Merry Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC Police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday!

HT: Heart For the Lost

Constant Examination

There are times when I am reminded of my own sinfulness through the sinful actions and comments of others. I am greatly disheartened by those who proclaim Christianity but by their words and actions they completely deny our Lord and Savior.

Upon further scrutiny of my own character and because of the tremendous work that the Lord has been doing, I have to work extra hard at not adding to that sin by some distasteful thought or act of pride within myself. But I do know this, the more and more the Lord works with my heart the less that I want to satisfy my own flesh.

The difference is how quickly do we recognize the sin and what do we do about it?

This is why those who proclaim to be Christians and those that really are should be in a constant state of examination. Am I really a child of God? Am I sincerely portraying the character and holiness of Christ in my actions, words, thoughts and deeds? We may think that we own the ordinances of God but if we don't do them then we are no Christian indeed. Or, we lay out the excuses such as I know I'm filling my mind with this but it's okay I'm not actually doing any of it.

I am amazed how easily it can be for some "Christians" to change gears so quickly. They can talk about how they had a wonderful prayer group today and then in the next sentence describe a whole episode of Desperate Housewives. This kind of consistent behavior is not Christian. If we are not uniformly putting to death the deeds of the flesh and are not sickened by it then we are in need of examination of our ways. Consciously, we know that the items of the world and the items of living for the Lord do not belong together in the same bag. Yet, to our ultimate destruction we choose to ignore our conscience and continue in what satisfies our flesh.

M. Meade wrote in 1661 in his treatise titled Almost A Christian,

"Whatsoever a man’s state be, whether he be altogether a Christian or not, yet it is good to examine his own heart. If he finds his heart good, his principles right and sound, this will be a matter of rejoicing. If he finds his heart rotten, his principles false and unsound, the discovery may be in order to a renewing. If a man have a disease upon him and know it, he may send to the physician in time, but what a sad vexation it will be not to see the disease till it be past cure! So for a man to be graceless and not see till it be too late, to think himself a Christian when he is not; that he is in the right way to heaven when he is in the ready way to hell, and yet not know it till a death bed or a judgment day confute his confidence, this is the most irrecoverable misery. These are the grounds upon which I press this duty of examining our state. Oh, that God would help us in doing this necessary duty!"

How do we know then if we are the real deal? If we are truly conforming our lives to mirror that of Christ, if we loathe sin and things of the world and everything it represents, if we believe in the true gospel then so we will be living it. We make an effort to live in obedience. We know that the Lord's grace and sanctification is at work because there is tremendous change that grows daily and doesn't fade. We strive to obey all the commands and not just one or two and yet we understand that it is not the work of keeping the commandments that saves us but the grace of God who has done a supernatural work in us to change our hearts. This change compels us to live in holiness. We have a hunger and thirst after righteousness which reflects in our concern and compassion for the state of others; these are signs that we are living in true Christianity.

Meade concludes,

"Ah, my brethren, it is better to have a conscience never quiet than quieted any way but by the blood of sprinkling. A good conscience is the greatest affliction to the saints, and an evil conscience, quiet, is the greatest judgment to sinners."

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Let us not quench the conscience in our daily walk. Let us continually examine our lives and actions from top to bottom to make sure that we are remaining in the faith, or wanting no surprises on the day that we meet him face to face, that we are even walking in faith at all.

Witnessing About Wrath

Ingrid at Slice of Laodicea had a post up about Beth Moore commenting that she did not think that the wrath of God should be mentioned in witnessing. Here's a portion of her comment.

"Towards the end of her commentary she (Beth Moore) states that she does not think that using warnings about the wrath of God is the best way to witness. She feels that the love of God and what God “brings to our lives” in our failures, etc. is a better way to share Christ."

What? Isn't the gospel about the fact that God poured out his wrath on His own son so that our sins would be covered? How do our "failures" explain away the consequences of sin? We fail because we are sinners! We can't witness without explaining how we deserve God's wrath should we choose not to repent of our sins and believe and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. God does love us all. But his wrath will be poured out on those who do not walk the narrow way.

