Cross Over to the Other Side

Everybody knows the story of how Jesus calms the storm, and that is a great story. This is a bible story that we read to our children. It shows how Jesus has absolute power and authority over all things in this world... but this story is so much deeper than just "Jesus calming the storm".

Luke 8:22-25
²² Now it happened, on a certain day, that He (Jesus) got into a boat with His disciples.
And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.

Did you catch that? Jesus said, "Let us cross over to the other side"! He did not say, "let us launch out, get caught in a storm and perish". Jesus told His Disciples exactly what was to come... He was going to take them to the other side, despite what they will face.

READ MORE --------->>>>

Newsflash: There is NO PEACE Without JESUS!

I recently made a website, Youtube, Facebook Fan Page, and Twitter for our church. We were WAY BEHIND times, haha. Our church has always been a ‘down home’ little hole in the wall-type of church where everyone grew up there, but we finally want to “get out there”… so we are dipping into cyber world to spread the word that there is a good church in our area that preaches Christ and Him Crucified!

We stay away from that watered down gospel that will pat you on the back and tell you that you are ok in your sin. We preach the whole truth: You are a sinner in need of a savior, Jesus IS that savior, He sanctifies and justifies through His death on the cross, and we teach how to live for Him after salvation takes place.

Anyway, I got a message this morning that our church twitter has a new follower. This follower is a “universal” teacher. He teaches that there are “bridges” that lead from all religions to God.

This made me angry!

There is only ONE WAY to God! And it’s through JESUS!

Jesus said,

“I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE: No man comes unto the Father (GOD) EXCEPT THROUGH ME” – John 14:6

This man was speaking of helping people find peace ‘within themselves’ and building a ‘bridge’ to peace.

THERE IS NO PEACE WITHOUT JESUS!!!!!! That bridge IS JESUS!

Why do people not understand this?!?

Reading this made me angry/ I began to read… 

and I stumbled upon this passage:

ROMANS 5:1-11

¹Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

²By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

³And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

⁵And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

⁶For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

If you get a chance, drop by our church Facebook Fan Page or our Twitter and follow us… Help me build up our followers!

OH!

And if you get a chance, check out our new website too!

God Bless!

“Post-It Note” Tuesday

 

One Absolute Truth

TOLERANCE

The traditional definition of TOLERANCE refers to recognizing & respecting other beliefs and practices without necessarily agreeing or sympathizing with them.

Today's definition of TOLERANCE considers almost all beliefs, values, and lifestyles to be equally valid. This is a false definition because there is only ONE ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

 

TOLERANCE or LOVE? 

TOLERANCE avoids offending people; true LOVE promotes their good.

TOLERANCE says, "You must approve of what I do." LOVE does something harder - it says, "I'll love you, even when you offend me."

TOLERANCE says, "You must allow me to have my way." But LOVE says, "I'll plead with you to follow the right way because you're worth the risk."

TOLERANCE seeks to be inoffensive, but LOVE takes risks and sometimes the truth does offend.

TOLERANCE costs nothing, but LOVE costs everything.

 

ONE TRUTH

There is only ONE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. This TRUTH does NOT change depending on circumstances (situations, cultures, societies) What is wrong for one, is wrong for another. What God says is sin for one is still considered sin for all (no matter the circumstances). Circumstances do not change the fact that there is a wrong and a right. This TRUTH is found in the WORD of God. It never changes. God's truth is not invented by people, communities, or societies. God's truth is universal. It is the same for all people, in all places, at all times. There is an answer to every question and it is found in the bible.

Jesus answered, "I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through ME" John 14:6..............in other words..... if we want to make it through the gates of Heaven, we need to accept Jesus and be born again. "Good people" don't get into heaven. "Born again" people get into heaven.

Someday, "Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is LORD"...Phil 2:10-11  

Either here in this lifetime, or on judgment day when it is too late.

Either on this side of the grave or on the other side of the grave.

THE TRUTH will never die.

Ghosts!

Satan, Demons, ‘Ghosts’… OhMy!

Let’s talk about the spooky stuff! Why not?

Everyone falls into 3 categories on this topic: 1) Don’t believe at all & probably don’t want to hear about it, 2) Believe it but don’t know much… but have lot’s of their own theories, or 3) Believe it & know the truth. If you are in another category, sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you out.

