Rejection

"Will a person who has never heard of Jesus go to hell?" It would hardly seem fair to punish someone for something they never got a chance to do, namely, reject Jesus. But, let's look closer at that question for a moment.
The reason Jesus came was to save us from our sin. What sin?.... the sin of rejecting God. We think more about Jesus saving us from our sins (actions) than him saving us from our sin (heart attitude). Original sin came about when Adam rejected God and God's government. Jesus came to bring the possibility of being forgiven for rejecting God. Faith in Jesus' redemptive work washes away the sin of rejecting God. Rejecting Jesus means we are saying "no thank you" to God's merciful plan of forgiveness for the sin of rejecting God. When we reject God's means of forgiveness (Jesus), then we reject the only way to gain forgiveness for rejecting God in the first place!
I know that's a little confusing, but read that last paragraph again if you need to. Rejecting Jesus is actually rejecting God's plan of forgiveness for rejecting God. The book of Romans says that God has made his existence perfectly clear to everyone in the things he has made. No one has an excuse for not believing in God. Just look around you..... it's so obvious! But there are those who don't want there to be a God, because if there is a God they would owe him their praise and obedience. They would rather have autonomy instead, so they make an argument against his existence. They reject God. And they reject Jesus who is the forgiveness for that rejection!
A person who has never heard of Jesus still has all the obvious proof throughout creation that God exists. If they reject that proof and don't seek after God, they wouldn't have believed in Jesus either. How could Jesus be the son of God if there is no God? God is just and righteous and everyone will get a fair shake. Actually, those who accept God through Jesus Christ will get a merciful shake and those who reject God (whether they also reject Jesus or not) will get a fair shake.... because Heaven is mercy, Hell is justice.

Deserve

I remember an incident from high school many years ago. We had an assignment due on Monday and on Saturday night it snowed... and snowed and snowed some more! Needless to say, there was no school on Monday. Actually, there was no school that whole next week.
We returned to school the following Monday and only 3 students out of 28 turned in their assignments. The rest of us begged and pleaded for more time and, sighting the heavy snow and subsequent power outages, our teacher extended the deadline one more day. The next day, 12 kids handed in their assignments. The other 13 students gave numerous lame excuses and, to our amazement, the deadline was extended yet again. The next day 4 more students handed in their assignments and I couldn't believe the 9 others could be so bold as to ask for another extension! To make a long story short, the last student handed in their assignment the following Monday... two whole weeks late!
When our assignments were graded and handed back to us, our grades were horrible! The teacher didn't take off points for the papers being late, but he went through each of them with a fine tooth comb! He marked off for every little minor mistake. He marked things that he normally let go. Naturally, we cried foul. Why was he being so mean? Why was he being so picky? Why was he trying to fail us all? Why? Why? Why?
Finally, someone made the fatal mistake of saying that we didn't deserve such poor grades. The teacher asked if we all felt the same way and we all did. He asked us to hand the papers back and he would re-grade them and this time, he would give us the grades we deserved. He then proceeded to do just that.... we got zeros! All but the 3 students who turned their work in on time got zeros! And we deserved them. We took advantage of our teacher's mercy and then complained when he graded our papers very strictly.
God has let time go on for better than 2000 years now, his mercy giving all of us time to repent and turn to him. We seem to think that, because he has let us go so long, either he doesn't care how we act or maybe he doesn't even exist! My guess is that there will be a lot of whining and complaining on judgment day when we stand before him to give account for our lives. I bet the complaints of "this is unfair" and "you're unjust" get used a lot. I bet a bunch of folks will say "we don't deserve this!" when they're sent to eternal punishment.
We have abused God's mercy and grace and used his patience as an excuse to sin against him. But not much longer.

Two Pastors

I believe there are two types of Pastors. One I call the  "Good Shepherd" Pastor and the other I call the "Little Bo Peep" Pastor.
The "Good Shepherd" Pastor is like the leader Jesus talks about in the Bible. When one of his flock wanders away he immediately leaves the 99 and goes after the one. He finds that one and returns with him to the safety of the flock. This Pastor knows that He is responsible for the souls he has been put in charge of. When one of his church members leaves the church, he goes after that member and finds out what the problem was and comes back to the church with the member in company. Most of the time, just knowing that the Pastor notices and cares about their leaving wins back that member.
The "Little Bo Peep" Pastor is like the one mentioned in the nursery rhyme who says "Leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them". This Pastor says things like "I won't beg anybody to go to my church" and "I guess they never were real members anyway, else they wouldn't have left us".  This Pastor never checks to see what the problem was, or if indeed there was a problem, or if maybe that church member just lost his way. The Pastor stays home, safe with the 99 and the one is on his own.
 We have too many "Little Bo Peep" Pastors these days. They are content to stay home with the 99 or 98 or even 97 rather than bother with chasing after the errant one or two or three. Everyone wants to be wanted  and appreciated and, especially with our "mega-churches" these days, confused and/or hurt people are falling through the cracks and being forgotten. Just a call to say "We miss you" or "Is something wrong?" may solve the problem.
Pastor..... you are responsible for all your sheep, the easy ones and the hard ones. You may have one that leaves and you can't get him to come home, but it is your duty to try.

