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December 2015

Have you ever believed something to be true only to discover later that it was false? This is a dangerous thing when it comes to where you will spend eternity! This issue deals with salvation and Bible myths. In it, we decipher, according to the Word, fact from fiction.

Have you ever believed something to be true only to discover later that it was false? This is a dangerous thing when it comes to where you will spend eternity! This issue deals with salvation and Bible myths. In it, we decipher, according to the Word, fact from fiction.

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<strong>December</strong> <strong>2015</strong><br />

Salvation Came<br />

at a Price<br />

But it May Not be<br />

What You Think<br />

Kids Find<br />

“Owlegories”<br />

a Hoot!<br />

God?<br />

I Know Him<br />

Personally!<br />

And You Can,<br />

Too!


Faith Filled Family<br />

CONTENTS<br />

FEATURES:<br />

UNOVERING CLUES OF FALSE DOCTRINE........09<br />

Learn how to decipher whether what you are hearing<br />

is true to the Bible or not.<br />

THAT’S SO OLD TESTIMENT.................................14<br />

Debunking the myth that parts of the Bible are not<br />

applicable to today. Find out why God is true today,<br />

yesterday and forever.<br />

STAYING ON COURSE...........................................19<br />

Many people believe that all roads lead to God, yet<br />

the Bible says that there is only one road to salvation.<br />

It is up to you to follow that road.<br />

NO STRINGS ATTACHED.......................................28<br />

Jumping through hoops for salvation? Learn how to<br />

cut the strings and live in victory.<br />

SECOND CHANCES...............................................38<br />

God is a God of second chances, so nothing- not even<br />

a bad past- can separate you from His love.<br />

THE PRICE OF SALVATION...................................41<br />

Grace or works? Are you deceived into believing<br />

that you need to be “good” just to get into<br />

Heaven?<br />

GOD? I KNOW HIM PERSONALLY........................48<br />

God wants a personal relationship with YOU. It<br />

is possible to know Him intimately and personally<br />

through His Word.<br />

SEPARATED FROM GOD.......................................52<br />

God forgives, but habitual sin can separate us from<br />

God’s love. Is this you and you don’t know it?<br />

SALVATION COMES WITH A PRICE.....................55<br />

Salvation comes with a price, but who paid it? The<br />

cost many not be what you think!<br />

KNOWN BY YOUR FRUIT.......................................59<br />

Many claim to be saved, but are they? Learn if their<br />

talk is the real deal and how to spot a fake.<br />

THERE IS NO HELL JUST HEAVEN.......................66<br />

Why would God send anyone to Hell? God loves me<br />

and a father wouldn’t send His children to such a<br />

place. Or would He?


LIVE IT UP NOW......................................................70<br />

Discusses why repenting before you die just to get into<br />

Heaven may not be the best idea.<br />

ONLY ONE DIETY ONLY ONE JESUS.....................73<br />

Many gods exist, but according to the Bible, there is<br />

only one true God. Do you know Him?<br />

CEREMONIAL SALVATION.....................................77<br />

Salvation isn’t a ceremony! All you need is three easy<br />

steps.<br />

RECIPE FOR SALVATION.......................................84<br />

Throw out your cookbook! There is are no instructions,<br />

for salvation. Just a repentant heart and a desire.<br />

IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE..........................88<br />

God requires us to repent of our sins. Yet iwhat<br />

happens when we don’t? Does He forgive us anyway?<br />

CONFESSION OF SINS IS FOR HEALING...........92<br />

Debunking the myth that we need someone else<br />

(cleagy) to be clensed of our sins. Sin separates us<br />

from God, but the connection to God no longer requires<br />

a third party. We have the direct line.<br />

INTERVIEWS:<br />

CHILDREN HAVE A HOOT WITH OWLEGORIES.10<br />

Interview with Tom and Julie Boto on their new<br />

series for 2-7 year olds, Owlegories.<br />

JEREMY LEE TEACHES PASSING IT ON.............24<br />

The only ones responsible for teaching your children<br />

about God is you. Find out why.<br />

MUSIC SPOTLIGHT: FEARLESS BND..................32<br />

Christy Johnson discusses what it means to be<br />

fearless.<br />

REJECTING REJECTION.......................................45<br />

Jorge Vazquez discusses his latest book on rejection.<br />

INTERVIEW WITH SHANNON PERRY...................62<br />

Interested in understanding your teen/tween better?<br />

Look no further.<br />

LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY..............................80<br />

lMichael Farren discusses his latest venture:<br />

creating an incredible CD of all of the hymns<br />

written by blind composer, Fanny Crosby.<br />

Faith Filled Family


EDITORIAL<br />

PUBLISHER<br />

Michelle Danko<br />

mcdanko@eyeworship.org<br />

ASSISTANT PUBLISHER<br />

Vernita Simmons (Interviews)<br />

vsimmons@eyeworship.org<br />

Kathy Smith (Features)<br />

kathy.smith@eyeworship.org<br />

Lynn Dunn (Current Events)<br />

ldunn@eyeworship.org<br />

EDITOR<br />

Jill King<br />

jillking@eyeworship.org<br />

Matt Poe<br />

mattpoe@eyeworship.org<br />

SALES<br />

Mark M. Danko<br />

mmdanko@faithfilledfamily.com<br />

IMAGES:<br />

COVER PHOTO<br />

fanveldman@Dollarphotoclub.com<br />

PHOTOGRAPHERS<br />

David Castillo Dominici, arosoft, chromatika, vision,<br />

badmanproduction, Elnur, Janaka, antoniogravante, Zatletic,<br />

naturegraphica, Szakaly, Gem Photography, shock, lJdema, Zurijeta,<br />

Lasse, HalfPoint, Kozzi Inc, frandy242, sativa, Sergey Nivens,<br />

Stuart Miles, benkrut, welcomia, Szakaly, outsider, AnonioGravante,<br />

vision, manaemedia, Shamtor, Jan Pietruszka, jovannig, peidmont<br />

photo, Krasimira, Nevenova, mast3r, IKpro, Vaicheslav, DNF-Style,<br />

Kheat, pfmphotostock, and chriss73 @ Kozzi.com<br />

Syda Productions, Bary, alswart, destina, pfpgroup, amelaxa @<br />

Dollarphotoclub.com<br />

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEEDBACK:<br />

For subscriptions or feedback, please visit our website at :<br />

www.faithfilledfamily.comIinfo@faithfilledfamily.com<br />

© Faith Filled Family Magazine, November Edition, Yumpu <strong>2015</strong><br />

All material is strictly copyright and all rights reserved. Reproduction<br />

in whole or in part without the written permission of Faith Filled<br />

Family is expressly forbidden.


Our <strong>December</strong> (Christmas) issue is not your typical issue,<br />

but in it, we do decide to give you a gift.<br />

Publisher’s Letter<br />

Our gift to you, this holiday season, is a gift that was freely<br />

given thousands of years ago with the crucifixtion of Christ.<br />

You see, Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ’s birth,<br />

which was miraculous. However, the story doesn’t end<br />

there... it is just the beginning.<br />

If you get stuck at the baby in the manger, you are missing<br />

out on the purpose of Jesus himself. He was born to die<br />

so that we would no longer be separated from God and<br />

that we would live in eternity in Heaven. It is a gift freely<br />

given from a Father that loves you more than you can<br />

imagine.<br />

The greatest gift of all is Jesus’ death, and our salvation.<br />

Nothing on earth can compare to it.<br />

However, some people never get to experience this gift<br />

for whatever reason, and it saddens God because it is not<br />

HIs desire that any should perish.<br />

This issue is our gift to you, and it’s value is priceless. In it,<br />

you will either break bondages, or you will bless someone<br />

else.<br />

So go ahead! Open (read) God’s gift to you.<br />

Merry Christmas!<br />

Michelle Danko<br />

Publisher<br />

Faith Filled Family Magazine


Uncovering<br />

the Clues<br />

of False<br />

Doctrine<br />

By Heather Bolinger<br />

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”<br />

1 Corinthians 10:12<br />

Truth… it’s amazing how difficult it is to emphasize the importance of truth. I sit here, reading<br />

and studying, seeking and praying, in order to make sure that what I write is truth –<br />

without my bias or misconceptions from things I may have learned in the past. And, it is in<br />

this time of searching that I feel the impact of a lesson that keeps coming back to me through<br />

the years… “The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.” ~Albert Einstein<br />

I’ve been told that teachers, who truly care about what they teach, often feel the pressure that<br />

comes from understanding the great responsibility they have. I have found that statement to<br />

be very true. Those who teach are held to a higher standard; and that should give one pause<br />

when placed in that position. After all, however many people you can help, is the same amount<br />

of people you can hurt.<br />

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who<br />

teach will be judged more strictly.~James 3:1<br />

I look around and see a world full of people hungry for truth; aching for something to believe<br />

in – something they can trust. This deep longing, for something real, can be a wonderful path


to freedom. However, it can also<br />

be an open door for deception;<br />

and ultimately, tormenting bondage.<br />

Those who are in a position<br />

of instruction have a duty to<br />

make sure what they are teaching<br />

does not lead to the latter.<br />

But, just as the enemy can lead<br />

a student astray; so can he lead<br />

the teacher.<br />

Let’s stop there for a moment.<br />

We have an enemy who hates<br />

us. We have an enemy that<br />

wants to do more than just kill<br />

us; he wants to utterly destroy us<br />

(John 10:10). What makes him<br />

so dangerous, however, is not<br />

his sadistic love for causing our<br />

demise; but the fact that he is so<br />

cunning – the father of lies (John<br />

8:44). And, what better way to<br />

promote his lies than through<br />

leaders we are meant to trust.<br />

“For false christs and false<br />

prophets will arise and perform<br />

great signs and wonders, so as<br />

to lead astray, if possible, even<br />

the elect”. ~Matthew 24:24<br />

False christs and false prophets<br />

– the key to spreading his poison.<br />

Yet, as deadly as his poison may<br />

be; he is so cunning and divisive<br />

that, if it were possible, he could<br />

trick even the elect. The Word<br />

is full of warnings against false<br />

teachings and the damage it can<br />

cause. We often think of satan<br />

as someone who’s sole objective<br />

is to get us to share his eternal<br />

fate. But, if we look closely at<br />

John 10:10, we can see there is<br />

more.<br />

He knows he won’t get all of us<br />

to go with him. So, if he can’t get<br />

us to join him, he will do anything<br />

to sabotage our lives. The devil<br />

has had thousands of years to<br />

practice taking something bitter<br />

and making it taste sweet. He<br />

will water down the bible with<br />

sugar-coated fluff, encourage<br />

us to be complacent, keep us<br />

over-worked and over-stressed<br />

so it looks better to just “read<br />

the bible tomorrow”; he’ll distract<br />

us with entertainment, pin<br />

us against each other with petty<br />

differences and twist doctrine to<br />

steal our God-given right to the<br />

power of His Word!<br />

“Watch yourselves, so that you<br />

may not lose what we have<br />

worked for, but may win a full<br />

reward. Everyone who goes on<br />

ahead, and does not abide in<br />

the teaching of Christ, does not<br />

have God. Whoever abides in<br />

the teaching has both the Father<br />

and the Son.” ~2 John 1:8-9<br />

In God’s Word is His power;<br />

power to strike at the heart of the<br />

enemy and expose every lie. If<br />

we know what has been placed<br />

within those pages, we would<br />

have the same confidence as<br />

Christ; when He stood before<br />

the lies of the devil and boldly<br />

said “It is written.”<br />

The enemy is fully aware of the<br />

power we have access to and he<br />

will do anything to keep us from<br />

understanding the weapon we<br />

hold in our hands. For, it is that<br />

very weapon that holds the key<br />

to our freedom.<br />

“If you abide in my word, you are<br />

truly my disciples, and you will<br />

know the truth, and the truth will<br />

set you free.”<br />

~John 8:31-32<br />

The Greek word for “abide” is<br />

meno; which means to remain,<br />

do not depart from, to be held<br />

continually and not to separate<br />

from. Jesus is clearly telling<br />

us that our freedom is found<br />

in whole-heartedly remaining<br />

steadfast in His Word; and that, if<br />

we do, His Truth will set us free.<br />

Why would we need to be set<br />

free by the truth unless we were<br />

first in bondage by lies?<br />

Satan knows that the more he<br />

can keep us away from the truth,<br />

the easier it is to get us to believe<br />

his lies. The more we believe<br />

his lies, the less we trust God’s<br />

Word. The less we trust His<br />

Word, the more he can keep us<br />

away from the truth; and around<br />

and around we go. It’s a vicious<br />

cycle, causing us to sink deeper<br />

and deeper into a pit we cannot<br />

possibly get out of on our own.<br />

Yet, the deeper we go into God’s<br />

Truth, the more our Father is<br />

able to pulls us out. Every scripture<br />

we read is more than mere<br />

words. They are our anchor, our<br />

compass; our way out of the<br />

storm and into clear skies.<br />

There are many things the<br />

enemy wants us to believe; many<br />

directions he would like us to go.<br />

He doesn’t have to lead us in<br />

the opposite direction. We don’t<br />

have to sign up as satan worshippers<br />

or delve into black magic.<br />

Some even seem harmless and<br />

may mimic many aspects of the<br />

teachings of Christ.<br />

All he really needs to do is take<br />

us a little off course to water<br />

down our witness and make us<br />

less effective for the kingdom of<br />

God. If he can get us to believe a<br />

doctrine, which does not line up<br />

completely with the teachings of<br />

Christ and His apostles; then he<br />

has accomplished that task.


