This is the beginning of an awesome series in Romans called Capital City Christians. It's kind of hard to swallow for the first couple of weeks, oh, but it is so worth it in the end!
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Have you noticed
SOME CHANGES
IN YOUR WORLD?
What can be done to overcome a world of violence and unrest?
What in the blazes is going on!
Have you asked yourself lately about all that is going on in the world today? Things are really getting crazy in the world, much more so than it has ever been before. I mean just look what is going on with gas prices for example. The U.S. average in May of 2009 for a gallon of unleaded regular would have put you out $2.29; in May of 2011 it was $3.98. That’s a difference of $1.70 per gallon. Was gas harder to come by?
What about food? A bushel of corn in May of 2009 would run you $4.00. In May of 2011, just two years later, it will cost you $7.50. That’s almost double in just two years! And then there’s crude oil. This in May of 2009 was around $50 a barrel. But in May of 2011 we are flirting with over $100 a barrel and rising. And as you will notice as these prices fluctuate, they will settle at much high than when they started.
And how about all of the uprisings and violence in the world today. There are wars in Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Sudan, not to mention the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians. Oh, and don’t forget Iran, who just seems to be ticked off at everyone and just won’t give up on trying to obtain nuclear weapons.
Now if that’s not enough good news for you, there is all of the earthquakes and natural disasters that are hitting our planet with a fury that has never been felt. And they all seem to be hitting at the same time.
In 2011 Japan had its worse earthquake on record. A magnitude 9.0 sea-quake that created a tsunami that wiped out a huge portion of the coast in that area. The death toll of this tragedy has been estimated at 12,000 people and rising. They have had aftershocks as high as 7.9, 7.7, 7.2, 7.1, and a bunch of 6 and 5 pointers. Christ Church New Zealand had a 6.3 magnitude quake earlier this year and Pakistan had a 7.2 and the list goes on and on. As a matter of fact, if we continue on the pace we are on right now in 2011, we will exceed 2010 by over 400 earthquakes that range between the range of 5.0 and 9.9. There are even some who claim that we will see a mega-quake soon.
And then there are the tornadoes that ravaged through the South East United States this year. As of May 14, there have been 1,064 tornadoes reported in the US in 2011 (of which at least 804 were confirmed). Worldwide, at least 372 people perished due to tornadoes: 12 in Bangladesh, one in New Zealand, one in the Philippines and an estimated 358 in the United States. Due in large part to several extremely large tornado outbreaks in the middle and end of April, the year is currently on record pace. It is also the deadliest year in the United States since 1953, due in large part to the 300+ deaths in the April 27 outbreak. Every day on the news we hear of this record breaking storm or that record breaking storm. Do you get the idea that maybe someone is trying to tell us something?
Also there's Harold Camping that is making, in the name of God, outrageous predictions of the up and coming end of the world. He claims to have the inside scoop from God Himself, but have turned out to be nothing more than a false teacher. The Bible predicts this will happen in the last days. The Bible is also very clear about this and tells us that no man knows the day or the hour. So, if the bible tells me that no man knows the day or the hour, then why listen to someone telling me anything different? One of which is this guy, Harold Camping. Who predicted the end of the world would come on May 21, 2011. Well as of today, May 25, 2011 we are all still here. Can you say AWKWARD!!! So, if you would like to support a worthy cause, stay away from this guy. But rather how about supporting the needy like those that are going through so much after suffering such great loss in these storms and earthquakes.
And then there is a guy in Texas who is claiming that he is in fact Jesus Christ Himself. Now I would think that anyone in their right mind would know the difference between a counterfeit such as Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda (pictured below) and the real deal, wouldn’t you? But this guy has quite a following. This guy even claims that the number 666 is a holy number and encourages his followers to have it tattooed on their bodies. Go figure. Jesus told us that this would happen as well. He told us that many would come and claim to be the Christ.
Now please don’t misunderstand my intentions here. I am not slamming the Bible nor am I saying that the prophecies within the Bible aren’t true, they most definitely are true. What I am saying is that God has warned us about such people and has given us wisdom and His word to know the truth from what is false. It is up to each one of us to read it for ourselves and know the truth. Remember, the Bible is trustworthy and has been proven to be true through history and archeology.