Liberal Christian

Liberal Christian is like jumbo shrimp and government intelligence; Some words just aren't meant to be used together. I hear people talk about being "liberal Christians", but upon closer examination, I can't seem to find the Christian among the liberal opinions.
Either the Bible is the word of God and is infallible and should be devoutly honored and obeyed, or it is garbage, full of lies and fairy tales and should be burned and forever gotten rid of. There is no middle ground. The statements the Bible makes about God, about Jesus, about us, about how people should act and talk, leave no room for middle ground. Either it is the truth or it is all lies and deception.
I hear "liberal Christians" say that, yes, the Bible is the word of God, but.... Well, if there is a but, then the Bible is not the word of God! If the Bible is true, then it is true all the time, in every situation, for all people, all the time, everywhere! Straddling the fence is not real Christianity. Pick a side already. I admire people who stand up for what they believe in and follow their true convictions even if I disagree with them. But those who water down Christianity with worldly concepts in the name of tolerance and political correctness really aggravate me. It's like trying to mix oil and water; All you do is mess up the oil and the water!
Jesus is either God or a liar. The Bible is either God's word or garbage. This is not a mix-and-match sale. You can't take a little of this and mix in a little of that and end up with anything that really matters. God doesn't give us that option. If you're going to be something, be something real... not some hybrid, fake, pinch-of-this pinch-of-that, unrecognizable counterfeit!

God of Love

I keep hearing about this God of love. It seems He loves everyone and everything.  He's the God who says "I know you're trying, so I'll cut you some slack" and "I don't care what you believe as long as you believe it with all your heart". He doesn't judge anyone and He doesn't hold anyone responsible for their actions. He doesn't hate anything; not abortion or divorce or immorality. He welcomes anyone, anytime, in any condition and there are apparently many ways to get to Him and He doesn't care which way you choose.
This is not the God of the Bible. Yet I hear about this "God" from the mouths of supposed Christians! Read your Bibles again... God does not love everyone! He does not let sin go unpunished! He is a God of judgment and moral responsibility! He is a God of justice and righteousness!
I don't know where this "goody-two-shoes" God comes from, but His followers are going to be rudely surprised when they come face to face with the real God. The real God hates doers of iniquity, murderers, liars and those who disregard His law to live any old way they want to. He demands that He be approached with worship and praise and only in the name of Jesus. He judges according to our actions and punishes sin. He loves those who love Him and obey Him. He is willing to forgive any sin if we repent, admit that we were wrong and accept the blood of Jesus as the payment for our iniquities, but He will not turn His head and disregard our sinfulness in the name of "love"!

Heritage

"The foundation of our society and our government rests so much on the teaching of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country." ~ Calvin Coolidge

This was the thinking of our highest elected official in the late 1920's. Contrast that with the thinking of our government officials today. They can say this country wasn't built on Christian morals and ethics if they want to, but I think it's obvious that the reason we are the greatest country in the world is because of our Christian heritage. God blesses those who love, honor and obey him. 

I've always heard it said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and yet here we are trying to "fix" what ain't broke! The very things that made us great are being disposed of in the name of "progress". I believe in 20 years they'll see what a mistake they've made and wish they could go back, but won't be able to. We're going to "hell in a hand-basket" as a country, figuratively and literally! It grieves me to see my country being led down this humanistic, godless, morally bankrupt , no absolute truth, socialistic and liberal path. 

To borrow a prayer from the Apostle John, "Even so; Come quickly, Lord Jesus."

