An app, the Olympics, and the meaning of life

This post, like the blog on the spread of memes - and how spreading the Gospel, with the great love and salvation Jesus gives should be just as easy - touches on a specific Internet fad, as well as a much more ancient tradition: the Olympics.

Even in the 1500 or so years the Olympics weren't around, people could identify with Paul's use of masteries to describe how we should live the Christian life. It might seem silly to compare Pokemon Go to them - after all, fads are often forgotten by many soon after they appear. How many remember pogs, for instance?) Still, it makes an apt analogy for today, just as Paul used a few sports as illustrations. After all, here people are not just picking up on a meme, they are actively looking for something.

Where's Waldo

Games have kept our attention for quite a while. Some of those playing this new app may be familiar with  Where's Waldo books, where kids look for a character named Waldo in a huge crowd. In fact, one could argue that this is a life-sized version of Where's Waldo, where one actually gets out and looks.

Apparently, though I know nothing about it, there are other creatures to find in this game, but we won't get into that. We don't know much about Waldo either, and he could easily have a large family. Seriously, the idea of searching for something is wonderful. It gets people active, and help them realize they can accomplish something.

If we had a where is Jesus app, we would want to look in the Bible. We would also find Godly attributes in the people of God and hang around them because they should edify us and we them - we should bear each other's burdens, love one another, encourage one another, exhort one another, and so on. All this is because we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth,  God lives in each of us through the Holy Spirit .

But, you're saying, there has to be more to this blog post than just that, right?

Yes. That above is plenty, of course. It is important, in this difficult world, to seek what will bring us the peace, comfort, help, and so much more that we lack. And, most of all, we must seek that forgiveness and salvation that we all crave, that unconditional love which God provides.

However, there is even more that our ever-loving God has for us.

"Go" is also vital. Because we are told to go and make disciples of every nation. So, this will also exhort each of us, myself included, to go more often.

Go into all the world

So, people are going around in so many different places to find these creatures. While it's true they don't have to interact with them in reality - and with some of them it's possible they wouldn't want to - they are still going in search of things.

There have been stories of people wandering into dangerous parts of zoos, where are real animals could attack them, and walking into poles and other things. In other words, people just being rather silly.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the silliness, if it is done unto the Lord and something that is pleasing to him. I skip down the street sometimes a little bit when I walk. 1st Corinthians 10:31 does tell us whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do all for the glory of God.

However, we are the rewards in heaven because of what we do for Him. Even better than looking for Waldo in a book or some creature on an app is searching for people to tell the wonderful good news of the Gospel to. Because, the only things we can take with us are souls of those who are saved.

However, Heaven will be filled with things more wonderful than we can even imagine. 1st Corinthians 2:9. This life is so awful for some people, while for others it may be good on the outside they may be hurting on the inside. Still others may be wondering, with all the problems in the world, is it coming to an end soon or will something else awful happen?

These are people who need to be told of the fabulous stuff that is waiting for us in Heaven. Heaven will not be boring, it will be a fabulous place where, in the words of a 105 year old believer who died in Scotland recently, "Thank the Lord for good friends, I'm going to be here forever and ever!" Those friends that maybe we wish we had, they'll be there. The fun we wish we could have instead of the drudgery of life, it will be there in Heaven. It will be a place of no pain, no suffering.

There is a horrible alternative, though, which God did not create for humans. He only created hell for the devil and those angels who rebelled. Matthew 25 41. However, people go there when they choose on their own to reject Jesus Christ. They need to be told that he is real and that He has saved them from their sins, and then all they need to do is call on Him by faith to save them and forgive them, believing that He died on the cross for them to take the punishment for their sins and rose from the dead.

What an incredible Adventure, to go and tell people that their sins are forgiven, if they will only receive it. They don't have to come to church, they can be led to Christ right there on the street, wherever you are.

This is what we should be doing. This is why there are Ministries like our YouthQuake Ministry, and why we need so many more helpers and so many more funds for our radio. We led  5 kids to Christ at a club meeting recently and could do so much more in inner-city Canton. It is why we have Youth Leader Training Institute, YLTI, so we can include the young people and train them to go into their schools and start prayer and devotion clubs and leave their friends to Christ and help them grow in the Lord.

So, please, give if you feel led, you can see on our website how. We have missionaries and staff who need support so that they don't have to work secular jobs and can concentrate on the ministry. Support our golfathon and other things, so we can have a larger radio show as well. Work in your own Community also, wherever God has placed you.

But most importantly comma remember that we are called to go ourselves. And that is people can go around with an app finding imaginary things, that life-sized version of Where's Waldo - nay, World sized version - then surely we can go out and share the gospel, even doing so via the Internet like this. Just as Paul exhausted believers 2 work like Olympians who try for a corruptible crown, strive for an uncorruptible one by searching hard for those who need Christ and sharing His love with them.

True freedom comes when we trust Jesus to save

This is written on Independence Day in one country. However, that independence can be celebrated everywhere as freedom from all the problems the devil throws our way.

Without God, we are still in our sins. As mentioned numerous places, such as here, Sonship doesn't mean physical relations (the Arabic Walad"), it means that Jesus is the very essence of God, having every attribute, etc. (the rabic "ibn"). "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."(Colossians 2:9) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us"(John 1:1-,14) "I and My father are one."(John 10:30) Many other verses also point to the fact that Jesus Christ is God in flesh, and "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."(1 John 5:12)

That eternal life - life which begins at the moment you trust Jesus Christ to save you, so you can have life more abundantly as the previous post discusses - is only a single, sincere prayer of repentance to Jesus Christ away. As shown right on the front of our ministry site, simply Admit you're a sinner, Believe Jesus Christ died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the death, and Call on Him to save you and forgive you and make you new inside. You can do that right now.

However, it is not just frreedom from sin.

Some cultures place a lot of emphasis on the collective. There is a sense of shame in not being like everyone else. However, that shame vanishes when we trust Christ.

Imagine being the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. He was the first person in his country, most likely, to receive Christ. Even if he wasn't, there have been others who were in their countries. (After all, someone had to be first.) Those firsts represent the potential for God to use that person to liberate their whole society. Everyone they come in contact with is someone else who can be saved from the punishment deserved for their sins, that being eternal separation from God forever in a place called Hell. Hell was only prepared for the devil and his angels that rebelled(Mat. 25:41). People go there because they haven't trusted in God's free gift of salvation. And yet, how shall they hear without someone to tell them.

That is the wonderful thing about being the first in one's family. If a person is a Muslim, or a Hinfu, or a Buddhist, and nobody else has believed, then they are together burdened by the shame of not knowing Jesus. And yet, they only have to come to trust Him to save them, and then who knows, their faith might lead others to trust in Jesus Christ to save them fromt heir sins.

There is also freedom from fear. Fear of evil spirits, ancestors, and other things haunt many people. However, these spirits are nothing compared to God and His wonderful love. We fight a spiritual battle every day, but we don't have to do it alone. In fact, we have no chance to win alone. We must rely on Jesus Christ to win that battle. But, the wonderful thing is, we know that He will. The Bible tells us so.

So, when we trust Him to free us from that fear - and 1 Timothy 1:7 promises He hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind - we can be certain that we will only have a healthy respect for God the way we have a healthy respect for a hot stove. We're not scared of it, but we also know not to touch it becasue we'll get burned. However, we will not be scared, because God has freed us from the burden of our sin.

Romans 8:1 promises that "There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." The stains of our sins have been washed away. He has removed them as far as the est is from the west, and will remember them no more.The devil may try to remind us of them, but we can be sure that God has promised that Jesus Christ has taken all of them upon Himself.

What amazing freedom! It's so wonderful to be independent of the devil and his wiles, and of the string of death. When we are, we cleave to Jesus Christ not because we have to, but because we want to out of our love for Him.  After all, we can't serve two masters - Jesus says we'll love one and hate the other or vice versa. There is no possibility of ignoring both of them.

