“Crazy Christians”

We now live in a time where it is more acceptable to watch porn and talk about it with our friends than it is to call yourself a Christian. If you talk about the latest flic you watched no one bats an eye, but as soon as the conversation turns to God it can become tense and nerve-wracking. The whispering begins and the eyes start to wander to make sure that no one else is listening. The fear that you will be labeled a “crazy Christian” begins to set in and the anxiety begins to grow. We worry that if you bring your faith to our families that they will look at us weird and think we have gone insane. We fear that we will be persecuted for our faith and love of our God. The fear has built up and taken over our hearts. No longer do we listen to the Word when it tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In, fact everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Forgotten is the truth that persecution is something that we must not run from but stand against. Let us accept the persecution of the world and realize that when we are persecuted, we become more blessed.

There is often an excuse made for going against what they Word says, and this is usually along the lines of “everyone will think I’m weird” or even better yet, “I can do this because it is what is accepted in the world today”. These are simply not good excuses! Yes, everyone may think that you are weird, but Matthew 5:10 tells us, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now I for one think that I am willing to be called weird in order to gain the Kingdom of Heaven. I could be called weird and strange by the whole world as long as I am seen as righteous in the eyes of God. As for the second excuse, well let me say that this world is not what dictates what is right and wrong. Just because the world has changed does not mean that we can change what the bible says, or what God has told us is right and wrong. If the fear of what the world thinks of you is still too heavy on your heart, just remember what John 15:18 tells us, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” Jesus was so much hated by the world that He was hung up on the cross by us. Remember this when you are worried that the world is persecuting you, Jesus was not only persecuted, but put on display on the cross by the world.

Do not be afraid to be labeled a “crazy Christian”, and do not be afraid to live your faith out loud! While the world may call you crazy your Father in Heaven will not. While the world may persecute you and lash out against you just remember that with every persecution because of righteousness you gain a much greater reward in heaven!!

Christians and the Environment

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” Genesis 1:1. This is a simple, but powerful verse. The first verse of the bible, the answer to so many questions and debates. Some of these debates are better saved for another time, but today one does need to be addressed. “The world is ending, and it is the fault of humans”. It seems as if we cannot go 24 hours without hearing about “global warming” or even more recently, “the green new deal”.  Almost every turn you take leads to someone saying that if we don’t change what we are doing then the world is going to end. While yes, we as Christians do believe in the Rapture, it is hard to believe that we could possibly cause the world to end ourselves. I have a few thoughts to back up my beliefs.

Let’s look at this from the view of evolutionists and their logic. Science dates the Earth at over 4 billion years old, and according to this dating, humans have only been around for roughly 5 million years. This means that we accept humans have evolved to where we are today in less than 1/100^th of the time the world has been in existence. If this is true it would raise a question to consider. How are we supposed to believe that we can affect a 4 billion old world? We are made to believe, that we have evolved from nothing into something that can destroy the environment and kill ourselves in the process. While yes, we should care about the world it should not be because we are fearful of what will happen. Our care for the world should come from the admiration that it is God’s creation.

Now let’s take the view from a biblical standpoint. The very first verse of the Bible says that God created the earth, it does not say that the earth was created and then God filled it with other things (which he did do). It does not say that God stumbled upon the earth and thought, “hmmm what a good place to put humans”. NO! God CREATED the earth! He created it for us! He has a plan for the earth, and mankind and this is not a secret, He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Now why would our Father tell us that He has plans for us to prosper and not to harm us. Why would He give us hope for the future if He knows that there will not be one? The simple answer is that God did not lie to us, He knows that we are suppose to prosper. Do you think that God did not know we would create cars, trucks, and airplanes? Of course, he knew all of those things would be created! After all, He was the one who put the ideas and plans for what we have into the minds of their creators!

God did not create a world that could be destroyed by His creations. God created a world that would allow His creations(us) to prosper and flourish. It was not by chance that we have all of the precious metals that we do. It was not by chance that we have the tools and materials necessary to build the machines that we have. God placed all of these things on the earth knowing that they would be used by man. He had plans for the materials He placed on the planet. As it says in Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” God transcends time, there is nothing that is a surprise to Him. We are exactly where we are supposed to be in God’s plan.