Lord, Lord

Do I think President Obama is a Muslim? No, I don't. Do I think he's a Christian? Well... I think he thinks he is, let's put it that way. I'm not his judge and God is the only one who truly knows his heart, but I always like to see some apples before I call it an apple tree. And I ain't seen no apples!
Jesus said we would be known by our fruit. In other words, talk is cheap and actions always speak louder than words. Remember the old adage "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck... it's probably a duck"? Christians are supposed to act more like Christ (hence the name) and less like the world. Sanctification is a process and none of us are perfect, but we should be more like Jesus today than we were yesterday.
Jesus asked some "religious" folk why they called him Lord but didn't do what he said. So apparently, Jesus expects people who confess to be Christians to do what he says! I don't think Jesus would be persuaded by the "women have a right to abort their babies because it's their body" talk. I can't imagine Jesus "tolerating" homosexuality (after all, male and female created he them) and the one who said "I AM THE WAY" wouldn't go for this "many ways to God" gibberish!
All I'm saying is this: if you're going to call yourself a Christian, be a Christian! Act like Jesus if you're going to use his name! If you call him Lord, do what he says!

Freedom of Religion?

 In this country we have freedom of religion. Unfortunately, once you proclaim religion, you lose your freedoms! It seems that people think Christians shouldn't meddle in politics. And what right does a Christian have in big business? Shouldn't Christians spend all their time in church talking about Heaven and God and "spiritual" stuff like that?! Politics should be left up to "worldly" people who are too smart to fall for all those religious fairy tales. And business, well.... aren't Christians supposed to be poor and sad? Isn't their reward in Heaven? Well then, leave all the gold and silver and those nasty greenbacks to us sinners! And what do they think they're doing nosing around in public education? They should worry about Sunday School and let us take care of "real" education!
The "separation of church and state" has become "separate all the church-goers from state matters and keep those Christians noses out of public affairs"! Why does my becoming a Christian mean I must stop being an American? And why are all other "religions" tolerated (even esteemed) while Christianity is mocked and hated?
I am an American AND a Christian! I will be heard! I will exercise my rights and fight for my freedoms until the day I die! I don't ask for favoritism, but I will not accept second-class citizenship! I will vote my faith and my morals! I will speak up for absolute truth and moral responsibility! I will stand in the gap for the weak and defenseless! I will not be forced into "political correctness; I will call sin SIN! Get used to it!

No Sense

Ever heard the old adage about someone "cutting off his nose to spite his face"? I've always liked that one! It's talking about someone who insists on doing something which, in the end, only hurts himself. Not very bright, huh?
That's the saying I think of when the liberals and atheists start talking about Christians and how the world would be better off without those "religious zealots". They mock and make fun of Jesus and the Ten Commandments and the Bible and morality and personal resposibility and pretty much everything Christians stand for.
But what would the world be like without Christians? It would be everyone doing whatever they pleased with no one to warn them or speak up for truth. The Bible talks about a time when "everyone did what was pleasing in their own eyes" and I suspect that's what would happen again. No truth, no right and wrong, no morals, no laws.... just everyone doing whatever they think is right, whatever pleases them. How long would society last?
Christians are the light of the world because they stand upon and stand up for the word of God. When the Christians are gone, evil will quickly prevail, having no one to hold it back. The world would do away with Christians and Christianity (and God for that matter) and destroy themselves in the doing. Cutting off one's nose in spite of one's face makes no sense.

High Places?

Ephesians chapter 6 talks about " spiritual wickedness in high places". Now, I know that chapter is concerned with the evil forces at work in heavenly realms, but doesn't that phrase seem awfully relevant to what's going on politically these days? Spiritual wickedness in high places; Sounds like our current political scene to me! Let's see... we have adultery, voter fraud, alcohol and drug abuse, rape, sexual harassment and abuse, racketeering, theft of public funds and misappropriation of public funds not to mention a total disregard for their constituency and the greater good of our country. Sounds like spiritual wickedness in high places to me!
It is a morality problem. It is a selfishness problem. It is a character problem. It is a heart problem.  It is an outward manifestation of an inward flaw. It is a spiritual thing. We keep waiting for "things" to change, but "things" only change when people change! People only truly change when God changes them. When God gives them a "heart" transplant, when He removes their old, selfish, evil heart and gives them a heart of compassion and mercy, people are changed and those people then make "things" change!
The Bible tells us to pray for those in authority so that we may all live in peace and prosper. We should be praying that God would save them and change their hearts. But, apparently, we would rather complain and bad-mouth than pray. Yes, I'm talking about Christians.
An old saying goes "You deserve what you allow" and we have allowed these spiritually wicked people to stay in high places too long. We need to pray for those in office now and vote them out if they refuse to change and be more careful next election to vote our faith and values and not our pockets!