This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
How many times have you said that you would begin living for God but never did? Have you ever committed to a Bible study and decided not to show up? Have you told anyone that you would go to church with them and did not? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you aren't being true to yourself. In Matthew 21:28–31, Jesus used a parable to capture the essence of not being true to one's self. In the parable, we hear of a man with two sons, and he came to the first and said, "Son, go work today in my vineyard." But the son said, "I will not," but afterward he regretted it and went. Then the father came to the second son and said likewise, and that son said, "I will go sir," but he did not go at all. Which of the two did the will of his father? Obviously, the one who actually went to the vineyard. The other, who said he would go and did not, wasn't true to himself. Such can be said of anyone who commits to a thing—whether it is doing a favor, establishing credit, going to services, studying the Bible, etc. He is not true to himself because he says and does not. Before a person enters into a relationship with the Lord, he needs to sit down and count the cost (Luke 14:26–33). There are obvious conditions to which one must obey if he wishes to continue being the Lord's disciple (John 8:31–32; 1 John 1:6–7; Luke 6:46). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
"Get thee hence Satan, for it is written, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve!'" (Matthew 4:10). Satan got no love from Jesus on that request because Satan isn't worth worshipping. Next we see Cornelius, a general in the military, bowing at the feet of Peter giving him reverence. But we also see Peter telling Cornelius to get up because men aren't to be worshipped (Acts 10:25–26). Later on in 1 Corinthians 1:12, we observe members of the Lord's church in the city of Corinth arguing about which preacher they would show reverence. In 1 Cor. 1:13, Paul rebuffed them saying, "Did any preacher die for your sins? Were you baptized in the name of any preacher?" Paul also said that preachers are only servants by which men learn the gospel (1 Cor. 3:5–6; Romans 10:13–21). Yet, we see many churches calling the preacher Father, Rabbi, Bishop, Most holy, etc, etc. These people are wrong because the word of God teaches that all men are the same (Matthew 23:1–10; 1 Cor. 4:6). The preacher doesn't deserve a parking spot marked "Clergy," while everyone else must park where ever they can. The preacher isn't supposed to be called Reverend since that is God's name (Psalm 111:9). And there is no such thing in the Bible as "Preacher anniversary day." Tell your preacher that the next time it comes up. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
This message is for teenagers. Stay in school and get that education. No babies—we already have too many teenage parents living with mom and dad. There are also too many unwanted babies being killed or ending up on door steps. Enough already! Young men, keep your pants zipped! Young ladies, be what your Creator would have you to be—stay clear from sexual relations outside marriage. Talk like a lady. Act like a lady. And certainly dress like a lady. If you have never heard of the word "fornication," it means illicit sexual conduct. In other words, it is illegal sex. Sex between high school students is wrong because it doesn't have the Creator's permission. God ordain sexual relations for marriage, and He will judge fornicators and adulterers (Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). So, to any teenager thinking about having sex: don't do it! Also any young man thinking about having sex: Don't do it! Instead, be like Joseph, flee fornication! (1 Cor. 6:18; Genesis 39:12). I know many will pay no attention to these words, but if one teenager changes because of reading this, it has been worth the time (Luke 15:10). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
We have all seen the problems that a comedian had after using racial remarks in a comedy club. The Bible teaches that we should let no corrupt speech come out of our mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Corrupt speech isn't just racial epithets, but it is profanity, gossip, dirty jokes, lies, backbiting, insults, etc. Corrupt speech is anything that has no benefit for the listener, but accomplishes plenty of tearing down, destroying, and inciting. The old saying, "if you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything at all," is the best advice. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
"Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you. But if you still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king," (1 Samuel 13:24–25 KJV). "By the blessings of the upright the city is exalted; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked," (Proverbs 11:11 KJV). We have just completed the elections of 2006, and the scriptures show the importance of electing people who realize that God will ruin any nation that promotes sin. The dangerous thing about our nation is that we do elect such officials. We would much rather elect a person with no fear of God and a so called plan for jobs, over a person who fears God and has a weak plan for jobs. In other words, vote money over morality. What we fail to see is, it is God, not man, who creates prosperity. For it is no problem for the Lord to bless a man who fears Him with the wisdom to figure out how to create jobs. But no way will God bless a nation that continues to sanction laws which are not in harmony with His word. Long ago, Jonah the prophet, was sent to Nineveh because their leaders had caused them to depart from the word of the Lord (Jonah 1:1–2). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