Remember, it isn’t about looking<br />

good by doing good things.<br />

The Pharisees did many “good”<br />

things; yet Christ called them<br />

“white washed tombs full of dead<br />

men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27).<br />

God doesn’t care about the<br />

works, by themselves. It’s about<br />

the heart… about the fruit that<br />

you bear (Galatians 5:22).<br />

“I am the vine; you are the<br />

branches. If you remain in me<br />

and I in you, you will bear much<br />

fruit; apart from me you can do<br />

nothing. If you do not remain in<br />

me, you are like a branch that is<br />

thrown away and withers; such<br />

branches are picked up, thrown<br />

into the fire and burned. If you<br />

remain in me and my words<br />

remain in you, ask whatever you<br />

wish, and it will be done for you.<br />

This is to my Father’s glory, that<br />

you bear much fruit, showing<br />

yourselves to be my disciples.<br />

~John 15: 5-8<br />

What you believe will determine<br />

the quality of your fruit; and only<br />

when you are fully connected to<br />

the True Vine, will you produce<br />

truly good fruit. For, whatever we<br />

believe, we will also teach; and<br />

we, alone, are responsible for<br />

our teaching.<br />

This is why it is so extremely<br />

important to be equipped for<br />

identifying what is false. The<br />

only way to see through the<br />

enemy’s lies is to know the truth;<br />

and, once again, we see that the<br />

only way to know the truth is to<br />

immerse ourselves in the source<br />

– God’s Word.<br />

Throughout time, our Father has<br />

carefully preserved the integrity<br />

of His word, so faithfully, that no<br />

other historical document could<br />

ever compare. He promised that<br />

His word would never be broken<br />

and our God cannot lie (Numbers<br />

23:19).<br />

“The grass withers, the flower<br />

fades, But the word of our God<br />

stands forever.” ~Isaiah 40:8<br />

Christ knew the Word put His<br />

full confidence in it (John 10:35);<br />

as did His apostles (2 Timothy<br />

3:16-17). They didn’t just rely on<br />

it then; they made sure we knew<br />

that it could be looked to, for<br />

every instruction and direction,<br />

for all time.<br />

“For truly I say to you, until<br />

heaven and earth pass away,<br />

not the smallest letter or stroke<br />

shall pass from the Law until<br />

all is accomplished.” ~Matthew<br />

5:18<br />

You read the word “Law” and<br />

some may argue “But, He’s only<br />

talking about His commandments<br />

or the Old Testament”. But, I ask<br />

you this: If God is no respecter<br />

of persons (Acts 10:34); why<br />

would He become a respecter of<br />

His own Word? Christ would not<br />

instruct us to abide in something<br />

that we could not put our full faith<br />

in at all times.<br />

Not one dot of an “i” or cross<br />

of a “t” will fade away until all<br />

has been accomplished. All.<br />

Not some or most; but all. That<br />

means until every last prophecy,<br />

from Genesis to Revelation, has<br />

been completed, God’s word will<br />

stand. We can see the proof of<br />

that in every note at the bottom<br />

of every translation, which clarifies<br />

any possible variation; so we<br />

have full access to the complete<br />

picture. God has proven, beyond<br />

any reasonable doubt, that His<br />

Word can be trusted to lead us,<br />

guide us, comfort us, change<br />

us… save us. Our Father has<br />

left us with all the truth we need<br />

to see through any deception;<br />

any false doctrine. All we need<br />

to is believe Him.<br />

And trusting God at His Word is<br />

vital; because without that trust,<br />

the enemy can convince us that<br />

we are missing something. He<br />

can persuade us to believe he<br />

has a truth that has been hidden<br />

from us; just like he convinced<br />

Eve in the Garden of Eden.<br />

And planting that simple doubt,<br />

my friends, is more deadly than<br />

any other attack he can launch.<br />

For, if we believe God’s Word is<br />

not enough, all sorts of doctrine<br />

become possible.<br />

Suggested reading:<br />

Galatians, 1 & 2 Peter; 1 & 2<br />

John and Jude<br />

The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel<br />

The New Evidence That<br />

Demands a Verdict, by Josh<br />

McDowell<br />

Biography<br />

Heather Bolinger is a devoted<br />

daughter of God; a wife, mother<br />

of 3, step-mother of 2, writer,<br />

bible teacher, public speaker<br />

and co-founder (with her wonderful<br />

husband) of Single Hope<br />

Ministries for single parents. Her<br />

passion, calling and focus are<br />

to be God’s vessel to minister<br />

to the broken hearted, provide<br />

direction to the lost and bring<br />

hope to the hopeless.<br />

You can connect with Heather<br />

on www.facebook.com/foreverchanged1Sam106


Children<br />

Have a<br />

“Hoot” with<br />

Owlegories<br />

By Michelle C. Danko<br />

Owlegories is a very cute, engaging, informative,<br />

animated series which follows<br />

student owls on various adventures while<br />

they are being taught about the outdoors, God<br />

(faith) and the Bible. Every adventure combines<br />

a nature lesson and correlates it to the Bible.<br />

Children end up getting the best information out<br />

of this series: scientific knowledge with a biblical<br />

perspective- a rare combination in this era!<br />

Children appear to be captivated by this series<br />

(mine were!) as they are taught lessons in<br />

nature, and are drawn into the overall theme of<br />

God’s majesty.<br />

Owlegories’ creators, Tom and Julie Boto, originally<br />

designed a storyboard app with the entire<br />

family in mind… and their entire family was<br />

involved! They continually receive input from<br />

their four boys -and even the extended familytruly<br />

making this a family business.<br />

Faith Filled Family was privileged to speak with<br />

Tom and Julie Boto about their new series and<br />

discovered what events led up to an app turning<br />

into a television series.<br />

Now what was the inspiration behind creating<br />

Owlegories?<br />

Tom: We read to our kids every night before bed.<br />

It was something that my family did when I was<br />

growing up, and I just loved it! So we wanted to<br />

pass it on to our kids. What we typically do is<br />

read the Bible to them, and it’s only a fun story.<br />

Sometime around 2012, we thought, “Wouldn’t<br />

it be fun to create our own story to read to our<br />

kids!”<br />

We thought we would just try it. After that it<br />

was, “Well, let’s do a digital app. Everything<br />

seems to be going to the iPad or<br />

it’s interactive. So we thought that<br />

we would make an interactive story<br />

app. So that’s what we started with.<br />

From there we talked about what story<br />

we would do, and we really wanted to pass<br />

on our faith. Then we asked ourselves what<br />

we specifically we wanted to pass on, what<br />

we loved about our faith, and what resonated<br />

with us. What we kept coming back to was that<br />

we loved the outdoors.<br />

Julie is from Alaska, and I’m from Texas.<br />

We met in the mountains of Virginia. So<br />

we thought that it would be a fun thing to<br />

do- combining our faith with our love of<br />

the outdoors with our love for Christand<br />

we wanted to pass that on to our<br />

kids.<br />

So we kept brainstorming for ideas. We<br />

noticed that we would always point our<br />

kids to Christ when we were outside such<br />

as, “Look at that! Look at the sun! Who<br />

made the sun?” Then they would exclaim,<br />

“Jesus!” or “God did!”


So we thought that it would be fun to combine creation<br />

with our faith and use it like an allegory for a<br />

picture of God’s love for us. That’s what we kind<br />

of leaned on, and then we decided that we could<br />

call it “Owlegories” combining owls and allegories.<br />

So we were excited because we didn’t think that<br />

anyone had done that before.<br />

So that’s kind of the genesis of this whole project.<br />

(laughing) Yes, I saw that in the teaser where<br />

the professor explains owls and allegories. I<br />

thought that it was really cute.<br />

Tom: It really was like a light switch moment. I<br />

thought, “Oh yeah. I think it could work”.<br />

What is your target age group for Owlegories?<br />

We’ve said about three to seven, but some of the<br />

older kids will find it really unique and start watching<br />

it. So we really have tried to target the same<br />

market that Veggie Tales has tried to market. So<br />

that’s kind of our age range, I think.<br />

So I understand the entire family has had input<br />

on creating Owlegories, and your children<br />

from what I’ve seen on your webpage look so<br />

excited about it. Did they have any input into<br />

its creation, and are they still involved?<br />

Absolutely! Even from the very beginning we<br />

included them in the process. Creating an app<br />

took a little time, so I would take them to a page<br />

and ask them what should be interactive on the<br />

page. So they were very involved in it right from<br />

the start.<br />

When we started doing the show, we had the idea<br />

which we discussed with one of our co directors,<br />

of including the children in the show. So their<br />

voices are the baby owls in the very beginning.<br />

So we always talk about fun ways to open and<br />

close the show with the baby owls. They end up<br />

throwing out ideas that we always talk about what<br />

else we want to use that we’ve seen in the Bible<br />

in the show.<br />

Recently, we had been talking about the bind<br />

because we haven’t done a bind yet and that’s<br />

mentioned in the Bible. We also talked about the<br />

Lamb of God, and what that means. So they’re<br />

always aware of the concept of the show, they<br />

really love to throw out ideas. It’s been really fun<br />

from that game point.<br />

I read every episode and we would do a draft.<br />

Then I’ll do a table read- literally is a table read at<br />

our dinner table- which is reading at our table and<br />

discussing with my kids what they like, and what<br />

they didn’t like. So they are involved in every step<br />

of the process, and even when we’re making fun<br />

videos just for fun online to get to know the DVD’s.<br />

Julie: They also have fun in trying to help come up<br />

with some of the names of some of the characters.<br />

*laughing* I liked “Devlin”. I thought that was<br />

a really creative name. Now tell me a little bit<br />

more about the characters of Devlin and Fink.<br />

What is their purpose in each of the episodes?<br />

We wanted someone who was always going to<br />

try to thwart whatever plan the Professor had for<br />

the kids. So we always wanted to have a challenge-<br />

almost like the Captain Hook of the show.<br />

He’s always trying to battle in where ever they’re<br />

going or whatever they are trying to do. He’s so<br />

misguided and he is the “bad guy”, but he doesn’t<br />

really want to be a bad guy. He’s just trying too<br />

hard.<br />

Then we see Fink, who is just so misguided. He<br />

really wants to have Devlin as his best friend. So<br />

the two are just fun to play with because they’re<br />

always bumbling, and obviously failing, but we<br />

have a lot of fun, too. In later episodes, we see<br />

him interact with the Professor more which gives<br />

us more of the back story of Devlin. We were even<br />

thinking we needed to look at his family members<br />

as well.<br />

Julie: They are really harmless.<br />

That’s good, because in the trailer, as a mom,<br />

I was concerned that the character of Devlin<br />

would take on more of the role of Satan. I was<br />

wondering how far the character of Devlin was<br />

going to go in that direction.<br />

Julie: Yeah, that was one of the actually my concerns,<br />

too. I’m kind of protective mama bear when<br />

we are running through it, and I am always checking<br />

to ensure that we portray more light than darkness<br />

always.<br />

Tom: We didn’t want to get too scary for the kids,


ut we definitely wanted to portray him (Devlin) as<br />

more of an example of what not to do. We didn’t<br />

want to scare the kids- even with the first episode<br />

where you are still getting to know the characters<br />

and figure them out. Devlin is more of a silly Devlin<br />

than an evil one, and we wanted to provide a really<br />

good example of what not to do.<br />

So he’s not a representative of Satan per se,<br />

but he’s just a representative of maybe somebody<br />

who’s a little bit worldly.<br />

Tom: Yes, he’s really into distractions. You can<br />

kind of equate the two, but we didn’t want to be<br />

so frightening for any kid that they couldn’t watch<br />

it. So that element is really hard to control and to<br />

make a connection like that.<br />

What message do you hope the children will<br />

take away from watching Owlegories?<br />

Tom: First and foremost, I want to make sure after<br />

every episode that we end by sharing the gospel.<br />

The kids are so young, and some of them are just<br />

being introduced to the faith, to the Bible, and so<br />

on.<br />

The most important thing is that every element of<br />

creation is talked about. We want to springboard<br />

into the gospel. First and foremost, for us, is the<br />

message of Christ’s salvation. We want children<br />

to take away the message that God is the Creator<br />

of all things… God created all the plants, all the<br />

stars, and the same God loves this individual. I<br />

think that’s an amazing thing!<br />

Out of curiosity, do you plan on doing a segment<br />

on creation according to Genesis for<br />

Owlegories? In teaching my children about creation,<br />

I have found that the tools out there have<br />

been a bit over their head, or not quite accurate,<br />

and they end up loosing the concept of how God<br />

created the world.<br />

Tom: We don’t have one scheduled right now, but<br />

what’s great about Owlegories is that we can send<br />

them into any place and time. We have talked<br />

about it before, and thought that it would be great<br />

to put them back in time to resolve certain situations,<br />

or maybe they go back to creation in other<br />

ways, but it’s certainly on our radar. However, we<br />

don’t have any production plans right now.<br />

What lead you to expand from an app to a television<br />

series and memory verse segment?<br />

Julie: Well, I was in a Bible Study four years<br />

ago with my friend Amanda. I was able to meet<br />

with her and found out that her husband was into<br />

making faith-based films. When we created the<br />

app years later, his name popped into my mind<br />

and we reconnected with him.<br />

He had always wanted to do some animated series<br />

as well. So it was a really good God connection<br />

from years ago and Bible study.<br />

Tom: He had worked on an animated series for<br />

Nickelodeon, but he had never moved to Hollywood.<br />

He just stayed here and was either patched<br />

in or commuted.<br />

He was a solid believer, so we thought that it would<br />

be fun to do an animated series. He was a large<br />

reason why we turned it from an app to a television<br />

series.<br />

Where can parents find Owlegories?<br />

First of all, you can go to our website at www.owlegories.com,<br />

or look up Owlegories on your mobile<br />

tablet or device. All of our apps work across all of<br />

Click Here to purchase<br />

Owlegories at Christian<br />

Bookstore


That Is So<br />

Old<br />

Testament!<br />

By Toni Troxell<br />

Have you ever wondered what<br />

the world would be like if we<br />

never had the word of God. How<br />

would the world respond to life’s<br />

challenges? What would our<br />

society look like? Could we<br />

have a moral society on its own?<br />

The question of the relevance of<br />

scripture is an age old question<br />

and one that deserves our attention.<br />

The Word of God took approximately<br />

1600 years to write and<br />

some 40 different authors under<br />

God’s Holy Spirit were inspired<br />

to record these pages. The unity<br />

of this book goes beyond the<br />

ordinary- it is supernatural.<br />

Hebrews 4: 12 give us a wonderful<br />

description of the Bible,<br />

“For the word of God is living<br />

and active and sharper than any<br />

two-edged sword, and piercing<br />

as far as the division of soul and<br />

spirit, of both joints and marrow,<br />

and able to judge the thoughts<br />

and intentions of the heart”.<br />

Look at the words of action given<br />

to the scripture: active, sharper,<br />

living, piercing, and able to judge.<br />

No other book or instruction can<br />

do what God’s word can. In any<br />

society, there must be guidelines<br />

for every day life. Without these<br />

guidelines, morality is at a loss.<br />

For example, many people will<br />

tell you that the discipline of children<br />

is necessity in order for a


child to grow into a responsible<br />

citizen in society. The scripture<br />

explains in Proverbs the<br />

importance of such discipline.<br />

The scripture also explains how<br />

relationships are important and<br />

how we should treat each other.<br />

Relationships between husband<br />

and wife, children and parents,<br />

authority and employees are<br />

also explained, and instruction<br />

given as to how each should<br />

esteem the other. Instruction is<br />

also given about church, worship<br />

and what pleases God.<br />

The Word of God is a treasure<br />

house of instruction which provides<br />

insight and wisdom to the<br />

seeker. However, in our society,<br />

many people feel the Bible is<br />

out-dated and its instruction is no<br />

longer needed. This could not be<br />

further from the truth. More than<br />

ever scripture is needed in our<br />

homes, our churches, and in the<br />

work place. Ask any missionary<br />

in the field and they will tell you<br />

the importance of the scripture in<br />

their lives. Ask the parent whose<br />

child has strayed, and they will<br />

tell you of the precious promises<br />

they cling to. Ask the widow or<br />

widower the comfort God’s word<br />

brings on the lonely nights they<br />

now spend without that loved<br />

one by their side, and what<br />

about the Pastor who preaches<br />

from God’s word constantly to<br />

instruct his flock on daily living.<br />

All these and more have down<br />

through the years given witness<br />

to the strength acquired by walking<br />

with God on a daily basis.<br />

God’s Word is more than just a<br />

book; it is the very heart of God<br />

and His plan for humanity. God’s<br />

Word provides instruction about<br />

salvation through His Son Jesus<br />

(John 3:16). The Old Testament<br />

reminds us today that God is<br />

a just God and judges our sin.<br />

The New Testament reminds us<br />

of God’s grace through Christ<br />

Jesus and how we can be forgiven<br />

of our sins. Throughout the<br />

scriptures we find love, mercy,<br />

forgiveness, comfort, guidance<br />

and grace. So is the scripture<br />

out-dated? Can the word of<br />

God still find a place in our lives<br />

today? Jesus said it this way:<br />

“In the beginning was the Word,<br />

and the Word was with God,<br />

and the Word was God… In the<br />

beginning was the Word, and<br />

the Word was with God, and the<br />

Word was God” (John 1:1, 14).


What Does Christmas Mea<br />

Christmas brings with it an excitement we do not<br />

see other times during the year. The kindness of<br />

strangers seems to be more obvious. I love this<br />

about Christmas, using this special time of year to<br />

reach out to the less fortunate and to demonstrate<br />

God’s love my fellow man, living Jesus to others.<br />

Now this is Christmas.<br />

- Toni Troxell<br />

Christmas has been challenging for me since my<br />

first husband died. All of the traditions we built over<br />

those years have been tossed in the air. When<br />

he was alive, we taught our children Jesus is the<br />

reason we celebrate Christmas. I didn’t grow up in<br />

a Christian home so it was very important to me.<br />

He did wanting the same for our kids. Then our<br />

children married starting families of their own. After<br />

he passed away and I remarried. I discovered that<br />

I was not only grieving the loss of a person, but<br />

also a lifestyle including those traditions. This is<br />

my second Christmas with my new husband who<br />

is also a wonderful Christian man. We have Christ<br />

as the center of Christmas, but we are still working<br />

on building our own traditions. It’s hard for me, but<br />

good, too. The Lord has used this time to help me<br />

focus on Him, not worrying about doing things for<br />

family and friends. The doing isn’t important part.<br />

It’s being at Jesus’ birthday celebration with those<br />

we love. We will celebrate Jesus’ birthday with<br />

them, just differently.<br />

-Charlaine Martin<br />

As we approach the Christmas holiday season<br />

I always take a moment to reflect upon the true<br />

meaning of Christmas and what it is we are celebrating.<br />

Between the dashes to the grocery<br />

store to grab last minute food items necessary to<br />

finish off a family meal, or darting back and forth<br />

between the airport to ferry relatives to and from<br />

my home—and yes, rushing to the local mall to<br />

get that “hot” toy of the year for a young nephew<br />

or niece—I think that spending time each year<br />

with relatives and loved ones, relishing some time<br />

off work, singing Christmas carols, enjoying holi-<br />

day meals, and unwrapping presents are all wonderful<br />

things. However, it is then the true meaning<br />

of Christmas to me comes like a flood deep within<br />

my heart and into my mind.<br />

Ever since the fall of humanity in the garden, God<br />

promised one day He would send a deliverer—<br />

a Messiah—who would bear the penalty for the<br />

sin for those who truly believed, thereby providing<br />

the means of restoring man to a just and proper<br />

relationship with God once again. And it was one<br />

night just over 2,000 years ago, that a bright star<br />

appeared in the sky and the birth of an infant boy<br />

manifested God’s promise. I remain amazed to<br />

this day when I consider what the Magi and others<br />

who were staring into the face of that baby boy<br />

lying in the manger were thinking. Did they truly<br />

know and fully understand they were staring at<br />

God born into human flesh whose only purpose<br />

was to live a sinless life and ultimately die on a<br />

cross for the sins of all? That it was only because<br />

He loved us? And it is a gift the God of Creation<br />

gave to us absolutely free? How can any material<br />

or temporal gift we share with one another<br />

compare. Sure—a roaring fire, trimmed tree in the<br />

corner of the room with presents piled high, holiday<br />

music playing in the background may all be a<br />

meaning we attach to Christmas—but the free gift<br />

of salvation from a loving and personal God is the<br />

only meaning to me.<br />

-Christopher Schmidt<br />

Contributor, Faith Filled Family Magazine<br />

To our family, Christmas represents two things:<br />

first, and foremost, Christ and secondly, family.<br />

Our traditions centralize around sharing the<br />

miraculous birth of our savior to our children and<br />

making them not only comprehend why it was so<br />

miraculous, but the significance of Jesus’ birth<br />

and how it changed history. The birth has significant<br />

meaning to the believer, but of even greater<br />

significance is the resurrection.<br />

While we always stress that God is number one


n to... Faith Filled Family?<br />

in our lives, family will always come in second.<br />

Christmas to us is spending time with all of our<br />

family and enjoying time together. It is the watching<br />

the expressions of excitement on our children’s<br />

faces as they open their gifts, the glowing<br />

lights of the Christmas tree, and the snow that<br />

blankets the ground. It is the celebration of Jesus’<br />

birth everywhere that we go that reminds us of a<br />

God who loves us more than we can ever fathom<br />

possible.<br />

This year, I look forward to spending time with<br />

God, my family, my church family, my Faith Filled<br />

Family, and you, dear reader!<br />

Merry Christmas from the entire Danko Family!<br />

-Michelle Danko, Publisher<br />

Merry Christmas From Our Faith<br />

Filled Family to Yours!