So, the question is, are you giving God your most today. Are you celebrating freedom by honoring Him not because you have to, but because you want to? That is the only way to do it, because we can't be saved by works, only by grace along through faith alone in Christ alone.

Let God give you life more abundantly, and make the most of what He gives

In John 10:10, Jesus says He came so those who trust in Him to save them from their sins could have life and life more abundantly.

This post is meant to encourage people to see a  certain aspect of our culture the way God sees it. If He says He'll give more abundant life, then it makes sense to get that, since it'll be more plentiful, fulfilling, etc. than what we could have without Him, right?

Odd start, I know; it sounds like the middle of one of these posts. It's important, though, because like anything Godly, the devil wants to counterfeit it and try to trick people into following the counterfeit. But don't worry, if you see on my personal blog a similar post it's just me doing one geared toward thankfulness, etc..

"Make the most of life" - the right and wrong way

That societal aspect is wanting to get the most out of life. We hear slogans about it all the time. Of course, we want quality out of life, not just quantity. John 10:10 and other verses promise that Jesus will give us both. This is not just eternal life in Heaven. Eternal life begins right here, at the moment you call on Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, as this explains, and make you new inside. As I discussed in this ministry blog post, people have constant contact through the Internet but it doesn't provide the unconditional love and depth of relationship that a personal relationship with Jesus provides.

The idea of living life to its fullest can be used to make sure one gives all for the glory of God and tries not to miss any chance to glorify Him whether eating, drinking, whatever they do.(1 Cor.10:31). In this way, "making the most out of life" means using that life that we have for Him.

This is an especially understandable motto if you're like me and influenced by several relatives in medical/physical therapy professions who see much suffering and, less often, dying (orthopedists thankfully don't see it as often as nurses). It can certainly be used for good then. It is quite logical to merge "you only live once" - used often online with the hashtag YOLO - into that.

However, this is one of those mottos the devil has counterfeited to a great extent, taking something innocent on its face and turning it into evil.

This is where we must be careful of the devil's wiles, because "You only live once" has been usurped by the devil, as explained by Chris Townsend, to get people to think that they, and not God, have ultimate say in every aspect of their lives. Instead of adding 1 Corinthians 10:31 as a reminder to do all you can to spread the Gospel and show His love through your actions, many take the idea of having but one life to mean one may do whatever they want, in blatant disregard for God and His eternal truths, because they are led to believe there are no consequences to sin.

There are consequences, however, to all sin, including especially the fact that Jesus Christ had to die to take the punishment for our sin.

So, how do we make sure we're on the right path, and looking at that life we have as we should?

To "those who will love life," 1 Peter 3:8-11

Part of this show we at "Quest for Truth" did on connecting with the culture, discussed how 1 Peter 3:10 speaks of those who will love life in a positive way - saying they should keep their tongue and lips from speaking evil and guile, thus avoiding lying, gossiping, etc. Indeed, while we didn't have time to exegete it all (one great thing about using this blog), this brings in the previous two verses - on being compassionate, not returning evil for evil, etc - and the next verse, which speaks of doing good and eschewing evil.

So, for us to truly do this, we need to eschew evil.. We need to be the opposite of the coarsening society around us, and "be not conformed to this world" but rather "transformed, by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."(Rom.12:2)

So, clearly it is proper to love that eternal life believers are given, if done according to Godly principles - being transformed by the Spirit into someone who values eternal life, not what the world gives. This is especially apparent when we realize 1 Peter aalso warns that one may have to suffer a lot for their faith. Even if someone's lot is not to be martyred - and there are many who are elsewhere in the world - we will all face adversity. Jesus says "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world"(John 16:33). Even if not everyone will be martyred or even horribly persecuted, the devil will fight us, and our own fleshly nature will be a battle, too.

This is where we see the battle form between looking at life the right way and the wrong way. In persecutions and the storms of life, a follower of Christ - even if not horribly persecuted - will lose opportunities from the world's perspective. However, God will give opportunities which are better from an eternal perspective, which is the important one. His opportunities will be ones that earn Eternal Rewards, or which will lead to things that will earn Eternal Rewards.

For example, a man I know, and his wife, didn't have peace about accepting a promotion he was offered to what he thought would be the job of his dreams, so he didn't take it. As it turned out weeks later, had he taken that promotion, he wouldn't have been home nearly as fast and his wife may have bled to death at the end of a difficult pregnancy, and the baby might not have survived; even if he had been home the transfer they'd have had would have mean they'd have been an hour away from a good hospital, not a few minutes like they were. God then gave him a better job a few years later. What a great testimony to God's Spirit working and helping us, as well as to what those aforementioned relatives would say about making every moment matter, family being most important (next to God of course, who as we see here provides for that), etc..

I could go a variety of different directions on this, of course. You can too, I'm sure. That idea of eschewing evil itself is one that isn't practiced much nowadays, as the world becomes worse.And, it's not just because some people are putting jobs, money, and other things ahead of God - at times it's because some people are choosing to follow a life filled with lusts, selfishness, and other sins.

The evils of the world won't last, though. Neitehr will anything in the world, even the best things; Jesus says Heaven and eath will pass away. Jesus promises us something much better with those Eternal Rewards, because they can't grow old, rust out, etc., and nobody can take from from us. And, where our treasure is, there will our heart be also.(Mat.6:19-21)

So, a good part of the secret to loving life is building treasures in Heaven. That's because the life that matters isn't here on Earth.

The Life That Matters Is the Eternal Life God Can Give

 The man I mentioned, a follower of Christ, is certainly very grateful that God led him to decline the position and thus probably save his wife and child's lives. However, had he decided on his own to decline it - though such a decision wouldn't have made sense from the world's perspective - he could still say that at least he put his family first, right?

Sure, that's why we have to remember that the life that truly matters is the eternal life God promises to those who trust Him to save them from their sins. Because, without that, we have to suffer for our own sins, and God doesn't want us to have to do that. We could love what we have till we die physically, and it could be somthing like family or relationships or helping others. However, it is by grace - a free gift - we are saved through faith, and "that not of ourselves, if is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph.2:8-9) In other words, a person who always puts their family first, always cares about others, and all those otehr good thigns is still a sinner in need of a Saviour - if they sinned only 3 times a day that's still over 1,000 a year. Without calling on Jesus and receiving Jesus' free gift of salvation that person would also die spiritually. And, god doesn't want that for anyone; people choose it when they reject Him.

The life Jesus gives that is much more abundant than what we have now. It isn't just the fact God can guide a man to turn down something worldly in order to save his wife and child because He knows the future and we don't. That's just the icing on the cake, the benefit of a personal relationship with God. The main part of that abundant life is that life Jesus Christ gives a person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins. Only when one does this does one have eternal life. He who hath the Son hath life, and he who hath not the Son hath not life.(1 John 5:12) Just living a Godly life is not enough, one must know Christ personally. Eternal is much more special, much more abundant.

Still, part of that life we can love is in how we are living here on Earth, those things we are doing for the Lord, rather than pleasing ourselves. Instead of the evil motto of "do what thou wilt with no care for the things of God," following Godly principles is the way we love life and make the most of it.

Making the Most of Life by Glorifying God

We use our talents, abilities, and opportunities to glorify Him and to share His love with others. This is something those who do not have eternal life can't do. They can only glorify themselves, and if they give glory to God it is not because He is their savior, it is because they are simply paying lip service or believing in some vague force and not in who God is, a personal God who must punish sin but has done so by taking the punishment for our sin, dying on the cross for each of us and rising from the dead.

So, adding some of these talents and abilities to 1 Corinthians 10:31, one can see that whether you are a public speaker, writer, performer, or anything else,  that should be used to glorify God.

 This is how we can have life more abundantly here, not just in Heaven. It also brings those verses from 1 Peter and the exhortation to build treasures in Heaven into things.(It's neat how the Bible comes together like that - four different books written by different people in different places. The Bible is internally consistent when you look at the context of everything, because God the Holy Spirit inspired the writers to write it, He just used each individual person's personality and style. It's just like a child colors with a crayon, the child is creating but that crayon is using its individual hue.)