It has been said, "Give me my flowers while I'm alive, so I can see and smell them." And that is a true statement. Allow me to ask: Do you greet your neighbor? Are you on good terms with your neighbor? Do you even know the name of your neighbor? If one isn't friendly with his neighbor; why go to the funeral when he is dead? Why sit in a funeral chapel pretending to care for someone that you didn't even speak to? Now some will say. "I'm here to support the family." How can that be? The actions of being unfriendly toward the deceased would be unacceptable by the family. For example, are you going to tell the family how you ignored the person when he said hello? We must stop being mean to others. We must do good to people. We must help the needy. We must greet our neighbors and others. We must love our fellow man. For life is too short and Judgment from God is certain. And none of us have the time to be acting like fools (Psalm 144:4; Ephesians 5:15; Acts 17:30-32; Hebrews 9:27; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 25:31-33). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
It would be my hope that people will simply consider Halloween as a good time to celebrate by eating candy and having some clean fun. But I'm sure that some people will take it too far and do some things which they ought not. Vandalism, getting drunk, and believing in the dead walking the earth, etc. In certain parts of Mexico, the people down there believe in the dead returning, and they even place food around for the dead. Thus we have what is known as the "day of the dead," which falls upon November 1st. I want to give these scriptures to you so you can read them and approach this week with knowledge from God's word. Ecclesiastes 9:5–10--The dead know not what the living are doing, for they are finished with all things done under the sun (Job 7:9–10; Psalm 103:13–16). 2 Samual 12:23--Ghosts don't return to earth, but we shall die and go and be with them (Luke 16:24–26; Luke 16:22; Psalm 90:10). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
Last month the world saw angry Muslims protesting, and some of them committing violence and murder. All of this came about because they got angry at the Pope for making reference to a conversation of centuries past. Now, I don't know what the Koran teaches about anger or wrath, but the Bible teaches that anger is to be held under control (James 1:19–20; Ephesians 4:26–27; Eph. 4:31–32). And a person who explodes with wrath simply because of words can't be looked upon with favor (Ecclesiastes 7:9; Proverbs 14:29). Rather than get all bent out of shape because of what was said, they should have handled it in another way. They could have made a public statement on television or any major newspaper refuting, in a favorable way, the words of the Pope. Or they could have challenged for an orderly public debate on the topic. Instead, the world is shown the faces of anger, shouting, threatening, and burning. This sure doesn't paint a wholesome picture of them in any way. The truth of the matter is, we must respond in the right way when offended (1 Peter 3:9; Romans 12:17–21). If we show unruly behavior in return for words spoken about what we may believe, we make what is said about us true (Matthew 7:16–20). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
In the beginning God created male and female and gave them the charge to subdue the earth and populate it (Genesis 1:27-31). God picked what was best for mankind because it was "good" (Gen. 1:31). It is amazing to sit back and observe the champions of "gay rights," as they speak about their cause. However isn't it interesting to note that none of them were born through the cause which they promote. Instead all people were born as God decreed (male by female) which is what He called "good" (Gen. 3:16). If the entire world were to become gay tomorrow, all future births would cease and the world will be empty of human life within 120 years (Ecclesiastes 1:4). When a gay couple desires to be parents, they cannot produce offspring because God didn't establish births to occur that way (Psalm 127:3-5). It is unnatural for the same sex to produce children (Romans 1:26-27). If men will stay with what God has created, man will do fine. But when men go beyond what God has established, man will face problems (Gen. 4:6-7; Leveticus 10:1-2; Proverbs 13:15). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
Religious people who attempt to talk to you about God have a right to do so (Matthew 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–20; Acts 8:4–8). It is a Christian's responsibility to take an interest in saving souls (Jude 23). Criticism of gospel preaching is scorn toward God (Acts 5:34–42; 1 Timothy 4:1–4). However, don't just roll out the red carpet for every religious person who comes your way. I say that because false teaching exists (Isaiah 9:16; 2 John 7–11; Jeremiah 23:16–32; 2 Peter 2:1). The best protection against false teaching is to educate oneself in the word of God. One must invest time in the study of the Bible, so he can expose those who bring false doctrines (1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11; Revelation 2:2). Not everyone that teaches false doctrine is an evil person. Many are the kindest and most courteous individuals you can ever meet. However, such matters not—they are stillfalse teachers (Psalm 119:104). Now you may say, "I don't know how or what to study." That's no problem. We have Bible study guides that we can give you, and it will teach you how to study the Bible. We also do home Bible studies as well, so there is no excuse for you not to begin studying. Just remember, if you don't start, the false prophets will deceive you (2 Peter 3:16–17; Romans 16:17–18). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. |