Eternity is a Long Time

  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) I was going to name this article “Requirements of being a Christian” when I realized there are so many examples of people prior to the incarnation of Jesus who show the faith of true believers that I would be doing them, and God, a great disservice. Plus, there are all those people who have lived and never heard of Jesus. Before we begin to explore this topic, it is important to point out that Jesus is the ultimate judge of whether someone is born again. As He says – John 10:14-16 14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,   15  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.   16  And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd...

The Bible says in Romans 10:9 9 because, 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. What about those people who lived before the crucifixion or lived in places where they never heard of Jesus, are they all condemned? I do not think so. Romans 6:10 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  And  Hebrews 7:27 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.  “Once for all” is a pretty definitive phrase said in both these passages. But if these other people never heard about Jesus, how can they believe like it says in John 3:16? Paul answers this in  Romans 1:19-20 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his ete...

  In a November 6 post on X , Candace Owens stated: The doctors who are performing these irreversible surgeries and prescribing these puberty blockers to children are going to burn in hell for an eternity. As will every person who has been complicit in or directly benefited from these satanic practices. No, Candace, these horrible doctors will NOT burn in hell because of prescribing puberty blockers and the rest. The only way you burn in hell is if you are not born again of the spirit ( John 3:5-8 ) and refuse to believe in Jesus as your savior ( John 3:16 ). THE. ONLY. WAY. That means if a doctor who has mutilated children, given them puberty blockers and done other horrible things repents, humbles himself to God and believes in Jesus then that doctor WILL BE in heaven. Jesus died once for all including those who do vicious, terrible things. Anything we do can be covered by His blood as long as we repent. I know that's hard for some people to deal with - but it is the truth. It is...

  Mankind, just by itself, debunks Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and shows there is a designer, but not the God of the Bible. The need for justice and the fact we are still alive shows us the Bible is true. That will be the subject of another essay. Debunking Darwin’s theory is a very bold statement, but one that is easy to demonstrate. The difficulty most people have is in allowing themselves to admit the truth they are being shown and to deal with it honestly. It is fear that keeps us from God’s love, not rational thought. In its simplest form, Darwin’s theory states organisms evolved from the simple to the complex over billions of years. For the sake of this essay, we will not go into the arguments against Darwin’s theory for animals – especially single celled organisms – and skip right to human beings. Let us compare mankind with any animal species. First, while some animals can build things for themselves, they do not build things specifically for other animals or even for othe...

  How a God, if there is a God, can allow evil or, at the very least, bad things, to exist has been a sticking point for some people for centuries. In many cultures, this issue was dealt with through a pantheon of gods who were very similar to humans – just with greater powers. But with the advent of Judaism and, eventually, Christianity, people were being presented with an omnipotent and omniscient God, who created the cosmos as well as life on Earth yet, at the same time, allows evil to exist in the world. How could this be? After all, is it not a blatant inconsistency for an all good God to have any evil, anywhere, at all? If the argument is made from the Bible, then its legitimacy, along with the very validity of God, has to be established. This essay will describe some of the philosophical issues of evil vis-à-vis God as well as dealing with whether God is and if the Bible is to be relied upon. Evil can be broken down into two parts, as John Hick explains, moral evil or wicked...

  In the first chapter of John there is this exchange between the Apostle Andrew, one other disciple and Jesus: And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”   He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” (John 1:38-39 NASB) What an odd response to Jesus's question - or at least it is to our Western ears. Should not this first recorded question to Jesus have been a bit deeper? Perhaps something along the lines of, "Are you the Messiah we have been searching for?" or "When will Israel be redeemed and throw off Roman control?"   No, instead it is a question about where Jesus lives.  As Ravi Zacharias points out in his book "Jesus Among Other Gods", we have to remember the culture of Israel is Eastern not Western. Eastern culture puts far more emphasis on the group you are associated with than the individual.  We, in the West, look at the...

  When we forget that God is the beginning and the end - or the Alpha and Omega as Jesus says of Himself in Revelation - we miss out on so much. Embracing God does not mean we lose ourselves. Au contraire - it means we find ourselves in a way that is impossible any other way. We were created by Him. We find our deepest meaning in Him. To miss this truth is to miss life. To miss this truth is to miss eternity with Him. The result of missing this truth is a horrible end.

  The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. This is the truth even though America in 1776 did not treat all men equally. The truth is that God does not play favorites. He looks at each of us individually and expects us to love him with all our heart. He created us equally for that task. What we do with those gifts while we are alive on earth is up to us. But the eternal issue is not what things we do on this earth that other people can see, it’s about how we love God; it is what we were created to do. That is why He endowed us with those unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We need to keep the main thing the main thing. We need to remember that there are debatable and non-debatable issues in Christianity. What are these non-debatable issues? - Jesus is the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, 100% God, 100% human - Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay the wages for all of our sins by dying on the cross - Jesus rose on the 3rd day and ascended into Heaven shortly thereafter - He is alive and will come again to judge the living and the dead - Jesus created all that was made - We are saved for eternity with God by faith in Jesus and His works, not by our works - The Bible is the word of God All the other issues such as whether a Christian can drink alcohol, eat non-Kosher foods, speak in tongues, whether there is a rapture before the second coming of Jesus, etc, these are all debatable. It is fine to debate them and to have strong opinions, but none of these opinions should get in the way of the non-debatable issues.  If a person has a belief on a de...

  Looking at the comet again tonight and basking in the glory of God’s creation I am reminded of what Paul wrote: They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Romans 1:19-21 NLT