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Staying<br />

On Course<br />

By Charlaine Martin<br />

Raising a family in our<br />

pluralistic society is like<br />

setting sail in a sea of turbulent<br />

waters, the undercurrents<br />

threaten to pull us down into<br />

its murky depths. We encounter<br />

people every day who insist<br />

all roads lead to God. There<br />

are those who pose challenging<br />

questions which forces us<br />

to dive into Scripture searching<br />

for a ready answer in defense of<br />

our faith in Christ. Some of the<br />

undertow is a quiet, subtle spirituality<br />

through friends, family,<br />

neighbors, and people in our<br />

churches. It slips in unannounced<br />

with its religious jargon, but it is<br />

slaps away at their minds and<br />

hearts, attempting to pull them<br />

farther away from God. What is<br />

it? It is a blur of Hinduism, Zen<br />

Buddhism, New Age Spirituality,<br />

and Universalism with the overarching<br />

view that all roads lead<br />

to God. What you believe is true.<br />

What I believe is true. Nevertheless,<br />

contradictions are conjured<br />

up in the spiritual stormy waters.<br />

It seems neutral, but it’s certainly<br />

not. You and your family<br />

can navigate your way safely<br />

through these rough waters, by<br />

equipping yourselves. Here are<br />

the tools you need to keep your<br />

family safely out of its grasp,<br />

while reaching others for Christ.<br />

Arrival on our Soil<br />

Hindu and Buddhist philosophies<br />

quietly entered through Hindu<br />

yogis, martial arts masters, and<br />

Buddhist monks. Then it stormed<br />

in through mainstream culture<br />

in the 1960s and 1970s through<br />

social unrest. The primary driver<br />

was dissatisfaction with the<br />

“establishment” challenging the<br />

traditional family, church, government<br />

through anti-war protesters,<br />

and civil unrest. Soldiers came<br />

home from the Vietnam and<br />

Korean wars bringing martial arts<br />

with them and their Asian brides.<br />

The West met the East.<br />

The Hippie movement with the<br />

psychedelic era ushered in the<br />

“make love, not war” mentality.<br />

The Beatles, a popular British<br />

rock group, brought their music<br />

on the scene with George Harrison’s<br />

“My Sweet Lord” skyrocketing<br />

to the top of the music charts.


This song was praise to Hare<br />

Krishna and other Hindu gods<br />

with the tune inspired from “Oh,<br />

Happy Day” a Christian song<br />

and used “Hallelujah,” a Hebrew<br />

term. Harrison ultimately used<br />

the tune from “He’s So Fine” for<br />

which he was sued for copyright<br />

infringement. Harrison wanted to<br />

wipe out religious sectarianism<br />

to bring in peace and harmony<br />

(Song Facts). Unfortunately,<br />

many Christians thought the song<br />

was about Jesus, not Krishna.<br />

This effectively spurred on the<br />

“all roads lead to God” thought.<br />

Another influence was the pop<br />

song “The Age of Aquarius” by<br />

the 5th Dimension wrought with<br />

New Age Spirituality’s astrology,<br />

also common in the early 1970s<br />

(Song Facts)( (Metro Lyrics).<br />

Their song topped the charts of<br />

popular music, too. When people<br />

can sing the lyrics along with the<br />

songs, it’s not long before the<br />

lyrics influence their minds and<br />

hearts.<br />

The Belief Systems of the<br />

Movement<br />

There are four common believe<br />

systems causing turbulent<br />

waters: Hinduism, Buddhism<br />

(Zen primarily), New Age Spirituality,<br />

and Universalism. These<br />

have become a pantheistic blur,<br />

meaning God is in everyone and<br />

everything. These are attractive<br />

to people who believe God would<br />

never send anyone to Hell. It<br />

seems good, safe, neutral.<br />

Hindu adherents believe that<br />

there is a “spark” of the divine in<br />

everyone. All is God, and God is<br />

in all. (Martin, 1997) All of life is<br />

suffering: therefore, one should<br />

seek enlightenment to alleviate<br />

suffering in this world restoring<br />

harmony and peace. Adherents<br />

must work off bad deeds-karmato<br />

move up in the reincarnation<br />

cycle. There are essentially four<br />

paths to God: knowledge, love,<br />

work, and mind-body exercises.<br />

They practice transcendental<br />

meditation, yoga in various<br />

forms, higher learning, and doing<br />

good deeds as a way to Brahman<br />

(highest god), reaching Nirvana<br />

(Ultimate Reality). These practices<br />

are used to attain enlightenment.<br />

The god of this religion<br />

is really that of self, even though<br />

there are thousands of deities<br />

considered gods. One can supposedly<br />

attain god status by<br />

working one’s way through the<br />

reincarnation cycle. (Smith, Hinduism,<br />

1991) Hinduism is part<br />

of the foundation of groups like<br />

Baha’i and Scientology (Martin,<br />

1997, pp. 261, 270, 275) (Baha’i<br />

International Community, <strong>2015</strong>).<br />

Buddhism’s fundamental doctrines<br />

are not that different from<br />

Hinduism because the founder<br />

grew up Hindu; however, these<br />

practices are viewed through<br />

Buddha’s teachings The Four<br />

Noble Truths. Gautama Buddha<br />

concluded life is filled with suffering.<br />

Enlightenment transcends<br />

all suffering, by avoiding selfish<br />

ambition. The goal is to end suffering<br />

and attain world peace,<br />

a narrow road for the follower.<br />

Adherents follow the Eight-Fold<br />

Path to accomplish the Four<br />

Noble Truths include right views,<br />

intent, speech, conduct, livelihood,<br />

effort, mindfulness, and<br />

concentration. Meditation, yoga,<br />

tai ch’i, and other methods are<br />

used to follow the Eight Fold<br />

Path. All of these works are to<br />

achieve perfection, alleviate suffering,<br />

and restore peace within<br />

the Universe, hence a form of<br />

“salvation.” There is no defined<br />

god-figure, but there is the impli-<br />

cation each person is a god of<br />

his or her own destiny (Smith,<br />

Buddhism, 1991).<br />

Zen Buddhism is a blend of traditional<br />

Buddhism and Taoism,<br />

the driving force for martial arts<br />

based in Korea, Japan, and<br />

Okinawa. Taoism believes the<br />

center of all matter is a cosmic<br />

force which keeps all things in<br />

balance symbolized by the yin<br />

yang (Smith, Buddhism, 1991,<br />

pp. 196-216). Zen maintains<br />

this position; however, it is the<br />

harsher, more practical branch of<br />

Buddhism. The god figure is the<br />

cosmic force into which everyone<br />

will one day be absorbed at<br />

death. (Smith, Buddhism, 1991,<br />

pp. 128-139). Practitioners want<br />

to become one with the Universe,<br />

the great Tao. Jesus is<br />

considered a good teacher, but<br />

not God. Buddha is the greatest<br />

teacher and prophet.<br />

New Age Spirituality blurs several<br />

beliefs with science and<br />

health to form some basic principles.<br />

Together with Hindu and<br />

Buddhist thought, Gaia, Wicca,<br />

Native American Indian, and<br />

other nature worship groups<br />

form the view that there is no<br />

one way to God. Each person<br />

is on a journey to God. They<br />

also believe each person is<br />

divine and God is in everything<br />

in nature, pantheism. Everyone<br />

has the “spark” of the divine. If<br />

you viewed the movie, “Avatar”<br />

it presents a clear view of the<br />

pantheism of New Age. Scientific<br />

principles are intermingled.<br />

Everything is good and everything<br />

is evolving. We are to take<br />

care of Mother Nature. The core<br />

of the holistic medicine movement<br />

is balancing ch’i from the<br />

yin-yang, aligning chakras, and


alancing energies bringing all<br />

things into harmony. Meditation,<br />

guided imagery, yoga, channeling<br />

spirits, consulting the dead<br />

and spirit guides are hallmark to<br />

this miry belief system (Smith,<br />

Buddhism, 1991) (Body, Mind,<br />

Spirit Guide, p. 1). It is prevalent<br />

in Eastern medicine, homeopathic<br />

medicine, mind-body<br />

exercise practices, and even<br />

touted in modern medical communities<br />

as beneficial. You will<br />

also see it in most chiropractic<br />

and massage therapy practices.<br />

Universalism believes that all<br />

religions are valuable and everyone<br />

should seek God in his<br />

or her own way. All ways lead<br />

to God. They have the Seven<br />

Principles as their core beliefs:<br />

Inherent worth of every person;<br />

justice, equality, and compassion<br />

for everyone; acceptance<br />

of one another and encouragement<br />

of spiritual growth; A free<br />

and responsible search for truth<br />

and its meaning; the right of conscience<br />

and use of democratic<br />

process in congregation and<br />

society at large; goal of world<br />

community with peace, liberty,<br />

and justice for all; interdependent<br />

web of all existence of which we<br />

are a part. (Unitarian Universalists<br />

of America) How confusing.<br />

These principles are followed<br />

regardless of the religious beliefs<br />

of the members so that no one<br />

will go to eternal judgment, forever<br />

separated from God, but all<br />

are encouraged to seek God in<br />

their own way.<br />

Together they seem neutral, but<br />

are not. Jesus is one of many<br />

good teachers, but not God. Hinduism<br />

adds Jesus in as one of<br />

thousands of deities. They all<br />

deny Jesus’ death and resurrection<br />

as the way of salvation.<br />

Either, they deny His humanity or<br />

they deny His deity, or both. Salvation<br />

is obtained through works<br />

as opposed to grace. Although<br />

sincere, they are lost.<br />

Where Your Family Will Cross<br />

these Paths<br />

This swirling, churning water<br />

has flooded North America in<br />

the health, fitness, wellness,<br />

chiropractic, and medical communities.<br />

Holistic and alternative<br />

health practices have spilled<br />

into schools, churches, and<br />

psychology as well. It is everywhere.<br />

Massage therapists align<br />

chakras or manipulating invisible<br />

meridians to promote healing<br />

and restore balance in the body.<br />

Mind-body classes at the local<br />

fitness center and community<br />

programs use guided imagery<br />

as behavior modification. Aromatherapy<br />

and essential oils are<br />

used for healing to restore harmony<br />

and balance for one’s wellbeing.<br />

Just look through the free<br />

magazines at the local health<br />

food store.<br />

It comes even closer to home.<br />

Your children’s schools may use<br />

holistic techniques for behavior<br />

modification or in the curriculum.<br />

Maybe you have encountered<br />

it in smaller degrees through<br />

church groups like “helpful”<br />

practices to aid your prayer life<br />

with palms up to give something<br />

over to God, palms down to let<br />

go of something holding believers<br />

back in their faith. How about<br />

using guided imagery in prayer to<br />

breathe in the Holy Spirit allowing<br />

this “light” to travel through<br />

your body, and then back out<br />

until you are mentally sitting<br />

on a mountaintop with the light<br />

source in front of you? Some<br />

churches offer seemingly “safe”<br />

yoga classes. The undercurrents<br />

appear calm and beneficial<br />

on the surface, but threaten the<br />

spiritual life of our families.<br />

Have you brought some of it<br />

home by accident? You may not<br />

realize it until now. “Having spent<br />

22 years in yoga from the ages of<br />

7 to 29, as a student and Hatha<br />

yoga instructor,” says Laurette<br />

Willis, founder of PraiseMoves,<br />

“I know it is more than ‘just exercise.’<br />

The subtleties of yoga<br />

were enough to draw my mother<br />

and me away from Christ and<br />

into metaphysics and the New<br />

Age.” (www.praisemoves.com)<br />

“Do not conform to the pattern<br />

of this world, but be transformed<br />

by the renewing of your mind.<br />

Then you will be able to test and<br />

approve what God’s will is—his<br />

good, pleasing and perfect will.”<br />

(Romans 12:2 NIV) It happens<br />

easily, but it is important to clean<br />

these teachings out of our lives.<br />

Common Core Issues<br />

The common issues among<br />

theses faiths are:<br />

1. One must work to get to God.<br />

We are saved by grace. Ephesians<br />

2:7-9<br />

2. All religions are expressions of<br />

one’s search for God and truth.<br />

Jesus is the only way. John 14:6<br />

3. Jesus is a good teacher or, in<br />

some cases, a god, but not fully<br />

God and fully man; His true deity<br />

is denied. Jesus is fully God and<br />

fully man. John 10:29-30, 1 John<br />

5:20, Hebrews 2:17<br />

4. Denial of His virgin birth. Jesus<br />

was born to the virgin Mary. Luke<br />

1:26, 2:52, Matthew 1:18-25<br />

5. His blood atonement for sin<br />

and resurrection from the dead<br />

is denied. The blood of Jesus is<br />

sufficient payment for our sins.


Romans 3:24-26<br />

6. They believe everyone has<br />

the potential to become perfect<br />

and enter their view of heaven.<br />

For all have sinned and fall short<br />

of the glory of God. Romans<br />

3:23 We must accept Jesus as<br />

Savior. Romans 10:9<br />

7. The Holy Spirit is not recognized<br />

in these religions. The closest<br />

reference is “the spark of the<br />

divine,” but this is not referring to<br />

the Holy Spirit, rather suggesting<br />

that each person is a god. All<br />

three Persons of the Trinity are<br />

present at Jesus’ baptism. Matthew<br />

3:13-17, John 1:33 Holy<br />

Spirit’s indwelling. Acts 1:8, Acts<br />

5:32, 1 Corinthians 6:19<br />

8. They deny His resurrection.<br />

Jesus rose from the dead. John<br />

11:25, Luke 24:1-7, Mark 16:14-<br />

20<br />

Staying on Course as a Family<br />

People readily accept and<br />

follow these beliefs because it is<br />

mainstream, it feels like a neutral<br />

zone, even trendy. Yet they<br />

run against your Christian faith.<br />

Keeping your family’s faith on<br />

course is possible and challenging<br />

at the same time. Jesus said,<br />

“Narrow is the path that leads to<br />

life, wide is the road that leads to<br />

destruction “(Matthew 7:13 NIV).<br />

Here is how to safeguard your<br />

family:<br />

1. Be sure you as a parent have<br />

cleared out any of these beliefs<br />

and their practices that may<br />

have seeped into your own life.<br />

2. Know God’s word on key<br />

Christian doctrines. Teach<br />

them to your children. Use your<br />

church’s doctrine statement as<br />

a guide to learn them. Ask your<br />

pastor if you need help with this.<br />

3. Talk as a family when someone<br />

encounters people with<br />

these beliefs or are confronted<br />

by them in a respectful manner<br />

of the individuals involved.<br />

4. Teach your children how to<br />

politely stand firm in their faith<br />

with classmates, teachers, and<br />

coaches.<br />

5. Pray together as a family to<br />

war against the “principalities of<br />

this dark world.”<br />

6. Keep a prayer list of people<br />

your family knows trapped in<br />

these religions, praying for their<br />

salvation and deliverance from<br />

false teachings.<br />

7. Help your children learn about<br />

these religious beliefs in an age<br />

appropriate manner. Find examples<br />

when you are watching television,<br />

shopping, or anywhere<br />

you and your family go together.<br />

Explain the differences between<br />

what they see and hear with<br />

what you believe as a family.<br />

Safely Drawing People Out of<br />

the Dangerous Waters<br />

Just as lifeguards must protect<br />

themselves from drowning when<br />

rescuing a distressed swimmer,<br />

we must safeguard ourselves so<br />

we do not fall into the same sin as<br />

those we attempt to reach (Galatians<br />

6:1). You may find yourself<br />

talking with parents at karate<br />

lessons or soccer practice when<br />

topics like yoga, meditation, or<br />

essential oils are suddenly the<br />

center of discussion. Maybe<br />

you are shopping at your local<br />

natural foods store and the store<br />

clerk tells you about an exciting<br />

meditation class, inviting you to<br />

come. Laurette Willis says this,<br />

“If you feel a check in your spirit<br />

that something is wrong, it probably<br />

is.” (Willis, 2014) This is your<br />

cue to politely decline because<br />

of your faith in Christ and you<br />

would not want to dishonor God.<br />

Judgment will come. One blogger,<br />

Robin Schumacher in her<br />

post “Why All Roads Lead to<br />

God” of The Confident Christian,<br />

said all roads lead to God<br />

because we will all stand before<br />

Him at judgment. Those who<br />

know Christ will spend eternity in<br />

the presence of God; whereas,<br />

those who do not believe on<br />

Christ for salvation will be condemned<br />

to eternal separation<br />

from God where there is<br />

weeping and gnashing of teeth<br />

(Schumacher, 2013) In Matthew<br />

7:22-24, “Many will say to me<br />

on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we<br />

not prophesy in your name and<br />

in your name drive out demons<br />

and in your name perform many<br />

miracles?’ Then I will tell them<br />

plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away<br />

from me, you evildoers!’” (NIV)<br />

No one is excluded from judgment.<br />

How can we protect our families’<br />

faith while reaching people<br />

caught in this riptide?<br />

Ajith Fernando, a national missionary<br />

with YFC in Sri Lanka,<br />

says in his book, Sharing the<br />

Truth in Love, reaching New<br />

Age believers is easier than<br />

most people think. We have the<br />

uniqueness of Jesus Christ with<br />

His complete work on the cross<br />

offering us as salvation, none of<br />

which the Hindu gods offer. The<br />

shallowness of holistic spirituality<br />

does not bring a true oneness<br />

with the personal God of the<br />

Universe. The Apostle Paul sets<br />

a great example for us when he<br />

came across the tribute to the<br />

Unknown God in the Aeropagus.<br />

He found something in their<br />

search for God to show them the<br />

one true God. Our time and circumstances<br />

are very similar.