So, if, for instance, a performer is singing, acting, or whatever in some secular role, they can still glorify God by being light in the darkness. They can choose never to use lyrics that are vulgar or suggestive, but instead ones that uplift. They can encourage things like those things we should think on in Philippians 4:8.(Focus on a song's words forward, not how some used to talk of stuff backwards or even the type, things which distract from the real issue. Frank Sinatra's "My Way" may be the most often quoted secular song by pastors - in sermons on false pride - and it doesn't even have a guitar.)  They can make sure the focus is on God and what He can do, not on themselves. They can, in other words, eschew evil.

Why is that important? Those who try to have everything for themselves are never satisfied. They can't find fulfillment and so they keep trying to find it in pleasure, sometimes drugs, and usually in things that glorify themselves. However, if they are never satisfied, they are truly getting the most out of life, are they? They know something is missing, but not what.

This is the way the devil feeds them. It's a lie that says that they can please themselves with no consequences and that will be sufficient. They might trick themselves into thinking they will be happy if it's always all about them and what they can get. However, they wind up not being happy and that sin has consequences, all the way to a devil's Hell if one doesn't trust Jesus Christ by faith by calling on Him to forgive them for their sins and make them new inside.

So, to love life, focus on the right kind - make sure you have made that choice to accept Christ's free gift of salvation by calling on Him by faith to save you. Then, live for Him, so you can have Him work in you and give you that fulfillment.

Importance of God's people teaching others resilience

Odd title, I know. What is resilience, why is it needed, and why must the body of Christ work harder to build it in those outside the church?

Don't worry, this won't be twenty pages, despite the resemblance to the first paragraph of a term paper. Parts of this post will be on another blog I do, though, which I mention in case parts seems familiar.

 Why is resilience important?

An object's resilience is its elasticity. In people, it's the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. However, it is important to do this in a constructive way. People should realize God loves them just as He loves everyone, for God is love, and if they know Him personally He will always be there for them. They should also recognize other people matter because God loves them, too.

Building it is what James 1:2-5, 1 Peter 1:6-9, and other passages teach. In functional homes where people follow the Lord, that's pretty easy, though with some easier than others. Everyone has different levels because we're all built differently - not everyone has the resilience to survive a foreign mission field (though we are all called to be missionaries where we are), for instance, and some who can handle one field couldn't handle another.

And yet, people often don't realize how much they can do unless they step out In faith. That's part of why it's vital to follow God's plan for our lives. He knows us better than we do ourselves. If David had never stepped out and killed the lion and bear attacking the sheep, he never would have developed the courage and faith to slay Goliath. And yet, some people wouldn't have been able to even kill a lion or bear. It's not a bad thing if a person can't, they are just different parts of the body of Christ, just as the nose is important but you wouldn't use it to lift things. 

(To type if need be, yes - that is not it's normal use, but the notion is part of resilience. Little kids who try may just seem silly, but God is using such fun to help build resilience, becasue they learn how to improvise, that just because they might lack something doesn't mean God can't use them.)

"Okay," you may say, "people need resilience, and the Bible shows how to have it." But, I didn't write all that just to remind some people of a word they may not have used since high school, did I?

No. There is a severe lack of resilience in some areas, and we must work extra hard to build it in people from there if we are to fulfill God's calling to reach and minister to others.

We must be resource for those who lack it

Not everyone has well-functioning families where everyone is Christlike, where all behave in a Godly way, or at least try to show Christlike traits. To some people you may be the only example of Jesus Christ they will ever see.

Therefore, it's vital to start slowly and help them to realize that God loves them by showing that love, compassion, positive attention, etc. - after all, some people have no clue how to be gentle, for instance, unless someone shares it with them.

Our ministry saw a kid who we hope had been saved - and part of our ministry - for several years who finally start going to church late last year. (Update - he's had more problems, please pray for him and that he has heart knowledge and not just head knowledge of salvation.) He had been saved, and he's had great enthusiasm, but his home life - with people who also lacked resilience - has meant that he needed to be around people who were going to model Christlike behavior, giving him positive attention, encouragement, etc. that he needed. Merely sitting in a church service wasn't going to help him. (The fact we didn't have a ministry van for 2.5 years also hurt.) And, while a Bible study with our founder and his wife is helping one adult in the family, even that is a very slow process because of years of turmoil.

He wasn't as bad off as some people, of course. Some people think that they have no hope. The lack of respect for human life is evident in places like New Orleans, for example. It is not a political problem, because rules can't solve the problem of peoples' attitudes. It is a heart problem. Albert Einstein, speaking in the late 1940s, considered the massive destructive power of the atomic bomb, for instance, and said, "I know not what weapons we will fight World War 3 with, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones."

In other words, mankind would bounce back - resilience - but even the most brutal weapons - designed to wipe out entire civilizations and take the tech level back to the Stone Age - would not teach people to avoid warfare.

So, clearly, there is a need for Godly resilience, the kind that lets people draw closer to God - like in that individual Bible study - instead of always reacting in the flesh.

God offers hope that the world doesn't

I mentioned earlier that God's system is the right way - it respects people more than peoples' systems, since mankind's is imperfect. Many will point to the war quote and say that we have always had people that don't care about life, that increase the destructiveness of things. While that is true, the increasing number of people who feel there is no hope is sad and alarming.

This feeling stems from a focus only on this life. When one doesn't feel that one has any purpose, it becomes easier for them to decide that nothing matters. That is when they will decide to simply react and use their instincts more and more instead of using faith - and, as those verses mentioned earlier show, faith, patience, and so on are things that need to be built over time. It is rare - though it does happen - when a person has an incredible amount of faith and courage right away.

This world tears us down and tries to make us think there is no hope. However, the opposite is true. Resilience doesn't have to mean just reacting. It should be relying more and more on God to help one overcome difficulties.

Build Godly resilience in others

Each person matters; each person is important. God cares about each of us more than we can imagine. Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.(Ps.139:14)
 

Of course, simply being told that is not always good enough. A person needs a reason to keep going. Hopefully, this will help give some ideas as to how to encourage people to do that.

 First, get to know people, earn their trust (which in itself can be very hard at times), and be that kind, caring person they need. Be willing to conduct individual Bible studies with someone, or with a few people. Discovery Bible studies, for instance, help to stimulate conversation and bring the person closer to the Lord, and while it isn't quite the one-on-one mentoring mentioned above, it is good for helping to foster community. Although, it should be noted that it can be harder in the cities because of a lack of community at times; this is one reason why that friendship needs to be built up over time sometimes. People there are often lonelier.

One of our shows interviewing someone in such a situation is #114 here, too. (Edit: Part 2, as show #117, is now up, too.)

of course, that sense of community is needed everywhere, as I discussed here in the need for constant contact people seem to have, a need that can be fulfilled with a relationship with Christ.

That relationship with Jesus Christ is the key, of course. We can't solve all of a person's problems, but God can, even if all He can do is give the person peace and stability so they can be more resilient in the difficult place they are in life. Here is a great page explaining further how we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. And, that He came in flesh, Jesus Christ is God in flesh and died to take the punishment we each deserved for our sins., and then He rose from the dead. And, all one must do is call on Jesus Christ by faith to save them and forgive them, turning from their sins and letting Him make them new inside. We won't be perfect here on Earth, but He will work in us bit by bit each day. See show #91 on sanctification and others at our website's radio page. Other shows will also help.

As a parachurch ministry, our original purpose was to come alongside churches and help with things like Bible quizzing, evangelistic rallies, and so on, while directing youth toward Gospel preaching churches. Nowadays, that has changed a little, but that is because we are starting over in some respects with the new minivan.

Greater Canton Youthquake can still be great in the body of Christ by helping our inner-city youth to have that resilience that they need. However, to do that we need help. No, don't worry, I'm not asking for donations with this post :-) (Though our site does show how.)  We need people like you to pray and - if you are in the area - perhaps even serve.

