Today is the 4th of July, the 234th birthday of our nation. More and more the argument arises whether or not the United States is a Christian nation, whether our country was founded on Christian principles, and who among our founding father were or were not religious. I am not going to weigh in on that argument because the truth is that there are more qualified and capable people than myself who can argue the point much better than I can.
As I go through my daily routines and travel about I meet believers everywhere. It seems that as soon as someone finds out that I am a Pastor their Christianity comes flowing out. It is like people keep their true identity hidden waiting to see what kind of person they are talking to before they will disclose themselves. This leads me to think that maybe if more Christians would reveal themselves right up front, boldly proclaiming who they are we could give all the more timid believers courage to step out and show themselves too. The more who show themselves the more Christians who would be vi sable, the more who would show themselves and pretty soon all the estimated 240,000,000 believers would be seen by the entire world. It make me wonder how our nation might be different if we simply lived our faith on the outside instead of keeping it hidden..
Luke 11:33 "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. (NASB95)
My God bless you on this and every day.
Celebrate the light in you!!!
Pastor Chris
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Give Thanks
Hebrews 13:15-16 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.(NASB95)
The greatest witness we can give to the world is to tell our own story. Every believer has a salvation story that begins with the line “I was lost then Jesus came.” Whether you were brought up in the Church and have “always” known Him or you just came to know Him today, you have a story of hope to share with a lost and frightened world.
Several years ago I witnessed a car accident while coming home from Down-State. The woman in the car was not injured, however her car was destroyed. So my friend and I gave her a ride back to Marquette. Later that week I was surprised to see an article in the Mining Journal thanking my friend and I for helping her. I have to admit it was nice to be recognized for a kindness, in fact I clipped out the article and it is still hanging on my office wall after all these years.
The message is that God has done so much to help us yet we seldom let more than a select few know about it. We need to take time and thank Him for what He has done in our lives, not because God needs our praise, but becasue our story of thanks gives others hope! Take out an ad in the paper, Put a sign in your window, put a post on your Facebook site, send out an e-mail to all your friends, do something to tell God thanks. It does not need to be a long drawn out story, or a mystical strange tale, just a simple honest "Thanks God" for caring for me when I needed help.
Finally pass it on, do good to others in His name.
The greatest witness we can give to the world is to tell our own story. Every believer has a salvation story that begins with the line “I was lost then Jesus came.” Whether you were brought up in the Church and have “always” known Him or you just came to know Him today, you have a story of hope to share with a lost and frightened world.
Several years ago I witnessed a car accident while coming home from Down-State. The woman in the car was not injured, however her car was destroyed. So my friend and I gave her a ride back to Marquette. Later that week I was surprised to see an article in the Mining Journal thanking my friend and I for helping her. I have to admit it was nice to be recognized for a kindness, in fact I clipped out the article and it is still hanging on my office wall after all these years.
The message is that God has done so much to help us yet we seldom let more than a select few know about it. We need to take time and thank Him for what He has done in our lives, not because God needs our praise, but becasue our story of thanks gives others hope! Take out an ad in the paper, Put a sign in your window, put a post on your Facebook site, send out an e-mail to all your friends, do something to tell God thanks. It does not need to be a long drawn out story, or a mystical strange tale, just a simple honest "Thanks God" for caring for me when I needed help.
Finally pass it on, do good to others in His name.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Spirit In Us.
One can barely imagine the reality that God the Holy Spirit lives in the very heart of believers. The heart of the believer is therefor the holiest place on earth.
John 14:16-20 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (ESV NT Rev. Int.)
The heart of the believe is therefore the holiest place on all the earth. Not the great temples, or the great cathedrals, churches or even the Vatican. None of these places comes even close to the holiness of the human heart when the Holy Spirit dwells there.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (ESV NT Rev. Int.)
The challange we face is to start living like the Spirit of God lives in us!!!!!
John 14:16-20 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (ESV NT Rev. Int.)
The heart of the believe is therefore the holiest place on all the earth. Not the great temples, or the great cathedrals, churches or even the Vatican. None of these places comes even close to the holiness of the human heart when the Holy Spirit dwells there.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (ESV NT Rev. Int.)
The challange we face is to start living like the Spirit of God lives in us!!!!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Welcome to Church Without Walls
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I pray that you will be encouraged and blessed by what you find here. I also hope that this blog can be an avanue of conversation for the many issues that come up along the Jouyney of Faith.
I was inspired to start this blog by Luke 7:22; John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the savior or if they should continue to look for another. And he (Jesus) answered them, " Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.(ESV NT Rev. Int.)
I was inspired to start this blog by Luke 7:22; John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the savior or if they should continue to look for another. And he (Jesus) answered them, " Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.(ESV NT Rev. Int.)
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