Category: Truth Sessions

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Truth Sessions (part 6) Doing YOU…is not doing good!

Luke 17:28-29: 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Live your best life…
You do you…
Live your dream…

I can keep going, but you get the picture. On their face those words of advice sound harmless. Actually, they sound pretty good. But, Jesus actually teaches the opposite. People focus on the sin being done in Sodom as the reason for it’s destruction. In the verse above you see Jesus giving a more insightful reason…living your life in a manner which bears no acknowledgement to God or the heavenly pursuits. The people just “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” were destroyed right along with the wicked behaving ones. Verses 32-33 of the same chapter in Luke goes on to warm us about the consequences of holding on to our own pursuits in life.

In reflecting on this truth I am reminded of an old song by Steven Curtis Chapman called “More to this life”. Here is the chorus:

But there’s more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day;
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see,
And there’s more than this life alone can be.

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Truth Sessions (Part 5) – Worshiping God doesn’t get you to Heaven..

Acts 16:13-15(NIV)

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized,she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

There are many subjects in the Bible that God choose not to fully reveal the answers to. But, there is one that He has made very clear. In order to have eternal life with God you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Why isn’t worshiping God enough? I mean, I acknowledge Him as my creator, I follow the 10 commandments, I love people and help the less fortunate, I attend church regularly… isn’t that enough?

The answer is NO it is not. God is holy by nature and infinite. His requirement for living with Him in Heaven is to be holy. Sinfulness​ is the antithesis to holiness. We humans have a sinful nature and are finite. So, there is nothing a person who is finite and sinful can do on  their own to satify a requirement of a being that is infinate with a holy nature. It takes someone who infinate and holy to meet a requirement of someone who is infinate and holy.

God’s word states that forgivesness of sin must come through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). God provided a way for sinful finite people to meet this by allowing Jesus who is God (infinate and holy) to come down to earth and shed his blood as a remission for all sin. By accepting Jesus’ gift, our sins are forgiven and God sees us as holy. Through Jesus alone has the requirement been met. Worshiping God in and of itself is good but does not get you into Heaven (John 14:6). Lydia is an example of this. Are you Lydia?

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Truth Sessions (Part 4) – People don’t need money…

Acts 3: 1-8 

“3 One day Peter and John2 Now a man who was lame from birth3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping,

The Word teaches that there will always be poor amoung us. It also teaches that we should give to and take care of the poor. That is part of our ministry on earth. As a Christian that is not our mission. Our mission is to make deciples (Matt 28:16-20). Often we give money to the poor, which we should, but we stop there feeling satisfied with our “good work” or we don’t give at all because we don’t have any cash on us. Both cases yield the same result…A failure to provide what they need. Wholistic ministry is ministering to the mind, body, and soul. This failure to fully minister bleeds into our everyday walk and becomes a habit in all our interactions. 

People want our time, money, and help but do we give them what Peter did? Peter didn’t walk away because he didn’t have the money the crippled man asked for. He stopped and gave him freedom. He mentioned the name of Jesus and through Jesus the man was healed and began praising God. In this life, the ability to walk represents freedom. Freedom to move. Freedom to live. It is only through Jesus can we experience true freedom. We can’t make disciples by just giving. We must live like Jesus and we must speak the gospel. People don’t need money. They need Jesus. As a Christian you may not always have money but you have an abundance of Jesus. Give abundantly!

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Truth Sessions (Part 3) – Blessings don’t come from prayer…

One of the most frustrating things that happen when people become Christians is that they don’t experience the radical life change and blessings raining down from Heaven as they are lead to believe by what I call the “Slot Machine in the sky” sermons so prevalent today.  Say the prayer and accept Jesus, go to church, tithe (if you want to), be a good person, and pray and God will bless you with health and prosperity.  That is the checklist straight from the “Christians for Dummies” book.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of the “…for Dummies” books.  But, there are no shortcuts or clef notes when it comes to God.  He already provided complete instructions called The Bible,  the perfect example in Jesus Christ, and the consummate instructor in the Holy Spirit.

Joshua 1:6-9 NIV

6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In this text, God was speaking to Joshua just before Joshua was to take over leading the Isrealites after Moses’ death but this instruction is a recurring theme through God’s word and is still speaking to us today.  God’s blessings does not come from prayer even though prayer is of the utmost importance in a Christian’s life.  Blessings come from obedience.  Ephesians 2:10 states that we were created in Christ to do good works which God had already planned for us. Once saved we are remade and re-purposed.  When you get a new job you don’t continue to do your old job and expect raises, bonuses, much less a continued paycheck!  Yet, we apply that logic to becoming reborn in Christ.  Jesus provided the new job discription in Matthew 28:19-20, demonstrated how to do the job in the life He lead on earth, and provided a life coach in the Holy Spirit to ensure we will always have the proper guidance. To unlock the ubundant life we are so desperate to have is not through prayer, it is through obedience…Matthew 6:33

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Truth Sessions (Part 2) – Real doesn’t equal truth…

Deuteronomy 13:1-4

” If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”

One of my daughter’s LOVES these beans her grandmother makes that they call Paw Paw’s beans.  She will not eat any beans except her grandmother’s Paw Paw beans.  I tried many time unsuccessfully to get her to eat the beans I made so in a last desperate attempt I contacted MeeMaw and asked for the recipe.  She said “Steven, it is just a can of Ranch Style beans.”  So, I proceeded to get some Ranch Style beans and served them for dinner.  My daughter takes one bite and I can see her eyes light up for a brief minute.  I took the opportunity to exclaim “Paw Paw’s beans…BAM!”.  She put her spoon down and looked at me with a solemn look and said “No, this isn’t it.  MeeMaw didn’t make them.”

I presented her with the reality of her Paw Paw’s bean. They looked like them, smelled like them, and even tasted like them but she was locked into the ultimate truth which was that what comes from MeeMaw’s kitchen is what’s real.  Wow, she gets it.   Just because it is real and tangible doesn’t make it the truth. There is a truth, God’s truth.  Anything in front of you that points you away from God or is contrary to His teachings (the Bible) is just a can of Ranch Style beans…

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Truth Sessions (Part 1) – People don’t go to hell for not believing in Jesus…

The God of the Universe, the creator of all, is so powerful and grand yet will send His creation to hell for not believing in His son???  Through the ears of non-Christians that makes God seem rather petty.  To be honest, I can’t say that I disagree. Yet, this very message is spouted from the pulpit, the pews, out on the streets, and in the mission fields and it couldn’t be more wrong!

Revelation 20: 12-15 (NIV)

“12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

John the apostle was very clear in the above passage that people are judged by their deeds and punished, or sent to hell, based on them.  The Bible states that no one is righteous on their own. Every one has sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10).  Because of this our deeds are evil.  All men and women have broken God’s moral law and the punishment for such an infraction is eternal separation from God or hell in other words.  Sin is the problem. Not believing is Jesus doesn’t send people to hell.  Sin does.

Just as a judge has the prerogative to grant a pardon to whomever they wish, God has exercised His holy prerogative by sending His son, Jesus, to pay the punishment for human’s sin.  Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is God’s pardon offer.  This offer is the only way to get into Heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

This is a very important distinction.  If you don’t understand that and sign on to Christianity under any other pretenses (i.e. to get blessings) you will feel like you were sold a bill of goods.  That is how Christianity gets a bad rap and it all starts with the message. As rough and sobering as it is, it must be told. We all are sinners, we can not do enough good on our own so we are damned, yet God is gracious and He offered us a pardon…that pardon is Jesus!

Either Jesus can pay for your sin or you can.  It’s that simple.