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Posts Tagged ‘Religion’

Christian Financial Freedom requires you to know the truth about answered and unanswered prayers; Fact or fiction? Unanswered prayers do not exist; you either have a negative or a positive response. If your prayers do not get a positive result it means your prayers were answered by God in the negative. God hears you and replies. Have you ever investigated why the verse that says: “and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be Glorified in the Son.”It stands to reason that who so ever is not the beneficiary of an answered prayer will look for a thousand reasons to substantiate this as god’s will, no one like to be outside of god’s will. Immediately you will have a thousand Christian clichés as a substitute for the real reason. Clichés like, have faith, or Gods timing is not your timing, unbiblical hackneyed and nauseating, admissions of not knowing the truth in which lies the answer.Most people are afraid to question the Bible. Why? It says that you should test all things. I decided to test both, my internet home business and the biblical facts. TBN pulpit exponents like Internet Marketing Exponents have lead me round by the nose long enough, time fo the truth. No more listening to TBN hype and get fleeced in the process. Time to put my prayer life and my Christian based affiliate marketing business on the right track. In both instances I need to seek the truth. the success of the one is dependant upon the other.I am sure you know the story of Jacob, he promised God that if He would provide for him, protect him, and bring him back safely to his land, he would then serve God. He required God to give first before he gave. God still loved him. Have you ever heard a sermon about this from a TBN pulpit charlatan? No, all insist you must give to receive; do they have the keys to God’s safe so they can dish out to you, or something? Every one of them is out to take your money. I state categorically they do not believe what they preach; if they do they are hallucinating. If I was one of them and believed what I daily tell the millions of viewers, I would give a million dollars to the cause I’m touting as a good thing, and get back a hundred million from God, it would save one hell of a lot of trouble.The Word says test all things. I Thessalonians 5:21 instructs us to “test [prove, KJV] all things,” which would include our old notions, and then “hold fast” to the good ones—the ones that pass the test. Have you ever looked for the reason why you did not get what you asked for? There are good reasons which may soon be eradicated, if you seek the truth because it will set you free. However, that is yet another discussion to be published in due course.I have deviated somewhat from the basic reason for this article, but these shenanigans are depriving a lot of people from the truth. The word says, Seek the truth and it will set you free, so back to the main stream of my article.I make my income from my home business by way of Internet Affiliate Marketing and SEO work. Unfortunately, both, religion and internet marketing are crowded with hype and scams. It became an obsession with me to discover the truth every time I listened to one of those TBN Multi Millionaire pulpit charlatans, I just knew this could not be the truth about God’s Word and to a similar degree seeing reading and listening to the internet hype about becoming a millionaire over night, or having a new Ferrari parked in your garage before you have even removed you P-Jays in the morning.Christianity was my first priority as I felt that my Home Business Income was totally dependent upon my knowing the truth.My search took me into many places besides the Word. The kernel of my research was to find the truth about both including the true meaning of such biblical annotations as:

“And ye, O peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that ye do not forfeit this favor by electing to the position of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God.” —John Calvin

“Political slavery ensues when the public sleep.” —John Dickinson, 1732-1808

At this critical time in the history of the United States, as the nation has selected a new president, there is passivity, indifference and unconcern among pastors and the Christian Church. As one prominent church leader, John MacArthur, recently said, “I wouldn’t spend five seconds thinking about the fall 2008 election.” This mindset is antithetical to the scriptures and historical theology. It reveals a perverted view of church and state that consigns the secular world to a realm outside the influence of the Christian community. By inversion, this myopia views the spiritual as the only sphere wherein God’s will is accomplished. The modern church has become a microbe fortress with virtually no voices to call the nation to repentance. There is a somnambulence of spirit and mind that has overtaken the church world. We are insulated within a micro-world and have consigned the society in which we live to irrelevance. The vacuum of non-involvement with the secular world by Christians is immense. One 20th Century theologian diagnoses the passivity of the modern church, “In the early church there were persons called ‘Anchorites’ who went off into the desert, separating themselves from all social contacts and living solely for God. From that early movement, monasticism was born. In our time, we see a somewhat similar response among some evangelical protestants. They believe that the Christian community should be so separated from the secular sphere that individual Christians should not go into politics or vote in elections, that they should withdraw from the culture, live in distinct communities, have Christian friends exclusively, work for Christian companies, or in general, have nothing to do with this world. It is a way of saying that the authority of the state is illegitimate.” (James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, p. 691). The institution of civil government is not illegitimate, it is ordained by God to restrain evil and show forth His glory. In the words of John Murray, “…when the civil magistrate trespasses the limits of his authority, it is incumbent upon the church to expose and condemn such a violation of his authority.” (The Relation of Church and State, p. 253).

The Anchorites of the Middle Ages lived in stone cells approximately 12 x 12 with a small aperture cut through the wall to view the world outside. They devoted their entire life to academic and scholastic study, while repudiating a world they felt was irretrievably lost. Their influence on society was as effectual as an ant on a crumb of bread. The present day Anchorites confidently assume that their weekly or weakly sermon will counter the encroaching darkness that is encircling their religious sphere like a hurricane enveloping a small island. Behind a bluster of verbiage they vainly believe their words are holding back the night. The lacuna of pro-test-ant voices from the matrix of the Christian church has allowed the virulent hatred of theism to capture the agora of ideas. Mere exposition is anemic without confronting a degenerating culture. Apologetics confined to an ecclesiastic cell is cowardice not Biblical courage. The words of a Nineteenth Century Reformation Scholar and theologian, Abraham Kuyper, are disturbing to our comfortable isolation: “There is no doubt then that Christianity is imperiled by great and serious dangers. Two life systems are wrestling with one another, in mortal combat. Modernism is bound to build a world of its own from the data of the natural man, and to construct man himself from the data of nature; while, on the other hand, all those who reverently bend the knee to Christ and worship Him as the Son of the Living God, and God, Himself, are bent upon saving the ‘Christian Heritage.’ This is the struggle in Europe, this is the struggle in America, and this also is the struggle for principles in which my own country is engaged, and in which I myself have been spending all my energy for nearly 40 years. In this struggle, apologetics have advanced us not one single step. Apologetics invariably begun by abandoning the assailed breastwork, in order to entrench themselves cowardly in a raveline [3 sided fortress] behind it. If the battle is to be fought with honor and with a hope of victory, then principle must be arrayed against principle; then it must be felt that in Modernism the vast energy of an all-embracing life system assails us, then also it must be understood that we have to take our stand in a life system of equally comprehensive and far-reaching power.” (Abraham Kuyper, Stone Foundation Lectures: Lectures on Calvinism, 1895, p. 3). A one-dimensional perspective of the church is ecclesiastical suicide. It leaves civil government out of the purview of church authority and God’s sovereign will. “…it was always understood that both church and state were responsible to God in whose wisdom each had been established. They were two independent servants of one master. Although neither was permitted to rule the other, each was to remind the other of its God-appointed duties and recall it to upright, godly conduct if it should stray. Today, however, the doctrine of the separation of church and state is taken, primarily by church people to mean that the church is irrevelant to the state–though the state increasingly brings its secular philosophy to bear on the church. Thus, Christians withdraw from politics, neglect even to inform themselves of national and international issues. And, as a result, the articulation of spirital or moral principles is eliminated from debates on national and international policy. The state becomes its own god with its chief operating principle being pragmatism.” (James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, p. 665). When the church is anemic, civil government by default becomes the guardian of the people. Government becomes the foci of trust and hope.