{This topic is one of my pet peeves. It bothers me that there are so many that don’t know the truth about “ghosts”. People want to believe that these ‘ghosts’ are long lost loved ones that will watch over them like angels. Or they believe that their house is haunted by a ‘nice ghost’… so it’s ok. This drives me NUTS! The bible is very clear: When we take our last breath here on earth, we close our eyes & die & open our eyes in eternity. This is a fact. The bible is also very clear on the fact that once we wake up in eternity (whether heaven or hell) we STAY PUT & do NOT COME BACK for any reason! (Luke 16)  UNDERSTAND THIS PEOPLE!!! Ghosts are NOT dead people that come back to earth for any reason!!!}

Ready? Let’s get started!

The Greek words daimonion and daimon means “evil spirits” or “devils”. These words are used 77 times referring to demon spirits (‘ghosts’). There is also the Greek word diamonizomai which means “to have or be possessed by a demon”

The Greek word diabolos means “Satan” (The Devil), which means adversary, false accuser, slanderer. It is used 34 times regarding Satan.

There is a HUGE difference between these two different things: Satan & demon spirits. There is only one prince of devils but many demons.

Satan in an angel. He has an angelic body & can NOT enter bodily into anyone. Demons are DISembodied spirits & are not able to operate in the material world except through possession of the bodies of men & animals.

Other words used in the bible meaning “demon” (same Greek word, just different translation): familiar spirits, unclean spirits, evil spirits, seducing spirits.

Some general information about demons: They are subject to Christ and made subject to believers by the atonement, the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 8:16-17; 12:28; Mk. 16:17; Lk. 10:17; Acts 19:15; 1Pet. 3:22) This means that IN THE NAME OF JESUS demons have to flee. Now don’t misunderstand – YOU MUST BE A CHRISTIAN in order to use the name of Jesus. The demons KNOW if you are saved or not!! {Acts 19:13-16  - ¹³Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" ¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.} You don’t mess with demons unless you are covered in the blood of Christ because the demons KNOW who belongs to Him!

Here’s the kicker: Demons have been roaming this earth since BEFORE Adam & Eve! Yes, yes… Adam & Eve were NOT the first beings on the face of the earth. Before Adam & Eve there was a whole kingdom here on earth! Lucifer (aka Satan) was created by Christ along with other beings, principalities and powers in heaven and earth (Job 38:4-7; Ez. 28:11-17; Col. 1:15-18) Lucifer fell through pride over his own beauty (Ez. 28:11-17; 1Tim 3:6) and trying to exalt himself above God (Isa. 14:12-14). Anyway… Lucifer had a kingdom on earth long before the 6 days of Gen. (1:3-2:25) and the creation of Adam. These passages reveal that he fell, led an invasion into heaven and was defeated. At that time the earth was cursed and all life destroyed by the first flood, (as in Gen. 1:2… whole other story), NOT Noah’s flood. 

Soooo…. demons were roaming around before Adam & Eve between earth & hell… they know everything that has ever happened here on earth! They have seen every person who has ever lived. They have seen every person die.

Above I mentioned one of the names of demons is “familiar spirit”. This is what we call “ghosts”. We may see a ‘ghost’ that resembles our long lost great-grandpa that died in the attic. This ‘ghost’ looks like great-grandpa…it MUST be great-grandpa! NOT!! This is a “familiar spirit”!! These demons are so devious, they can make themselves look like any person who has ever been on this earth. People fall for this in other ways too. They see this ‘ghost’ that looks like some person who has lived back in the 1800’s or some other far away time period… and they look it up in history & find out this ‘ghost’ was a real person! Yes, demons CAN do this.

What WE need to do… is NOT BE IGNORANT to this! Don’t think these evil things are innocent ‘ghosts’ of dead nice people. The dead nice people are either in heaven or hell… and can NOT come back!!! Regardless if these things are scaring us or not – harming us or not – THESE THINGS ARE DEMON SPIRITS! No matter HOW you want to look at it – THEY ARE EVIL!! You do not want these things around! I think one reason for this is people want to hold on to some kind of hope that their loved one is coming back to visit or something. But this is impossible. It is impossible that our loved one comes back from eternity. This is the Word of God in scripture!

