Adding Christ or Accepting Christ?

The way in which I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior was such a blessing. I went through many studies with a wonderful & small team of guys lead by the man who would become our Pastor with the aim of starting a reformed home church. As such we learned many lessons including “Adding Jesus to Your Life,” although I don’t imagine that was the title. I learned incredible truths about the faith and I’d like to share this one today.

Many of us today add things to make our lives better – a new exercise habit, a healthier diet, an add-on to our web browser for safer web surfing, any number of New Year’s Resolutions – and sometimes people try adding Jesus to their lives. Sometimes folks even figure, “Well I’ve heard of this Christian thing, I think I’ll give Jesus a try and see if my life gets better.”

John 15:5 says:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

So there’s the vine, branches and fruit being discussed, and you may have caught at the very end, the vine’s dependence upon the branch. For this writing we won’t go into fruit except to say that it represents good things in a Christ followers life that indicate his heart, the thing he values (and admittedly it’s an oversimplification). The Apostle John is using the language of farming to describe that Jesus (the branch) is the source of life for the Christian (the vine). The last line “for apart from me you can do nothing” points out the vines dependence from the branch. If you cut a vine away from it’s branch it will fall to the ground and die because it has been separated from the branch from which it gets the water it needs to live.

What I’m getting at here, dear friends, is that Christians were meant to be “grafted in”, or added to the branch. Jesus isn’t meant to be grafted in to us because we’re not the source of life. If you want to give Jesus a try to see if he can help you in the way you might try a new flavor added into your favorite beverage then you may be very disappointed (adding Jesus). If on the other hand you give Jesus a try because you are in a desperate situation and you see no other way out, you may find a new way of living that’s a blessing beyond compare (this may be adding or accepting Christ). BUT, if you come to Jesus to accept him into your life because you know deep in your heart that he came into this world as a man, and he died on a cross for your sins and you believe that only Christ can forgive these sins and you believe these things with all your heart, then my friend, you are on a very good path, one that very well may enrich your life, but also much more (accepting Christ).

I’m not a writer or a Pastor or anything, so this writing may leave you with more questions than answers. I’d encourage you to get a bible if you don’t already have one, and if you want to know even more then connect with a solid, bible teaching church. In this day it is sometimes hard to find a solid, bible teaching church since churches have made headlines recently for accepting ideas that are contrary to what the ancient scriptures of the bible teach, so you may have to look hard, and pray for understanding an guidance. I pray the Lord will bless your journey as you seek him, and that the truth of Jesus Christ may be found in you.

Did You Know? Crossing Your Fingers When Telling a Lie

Have you ever heard about crossing your fingers when telling a lie protects you against the lie being held against you, makes sure your lie “doesn’t count”? Or maybe you heard that you can cross your fingers for luck?

Have you ever heard of the mythical Devil, Satan, Lucifer or the same evil creature that goes by other names?

Ironically this mythical creature, Satan, is real and crossing your fingers does nothing but make you feel better but it does not bring “luck” nor does it absolve you of lying. Consider this:

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
– Exodus 20:16 ESV

The Lord God says in the ten commandments not to lie. Crossing your fingers does not protect you from the judgment of a holy God. On the subject of luck, I won’t go and find a bunch of bible verses about God’s sovereignty (his absolute control over all thing – including the outcome of anything you want luck for or against) but if you can imagine God creating all planets, stars, a forces like gravity and everything else at the beginning of time. Do you think that since he has created all that from nothing, this entire universe, and has plans for everything, do you imagine that crossing your fingers will change anything he has purposed and set in motion?

The Devil is real, he is a fallen angel that rebelled against God. His demons, the ones who rebelled with him, are also real. Satan would love for you to believe that crossing your fingers negates a lie or will bring you luck, because if you do, then you have no use for God. Because you’d think you you have no use for him.

It’s my prayer that if you found this post that you would realize that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and that you would believe in your heart that that only way for your sins to be forgiven is through him and that you’d ask him into your life.

The Difference Between Christianity and Religion

I’m a picky person -it’s part of my personality. Some things other people might simply accept can become thoughts for me to ponder, ideas for me to categorize, or concepts for me to more deeply understand. Since Jesus changed my heart and I became a Christian, I’ve struggled with some concepts. One of those is religion.

I recall conversations in the past where we discussed how Christianity wasn’t a religion, and I agreed. But then later I’d ask myself why wasn’t it a religion? Why was Christianity different than religion? I googled and read things and talked to people about it. Today I was thinking about it again and a simple example of the difference between following Jesus (Christianity) and religion came to me…

RELIGION: Religion is like being part of an organization, like the Coast Guard or Fire Department. There are rules guiding your behavior, and you get reviewed on your job performance. So, religion is very formal and you need to perform well in order to advance – and keep your job!

