3/31/10

3/26/10

I Am A Christian

Non-believers are not afraid to say they are “good” without God. Let your voice be heard. Don’t be afraid to say you are a Christian. Sign Franklin Graham’s declaration of faith and tell the world “I Am A Christian”

At a time when God's truth is being attacked on all sides, now more than ever, Christians need to take a stand and declare their faith in Jesus Christ. I'm Franklin Graham and I want to encourage you to join the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Christianity.com in declaring your faith.

Each day the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association shares the hope of Jesus Christ with unsaved people all over the world. BGEA is reaching out to the lost through ministries like the My Hope World Evangelism through Television project, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Crisis Ministry Team, and Dare to be a Daniel youth evangelism training. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association needs partners like you who will join us in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. By filling out your contact information, you will also be signing up to learn more about the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Will you stand with me today and declare your faith in Jesus Christ? I hope you will prayerfully consider how you can help share this lifesaving faith in Christ with others by partnering with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Christianity.com. Thank you, and may God richly bless you.

Go To:

www.ibelieve.com

Are You Sure

Willie Nelson - Are You Sure

Oh, look around you
Look down the bar from you
The lonely faces that you see
Are you sure that this is where you want to be

These are your friends
But are they real friends
Do they love you
the same as me
Are you sure that this is where you want to be

You seem in such a hurry to live this kind of life
You've caused so many tears and misery

Look around you, take a good look
And tell me what you see
Are you sure that this is where you want to be

Don't let my tears persuade you, I had hoped I wouldn't cry
But lately, teardrops seem a part of me

Oh, look around you, take a good look
At all the lonely used-to-be's
Are you sure that this is where you want to be

3/23/10

To you, your problems always look bigger than everyone else's. They might or might not be, but they always feel bigger to you. Thanks to Jesus, I know that I always have a strong rock, a strong tower to lean on. I couldn't get through life without Him primarily, and without those that truly love and care for me.

3/16/10

Question: "What does the Bible say about worldliness?"

www.GotQuestions.org

Question: "What does the Bible say about worldliness?"

Answer: The dictionary definition of “worldly” is “relating to, or devoted to, the temporal world.” Worldliness, then, is the condition of being concerned with worldly affairs, especially to the neglect of spiritual things. The Bible has a great deal to say about worldliness, none of them good.

Paul equates worldliness with spiritual immaturity in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 where he addresses the believers in the church of Corinth in regard to their worldly behavior. Though they were believers—he calls them ‘brothers’—they were spiritual babies who could not understand the deep things of God that Paul wished to share with them. They had never progressed past learning the basics of the faith and were seemingly content to remain there. This lack of maturity led to their behaving as though they were still part of the unsaved world. They quarreled among themselves as to which of them was greater because of which of the apostles they followed (1 Corinthians 1:11-13; 3:4), when in reality they followed none of them, following instead their own lusts and desire to elevate themselves above others. Paul exhorted them to grow up and mature in the faith so they would cease from worldly behavior.

The epistles depict worldliness as the exact opposite of godliness. The world’s wisdom is not wisdom at all (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). Rather it is foolishness, especially the world’s wisdom on the subject of religion. We see that today in the endless discussions of “spirituality” by men whose spiritual wisdom is based on nothing more than worldly illusions. True wisdom that comes from God is juxtaposed against the foolish “wisdom” of the world throughout Scripture. The message of the cross is foolishness to those with worldly wisdom who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18) because true wisdom comes not from man’s philosophies, but from God’s Word. True godliness is always opposed by the world.

Furthermore, Paul refers to a “worldly sorrow” (2 Corinthians 7:10) which is the opposite of the godly sorrow that comes from true repentance. Godly sorrow is what we feel over our sin when we come to see it as God sees it and when our view of it is in accord with His. Worldly sorrow, on the other hand, does not stem from the knowledge of sin against a holy God, but rather from circumstances in which the worldly find themselves. Worldly sorrow stems from a love of self and may arise from the loss of friends or property, from disappointment, or from shame and disgrace. But once the circumstances right themselves, worldly sorrow disappears. Godly sorrow, however, is only alleviated by turning to Christ who alone provides freedom from the sorrow, the penalty and the power of sin.

Finally, Scripture draws a clear distinction between friendship with God and friendship with the world. James 4:4 tells us that “friendship with the world is hatred toward God.” He goes on to say that “anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” The apostle James uses the strong words “hatred” and “enemy” to drive home the point that we can be in the world or in the kingdom, but we cannot do both because they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Those who choose worldliness choose to live in the enemy’s camp because all that is of the world is under the control of Satan (1 John 5:19). He is the ruler of this world and when we choose the world, we enlist in his evil army and become enemies of God.

For the Christian, the choice is clear. To avoid worldliness, we must mature in the faith, growing up in all things in Christ so that we are no longer spiritual infants, tossed about by the lies of the world (Ephesians 4:14-15). We must come to know the difference between the wisdom of God and the foolishness of worldly wisdom, and that is only achieved by careful and diligent study of the Word, seeking God’s wisdom in prayer (James 1:5), and enjoying the fellowship of other mature believers who can encourage us to reject worldliness and embrace godliness.

© Copyright 2002-2010 Got Questions Ministries.

3/10/10

How does a person become a Christian? How do you "get saved?" It's all a matter of faith.

Everyone has their own views and opinions about being a Christian or how to get to Heaven when you die or how to "get saved." But, if you believe that the Bible contains the answer, if you believe the Bible is the very word of God, then look to see what the Bible has to say about it. I can tell you what the Bible says. It's all a matter of faith. If I were to use the word faith as an acronym to spell out how the Bible says to be saved and go to Heaven when you die then this would be it:

F is for Forgiveness
A is for Available
I is for Impossible
T is for Turn
H is for Heaven


F is for Forgiveness

Everyone has sinned and needs God's forgiveness (Romans 3:23); God's forgiveness is in Jesus only (Ephesians 1:7)

A Is For Available

God's forgiveness is available for all (John 3:16); But God's forgiveness is not automatic (Matthew 7:21).

I Is For Impossible
According to the Bible, it is impossible to get to Heaven on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9); So how can a sinful person have eternal life and enter Heaven?

T Is For Turn
If you were going down the road and someone asked you to turn, what would he or she be asking you to do? (Change direction); Turn means to repent (being sorry enough to not want to do it again and being committed to that); Turn away from sin and self (Luke 13:3); Turn to Jesus alone as your Savior and Lord (John 14:6); Here is the greatest news of all (Romans 10:9-10); What happens if a person is willing to repent of their sins and confess Christ?

H Is For Heaven
Heaven is a place where we will live with God forever (John 14:3); Eternal life begins now with Jesus (John 10:10)

H can also stand for How.
How can a person have God's forgiveness, eternal life and Heaven? The Biblical answer is: repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Trust in what He did and not on your own works. Good works comes as a result of your faith in God, not in order to get to Heaven. You can't save yourself. Only Jesus and what He did for us (by dying on the cross and rising from the dead) can save us. Make the commitment for Christ today. Don't push it off. He will meet you where you are at in life. He will take care of the rest. He loves you and wants you to be with Him forever.