A Christmas Parable

  This is a paraphrased story that I heard on the radio titled "If only" by David Crabtree. Some of you may have heard it . For those who haven't, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



   John approached his wife to break the news to her, "I not going to the Christmas eve service at the church with you this year. You know that I have never really believed all of that Jesus being God and coming to Earth as a man stuff. It would just be hypocritical of me to go."
  John's wife was disappointed, but understood his point. She loaded up the kids and left without him.
  John was sitting in a chair by the fireplace reading a book when he heard a thump behind him. He looked around the room but didn't see anything and turned back to his book. Then there was another thump, and then another.
  John got up and walked over to the large window. Outside the window were several small birds flopping around in the snow after trying to fly through the window in search of warmth and shelter. John couldn't stand to see the birds out there in the cold, he knew that they would die in the cold if he didn't do something. So, he slipped on his boots and his coat and went out into the snow.
  He went to his barn, opened the doors wide and turned on the light, but the birds payed it no mind. He then went into the house and brought out some bread that he crumbled and made a trail into the barn, but the birds ignored the bread. Running out of ideas and desperate to save the lives of the birds, he opened his coat and tried to herd the birds into the barn, but they just fled in different directions.
  John realized that the birds were terrified of him and all of his attempts to reach out to them and save their lives just frightened them even more causing them to run from him.
  "If only I could become a bird and could communicate with the birds, if I could speak their language I could fly down among them and tell them how to be saved. If only I were a bird..." he thought to himself.
  At that very moment, as John helplessly watched the birds flopping around in the snow , the church bells began to ring loud and clear. John heard the bells and realized in that moment that he was one of those birds. He was flopping around in the snow of his life, bound to die with no hope of salvation. But Jesus did what he wanted to do. God came to Earth as a man named Jesus so that we wouldn't be afraid, speaking our language so that we would understand how to get to the salvation that waits in the barn. In that moment, John understood and fell to his knees right there in the snow and prayed for the salvation that Jesus came to provide.

  If you have struggled with the concept of  God taking the form of a man in order to save you, I hope that this story clarifies things for you.  Again, as soon as I find who the writer of the story is and it's original name, I'll post it (and a link if possible) so that you can hear the original.

The Miracle of Christmas

  We are one week away from Christmas, and I have been thinking a lot today about the miracle of Christmas. Then I remembered that not too long ago I was made aware that there are actually people that, due to unusual circumstances (in this particular instance the person was deaf), do not know what Christmas is really all about. So, let's start at the beginning, the very beginning.
  In the garden, Adam and Eve broke the one and only rule that God had given them. From that day forward mankind has been cursed with an inescapable sin nature. That sin nature separated us from God because we were no longer holy. The penalty for that sin is death and separation from God and an eternity in the flames of Hell. The only way to overcome that penalty is by the shedding of blood for sin. It is for that purpose that Jesus had to be born.
  "So, what does all that have to do with Christmas?" Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. From the prophesies to the virgin birth, everything about His birth is miraculous.
  There are several prophesies that address His lineage. Genesis 22: 18 declares that He will be a descendant of Abraham, Genesis 49: 10 declares that He will be born of the tribe of Judah, Numbers 24 :17 says that He will be a descendant of Jacob, Isaiah 11: 10 puts Him in the line of Jesse, Jeremiah 23: 5-6 shows that he is the heir to the throne of King David. All of these fulfillment's are shown in the book of Matthew 1: 1-16 where His lineage is traced from Abraham all the way through His earthly father, Joseph.
  Micah 5: 2 indicates that He will be born in the town of Bethlehem. Isaiah 7: 14 declares that He will be born of a virgin and that His "name will be Immanuel". The name Immanuel means "God with us". Psalm 2: 7 and Proverbs 30: 4 tell that He will be the son of God; Luke 1: 32 and Matthew 3: 17 declare the fulfillment.
  These are just some of the prophesies that were made and fulfilled. Jesus is the only man in history who has ever fulfilled every prophesy in the Old Testament. To see more, you can follow this link http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/messiah.html
  The miracle goes far beyond the supernatural nature of His birth. It is in the fact that God himself loved His creation enough to come down to earth, take the form of a man, and knowing exactly what he would have to endure, did it anyway to pay the price for our sins so that we would have a way out of our deserved punishment.
  Yes, I did say that Jesus is God. John 1: 1-3 reads "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made." This makes Jesus Himself the creator of the Universe.
  The Deity of Christ was demonstrated many times throughout His life through the healing of diseases, the casting out of demons and raising the dead to life. The finale to all of this was when he suffered disfiguring abuse, allowed Himself to be crucified as a blood sacrifice for our sins, and then resurrected himself from the grave to overcome and defeat death to prove beyond doubt that He is God.
  This is the miracle of Christmas. This is why we celebrate the birth of a baby born 2000 years ago.