The hearts’ desire of these<br />

people is to find God who gives<br />

life and peace. Our unique<br />

Savior identifies with us, died<br />

for us, and was raised from the<br />

dead offering new life to those<br />

who will believe in Him (Hebrews<br />

9:11-28). Buddha cannot do that.<br />

The Hindu gods cannot do that.<br />

Chanting mantras and doing<br />

yoga poses will not do that. Only<br />

Jesus Christ can save us that we<br />

might have eternal life with God.<br />

(Fernando, 2001) Here is how<br />

you can reach out to them:<br />

• Prayerfully consider their heartfelt<br />

needs. They may have a<br />

nagging doubt, personal pain, or<br />

disillusionment with their religion<br />

before they are ready for what<br />

you have to share.<br />

• Know what they believe, then<br />

compare with the Word of God.<br />

All the answers are there.<br />

• Think opportunity instead<br />

of challenge. Rather than get<br />

caught in a tug of war, take the<br />

opportunity to reach them in<br />

their search for truth with compassion.<br />

• Be prepared for resistance. The<br />

god of this age has blinded the<br />

minds and hearts of people. (2<br />

Corinthians 4:4) All of the work in<br />

a person’s heart is by the power<br />

of God. (Romans 1:16)<br />

• Be patient. It may take a while<br />

for them to grasp what you share<br />

with them. It may take several<br />

people God brings into their lives<br />

to help them accept Jesus as<br />

their Savior.<br />

• Set the example for your children.<br />

They will see how you<br />

reach out to others in love and<br />

will want to do the same.<br />

All roads do not lead to God<br />

because they contradict each<br />

other. There is only one way.<br />

You have the Truth, so share it.<br />

Reach out to them with the Life<br />

Saver.<br />

Works Cited<br />

Baha’i International Community.<br />

(<strong>2015</strong>). What Baha’is Believe.<br />

Retrieved 2 <strong>2015</strong>, November,<br />

from Baha’i: http://www.bahai.<br />

org/beliefs/<br />

Fernando, A. (2001). In A. Fernando,<br />

Sharing the Truth in Love<br />

(pp. 168-176). Grand Rapids,<br />

Michigan: Discovery House<br />

Pubishers.<br />

Martin, W. (1997). Baha’i, Scientology.<br />

In W. Martin, The<br />

Kingdom of the Cults (pp. 261,<br />

270, 275). Minneapolis: Bethany<br />

House.<br />

Metro Lyrics. (unknown). Age<br />

of Aquarius-Fifth Dimension.<br />

Retrieved November 2, <strong>2015</strong>,<br />

from Metrolyrics: http://www.<br />

metrolyrics.com/aquarius-lyrics-5th-dimension.html)<br />

Schumacher, R. (2013, January<br />

6). Confident Christian.<br />

Retrieved November 2, <strong>2015</strong>,<br />

from The Christian Post: http://<br />

blogs.christianpost.com/confident-christian/why-all-roads-dolead-to-god-13977/<br />

Smith, H. (1991). Buddhism. In<br />

H. Smith, The World Religions<br />

(pp. 333-349). San Francisco:<br />

Harper Collins.<br />

Smith, H. (1991). Hinduism. In H.<br />

Smith, The World Religions (pp.<br />

12-71). San Franscisco: Harper<br />

Collins.<br />

Song Facts. (unknown). Aquarius/Let<br />

the Sunshine In. Retrieved<br />

November 2 <strong>2015</strong>, from Song<br />

Facts: http://www.songfacts.<br />

com/detail.php?id=2068<br />

Song Factx. (Unknown). My<br />

Sweet Lord. Retrieved November<br />

2, <strong>2015</strong>, from Song Facts:<br />

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.<br />

php?id=1172<br />

Unitarian Universalists of<br />

America. (unknown). What We<br />

Believe. Retrieved November 2,<br />

<strong>2015</strong>, from Unitarian Universalists<br />

of America: http;//www.uua.<br />

org/beliefs/what-we-believe/<br />

principles<br />

Willis, L. (2014). PraiseMoves<br />

Instructor Manual. Tullehoma,<br />

Oklahoma: PraiseMoves.<br />

About the Writer<br />

Charlaine Martin is a freelance<br />

writer, personal trainer, Praise-<br />

Moves instructor, and co-founder<br />

of Faith Fighters for Christ with<br />

over 15 years experience involving<br />

the influence of these religions<br />

in martial arts, health,<br />

fitness, and wellness. She has<br />

personally met Ajith Fernando<br />

who referenced her and her first<br />

husband (listed as Engelhardt)<br />

in his book, “Sharing the Truth in<br />

Love” on page 84. She also ministers<br />

through Totally Fit 4 Life<br />

www.totallyfit4life.net addressing<br />

New Age Spirituality in some<br />

of her blog posts.<br />

Charlaine and her husband live<br />

in the Thumb of Michigan. She<br />

has three adult children who are<br />

married and 5 grandchildren of<br />

her own.


Jeremy Lee<br />

Teaches<br />

Parents to<br />

“Pass it On”<br />

By Brandon Knight<br />

After Israel crossed the<br />

Jordan River, Joshua<br />

instructed the heads of<br />

the various tribes to construct<br />

a monument in the middle of<br />

the river as a memorial to their<br />

crossing so future generations<br />

would know about this moment<br />

in Israel’s history when God once<br />

again provided in a huge way for<br />

the nation. How important is it<br />

for parents to pass along to their<br />

children spiritual direction and<br />

guide them to God? Authors’<br />

Jeremy Lee and Jim Burns<br />

both think this is a very important<br />

responsibility that parents<br />

have. Like Joshua, Lee and<br />

Burns both want parents to set<br />

up memorials, or more accurately<br />

“Rites of Passage”, to<br />

teach their children about the<br />

Lord. In their new book Pass it<br />

On Lee and Burns address the<br />

importance of teaching children<br />

spiritual lessons, and offer helpful<br />

information on how to teach<br />

these lessons. All answers are<br />

from Jeremy Lee unless noted<br />

from Jim Burns.<br />

So tell us about yourself<br />

My name is Jeremy Lee. I live<br />

just outside Nashville, TN with<br />

my wife and two boys. I am the<br />

founder of ParentMinistry.net


and I get to help build an excellent<br />

Parent Ministry.<br />

So what brought you two<br />

together to work on the book<br />

Pass It On?<br />

Jim is one of my heroes. He<br />

came to speak at my church<br />

when I was a minister. He was<br />

helping us launch the Rites of<br />

Passage Experiences that we<br />

discuss in the book, to the parents<br />

in our church. The night<br />

before at dinner, I explained to<br />

him the Rites of Passage. Little<br />

did I know that he had done some<br />

writing on the subject during his<br />

PhD years. He was already<br />

thinking of creating a resource<br />

on the subject, and suggested<br />

that this should be for more than<br />

just one church. After developing<br />

a friendship, we decided<br />

to write the book. Jim lent his<br />

reputation to this book, and I’m<br />

incredibly grateful for that.<br />

“Kids are leaving the church in<br />

droves right out of high school<br />

yet studies tell us that there is<br />

a much greater chance of kids<br />

staying in church if there are<br />

faith conversations in the home.<br />

I am constantly looking for the<br />

most effective ways to help<br />

families be energized spiritually.<br />

I met Jeremy at his church<br />

near Nashville and he had been<br />

developing “rites of passage”<br />

experiences. The more I saw<br />

what he was doing and the more<br />

I got to know him, the more I<br />

liked him and admired his ministry.<br />

It has been a dream partnership<br />

of putting together practical<br />

rites of passage experiences for<br />

families and watching them have<br />

incredible experiences with each<br />

other.” Co-Author, Jim Burns<br />

What is the purpose you are<br />

trying to accomplish through<br />

your book Pass It On?<br />

Our biggest motivation is to<br />

attack the fear that parents<br />

sometimes face in leading their<br />

child spiritually. It can be overwhelming<br />

when you understand<br />

that as a parent you are the<br />

greatest spiritual influence in<br />

your child’s life. Some parents<br />

get paralyzed by fear and do<br />

nothing. We try to help give parents<br />

an idea of something they<br />

can do to begin leading their<br />

child spiritually. This helps them<br />

“whet their appetite” for spiritual<br />

leadership, and gives them the<br />

encouragement to engage their<br />

child spiritually.<br />

For the sake of argument,<br />

kids go to school to learn;<br />

don’t they go to church then<br />

to get their spiritual experiences?<br />

Why is this the parent’s<br />

responsibility?<br />

You can’t outsource the spiritual<br />

development of your child. I<br />

sometimes wish it was that easy.<br />

If I want my kid to be a better student,<br />

I hire a tutor. If I want my<br />

kid to be a better athlete, I hire<br />

a coach. So shouldn’t it be true<br />

that if I want my child to grow<br />

spiritually, I can just send them<br />

to church? Well, that’s not how<br />

God set it up. He meant for faith<br />

to be passed down generationally<br />

from parents to their children.<br />

Who is the target audience for<br />

this book: new parents, parents<br />

with elementary or junior<br />

high kids?<br />

What I love most about this book<br />

is that it’s for all parents. There<br />

is a rite of passage for each year<br />

from Kindergarten to 12th grade<br />

that parents can lead their child<br />

through.<br />

When I hear the phrase “Rites<br />

of Passage” I think of the stereotypical<br />

Roman Spartan<br />

idea of taking a teenager out<br />

into the wilderness and letting<br />

him fend for himself and if he<br />

comes back he will be a man.<br />

I’m assuming that’s not what


you mean by “Rites of Passage”…<br />

In essence, a rite of passage<br />

is an invitation to something<br />

greater than oneself. Unfortunately,<br />

in our culture most teenagers<br />

don’t feel like an adult until<br />

they get their driver’s license or<br />

lose their virginity. These are<br />

horrible rites of passage. They<br />

don’t invite the teenager to<br />

something greater than himself/<br />

herself, they invite the teenager<br />

back to themselves. We wanted<br />

to create a shared spiritual experience<br />

for parents and their children<br />

that honored that major<br />

transition of each year while also<br />

inviting them to faith and family.<br />

What is an example of one of<br />

the “Rites of Passage” that<br />

you talk about in your book?<br />

One of my favorites is the 2nd<br />

grade rite of passage. That’s the<br />

“Invitation to the Bible.” By this<br />

point most 2nd graders are able<br />

to read, and that means that<br />

they are able to read the Bible<br />

for themselves for the first time.<br />

We honor this by encouraging<br />

the parents to buy their 2nd<br />

grader a Bible and have loved<br />

ones mark their favorite verse<br />

and write a note of encouragement.<br />

Then the parents present<br />

the Bible to the 2nd grader<br />

along with explaining to them the<br />

importance of the Bible in their<br />

own lives.<br />

What other ministries are you<br />

both engaged in?<br />

As I mentioned earlier, I run<br />

ParentMinistry.net which helps<br />

church build an excellent Parent<br />

Ministry.<br />

“I am the President of Home-<br />

Word. Our core values are to<br />

build – Strong Marriages – Confident<br />

Parents – Empowered Kids<br />

– Healthy Leaders. HomeWord<br />

comes along side families and<br />

church leaders to help families<br />

succeed. We provide resources<br />

connected to our families, seminars,<br />

conferences, radio, podcast,<br />

and articles.” Jim Burns,<br />

Co-Author<br />

Thank you so much for your<br />

time, any last thoughts?<br />

Thanks so much for helping us<br />

get the word out about this book!<br />

Click Here to Purchase at<br />

Amazon.com<br />

Click Here to Purchase at<br />

Christian Book Disctributors<br />

Brandon Knight is a young gun,<br />

a martial artist, and a freelance<br />

writer. He resides in northwest<br />

Indiana and recently began seminary<br />

through Moody Theological<br />

Seminary. Brandon has a passion<br />

for preaching the Gospel<br />

and seeing it transform lives. He<br />

loves Jesus, comic books, and<br />

the Chicago Cubs.


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No Strings Attached<br />

By Gabrielle Elisco<br />

I remember consoling a friend in<br />

high school who had recently lost<br />

a grandparent. A small group of<br />

girls sat around an array of desks<br />

in attempts to comfort her while<br />

offering the typical “ought-to-say”<br />

phrases when someone has lost<br />

a loved one. “She doesn’t feel<br />

pain anymore.” “He is in a better<br />

place now.” In response to such<br />

offers of relief, the hurting girl<br />

answered, “She went to church<br />

every single Sunday, I know<br />

she is in heaven.” Not another<br />

word was muttered among the<br />

group. I glanced at the other<br />

faces to see if any other expressions<br />

matched my own. Though<br />

I could not see my own face, I<br />

image I looked rather perplexed,<br />

perhaps even slightly disturbed.<br />

The faces looking back at me<br />

were quite indifferent, most nodding<br />

their heads in agreement<br />

with my friend’s response. Was<br />

this her way of bringing comfort<br />

to her own heart insisting that her<br />

loved one really was in a better<br />

place? Or did she truly believe in<br />

a God who would send His son<br />

to die a gruesome death just so<br />

we could attend church as our<br />

only effort to be accepted into<br />

His Kingdom?<br />

This teary-eyed teenager is one<br />

heart of many that believe good<br />

works are the entry requirement<br />

for Heaven. Of course,<br />

Christians believe that Jesus<br />

came, died, rose, ascended,<br />

and will return again one day.<br />

They believe His sacrifice on the<br />

cross was the payment for our<br />

transgressions. Though when<br />

it comes to entering heaven, a<br />

simple “good” moral standard of<br />

living will suffice for our Creator<br />

to extend His arms and welcome<br />

us into our eternal home. If this is<br />

true, why did Jesus come? Why<br />

was He born unto a virgin, tested<br />

by Satan, performed countless<br />

miracles, arrested, tried, found<br />

guilty, persecuted, pierced, and<br />

crucified? Why did this blame-


less Savior have to be subject to<br />

the treachery of hell to defeat the<br />

grave if all that is required of us<br />

is to throw some change in the<br />

offering at church or give help<br />

to a friend in need? How, then,<br />

do we obtain such salvation that<br />

dismisses us of eternal damnation?<br />

If Jesus descended from<br />

Heaven to die on rugged wood<br />

for you and I, just maybe this salvation<br />

derived from His work, not<br />

our own.<br />

Jesus wasted no words when<br />

speaking to the multitudes<br />

regarding salvation. In John<br />

3:16, Jesus states, “For this is<br />

how God Loved the world: He<br />

gave His one and only Son,<br />

so that everyone who believes<br />

in Him will not perish but have<br />

eternal life” (NLT). In another<br />

verse, “Jesus told him ‘I am<br />

the way, the truth, and the life.<br />

No one can come to the Father<br />

except through me” (John 14:6<br />

NLT). Jesus did not give stipulations<br />

nor alternatives to the<br />

people regarding their salvation.<br />

There was no grey area,<br />

or sliding in by the skin of your<br />

teeth. The way is through Jesus,<br />

through His sacrifice. If Jesus is<br />

“the way,” how do we take that<br />

way? God retains no hidden<br />

details, as every answer can be<br />

found in His love letter to His<br />

beloved children. He describes<br />

what taking the “Jesus way”