If you are still reading to this point you may be asking yourself, “if we really are where we’re supposed to be then why is there so much fear about the end?” My answer is that there is a battle for power waging in our world. A battle between God and Satan. God brings us hope, joy, and happiness! Satan however only brings fear, terror, and destruction. Do you see the difference between the two?! Does it make a little more sense now why there is so much fear in today’s world? We have started to distance ourselves from God and unnecessary fear is being spread rampant by evil! Fear is a liar and can be defeated by the joy of our Lord! Do not be mislead by the fear that our earth is in danger but rejoice in the promise of prosperity for our land from the Lord!!!

“Prepare for Tomorrow, and be Ready to Get Called Home”

How many times have you heard the phrase “live like there’s no tomorrow”? Now, the sentiment behind this saying is very nice. We say this because we want people to put their best foot forward every day of their lives, we want everyone to live their best lives. We say “live like there’s no tomorrow” as a means to motivate people to live today to its fullest. However, I don’t believe it’s a motto worth living by!

Let me ask a very simple question. What would you really do if you knew that tomorrow wasn’t going to come? Would you read a book that would expand your knowledge? Would you learn something new? Would you go on an adventure you always thought was too outrageous? Would you buy whatever you wanted knowing money was no longer an issue? See if we really knew that tomorrow wasn’t going to come, and if we believe that life just ceases to exist when we pass on from this temporary home, then why would you strive to learn something new? Why would you go on that adventure knowing you won’t have those memories when you wake up? Why would you buy something that you know you would never have the opportunity to use? If you knew that nothing you did today would matter tomorrow then why would you want to do anything of value today.

The problem with living like there’s no tomorrow, is that THERE MOST LIKELY WILL BE A TOMORROW. The sun will most likely go down tonight and arise again in the morning about the same time, completing the same cycle that it always does, the cycle it was designed to complete. As humans we know that this is true, and that is why we don’t actually “live like there’s no tomorrow”. When we use this saying what are we actually doing? We are PREPARING FOR TOMORROW, every time we say “live like there’s no tomorrow”, we are using this as a motivator to better ourselves for tomorrow!!

So, I propose that we start to actually say how we are living, we are not actually “living like there’s no tomorrow”, but instead we should say “prepare for tomorrow, and be ready to get called home”. See as humans we are already ingrained to live and prepare for the next day, even if we enjoy the moment, we are striving to set ourselves up for success in the next day. However, in this hustle and bustle we forget about our eternal lives. We forget that if tomorrow does not come for us that it is not just the end, we do not just decay into mulch and fertilizer for the ground.

The day after our last day on Earth we begin the rest of our eternity! This Earth is not where we belong, it is just a temporary home that we are residing in, it seems like we forget this sometimes, and that is why we “live like there’s no tomorrow”, because we forget that if tomorrow never comes that is when we are called home. I propose that as Christians we take a stand and start living the way we are called! As it says in Colossians 1:10 “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” We are to walk our lives on Earth in a manner that bears fruit and we are called to increase in the knowledge of God!!

 If we live our lives in this way how would your life change? Would things you are doing for tomorrow change? Would you decide that you should spend more time in God’s Word than you already do? We don’t think about these things because we are too busy just living for tomorrow, we are constantly drawn to what the next day will bring.

We get so drawn to tomorrow that we forget about our eternity, we forget that one day we will be called home to be with our Father in Heaven. We forget that being great on this Earth is not our ultimate goal. We forget to grow the Kingdom of our Lord. We get so caught up in ourselves, that sometimes we forget that we are God’s. So, I beg of you, stop living for yourself, and start living for God! Stop living for tomorrow, and start living for your eternity. Live in a way that if you were called home tomorrow you’d be going up and not down.

God bless you all!!

Prepare for tomorrow, and be ready to get called home!

Join the Battle

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12 KJV

Thank you for joining us as warriors in the Army of God! We are called to stand against the evil of this world and fight with our Father! Regardless of whether you admit it or not there is a battle raging in this world, it’s time to fight for the side that WILL WIN!!