good news

February 12, 2023

“But It Is Not the Good News At All”

7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. – Gal. 1:7 NLT

Galatians 1:6-9 NLT

In today’s world, it seems more and more that we hear about evangelists and preachers that have been caught in compromising situations. We know that now, just as in the first century, there are those who preach the gospel for the wrong reasons. Paul spoke about this in his writings.

18 But what does it matter? Here is the important thing. Whether for reasons that are right or wrong, Christ is being preached about. That makes me very glad. And I will continue to be glad.—Philippians 1:18 (NIRV)

​Jude, the brother of Jesus, spoke about it as well.

4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.–Jude 1:4 (NIV)

Once we have heard the pure word of God and accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the battle has just begun. There will be those people who want to lead us astray for their own gain or fame. But, we must remember that true repentance is not only turning from sin but it is turning to Jesus. There is no turning back.Does this mean that we will never fall? No, but it does mean that we won’t return to our old lifestyle. Our focus has turned from pleasing our flesh to pleasing our Lord and Savior. We need to ask Jesus for forgiveness when we fail, but we don’t need to let the devil keep us “sin-conscious”. We need to stay “Jesus conscious”.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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September 6, 2022

“This Is Real Love.”

10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. – 1 John 4:10 NLT

Real Love

​As long as we live in the flesh, we will not have the capability to love like God loves us. But, over and over, in the Scriptures, God instructs us to love Him first and most of all and then to love our neighbors as ourselves. God gave up His only Son to redeem us. Jesus gave up all His glory in heaven, came to earth to walk among us in the flesh and submitted Himself to death on a cross to demonstrate His love for us. This was while we were still sinners and separated from Him. Not many of us will be asked to give up our physical life for Christ, so how do we demonstrate our love for Jesus? We do that by giving up our rights, putting Jesus first, others second, and ourselves last. This is the example that Jesus set for His disciples then and for us now.

29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then—Matt. 19:29-30 (NLT)

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

April 9, 2019

Spread the Good News

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? — Romans 10:14 NLT 

Romans 10:9-15 NLT
When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we became a part of a family and took on the family name, Christian.  One of the biggest responsibilities that comes with the family name is telling others about our new family and inviting them to become a part of that family.   “Go and make disciples”  isn’t a suggestion, it is a command.  That doesn’t mean that we all have to lay down what we are doing and go to foreign countries but it does mean that wherever you are is your mission field.  “Go” to your family, your neighbor, your business associate, your friends and your enemies.  Telling others about Jesus should be considered a privilege and it should be a joy for us to do it.  When God called us to be His child, He had a plan and a purpose for us.  He has a part for each of us to play in building His Kingdom here on earth and in heaven.  Can we be Christians without “going and telling”?  Each of us should ask God that question and seek His answer diligently.  Can we be happy, joyful Christians without “going and telling”?   Since not telling is being disobedient, I seriously doubt it.  If you have never experienced the joy of leading someone to Christ, ask God to give you that opportunity today. 
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 04-09-2016

November 22, 2018

“He Is Risen Indeed”

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37 They were startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost​.​ – Luke 24:37 ISV

Luke 24:36-40 ISV

All day Sunday and Sunday night, Jesus appeared to different people.  As He revealed to each who He was, they were frightened.  The truth of all the things that Jesus had told them had still not become a reality to them.  Though for the better part of three years, Jesus had taught them in an effort to prepare them for His death and resurrection, it was still hard to accept the truth–Jesus is alive!   Could this really be Jesus resurrected from the tomb?  Yes, it must be so!
Looking back from this side of the cross, it would be very easy for us to criticize the disciples for their slowness to accept the truth.  It would be very easy for us to say, “how could they not believe?”  Yet, today when Jesus reveals Himself to us through the Holy Spirit, aren’t we just as slow to accept the Gospel as the truth?  Aren’t we just as doubtful?  Could this story really be true?  Does such love exist?  We have an abundance of information, both Biblical and historical, that these events occurred just as they are recorded in the Gospels. We have three witnesses, one of which the disciples didn’t have at this time and would not have until after Jesus ascended.  Our mission is to spread the Good News knowing that the Holy Spirit will confirm it as the Truth.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 11-22-2018

November 21, 2017

Our Actions Should Glorify God!

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5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began – John 17:5 NLT
 
John 17:1-5 NLT

Jesus had given up all His glory when He left heaven to become our Redeemer. That mission was soon to be completed. He had not lost a single soul that the Father had given Him. (Yes, Judas was lost, but he obviously was never a true believer) Now, Jesus is asking His Father to bring Him back home to be returned to that glory. He will have accomplished everything that they had planned before the earth was formed. He, once again, tells us the way to eternal life is to know Himself and His Father, the only true God. Now, it is our turn to bring glory to the Father by living the same lifestyle that Jesus lived.
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.—Matt. 9:35, 36 (NLT)

As we go, we should always be telling the Good News about the Kingdom, but there are those that Jesus puts in our path that He wants us to talk to about Him. Our lifestyle and actions should be such that people notice a difference between us and the world. If we allow the Holy Spirit that abides in us to do His work through us then we will produce the fruits of the Spirit and that will draw people to Jesus.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 11-21-2017

September 16, 2017

How Could We Not Know?