 

Ancient Religions

  This is a spontaneous post, like many I will write, that will be inspired by something I see on television; usually on History channel. And these will always be subject to updating.

  Today, I'm watching a show about angels and their origins. I have often noticed a trend in these shows that the History channel produces on religion. They work very hard to minimize Christianity and its root of Judaism.
  They try to say that the Jewish faith, and therefore the Christian faith, originated not from the initial relationship that God has had with mankind beginning with Adam and Eve, but from other "older" religions such as Zoroastrianism which contains a single entirely good god and an entirely evil one who is in serpentine form. That religion also has angelic beings similar to ours and some have similar names (Cherubs vs. Kerubs). I understand that these people don't have a relationship in truth with God and that's why they are so easily led astray. I just wish that they would consider the truth, even if they just portrayed it as an alternate idea that could stand on it's own rather than a religious soup that has pulled from other religions for all of it's central ideas.
  The truth is this; that God created mankind for relationship with Him at the beginning of creation and has walked with mankind throughout history.
  These "intellectuals" have it exactly backward. As the population of the earth expanded and people began to move throughout the world, they took these teachings with them. Before man developed the written word, it was told orally, and anyone who has ever played the rumor game knows how that can turn out.
  So, what makes Jews and ultimately Christians, different? The difference is that through Abraham, Jews sought after truth and a relationship with the one true God, until God Himself gave Moses the first 5 books of the Old Testament to be written down and therefore made firm.
  The writings of Moses and the prophets who followed were verified in truth by the prophesied birth, life and death of Jesus, the Christ. This fact negates who put their belief system in physical writing first, because none other was given to them by the one true God who had the power to back it up!
  

Taking Christ out of Christmas

  Have you ever seen someone use the abbreviation "X-mas"? Does it disturb you the way it does me? Some may ask, "why does that bother you?" I'm glad that you asked. It's the "X". We use that symbol to mean that something is being removed. In this case, the thing being removed is the very "thing" that is central to this specific holiday... Christ!
  "So what's the big deal, why does it matter?" This is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of the messiah, Jesus. Jesus being God, who stepped down from Heaven to take the form of a man. He chose to be born like every other human being, go through childhood, adolescence (and all of the awkward changes that go with it), temptation, peer pressure, pain (physical and emotional), ridicule and abuse so that we would know that he can relate to us and everything that we go through as humans. Not only that, but He came into this world for the expressed purpose of being the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. No other man in history has ever done so much for the human race!
 From the beginning, sin required the shedding of blood for forgiveness. God knew exactly what He would have to endure (to get a grasp on his suffering, I recommend watching The Passion of the Christ. Excellent portrail of what the Bible describes that Jesus went through), and He did it anyway. That is how much he loves His creation, you and me.
  Every time that someone uses "X-mas", or focuses their Christmas celebration on gifts and "goodwill" or ignores it all together, they metaphorically slap Jesus in the face and tell Him that His sacrifice means nothing to them. We shouldn't be afraid of offending anyone, as I said, this is a Christian holiday. I'm not saying that gifts and "goodwill" are bad and should be scrapped, but they should not be the focus of the celebration. The focus should always be on Jesus and His predicted virgin birth.
  Yes, I said predicted. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold not only that He would come, but how and where and Jesus met every single prediction. The birth of Jesus is special, not because He was a great man, but because he is the son of God.
  So let us remember the reason for the season and sing Gloria, en excel sis deo: Glory to God in the highest! And may each and every one of you have a very Merry Christmas!
 