Even if you're not in our area, you can still do great things in your area to promote that resilience. In fact, contact us and we will help you learn how to set up a Youthquake club of your own, as long as you abide by our statement of faith.

 Wherever you serve the Lord, though, remember that some people are really hurting. We need to come alongside others and help and guide them so they see the love of God and realize how much He cares. We need to be that caring parent that they never had. We need to have those Bible studies with them. We need to do all those little things with them sometimes so they can do as Ephesians 6:11-18 teaches about the full armor of God.

The Bible tells us that, in the end, we should be able to put it on so that we - having done all - can stand. It's just that some can't stand on their own. Oh, sure, we all need to rely on God to stand, we can't do it ourselves. But, when a person doesn't know how, we need to come alongside them and help them to know how to stand with God.

Uniting in God's Word - and the word "begotten"

You might wonder why "begotten" is called all-important, but first, a question. Are people united to commit crime united in a good work? Of course not.

Speaking of unity, this is also going up on my own personal blog site which I link below, for those wondering why they see this twice. :-)

Examples of when uniting wonderful

Jesus often asks questions to help listeners think about the answers to their own questions. While it is not the focus of this post, the parable of the Good Samaritan is a great example - we often ask, "Who is my neighbor?" Muslims are one answer to that - we need to share with them how to have a personal relationship with a loving, gracious God who gave Himself for them, so He can save them from their sins and make them new inside. This post shares good tips and resources that are vital to "snatch them in pity from sin and the grave" as the hymn - and much more sensible title - goes.

Of course, there is a wonderful way to show how to unite for positive things. The Jews and Samaritans couldn't stand each other in those days. I don't know if it inspired him, but Daryl Davis has made a life out of befriending people who don't like him.  However, we do need to be careful to be united in a Godly work, such as peacemaking.

I've said many times in this blog that God's Word proves we are all one race, the human race - something acknowledged in secular media, too. However, there are times when we can't pretend there are no differences. this is why that word - "begotten" - will come up, because it doesn't just mean "only." it means of the same essence, the same substance.

Clearing up misconceptions

This is a misconception that Muslims have about Christians. Let me start by pointing out a few things from the post I linked.  Some people think Muslims and Christians worship the same god, but we don't, and "Sonship is one big reason. Muslims say Allah had no son because they only think of physical relationships when they think of a son. They don't realize that Sonship In the Biblical sense is the Arabic "ibn" - this means a perfect likeness, having every attribute of the original.

This Arabic word, "ibn," shows that Jesus is a perfect likeness, He is God in flesh(John 1:14, etc.) because in Him(Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.(Col. 2:9) There is also a way or two to explain the Godhead which will help. Here is a site that might help with a few misconceptions. Also, simply explaining "I am a father, a son, and a brother - one man, three attributes is a start. The point is that we can agree that God is one god, and go fromt here to show how He manifests Himself.(As that first one does with talking about how God manifested Himself to Moses, etc..) As this site on answering Islam shows, unique is even a better translation than "only," since monogenes has no direct translation into English, but "only" is surely incorrect. Only begotten is even better, though, than unique, because Begotten means having all the attributes in a way unique doesn't.

So, clearly there are times when we have a truth to stand on - what "Sonship" means - that needs to be explained to eliminate misunderstanding. It wouldn't do to pretend that difference doesn't exist, because bringing it to light improves understanding of what the Bible says.

Philippians 4:2-3 - where Paul tells two ladies, Euodice and Synteche, to be of one mind "in the Lord." However, that phrase, "in the Lord," means to put aside petty differences and follow Christ. Their argument might have been heated - Paul asks others to help them, those who were perhaps able to help to mediate the dispute by helping them talk things out. But, they were not disagreeing about fundamentals of the faith.

In other words, just like explaining Sonship above increases understanding by pointing out what truth is, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, clearly insists elsewhere that we must be unified in sound Doctrine and not allow false Doctrine to enter our churches. Because, sound doctrine increases understanding.

This post from a ministry blog I do goes into more detail after a while about the sound doctrine we need to hold fast to because the points are connected with God being a personal, loving God who took the punishment for our sins when He died on the cross and rose again. It also has more links to our radio shows - which can be found here - though this post in the blog you're reading has different things regarding supporting what we believe and support, not just what we are against. So, both are good to read.

However, I'm going to come at one in particular from an unusual angle, because it will help to end confusion in a number of areas.

So, what's with the word "begotten"?

So, you might be thinking, "Okay, so the point about "begotten" is that it points to Christ's Deity." That's a major part of it, yes. The meaning is so much deeper than something simple like only.

Begotten shows that all attributes of God were passed on. Jesus had "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."Col.2:9 We are adopted as children, as Romans 8, John 1;12, and others show. However, we don't get every single attribute of God, we don't become all-powerful for example. We will never have that kind of attribute. There are a few which we don't have on earth because of our sin nature, but in Heaven we shall become sinless, have perfect love, etc.. However the Lord will never share all His attributes Jesus Christ only has all of them because he is God in flesh.

And yet, in His love God does give us the power to become the sons of God if we believe on His name(John 1:12) - that is, trust Him and call on Him by faith to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Begotten, then, shows the difference between a believer and the Lord, yet also shows the Deity of Christ and allows us to, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath given ucto us," that we, too, can be called the children of God.

This incredible love is something people in other cultures often don't understand or even have access to - people all over the world seek freedom from sin, from guilt, from shame, and from fear. These things leave them in bondage to the world's system, one that tries to work one's way to Heaven.

"Okay," you might say, "the Deity of Christ, God's love for us, and the freedom we have in Him are wonderful to unite behind. They are all present in that word Begotten the way they are not in the word only. But, is that the only problem with versions that don't use begotten?

No, and that's the big problem.

Stick with the Antiochan Greek

 When you use "Begotten" you're using a word translated from Greek. Gotquestions has a good explanation here. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew(Old Testament), Greek(New Testament) and a little bit of Aramaic that is not important for this discussion.

the original Greek manuscripts, from Antioch, were written first, with Greek from Alexandria used a century later. That Greek from Alexandria made changes that confused thigns and caused problems with doctrine. the King James Version is the only one straight from the Antiochan texts. Here is a great post from someone else about it.

To sum up what the above link says, other versions - which take from Alexandrian texts - have many problems like this. We as Christians aren't perfect, as I noted in another post. We are all still growing closer to Christ and needing Him to battle our flesh nature. Salvation is an instant event,(Rom.10:9-10,13; Acts 16:31; etc.) but as this show reveals. (This is why one must beware of modern Bible versions that use the Alexandrian text, modern texts do things like changing 1 Peter 2:2 to make it sound like you grow in your salvation when the King James, from the original Antiochan texts, shows clearly growth is through the Word of God and is only in one's sanctification.

 Another good link that shows what some other big differences are is here. Our Youthquake site even had a book noted which founder/director Sal Varsalone wrote exposing a lot of problems - see "No Counterfeit Bibles" here.

One of those esy to notice is in Luke 2:33 and Luke 2:44, where the King James says "Joseph and Jesus' mother."Mary was, biologically, Jesus' parent, but Joseph was not. to say "Jesus' father and mother" is also an attack on Jesus' Deity. While it's true that Philip says "the son of Joseph," he is merely making a human mistake because of his excitement at finding the Messiah. He wasn't taking time to think that Messiah had to be God in flesh. Those verses in luke, though, are part of something the Holy Spirit is revealing to us as Scripture. Luke was inspired to write - in his very meticulous style - "Joseph and Jesus' mother" becase that's what God wanted people to understand, that Jesus was not related biologically to Joseph, and that He was born of a virgin.

You can hear shows about the Deity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, and other vital doctrines in our shows here.

The Bible is totally reliable, though, when you look at the original texts, as this site shows. And, one of the most important parts of that is that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for each of our sins and rise from the dead. He was the perfect sacrifice that was necessary to pay the entire price for our sins. And, each one of us must simply trust Him by faith, calling on Him to save and forgive them from their sins. Here is a more detailed explanation of God's simple plan of salvation.