means in Romans chapter ten.<br />

“If you openly declare that Jesus<br />

is Lord and believe in your heart<br />

that God raised Him from the<br />

dead, you will be saved. For it<br />

is by believing in your heart that<br />

you are made right with God,<br />

and it is by openly declaring<br />

your faith that you are saved”<br />

(Romans 10:9-10 NLT). Declaration.<br />

Belief. This is the way.<br />

Salvation is defined as declaring<br />

Jesus Christ is your Savior,<br />

your Lord and King, and equally<br />

believing such in your heart.<br />

There is no well-versed prayer<br />

or specific way in which to do<br />

this. The sinner on the cross<br />

next to Jesus said, “Jesus,<br />

remember me when you come<br />

into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).<br />

And because our Savior is the<br />

very epitome of love, through his<br />

blood, sweat, and suffering, He<br />

offered compassion and empathy<br />

for this sinner and confirmed<br />

He would join Him in paradise.<br />

Considering the righteousness<br />

Jesus gave us in exchange for<br />

our sin, how often do we still<br />

measure our works to scale our<br />

Christianity, or better yet our<br />

salvation? There is no attainable<br />

amount of works or good<br />

deeds you and I could complete<br />

to even compare to one lashing<br />

He took when He scarified Himself<br />

for us. Though so often it is<br />

as though we are saying, “Lord,<br />

your sacrifice was not enough. I<br />

must do more.” In case you have


yet to realize, you are a sinner,<br />

and you fall short of God’s glory<br />

every day, just as I do. This<br />

comes as no surprise to our<br />

Lord. For Jesus Himself said,<br />

“…I have come to call not those<br />

who think they are righteous,<br />

but those who know they are<br />

sinners” (Mark 2:17 NLT). God<br />

already knew you would never<br />

measure up to the atonement<br />

only His Son could accomplish.<br />

That is why He sent Him. And<br />

it is only through Him that we<br />

are made righteous to enter into<br />

the gates of Heaven. It is only<br />

through his blood that we are<br />

able to as Ephesians 2:5 states,<br />

“…even though we were dead<br />

because of our sins, he gave us<br />

life when he raised Christ from<br />

the dead. …For he raised us<br />

from the dead along with Christ<br />

and seated us with him in the<br />

heavenly realms because we<br />

are united with Christ Jesus.”<br />

Was there a task list you graciously<br />

checked off before Jesus<br />

did this? Of course not. So why<br />

then, must people consider their<br />

own works are the conditional<br />

basis for their salvation? Faith<br />

in Christ is the sufficient righteousness<br />

needed to enter into<br />

the Kingdom of Heaven. Though<br />

it has been established, that<br />

salvation is achieved by faith,<br />

does this mean works are dead?<br />

According to James 2:17-26,<br />

“So you see, faith by itself isn’t<br />

enough. Unless it produces good<br />

deeds, it is dead and useless…<br />

How can you show me your faith<br />

if you don’t have good deeds?<br />

I will show you my faith by my<br />

good deeds…You say you have<br />

faith, for you believe that there<br />

is one God. Good for you! Even<br />

the demons believe this, and<br />

they tremble in terror…So you<br />

see, we are shown to be right<br />

with God by what we do, not by<br />

faith alone.”<br />

After paragraphs convincing that<br />

our own works are not subject to<br />

our salvation, we learn now that<br />

faith without works is useless.<br />

So, why is it that we are told only<br />

belief through Jesus will reward<br />

us with salvation when in fact<br />

our faith alone is dead without<br />

works? Once we have been<br />

accepted into the Kingdom of<br />

God, that is our home. This life,<br />

this earth, this body is no longer<br />

your home. Heaven is. “Above<br />

all, you must live as citizens of<br />

heaven, conducting yourselves<br />

in a manner worthy of the Good<br />

News about Christ” (Philippians<br />

1:27 NLT). And as citizens of<br />

Heaven, we are to make sure<br />

we have many neighbors in our<br />

eternal home. Once you have<br />

opened the door to your heart<br />

for Christ to enter, He infiltrates<br />

your mind, body, and spirit. For<br />

that very reason, you will produce<br />

works. You will continue to<br />

fall short and sin, that is inevitable,<br />

but you now have the everlasting<br />

grace of a mighty Savior<br />

who has already wiped your<br />

slate white as snow. Our good<br />

deeds are a result of who we are<br />

in Christ and Him dwelling within<br />

us, they are because we are<br />

saved, not in efforts to be saved.<br />

Finally, if we receive salvation<br />

through faith in Christ, can it<br />

ever be taken away from us? Sin<br />

is what always has and always<br />

will separate people from God.<br />

When Jesus conquered sin and<br />

its consequence of eternal death,<br />

He paved a bridge between<br />

God and His people. He is the<br />

Intercession that was needed to<br />

cancel the debt of sin once and<br />

for all. Because of Jesus, sin can<br />

no longer separate children from<br />

their Father. Of course, once you<br />

have become a new creation in<br />

Christ, you view sin differently.<br />

“Well then, since God’s grace<br />

has set us free from the law,<br />

does that mean we can go on<br />

sinning? Of course not! Don’t<br />

you realize that you become the<br />

slave of whatever you choose<br />

to obey? You can be a slave to<br />

sin, which leads to death, or you<br />

can choose to obey God, which<br />

leads to righteous living. Thank<br />

God! Once you were slave of<br />

sin, but now you who wholeheartedly<br />

obey this teaching we<br />

have given you. Now you are<br />

free from your slavery to sin and<br />

you have become slaves to righteous<br />

living.”<br />

(Romans 6:13 NLT)<br />

Once slaves of sin, now slaves<br />

of righteousness. What a sweet<br />

exchange. What then can separate<br />

us from God?<br />

“…And I am convinced that nothing<br />

can ever separate us from<br />

God’s love. Neither death nor<br />

life, neither angels nor demons,<br />

neither our fears for today nor<br />

our worries about tomorrow—<br />

not even the powers of hell can<br />

separate us from God’s love. No<br />

power in the sky above or in the<br />

earth below—indeed, nothing in<br />

all creation will ever be able to<br />

separate us from the love of God<br />

that is revealed in Christ Jesus<br />

our Lord.”<br />

(Romans 8:37-39 NLT)<br />

Nothing can separate you from<br />

the Father’s love. His Son is<br />

the only way, the only truth, and<br />

the only life. He is not only the<br />

way toward salvation, but He is<br />

redemptive salvation in and of<br />

itself.