I really want people to understand how powerful the name of Jesus is. Demons know their destiny! In James 2:19 it says the demons know God and TREMBLE! They know that Christ has ALL POWER over them. They know their fate… that at the end of time they will be cast into hell for all eternity!

Demons also know who belongs to Christ. Us believers have the power over demons THROUGH CHRIST! Jesus gave us His permission to use His name to cast out demons, to heal the sick! 

Hollywood (and a lot of regular people) think you need to call in a priest or minister to pray over your haunted house or to do an exorcism… NOT TRUE! Jesus gave us His permission to use His name to do His work!! You just have to be a Christian. A believer. A born again, washed in the blood, child of God!

Luke 9

¹Then He called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

²And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are YOU a child of God? A believer? Are YOU washed in His blood?

You have to believe that Jesus is God’s only son who died on the cross for your sins… and He was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. (Romans 10:9)

If you believe this, then talk to God. Tell him you are sorry for your sins & you want to be saved. Tell Him you believe in His Son Jesus, that He died for your sins & you believe He has risen!

After you have done this…

YOU ARE SAVED!

You are a child of God!

You are washed in the blood of Christ!

Life With Him

Acts 4:12 (New Century Version)


“Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us."

Just thought I’d throw that out there. Call me intolerant. That’s ok.

There is an absolute truth. And it is the Word of God. And The Word of God says that Jesus is the ONLY one who can save people. (saved = eternal life in heaven) There are NOT ‘many paths’ that all lead to heaven.

So if you think I am intolerant… Take it up with God.

Life With Him

Ephesians 2:8, 9


"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."


In other words...
Through God's Grace He saves our soul ~but~ ONLY BY FAITH! WE can NOT save ourselves. We can't EARN our spot in heaven. Being a 'good' person won't get us there.
 The only thing that gets us to heaven is having faith in Jesus. Jesus said this, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

WARNING: THERE ARE NO **GOOD** PEOPLE IN HEAVEN!!!!!!!!

There are only 2 classes of people here on this Earth. Christian & non-Christian. Saved or unsaved.

Being a "good" person is NOT a qualification to enter into heaven. The ONLY QUALIFICATION to be accepted by God into heaven is FAITH IN HIS SON JESUS! NOWHERE in the bible does it say you have to "do this" or "do that". Attending church won't get you there. Paying tithes won't get you there. Getting baptized won't get you there. Reading your bible won't get you there. Saying the same prayer a hundred times won't get you there. Telling your sins to a man in a booth won't get you there. Dipping you finger in a bowl of water won't get you there. Living by "the golden rule" won't get you there. Being "good" will not get you there.

Jesus said this: "I am the way (to heaven) the truth and the life, NO MAN can enter the kingdon (of heaven) except THROUGH ME" (John 14:6)  Meaning the ONLY WAY TO GET TO HEAVEN is to have FAITH IN JESUS.  Romans 10:9 says, "If you believe in your heart the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth that God has raised Him from the dead, THAN YOU SHALL BE SAVED"  It doesn't say "be a good person, and God will let you in." Ephesians 2:8 says, "You are saved by grace through faith; and NOT of YOURSELVES: it is the GIFT OF GOD". In other words... there is NOTHING you can DO to "earn" your spot in heaven - It is a GIFT. Gifts are FREE. You can not purchase a gift. You can ACCEPT a gift though.

So that leaves us with this: Do you believe that Jesus is the only son of God and will you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour? If this is what you want, then pray a prayer similiar to this: "Father God I am a sinner in need of a saviour. I do believe in your son Jesus. I believe He died on the cross for my sins and arose from the dead and is living right now sitting next to you in heaven. Please save my soul and teach me how to live for you." This is where you become a child of God. Saved. Christian. Your name written in The Book of Life. Born again as a new creature. This is when your life changes.

I think most of the time a person thinks to themselves, "I have to stop doing 'this' or 'that' before I accept Jesus and become a Christian. That is not what God has asked of you. God has asked that you have faith in His son. God is the one who cleans up our life. Slowly-but-surely. Not instantly. It is a life process. We sure can't do it. How many New Years Eve 'promises' do we make to ourselves in our lifetime? Do we ever follow through? Nope. But God does. All you have to do is accept Jesus... and God will do the rest. Have an open heart and that is the first step. You are SAVED through FAITH in JESUS...BY HIS GRACE!!