Unite in sound doctrine as spiritual warfare increasing - be united in sound doctrine, "Choose this day whom you will serve"

Much of this will also be on my personal blog on prayer, too, soon, in case anyone sees repeats. Anyway...

God provides a choice all through the Bible. Joshua's command to "choose this day whom ye will serve" - followed by his promise that, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"(Josh.24:15) - is the most famous of such verses. But, it exists throughout the Bible. Adam and Eve had to choose to trust the Lord in a sinless world or bring sin into the world, for instance. Elijah, in 1 Kings 18, had a famous debate with the servants of the false god Baal in which he challenged the people to choose whom they would serve.

Such a time is coming now to America.

Spiritual Warfare Getting Worse

I, Doug, posted in a personal blog about the need to pray that the devil not counterfeit anything in Los Angeles. There is a real danger of false doctrine there. Now, we not only need to trust the Lord to get us through that - and stay away from idols ourselves - but also we must pray for God's protection. it was announced that. As Pastor JD Farag noted in his weekly prophecy update, a replica of a temple to Baal is being placed in New York City and London - something that is a very huge deal.

(EDIT: The following week's update shared a change in plans which was announced with no explanation, but clearly it was true at one point. We don't know for sure but we do know prayer works!)

Now, first, let me put on my reporter cap and say I'm trusting Pastor Farag with his vetting of these stories.  He seems to be someone who isn't prone to sensationalism, though he gets a little excited at times over things in the Middle East because of his concern for his homeland and the Jewish people.(An Arab, he was born in and has family in the Middle East.) So, like a reporter who has heard something from a seemingly reliable source and checked a few sites himself, I'm letting you know what I've heard.

However, whether or not it was true, America still has huge problems, and it is vital that we choose this day whom we will serve, just as the people did in Elijah's time. Even without the evil arch coming to New York, America is still filled with idolatry. It is not just idols made with hands that can't see or hear or anything, like the Bible talks about. Our idols - some of which are discussed in this show - are all those things we value ahead of God.

Beware of False Unity

Sadly, given the way this country has gone, it would not surprise me if the story was correct, however. Sometimes, unity has been pushed at the expense of the absolute truth of God's Word. Unity can be bad, obviously, just as when people unite to commit a crime.

There is so much acceptance of such problems that many churches are inundated with people who don't mind the worship of idols. That is why our series on the danger of Masonry in the church was so important. It can be heard in this and this show where a former Mason.discusses his background and why he left, and then in this and this show on Masonry in the church. The crux of the series is that churches need to avoid any leaders or any influence from Masonry because Masons do not believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as the only way to Heaven. Salvation must be by faith and not by works, as numerous shows of ours like this have said. (You can see our full list of shows here. I'll list and link some specific ones below.)

So, America stands at a crossroads. We have been refusing to take a stand against true evil, while being so caught up in little things that we don't pay attention to what is important - that being sound Doctrine. When Paul, in Philippians 4:2-3, tells the ladies to be of one mind in the Lord, he is talking about those little things and not about Doctrine.

Sound Doctrine Where We Must Unite

I will quote from one of the posts in that personal call to prayer blog I mentioned a few other times, a blog which shares about how we are all one race, we must repent of 400 years of evil, not just 40, and so on. I will do so to share what things we must be unified in comma but that post - found here - is important in its own right for emphasizing that we should be known for what we are for, not just what we are against.

The Deity of Christ as explained here (1, 2) and Christ's Resurrection as discussed here (1, 2) are just a couple of those things we must be united on.

In being light to a dark world, we must shine our lights so that God may be glorified, through how we care for others, help them through things, bear their burdens, and so on as Jesus commands: "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."(Matt. 5:16) Not so people can see what we are against, but what we are for. God wants us to be edifying - building others up - and the world needs positive things.

We're not perfect - Christians are all still growing closer to Christ. Salvation is an instant event,(Rom.10:9-10,13; Acts 16:31; etc.) but sanctification  is a process. (This is why one must beware of modern Bible versions that use the Alexandrian text, modern texts do things like changing 1 Peter 2:2 to make it sound like you grow in your salvation when the King James, from the original Antiochan texts, show clearly growth is through he Word of God and is only in one's sanctification. This page gives a great description of sanctification and shows it's different from salvation.)

We are human, and thus still sinners saved by grace. If a saved person doesn't show any fruits of the Spirit, they might not be saved, but they also might simply struggle for a variety of reasons; including only slowly grow because of things from their background that stunt them, too. While we each must participate in resisting temptation, ultimately we must humbly accept God's guidance in doing so, since we can't do it on our own. God is the one who keeps us saved.(John 10:28-30,Romans 8:36-3,Jude 24,etc.) So, salvation security is one we must be unified in.

Also, anyone can lie and say they are Christian just like I could lie and say I am the king of Belgium, and yet whatever I do has nothing to with what the real king Belgium is like. Jesus says we'll be known by our fruits, we should be known by our love, etc..So,one should look at God's Word for the truth.

One thing we know from His Word is that God is gracious, loving, and personal. He desires a relationship with each of us. He manifests Himself in three ways, but this is just like me saying I am legally blind, male, and of medium build. Three attributes, one person Jesus is God in flesh, as shown here and here, among other places. The Holy Spirit is also God. That's why the Word is so important, and why the term "begotten" in John 3:16 is so meaningful. It means a perfect likeness, having all the attributes; Jesus as the Son of God is like the Arabic Ibn, not Walad, because it does not imply physical relations. Jesus is Son of God and also God in flesh; He just manifested Himself as a person because he had to become man to die to take the punishment for our sins. Yet because he was also God, He was sinless and He could rise from the dead, His resurrection shows we are free from the penalty of sin once we trust Him and call on Him to save us.

God's grace is full and free. We can't do anything to earn or deserve it.Just as we can't keep ourselves saved, we can't do anything to earn our way to Heaven, because it is "by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph.2:8-9) This is why true, Biblical Christianity(as opposed to the traditions some churches have) is all inclusive. God's gift is free and full for everyone, no matter what - good people by the world's standards and people who have messed up, because if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new."(2 Cor.5:17)

That previous link on Paul's understanding of grace is one of our favorite shows. These (1, 2) on Ephesians 2:1-10 are also great to see how to be unified in God's perfect salvation, who we were and who we've become in Christ. However, we can't overcome evil on our own strength, we need to trust Christ and pray for Him to do so.

That person, like the Apostle Paul, who trusts in Christ has the Spirit in them and the Holy Spirit will constantly work in them to turn them toward the things of God and away from sin. They must fight that temptation, but the Lord will be there to continually help,guide,comfort,etc. He will give wisdom whenever a person asks. And, that person will eventually go to Heaven where there can be no sin - it'll be impossible for them to sin in heaven because Jesus will change them and they won't have the flesh nature anymore.

The Holy Spirit, however, will not create confusion such as gibberish, barking, vomit, etc. - as mentioned in the link above about the devil not counterfeiting things, tongues are known human languages and any such miracles, even in Acts, were not for everyone and only were used to further the Gospel, as discussed in this show.

Christians are to be ambassadors for Christ. We see more and more signs that the world is spinning out of control, and we must show who He is to a world searching for answers. our home is Heaven, but we are here to save sinners from a lost and dying world. We should participate in making things better, but ultimately, we must realize this isn't our final home.  I don't know if you've ever thought about how our closest allies felt about Watergate - this article provides a glimpse into British thought. Ambassadors of friendly nations tend to be reserved when it comes to internal problems, but a nation powerful enough to help will certainly offer to help whenever there is a natural disaster. Just like we must help others when the disasters caused by man's sin hurt them.

(Speaking of which, the first of this series (why there is suffering) on Apologetics does a great job of discussing why bad things happen. Also, you will enjoy shows 2, 3, 4, and 5.