CHRISTIANITY: Christianity is more like a good relationship with a parent. There aren’t really any formal rules, although people can and do come up with them. You really shouldn’t have to prove anything to a parent, they should just love you. The things you do in your relationship with your parents might be viewed by others as if you were following rules and you might even feel like you get performance reviews, but those parents who are real pearls don’t judge you like that. They just love you the way you are and that’s that.

You might or might not have that kind of parent, but you should. And no parent can always measure up to the desire we have for that kind of relationship. God designed us to desire that relationship and the love that comes from it, and only he can fill it. The good news is that you can have that relationship with Jesus Christ. Now and forever. God is the perfect father and he sent Jesus into this world at the right time to die for our sins so that we might be brought into a relationship with him again. Jesus took care of it for us! Jesus fixed it! Jesus paid for that sin in our lives, the sin we live out regularly … he paid for it on the cross!

You may have heard this before, a promise for those who will trust their lives to him and confess their sin, and all of us have sin:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
– John 3:16

I Would Believe in God If…

Would you believe in God if he did what you thought made sense? For example its reasonable that since God created everything and this displays awesome power, he could make your life easier, right? Since God created man from dust, surely he can take care of your health, right?

Its an easy leap for many to think that since God has all of this power, and he is so loving then the world should be a much better place – isn’t it? Our lives should be full of the wonderful, the great, the enjoyable. But we live in a world that also is full of pain, stress, hate and many bad and evil things.

So how can anyone believe in God if he doesn’t “act right”? Its a good question, and its good to ask questions if they lead to a reasonable understanding. So let’s get started on these issues. I’ll make some statements below, sometimes followed by questions and choose some verses from scripture, God’s word, to clarify them in God’s words.

• God did create the world, the universe and everything in it.
  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 ESV)
• God is powerful, so much so its hard to understand as a mere human. Can humans even count the stars?
  He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147:4-5 ESV)
• God created man from dust.
  then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Genesis 2:7 ESV)
• God is the ultimate healer.
  And he [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. (Matthew 4:23 ESV)
• God loves his children. If you are one of God’s children, he sent Jesus to the cross for you.
  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 ESV)

So all of these things are true – God loves us and became man in the person of Jesus Christ and died for our sins, God created man from dust and can always heal any of us no matter what the illness or injury, God is powerful and can do anything, God created absolutely all matter and everything that exists.

The simple answer for why God doesn’t heal everyone, and do away with all pain, hate and bad in this world, and “take better care of you” is simply because this is not heaven – its earth. Adam’s original sin turned this into a fallen world with death, disease and more. Jesus died on the cross for his children’s sins and I pray that you will be counted among his children when he returns.

Instead of saying you’d believe in God “if,” give your heart to Him who created all, Him who is the only path to salvation, and recognize as Job did in Job 40 that you cannot expect God to conform to your wishes, to your world view and act right in your eyes.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13 ESV)

 

I Go to Church So I’m Going to Heaven, Right?

Some people ask, “If I go to church then I’ll go to heaven, right?” Some people insist that since they’re going to church each week then they are going to heaven. The answer to the question is not necessarily.

So let’s use an example. You throw a birthday party at your house allowing guests to invite guests. Actually, no one is standing at the front door checking for invitations, so really anyone can walk on in. If you have, say a group of 50 people is it safe to assume they are all friends and family simply because they are in your house? Especially considering you were not watching the front door to make sure only your expected guests were allowed inside. The answer, of course is no. You will have friends and family but also may have people who do not like you, but like a friend or family member. You may even have attracted some thief who is just walking around checking out your stuff to see what you have that’s worth stealing.

More Later.

Big Bang & Natural Selection Don’t Explain Creation

My schooling as a young man taught me that everything in the Universe was a result of the Big Bang. Mind you, the Big Bang Theory is just that, a theory. However interesting it is, it does not explain creation. If you do not believe in God and Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you may hold to the Big Bang Theory because you believe it explains creation, however the Big Bang Theory could only possibly explain what happened after creation since it begins with created matter (gases, our universe, scientific forces like heat, and all of the matter in creation).

The Big Bang Theory can’t explain the creation of the Universe, although that’s the idea you get learning it in school, because it begins with something created already … but how did it get there in the first palce? The Big Bang actually describes what could have happened post-creation if the creator was lazy. Some super-being comes by and creates an empty universe, adds laws of physics, stirs in some hot gases and some beginning matter, and … well goes off somewhere else. Then the gases superheat and explode sending all of the matter throughout the otherwise empty universe.