MUSIC SPOTLIGHT<br />

Fearless BND<br />

Written by Sharon S. Johnson<br />

Fearless!<br />

Imagine leaving everyone you<br />

know and everything you have to<br />

venture into the unknown to start<br />

a new ministry. No more comfort<br />

zone. No more certainties- just<br />

you and your faith. That sounds<br />

pretty fearless to me.<br />

Who would know from that<br />

story that Christy and Jeremy<br />

Johnson had battled fear their<br />

entire lives before taking a<br />

giant leap of faith to start a<br />

ministry that would challenge<br />

others to be fearless in pursuit<br />

of God and in pursuit of their<br />

dreams. The Johnsons, former<br />

youth pastors and worship artists<br />

previously known as Worth<br />

Dying For, moved to Los Angeles<br />

a little over 3 years ago to<br />

start a new church, Fearless<br />

LA, a church they describe as a<br />

“dream factory,” helping broken<br />

people dare to dream again.<br />

I recently spoke with Christy<br />

about Fearless BND, which<br />

through its music brings forth the<br />

worshipful atmosphere at Fearless<br />

LA, and which is launching<br />

an effort to expand its musical


each<br />

t o<br />

others. I<br />

can’t wait to<br />

learn more about the<br />

Fearless message, ministry,<br />

and music.<br />

I read a little bit about your<br />

work in ministry, before you<br />

got to this place in your life.<br />

Your website said that you<br />

took a giant leap of faith to<br />

leave everything to start a<br />

new church in LA. I know<br />

that I can’t really talk with you<br />

about your music without talking<br />

about your church. Can<br />

you tell me a little bit about<br />

the journey that led you to<br />

this place with the Fearless<br />

LA Church and the Fearless<br />

BND as well?<br />

I’m a pastor’s kid, so when my<br />

husband and I got married, we<br />

just<br />

decided<br />

to be youth<br />

pastors with my<br />

father at his church in<br />

Modesto called The House. It’s<br />

an incredible church where we<br />

began the journey to be youth<br />

pastors. We were there for about<br />

10 years. We probably had over<br />

1000 young people and teenagers<br />

come through the doors of<br />

our youth ministry throughout<br />

the week getting ministered to.<br />

There are a lot of broken families<br />

in Modesto…really, anywhere<br />

you go. There’s a lot of poverty<br />

there, a lot of pain. So we were<br />

just ministering to the youth<br />

and we experienced all kinds of<br />

things. They would turn in gang<br />

rags or they would turn in razor<br />

blades from cutting themselves.<br />

One girl turned in her flat iron and<br />

we asked, “Why are you throwing<br />

away your flat iron? Is it because<br />

of vanity?” She said, “No, I use<br />

the flat iron to burn myself and I<br />

have burned myself all over my<br />

body with this flat iron.” She said<br />

that she found out that she was<br />

worth<br />

more than<br />

that and wanted to<br />

give that up.<br />

So we had, every week, some<br />

of the most hurting kids just<br />

coming in to find hope, and so<br />

that was our journey for those<br />

10 years. A couple of years into<br />

it, we were doing other people’s<br />

music, like any other youth ministry<br />

would do. We would just<br />

sing some of the most popular<br />

songs at the time. And that was<br />

fine, but we know that there is<br />

music inside each of us. In our<br />

worship band, we knew there<br />

was something more. What<br />

we did was challenge the youth<br />

to start writing. Some of them<br />

had been writing but were a little<br />

afraid to bring it out. They felt<br />

they didn’t know if it was good<br />

enough, and we said it doesn’t<br />

matter if it’s good enough.<br />

They weren’t perfect, they were<br />

imperfect in many ways. But we<br />

continued to encourage them.<br />

We let them know that the most<br />

important thing was to write<br />

for God. We worked on those<br />

songs until they were the best<br />

they could be. They loved those<br />

songs. We wanted them to have<br />

something to take home to wor-


ship a certain sound.” There’s<br />

no certain way to worship. The<br />

Bible says just to make a joyful<br />

noise. There’s no specific style<br />

or genre, so we said “no rules.”<br />

They started coming up with all<br />

these types of melodies.<br />

One thing led to another and<br />

we just started doing what was<br />

in front of us. People started<br />

hearing about what we were<br />

doing and took an interest. They<br />

started coming to this little city,<br />

Modesto, to hear the band. We<br />

didn’t think anything of it. We<br />

thought we were just doing<br />

something normal. So we continued<br />

to write, and we put out<br />

a self-titled album, Worth Dying<br />

For, and a few other albums.<br />

I think it was a couple of years,<br />

maybe six or seven years in.<br />

We were in our shuttle bus. We<br />

were traveling all over. How he<br />

described it, it’s like the sound<br />

was sucked out of the bus, and<br />

it’s like he heard God say, “You’re<br />

going to start a church with this<br />

band. And all of a sudden the<br />

sound came back in, and specifically<br />

one more time it happened<br />

where the sound shut off. “In the<br />

next five years, you’re going to<br />

start a church with this band.”<br />

Now he didn’t say anything to<br />

me for a long time about this.<br />

He was a little nervous about it.<br />

It was a big deal—moving my life<br />

to LA, starting a church. We’re<br />

doing good. We’re comfortable<br />

where we’re at. I eventually<br />

came around. I wanted to hear<br />

God for myself. I remember the<br />

specific moment that God spoke<br />

to me as well. I was watching<br />

this documentary from this other<br />

church. And all I saw were people’s<br />

faces, people from every<br />

walk of life, every background,<br />

every culture, every race. And<br />

I’m not an emotional person, but<br />

something hit me and I felt the<br />

power of God and I started falling.<br />

I looked at my husband<br />

and I said, “When are going to<br />

do this, I’m ready to go do it.”<br />

All he needed was for me to<br />

hear. We took a team of about<br />

25 people and we felt strongly<br />

to go to Los Angeles because<br />

it’s a place with all these upcoming<br />

world changers, artists,<br />

actors, producers, people that<br />

are changing the world. It’s the<br />

place to change culture. LA is<br />

such a huge, impactful place<br />

and we felt maybe we could<br />

shift the people there. We left<br />

everything. We left people. We<br />

left our home. We had what we<br />

needed to be comfortable but<br />

God wanted us to move out of<br />

our comfort zone. He resources<br />

the call, but he doesn’t always<br />

give you the resources before<br />

the call, and that’s what I had to<br />

learn. Do I wait for everything to<br />

be lined up? No, we just have to<br />

go and say I am going to believe,<br />

have faith and trust God. We<br />

didn’t have paychecks. We said<br />

that maybe we would have to<br />

live off savings. We had to find<br />

a house. We had resistance,<br />

but resistance doesn’t mean that<br />

God’s not in it. I’ve found that if<br />

anything, resistance means God<br />

is in it because the enemy knows<br />

the power of what’s inside of<br />

you. And if it’s released, you can<br />

give birth to it, it will impact the<br />

world. There’s a lot of pressure,<br />

and resistance, and opposition<br />

and pushback with a dream or<br />

vision. So if anything, that made<br />

us go okay, we are about to birth<br />

something great here, and so we<br />

continued to push through any<br />

obstacles.<br />

Where did you get the name for<br />

the church and the band?<br />

We found a quote from A.W.<br />

Tozer that says “A scared world<br />

needs a fearless church.” I John<br />

4:18 says: Perfect love casts<br />

out fear. I think we would all<br />

say there’s a need for a fearless<br />

church in the world that we are<br />

in, with such fear and such craziness.<br />

Our world is just falling<br />

apart at the seams. If you just<br />

turn on the news for one minute,<br />

you’ll see that. God says we can<br />

release so much love that we can<br />

raise fearless people. Fear won’t<br />

win. Fear, when it speaks to me,<br />

I won’t let fear win or destroy<br />

me. I won’t let fear defeat me<br />

anymore. It doesn’t mean that<br />

we won’t have fear but that fear<br />

won’t win when it comes.<br />

We have loved on this city like<br />

never before. We’ve tried to.<br />

We come here for the dreamers<br />

and those that have dreams that<br />

have been crushed. We want<br />

our church to be like a ‘dream<br />

factory’ where you can come in<br />

and find hope again. We say,<br />

“God didn’t come to make bad<br />

people good, He came to make<br />

dead people live.” And that’s<br />

what we tell people every week.<br />

We want you to live.<br />

We’re in a club called Exchange<br />

LA and it’s actually a night club.<br />

II think it’s so cool, because it<br />

breaks the mold for what people<br />

think church has to be. But we<br />

are the church. Some people<br />

think church has to be in a certain<br />

building, and when we tell<br />

them it’s in a club, we get more<br />

people who might never set foot<br />

in a church. People who were<br />

dancing on Friday night for all


the wrong reasons are coming,<br />

and we have a “dance floor” for<br />

the King of Kings and Lord of<br />

Lords.…It’s become a beautiful<br />

thing.<br />

That’s great. Wow! You’ve<br />

said some things I needed to<br />

hear about following dreams<br />

and conquering fear.<br />

Now, I believe I saw this on<br />

your facebook page. “Every<br />

moment we need to have a<br />

song…there are two times to<br />

praise Him, when I feel like it<br />

and when I don’t. I’m going<br />

to praise Him in my struggle<br />

and I’m going to praise Him<br />

in my mountaintop.” From<br />

your experience, what have<br />

you learned about the importance<br />

of praise and worship,<br />

not only through music but<br />

just in regards to the atmosphere<br />

created at your church<br />

through praise, and even the<br />

atmosphere created in how<br />

we praise God through our<br />

everyday living.<br />

For me, praise has been something<br />

that has taken me from<br />

whatever I’ve been in. Fear,<br />

anxiety, worry. Because all of us<br />

have something on the throne<br />

that we are worshipping. If we<br />

are dealing with fear, then that<br />

is on the throne. Whatever we<br />

are thinking about the most,<br />

that’s what we become. So if<br />

I’m thinking about fear enough, I<br />

am becoming this fearful person.<br />

When we worship, what we’re<br />

doing is we’re dismantling that<br />

area. Whatever struggle, whatever<br />

chaos, whatever traumatic<br />

thing—whatever it is—we’re dismantling<br />

it from the throne and<br />

replacing it with the words that<br />

we’re speaking or singing. It’s<br />

about beginning to put God in<br />

His rightful place. That fear is<br />

then rendered powerless and<br />

has to come into subjection to<br />

the word of God actually that<br />

says “God has not given you a<br />

spirit of fear, but of power, love<br />

and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy<br />

1:7). So it’s actually a weapon<br />

of warfare.<br />

I went through a miscarriage<br />

several years ago before I had<br />

my two babies. I remember<br />

having extreme sadness and<br />

disappointment and hurt and<br />

pain. And I remember people<br />

asking me what got me through.<br />

And I tell them every time, worship.<br />

The presence of God got<br />

me through. I remember a few<br />

nights later it was youth night<br />

and I usually led worship, and I<br />

thought to myself should I lead<br />

worship or should I just stay<br />

home. But why wouldn’t I lead<br />

worship. A lot of times people<br />

think that when they are going<br />

through the worst times of their<br />

lives, they need to go and sit<br />

at home. I didn’t want to sit at<br />

home and let my thoughts get<br />

the best of me.<br />

Worship is therapeutic. It’s<br />

redeeming, it’s restoring and<br />

healing. The presence of God<br />

healed the worst pain I could<br />

have experienced. People think<br />

you’re just being emotional when<br />

you worship God. But actually<br />

the person who is emotional is<br />

the person who had a bad day<br />

and is NOT going to worship God<br />

because of it. They are worshipping<br />

the god of their emotions,<br />

they are not worshipping God.<br />

The worshipper is the person who<br />

pushes past his or her emotions.<br />

….All hell’s breaking loose in my<br />

life. But I am making a decision<br />

to worship God because I am not<br />

basing it on my circumstances, I<br />

am basing it on who God is. And<br />

God doesn’t change.<br />

Worship is healing. It creates an<br />

‘exit’ when you’re caught up in a


lot of stuff that you don’t want<br />

to be in. It could be abandonment<br />

or rejection, or when you’re<br />

just angry. It creates an exit to<br />

escape that place. I think of it<br />

like an escalator. It’s like you’re<br />

moving up to a place when<br />

you worship. And it’s like other<br />

things can’t follow behind you.<br />

They don’t have a pass. So this<br />

other junk doesn’t have permission<br />

to go up in the presence of<br />

God where you’re going.<br />

You moved to LA three years<br />

ago and you’re celebrating the<br />

2nd anniversary of the church.<br />

What led you to the transition<br />

of now creating and releasing<br />

the music for people?<br />

We know that God is a God of<br />

excellence and power. So with<br />

all our music and everything we<br />

do, we want to have both excellence<br />

and power. Sometimes<br />

you see churches that do things<br />

with power but no excellence.<br />

And sometimes it’s vice versa.<br />

You have a lot of excellence but<br />

no power. What He’s done in<br />

our lives shows that He is powerful.<br />

And instead of just being<br />

relevant we want to be excellent-<br />

-doing the best with what we<br />

have in our hands.<br />

Whatever you have in your hand,<br />

do it to the best and God will<br />

grow that and multiply it. That’s<br />

what started us in our music.<br />

When we started, we said “Let’s<br />

be excellent in our music. Let’s<br />

get out what’s in our hearts.”<br />

When you get a greeting card,<br />

you don’t love to read the manufacturer’s<br />

words. If anything,<br />

you probably don’t even read<br />

them sometimes. But there’s<br />

something about reading a card<br />

where someone writes all their<br />

own words. You want to see<br />

every word as powerful. It’s<br />

so powerful when you write from<br />

that place.<br />

So in wanting to be powerful<br />

and excellent with this music,<br />

we thought let’s not release it<br />

in the normal, typical fashion in<br />

which you release the whole CD.<br />

A lot of times when you get a<br />

CD, it’s sometimes overwhelming.<br />

You’ve got all the songs on<br />

there but sometimes you end up<br />

gravitating to just one or two. So<br />

we thought maybe it would have<br />

more of an impact if we didn’t<br />

release it all at once. We just<br />

decided to try it out. We didn’t<br />

know the outcome.<br />

We wanted to continually put out<br />

content. So what we’re doing is<br />

every single month we release<br />

one single, but with that single<br />

we also release a message, a<br />

sermon you could preach or<br />

teach with, sermon notes, video<br />

tutorials for each instrument used<br />

in the song so anybody could<br />

take that song for their ministry.<br />

We give you chord charts, materials,<br />

and sometimes we even<br />

have t-shirts you can order.<br />

We want to empower other<br />

churches, other leaders. We<br />

know that everybody, every<br />

church, may not necessarily<br />

have a lot. We want this to<br />

be like a firestarter. We want a<br />

movement to be started all over<br />

through our music. We want<br />

people to be inspired. Maybe it<br />

will stir up something, shake up<br />

something. We’re going to do<br />

this for 12 months.<br />

Wow, I’ve not heard of that<br />

type of process for releasing<br />

music. It sounds kind of<br />

groundbreaking, in a sense,<br />

even though I know you said<br />

that you’re not sure how it’s<br />

going to turn out.<br />

So the first release was in<br />

September, that was Brighter.<br />

And the October release was<br />

Jump Around, and November<br />

is We Lift You Higher. Tell<br />

me a little bit about the music<br />

itself.<br />

Every single song that we<br />

release kind of has a different<br />

style. I think that’s the beauty of<br />

our band. Some people would<br />

argue that we don’t know who<br />

we are as a band, but I would<br />

say that this is who we are. We<br />

have kind of an eclectic sound.<br />

We have different writers in our<br />

ministry. We don’t like to put<br />

a box around people. It’s all<br />

beautiful music to us. There’s<br />

urban, there’s rap, there’s hip<br />

hop, there’s ballad, there’s pop.<br />

The November song, We Lift<br />

You Higher, has a little bit of folk<br />

in it. So we just love that. You’ll<br />

never get bored listening to our<br />

CD. Every person can probably<br />

find a song that they will end up<br />

liking and enjoying.<br />

Jump Around is one that at our<br />

church causes an eruption of<br />

praise and people get so excited.<br />

People are praising and letting<br />

go. It’s almost like you’re waving<br />

at everyone saying “Come on,<br />

get up! Let’s celebrate God.<br />

Let’s praise Him. He’s done too<br />

much for us to just stand here.<br />

For us to just sit here and be<br />

silent. Let’s get up. Let’s start<br />

thanking Him and praising Him<br />

for who He is and who He is<br />

going to be in our lives.” And I<br />

believe that when the song talks<br />

about not being quiet and not<br />

being silent, people might tend<br />

to think it’s talking about being


quiet or silent with our voice. But<br />

it’s more. We want to show the<br />

world that Jesus lives in us. So<br />

as opposed to telling the world,<br />

why don’t we show the world<br />

with our actions. Let’s be love.<br />

Telling people is great, but our<br />

actions are so much more powerful<br />

than our words. And that’s<br />

what this song is really about.<br />

Not just preaching and not just<br />

screaming at people. But let’s<br />

love people, because that’s<br />

what’s going to win them over.<br />

***<br />

And winning over souls for<br />

Christ, isn’t that really what it’s<br />

all about anyway?<br />

People are definitely being<br />

impacted by the Fearless ministry<br />

of Christy and Jeremy<br />

Johnson. According to Jeremy,<br />

“We’re seeing so many people<br />

getting saved, finding new life<br />

and new birth in this place. Their<br />

world is being revolutionized, so<br />

they’re writing from that struggle,<br />

fighting for the dreams in their<br />

hearts.” The Johnsons describe<br />

how they have seen nightclub<br />

staff, security guards and club<br />

patrons encounter the truth of<br />

Jesus at Fearless LA.<br />

Quite inspiring. The message.<br />

The music. The movement. It’s<br />

an awesome undertaking. A<br />

huge mission to accomplish. A<br />

God-given dream in the making.<br />

One that surely requires Christy<br />

and Jeremy, and all who are<br />

involved with or impacted by<br />

this ministry to stay plugged in<br />

to God, for in the midst of His<br />

perfect and unconditional love,<br />

there is no room for fear.<br />

Yes! Fearless!


GOD GIVES US<br />

Second Chances<br />

By Vernita Simmons


One beautiful aspect of life<br />

is that God always gives<br />

us more than a second<br />

chance. When we sin and fall<br />

short, He forgives us and gives us<br />

the opportunity to be redeemed.<br />

When we make a mistake God<br />

allows us to try again. However,<br />

contrary to popular belief, there<br />

is absolutely no hope for those<br />

who die without having accepted<br />

Jesus as their Lord and Savior.<br />

You see - to have hope means<br />

the expectation of something<br />

good will occur. Hope motivates<br />

you to keep moving forward.<br />

Hope encourages you<br />

to hold on despite your circumstances.<br />

Hope bring you into<br />

faith which keeps you steadfast<br />

and anchored. To have hope is<br />

good indeed provided, you’re<br />

hoping for that which adheres to<br />

the promises of God. To hope for<br />

anything other is senseless and<br />

meaningless.<br />

Beloved, it is not God’s desire<br />

that any should die but that all<br />

should come to repentance. (II<br />

Peter 3:9). But, that choice is<br />

entirely up to you. The enemy will<br />

have you believe that God would<br />

never send you to hell. And that’s<br />

exactly correct because thru the<br />

life we choose to live we sentence<br />

ourselves to either reign<br />

with Jesus eternally in heaven or<br />

to a devil’s hell. Thru the sacrificial<br />

death of Jesus on the cross,<br />

our sins has been paid for once<br />

and for all. For indeed Christ<br />

died for sins once and for all,<br />

the Just and the Righteous for<br />

the unjust and unrighteous [the<br />

innocent for the guilty] so that He<br />

might bring us to God , having<br />

been put to death in the flesh,<br />

but made alive in the Spirit. (I<br />

Peter 3:18). And His death left<br />

no one out for Jesus Christ does<br />

not have favoritism. Therefore,<br />

your hope of being saved lies in<br />

the atoning death of Jesus while<br />

you have the capacity to choose<br />

this day who you will serve. After<br />

all, Jesus paid a debt we could<br />

not pay and we owe a debt we<br />

cannot pay.<br />

Now, to convince yourself that<br />

there is hope of being saved<br />

after death leads down the path<br />

to doubt, deception and wrong<br />

thinking. If you think wrong, you’ll<br />

believe just about anything. And<br />

when such deep seated beliefs<br />

consume your mind, it draws<br />

you further and further away<br />

from all that is honest, pure and<br />

just. Before you know it, you’re<br />

locked into a belief system which<br />

wraps you in false doctrines,<br />

while becoming increasing hostile<br />

towards Christianity.<br />

In essence, those who have not<br />

accepted Jesus as their Savior<br />

are not living in the knowledge<br />

of the truth. And you shall know<br />

the truth, and the truth shall<br />

make you free. (John 8:32; I<br />

Tim. 2:4). They do not accept<br />

the Lord’s teaching as genuine<br />

and true. Neither will they obey<br />

His infallible word. The enemy<br />

has blinded them by the usage<br />

of false teachings and soothing<br />

words which creates an illusion<br />

within their mind that after


death there will be great rewards<br />

to gain. In other words, the<br />

devil has conditioned people to<br />

believe a lie rather than the truth.<br />

Nevertheless, no one can inherit<br />

the kingdom of God while living<br />

a life which contradicts the principles<br />

of God. For be sure of this:<br />

no immoral, impure, or greedy<br />

person-for that one is [in effect]<br />

an idolater- has any inheritance<br />

in the kingdom of Christ and<br />

God [for such a person places<br />

a higher value on something<br />

other than God]. (Eph. 5:5). If<br />

you insist on living in sin and<br />

acting as if God doesn’t exist,<br />

you’ll reap eternal punishment<br />

and separation from God. This<br />

is not God’s plan for your life. He<br />

came to give you a beautiful life.<br />

A thief is only there to steal and<br />

kill and destroy. I came so they<br />

can have real and eternal life,<br />

more and better life than they<br />

ever dreamed of. (John 10:10).<br />

Ultimately, God desires you to<br />

have a full and meaningful life<br />

right here and now. He longs for<br />

you to come unto Him and allow<br />

Him to purify you, cleanse you<br />

and make you whole in every<br />

area of your life. Truly, only God<br />

can:<br />

Turn your sorrow into joy<br />

Turn despair into hope<br />

Turn your fear into faith<br />

Save you and make you whole<br />

The power of God will sustain<br />

you during the toughest times.<br />

However, His power can’t dwell<br />

in an unclean temple.<br />

If you don’t believe in the Lord,<br />

you can’t be saved. And they<br />

answered, “Believe in the Lord<br />

Jesus [as your personal] Savior<br />

and entrust yourself to Him] and<br />

you will be saved, you and your<br />

household [if they also believe].<br />

(Acts 16:31). And if you don’t<br />

turn your heart towards Jesus<br />

while there is yet breath in you,<br />

then you forfeit your eternal destiny<br />

in heaven. Beloved, eternal<br />

life is a FREE GIFT you have<br />

access to right now. So, to those<br />

who choose to believe in Jesus<br />

and receive Him have the right<br />

to become a child of God. This<br />

brings you into your eternal inheritance<br />

here on earth to the great<br />

gift of salvation which includes<br />

more than just being saved.<br />

It encompasses God’s provision,<br />

protection, perseverance,<br />

security, hope, wholeness and<br />

comfort. And entrusting yourself<br />

to God will enlighten your<br />

soul and transform your mind.<br />

But to as many as did receive<br />

and welcome Him, He gave the<br />

right, [authority, the privileged] to<br />

become children of God, that is<br />

(to those who believe in, adhere<br />

to, trust in, and rely on) His<br />

name. (John 1:12). But, to those<br />

who believe there is hope after<br />

death is condemned already and<br />

have placed their life in severe<br />

jeopardy. You have guaranteed<br />

yourself of living a life outside<br />

the confines of the will of God.<br />

In a word, you’re on the Devil’s<br />

turf and that enemy can do whatsoever<br />

He wills with your life.<br />

The saddest outcome with such<br />

a commitment on your part is<br />

that the devil will hold you hostage<br />

until the day that you die<br />

and come to terms that you have<br />

been deceived. Don’t delude<br />

yourselves, no one makes a fool<br />

of God! A person reaps what he<br />

sows. Those who keep sowing<br />

in the field of their nature, in<br />

order to meet its demands, will<br />

eventually reap ruin; but those<br />

who keep sowing in the field of<br />

the Spirit will reap from the Spirit<br />

everlasting life. (Gal. 6:7-8 CJB)<br />

Then, he laughs in your face<br />

because he knows you have no<br />

chance of ever receiving Christ<br />

as your Savior.<br />

For this reason, God pleas with<br />

you thru His ambassadors to<br />

open your mind and heart to the<br />

truth. No longer allow the enemy<br />

to keep you captive, leading you<br />

astray from the power of God to<br />

transform you and set you free.<br />

Come unto Jesus, empty yourself<br />

of all that has bound you to<br />

a life of falsehood, doubt and<br />

fear. God’s hand is stretched put<br />

still….beckoning you to trust Him<br />

for He has a better life for you.<br />

A life which will open your eyes<br />

to the truth that God loves you<br />

and has His best prepared for<br />

you to have access of here on<br />

earth. Come and be refreshed<br />

in rivers of living water and be<br />

made whole. God loves you!


The Price of<br />

Salvation:<br />

Grace or Works?<br />

By Helen Murray<br />

In another article I wrote about<br />

belief. Biblically it means something<br />

like knowing. If something<br />

resonates within me occupying<br />

the totality of my body and person<br />

unpolluted by any argument,<br />

that is belief of Biblical proportions.<br />

That is the way Abraham<br />

believed when God promised<br />

him children numbered like the<br />

stars, and he held that belief all<br />

his days until the birth of Isaac,<br />

even though Sarah gave him<br />

her Egyptian handmaid Hagar<br />

to have a child for her. This was<br />

not a human belief. This was a<br />

belief planted in him by God Himself,<br />

and which he had accepted.<br />

This was a gift of faith. He had<br />

sought truth, or sought God, and<br />

this was God’s response to him,<br />

this gift of faith. He is the father<br />

of men of faith today as well as<br />

of the Jewish people. People<br />

of faith are Abraham’s seed.<br />

Galatians 3:6, 7. Even as Abraham<br />

believed God, and it was<br />

accounted to him for righteousness.<br />

Know you therefore that<br />

they who are of faith, the same<br />

are the children of Abraham.<br />

Not all Jewish people are the<br />

seed of Abraham in this sense,<br />

but of course there are many<br />

Jews with the faith gift. True<br />

Christians have the gift of faith as<br />

had Abraham, and can believe<br />

as simply and totally as little<br />

child, which indeed we are in the<br />

sight of Almighty God. It is not a<br />

human belief, but rather a knowing<br />

from God. Christians can<br />

usually remember the day when<br />

this gift was first given to them<br />

personally. Life takes on a different<br />

quality from that time on, an<br />

eternal quality that doesn’t wear<br />

off. It doesn’t always include the


promise of a child as did Abraham’s<br />

gift, but usually there is<br />

some mighty insight into the<br />

Heavenly way of seeing things<br />

according to the need of that<br />

person.<br />

This is why Paul, writing to the<br />

Ephesians, (2:8, 9) wrote<br />

‘For by grace you have been<br />

saved through faith, and that<br />

not of yourselves; it is the gift of<br />

God, 9 not of works, lest anyone<br />

should boast.’<br />

BUT, you say, faith without works<br />

is dead, so we have to do something<br />

for our faith. James 2:14-<br />

26 declares ‘What does it profit,<br />

my brethren, if someone says<br />

he has faith but does not have<br />

works? Can faith save him? 15 If<br />

a brother or sister is naked and<br />

destitute of daily food, 16 and<br />

one of you says to them, “Depart<br />

in peace, be warmed and filled,”<br />

but you do not give them the<br />

things which are needed for the<br />

body, what does it profit? 17<br />

Thus also faith by itself, if it does<br />

not have works, is dead.<br />

Yes, as I already said, faith completely<br />

changes the mental perspective<br />

and so the manner in<br />

which one lives will automatically<br />

be changed, seeing ‘As a man<br />

thinketh in his heart, so is he.’<br />

(Proverbs 23:7). The behaviour<br />

that flows from the gift of faith is<br />

of a much higher calibre in terms<br />

of loving, serving, forgiving, miracles<br />

even. As the new Christian<br />

matures this will become more<br />

and more so. The behaviour is<br />

so intensely attached to the gift<br />

of faith that when we don’t see it<br />

we doubt very much that the gift<br />

of faith is there at all. The gift<br />

of faith precedes the behaviour<br />

change, but only just. It’s like a<br />

seed of faith goes into the heart,<br />

and next thing you have good<br />

works sprouting. But there are<br />

no good works sprouting without<br />

the gift of faith (seed) first. In<br />

fact if you don’t see good works<br />

and character change happening,<br />

then you can accurately<br />

guess that no seed of faith was<br />

planted.<br />

It follows from this that you can’t<br />

produce the good works needed<br />

to get to Heaven unless the seed<br />

of faith has been planted, nourished,<br />

and shot up shoots. You<br />

don’t get shoots without roots.<br />

Neither do you get fruit of the<br />

wrong seeds. And the good<br />

works spoken of are not the<br />

same as being a ‘nice’ person<br />

who doesn’t mind helping out a<br />

bit at times. The good works that<br />

result from the seed of faith are<br />

love, joy, peace, long-suffering,<br />

kindness, forgiveness, gentleness,<br />

prophecy, wisdom, words<br />

of knowledge, healing, evangelism,<br />

and so forth, but above all<br />

repentance and humility – the<br />

works God has prepared for<br />

us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).<br />

These are consistent aspects<br />

of the new personality, growing<br />

steadily in strength as it develops<br />

into maturity in Christ.<br />

You can easily see from this that<br />

salvation flows only from the<br />

gifts of faith, and certainly not<br />

from what some see as good<br />

works, infant baptism, or any<br />

other source. Moreover this gift<br />

of faith must push right through<br />

life. We must ‘finish the race’<br />

in Paul’s language. 1Cor 9:24<br />

– 25. Do you not know that in<br />

a race all the runners run, but<br />

only one gets the prize? Run in<br />

such a way as to get the prize.<br />

That basically suggests that we<br />

should finish the race… No<br />

prizes for those who don’t finish.<br />

In other words the race is not<br />

over until the day we go to be<br />

with Jesus.<br />

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the<br />

narrow gate; for wide is the gate<br />

and broad is the way that leads<br />

to destruction, and there are<br />

many who go in by it. Because<br />

narrow is the gate and difficult is<br />

the way which leads to life, and<br />

there are few who find it.<br />

Many people have ideas about<br />

the way to live, but those ideas<br />

are in contradiction to what God<br />

has clearly stated in His Word.<br />

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and<br />

the Life. There is no other way<br />

to the Father but by Him. It’s a<br />

finely tuned path and takes a bit<br />

of finding. However it is always<br />

possible and you could be one of<br />

those who find it. The first step<br />

is to receive that seed of faith<br />

by opening up yourself to the<br />

Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth,<br />

sent by Jesus at Pentecost. If<br />

you really want to do business<br />

with the Almighty God who created<br />

the universe and your own<br />

body, you need firstly to trust<br />

Him, acknowledge your sin and<br />

need of His forgiveness and<br />

grace through the crucifixion of<br />

Jesus. Then ask Him into your<br />

heart and life, to change it completely<br />

and turn it forever into a<br />

temple of the Living God. Then<br />

study (scripture regularly) to<br />

show yourself approved (2Timothy<br />

2:15). Find a church where<br />

Jesus is known and loved and is<br />

the heart and soul of everything.<br />

God bless you. You are about<br />

to learn what Freedom, joy and<br />

peace really are.