God will never leave or forsake a believer.(Heb.13:5) he will discipline - just like He disciplined His people Israel when they kept wandering from Him, including following false gods and doing horrible things like sacrificing children to the false god Molech. God will again deal with Israel as His chosen nation one day, and almost all Bible scholars believe that 1948, when Israel became a nation again, was the starting point to where God would eventually do this during the Tribulation.

Here are five shows on the Millennium, and before that the End Times, showing God still loves Israel - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Things will get worse in the Age of Laodicea, but God can still revive us, but we must turn from our sins. The above on idolatry if one of the ones we've done on brokenness for sin, this on adultery is another that shows thigns we must turn away from and forsake.

There are others, of course, at this page, including a summary of each show. Speaking of man's ways versus God, for instance, here are 4 shows on how Catholicism strays from Biblical salvation and other Bible doctrines. 1, 2, 3, 4. The truth is told in love in every show, as with others where false doctrines are exposed, with the intent to share Christ's love and forgiveness as it is shown in the Bible. These have been linked here as excellent shows where doctrines are discussed if you, the reader, wish to listen.

In fact, in addition to the end of the Apologetics series where we discuss Eastern thought and how it goes against the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith and not works, we also share the doctrinal errors in love of Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, and what the Bible says about what God has e4stablished as His infallible truth.

So, why do some Christians focus so much on attacking? Part of it is human nature, and the general attack culture we have, whereas Jesus says to love one's enemies, and the Bible says a soft answer turneth away wrath. Part of it is that social media increases the temptation to just lash out rather than construct a well-reasonsed discuss and explain one's points and listen to counterpoints. Part of it is that we don't trust God to be the one to change people who are engaging in certain sins. However, we can't change others, we must rely on the Lord to work in their hearts.

So, I'm sorry if some have acted too judgmental. Just remember that God's Word is the key, not what people say, and in it we are all called to be saved and then to go out and tell others about that wonderful saving grace. And, as clumsy as I am in doing it, hopefully I have reached someone.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Therefore, consider what God provides - His system is one of love, compassion, goodness, and so many other great things. Remember that the fruits of the Spirit(Gal.5:22-23) are of the Holy Spirit - these are the things God gives to each believer. He does this because he loves us and making us more like Him through love, joy, peace, gentleness, and so on is something that will benefit us and allow us to benefit others, too.

The alternative is selfishness and a constant searching for things that will never satisfy us because we always need more. Not only that, but the things of this world will one day pass away, grow old, and wear out. This entire world will pass away, and all that anyone will have when they die is their soul and any eternal rewards they earn; rewards which will only come to us when we know Jesus Christ as Saviour and serve Him. And, each of us is only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away.

If you don't know Him, you can learn more here. there's even a simpler explanation on our front page with a link to God's Simple Plan of Salvation on another of our site's pages.

God has a way of satisfying us that is perfect. He will always be there for you. Even with my handicaps i know that he loves me and has been a constant guide, comforter, helper, friend, and much more in the 25+ years I've known Him. he will never leave me or forsake me.

So, choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The world's system versus God's system

As we near Resurrection Sunday, it's good to look at the world's system versus God's system - which values the individual in a unique way. What is the difference and how does this battle fit in with our part in repentance revival?

Parts of this might be in my personal blog sometime  in the future, as well as this ministry one, in case you see similarities.

Don't worry, this won't get as complex as a college philosophy course. Simply put, the world's system ignores God and deems imperfect people able to create perfection on their own. God, however, states that imperfect people require a perfect Saviour to save them from their sin. However, once saved, they may choose to be part of His perfect plan. And, He places high value on us, loving us before any of us ever knew him.

These definitions help in understanding a few things.

1. Our sin nature causes the world's problems.

People like to think they are either perfect or can become perfect. However, "By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so that death passed unto all men, for that all have sinned.(Romans 5:12)

The system people create will never be perfect because of our sin nature. We can try to legislate it out and there will always be people doing evil no matter how much we try to stop them. We can try to try to talk people out of it and some people will insist on doing evil no matter how much we reason with them. (And God did create a perfect reasoning and logic, butGod doesn't choose based on things people value like strength and looks and other things. As 1 Cor.1:27 says, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;"

Our problem isn't just that we're imperfect, it's that this imperfection goes against a perfect, holy God who can't allow any sin into His perfect heaven.

We all have an idea of what justice is, and we hope it comes to this world. Many political leaders try to ensure justice is done, and some do a very good job, while others don't. There is always so much arguing over which are doing which, but the point is, only God can produce perfect justice because only He knows every detail of every heart and how they match up against His standard of perfection.

That standard - "Be ye perfect, even as My Father in Heaven is perfect"(Mat.5:48) - means nobody can escape punishment for their sins, unless they are forgiven.

Forgiveness is something else we like to do, but often we like it only when it pleases us as people. I explain here what forgiveness is, but put simply it's letting go and no longer punishing the person. Sometimes people are more apt to forgive if the person is useful to society, or of the same class, or something else, but perfect forgiveness means something different. It means cancelling all one's sin debt.

That seems like it'd be impossible to combine the two - how can justice be meted out if everything is forgiven. However, God made a way.

2. Absolute, perfect justice met absolute, perfect forgiveness at the cross.

 Ravi Zacharias has said that there are four things all people have a concept of, even if it is not an accurate one - love, evil, justice, and forgiveness. In Romans 1 and 2, we see that even without the Mosaic Law, people consciences and attitudes cause them to be a law in and of themselves, and that people don't always follow their own standards. Even if they did, though, they wouldn't measure up to what God did.

God's love is perfect. It is unconditional, as discussed here. He defines perfect love because it is not based on any attribute that a person has. God simply loves because he loves. This was evident at the cross.

Perfect evil was also present. A hatred of all things good, the trial and execution of a Man, jesus Christ, everyone knew was innocent, one who had never done anything wrong. Even Pontius Pilate said he found no fault in Him. Yet, god allowed the evil to come upon His Son - called that because Jesus Christ is God in flesh - two of our earliest shows (1, 2) discuss Christ's deity, with others later as well, such as this showing how doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses go against what the Bible says.

Perfect justice was meted out in that all of the world's sin was placed on Jesus Christ - He was made to be sin for us, even though He Himself knew no sin.(2 Cor.5:21) he bore our sins in His own body.(1 pet.2:24) Many other verses can be used to show this, but the important thing is, along with that perfect justice - every single sin every committed being punished - we see perfect forgiveness, becasue every one of our sins is forgiven if we simply trust Jesus Christ to save us.

Here is God's simple plan of salvation - you can also see it on our website, where even the front page has a simple ABC's of salvation - Admit you're a sinner, Believe Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead, and Choose to Call on Jesus by faith to forgive you. You are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance away from eternal life - life that begins the moment you trust in Jesus to save you. You can call on him to save you right now, in fact.

Our radio show page features many good shows on the simple fact that we must trust Jesus Christ by faith to forgive us, and everything else is world, God made it so that it is "by grace are ye saved

 through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph.2:8-9) it is only after we are saved we can truly do works for the Lord, when we are in Christ Jesus.(Eph.2:10)

3. God gives us a Done system, not a Do system.

 So, with people always trying to come up with their own ways to make things better, we are trying to do things. That was the rich young ruler's mistake when coming to Jesus in Luke 18 - he asked what he could do rather than admitting to God that he couldn't do it on his own and needed His help. Countless other people accepted that, we even see a prayer in the Bible, "Help thou my unbelief"(Mark 9:24), a prayer answered "yes" to because God rewards those who humbly come to Him for help.

 The Bible says we must have faith like a little child because they trust completely. They know they have to rely on others for things. That, of course, is why I've emphasized so much elsewhere things like the need to be a good role model.