“Wherefore no man can doubt that civil authority is, in the sight of God, not only sacred and lawful, but the most sacred, and by far the most honorable, of all stations in mortal life.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Ch. 20, Sect. 4).

The philosopher and theologian, John Calvin, who designed the secular and ecclesiastical constitution of Geneva in 1540, believed that no walls should separate the influence of the believer from the secular sphere. His doctrine of church/state relations is eye-opening. “All we wish to be understood at present is, that it is perfect barbarism to think of exterminating it [civil government], its use among men being not less than that of bread and water, light and air, while its dignity is much more excellent. Its object is not merely, like those things, to enable men to breathe, eat, drink, and be warmed (though it certainly includes all these, while it enables them to live together); this, I say, is not its only object, but it is, that no idolatry, no blasphemy against the name of God, no calumnies against His truth, nor other offenses to religion, break out and be disseminated among the people; that the public quiet be not disturbed, that every man’s property be kept secure, that men may carry on innocent commerce with each other, that honesty and modesty be cultivated; in short, that a public form of religion may exist among Christians, and humanity among men. Let no one be surprised that I know attribute the task of constituting religion aright to human polity, though I seem above to have placed it beyond the will of man, since I know more than formally allow men at pleasure to enact laws concerning religion and the worship of God, when I approve of civil order which is directed to this end.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Ch. 20, Sect. 3). Calvin valued civil government as having more worth than food to the body and air to breathe. He even calls the state the “religious polity” which is a system of divinely-ordained human government, established by God to glorify Himself and restrain the rebellious nature of man. To him, the state was to reflect from the matrix of the church, a recognition of God as Sovereign Creator and acknowledgement and worship that is due Him. Calvin invested the state with power to restrain idolatry and blasphemy against God. He was in no way apolitical. This is a far cry from pastors and Christians who say that the government is not worth our time and effort to change, amend or restrain. The religious life is not active in the whole of our being, but in a fraction, confined to feelings or the volition. A partial influence of character now obscures the full impact of a redeemed life. Religion and its authority is being excluded, “…from the domain of public life; henceforth the inner chamber, the cell for prayer, and the secrecy of the heart should be its exclusive dwelling place.” “And the result is that, in many different ways, religion, once the central force of human life, is now placed alongside of it; and, far from the thriving of the world, is understood to hide itself in a distant and almost private retreat.” (Abraham Kuyper, 1895, The Stone Foundation Lectures p. 40). The church shadowboxes phantoms of their own devisings. Conferences are held to attack straw men of antiquity, and rededicate their habitually rededicated lives, while the judicial and legislative organs of the nation are increasingly hostile to the name of God. The time consumed on such minutiae is irrational. Little sermons, pridefully delivered as textually sequential, are as far-reaching as the tip of one’s nose. Rhetorical fluff has replaced the Word of God that existentially confronts all of life.

“America is the only country ever founded on a creed.” (G. K. Chesterton)

The philosophic and theological inflence of the Reformation not only established churches but created nations from the central teaching of God’s sovereign will and call. No individual would hold allegiance to any foreign despot that restrained the worship of God, for God alone was the Ruler of heaven and earth. The matrix of constitutional principles came from an understanding of God’s sovereign nature. “The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right, for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequalled. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man.” (G. K. Chesterton, What I Saw in America, 1922). The individual has dignity and worth not deriving from civil law, but solely from God’s hands, as made in His image and likeness. “…Calvinism has captured and guaranteed to us our constitutional civil rights; and that simultaneously with this there went out from Western Europe that mighty movement which promoted the revival of science and art, open new avenues to commerce and trade, beautify domestic and social life, exalted the middle classes to positions of honor, cause philanthropy to abound, and more than all this, elevated, purified, and enobled moral life by Puritanic seriousness;…”. The Reformation, “Created a church order, which became the preformation of state confederation, it proved to be the guardian angel of science; it emancipated art; it propagated a political scheme, which gave birth to constitutional government, both in Europe and America.” (Abraham Kuyper, p. 29, 155). There are some evangelicals, MacArthur and his followers, who view the American Revolution as illegitimate. Their perspective values the authority of colonial England as the God-honored government of the land. They reject the Reformation foundation of the American constitution and diminish the value of our democratic state, as decreed by God for the enobling of man and the propagation of the Gospel. This ahistorical view rejects our religious heritage and fosters a myopic mindset that perceives no interrelation between the church and state. Such a view of our history is quite simply troglodytic. “America had been founded primarily for religious purposes…” “The Pilgrim Fathers had come to America precisely because England had become immoral and irreligious. They had built the ‘City on the Hill.’ Again, their descendants had opted for independence and liberty because they felt their subjugation was itself immoral and irreligious and opposed to the Providential plan. There is no question that the Declaration of Independence was, to those who signed it, a religious as well as a secular act, and that the Revolutionary War had the approbation of divine providence. They had won it with God’s blessing and, afterwards, they drew up their framework of government with God’s blessing,…” (Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, p. 204). The constitutional framers understood that their work was Divinely ordained and empowered by the God of heaven.