Tough Times Don’t Last,<br />

But Tough People Do!<br />

Order at:<br />

http://www.createspace.com<br />

http://www.amazon.com<br />

Barnes & Noble, Border Books and other distributors<br />

Come, be refreshed and encouraged<br />

through these inspirational readings<br />

for the heart, mind, and soul!<br />

Life doesn’t guarantee that you’ll<br />

never face hardships or difficulties.<br />

Travel with Vernita as she shares<br />

with you how she went from a single<br />

parent on welfare trusting God no<br />

matter what, to becoming an aspiring<br />

author.<br />

Her transition brought her through<br />

being a substitute teacher, minister,<br />

freelance writer, more than two years<br />

unemployed and no income coming in<br />

for over a year. She would encourage<br />

you to hold on during the darkest and<br />

toughest times of your life. She will<br />

prove that the Lord will never leave<br />

you nor forsake you. Only God can<br />

restore what was broken, renew<br />

what was lost and heal that you may<br />

move forward into a Progressive life<br />

of Wholeness and Victory. He did it<br />

for her and He most definitely can<br />

and will do it for you.<br />

God Loves You With An Everlasting<br />

Love!<br />

Contact Vernita for Book Signings and other Services:<br />

http://vsworshiper7.wix.com/godwordsmyvoice87<br />

Godwords35@yahoo.com


In his book, “No More Rejection,”<br />

Jorge Vazquez explores<br />

the poison of rejection that has<br />

seeped into believers’ lives and<br />

threatens to saturate the Church.<br />

His writing reveals a tool used by<br />

Satan to cause division, dismay,<br />

and even despair. He shares<br />

with readers the threat Christians<br />

face from the cycle of rejection<br />

and reveals how to overcome it,<br />

experiencing instead the powerful<br />

love of God.<br />

In an interview with Faith Filled<br />

Family Magazine, Vazquez provided<br />

a glimpse into the inspiration<br />

and insights of his work.<br />

Jorge V Rejecting Rejection: Chan<br />

What prompted you to write<br />

“No More Rejection”?<br />

I became a Christian very late in<br />

life, after going to college. I was<br />

full of the joy you get at salvation.<br />

My sins were forgiven. I<br />

had a new life in Jesus. But, I<br />

started looking around, and a lot<br />

of the believers I saw in church<br />

were past that. Why is there a<br />

point when that joy goes away? I<br />

started studying the Word and its<br />

promises. We are told we have<br />

an everlasting joy. That’s what<br />

I want. Why aren’t we getting<br />

that? Why are we losing that?<br />

The Lord showed me in scripture<br />

how Satan uses rejection and<br />

anger to try to rob us of joy. The<br />

pressures of this world and other<br />

things rob us of our joy, but the<br />

number one thing Satan uses is<br />

rejection.<br />

I really believe when the Lord<br />

says a man reaps what he sows.<br />

It’s just a matter of time. When<br />

you plant a seed, you will reap<br />

it. If you plant seeds of rejection,<br />

you will reap it back. Often, you<br />

go into a situation where someone<br />

is having a bad day, and<br />

they sow a little bit of rejection.<br />

Our first reaction is fallen human<br />

nature – to just retaliate – be<br />

mean back, or be mean behind<br />

their back. It starts adding up.<br />

They become seeds that start<br />

growing. Before you know it,<br />

you’re in a forest full of rejection<br />

trees. I feel every believer battles<br />

this. I believe that the enemy<br />

uses rejection to keep believers<br />

from having joy and, more importantly,<br />

from sharing the joy they<br />

have and the gospel with others.<br />

This is what is robbing people of<br />

their destiny – to go into all the<br />

world and preach the gospel. If<br />

we’re scared of being rejected,<br />

we’re not going to share that joy.<br />

Because we’ve lost a lot of the<br />

joy, and we doubt the fact that it<br />

is good news. It’s still really good<br />

news! Let’s go tell the world!<br />

What are some typical forms<br />

of rejection you cover in your<br />

book?<br />

There are two main forms of<br />

rejection we face as believers.<br />

1. Rejection from the world. We<br />

are promised this. 2. Rejection<br />

from within the church. This is<br />

what hurts, because it’s from<br />

brothers and sisters in Christ.<br />

By Kerr


ging the Seeds We Sow asquez<br />

y Nenn<br />

One thing that is very near and<br />

dear to my heart is generational<br />

rejection. This world feeds us a<br />

lot of programming that children<br />

are a burden, but children are<br />

a blessing from the Lord. Our<br />

culture has infected the church.<br />

The message is that children are<br />

a burden, so let’s put them to<br />

the side, not pour into them as<br />

much. Let’s give them their own<br />

youth group instead of incorporating<br />

them into what is going<br />

on. Missionaries have been told<br />

to do their work before the kids<br />

come.<br />

We have to be careful how we<br />

have authority over kids. Are<br />

we lifting up our children every<br />

day? Are we saying the things<br />

God says about them? He has<br />

a plan for them and wants to see<br />

them prosper. Or are we allowing<br />

the culture and pressures<br />

of this world to cause us to be<br />

short with the kids? We have to<br />

be very mindful of that. It’ ok to<br />

have a career, but don’t put kids<br />

to the side. We have to put our<br />

kids first, before ministry and job.<br />

It’s not easy, but it’s a struggle<br />

we have to fight to have the right<br />

balance.<br />

What is the cycle of rejection?<br />

It’s really hard to determine that<br />

you are in the cycle of rejection.<br />

It’s easy to point out when someone<br />

else is in the cycle. It’s a little<br />

harder to realize you are stuck in<br />

one yourself. It works like this -<br />

someone offends or rejects you,<br />

and your first thought is to retaliate.<br />

After a while, it continually<br />

happens. One way to realize<br />

you are in the cycle is that you<br />

feel like you have a cloud over<br />

your head. It produces a victim<br />

mindset.<br />

The way to break it is very simple<br />

but so hard. We have to realize<br />

a need to “search my heart to<br />

see if there is any offensive way<br />

in me.” (Psalm 139:23-24) You<br />

have to literally seek the Lord<br />

and the Holy Spirit. Have him<br />

use his supernatural love to love<br />

the most unlovable people. Start<br />

sowing those seeds of love and<br />

it will start harvesting love. Think<br />

about how you can become<br />

better at relationships. You need<br />

to sow the love of God and<br />

not expect that person you are<br />

loving on to reciprocate. Share


his heart toward that person.<br />

God is restoring that gift of supernatural<br />

love. If I ask God for it he<br />

will give it to me. As people start<br />

seeing the love of God reflected<br />

in people, they are going to turn<br />

to Jesus. It will start another<br />

great awakening. I’m seeing<br />

it in corporate America and in<br />

my travels. I’m seeing people<br />

coming to know the Lord.<br />

Why is rejection and offense<br />

so prevalent among believers?<br />

It’s a set-up from Satan. A lot of<br />

people don’t realize that sin is<br />

sin. They think that some sin is<br />

acceptable. One sin they accept<br />

is unrighteous anger. But, we<br />

need to realize when the Bible<br />

talks about not being a stumbling<br />

block to others, it is talking about<br />

anger. Don’t let your anger be a<br />

stumbling block. This is why we<br />

are told in James to be quick to<br />

listen, slow to speak, and slow to<br />

become angry. There are times<br />

for righteous anger but they are<br />

very rare. Too many times we go<br />

from zero to 100 with our anger,<br />

and it’s not justified.<br />

Anger is a form of rejection. And<br />

when we are emotional, we don’t<br />

see all sides of the situation. We<br />

think we are justified. We allow<br />

it to fester. 90% of the time, our<br />

anger is not justified and is just<br />

coming out of human emotions.<br />

How should believers respond<br />

to rejection?<br />

In practice, we have to take<br />

every thought captive. We have<br />

to slow down. Recognize you<br />

are in a cycle of rejection. Don’t<br />

jump to conclusions. Speak in<br />

love. Repent. We have to repent<br />

when we find ourselves rejecting<br />

others. We are going to fall<br />

short, but we have to be quick to<br />

repent and quick to forgive. We<br />

have to start a culture of forgiveness.<br />

It’s the concept of religion vs.<br />

relationship. Religion points<br />

the finger. Relationship is real.<br />

Religion puts emphasis on ceremony<br />

but not day to day. Relationships<br />

live out the day to day.<br />

They aren’t perfect. Every day<br />

we work at it. That’s how it has<br />

to be as believers. We have to<br />

put the emphasis on walking<br />

with Him every day and being<br />

grateful that He forgave me. As<br />

you meditate on that, you will be<br />

full of grace for other people and<br />

have more patience. We need<br />

to seek the attributes of love<br />

– patience, kindness, not selfseeking,<br />

forbearing. There’s too<br />

much self seeking in the church.<br />

It’s easy to do. We are lacking<br />

kindness. When you dig deep<br />

into what love really is, there are<br />

a lot of characteristics we need<br />

to work on.<br />

How should Christians<br />

respond when faced with the<br />

extreme rejection of persecution<br />

in today’s society?<br />

We are starting to see persecution<br />

in the U.S. Other nations are<br />

more hostile. In the U.S., we are<br />

seeing a social persecution. If<br />

you’re against gay marriage, or<br />

believe Jesus is God, you experience<br />

it. Everybody is cool with<br />

God, but the moment you say<br />

Jesus is God, you’re not politically<br />

correct anymore. We are<br />

seeing it in the media first. When<br />

we have been in other countries,<br />

we have been coached. We<br />

are told to make sure we don’t<br />

say this or that, or mention hot<br />

topics. Don’t focus on sin, but<br />

solution, they tell us. It’s starting<br />

to happen more and more here.<br />

In this country, we have free<br />

speech, but we have to speak<br />

the truth in love. It’s a two-part<br />

formula. You can’t hit someone<br />

over the head with a Bible and<br />

expect it to penetrate, but you<br />

can’t love them and not speak the<br />

truth either. There are too many<br />

camps in the church that are<br />

either hyper-grace or argumentative.<br />

We have to be armed with<br />

both, and if someone is stronger<br />

in one or the other, encourage<br />

each other and work together to<br />

speak the truth in love.<br />

Is there anything else you<br />

want readers to know?<br />

Just this – God is good and Jesus<br />

is God. We have to get back to<br />

the basics. Readers can contact<br />

me with any questions through<br />

our website, www.nomorerejectionbook.com<br />

or visit our ministry<br />

website, www.therevolutiontv.<br />

com.<br />

Jorge Vazquez is the President<br />

and Co-founder of Revolution<br />

Media Ministries and Co-Host<br />

of The Revolution TV. Released<br />

on October 6, <strong>2015</strong>, his book<br />

has been called “a solid base<br />

for Christians desiring to break<br />

free from rejection.” Dr. Harvey<br />

R. Brown, Jr. President, Impact<br />

Ministries. “No More Rejection”<br />

is available through the book<br />

website and Amazon.


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God?<br />

I Know Him<br />

Personally!<br />

By Sharon Johnson<br />

It is true, God is celestial and we are finite beings with boundless<br />

limitations. We as humans getting to know the omnipotent,<br />

omniscient and omnipresent God of the universe personally is<br />

beyond our dimensions of acuity but, that was not God’s plan<br />

for mankind. God never wanted His image bearing-”Imago Dei”<br />

creation- humans, who were made a little; lower than His angels<br />

to grope in the dark of ignorance about their maker.<br />

When a few angels grieved God and fell short of God’s glory, God<br />

wanted to adorn man, who was made in His likeness to enjoy His<br />

glory and presence for eternity, this was the real reason behind the<br />

creation of man. God’s choice for man was to make him enjoy His<br />

fellowship.<br />

Likewise God made man and a woman in His own image, adorned


them with His glory and communed with them on a daily basis.<br />

The man, God created; hearkened to the voice of the fallen angel,<br />

instead of being obedient to the voice of His maker. Thus, man found<br />

the deception of the devil more exciting than his fellowship with His<br />

creator. Having heeded to the deception of the devil, man brought<br />

forth sin into the world.<br />

God the creator is holy and detests sin; He could no more have<br />

a relationship with the fallen sinful man. Sin, therefore, broke the<br />

fellowship of man with His creator; it indeed created a huge rift in the<br />

relationship of man and God. Along with the bondage of sin, man<br />

brought on himself curse, sickness, death and hell.<br />

The moment the relationship with God was severed; man lost the<br />

glory of God and was also void of God’s protection from the devil,<br />

the destroyer. The entire mankind became a cursed and helpless<br />

race completely separated from God’s love, kindness, mercy and


goodness. Man was fed day in and day out on<br />

deception, by the deceiver the devil. Man also<br />

created a descendant for himself, with bruised<br />

relationship between him and God.<br />

God who still wanted to enjoy a fellowship with<br />

man, craved for a holy generation to serve Him.<br />

He wanted to establish His relationship with man<br />

and bless Him, but according to man; God was a<br />

distant identity. Man sketched God according to the<br />

imaginations of his own heart and with the biased<br />

tutoring of the father of lies. He created numerous<br />

false Gods and fallen angels, to worship and<br />

subjected himself to be led by them. This deed of<br />

rebellious self-will provoked God all the more and<br />

man got himself bound into the clutches of idolatry,<br />

witchcraft and other filthy acts, that distanced God<br />

from him.<br />

As a divine scheme, man was designed to depend<br />

on God’s guidance and help. When man was<br />

deprived of this help from his maker, he sought<br />

divine help through all kinds of sorcery, mediums<br />

and necromancy and took the help of fallen angels<br />

and claimed them as his God. These acts of man<br />

displeased God and God regretted towards man’s<br />

rebellious, sinful and ungodly ways.<br />

Despite all these wickedness, God took pity on<br />

man and understood his helplessness and chose<br />

a holy descent to reveal himself as God, this<br />

Chosen generation was Israel; the children of<br />

Abraham. Abraham was chosen by God to raise a<br />

holy generation and thereby God revealed himself<br />

to Abraham.<br />

God was with Israel and the Israelites believed<br />

in a monotheistic-God, among the other pagan<br />

worshippers. Thus, God kept His promise to<br />

Abraham and wanted to reveal himself to Israel<br />

and establish a fellowship with them. So, according<br />

to His promise, God sent a Savior to His chosen<br />

people to have fellowship with them and bridge<br />

them back with Himself. This Savior was none<br />

other than His only begotten son, a sinless blood<br />

and God himself, the second person of the trinity,<br />

Jesus. Contrary to God’s love, all that Israel could<br />

offer God was to reject His son-Jesus. His own<br />

chosen generation rejected God and crucified His<br />

son.<br />

The Israelites opted to call the Savior a blasphemer<br />

and put him to death. The son of God was<br />

numbered among the thieves, named a rebel and<br />

was killed by the wicked mankind, but still Jesus<br />

took all the sins of the world upon himself and paid<br />

the ransom for all our sins to bridge us together,<br />

with His father. The fall of Israel opened the doors<br />

of salvation for us the gentiles, to be set right with<br />

God the creator.<br />

Jesus who died for our sins is the only way, the<br />

truth and the life to bridge us eternally with God.<br />

Anyone who believes in Jesus has the access to<br />

God’s presence through His blood. Our sins can<br />

only be washed by the sinless blood of Jesus.<br />

When our crimson red sins are made white as<br />

snow, we will again be united as one, with the holy<br />

God. The sinful man once separated from the holy<br />

God will gain entry into the holy presence of God<br />

by faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.<br />

We as humans can again communicate with God,<br />

have fellowship with Him, enjoy His presence and<br />

also know His will.<br />

Even before the atonement of sins by the blood of<br />

Jesus, God was longing to reveal His way to man.<br />

God’s revelation to the great biblical heroes like<br />

Enoch, Noah, Jacob, David, Moses, Elijah was a<br />

typical example for His fellowship with man. Post<br />

the sacrifice of Jesus, the veil to the most holy place<br />

was torn and any layperson could connect with the<br />

Most holy God and plead for mercy through the<br />

blood of His son,Jesus.<br />

Moreover after the ascension of Jesus to His father,<br />

God bestows the greatest privilege unknown to the<br />

saints of the Old Testament, i.e. the in-dwelling of<br />

the Holy Spirit. This, third person of the trinity was<br />

sent to reveal and have a personal relationship<br />

with us. Jesus was called Immanuel “God with<br />

us” and the Holy Spirit is always with us to help<br />

us, guide us, convict us of all our sins and also<br />

comfort us in all our pains. He is the only good<br />

spirit, who can guide us to Jesus.<br />

We have to have a personal relationship with the<br />

unseen God to be His bride, just knowing God<br />

will not help us at all. Our knowledge about God<br />

has to be exercised to build a relationship with<br />

Him and eventually be earned, by our consistent<br />

commitment in seeking him and His mercy. The


psalmist speaks about his personal relationship<br />

with God and the new testament saints like Paul,<br />

John and other Apostles also stood up for Christ<br />

against all odds of pain and shame, due to their<br />

personal relationship and love for their Savior.<br />

Apostle Paul says with pride, who can separate<br />

me from the love of God in the book of Romans,<br />

even a few hymns of our times; sketches the<br />

relationship of God with man, in the most intimate<br />

way. Let’s read through the lyrics of a popular<br />

hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus” and feel<br />

the personal connect between the writer and God.<br />

What a friend we have in Jesus,<br />

All our sins and grieves to bear!<br />

What a privilege to carry<br />

Everything to God in prayer!<br />

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,<br />

Oh, what needless pain we bear,<br />

All because we do not carry<br />

Everything to God in prayer!<br />

The bible says, “The Lord is near unto all those<br />

who call upon Him with truth”, so if we seek Him<br />

diligently, we will find Him. Remember the very<br />

reason we were created; was to have a soulsatisfying<br />

relationship with our creator. He is the<br />

only one who can complete us, without Him in our<br />

lives; we would suffer a huge vacuum and it’s a<br />

space that can be only filled by Him and Him alone.


