The Urgency of Eternity

What would you say if I asked you this question?
Where will you spend eternity?
Would you stammer and tell me to get lost, would you say, well I never really thought about it or would you say, there is no heaven or hell, when you die, that's all there is!
Well, before you answer, let me tell you this, your eternity answer depends on your response to Jesus!

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Hell is a real place reserved for those who deny Christ!
It is a place of....
continual rebellion
final separation
eternal duration

Heaven is a place prepared for those who trust Christ for salvation.
It is a place of....
full reconciliation
complete resurrection
ultimate reunion

Phil.3:20
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

Will you turn from Christ or will you trust Christ?

John 3:16
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.

You can live without Christ now and die without Christ forever
                                       OR
You can die with Christ now and live with Christ forever

In sharing the gospel, speak about these things!

Things that pass away.... Temporal
Jobs, possessions, lust, etc

Things that never pass away.... Eternal
Following Christ and His commands

Tell the lost about hell, speaking with humble confidence about God's character, about having a healthy fear of God's judgement and with honest compassion about God's wrath.

Share about heaven with the lost by giving the honest truth that Christians are sojourners here and our home is with God.
Christ is coming again!
We only have hope and salvation through Christ and His Resurrection and we humbly wait for His return.
Speak the gospel with clear and plain words, teaching about turning from sin to Christ and putting your trust in Him alone for salvation.
Let the Holy Spirit work, giving then time to be alone with God and His word.

Make disciples.....


Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."


Thanks pastor!

Utter Despair

To the lost and grieving....

1 Peter 5:6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom


As I struggle with grieving the loss of my brother, I am reminded of sinners who struggle with being lost.
They mistakenly think the things of this world will give them joy!
They are searching for something to make them happy, to give them peace and to take away the pain of despair.
For me and countless other Christ followers, these things are found in the Lord, peace, happiness with what you have been given and the value of suffering and what it produces in you when you are humble!
When you are separate from God, you will have no lasting peace, no joy, no contentment and no understanding of patience working with suffering to produce perseverance.
But by these things, suffering, strife, no peace, we will driven to God!
Sheer joy to know the full pardon which was brought by Christ alone and freely given to all who will believe and obey!
To understand what this knowledge means and the undeserved  joy we have been given by a precious Savior!
When you share the gospel with someone and they push you away, just know that God uses every word for His purpose.
He will weave those threads into a miracle you may or may not see.
When you are ridiculed because of the gospel, count it as joy for the Lord knows your heart!

The promise....
Hebrews 6:19 
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

Psalm 119:116 
Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.

1 Peter 5:12-14
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you


Romans 5:1-6
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 
3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

I can only speak from God's word, knowing that it is truth! You will be tested by various trials, and God alone will deliver you! Some test will be short, some long, others will bring you to your knees! Stand firm in the Lord!

Lord God Almighty, we stand firm in the knowledge of who You are! Full well knowing that You alone are good! You alone are sovereign Creator and King and You never change! Amen

Eyes of the Dead

I have seen many people dead at the funeral home, all pasty white, eyes shut as if they are sleeping, but you can tell it’s not a normal sleep!
Recently, we had the privilege of taking care of my brother who was dying of cancer.
He was a Christian but still had many questions about his impending death, about eternity and about how we only have our faith in Christ's mercy for salvation!
It's hard to watch a loved one die, knowing there is nothing you can do.
My brother died Tuesday the 18th.
In the few days before his death, I had noticed that he had started fixing his eyes on something unseen, staring but not seeing, and that his eyes had begun to get a vacant look.
The day he died, you could look into his eyes and tell his soul had left, there was no life in them, no spark, no remembrance, just nothing!
He had gone into eternity!
This puff of life we have is but a vapor!!
God's design is for the soul to be eternal!
As my brother was leaving this earth, he shouted hallelujah!!
With his last breath he was praising God!
To be able to glorify His name as you go to the heavenly realm to finally see Him face to face is joy unspeakable!
I miss my brother so much, I grieve at the loss of him but I would not want him back here, he's at home now!

Ps.89:48
What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah




Ecc.9:5
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? 

Job 30:23

For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living

Our hope....

Job 19:25-26
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

Acts 2:24
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Acts 17:31 
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

We are....
Colossians 2:12 
having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead


God has total control over death! He has given our Savior Jesus Christ dominion over death and it will be utterly destroyed!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 
2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 
3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." 
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." 
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 
8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." 
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 
11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' 
12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 
13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 
14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."

Rev.1:17-18

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 
18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.



Praise be to God for our glorious gift of Christ the Redeemer!!! Amen

A Drink Offering Before the Lord

Numbers 28:7
7 Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.

Ephesians 5:2
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The Israelite people, God's chosen ones, made appointed sacrifices, some burnt offerings and some poured out before the Lord God, to atone for sin. But God in His mercy sent a spotless Lamb to atone once and for all time. This Lamb, who knew no sin, took all sin on Himself, to satisfy the wrath of God toward us.

Is.53:3-11

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

If these words do not speak to your heart, there is something so wrong in your spirit.
Such a great debt is owed to our Savior, by me and by you. Because of that debt we must tell the world about Christ and His precious gospel of hope.

Ps.116:4-14

4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!" 
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. 
6 The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 
8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; 
9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 
10 I believed, even when I spoke, "I am greatly afflicted"; 
11 I said in my alarm, "All mankind are liars." 
12 What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? 
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, 
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. 

Lord, we praise You. Help us teach the world what a gift Your salvation brings to all who will bow and except. Amen

The Forgiven

Everything that has a soul is under judgment!
There is not one person who will not be judged by Almighty God!
He is our Creator and has given us commands to follow.
But in His mercy toward us, He gave us eternal life through Christ Jesus for all who will believe on Him alone for salvation.
An eternal gift, not based on our merit but on the power of Christ, being wholly God, wholly man.
Christ, being the only acceptable blood sacrifice substitute, paid our debt before God, accepting the whole wrath of God, sealing us by His blood!
Our mission here on Earth is to preach the saving gospel of Jesus!

Mark 4:12
so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." 

2 Cor.4:4-6
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Who are you in Christ?

Mark 4:13-20
13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,
19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

Christ and the gospel....

The Second Chance

Faith....
Acts 2:24 
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.


Colossians 2:12
having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.


You might not think about it, but God has given you a second chance!
He has given you a new life in Christ if you are His sheep.
You were a man born in sin but when you believed by faith that Christ was raised from the dead, you were also raised to walk in a new way life, not held by the bondage of sin.
So you see, the Cross brought death but it also brought life, eternal life through the blood of the Lamb!
Baptism symbolizes burying the old man and raising the new man.

Roman 6:4

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Colossians 3:10 
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator

We must die to sin and self! We must lean on Christ and listen to His word! We must obey!

Lord most gracious,
Forgive us our disobedience and show us mercy as You teach us the meaning of true life in You. Amen

Life of Flesh Is In the Blood

Lev.17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Heb.9:22
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Matt.26:28
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 3:25
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 5:9-12
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-

Eph.1:7-10
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

1 John 1:7-10
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Rev.1:5
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood