We Must Be Ready!!!

I was recently surfing through Facebook and I cam across this article (CLICK HERE to read it).  I would suggest that you stop and read the article RIGHT NOW. 

I recently concluded a series of sermons from the book of 1 Peter entitled Stand Firm.  You can go to our churches website and listen to most of the sermons.  If we have ever lived in a culture where Christian people needed to "Stand Firm" it is today.  I am not saying that people in previous generations or centuries had it easy.  In fact, they had it rough.  Think about the audience that the Apostle Peter was writing to in this letter.  He was writing to a group of believers who HAD to scatter because the persecution of Christians was getting hot.  They were literally "running for their lives."

However, one statistic that I read while I was preaching through 1 Peter was this:  the 20th century was the bloodiest century for the persecution of believers.  It was more bloody than the first 19 centuries combine!  I am not a "gloom and doom" type of person, but I think that it is only going to get worse. 

In this great country in which we live (USA) we may not EVER face what believers face in other parts of the world where Christianity is illegal.  However, the attacks that we face in this country on absolute truth, marriage standards, abortion, conservatism, and the like is a non-violent form of persecution and we MUST BE READY!!!  Now is NOT a time for Christians to take a "laid back" approach in regards to their faith in Jesus Christ.  We must not use Christianity as an excuse for being "stupid."  We must search the scriptures and find out what we believe (according to what the Bible teaches) and then "live out" that belief.  Why should we do this?  Let me give you one example.  When you have so called "Christian" publishing houses promoting books by so called "bold, young, evangelical writer[s]" that condone homosexual relationships, WE MUST BE READY!!!  

Matthew Vines is NOT an evangelical.  I don't mean to sound judgmental, but fruit is fruit.  I am NOT saying that I hate Matthew Vines.  I don't even know him.  In fact, I love him as a person created in the image of God.  However, there is no such thing as a "gay Christian."  Those two ideas and/or lifestyles are opposites according to what Scripture teaches.  Matthew's book, God and the Gay Christian:  The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, is FALSE TEACHING!  There is no way to use the Bible to justify and support this type of lifestyle without taking Scripture out of context.  Church, WE MUST BE READY to defend biblical truth when false teaching like this is so prevalent in our culture today.

I don't want you to leave this blog post thinking that I hate homosexuals!  This IS NOT the case. What I am seeking to do is prepare myself and others for the fight that we are facing.  At the end of 1 Peter, Peter leaves his readers with some greetings and one main exhortation.  Verse 12 (ESV) reads:

By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God.  STAND FIRM IN IT.

Did you catch it?  Peter is telling his readers (which includes you and I) that all that he has written in this letter to his fellow believers in Jesus Christ is "the true grace of God."  What should we do with it?  We MUST "stand firm in it."  Church, WE MUST BE READY!!!

Blessings!

What on Earth Am I Here For?

Click on the picture for information about purchasing this book.

Today, actually tonight, I started a 40-day journey.  I recently purchased a book by Pastor Rick Warren entitled What on Earth Am I Here For?.  Many of you will know this book by a different title.  What on Earth Am I Here For? is an expanded edition of a previously released book by Pastor Rick.  I think you MIGHT have heard of the other name for the book.  Its title was/is The Purpose Driven Life.  Have you heard of it?  I thought so.

I know some of you out there are not HUGE fans of Rick Warren.  To be honest, I have my reservations about him too.  I don't think that he and I would land on the same side of various theological issues.  I don't think that I would be comfortable with some of the things that Pastor Rick does at Saddleback Church.  I don't think I would practice some of them at Ada First.  However, I DO think that there is some value in the premise of this book. 

Let's be honest.  "What on earth am I here for?" is a valid question that we ALL have asked ourselves at some point in our lives.  "What on earth am I here for?" is a valid question that we ALL have asked God at some point in our lives.  At the age of 31 (almost 32), I am STILL pondering this question during certain seasons of my life.

During this 40-day journey, I am looking forward to discovering several things about my purpose on this earth.  Day #1, which I read this evening, reminded me of something that many individuals need to be reminded of.  Some need to discover the truth of Day #1 for the first time.  This is how the book begins:  "It's not about you."

Do I really believe this?  I live my life like "it's all about me."  The decisions I make, the places I go, the words that I speak, the actions I commit all SCREAM to others and to God that "it's all about me."  I believe that it is human nature to live this way.  I believe that it is human nature to live life on this earth like this life is ALL there is.  However, at the close of Day #1, Pastor Rick used a verse from the book of Colossians that scatters this mentality.  Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul:

 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM.--Colossians 1:16 (ESV, emphasis added)

This verse perfectly proves who it's all about.  It's not about us.  It's about Jesus Christ.  All things were created through Him and all things were created for Him.  Where do we come into the picture?  We are to live our lives and enjoy the things that God created for us.  We are to live our lives glorifying God through the use of the things that He created.  

It's not about me!  It's ALL about Christ!  If I can live my life in such away where this all important truth is the focus of my life, I will be WELL on my way to living a purpose driven life and answering the question, "What on earth am I here for?" Blessings!