly likely, let me take a minute to explain please.

How many people do you know have said, “God is love”, but there’s no apparent change in their life?   And whatever change there might be lacks the rich and bold testimony of words.

If you examine their testimony, you would believe that the gospel asks nothing more of us than to admit that God is love.  But we know that isn’t true.

The cynic will point out their failure to believe.  He would accuse such people of being traitors to the cross.  Many times the cynic is not wrong.

But there’s another reason why people don’t “do” the gospel.  For the other reason, I gotta set it up.

No matter which way I turn I’m going to offend somebody.  After all this is a problem here, so there is then a fault.   So if this other reason offends somebody, that’s just going to have to be too bad.

We say the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives.  But apparently there’s not enough proof available.  I mean, we’ve got 20 million Christians in America (a number I just pulled out of my hat), and only about 5 million, are head over heels in love with Christ Jesus (another hat number).  So the examples of proof that the gospel changes lives are relatively few.  Not to mention that the changes we do see are somewhat minor.  Many changed Christian lives could be generated by laying on a psychiatrist’s couch. And isn’t that often literally the case?

Now this gets kind of sticky from here on out. 

But there are a lot of marginal Christians.  I don’t mean to say they’re not Christians.  And I don’t mean to say that they are new Christians.  They are Christians who just can’t seem to find the fire to do the whole gospel.

They know what the gospel says.  But apparently they just don’t care.  They only see the gospel as a self changing idealistic notion.  They may live a lot better than they did before they knew the gospel.  But sadly that seems to be enough for them.

What about all the other people that are looking for someone to say, “Hey this works”?  I’m not talking about pastors and preachers and teachers, in that they should say this!  But that the average Joe ought to jump in and provide the proof.

Look, let’s nail this down.  A hero is a hero because he does the stuff the average guy can’t do.  The entire world has a whole basket full of heroes.  That’s proof to me that they want somebody who can do the stuff the average Joe can’t do.

So come on average Joe Christian, why don’t you stop using the gospel for your own selfish interests, and start doing it so that you can be a hero for those who are looking for the truth.

Where is the love of God if we don’t dig in and prove that the gospel works?  How do we love our brother if we hide the efficacy of God’s love?

You know the gospel.  You know the heavy duty demands it has on anyone who calls on the name of Christ.  If you don’t obey God for yourself, do you think you might find the energy to do it for someone else?

You can pass this article around if you’d like to.  Or you could rewrite the concepts in your own words.  It really doesn’t matter.

But the way I see it, if we go on the hunt for a few who will turn into heroes, and find them, Christ wins!  The hungry win.  The world is put to shame.  And the church gets stronger.

How do we know there isn’t some selfish little guy out there, who after reading this becomes the next Spurgeon, Dwight l. moody, CS Lewis, Billy Graham, or (pick your Christian hero)?

By His Grace

Wobble Foot

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Walking along

And reading his Bible,

The Christian bobbled

Off the path.

The rebuke was very

Soft and warm,

Not at all

A word of Wrath.

A gentle kiss

Upon his cheek.

Drawing him back

To the narrow path

Was the One whom

Good men seek.
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Just a bobble,

And that’s so true,

By a well intentioned soul.

But let us strain

To watch our feet,

Lest we miss

The greater goal.

By His Grace

The Gospel Lay in Plain Sight

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Please allow me to speak for you, you who have known the man I was.  I perceive what you have seen in me.  I understand your confusion.  And, to some point, I am forced by righteousness to agree with your assessment of me.

I have been an ungodly, unholy, unrighteous, wicked, mean, and vicious man.  You are not wrong.  But do you know what the Gospel has to say?

I agree with you to the place I was.  But at the advent of His Holy Mercy upon me, you ceased to know me.  You retain the perception you had.  But you did not relent with wisdom to perceive the changes He has come to make in me.  How can I hold this against you?  You perceive in ignorance.  Your eyes are covered with “what was”.

The Gospel proclaims that God will transform any soul that calls out to Him in the power of His Holy Son.  I know there have been liars who have not displayed this power.  They have proclaimed that they are changed, yet no change was ever visible in their behavior.  And by these liars, you count my testimony as false.

But I know what I know regarding what the Holy Lord has done in me.  I know my testimony to you is worthless.  For your heart rightly perceives that the testimony of a man, regarding himself, is not possibly true.  On the testimony of two or three others, on this alone is a man’s behavior justified in the presence of any assembly.

God testifies for me, for my conscience is clear before His Holy Throne.  The Holy Son testifies for me, for it is He who has brought these holy things to appearance.  And the power of the Holy Spirit teaches me to inhabit the Holy things of the Living God.  And there are many witnesses to holy behavior that you will never meet.

All three of these reliable witnesses testify to what they have made come to pass in this man.  And the group of men who have witnessed a different man than you have ever known, testify to what they have seen.

But you cannot believe, for the sake of the lies, and the man I was.  Two things must be spoken here.

I will not hold your opinions against you, for your opinions are built on a faulty excuse for a man.  You are blinded to “what is”, by the power of “what was”.  God will not judge between us, nor on my behalf (as if to defend me).  Let your accusations be stricken from the accounting on the Holy Day of Judgment.

The Gospel lays in plain sight.  You, like me, are invited to believe.  I release you from any accusations.  But you are not released to remain in ignorance.  For I have testified these things before you:  The transformation of a man is True!  And that God, who cannot lie, has offered the sacrifice of His Holy Son, that all who will, might taste the power of God to heal their wicked heart.

These have been accomplished among you.  I have not arrived at this day (this “place”) unscathed by unholy behavior.  But, my dear friends, neither have you.  You will be held accountable, on that Holy Day, just as I will.  But I will be clothed by the Holy Blood of Christ Jesus, the Holy and Righteous Son of the Living God.  What will be your case, is determined, not by my prior behavior, but on what you do with the Living Testimony that speaks far more powerfully than any man can testify.

The Gospel speaks directly to the soul of every man!  No excuse will suffice.  I have released you.  Will you continue to use me as a shield between you and your own responsibility, or will you mount up on “Belief” to receive the power of God to become transformed?  Now the choice lay squarely in your own hands.