Some theorists, not surprisingly, have abandoned the idea of the Big Bang and are moving on to other things. Similarly, Darwin’s Natural Selection is also on its way out looking for a suitable replacement. This did not stop it from being taught in school while I was coming up. So the Big Bang Theory and Natural Selection have fallen into uselessness when it comes to explaining how we got here in the first place so we could actually have this discussion. Think of it: the logic of our current Universe is that everything comes from some predecessor AND that everything must have a beginning. We expect there was a first turtle, a first human, a first stone, a first planet etc. And certainly there were – the logic of our current universe dictates that.

Enter our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ into the picture and everything becomes very simple and clear. You do not need to be concerned about illogical logic posited by theorists hundreds of years ago – or even the new ones being “discovered” or suggested. The Big Bang was not a plausible theory to explain the Universe, much less its creation; and Natural Selection didn’t make any sense nor extend past the big Bang to explain how we ended up here. There was a creation of the universe, a first man, first animal, first planet (etc).

If you would like to read a book explaining how we got here, and how the Universe was created, pick up a bible (I like this online bible) which will explain all of that. It was very interesting to me to read in Genesis 1 during a bible study some years a vague inference to when God created the laws of physics, in essence created science.

Imagine Your Life

Imagine for a moment if when a child was still an embryo it had the intelligence of an 18 year old. Now imagine the conversation that child would have with its mother. Mom would tell the child about what life would be like after he was born and begin trying to explain things like clothing, food, school, learning, a home, personal property, their crib, etc.

About 2 weeks later the baby would now be a fetus and with an 18 year old’s intelligence boredom would probably have set in. Later as the baby grew things would seem smaller and before birth the baby would probably be complaining about how cramped things were now and how there was less room to move around.

“Mom, I want to be born now, its not comfortable any more.”

“No, its not time yet.”

“Why not, its so uncomfortable in here, it used to be so much better when  I had more room.  I want to be born now. We talked about medicine so I know you can make that happen.”

“Its not time yet”

“You’re mean, I hate you. You could make me comfortable and you refuse to!”

Mom would be thinking how much better things will be after her little boy grows and finishes developing completely before being born. A couple of weeks later as birth started, there would be a new conversation starting.

“Ouch! This hurt! Stop! Stop! I don’t want to be born, I was just sleeping and you woke me up!”

“Its time, its meant to be like this. I’ll be holding you soon.”

“Ouch! Stop, you don’t understand how much this hurts! I hate you!”

Then hours later in mother’s arms, “Its so darn bright in here and I am freezing! What were you thinking? This is not better! I’m cold and blinded by all of these stupid lights. I don’t know why you ever thought I would enjoy this. I want to be unborn again, put me back. You are a crazy woman!”

“It was time, it is meant to be like this. You will learn to enjoy your life now that you are born. Its just a shock right now because its fresh in your mind, but you will forget the pain and love your new life.”

“No, no! You are a crazy woman! I want to go back home, back where I came from! Crazy, crazy woman! Obviously you’ve never been born!”

“Of course I was born, just like you, I know what you are going through and you will not feel this way in a short time.”

---

Now, compare that story to yours, but change things up a bit. The baby is you. Hearing from your mother explain things like clothing, food, school, learning, a home, personal property, your crib and other things is learning from Jesus about your reality here as a stranger who will inherit an eternal life in the presence of God forever.

Hear the baby’s uninformed complaints about a life that has been explained to him, but a life he cannot possibly fully understand yet, and know that this is your understanding of your eternal life. You only have an academic understanding of an eternal life without pain, depression, hunger or any bad feelings of any sort, but you have never experienced anything like that. You have never been in the actual presence of Jesus Christ and can only imagine what it may actually be like.

Remember when things get you down, when you are in pain, when someone important in your life passes on that God does understand like the mother in this story and that you, like the baby, have no understanding beyond what little could be explained to you without any actual experience. Explaining taste and smell to someone who can neither smell nor taste would be an exercise in academics – ie, it would tell someone what it would or should be like, but does not grant them that experience.

We do not yet have a life of perfection created by God. We have a physical body and we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and our body can be wracked by pain and sorrow and hunger and all sorts of earthly experiences that we will no longer have to endure in our eternal lives with our Holy Father, our Creator. When you think you have all of the answers and wonder why God does this or that, remember that a baby – an embryo, fetus or even newborn – has no comparable understanding compared to its mother. And remember that even this example fails to show the great gap in knowledge and perfection between us and the God who loved us and sent His Son to the cross for our sins. Not only could He understand from the beginning of time, but in addition to that Jesus Christ actually lived out a physical experience as a man – though fully human and fully divine.