I would like to add a side note here... Stores make a lot of money off of our holiday, the least that they could do is to declare "Christmas sales" rather than "Holiday sales". If they are going to make money off of our God, then they should at the least have the courage to say the name of the one that they profit off of. And if they can't bring themselves to do that, then we should take our money somewhere that will.

Roads to Heaven

    This will be a short blog for now, although I may come back later and add to it. I'm watching a movie right now that is supposed to be inspirational. If I were someone who didn't know better, I'd say that it was. There is a message that keeps being repeated in different ways and that message is that all roads leads to Heaven. They explained that God made many different trees that all point to Heaven, why would religion be different?
  The answer is that God is not a God of confusion, he is a God of order. He has worked from the beginning of His creation to reveal Himself to us and to have His people write it down for the rest of us.
  Now some of you may remember that also in the beginning, there was someone else there who is referred to in the Bible as the Father of Lies, you know him better by his more common name, Satan. He, because he hates God, spends his time trying to keep God's creation away from God any way he can. One way he does that is by creating false religions that make unsuspecting humans feel good. In the beginning, those people who followed the one true God became known as Jews. Christianity is the fulfilment of the Jewish faith. History is on the side of the Judeo-Christian faith. No other faith can make that claim. We will cover that trail of history later, but God has made it as plain and simple as He could to lead people to Him. There is one way to Heaven and one way only...Jesus!
  Continue reading my other blogs, some of the blogs that I'm following and check out some of the links for more information.

Free Will

   Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? That is probably one of the most common questions that non-believers and many Christians ask. Many of the questions that non-believers and even some believers have about the nature of God can be answered with two words...Free Will.
   The premise behind all of these questions is that some people are better than others. The truth is that in the eyes of God, telling a "white" lie is just as egregious as murder. We put sin on a scale from bad to worse, usually based on the impact that the sin will have on other people with no regard to how the creator and sustainor of the universe sees it. We will cover the nature of sin in another post later, but to fully understand the last statement, you will need a good understanding of what sin truly is.
  Because God loves us, He gives us free will. Imagine a world without free will. A robot is created by a man who develops a set of rules and behaviors in the form of a computer program. The robot cannot deviate from the program in any way. It can only do what it is programmed to do. The robot does not have free will.
  God created mankind because he wanted fellowship with a being who also wanted fellowship with Him. God is love and wants love in return. Love is only love if it is given freely. Therefore God created mankind in the garden, provided everything that they would need because He loved them and then gave them the option to not return that love in like kind. That option was presented in the form of the "Tree of Knowledge of good and evil". Adam and Eve exercised that free will and ate of the forbidden tree ushering in sickness and disease and death for all following generations.
   Every bad thing that we endure is the direct result of sin committed by ourselves or someone else. When we abuse our bodies with substances, we put ourselves at risk of cancer like in the case of smoking cigarettes. That choice not only effects the smoker, but also everyone who loves that person (including God). Drinking alcohol adds the risk accident due to intoxication that may also endanger others.
   We all cherish our free will, but it also the thing that brings us so much pain at times. God designed it for love, but we abuse it for selfish desires that in turn have repercussions that hurt others. So the answer to most of those questions is that God doesn't do things to us, we do them to ourselves and to others by our own choices (free will) that are in opposition to God's plan and design as He spelled out in the Bible.
  

Thanksgiving

  Thanksgiving is not traditionally a Christian holiday like Christmas is, but it does have it's roots there. Regardless of the sometimes disputed "actual events", the facts remain that the Pilgrims were deeply observant Christians who wanted to celebrate a feast of thanksgiving for their survival in a new and harsh world.
  Who were they wanting to give thanks to? I think that you could accurately say that they wanted to give thanks to the natives who taught them how to survive there, but ultimately, they wanted to thank their creator, sustainer, and provider God!
  Without God, they would never have been able to survive the journey that brought them here to America. Without God's intervention, the native's hearts would not have been softened to establish peaceful relations with the Pilgrims in order to teach them to survive. And if God had not allowed the Pilgrims to suffer hardships in the new land, they may not have been so receptive to the natives.
  The original Thanksgiving feast, regardless of any debated details, will always be a great example of God's love and providence for his people. So like the Pilgrims, let's give thanks today and everyday for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us no matter how great or small, hidden or obvious.
 