What would Calvin have thought or said, living in 21st Century America, where a candidate, and now president of the United States, was accorded titles of divinity? By all that we know of him, he certainly would have spoken out in anger with authority. Just recently, a U.S. House of Representative, Jesse Jackson, Jr., said that an additional book should be added to the Bible, describing the ascendancy of the greatest redemptive figure of Western history. He would call it the Book of Obama. “The single most extraordinary event in American history, even a redemptive act of divine revelation. The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.” (from Politico, June 5, 2008, article by Josephine Hearn, “Black Lawmakers Emotional About Obama’s Success”). Barack Obama has been accorded the title of “The Messiah” by the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, has declared that he (Obama) has entranced our youth and that the day of messiah has arrived. In Obama’s own words, upon receiving the nomination for President of the Democratic Party, “Tonight the tides will slow and the earth will heal.” The New Testament portrays Jesus’ death and resurrection as the only redemptive hope of humanity but Obama says of himself and his followers, “We are the hope of the future; the answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided; that we cannot come together; that we cannot remake this world as it should be. Because we know what we have seen and what we believe–that what began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be ignored; that will not be deterred; that will ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, and make this time different from all the rest.” (Barack Obama, Speech in 2/5/08). With unbridled hubris, he declares, “I am confident that we can create a kingdom right here on earth.” (Barack Obama, October 8, 2007 speech). We have no need for political rulers but men and women of truth who will endure rejection and umbrage to support the unborn, maintain the historic definition of marriage, support Israel as a sovereign state without further territorial concessions and maintain the economic value of the individual, the incentive to achieve. The rhetoric from Barack Obama and his adoring throng come from a matrix of unbridled pride and arrogance unprecedented in American political history. We have heard cult voices utilize such language in the past but they were relegated to the lunacy of mindless extremism. But Obama seduces an entire generation with political/cultic language that is more reminiscent of an illusionary god-complex. In ancient Rome when a conquering general returned to the city with his army and the spoils of war, the whole population would greet him with praise and acclaimation. But running behind the general’s chariot would be a man who would whisper in his ear, “You are not a god, you are mortal.” The church needs to remind Obama that he is not the messiah, he is only a sinful mortal. To perceive of John Calvin’s view of state authority is to understand that he would have opposed and exposed such blasphemy against God.

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7)

“And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ but they said, ‘We will not listen.’” (Jeremiah 6:17)

“At every stage of her existence the Church is in need of watchmen who will guard the flock from all that would destroy it.” (E. J. Young, Book of Isaiah, Vol. 3, p. 470)

As ancient sentinels were stationed on the walls of a city to alert the inhabitants of approaching danger, especially at night, so the prophets of Israel were to sound a tocsin voice to the nation of Israel of impending calamity. The prophets of Israel were the heart of God in human flesh. They encountered every aspect of life in reference to God. The prophets diagnosed the spiritual, cultural, social, economic, political and military condition of the nation from the perspective of eternity. Their voices knew no bounds of influence and repercussion. Nothing was outside the authoritative domain of the prophetic voice. From kings to pauper, all would come to know the mind of God through the enflamed heart of the prophet. Their message embraced the totality of Israel’s life and history. Their voice captured the present from the transcendence of eternity. The prophets mindset encompassed the world, not just a sliver of religious activity. “The prophet is not only a prophet. He is also a poet, preacher, patriot, social critic, moralist.” “The prophet was an individual who said, ‘No’ to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness and syncretism.” “The prophet faces a coalition of callousness and established authority and undertakes to stop a mighty stream with mere words. Had the purpose been to express great ideas, prophecy would have had to be acclaimed as a triumph. Yet the purpose of prophecy is to conquer callousness, to change the inner man as well as to revolutionize history.” (Abraham Heschel, The Prophets, p. VIII, XIII, p. 16-17). The prophets left no avenue of society untouched by the revelation of God. Their voice hit the solar plexus of society with warning and redemption. No aspect of life was sacrosanct from their fiery confrontation. “By his very claim, his was the voice of supreme authority. He not only rivalled the decisions of the king and the counsel of the priest, he defied and even condemned their words and deeds.” (Abraham Heschel, p. 260). The lack of authoritative voices that speak power to power, truth to lie, clarity to obfuscation, is sorely felt in a nation inebriated by the rhetoric of self-exaltation.

Jesus gave a warning in Matthew 10:16 to his disciples, to be alert of impending danger on the horizon, in the midst of a hostile world. “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.” The phrase “shrewd as serpents” and “innocent as doves” is found in the Midrash on Cant. 2:14. Israel is described as “harmless as the dove”, towards God, and “shrewd as serpents” toward the Gentile nations. The serpent has a sensory system that can detect approaching prey or predator by ground vibrations. They can detect motion more than 100 feet away. The believer is to be cognizant of what is on the horizon. We are not to be overtaken by events. When Israel failed to be prudently prescient, they paid a high price as a nation. The epithelium of the church has placed the believer in a state of vulnerability to the encroaching dangers of the culture.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matt. 5:13). There was a common expression among the rabbis in the time of Jesus that the Torah was the “salt of the earth.” “For as the world could not do without salt, neither could it do without the Torah.” (Soferim 15.8). The Torah was believed to have a preservative effect upon the world. The world would rot in an accelerated rate without the retarding affect of the Word of God. But Jesus does something amazing in this passage, He transfers the meaning of Torah to the Galilean disciples, a band of weak, incompetent, unschooled men, despised by the educated of Jerusalem. Jesus says that the Word in and through them would restrain the spoliation of the world. No teacher in the history of Israel has ever made such a declaration. Our presence in word and deed, is to be a preservative in the midst of a dying age. Our lives are to penetrated every realm, retarding corruption. Our influence is to glorify God and affect this world. May we see the glory of God once again shine from sea to sea as at our nation’s birth. Our presence in the midst of this age retards the accelerated spoliation of a dying world.

The need to pray currently for our nation is incumbent upon all of God’s people. A united confluence to seek the will of God is the only restraint to the encroaching darkness over the land. There are thousands of believers across America that are grieved and are being awakened by God for the future of this nation. Only dependence on the Sovereign God can redirect the present course that embraces progressively an autocratic view of life. At signal moments in our past, God has drawn his people in concerted prayer. “Wherefore, although it is true that while we are listless or insensible to our wretchedness, he waits and watches for us, and sometimes even assists us unasked; it is very much for our interests to be constantly supplicating Him; first, that our heart always be enflamed with a serious and ardent desire of seeking, loving, and serving Him, while we accustom ourselves to have recourse to Him as a sacred anchor. In every necessity; secondly, that no desire, no longing whatever, of which we are ashamed to make Him the witness, may enter our minds, while we learn to place all our wishes in His sight, and thus pour out our heart before Him.” “It is very absurd, therefore, to dissuade men from prayer, by pretending that the Divine Providence, which is always watching over the government of the universe, is in vain importune by our supplications, when, on the contrary, the Lord Himself declares, ‘He is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.’ (Ps. 145:18).” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Ch. 20, Sect. 3). God is the Sovereign Lord of all the nations and He has ordained that His will be accomplished in a unique way through the weakness of our intercession.

