Are You Sure?

Until one is confident of their salvation, not much else matters.

Too many flounder from spiritual high to spiritual high...yet are never firmly established in the faith.

They smile at the right time, are fluent in Christianese, maybe even share their "faith," yet they tremble when they read Matthew 7.21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven."

The book of First John has a mission statement..."I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 Jo 5.13) 

Sadly many are trained to take people to that verse after they "receive" Christ in order to let them "know" that they are saved...but the "counselor" doesn't make the time to help the counselee begin to understand what "these things" are (which, of course, is everything else that comes before 1 John 5.13).

So, if you, or someone you know, struggles with assurance, point them to 1 John.

And buy a copy of this book to help. The title will be a turn-off to many (in fact, Paige Patterson - president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - who wrote the forward to the book says, even in recommending the book, that "I confess that I dislike the title...").

At only 120 or so pages, it is not lengthy, but is loaded with scripture, common sense, and honesty.

I recommend it highly...and if you buy it by clicking on the following link you'll help support the Hager family...who serve as home missionaries

Charlie Brown the Bible Quizzer

Yes, I know that this really portrays Charlie as a participant in a spelling bee, but I chuckled as I read it...and I think every Bible quizzer can relate as they consider their first competition:

Repeatable Reminder

I am not saying anything about any recent books here...but I think this reminder, from Stephen Altrogge, is important:

"...for most of us, being radical for Jesus means being faithful to do the 'ordinary' Christian things. The Christian life is inherently radical, inherently risky, and inherently crazy. Following Jesus means dying to myself every single day. That is radical. If I seek to obey God's Word, my life will look very different than the rest of the world."

Painful Diagnosis

"People often ask me why it seems like God isn't moving in the West like He is elsewhere. 

Jesus said He is the Bread of Life, but in order to eat the Bread, you first have to be hungry.

I think too many of us leave the Bread on the table because we're full of everything else the world has to offer.

It's not that we don't have the Bread, it's just that we don't eat it because we're not hungry...

Darren Wilson, Christian filmmaker

Double Negatives...

While I was attending Bible school students had to write out a sermon before delivering it.

It was 1977. I was months out of prison, and a few years old in the faith.

Though I paroled from Oregon to California, God sovereignly arranged for me to learn about Kansas City Youth For Christ and a school they ran called "Christ Unlimited Bible Institute."

Dr. Al Metsker (the founder of KCYFC) and his wife Vidy graciusly allowed me to attend; and my parole was moved.

Back to the sermon...I typed it out, handed it in, and a few days later it was returned, with bold red letters from Dr. Al scrawled across the title of my sermon:

                                   DON'T USE DOUBLE NEGATIVES!!!!!

Dr. Al was a great guy, but not a fan of any rock and roll...

The title of the sermon?

Here's a hint:



No idea how many hundreds and hundreds of sermons I've preached since then...but even 35 years later they have fingerprints of Dr. Al, Dean Potratz, and many others from back in the day.

I am grateful....

Proclaim the Name

I was and am familiar with Nick...saw this link to an appearance he made on Oprah...clicked it...and was overjoyed that the Name of Jesus was proclaimed. Too often, even unintentionally, we slip into "God" talk...God did this, God did that, isn't God good. All true, but "god" means little to most. Too ambiguous, too unclear, too generic.

The Name above all names must be proclaimed.

And Nick does just that...worth the watch (and he quotes Bible verses without saying they are Bible verses..which is okay...God's Word does God's Work!)

Too Bad This Old Song Is Still So Pertinent

Need This Reminder Constantly...

Thanks, 4Him; We Still Do...

New Isn't Necessarily Best; Old isn't either...