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27 But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”
​–John 7:27 NLT​


John 7:25-27 NLT

​The people knew Jesus was the man the Jewish leaders were trying to kill. They wondered how He could preach in public without being arrested. Did the leaders really believe this man was the Messiah? They decided that that was impossible since they knew where Jesus had been born and raised. If they knew this and they knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah, how could they possible come to the conclusion that no one would know where Messiah came from? After all, there were hundreds of prophecies fulfilled by the birth, life and death of Jesus. It should have been crystal clear to them that Jesus would be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, that He would be of the tribe of Judah and the lineage of David. Messiah must be born of a woman to fulfill the prophecy in Genesis.
15 From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”​—-Genesis 3:15​ ​(NLT)


But we should not be surprised, even today, with the myriad of historical and Biblical proof there is available, people still find ways to disbelieve. It is our job to pray and to speak the truth in love. We must follow Paul’s example.

23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.–1 Cor. 9:23 (NLT)


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 09-16-2017

December 4, 2016

A Child Is Born

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14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’) — Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 7:10-14 NLT

Ahaz was king of Judah. Judah was being attacked by a coalition of nations and Ahaz and Judah were in deep trouble. God sent Isaiah with a message of reassurance, but Ahaz refused to honor God’s request. His refusal to ask for a sign was not faith, it was arrogance. God gave him a sign anyway. A virgin would bear a child and call His name Immanuel (God is with us). This prophecy was fulfilled in Matthew.

And God is still with us, He will never leave us nor forsake us. That’s the Good News that we are to spread to the world. That is the hope that we have as Christians.  It is that hope that sustains us and gives us our joy. A joy that no one can take from us because “nothing can separate us from the love of God”. Nothing, absolutely nothing, no time, no where!!!! Rejoice, for a child is born!

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
Post 12-04-2016
April 30, 2016

Party Time!

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9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’” — 1 Kings 9:9 NLT
1 Kings 9:1-9
God had fulfilled all of His promises and particularly those He had made to David and Solomon up to this point.  God blessed David and allowed him to amass all the wealth that Solomon would need to build the temple.  He had anointed David and then Solomon to be king over Israel.  He gave Solomon peace from all of his enemies for the time it took to build the temple and his own palace.  But the Creator of the universe knows the flesh.  He knew that as time passed, the people would become complacent and return to their idol worship.  So, even in this time of great celebration, God reminded them of what would happen if they abandoned Him and worshipped idols and honored created things as gods.  When we forget God and when we no longer worship Him as the only true and living God, He allows things in our lives to remind us of Who He is.  When God has blessed us, we must not become complacent and allow things or people to replace Him in our lives.  We must continually take inventory of our attitudes and actions to be sure they are God-honoring.  He is still the Creator of the universe, He is still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It is up to us to be sure He  is sitting on the throne of our lives.  If we forget and stray away, He will remind us of who He is and who we are.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that He will coming looking for us and bring us home on His shoulders. When He has returned us to the fold, there will be a party in heaven.
Luke 15:3-7
Post 04-30-2016
October 22, 2015

We’re Spreading the News

even-smaller-bug-light13 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power,with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. — 1 Thess. 1:3-6 NIV

​God has chosen each of us and has a plan for each of us​.  We are sanctified, set apart, for a particular purpose.  Our faith produces works that are a part of that process. We show our love for Christ by laboring and helping others. We are able to endure because of the hope we have in us, the hope that we have because God has poured His love into us. When the Gospel is preached, it goes forth with power to accomplish whatever purpose God has intended for it.  The power is the Holy Spirit which can cut us to the bone and convict us of our need for redemption.  This is the message Paul and his companions preached among the Thessalonians and in all the other places they traveled.  They were successful, not because of their powers of persuasion, but because they were completely obedient to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is the same message that each of us should be preaching every day with our lifestyle and as St Francis of Assisi encouraged us to do: “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.”  We should follow the example of Paul and live lifestyles that are worthy of imitation, just as we have become imitators of Christ.  Then those who are suffering will receive the message with great joy.  Their joy will be observed by others who will want to know the source of such great joy.  The kind of joy that endures in the midst of suffering and persecution, the kind of joy that is caught, not taught.
Post 10-22-2015
September 26, 2015

Our Job Description

even-smaller-bug-light118 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Cor. 5:18-21 NIV

​When we ​accepted Christ as our Savior, we were born again and became new creations clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  All of this is a gift from God because He wanted us to be reconciled to Him.  He had made us in His image to have fellowship with Him. Sin had broken that relationship. God fixed the relationship by sending His Son as the perfect sacrifice.  He no longer sees us as sinners, but as the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Once we are reconciled to Him, we become His ambassadors here on this earth. We are aliens living in a foreign country. As His ambassador, God wants to use us to make His appeal to others.  For that to happen, we need to talk to others about our country, Heaven, and about our King,  Jesus Christ.  That is what ambassadors do.  They tell others the good things about their country in the hope that their leaders will gain favor in the eyes of the other peoples.  So, as God’s ambassadors, we are to tell His story in the hope that the other people will want to know Him.  The BIG difference is that, in this case, each person does have to choose and their are only two choices.   We will all soon be leaving this country and there are only two destinations and they are permanent.  One is hell and one is Heaven.  It is our duty as ambassadors to spend our time and resources in getting people to make the right choice.  Today is the day of salvation. Jesus is our example and here, in His own words, is the job description He gave for Himself and for us as ambassadors.
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,  because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” — Luke 4:18, 19  NIV
Post 09-26-2015