The church is losing its spiritual and moral ground to the kingdoms of this world. Yet in their conceited illusion the evangelical anchorites justify such societal degradation as a sign that the end of the age is imminent. This is the ultimate escape from responsibility to our children and their children’s generation. “Religious living is not only a private concern. Our own life is a movement in the symphony of ages. We are taught to pray as well as to live in the first person plural.” “All generations are present as it were, in every moment.” (Abraham Heschel, A Philosophy of Judaism, p. 422-423). The Christian cannot shut himself up in his church and abandon the world to its fate. A concatenation of generations have falsely assumed that the consummation of the age was within their lifetime. “…Occupy [Gk. "pragmateuomai", daily affairs of life, commerce, judicial functions] till I come.” (Luke 19:13). “Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord doeth come.” (Matt. 24:42). Jesus commands constant vigilance regarding the believer’s interaction with society.

“…humanity glorifies God by subduing the earth by words and by work. Tragically, the pious abandon culture to the non-pious. They foolishly argue: ‘Why polish brass on a sinking ship?’ One polishes brass to glorify the ship’s Maker, who will not allow His ship to sink. In other words, the ‘purpose-driven life’ aims among others things to produce a godly culture.” (Bruce Waltke, Old Testament Theology, p. 221).

For too many in the church, the canard has been embraced, “Why polish the brass on a sinking ship?” The answer to that sophomoric question is, God is the Captain of the ship and He has not forsaken it. Yes, the ship of state is listing, but we are called to be a restraint and empowerment toward a God-honoring government. We are at a crisis in American history and only the Sovereign God can restrain a movement that is dishonoring to Him at its very core. If we are silent and passive, we will suffer the consequences with the rest of the nation under God’s chastening hand. Though millions have cried out for a leader after their own heart, as Israel of old, the consequences of God giving Israel an alter-ego, Saul, for a leader was grievous. “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness unto their soul.” (Psalms 106:15). We must pray and seek God to take us out of the small confinement that we are in. We must see Him as the Sovereign Lord of heaven and the nations of the earth. Only God bearing His holy arm can restrain the arrogance and the supercilious movement that is capturing the imagination and seducing millions of Americans.

The systems of dependence are rapidly diminishing in stature and reliance. The promise of constant economic expansion is now being seen to have been illusory and myopic. The stratum of an economic and material foundation of life is being shaken by the seismic changes that call our entire capitalistic system into question. It is as if we as a nation are being sequestered into a cul-de-sac of despair. In this time of the death of America’s golden calves may we be granted the grace of God to be quickened by His spirit to breathe again the breath of eternity in the midst of the death throes of a dying age. “A sense of contact with the ultimate dawns upon most people when their self-reliance is swept away by violent misery.” (Abraham Heschel, A Philosophy of Judaism, p. 422).

