“Can’t you just be happy for me?” some will say while arguing their involvement in some matter. However, in order to be happy for someone, we must agree with their choice. Otherwise, it will be support of that which isn’t approved. Being happy for someone should cause us to look at the matter and see if any law is being broken. For example, why should we be happy for a person who didn’t get caught while cheating on taxes? So, you see that people could be involved in sinful things, when asking people to be happy for them. But, any God fearing person cannot honor that request because sin is wrong (1 Timothy 5:20-22).
So yes, we will be happy for you, as long as you aren’t trying to make sin appear to be respectful. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Where did this myth about “Saint Peter” at the “pearly gates” welcoming people into heaven, come from? If it came from the Bible, give me book, chapter and verse (1 Peter 4:11). On the other hand, if it came from man, we better quit passing it on as fact and get rid of it all together. But the truth is, Peter was human just like everyone else, and he was no Pope, nor anyone special (Acts 10:25-26).
Peter was an Apostle, but so were 12 other men, and we don’t hear anyone talking about meeting “Saint Matthew” or “Saint Andrew” at the “pearly gates”. The Bible teaches that we will stand before Christ and be judged by Him, and He will be the one to allow our entrance though those “pearly gates”(2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-46, 7:21-23). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Being in the midst of a shooting rampage is a terror that no one wants to encounter. So this nation must outlaw certain kinds of guns that have no business being in hands of those who aren’t police or military. And if a person has mental issues, the medical world must deal with that so that no one gets killed by such a one firing a weapon.
But also personal responsibility must change, and that is done when men obey the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Committing murder is condemned by the word of the Lord (Romans 13:9). If people can accept what God teaches and don’t murder, things will get better for us (Luke 6:27-36; Romans 12:9-21; Titus 2:11-15; 2 Peter 1:3-11). The people who are mourning their losses will need as much help and prayers that the righteous can offer. So let us see that they get that help. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. There has always been talk about dinosuars, and we know they lived because we have their bones in museums. In the beginning, God created all creatures that fly, swim, walk, crawl, and breathe (Genesis 1:20-26).
With a statement like that, we know that dinosuars were included. So the dinosuars are like lost cities of old, they are all extinct today. But the work of God’s hands can still be seem in gators, lizards, flying mammals like bats or strange looking sea creatures, etc. Extinction is nothing new, and it takes nothing away from the fact that God created the heavens and earth and all creatures big and small. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Here today, and gone tomorrow. Just look at the death notices in the newspapers. And next week at this time, many who are now alive will be featured in the obituaries. Man cannot change or escape from this of which I now speak (Hebrews 9:27). But man can surely do something which will make facing death easier (Philippians 1:20-23). First thing is the recognition of knowing that one must do something. What must I do? (Acts 16:29-30). Second, is to do what must be done. Repent and be baptized for forgiveness of your sins! (Acts 2:37-38). Third, one must continue to stand faithfully until death. I have kept the faith and finished the course and a crown of glory awaits (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
If you haven’t done what the word of the Lord teaches. I hope the reading of these words will prompt you to seek what is right before death comes knocking. Because after death, man’s fate is set, and it cannot be changed (John 8:21). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. When a bottle of liquid has a skull and cross bones on it, you should be smart enough not to drink it. If one notices the sign “slippery when wet,” one should be smart enough not to speed that way. If the shark tank has “no hands allowed,” one should be smart enough not to put a hand in there. The point of all this is, we wish that people would learn without having to suffer the consequences of being hard headed. A man may know the risk of picking up hookers, but not learn his lesson until he is arrested or is a victim of a transmitted sexual disease (Proverbs 5:11-13).
If the word is out, “Don’t send text messages while driving,” you should learn from those words and not from having an accident. In Luke 15:11-32, we read of a young man who demanded his inheritance and wasted it after moving far away. This young guy didn’t listen to anything until he was broke, alone, and sitting among the pigs, desiring the slop they ate. Likewise the word of the Lord warns men, but are we listening? (Prov. 1:20-33, 22:3). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Judas Iscariot was the treasurer among the disciples of the Lord and he often stole money out of the bag which was there to sustain Jesus and His traveling companions (John 12:6, 13:29). Judas loved money, so he went to the enemies of the Lord and asked them, “how much will you give me if I turn him over to you?” (Matthew 26:14-16). The price agreed on was thirty pieces of silver, though not an lot of money, it was still equal to about a week’s wages (Acts 1:15-18).
Judas sold his soul for money, and the Bible teaches men not to love money, because there are things far more valuable (1 Timothy 6:10; Acts 8:18-23; Mark 8:36-37). When Judas realized he made a bad choice, he went back to his fellow conspirators thinking they would also see the light, but they didn’t. Angered by their refusal to acknowledge what was right, he threw the money down and went out and killed himself (Matt. 27:3-5). This tragic account proves that we shouldn’t sell out righteous for money, and not to be so depressed over our mistakes, that we kill ourselves. Because in life there is hope for those of a contrite heart (Proverbs 28:13; Ecclesiastes 9:4; Ezekiel 14:6; Psalm 51:17). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Many say, “I forgive, but I don’t forget”. Well, this so called forgiveness isn’t of any profit to anyone, and it’s certainly not the way the Lord does when He forgives. God is willing to forgive anyone who will repent and ask His forgiveness (Isaiah 1:10-20; Acts 2:38). After that, God doesn’t keep the sin of man still on the books and neither will He bring it up again in the future. When God forgives, He forgets, and so should men (Hebrews 10:17).
Yet, we still see those who hold grudges and refuse to give second chances to those who seek forgiveness. None can be forgiven of their trespasses, if they refuse the same courtesy to others (Matthew 6:12, 18:21-35; James 2:13; Ephesians 4:31-32). We best get rid of all those grudges and start forgiving because the mercy we refuse to show today will be denied us tomorrow (Galatians 6:7; Proverbs 11:5; Numbers 32:23; Prov. 26:27; Daniel 6:24). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Hurricane Sandy came and took a lot from the people of the Northeast. But natural disasters are a part of life, and we haven’t seen the last hurricane. If one doesn’t come back to the Northeast, it will certainly come to some other unfortunate part of America. With all that being said, we must come back to what the word of God said about life on earth. God’s word teaches that we shouldn’t get wrapped up with things of this life because all material things are temporary (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:15; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Timothy 6:7; Job 49:16-17; Matthew 6:30).
What we need to do now is rise up and go forward because to go backward means death. We must realize how much we need the teaching of God’s word and allow that to guide our future steps (Proverbs 3:1-10; Galatians 6:1-2). God will teach us not to get too content in this life, and He will strengthen us as we face the troubles of time. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. District Attorney Seth Williams recently spoke of preventing young children from becoming criminals by having classes in elementary school promoting good behavior, morals and responsibility. D.A. Williams feels that it is best to work with children while they are at a young, ripe age, steering them in the path of right before they get indoctrinated by ungodly parents, neighbors, or other evil people.
I praise D.A. Williams for his foresight, and he is correct is his assessment. However, as we have said; it is a crying shame that so many parents, neighbors, and others who are daily with young ones, don’t set a good example. If a parent or some person does evil in the presence of a child, he will be influenced by the actions of those who committed the sin in his presence. The D.A. of a city, shouldn’t have to figure out ways to save the future children. Parents should be doing that, and they will answer to God, as to why they didn’t. (Ecclesiastes 12:1; Proverbs 22:6; Romans 14:12). |