God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

what the Bible says about work.

  The headlines are often full of reports about job gains and loses and unemployment statistics and the likelyhood as to whether or not our current economic situation is nearing an end. One thing is for sure, it will come to an end and employers will again start hiring. When they do, how should we as Christians conduct ourselves?
   The Bible has a lot to say about how a person should perform on the job. Here, I will cover a few that I believe will give us an idea of what God expects of us.
   Proverbs 14:23..... "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty". Contrary to popular belief among some today, there is nothing wrong with making a profit as long as you work hard to achieve and do so honestly. Whether that hard work takes place on the front end by spending time in college educating yourself or on the back end doing the manual labor, you have to, as the saying goes, "walk the walk and not just talk the talk." If you know what to do, do it. Don't just stand around and wait for someone else to do it for you.
  Proverbs 18:9.... "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys".  When a worker doesn't put their all into their job, they are stealing productivity away from the person who employed them. that steals money from the employers pocket which inhibits his ability for future growth destroying that company's future potential and future jobs that company could have created had it's potential been met.
   Proverbs 28:19.... "Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty". I don't believe that the Bible is saying here that we shouldn't have dreams and persue them, rather do so through a logical progression of hard work. You first have to be educated, then develop a plan, surround yourself with people who can help you achieve your goal and then emplement the plan diligently.
   2 Thessalonians 3:10..."For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat' ".  In our countries "War on poverty", we have implemented a welfare system that is completely contrary to what Paul taught and we are seeing the logical result of it today. People are given food and shelter without doing anything to earn it. That encourages laziness and has created a culture, that extends beyond any racial or ethnic boundaries, entitlement and government dependence that is detrimental to everyone it touches. Read again what the apostle Paul wrote, if you don't work, you don't eat. Pretty simple, if you want to sit at the table then you have to earn it. That does not mean that we shouldn't have pitty on those who have fallen on hard times. We do need to help those any way we can, but it is the responsiblilty of the Church and individual Christians to do so, not the government. You will never read where Paul or any other apostle complained that the government wasn't taking care of the people. They viewed it as an opportunity to show Christ's love through them and then share the gospel of that love and it's manifestation.
   The last and most important verse that I will use in this piece is this, Colosians 3:23...."Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man". I have often heard people murmur "I will not start my time no sooner than eight a.m. and I'm not working a minute past four P.M"., and "don't even consider asking me to work through my lunch or break, that's my time." Is that the attitude you would have if Jesus himself were standing in front of you and asked you to do something? Or, would you say "yes, Lord, your will be done? This verse makes it pretty clear that if you wouldn't be satisfied presenting your work to Jesus, then you're not done with your work.
   Work hard everyday and make God proud of his creation. In that way, we will lead others to Christ, because after all, that's what we're here for!

Judging people as a Christian

Some of my friends may recognize this post from my facebook page, but I thought this would also be a good place for it... 



   We often hear that as Christians, we are not supposed to judge others. I was reading in 1 Corinthians chap. 5, and Paul makes it clear that we are not to judge those who are outside the church, meaning those who do not claim to be saved by God's grace. However, we are called to judge those who claim salvation through Jesus Christ. For a man who was liiving an openly sexually immoral lifestyle, Paul told the Corinthian church to put him out of their fellowship and to not even eat with him. Why would he say that? Because we are supposed to stand apart from those who are not saved and live an example that would lead others to Christ. Now that doesn't mean to kick someone out of the church because they make a mistake here and there, that would include us all. It is refering to someone who is unrepentant in their sin.
   We should also be sure, that when we "put someone out of our fellowship", that we first confront that person in the mannor that the Bible describes and give him a chance to repent from the bad behavior. Our Jobs as Christians is to hold each other accountable and love the lost into the family of God.