3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.Hebrews 6:12 …be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.1 Timothy 6:17 …trust in God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Hi, my name is Andrew Hittle. Did you know that God really desires for us all to be saved and prosper? Now I’ll try to stick to modern day language to help maintain a level of mutual understanding. I don’t want anybody to say that they have no idea what I am talking about. I was born April 1, 1979 into a Christian home and was taught the Word since my youth. The problem is, as I am sure you all know, some people tend to go their own ways.  I got into alcohol and drugs and lost sight of God and His grace. I almost forgot about God completely and was living for myself. The good part is, other people were praying for me. It took a few years but I finally decided that my life was a wreck and I needed Jesus again. I decided to put down my flesh, my anger, my addiction, and my hate, and I repented and turned from my ways. I was sober again and I felt great. I even went to Bible school and completed a 3 year coarse. God had begun to work on my spiritual development as well as my finances. Things were going really good, so it seemed. But, I had started running a construction business and I had gotten very busy. I wasn’t really making much time for God anymore, and the devil had found a weakness in me. He distracted me and stole my time. I made decent money for a little while but soon got back into the flesh and things slowly fell apart again.Deuteronomy 8:17-19 You say in your heart; My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. But you will remember the Lord your God for it is He who has given you the power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenent which He swore to your fathers as it is this day. And it will be, if you do at all forget the Lord you God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you will surely perish. Before I knew it, I was running my own life again, rather than letting God run my life. I felt like a disgrace. I knew God didn’t want me to live like that. How could I let the devil trick me into going back. I should have stayed close to God and given Him all the thanks for what He had done in my life. My finances were in a mess again and I was still living in the flesh. Finally, I decided enough was enough. No one could decide for me. I knew the Word was true, and that God desired for me to be saved. But being in a state of sin, I really had no assurance of making heaven. I didn’t want to live in that fear anymore. All glory and honor goes to God for having grace and mercy on me. I repented and turned from my sinful life again. I got back into the Bible and starting studying hard. I started praying for 1-3 hours a day, and confessing the word over my own life, even at work. God has given me an abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. In God’s eyes I am righteous (or in right standing) with Him. I can now go to Him anytime I want and know that He hears me. Once again I am walking in God’s favor in every area of my life. I am married with 4 children and I am pleased to say that my marriage is doing awesome. I pray for my kids every day so I know they will grow up to serve God like I am. I am serving God with my whole heart now and I am NEVER turning back. Since I allowed Jesus to take control of my life again, He helps me through life, and guides my steps. When a problem comes up, He is always there with me.I guess if you don’t know anything about the Bible, then you probably don’t know that John 3:16 says that God gave His only Son Jesus, (to die in our place for OUR sins) so that we could have everlasting life by believing in Him. I guess you may not know this either; that Romans 10:9 says that if you say with your mouth “Jesus, Be My Lord.” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (I have paraphrased these verses so that the average person can understand what they mean.) So, if you have never confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, just do it right now. Romans 10:10 says with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So, just say this: “Jesus, please be my Lord and Savior. I believe you died for me and God raised you from the dead.” It is as simple as that. Great. Now, the way to get the manifestation of God’s Word in your life for other things is very similar to what you just did. It is to confess the Word and personalize it for yourself. The only difference is, NOW you need to meditate on it day and night. I know this sounds a little excessive but God has to know that you are serious. Plus according to Hebrews 11:6 it is impossible to please God without faith. It also says He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Now this doesn’t mean that sitting in a church service will bring you faith. Many churches never even include a single verse from the Bible in an entire sermon. I am talking about the actual written Word. John 1:1 basically says that the Word is God. Therefore by reading the Word to ourselves, we are literally hearing God Himself speaking to us and faith is coming. He has set out every provision for our lives right there in His Word. All we have to do is find a verse and claim it as our own.Let me give you a few examples. You can say these things to God and actually believe what you are saying. Then God will take your faith and reward you for your confession of faith. Note: You won’t believe it the first time you say it. You may believe it in your mind, but it is up to God to decide when you actually believe it with your spirit, or your true inner being. That is why God said to meditate (continually go over in your mind and in your mouth) what He says about you in His Word. Joshua 1:8 says to meditate day and night and observe to do all that is written… then you will have good success.So here are the examples of things to say to God. Note: If you have already been saved but you have sin in your heart right now, you can start with the first example, and work your way right down the list without feeling guilty for anything you have ever done.“God, according to 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from everything we have done. So God I just ask right now for forgiveness for (you fill in your own personal sins here) and I thank you so much for forgiving me and putting me in right standing with you.”“God, according to Romans 8:1 there is no condemnation (punishment, guilt, etc.) for those who are in Christ Jesus who don’t walk (live constantly) in the flesh but walk in the Spirit. So, I thank you right now for not condemning me. I will not walk in guilt of past sins that have been forgiven.”“God, according to 1 Peter 2:24 You took my sins and put me in right standing with you. You were also wounded for me so that I could be healed. Thank you, I am totally healed in Jesus Name.”“God, according to Psalms 1:1-3 I am blessed (empowered to prosper in every area of my life) because I delight in Your Word, and I do meditate on It day and night. I am like a tree planted by rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in my season. Whatever I do must prosper. Thank you God in Jesus name.”“God, according to Proverbs 3:1-6 You are directing my paths. I have favor with You and with man. I am keeping your Word in my heart and I have long life (in abundance) and peace. I am keeping mercy and truth with me and I trust in you with all my heart. I am not leaning on my own understanding, Lord. I thank You for directing my paths.”“God, since I am in right standing with you, I can claim Ecclesiastes 2:26. You continually give me wisdom, knowledge, and joy. Thank you so much for this.”These are just a few examples of personalizing the Word. This is what God wants us to do. If you begin to live like this on a consistent basis, you will see God do things in your life that are unexplainable. You will have no recourse but to say, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in my eyes.” (Psalms 118:23) Matthew 6:31-33 Take no thought saying; What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? …your heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. I know it sounds simple, but examine yourself. If you find yourself getting frustrated over something, thinking “I must do this certain thing or else…” then you are, in fact, in the flesh. Ask for forgiveness and say something like, “God, I am sorry for acting like that. Please forgive me. From now on I am not leaning on my own understanding. I trust in You. My faith is in You, God, not my natural abilities. Thank you for guiding me and giving me peace and joy.” I’m telling you this really works. My most earnest thanks goes out to you for taking the time to read this. It is my deepest desire to help others grow and prosper, because I have been taught and mentored as well. I could not have done it all alone.

When our church first decided to venture into the world of podcasting last year, the process seemed daunting. We had only ventured into multimedia development a little bit – mostly in recording and burning our sermons to CD. The internet, however, and things such as podcasting, seemed completely foreign to us.

Our friends in other congregations who already had podcasts running kept extolling how wonderful the technology was, and how it enabled them to get the message out for a relatively low cost. When our daughter showed us that she was getting weekly updates from every church in the area apart from ours, we made the decision to make the leap as well (no, there isn’t any sense of competitiveness here. Certainly not!)

This article is the end result of the past year of our endeavors, and hopefully will serve as a primer for those that want to get their church podcasting as well. The hardest part of getting the podcast up and running was understanding exactly how a podcast works, and getting everything properly prepared. I hope to help you through that learning curve, by explaining everything in simple language. The concept isn’t difficult whatsoever!

First, let’s define what a podcast is.

A podcast is a text file located on the internet that points to a group of media files. This text file is called a newsfeed (or an RSS feed), and acts like a roadmap to media files that are also located on the internet. When someone views a podcast, what they are actually doing is reading this text file, and being pointed to the appropriate media files.

The program that reads the text file (newsfeed) is called an aggregator. The aggregator reads the text file, and grabs the media files that it is being pointed to. All of this is done in the background, giving you the illusion of “single” show that has multiple episodes. In reality, however, it’s just a bunch of files located on the internet tied together via this text file.

This text file must follow a certain format, in order to assure compatibility across the range of aggregators out there (e.g., iTunes). The structure of the text file defines the details of the show (the show’s title, description, etc), and where to find the show’s episodes. It’s done in a pretty straightforward manner.

For an example of how a newsfeed looks, check out Apple’s technical document on podcast structure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#_Toc526931673 “Channel” defines the shows, and “item” defines the episodes. Once you have the file created, to add more episodes, you simply add another “item” pointing to a new file.

That’s how a podcast is structured.

Next, we’re going to tell you what you need to get your podcast up and running. There are two options. The first is what you will need if you want to do it all yourself. The second (and our preference) is the simpler route, which is to get a podcast host. These instructions presume that you already have your sermon, or other audio file, converted into MP3 format and ready to go.

To set up a podcast by yourself, you will need to do the following:

1: Find web space available for you to upload your media files to.

There are plenty of web hosts available for you to choose from. From Google, do a search for “Web Hosting”. I recommend getting a Linux/PHP based host – because they are simpler to configure than Microsoft based hosting. As a general rule, try to find the most web space available, with the greatest amount of traffic allotted for your site. As your podcast grows in popularity – you don’t want to get sacked with extra traffic fees.

Before settling for a host, it also is in your best interests to do a little research to make sure they have a decent reputation. Lots of hosts over-sell their plans in order to get more business. There are lots of horror stories I’ve read of people that found their websites censured for excessive traffic when they were nowhere near the limits their plan advertised. A little research can help you avoid falling victim to an unscrupulous host.

2: Upload your media files (mp3 files, pictures and video files) to your new host.