OK, so what’s the point? We all know that the world is in a mess and there are a lot of things that need to be fix, right? And our leaders are doing all they can to make things better for us, right?
Well, that’s one way to look at it I guess. We can keep on going about our daily lives and hope for the best. I mean after all, things always seem to work out for the best in the end, don’t they?
I mean come on, this is the United States of America. Land of the Free, Home of the brave, right? And that guy on the news keeps telling us that the government is doing everything they can to make things better. They say that the recession is getting better. Gas prices will be back to normal before you know it. The housing market will begin to pick back up and my 401k will begin to make money again. Unemployment is getting better and it won’t be long before it’s down to 4 or 5 percent again.
I guess if you want to put your trust in someone or something that is such a high risk you can. But it seems to me that while they are putting their hand of comfort on our shoulder and tell us of brighter days to come their other hand is in our pockets.
One minute they will tell you everything is looking up and the next minute your kids don’t go to college. Does it seem to you that election day is more of a day where we choose the lesser of two evils rather than choosing the competent person to run our country? Now I don’t know about you but I want my future to be built on a solid foundation and to be lead by someone who is trustworthy. I want my life’s work to mean something and protected with someone that will never go bankrupt. Not with a bank or institution that gets richer as I get poorer. There is only one that can and has guaranteed stability in life.
His name is…
JESUS CHRIST
God’s word (the Bible) tells us that all the things we are seeing in the news today would take place (Matthew 24:4-8). Everything I have spoken to you about in the first part of this pamphlet was spoken of thousands of years ago through Jesus and the prophets. If you read the Bible and search the meaning of the scriptures it’s like reading a newspaper at times.
Take what’s going on in the Middle East right now for example. The Bible specifically speaks about what is happening in Egypt in the book of Isaiah in chapter 19, read it for yourself and see. What took place in Sudan in January of 2011 is spoken of in Isaiah 18.
The Bible also talks about how all the nations of the world will come against Israel in the last days. That Israel will be surrounded by her enemies. Now Israel has had countries standing against it for a long time, but never like it is today. And they have always had the U.S behind them, but do they now? The Bible also talks about how God will cause Israel to prosper and that they will be a burden to the rest of the world. Sound familiar?
Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21 and verse 28, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” If you would like to read more about what the Bible says about the signs of the times, a good place to start would be in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. There are many others but this is a good place to begin.
Now, you might be saying to yourself “wait a minute friend, people have been saying that Jesus is coming back soon for 2000 years.” That’s right they have. But, none of that made any sense before 1948. What happened in 1948 you ask? This was the year that God fulfilled Ezekiel 37:14. What does this verse say? It says that God would revive a scattered people (Israel) that had been driven from their own land and bring them back into the land, the land that God gave to them. So when the fulfillment of this prophecy took place in 1948, the countdown began. You are now living in the last days whether you realize it or not.
You see, Israel is God’s time piece, His chosen people. Everything centers around Israel. Why? Because God has made a covenant with them and will show the world through Israel just how gracious and loving He is. And even though they have rejected Him and killed His only Son. In the end, God will rescue them from their enemies and call them His own. So what does this mean for you and me? We’re not in Israel. And if you’re like me, you may not be Jewish either.
The time we are currently living in is referred to in the Bible as the “times of gentiles” (Luke 21:24) or it is also known as the church age or age of grace. So in short what this means is that when Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah (just as it was foretold they would do), God then turned to the gentiles (us) to save those that would repent (turn away from sin), and turn to His Son Jesus. So, when you hear someone say that the end of the age is near, this is what they are referring to, the end of the age of grace or the age of the church.
Now is the time of God’s grace. Now is the time of salvation. And the only reason we have this chance is because of what Jesus did on the cross. In one act of pure love He purchased a full pardon for you and me.
Now I have spoken with some people that think that if they try to live a good life and do the best they can and that it will be enough to get into Heaven when their life is over in this world. After all, God is a God of Love isn’t He? Ok, let’s test that theory.
Let’s look at the standard in which God will judge each one of us when we face Him some day. You may have already heard of this standard, it’s called the Ten Commandments (The Law). Notice that these are not called the Ten Suggestions.
Oh here we go with all the rules and regulations!
