The Message

Has the church failed in teaching the saints true doctrine? Has the church migrated away from what has been taught to us down throughout the years? I ask this because one night as I was flipping through the religious programming channels, the message that was being preached was that of prosperity, sowing and reaping, tithing to receive the financial blessing of God, so on and so forth.

Now, do not mistake what I am saying. I am all for the teaching and educating the saints on how obedience leads to positive repercussions. However, have we now traded in holiness for membership? Have we come to the point that we will sacrifice living right for numbers on Sunday morning? Holiness is indeed a lifestyle that not only has rewards but consequences. How many churches still teach the fundamental heaven and hell are indeed real message, and I mean not just in New Membership class? We are living in an age where even the very elect of God are being deceived, thinking that they can live any kind of way and still go to heaven! The saints are clubbing throughout the week, singing and laying hands on Sunday morning. Any and everything just about is going on within the walls of the Temple, and no one wants to step up and speak against for fear of being out of place because of a lack of a title in front of their name.

Romans 3:23 declares it plainly, that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Galatians 3:22 declares that the Scripture has confined ALL under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. No single person is excluded from sin, as the above scriptures can confirm. But those of us who were once sinners have obtained the promise of Jesus Christ by having faith that He has forgiven us of our sin. This is the fundamental teaching that the church must never forsake, for before Jesus ever began to reveal the mysteries of heaven and taught that good measure pressed down and shaken together would men give into our bosom, he preached these words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17).

To Live is Christ .....

There was a status on Facebook that I once read that said this: to know Christ is to know what life is about. To not know Christ is to wonder what life is all about. It brought to my attention the scripture that reads that “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain..” (Phil1:21)

In my opinion, one of the better benefits of living the life of a saint of God is that in dying, I actually am closer to living the life I was created to live. I know that was kind of heavy, but that is why it is written that Christ goes to prepare a place for us. Quite frankly, this is not our home. We simply are strangers passing through a barren land. But we have to understand that we are not to become INFECTED with the things of this world, but to AFFECT those people that are in the world. We quote Matthew 6:33 all of the time, have epiphanies, revelations and assumptions about it and STILL miss the fundamental point that it is the business of God to care for His people if they set their affections on the things that have nothing to do with this perishing planet.

Christ came for a people who would carry out the purpose of God, the will of God. He came for those who were lost in their way, and revealed that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He extended to us the invitation to live the life that He lives with his father. It is funny how there are efforts to extend life, clone humans, and look younger. Here is a simple solution: accept Christ, and live forever! Ultimately, to live life as the world is to live unto death, but to live life unto Christ is to invest in a hope and a future that includes a mansion, rest, heavenly treasures, but most of all, basking in the presence of the almighty God!