You will most likely transfer your media files to your host through what’s called FTP. FTP is “File Transfer Protocol”. On Windows, I like http://www.wise-ftp.com/ “Wise FTP” by AceBit the best. On Macintosh, my favorite is http://cyberduck.ch/ – Cyberduck.

One thing to keep in mind is whether or not your media files are supported by your web hosting company. If you’re simply podcasting your audio sermons, MP3 is pretty much universally supported. If you’re podcasting video files (M4V or MP4), you might need to configure your server to recognize those files. This is done via what’s called a “mime type” and is set up in a file called .htaccess on your web server.

To find out more information, if you need it, google “.htaccess mime types” for a detailed explanation.

3: Once you have uploaded the files, and thereby know where the files are located, it’s time to create the newsfeed.

Make sure that your newsfeed mimics the format we showed you earlier. If you follow that format, you should be good to go. Create your channel, and add all of your items.

Once you have created your newsfeed file, upload it to your server as well. Test it out by going to http://www.feedvalidator.org. If your feed comes back invalid, it will give suggestions as to how to fix your feed. If it comes back saying the feed is valid, then you’re good to go! Start submitting it to channels like yahoo, and the iTunes music store.

Those are all of the steps required to get a podcast up and running, if you wish to do it all yourself!

The other alternative is to get what is called a podcast host.

Podcast hosts take care of all of the hosting, newsfeed creation and testing for you. When you contract a podcast host, you don’t need to worry about file types, ensuring that your feed is valid, or finding web space. They take care of all of that for you. With a podcast host, you simply upload the media file, give it a name and a description, and you’re done.

After a few months of maintaining our podcast and constantly updating the feed to reflect new additions to our podcast, this is the direction we chose to go. It really simplified the production process, and actually ended up costing us less per month than what we were paying before.

There are a lot of podcast hosts out there offering different packages. When determining which one to contract – look at the following things:

1: How much do they charge vs. how much space do you get for your podcasts?

2: Do they limit your bandwidth? (This is particularly important. One host we went with charged for bandwidth beyond a certain point, and it cost us a pretty penny.) It’s best to get a podcast host with “unmetered bandwidth”. This means they don’t charge you extra if your podcast becomes popular.

3: Do they support transferring of the podcasts to another domain? This is also very important. If you, for whatever reason, become dis-satisfied with the service or want to transfer it to another location, will they facilitate this for you? We had to recreate two of our podcasts from scratch because one host wouldn’t give us the ability to redirect our existing podcast to our new host.

4: Do they have good technical support for questions you may have?

Our favorite podcast hosts are http://www.avmypodcast.com and http://www.libsyn.com (although Libsyn has some issues with downtime.) Both have unmetered bandwidth and great plans available for very reasonable charges. AvMyPodcast is especially great for it’s technical support, and includes automatic iTunes and Yahoo submissions. They even have an online tutorial to teach you how to podcast.

Whether you decide to go it yourself, or contract a podcast host, it’s definitely worth getting into podcasting. Our weekly subscribers have grown dramatically, and a good number of people have become aware of our little church as a result of our podcast. It also gives me joy that my daughter has ours FIRST on her list, too!

Good luck, and happy podcasting!

Are you lost? Searching?… I was, but maybe my experience can help you make sense of your own situation.

 

 

About me

 

I’m not someone who is easily convinced about anything and am of the philosophy if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. So first, let me give you a little information about myself. 

I am in my forties, married with one child.  I am employed as a Fire-Captain/Paramedic in a suburb of Chicago. I have been on the job for about 26 years.  I tell you this because I think I am a pretty average normal guy and have at least been around the block once or twice – I hope!  Eight years ago, if I would have heard someone say they were “saved” I would have thought they were some kind of religious freak.  So, bear with me!  If you have found this article, I now truly believe there is a greater reason you are reading it.

 

Who did I write this article for? Well . . .

 

First, if you are a bible scholar, then I am sure you will soon be painfully aware that you are not reading an article that measures up to your caliber.  I am writing this for people who, maybe like I did, feel lost or feel as though something is missing in their lives.  Also possibly, for the new believer who’s life has been affected or changed in such a way that they feel “compelled” to investigate this new conviction and need some direction.

 

This article isn’t for . . .

 

As I stated earlier, it is neither for the bible scholar nor for the debater or “my faith is better than your faith” person.  I am an “average Joe” and offer this only for those people who find themselves in a situation similar to mine – 8 years ago.  I am only equipped to defend my own position and beliefs.  This is my personal story plus some helpful (I hope) advice   – So now is the time to turn back if you think reading this will be too painful!

 

My Story

 

One morning, about 8 years ago, while I was driving to work, I was going through my usual routine of trying either to find a good morning talk radio show or music station with a song I wanted to hear.  I came to a busy intersection and had to make a left turn into traffic to proceed on my route.  Just before I made the turn, I pressed the scan button on my radio and it landed on a religious station.  I remember thinking “Oh Brother”, and that “as soon as I make this turn I’m going to turn this nonsense off!”  But, ‘something’ the guy who was talking said, caught my attention and I felt compelled to leave it on.  The person who was speaking was Pastor Greg Laurie.  I remember thinking this guy is pretty funny and also thinking most of what he was saying really seemed to make sense.

 

 

 

Let me back up a little at this point… 

 

My wife and I had recently experienced tragedies that had either personally touched our lives or touched the lives of our close relatives and we had begun to question subjects like our life purpose, beliefs, and faith – or should I say lack there of it.  Each day, listening to this guy (Pastor Greg) really hit home and I found myself really looking forward to hearing his show.  On his broadcasts, he would share personal stories about his life and I learned that, compared to where he was now in his life, he had come from a very different path.  He was very funny and presented his sermons on the level with no sugar coating. I was able to relate to a lot of what he said.  Most of the guys I work with or my friends are straight talkers – no bull.  And as I listened to this guy, I could tell he was giving it to me straight.  Many times when I listened, I felt as though he was speaking directly to me.  There would be sermons he presented discussing subjects or questions that were almost identical to the subjects and questions my wife and I had been discussing recently and often in just the previous night’s conversation.  Many times, I would call my wife and tell her to turn his broadcast on and listen.  I would say something like, “you’re not going to believe what Pastor Greg is talking about right now!”   I also began to feel like I was starting to get some direction in my own life.  There was a point at the end of each show where Pastor Greg would ask if the listeners wanted to say a “prayer” regarding a request.  Well I always felt compelled from day one to do it, but I initially didn’t, mainly because of my previous faith background.  Well one day at the end of one of his shows, I said the prayer and made the request that Pastor Greg stated.  I repeated the prayer and it changed my life.  Now there weren’t fireworks or lightening bolts, but a peace came over me, like a weight lifted off my shoulders and I knew in my heart that I had made the right decision. I also felt a wave of emotion that sort of took me by surprise.