Because we don't have to do anything to earn God's favor - only trust Him - we are free to do as we should without fear of failure if we fall short. A person who follows Christ should not purposely sin, but we have that sn nature that we will fall into sometimes in small ways, and if we're not careful in big ways. We recognize we are just sinners saved by grace. We can't do anything to please God ourselves. God loves us simply because he is love. We love him because He first loved us.(1 John 4:8,19)

Though we don't have to do anything to please God, we should still work to please Him - not because we have to but because we want to. It is our reasonable service, as Romans 12:1 says in part. Think of what all Christ suffered to save us from our sin and the penalty for it, eternal punishment in a place only meant for the devil and his angels(Matt.25:41). We should want to follow Him and do all He says out of our love for Him out of gratitude. He doesn't send anyone there - people go there when they reject His forgiveness and salvation..

4. God's System respects people more

I mentioned that God's system respects the individual in a unique way. It really repsects others more than the world's competing, person-centered systems.

Of course, God's word gives us many great things such as the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5 22-23 and some great things to focus on in Philippians 4:8. The Bible also tells us to look on the heart of a person, not the outward appearance, as 1 Samuel16:7 and Psalm 139 show; we are each fearfully and wonderfully made.

Those things - fruits like meekness(power under control), longsuffering(patience), temprance(self control), and so on aren't in abundance int he world's system, because people try to make all those things fit only their own desires instead of realizing that others matter. Those things of Philippians 4:8 - truth, loveliness, etc. - aren't even accepted at times, as some people scorn truth, virtue, purity, etc. - often so they can have their own selfish way. Yes, there are people that are like Pharisees and try too hard - but when you think of it, legalism is just another of the ways people try to control things with their own system instead of relying on God. After all, Jesus saved His toughest criticism for the Pharisees.

Why? because they didn't consider the individual the way God does. He understands what each person has gone through and wants to lovingly help them out of that pain, to heal them like the woman at the well in John 4 who tried to hide in physical relationships(she'd had 5 husbands and was with yet another man) till she found the unconditional love of Jesus that could heal whatever problem she'd had.

God considers each of us, though. he knows we each miss the mark of perfection. However, he provided a way for each of us to get to His perfect Heaven - where nobody has seen, heard, or even imagined the wonders He had prepared for us.(1 Cor. 2:9) He has a mansion for each of us(John 14:1), he has a perfect Heaven where there will be no suffering or pain or any bad stuff(Rev.21:3-4), and so on. We know all these things and yet it will be even more wonderful than anything we can imagine. Just the snippets are wonderful.

And, His system also provides for each of us a wonderful life here on Earth - He came that we might have life and life more abundantly.(John 10:10) He wants to heal each of us from the pain we've felt, the heartache we've been through, and use us on His team to help others sense His love and receive His forgiveness and salvation.

Because it's a heart, not a political problem - getting involved for revival

 Something like this may eventually go in my personal prayer call blog,but it's similar to other things I've posted there, plus god's laying something else on my heart for it. So, this is here.

The recent death of Justice Scalia proved several things. First, the 24/7 news cycle has become so thirsty for news that some people don't take time to honor the life of a man before discussing his replacement. Second, this election is vital, meaning we should be active. And, third, and most important, only God can truly solve our problems - meaning we must be on our knees figuratively speaking consistently. Repentance revival is possible, but we need God's help now. Our activity won't help alone because at its heart this is not a political problem facing our country.

The problem America faces is a heart problem. This makes it spiritual and not physical - of course, I don't mean that America has a physical heart condition.

Even though it can't be fixed by actual physical medicine, there is a solution, though. You can be part of it, in fact.

It may seem much harder, if not impossible, to solve suvh a heart problem in others. However, it isn't as bad as it sounds. After I expand upon how we know it's a heart problem, I'll provide the solution.

How do we know it's a heart problem?

It is easy to identify a heart problem by what the Bible says about such times, andby the things that aren't working.

People of all political parties, of every political persuasion, have ideas. To some extent, all have been tried, just not in the most extreme way. At times it feels like we are just repeating the same things over and over.

If there was a human solution, we would see improvement. However, the example of political correctness is a perfect way to show this is a heart problem. The proper words for things continue to change, as people try to eliminate insulting comments and behavior. And yet, such things continue.

However, if hearts changed, people would not mistreat others no matter what word was used. There would be no hurtful comments, so there would not be a need to create such societal rules.

I could cite many other examples. For instance, poverty still exists long after the pledge to end it. And, if all guns disappeared,  people would make them and use knives and swords in the meantime. Or, if everyone had equal things, some would still take others' stuff out of a sense of entitlement.

Imperfect man cannot create a perfect system. It would be like someone who does not know the first thing about piloting an airplane trying to teach someone how to fly a major commercial jumbo jet without the computers, and with just the instruments. Even if this person knew something about flight, or even knew something about letting the computer run things, they couldn't teach about all of the instruments and everything that was needed unless they actually knew how to do it.

This means that when laws have been written enforcing really strict things like Prohibition, they haven't worked either because it was still imperfect people trying to change the outside and not change in the heart.

So, there is clearly a heart problem which no candidate will solve, no matter what party they are in.

However, there is a solution.

How do we solve it?

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new."

We must repent, turning from our evil ways. However, we can't bring revival on our own because the heart of man is exceedingly wicked. We can only impact the outward appearance. And, that's not good enough for God.

In other words, just having all moral laws won't bring this nation back to God if we don' also trust Him to change our hearts. it would be just like Prohibition days.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God promises "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will answer their prayer, and I will heal their land."

Notice what order these are in. first is humbling oneself in prayer. Second is seeking His face. Only then comes turning from wicked ways.

What are we praying for? For God's forgiveness and also His healing for our country, His changing of hearts. Our turning from our wicked ways is a sign to Him of our commitment to live by the principles of His Word - honesty, faithfulness, unconditional love, and so on. Accepting all as equal before the Cross and abandoning our racial animosity. Things like that.

Some will say this promise is only to Israel, but remember we have been grafted in, adopted by God into His family whereby we cry "Abba, Father." that "Abba" is a term of total trust and endearment, like a small child saying "Daddy."

But, even if that verse was only for Israel, it doesn't matter. God has another set of verses where He promises to heal even the heathen nations.

They are in Jeremiah 18:5-10. God promises to bless the heathen nation that turns from its evil ways.

Now, by making that commitment to follow Him, this is where we get involved. This is where we say, "Lord, we will follow the candidate You lay on our hearts.

But, before that, we must seek God to change not only our hearts, but those of others. Repentance begins in with the Church, but we also need God to move int he unsaved, too, so many people will come to know Him.

Since not many churches preach the Gospel anymore, that could mean lots of people going to the Internet with sites like Godlife, or a variety of places like Child Evangelism Fellowship. it could even mean that if you trust Him to, the Lord will lead you to people who are ready to be saved if you will just share with them the clear, simple, plan of salvation. They just need to see you are genuine and really are seeking to live for the Lord yourself. You don't have to be perfect, but we do need to be striving - as Paul said, pressing toward the mark of that high calling.(Phil.3:14)

So, in other words, turn our hearts toward the Lord and seek His forgiveness, seek Him to heal our nation and change hearts to turn back toward him, and then commit ourselves to Godly principles as a way of showing that we truly do want this nation to have His blessings.

Then He will hear from Heaven, answer our prayers, and heal our land.

What is love? What is true love? Four types of love and the most special

There are four kinds of love - well, at least in the Greek. And they say French is romantic! :-)

The first type of love in the Greek language is the word eros. This word is more appropriately called lust because it only deals with the outside.

We say this not just about people but about things. We say I love pizza but we don't have anything more than and attraction based on our favorite foods. Some pizza, if enough yucky stuff is put on it, might not be very appealing. It could still taste good though. Others might look really good, but tastes really bad if someone doesn't make it right. This just shows what the Bible says. Man looketh upon the outward appearance, but God looketh upon the heart.

When we say we love pizza, it doesn't cause too many problems. But when we use that eros love to describe how we feel about another person, it can often leads to disaster. Even if it doesn't, broken hearts still take time to mend. And, God doesn't want that for us.