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
So here's where all the naysayers can have hope...those that proclaim that all the evangelicals talk about is gloom and doom. The good news is this....even though we deserve God's wrath that fine has been paid! And it is a free gift. There is nothing we can do to try and make it work. It works because of God's merciful grace.

This is why the God loves you message isn't sufficient information for our sinful natures. It doesn't tell people that they are sinners much less what sins to repent of!

The book of Romans is one of the best places to get an understanding of the wrath the Lord has in store.

"But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds." (Romans 2:5-6)
The Bible is full of verses regarding how the Lord is going to pour out his wrath on the unrighteous. There are even descriptions of how the Lord pours out his wrath on believers to chasten and discipline us. Just read the Psalms...it is full of heart wrenching prayers to God by David to lighten the wrath and discipline on him due to his sinful activities.

I love to use the courtroom analogy when witnessing. It paints the perfect picture of a loving and just judge of righteousness. Say that you committed a crime and you are standing before the judge about to receive sentencing. Before the sentence is proclaimed, you are pleading with the judge and saying how sorry you are for the crimes that you committed and that you truly are a good person. Would the judge be "just" if he let you off the hook because you are sorry? No, he wouldn't. Somebody has to pay for the crimes that were committed. This is the just and fair punishment that is deserved.

So there you are about to receive your sentencing. In walks a stranger that you don't know. He says that he will give up his life and everything he owns to pay your fine for you. What would you think of that person? You would owe him your life and want to get to really know who this person is! And, that is what Jesus did! He gave up everything to take our ugly sins so that we could be forgiven and free from the chains of sin forever!

And to accept that gift we have to die to self...we have to be born again into the kingdom of the Lord.

Let's remember to keep the whole gospel when witnessing and not give half of the story. This is how false converts are bred. We know that the true gospel offends. But it's better to be offended than to lose your soul forever.

Let us keep praying for our lost friends.

Read full post here.

Try Jesus For 60 Days

Recently, Rick Warren proclaimed on the Hannity and Colmes program that everyone needs to try Jesus for 60 days and if he doesn't do something for them that he will give them their money back.

So, Rick, what are we to do when it really doesn't work out for these people in 60 days?

God did not come to deliver us into health, wealth and prosperity. He came to deliver us from hell.

Where is the gospel? Where is it?

This is why people are "trying" God and when he doesn't work out it's so long Jesus.

Why can't we just encourage people in the gospel? Why does our God have to be shaped and formed into everybody's "friend"? He is a holy God who demands our obedience and submission! He is not standing around giving hand outs to whoever wants a sample.

Our hope is in the gospel for a lifetime....not for 60 days.

Naughty or Nice?

I love this tract to pass out during Christmas time. I have all ready started handing out to everyone at the mall, stashing on cars and anywhere!

Front of Card: Which list are you on? Place your thumb on the red bulb and leave it there for five seconds. If you've been good the red will fade. Back of Card: Sorry . . . you're just like the rest of us. The dictionary says "good" is to be "morally excellent." Let's check the standard the Ten Commandments, to see how far we fall short: Is God first in your life? Do you love Him with "heart, mind, soul and strength?" Have you made a god to suit yourself? Have you used His name in vain? Have you always honored your parents? Have you lied (including "fibs"), stolen (the value is irrelevant), or coveted other people's possessions? If you are honest, you know you will be guilty on the Day of Judgment. God, however, doesn't want to send you to Hell. Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross, so you could go free. That's how much God loves you. We broke God's Law, but Jesus paid our fine. Then He rose from the grave. If you repent (turn away from all the things you know are wrong) and trust in Him, God will forgive your sins and grant you everlasting life. Begin by reading your Bible daily (start with the book called John) and obey what you read. God will never let you down. For more information please visit: www.YouGotOurTract.com

You can order this one through One Million Tracts and they are on sale right now!

Don't pass up the holidays to reach others for the Lord. It is the best time especially in these challenging economic times. People are crying out for Jesus.

Let's get to them while there is still time.