Words Of Wisdom
- The meaning of life is not found in this life. Life is not about being happy. It's about God. Focusing on God brings meaning and real happiness to our lives.
- The cross reminds us of the pain of Jesus's death and the beauty of his sacrifice for our salvation!
- The devil's cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human looks around upon a universe in which every trace of God seems to have vanished and why he has been forsaken and yet still obeys!
- Are you really A.L.I.V.E.? "Always Living In View Of Eternity"
- Where is God when it Hurts? He is in us; not in the things that hurt, but helping to transform bad into good!
- Worship is far more than praising, singing and praying to God. Worship is a life style of enjoying God, loving him and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes. When you use your life for Gods glory, everything you do can become worship.
- You were created as a special object of Gods love.We are the focus of his love and the most valuable of all his creation. God made you so he could love you. The Bible tells us that "God Is Love." This is a truth to build your life on!
- Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off!
- Do you P.U.S.H. daily? "Pray until something happens"
- To live as God's child is to know, at this very moment, that you are Loved by your maker, not because you try to please Him and succeed, or fail to please Him and apologize; but, because He wants to be your Father. Nothing more. All your efforts to win His affection are unnecessary. All your fears of losing His affection are needless. You can no more make Him want you, than you can convince Him to abandon you. The adoption of your spirit is irreversible. "You have a place at His table!"
- In years past, a counterfeit gospel has been preached. Many have said, "To be a true Christian, it's all about this denomination, belonging to this church, and you have to do this, and you have to do that. You have to dress this way and act that way." But the truth is, the gospel is none of those things. The true gospel is this: Christ loved us, died for us, took our penalty, and loves us anyway in spite of everything. Love went to the cross, and it kept on loving. Love was buried in the ground, and three days later it came alive. "Love wins all the time!"
- "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5)
- "God created me, to love me!" Long before God laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love." (Ephesians 1:4)
- "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
- Fear does not mean terror. It means total awe. We should live in a state of awe at the magnificence, the beauty and the majesty of the creator of the universe. And in that state, we walk with him, we trust him and we respond in love to him.
- We should make no mistake about what the clear purpose of Jesus was in coming into the world. He came to do battle with Satan. Jesus saw the world as bound, blind, broken-hearted and bruised; here were the disastrous effects of Satan's control. The cross disarmed, displayed and defeated Satan. The blood of Christ wiped out our sin and left Satan powerless. Every blow that drove the nails into Christ's hands, was also a nail in the coffin of Satan, so every Christian is set free. Our Lord died to win the battle and rose from the dead to enforce the victory!
- Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.....faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13)
- Men and woman still incline their ears to evils deception - that man is the measure of all things and God is not needed. We have suffered the consequences of this terrible lie ever since. Now, billions of people and an abused planet grown under the weight of the accumulated sin of hundreds of generations. "God is needed!"
- "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
- God does not punish us, we punish ourselves. Sin is ignorance and it is mans ignorance that causes him to turn from God (or his spiritual self). And that leads to suffering. This is why Jesus called Satan "The Father Of All Lies."
- The law is God's first word and the gospel is God's final word. The law can make us face our sin, but only the gospel can forgive us of our sin!
- God is not ambiguous. He is not undefined. God reveals himself in Jesus. Jesus is the awesomeness of God, the glory of God and the ultimate manifestation of God. He is God with skin on.
- The bible is seen as a book of rules and regulations specifying all the things a person can feel guilty about. But, the bible should be seen as a guide book. The bible shows people how to live happier lives, what actions will lead to greater peace and self-realization toward rather than away from the truth.
- "But the fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance, against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22,23)
- The Holy Spirit is the holy spirit of God, the spirit of truth, the spirit of the Lord and the comforter. The Holy Spirit is the means or agency through which God works. The Holy Spirit dwells within the child of God. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Cor. 3:16)
- You can take all of my stuff, my belongings. You can take my position. You can even take my family. But, you cannot take Jesus away from me. He is my heart. His awesomeness, his majesty, his sufficiency, his love for me--those things will last for eternity. He is the ultimate meaning in this life and in the life to come. "Come to me," Jesus calls to us today. "Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Jesus is the point of life!
- People misuse the "Grace Of God." People don't need grace to sin. They need grace to deal with the sin they already have. Grace is more than a principle, more than an idea, more than a doctrine, more than a cover-up for sin. Grace is a person. And his name is Jesus. (John 1:14-17)
- God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only son into the world, so that we might have eternal life through him. 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!
- Jesus said, "I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifice. For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but, those who know they are sinners." We either pretend we don't need Jesus, or we acknowledge we do!
- Only God can change people's hearts and make them want to become followers. We just have to be obedient in making the effort to teach them, even though we still have plenty to learn ourselves. Jesus will provide you with all of the material you need--the tools and all resources to make disciples of people around you!
- Even though Jesus is in heaven now, we live under a new covenant, a new arrangement between God and man that Jesus instituted through his death and resurrection. We don't live under the law, which kept God and man separate. The new covenant that Jesus instituted says that God will always be with us. It's his promise to mankind. He is always available to us. That's the good news of the gospel (bible).
- Religion says: "Behave, believe and then you will belong." The gospel says the opposite: "Belong, then believe, then behave. Another way of saying that is: "Amazing grace, great faith and good works." "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not that of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:8-10) Good works will not get you into heaven and will not impress God. What ever you can do, God can do better!
- The Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but, the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Sam 16:7)
- What makes you is what you do with what's been dished out to you. The truth is that the evil one will hate you no matter what you do, but, he will also fear you if you have surrendered your life to God. For that reason, it is no surprise that you will experience hellish assault!
- Shepard the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but, willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly. (1 Peter 5:2)
- Social wholeness is achieved by finding a creative balance between respecting individuals for who they are and for what role in life they play.
- A mature understanding of the unity of the body of Christ, allows us to care about everything Christ cares about, but, to carry only what he has given us to bear.
- Why does baptism save? It saves because it puts us into Christ, where we may obtain forgiveness through his blood. Therefore, we cannot be saved unless we are in Christ, where we reach his redeeming blood, and we cannot get into Christ without being baptized.
- The devil's believe that Jesus exists. This faith is limited to factual acceptance of Christ. But they do not believe in him. They acknowledge his power, but will neither trust nor obey him. Their faith is of mind, but, not of heart. Therefore, the faith that saves is the faith that trusts the faith of Christ and obeys!
- Grace actually has a dual meaning. On one hand, it refers to God's undeserved favor toward us. Beyond that, it refers to God's power to work in us to accomplish more than we could on our own. Grace is God given power to live differently! Remember, real grace in life is messy, unpredictable and unquantifiable!
- If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
- Salvation comes through the Grace of God. (Eph 2:8-9)
- True love is all about sacrifice for the sake of the one's you love. (1 John 3:16)
- Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33)
- To be a disciple you need to go to people to encourage them to follow Jesus (baptism) and teach them to obey Jesus's commands which are found in the bible.
- It is important for us to realize that we must go to the "New Testimate" of the bible, if we wish to find out how to become Christians and how to live the Christian life.
- The "Old Testimate" of the bible explains God's relationship with man before the coming of Jesus. The "New Testimate" of the bible explains the life of Jesus and how God deals with us today.
- As Jesus died and was buried in the earth, so a Christian is plunged beneath the surface of water. As Jesus emerged from the tomb in a resurrected body, so a Christian comes out of the waters of baptism as a new creation!
- A pastor is not a minister--at least not in the way we may typically think. The pastor is the equipper and every member of the church is a minister!