God wants us to have a wonderful, close relationships that lasts forever, because He loves us. So while there are people who joke that they would marry chocolate, it's not really something when was marry. And yeah, when they say that, I found it's a good way to lead into explaining about not following youthful lusts. I often joke that blend you look at your crush, ask your self if you would still love that person when you were both in your nineties, wrinkles up like prunes, with no hair or teeth, and probably other physical problems. If not, you should not be with that person.

Another way to put it is, be so lost in your love for God that your mate needs to seek God with all their heart to find you.

The next type of love is phileo. This is the root of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. BFF, which stands for best friends forever, is a good way to describe this kind of love. The Bible refers to it as a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, the way that Jonathan was with David.

This type of love is very deep, but it is not as deep as family love, let alone God's love. Yours truly recalls growing up with grandparents who were best friends as well as a married couple. That is the way a couple should be. That is why the comments above about making sure you are best friends with the person who will be your future mate are so important. The love a couple must be more than just about outward things.

The next kind of love is storge. That is what families should be. Obviously, a husband and wife are not related until they are married. Unless you were a Hapsburg Royal in the early modern era, but we won't get into that. The point is that this is another reason a couple should be such close friends before considering marriage, so they can easily build that storge relationship.

Families should love each other unconditionally. God created us to be loving, caring people who help each other and help young people grow and learn in a safe environment of unconditional love.However, by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that deth passed unto all men, for that all have sinned.(Rom.5:12) People choose to turn against God sometimes, and that hurts people. Thankfully, God provides help through others. Quite a few people have been known to be an "emotional family" for others, or siblings known to be the emotional parent for a younger sibling, or something similar.

Storge love means family members should always be there for each other and be willing to give anything for each other. One example would be how an uncle, when one of his kids was in the hospital, took time to stay with him rather than take advantage of a special golf outing with Arnold Palmer he'd had the chance to go on.

Those with phileo love give for each other do give for each other, but even that love is not as deep as the giving a family should do. That married couple's love should grow each year, so the phileo and eros work together to create a deeper storge love each day - but only storge allows one to truly love unconditionally, to truly stay together "for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part." Only that storge love allows a couple to care for a severely handicapped child his or her whole life. And so on.

There is, however, a love even deeper than that.

It is called agape love.(Pronounced "a-gah'-pay)

Agape is the kind of love God has for us. While that family love grows over time, God's love is there for us even when we don't know Him. First Corinthians 13, called "the great love chapter of the Bible," is filled with wonderful things about love. It truly does bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things. And, while that's what family love should be, God's love is special because he loved us like that before we even knew Him. In fact, while we were His biggest enemies.

God gave us freedom to choose so we wouldn't be mindless robots who just did thigns automatically. He wanted us to choose whether to follow good or evil. So, man chose evil and sin came into the world because people chose to disobey God? They chose to turn against Him and do mean, hurtful thigns to each other, to themselves, and to Him.

We do that, too. Yet the Bible says, "We love Him because He first loved us."(1 John 4:19) It was "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8) God Himself loved us so much that though we rejected Him, He still came to this world in flesh, Jesus Christ. he was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, yet suffered and died to take the punishment for our sins, His blood was shed to atone for what we ourselves had done. And, he rose from the dead the third day! He is alive and always making intercession for us.

it is by faith in Him and Him alone - calling on Him to save you from your sins - that any of us enter His perfect heaven, where there is no pain, no suffering, no tears, no sin can be there. Nobody has seen, heard, or even imagined the wonders that await us. And, you can simply call on Him right now to forgive you and saved you from your sins, trusting that he took the punishment for your sins. Here is a good summary. 

But, God not only will save you and get you to Heaven, Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly.(John 10:10) Eternal life with Him begins the moment you believe in Him and call on Him, trusting Him to save you. He will be a constant guide, comforter, helper, friend, and so much more.

That is true love. He will never leave you or forsake you. You can e-mail our show with questions - I know this might be read anywhere in the world so if you want we can even try to help you find a good church. But, most importantly, a relationship with Jesus is forever. He lives in each believer through the Holy Spirit. And, any holes in your heart that have come from past problems, you can be sure He will fill with His unconditional love.

Because God's agape love is true love, the best love there is. It is the definition of real love.

Answered prayer, God's plans, rebuilding programs, and more prayers, pleaseain))

Thank you for your prayers. God provided us a minivan for a great price with which we can transport at least a handful of kids to different activities.

It's great to see God at work. We will continue the radio show, because this is a great way to encourage others to serve the Lord. And, who knows, perhaps some people are being saved who listen to it.

Now, I'd like to share some comments with a little bit of what we plan to do now that we have a minivan. Because, we need leaders. Young people are going to listen to the Lord more willingly if wthey have the opportunity to see other youth who are already actively involved. Peer pressure is often seen as negative - and, in the Bible is certainly is, such as the crowd turning against the twit spies with faith - Joshua and Caleb - and believing the twn without faith, and of course the crowd which was egged on by the Pharisees to demand Jesus' crucifixion. However, it also has a good side, that being whe4n a strong leader emerges to bring people back to God.

We are clearly in a rebuilding phase after 2.5 years without a van. These youth need to see quality youth who are on fire for the Lord. One in particular especially thrived in Youthquake even though several different things prevented him from regularly attending a good Gospel-presaching church till recently. however, while he might have been able to lead a prayer and devotion club with a few more years of Youthquake and getting into that church's youth grou sooner, without those intervening 2.5 years of club he really  has struggled.

Hope is not lost for him or the others we find, though. that one young teenage boy still has the eagerness and enthusiasm that made him a great prospect, to use a baseball analogy. He just has trouble hitting the curveball.(Those being the fiery darts of the wicked that the devil throws our way.) or, perhaps he's the pitching prospect who lights up the radar gun but couldn't control that breaking pitch, either way then missing a year with injury and rehab. Whichever analogy you wish to use, he's still got the enthusiasm to let the Lord overcome through him.

But, he really needs prayers! So, please, pray for him.

We are rebuilding, but we still have great prospects. of course, the main reason is because God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think.(Eph. 3:20) However, also, others will be coming to our first club meeting on Feb. 13, in addition to him and whatever friends he brings. one who plans to come has a great testimony and was featured on this show. She is graduating but has someone in mind from her youth group who may be able to start a prayer and devotion club in her school.

Others could eventually come, but the key is, with only 5 kids able to ride in the back, we can't do the big rallies we used to for a while, although eventually as we get Yyouthquake prayer and devotion clubs in the schools we can again. Instead, the minivan can be like a mini-YLTI - Youth Leader Training Institute - helper, and our club meetings can become like YLTI training. If a kid brings 1-2 unsaved friends, or invites them and they come some other way, then it would just become more evangelistic that day.

We want young people to be ready to lead their friends and classmates to Christ. We want them to be ready to take the ball and run with it, to be able to identify when the Lord is leading.

Of course, that means listening to the Holy Spirit, which means a right relationship with god. And, that's where it comes back to the youth who are good examples, who are able to triumph over all the problems in life, wherever those battles may come from. In an open letter on our site to our young people when the van finally bit the dust 2.5 years ago, I noted that our young people had to step up and be the club, because they were the life of the club, they were the reason for the club,and it was always they who would be needed to grow the club and reach other youth with the Gospel. Now that we are starting to rebuild, it may feel to some like we're almost starting from scratch, but god knows the future, and He has given us a vision to reached the many unreached youth of our area. And, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think.

What is said of our missionaries overseas is equally true here. Of course, God is the real provider, but of the things we can provide to help, while it is ministry funds that get us there, it is your prayers that keep us there. Speaking of funds, we'd welcome any donations, as our site shows, we're raising funds to get underprivileged kids to a great church camp this summer, among other thigns. However, most importantly, we need your prayers. That boy I mentioned needs them, our club meeting and basketball on Feb. 15 need prayers(especially with weather concerns), and so much else does, too.

this has been more of an open prayer letter, but I hope it's been an encouragement to see that no matter how small, the Lord can bless any endeavor to serve Him.