Also, like the baby, our immediate life will crowd and blur our thinking, partially erasing what we know to be true, what we have been taught. Things like the goodness of God and His perfection. We will question Him and His decisions as we experience things we dislike that cause pain, discomfort and inconvenience. We will ask why, when the Creator of everything could repair (whatever situation), then why would He not? The answer?

Its not time, or its not meant to be that way, that’s why.

God Working in Our Lives

I was listening to a Gospel Fluency audio by Jeff Vanderstelt, I’ll try to find a link later. But something occurred to me. How many times in your life have you waited for God’s help in some situation? As the great healer, or the worker of miracles or the One who makes all come together for your good? How many times have you later realized, or perhaps someone opened your eyes to the fact that it was a case where you should be doing that thing for yourself instead of waiting for God to do it for you?

Obviously, that idea of doing it yourself doesn’t apply to every situation, but here’s the idea I got listening to the Gospel fluency audio. In your home you may have needed a handy man to come out and repair something – a light fixture or hole in the wall. But do you call a handy man when a light bulb burns out? Of course not, you change the light bulb. I think sometimes in our lives a light bulb has burned out and we are waiting for God to send someone to fix it for us, or perhaps waiting for God to perform a miracle and make the light bulb work again.

We need to be a discerning people, and this includes separating what I need to do for myself from when I need to rely on God’s provision. Its not always as easy as these illustrations I’ve used.

Do you struggle with figuring out when to do it for yourself and when to wait for the Lord’s provision for you?

Accountability

This content is taken from the Man in the Mirror website’s “Classic Issue: How to Have an Accountable Relationship” post and was in an email sent by a brother in Christ, and great personal friend. It was a great reminder for me about the importance of accountability and the changes you will experience as you grow as a Christ-follower:

The Purpose and Definition of Accountability
The purpose of accountability is nothing less than to each day become more Christ-like in all our ways and be ever more intimate with Him. Here’s a useful working definition of accountability for Christians:

Suggested Guidelines for A Weekly One-Hour Accountability Check-Up

1. Try to ensure each person gets equal “air time.” However, if one of you has a particularly hard struggle one week, be flexible enough to focus on that issue.
2. Let each person work through a section at a time, then let the other(s) answer. This will keep things moving.
3. Don’t neglect the prayer time.
4. Try this in a small group of 3 to 5 men. This will work well if everyone speaks succinctly (one hour will go by very quickly!) You may want to try one-on-one.
5. Reread the chapter, “Accountability: The Missing Link”, from The Man in the Mirror, at least once every year and discuss the questions at the end of the chapter. You will be surprised how your understanding of accountability changes over the years.
6. Stick it out. You will want to quit, perhaps often. Ask God to strengthen you when you want to give up.
7. Hold each other accountable for the goals you each set for yourselves and to the standards of God’s Word.
8. Never forget the purpose of accountability: To each day become more Christ-like in all of your ways. Remember it is Jesus who is the object of our search, our devotion, our sacrifice, and our affection. Anything less than intimacy with Christ will be a pallid achievement from your time together.
9. Finally, if you are uncomfortable with the format, feel free to alter these questions and type up your own accountability checklist. The substance is more important than the form. You may want to divide the key areas among more than one accountability partner.

Bible Says: God Gives Eternity to All

Its true, and the Bible will back up the fact that ALL people will have eternity!

All people regardless of belief in God & Jesus and the Holy Spirit will have eternity. The question is, which eternity will YOU have? [1]

Through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord will grant eternal life to all of His believers. [1] That’s the good news.

The bad news is that God will give eternal life in hell [1] to unbelievers, those who do not follow Jesus Christ, those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.

Now, I hope and pray that you know our Lord, Jesus Christ, but if you do not, you would be served greatly by knowing HOW you can be saved and given eternal life instead of eternal punishment. Here’s a simple “test,” and if you can do what it says, then everything else should fall into place because it means God has changed your heart, He has regenerated you. [2]

It’s not simply enough to believe in Jesus, because even demons believe in Jesus! [3]

You need to believe in Jesus AND you need to agree that you fall short of perfection [4] and you need to ask forgiveness.

---

1)
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
– Matthew 25:46 (ESV)

2)
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
– Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)

3)
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
– James 2:19 (ESV)

4)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
– Romans 3:23 (ESV)