 

 I’m not Mr. Emotional mostly because of my upbringing. My dad – don’t get me wrong –is a good guy; he was a sergeant in the army and then in construction, but I don’t think he ever lost that sergeant thing!  He always kind of ran our household like a mini boot camp and sayings like “I’ll give you something to cry about!” taught my brother and I early in life to “suck it up” and move on.  But when I said the prayer and the first time I shared my story with a pastor at my church, it really got to me. I didn’t really understand it then, but I do now! As you grow in your faith, you too will increasingly understand the stakes involved and the cost of the gift offered to you.

 

Saved?….

 

For the new Christian, you have heard and should understand this term, but for the person who is searching, you may not understand this term or many of the other terms you will begin to hear. But hang in there, it will shortly become very apparent how many of these terms will apply to your new Christian life.  That day, I repeated the prayer Pastor Laurie stated and I was saved.  Now if you’re new or searching, don’t get nervous . . . just hang in there and keep reading, it will soon make more sense. There was no mystery and the prayer was all I needed to meet the requirements of being “Saved”.  OK! Here was the context of what I said; I repeated:  “Lord Jesus I know I’m a sinner, but I believe you died on the cross for me.  I turn now from my sin and receive you as my Savior and my Lord and I choose to follow you from this day forward.  Thank you for calling me and accepting me.  In Jesus’ name I pray.”  It was and IS that simple.  I meant it from my heart!  Meaning…everything in me told me it was right.  I said it, meant it, and I felt relieved.  As I stated, there weren’t fireworks or lightning bolts, but I felt a peace in my life, a relief.  It changed my life.

 

 

It changed my life . . . . .

 

When I say it changed my life, I don’t mean it was immediate and I surely do not mean I picked up a sign, grew a beard and started yelling at people through a megaphone. But I do have to say that if today, I saw someone doing what I describe in that scenario, the bearded guy and megaphone, I wouldn’t think less of that person.  Although it might not be the method I would use to get the message out, it might be the method someone else feels convicted to use and I wouldn’t think he or she were strange. Well, maybe she – with the beard thing – just kidding!  In general, here’s how it did change my life.  Instead of living a selfish life, pursuing my own desires, I started to try and live my life for others.  Instead of trying to fill that gap in my life with financial pursuits, parties and the next “good time”, I started to look at what was really important in life. 

 

As for God, I always believed in God, but I thought of Him as very distant from me.  I thought of Him more like a Judge with a good and bad list.  Each of our names headed a list and there were check marks in the bad and good columns of each person’s list.  I always hoped that if my time came, that I would have enough checks in the good column and be able to “get in”.  I felt that God was “up there” somewhere watching me and if I screwed up, he would shake his head and place a mark in the bad column of my list. If I did pray, it was half hearted or more along the lines of “if you can do this for me, I will never do that” or “remember when I did that ‘good deed’, now I need something.” It was often a bargain session, rather than true prayer. There was always a gap and I felt like I could never measure up, but I now know God has filled that gap. God made the ultimate sacrifice and provided the answer to that problem in His Son. I also learned that, to my surprise, God isn’t looking for the perfect person and he most often uses the “second string”, the common and many times broken man to accomplish his greatest work. 

 

Many other things changed and continue to change in my life.  Don’t get me wrong though. Does this mean that everything started to go great in my life and I became a “choir boy”?  NO!   I did get on solid ground and had a more clear direction. I made peace with God, but in some ways, my life got complicated. Overall my life has become more fulfilling and peaceful.  I try, with God’s help, everyday to live for Him and others. Try is the key word here; if anyone tells you they are the poster child for the perfect Christian- you probably want to steer clear of them. I’ve heard it said and I subscribe to it – “put your faith in God, not men”. Look to God for your Christian life example and you will continue on the right path.  I have learned that serving God by serving others is how you begin to live a Godly life. Also, that moderation in some things and elimination of others is how you stay on the right path.  If you have trouble with moderation in any given area of your life, you need to eliminate that problem.  Now, I could give you specific examples or opinions of things you should avoid, but I would risk being a hypocrite. For me, I can give you an example I have expressed to some friends and guys I work with.  “I don’t think God, my creator, is happy when I drink, get drunk, and act foolish.”  As I said, this is an example of mine.  I unquestionably am the last one to pick up stones and start launching them.  I will say however, I now do believe that if you have a buddy (brother) who has difficulty with moderation in this or any other area, you should help him by not causing him to stumble because of your actions.  Also, let’s face it.  If you are reading this article, you’re no dummy.  I mean, you apparently have the basic skills down. Therefore, I believe you are also smart enough to know that moderation is moderation.  In view of that you know, some things in life do not fall into the category of any “-RATION”.  For me, now I have an understandable “life guide” to go to for advice on most anything this life has to throw at you.  You should try it!  Previously, when I would hear people say that the bible was an old book and out of touch with today’s life style, I would have somewhat bought into that philosophy!  That was until I actually read it and then realized the old adage, “history tends to repeats itself”, is as true today as in biblical times. Many of the problems and issues we face today were also present in biblical times.

 

 

OK, here are some things that helped me as a new believer… 

 

Read your bible! When I became a Christian I began reading the bible. In addition to reading the bible, I also tried to find a bible study, but I was very apprehensive because I knew my knowledge of the bible was almost non-existent.  I was “fortunate” to know a guy at work who I considered religious. I thought of him in this way because I formerly believed that anyone who would even utter the name Jesus Christ in public must be “very religious”. Well, this friend from work introduced me to a man named Hank from his church and the three of us had an informal bible study for about a year. The study, along with guidance I received from Hank, really helped me in my faith walk and helped me find a church. Regarding the bible, I would suggest that you get a copy of the NIV Study Bible or a Life Application Study Bible.  At times in my life, before I became a Christian, I would feel lost and think maybe there is something in the bible that can help.  I would then pick up a copy of the King James Version bible that we had collecting dust on our book shelve, and try to make some sense of it.  Well for me, the language they used made an already unfamiliar book, even harder to understand. Needless to say, my reading session would be very short and unproductive.  Now, I read either the NIV Study Bible or the Life Application Study Bible.  If you are searching, I suggest you get one of these versions and start in the book of John.  (Gospel of John)

 

You will find as you read the bible, on the surface that in many chapters, this book wasn’t necessarily written as a “feel good” book and many times leaves you with more questions than answers.  Also, it often appears we/people (I’m included in that we) have the “what’s in it for me” mentality.  Well again, on the surface this isn’t a great advertisement for that – which in my opinion makes my faith in this book even stronger.  Because the bible is a no frills, no sugar coating, in your face kind of book, people do not want to accept it.  Most of us want to believe we are in control of our own destiny.  Well, the gift God offers us is free – all we have to do is accept it!  It’s that simple, but He is not going to make you accept it.  It’s a choice that we are going to have to make and in a world where absolutes seem grayer and grayer everyday, I think many people think it can’t be that black and white or simple.  There are only two answers to the offer extended, yes or no, but it’s your choice.