OK, let’s look at it this way. We have rules (laws) that we live our lives by every day, don’t we? I mean it would be crazy to just let everyone drive on the roads and freeways as fast as they wanted to and say that no one had to stop or give the right of way for any reason, don’t you think? Well, God’s Law is His way of telling us that we would probably have a much more enjoyable life here on earth if we didn’t go around killing one another and stealing from each other, make sense?
So let’s take a look at God’s standard. Oh, and by the way, the only passing grade for this test we call life, is 100% perfection. So, if you miss only one little part of His law, you fail. Ok? So here we go.
- Have you ever told a lie?
- Have you ever stolen or taken something that didn’t belong to you?
- Jesus said that if you look at someone lustfully it is the same as committing adultery with that person in your heart. You know, check out the local guy or gal in your neighborhood. Have you done that?
How are you doing so far? Well, I think you get the point. If we are all honest with ourselves we should be willing to admit that there is no way any of us can live up to God’s standards, no matter how many good things we have done.
As you can see in the illustration above, our sin has separated us from God. The bottom line is that God is Holy, Righteous, and Good and we’re NOT. But here is the really cool part. Jesus saved us! That’s right. God sent His one and only Son into this world to live a perfect and blameless life and has fulfilled God’s Holy standard of perfection. Once Jesus did this He willingly laid down His life and became the perfect sacrifice for our sin and allowed Himself to be crucified on the cross. There on the cross He exchanged our sin for His perfection. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”.
So then if we stand before God in our own good works we are never going to make it across. The distance between God’s Holiness and our sinful nature is too great. But, if we stand by faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross, the very thing which has separated us from God no longer exists.
If we let Him cleanse us from all our sins and give Him control of our lives, we will stand before God guiltless and be reconciled to God forever. The Bible also states in the book of Romans 5:10: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
Jesus paid our debt that we owed for our sin with His death on the cross. And when He was raised from the dead He gave us new life, HIS LIFE!
Now that Jesus has paid the full price for your sin and has reconciled you to God with new life. The only thing you need to do is turn toward Him and away from your sin (repent) and follow Jesus. What does it mean to repent and follow Jesus? Simply this.
- Ask Him to forgive you.
- Turn away from your sin.
- Invite Him to live in you by His spirit.
- Let Him be the Lord (The Boss) of your life.
- And follow Him.
We can never pay the price for what God has freely given to us. FREE IS VERY GOOD! That means we don’t have to count on what we do to make it and can just love God by following what He tells us in His word. Do you remember what I was saying at the beginning about choosing to build your life on something that the government or the banks can’t take away. Well this is it!! Jesus say’s in Matthew 6:19-20,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Which is saying that the things you do for Him in this life, will last forever? And the things that you do for your own gain won’t. I hope you choose to build a life with a foundation that will never fade away. If this is what you have chosen to do, let me be the first to congratulate you. Now this doesn’t mean that your life will be without trails. But it does mean that now you will have someone you can trust to go through it with you. On the next page is a sample prayer that you can pray if you so choose. Or you can just use it as a guide. He is eagerly waiting to hear from you.
PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
Lord Jesus I need you.
Thank you for dying for me and paying for my sins. Please forgive me of all the things I have done wrong in my life and help me to be strong. I turn away from my old way of living and want to live for you now. I know that I can’t do it on my own so I ask you to be the Lord of my life and lead me. I ask you by your Holy Spirit to come in and live in my heart and show me how you want me to follow you. In your name I pray,
AMEN
Jesus says in Luke 15:10, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. In other words, there’s a party going on in Heaven right now because you have come home! Please write me to let me know of your decision to follow Jesus. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Here are a couple things that will help you in your new adventure with Jesus. Read His word every day, start with the Gospel of John, and talk with Him often. Find yourself a good Bible based church to attend so that you can make some new friends to help you along the way. Remember, He will always be with you and will never let you go!!!
This is not affiliated with any church or religious organization. This is simply a message of hope to my neighbors during a desperate time. Although I do think that going to church is an important part of your walk with Jesus and He in fact tells us in His word not to forsake gathering with fellow believers, He and He alone is the beginning and end of your journey. I am pointing you to a man. I am pointing you to the Creator of all things who chose to become a man for your sake because of His great unending love for you. He will fulfill His promise and come back for His own,
please make sure you are ready.
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