Admission into Heaven

  I was recently reminded about the misconceptions that are out there about how to get into Heaven. A story was passed around through emails discussing a 9-11 victim and the victims spiritual condition. Now, I admit that I didn't get around to reading the original story, but I did read the response of one woman who received the message. She expressed that according to how she believed God to be, that the courageous action of the victim alone, regardless of how he lived the rest of his life, would be more than enough for him to enter Heaven. According to the Bible, this is not how it works.
   Romans 3:23 says "For all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". It doesn't say that some sin, it says that all sin. What constitutes a sin? The Ten Commandments are a good place to start. Have you ever told a "white lie"? Of course it was done with the best of intentions, but it was still a lie. Did you ever take a grape while shopping in the produce aisle at the grocery store? "No big deal, right? I mean, it was just one grape and they don't sell them individually. No one ever even noticed." Still, noticed or not, you stole the grape. If you at any time in your life have broken any one of the ten commandments, then you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
  "Okay, so I committed a couple of minor sins. It's not like I killed anyone." God does not grade sins on a scale. That is something we do to feel better about ourselves because we all know deep down that we all sin. God, however, does not sin and can not tolerate sin of any kind.
"So what does the Bible say about sin?"  Romans 6:23 reads "For the wages of sin is death..." In this case, death refers to eternal separation from God. In death, there are only two destinations, eternity in Heaven with God or eternity separated from God in Hell. The word "wages" means penalty. Therefore, the penalty for committing even one sin in the span of our lives is to spend eternity in Hell.
  "But how is that fair when I've done so much more good in my life than evil?"  Consider this, a man spends his life helping those in need. He feeds the hungry, he repairs the homes of the elderly at no charge, he tutors school children and by every other measure is and always has been a good man in the eyes of everyone who knows him. But what they don't know is that in his generosity, he has neglected himself and is about to lose his family's home and his wife and children will be put out on the street. He is desperate and has exhausted every other avenue to pay his debts. So he drives to a bank a couple of cities away, holds it up with a gun and in the ensuing chaos, accidentally shoots and kills the clerk. Now, should this lapse in judgement be overlooked because of the previous good he had done? Of course not, that would not be justice. A person still lost their life and a family lost a loved one. In the same manner, for God to be a truly just God, all sin must be paid for.
  "Alright, so I'm a sinner and I am condemned to Hell because of that sin. What hope do I have?"  John 3:16 reads "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 1John 4:14 says "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world." God knows us better than we know ourselves and in that knowledge provided us a way out in the willing sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus is the only man who ever lived without committing a single sin. That is what made Him a suitable sacrifice. He loved us enough to allow himself to be beaten beyond recognition and then be nailed on the cross taking our sins upon himself and using His blood and death as payment for our sins.
  "So I'm covered, right? I believe in Jesus."    Not yet, Luke 3:13 says "...but unless you repent, you too will perish." Repenting is the turning away from willful sin. You will not be able to stop sinning entirely because it is in your human nature, but you need to live your life, daily turning away from sin and striving for perfection knowing that you will never fully achieve it until you are in God's holy presence.
  "So, I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and I want to repent from my sinful ways. Now what?"  Now, you pray. You pray to God and confess to Him that you are a sinner and that you repent from your sins and that you accept Jesus' death on the cross as payment for your sins and ask that he come into your life as Lord and Savior" That's it. If you do that, Hebrews 8:12 says "For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more."
 
I hope this mock dialogue cleared up any misconceptions that some of you may have had about how to access Heaven when your time here on earth has expired. I would urge any of you who have not  taken the steps to secure your eternity to do so. The Bible tells us that we are not promised tomorrow. Don't let the first death sneak up on you and usher you into the second death. Take care of it now, and if you have any questions, if I was not clear on something or you just have more questions, let me know. I'll be glad to explain further.

May God Bless!

Starting a new blog.

  My name is Mike. I'm a conservative christian who enjoys writing and answering questions people have about my faith and my political beliefs. I hope to use this blog as a means to do just that. If I can figure all of this out, I would like to have people send emails or leave comments or questions that I can use as inspiration and maybe even help someone come to share my faith.
  I would ask that those who do not agree with my positions to leave comments and questions, but do so politely. I am not interested in bashing or being bashed. Please refrain from cursing or otherwise foul language. I look forward to an interesting and educational discussion for myself and for you.
  One more thing, no question is too simple or too complex. As I said above, I hope for this to be educational for myself as well. If I don't already know the answer, then that gives me a chance to investigate and learn myself.

  Let's begin.....