 

You may think why doesn’t God just give us a taste of the “good life”?  I believe if God had given us a crystal clear window into what our afterlife would be like, it would be too easy and our choice would be skewed.  We wouldn’t be making a decision based on faith or belief; we would be making it on the “OH! I see what’s in it for me attitude!” I believe that He has given us a view and if we are really seeking HIM, He will reveal it. He states it best in his own words: Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, and eat with him, and he with me.”  OR John 3: 16:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,  that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  

 

 

Attending a Christian Church

 

First of all, it is going to be different!  What I mean is, if you have never attended a Christian (Protestant) Faith based church it will seem strange.  The language you will hear might and/or will seem overboard, weird, cultish.  I have a hard time explaining exactly how I initially perceived the first Christian Protestant faith church I attended, but here are some examples of things I would see or hear that made me uncomfortable because at the time, I really didn’t understand my faith.  First, I would see people raising their hands and swaying back and forth when they sang praise songs and I would hear them sometimes shout out various phrases during a sermon, like “Praise Jesus” or “Amen”.  Initially, I would think “man, that’s kind of weird!”  “Am I in the right place?”  Are these people just trying to put on some kind of act?”  Then there was the “weird” way they talked the terms or phrases they used either while singing or in conversation.  Things like “we are all washed in His blood”.  “Nothing but the blood of Jesus can save us”.  “Can you feel His Spirit?”  “We are all crucified in Christ”.  “His Spirit is moving in you right now!”

 

I really can’t remember everything, but those were the highlights.  Now if you were raised as a Christian, things like this are familiar and normal to you, but for me, this just added to my confusion over my new found faith.  Since I have grown in my own faith, I now understand these actions and this “lingo”.  Before, I would have thought this stuff bordered on over the top freak cult behavior.  I’m now ashamed to say it, but I would have categorized people like this as “Jesus freaks” and I would have steered clear of these people.  I now can tell you that although I may not act or speak entirely as many of my Christian brothers and sisters do (see I just did it!)  I totally understand the actions and each day understand more of the “lingo”.  I now know why people are raising their hands and what it means to have His Spirit move you.  I was formerly of a different faith, and mostly only a Christmas and Easter attendee.  You may have heard the term or joke people would use when asked what faith they were and they would say they were “Chreasters”. That was how I would describe my faith to people and again I am ashamed to say that I actually thought that it was funny to use that line. After I was saved, I did attend my former church, but for ME I believed I needed to find another church. When I listened to the message I found it vague and had a hard time applying it to my life. In my own experience, I can tell you that if I sang a song at my former church, I would kind of just mouth the words with a lot of the other attendees.  Now as I stated earlier, I understand how people can be moved to really show their feelings for God during worship.  Today when I worship at Sunday Services, while singing praise songs, sometimes I get choked up because the words point to how much I have been freely given and I have to stop singing because I really am being moved by His Spirit.  There are times now where I have either said or done things that I never would have in my “former life”; for instance, sharing my faith with a friend who is experiencing a low point in their lives.  I now ask for guidance and, if I can get out of the way long enough and allow God to work through me, He will provide that guidance, not only in my request, but also in all areas of my life.

 

 

There is no perfect church

 

It’s been said there is no perfect church and if there was, you or I wouldn’t be members there, if you get my drift!  But, you will find, like anything in life, there are going to be things you like and dislike.  Unfortunately, if you answered that persistent knocking at the door later in your life, as opposed to being born into it, there are going to be people who think of you as a “Johnny come lately”. You may find it’s initially hard to relate to the “Christian Scene” and therefore feel like you don’t fit in. You have to remember this is a “two way street”. You may also find tight knit groups that may not allow you into the inner circle.  That being said, you have to remember why you are there.  It’s not for any other reason but to serve God.  So get involved, volunteer, serve, just give freely of yourself just as He gave freely of himself.  Pray to God to bring people into your life that will help you in your new found faith and He will!  Get into a bible study. When we searched for a church, we used Pastor Greg’s number one rule of advice.  Find a bible- based Church that teaches from the bible and adheres to biblical principles.  We looked for a church following this principle and one that would help our child grow in faith.  Ask the experts, go online, do a little research.  We attended several churches until we finally chose a church.  I would suggest you do the same.

 

In conclusion

 

As I stated, I wrote this for the person who is searching or who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior but is thinking now what?  I have only scratched the surface, but I felt “moved” to do this!  In the fire service, we use the acronym KISS which stands for “keep it simple stupid”.  So that’s what I have tried to do.  I could hit you with a lot of catch phrases and terminology that would probably just cause confusion or add to your frustration.  So I have kind of given you a blue-collar view.  If you are trying to sort this all out, first pray about it!  Really, if you are truly seeking and praying about it, you will be amazed at how God answers your prayers! 

 

Second, listen to Christian radio and find a good pastor on the radio.  As I said, I really love Pastor Greg Laurie. You can cut and paste this link into your browser to go to his website www.harvest.org. I feel God really uses him to reach people.  His shows are powerful and additionally you can listen to him either on his website or download his pod cast.  He never talks down to you and his messages are a benefit to all believers, regardless of your stage as a believer. 

 

Third, get into a good church.  A church that teaches from the bible and adheres to its principles.

 

Lastly, read your bible.  Some people say it’s an old book with old ideas and problems.  Well, read it and you be the judge.  It seems to me we are still repeating the same mistakes of ancient times.  It also seems apparent to me that if we would just follow the advice given in this book, we might find that life is a great deal easier, but again, you be the judge.  I suggest you start in the book of John. (Gospel of John)