Separated From God<br />

Is your Salvation<br />

Secured?<br />

By Julie B. Cosgrove<br />

Several decades ago, a self-help book popularized<br />

the phrase, “I’m okay, you’re okay.”<br />

It promoted tolerance and understanding to<br />

the extreme. We each had a “right” to be who we<br />

wanted, live the way we wanted and think the way<br />

we wanted. This sentiment has filtered into our<br />

society, tainting it with a “this is the way I am so<br />

accept me” attitude. It seems recently, the ripple<br />

effect has edged into the Christian community.<br />

One popular bumper sticker proclaims, “God isn’t<br />

finished with me yet.” Another states, “I’m not perfect<br />

but being perfected.” Facebook posts spout<br />

that Christians are sinners just like everyone else,<br />

only they have been forgiven. The church has<br />

been referred to as a hospital for those who know<br />

their souls are sick. There is truth in all of these<br />

statements, but there is also a hidden plea for<br />

over-tolerance, not just amongst our fellow believ-<br />

ers but by the world who views us as hypocritical<br />

because we don’t walk like we talk.<br />

Paul knew this problem. He mourned that he<br />

wanted to “do good”, but because of his human<br />

nature he still had a tendency to “do bad”. For I do<br />

not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not<br />

want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:19<br />

But, he didn’t stop there. He proclaims, Thanks<br />

be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ<br />

our Lord! (vs. 25) Paul told the Roman Christians<br />

everyone has sinned. No one can achieve<br />

the loftiness of the glory of God by anything they<br />

can do, say or pray without the intervention of the<br />

perfect sacrificial lamb, Jesus, to intercede for<br />

them. Scripture tells us Christ lived to die for us.<br />

Because of our naturally sinful nature, due to the


“By our very nature,<br />

all human beings fall<br />

short and sin. That<br />

doesn’t mean it is<br />

our blanket excuse<br />

to keep on doing<br />

so.”<br />

fall from grace by Adam and Eve, only a holy God<br />

in human form could be qualified to give Himself<br />

up as atonement for the rest of the world.<br />

Heretics in the early church mistook atonement to<br />

mean they could live a sinful life as long as they<br />

confessed their sins on their death bed. Sort of a<br />

have-our-sin-cake-and-eat-it-too philosophy. Paul<br />

tried to correct their understanding. However,<br />

today in the wake of the “I’m okay, you’re okay”<br />

movement, this falsehood has once again surfaced.<br />

Believers shrug their shoulders and reply,<br />

“I’m still tainted by being on earth. I’m going to<br />

sin. I can’t help it. That’s why I asked Jesus into<br />

my life.” They act as if Christ is their “get out of<br />

jail free” card in their back pocket. The Christian<br />

should be saying, “I’m not okay and neither are<br />

you. But I am trying to change. That’s why I need<br />

a Savior. How about you?”<br />

By our very nature, all human beings fall short and<br />

sin. That doesn’t mean it is our blanket excuse to<br />

keep on doing so. Somewhere along the line, we<br />

are to strive to sin less, prompted by the Holy Spirit<br />

we have asked to dwell in us. Paul also tells the<br />

Roman Christians, Do not conform to the pattern<br />

of this world, but be transformed by the renewing<br />

of your mind. Then you will be able to test and<br />

approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing<br />

and perfect will. Romans 12:2 He explains in his<br />

second letter to the Corinthians, And we all, who<br />

with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory,<br />

are being transformed into his image with everincreasing<br />

glory, which comes from the Lord, who<br />

is the Spirit. (3:18)<br />

Yes, Christ accepts us as we are, but He never<br />

said to stay that way. Often, during His ministry<br />

on earth, Jesus told the recipient of a miracle to<br />

“go and sin no more.” Granted, no one will obtain<br />

a pure sin-less nature as long as they walk on<br />

this planet, but should not we be striving towards<br />

that goal? To expect God to always wipe the slate<br />

clean and have it not affect our actions or thoughts<br />

is to teeter on a dangerous precipice.<br />

Why? We never know when Christ will return and<br />

the Bible clearly states we will be accountable<br />

for our actions at the end of the age. Ttue, if we<br />

receive Christ as our Savior, he covers our sin<br />

with His blood, so that God sees us veiled in<br />

Christ’s mercy. Christ stands between those have<br />

proclaimed Him to be Savior and God the Father.<br />

The Father “sees” us through the veil of forgiveness


and allows us to enter into His presence draped in<br />

the mercy of Christ’s sacrifice.<br />

However, if we have not been a good witness, if<br />

we have not served others before we serve ourselves,<br />

if we have not studied Scripture and made<br />

the honest effort to live a godly life, we will have to<br />

answer as to why. For we must all appear before<br />

the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may<br />

receive what is due us for the things done while in<br />

the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10<br />

Let us remember that our God is a holy God. Even<br />

though He is long suffering and slow to anger, He<br />

cannot, by His very nature, be in the presence of<br />

sin. Sin separates us from God. It blocks us from<br />

having a full, loving and rich relationship we were<br />

meant to have with our Creator. When Jesus took<br />

on the sins of the world on the cross, God had to<br />

look the other way. How it must have broken His<br />

heart. Why would we not think the same occurs<br />

when we continue to sin?<br />

We break His heart in two ways when we do not<br />

repent of our sins and endeavor to live a more<br />

blameless life, walking in love as Christ loves us.<br />

First, we cheapen the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice<br />

if we consider it as a “king’s x” card to slap down<br />

each time we sin without any desire to improve.<br />

There is a difference between simply asking forgiveness<br />

and striving for true repentance. Secondly,<br />

if our sinning continues, we cannot receive<br />

the full benefit of His blessings. Guilt creeps in.<br />

Like a rebellious child, we avoid close contact.<br />

We don’t want Daddy to know what we did. We<br />

separate ourselves from Him. When we turn our<br />

backs on Him and try to hide our sin, just as Adam<br />

and Eve did, it grieves Him. Our Father God wants<br />

nothing more than to be in relationship with us.<br />

Once we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives, our<br />

sinful nature begins to decrease as the light of<br />

Christ shining through us increases. Or at least<br />

that is the way it is supposed to work. Not to say<br />

our works will save us, but out of gratitude for<br />

the fact we have a bridge to the Father through<br />

Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, should<br />

we not strive to become more Christ-like?<br />

Perhaps we would draw more people to Him if we<br />

stood out from the crowd a bit. Maybe more would<br />

notice a peace, a deep happiness and a purpose<br />

that envelopes us. They would look in puzzlement<br />

at us who do not need crutches such as drugs,<br />

alcohol, wild behavior or illicit sex to be content or<br />

fill the void in our lives. They would notice we are<br />

the first to forgive, to lend a hand, and to not hold a<br />

grudge. They would see us as honest, trustworthy<br />

and reliable. Maybe they’d wonder why negative<br />

grumblings do not come out of our mouths, but<br />

marvel at our positive attitude even during times<br />

of stress and tragedy.<br />

By glorifying our Lord through our attitudes, good<br />

works and love, they may just realize “I’m okay,<br />

you’re okay” is a falsehood and want what we proclaim<br />

instead.


Salvation<br />

Comes With<br />

A Price<br />

But it may not be what you<br />

think!<br />

By Margo McKenzie<br />

People have been programmed<br />

to believe that if<br />

they do good deeds, they<br />

will be rewarded. From where<br />

does this idea originate? It starts<br />

in the home. Well meaning parents<br />

often give rewards to their<br />

children when they do something<br />

worthy of merit. A parent<br />

will give a child an award for a<br />

special achievement or an allowance<br />

when children complete<br />

their chores.<br />

In sports, little league coaches<br />

award children with certificates,<br />

medals and trophies. Schools<br />

awards students with stars and<br />

other commendations in recognition<br />

of special achievements.<br />

Sometimes teachers print the<br />

names of achieving students<br />

on bulletin boards. As a reward<br />

for good deeds, school administrators<br />

invite students to pizza<br />

parties, honor assemblies and<br />

special trips.<br />

“For the wages<br />

of sin is death,<br />

but the gift of<br />

God is eternal<br />

life though<br />

Jesus our<br />

Lord.” Romans<br />

6:23


Girl scouts provide badges and<br />

pins to show the achievements<br />

their charges have made. The<br />

website girl scouts.org girl<br />

indicates, “Girl Scout badges<br />

are a great way for a girl to<br />

explore her interests and learn<br />

new skills—and to remember<br />

every adventure and show the<br />

world what she’s accomplished.”<br />

After girls have built a website,<br />

rode in a kayak, etc, they are<br />

awarded a badge. Boy scouts<br />

have their merit system as well.<br />

After cooking, camping and<br />

other achievements boys scouts<br />

are awarded a badge. The more<br />

badges on one’s scout uniform,<br />

the more impressive the scout.<br />

On the job, workers who do well<br />

are also rewarded, sometimes<br />

with merit pay; other times with<br />

promotions. Popular culture and<br />

the media reinforce the notion<br />

about merit and reward. No one<br />

receives an Emmy unless he/<br />

she performed extraordinary<br />

work. The same holds true for<br />

any American Music Awards<br />

and Tony Awards. The most<br />

ambitious in these categories<br />

work hard to achieve that award.<br />

They want that star, that boost in<br />

salary or recognition.<br />

From sources inside and outside<br />

the home the message is clear:<br />

good works will result in good<br />

rewards. These merit systems<br />

are necessary for a community,<br />

society, country to keep the<br />

focus on the highest level of<br />

performance. From these<br />

awards society understands<br />

what excellence is. It identifies<br />

the goal for which one should<br />

aspire. it maintains steady growth<br />

and honor. This is how the world<br />

operates. This is the wisdom of<br />

the world in operation. All around<br />

the connection between hard<br />

work and reward is sustained.<br />

It is no wonder then that some<br />

people bring this same merit<br />

system of thinking to their<br />

relationship with God causing<br />

them to believe that if they do<br />

good works, God will extend<br />

to them the gift of salvation.<br />

They just cannot believe that<br />

salvation is free. As a result<br />

they may donate large sums<br />

to organizations and churches,<br />

work up brownie points to<br />

earn salvation. They may join<br />

numerous auxiliaries in the<br />

church. Even the rich young ruler<br />

in the synagogue couldn’t believe<br />

that he could do nothing to earn<br />

salvation. He asked Jesus, “What<br />

must I do to be saved?” implicit<br />

in the question is that salvation<br />

rested on his achievements. He<br />

had the audacity to tell Jesus<br />

that he already obeyed the<br />

ten commandments. In short,<br />

he was saying that he was<br />

already doing those things that<br />

are considered good. Jesus<br />

challenged the man even further<br />

and told him to sell all his goods<br />

and give the proceeds to the<br />

poor. (Matthew 19:21) Jesus<br />

knew the man could not do that.<br />

In fact, Jesus’ whole message<br />

during his teaching was that<br />

there is nothing one can do to be<br />

saved. By faith, salvation must<br />

be accepted as a gift from God.<br />

Awards vs Gifts. According to<br />

dictionary. com, awards are<br />

given because they are “due or<br />

merited.” The recipient must do<br />

something of merit to earn one.<br />

On the other hand, the same<br />

website indicates that gifts are<br />

“something given voluntarily<br />

without payment in return.” In<br />

short, the recipient does nothing<br />

to merit a gift.<br />

From the beginning of time,<br />

God has been conveying the<br />

message that there is nothing<br />

people can do to cover their sin.<br />

Adam and Eve tried by covering<br />

their nakedness with fig leaves.<br />

God replaced their covering<br />

with one of his own—the gift of<br />

an animal skin. (Genesis 3:21).<br />

Much later God knew that the<br />

children of Israel could not<br />

obey his commandments even<br />

though he established a system<br />

whereby they annually offered<br />

up sacrifice for sin. But they<br />

kept committing the same sins.<br />

There was nothing they could<br />

do to earn salvation then and<br />

there is nothing that people can<br />

do today. That is why God took<br />

matters into his own hands. “ . .<br />

.[he] had offered for all time one<br />

sacrifice for sins, he sat down at<br />

the right hand of God.” All the<br />

work is already done.<br />

Out of the kindness of a giver’s<br />

heart, gifts are given. We are<br />

told in Romans 3:23 (NIV) “The<br />

wages of sin is death, but the<br />

gift of God is eternal life through<br />

Jesus Christ our Lord.” There<br />

is nothing that we can do to earn<br />

God’s gift to the world. He gave<br />

“his only begotten son.” (Johns<br />

3:16 NIV). And God did this while<br />

we were yet in sin. When we<br />

were still enemies with God, he<br />

gave the utmost for our benefit.<br />

Anyone who thinks that they<br />

can do something that is good<br />

enough, holy enough, beautiful<br />

enough, sacrificial enough to<br />

merit God’s only son, doesn’t<br />

understand who God is. Nor<br />

do they understand the cost of<br />

God’s son to the world.


Jesus Christ offered the ultimate<br />

sacrifice to restore his creation<br />

back to himself. If people could<br />

do something to deserve the gift,<br />

that would nullify the gift. . “.For<br />

it is by grace you have been<br />

saved, through faith--and this is<br />

not from yourselves, it is the gift<br />

of God. . . (Ephesians 2:8 NIV)<br />

The very word of God tells us<br />

there is nothing people can do to<br />

earn salvation. God eliminated<br />

people’s bragging rights. When<br />

it comes to salvation, the only<br />

person we can brag about is<br />

Jesus Christ himself.<br />

In fact the Bible tells us “. . .all<br />

our righteous acts are like filthy<br />

rags . . .” (Isaiah 64:6 NIV). Yes,<br />

God considered our best work<br />

as filthy rags, a thing of disgust.<br />

On a human level, when people<br />

give gifts they often consider the<br />

worthiness of the recipient when<br />

trying to determine how much<br />

to spend. I know someone<br />

who had two sets of gifts. One<br />

set of gifts were gifts received<br />

from others. These gifts were<br />

second tier gifts for second tier<br />

recipients. Their thinking is: I‘ve<br />

got to give something, but I don’t<br />

want to make a financial sacrifice<br />

to do so. The recipient is of<br />

little significance, cannot give<br />

much back to the giver, so that<br />

person gets a re-gift. The first<br />

tier gifts are for first rate friends<br />

and relatives. These recipients<br />

have more to offer the giver in<br />

the form of prestige, honor or<br />

even gifts. The giver makes<br />

more of an investment in these<br />

gifts. At Christmas people<br />

may say, “I need to get him/her<br />

since he/she gave me one.”<br />

These people believe that a gift<br />

is like Newton’s Law of Motion:<br />

every action has an equal and<br />

opposite reaction. In this sense,<br />

gift giving becomes a quid pro<br />

quo phenomenon. You gift me<br />

and I will gift you back. When<br />

gifts are freely given people<br />

can’t even accept them. They<br />

feel compelled to reciprocate.<br />

However the ping-pong system<br />

of giving does not work with<br />

God. Ever since the Garden<br />

of Eden, God has shown that<br />

there is nothing we can do to<br />

make ourselves right with God.<br />

Adam and Eve tried to do it with<br />

fig leaves, but their method was<br />

insufficient. God later provided<br />

something better—animal skins.<br />

(Genesis 3:21)<br />

If the children of Israel could<br />

keep the ten commandments,<br />

they could merit salvation. It<br />

may have taken hundreds of<br />

years, but God demonstrated,<br />

they couldn’t do it. Paul, in<br />

Romans 3:23 explains why “. . .<br />

no one will be declared righteous<br />

in God’s sight by the works of<br />

the law; rather, through the law<br />

we become conscious of our<br />

sin.” So no matter how good the<br />

Israelites tried to be, they would<br />

never be good enough. In fact,<br />

none of us could ever perform<br />

enough good deeds to meet<br />

God’s standard.<br />

The Apostle Paul clarifies<br />

mankind’s predicament when<br />

he says, “ all have sinned and<br />

fall short of the glory of God”<br />

(Romans 3:23 NIV). Then<br />

he goes onto say in Romans<br />

6:23 (NIV),“For the wages of<br />

sin is death, but the gift of God<br />

is eternal life though Jesus<br />

our Lord.” God’s reality is that<br />

there is nothing that man can<br />

do to earn salvation. Our best<br />

efforts fall short. But that’s okay<br />

because He extends a gift to<br />

humans anyway.<br />

People who believe that they<br />

must work to earn salvation<br />

demonstrate a level of pride<br />

when they have more faith in<br />

themselves than they do in the<br />

work of God, and James 4:6<br />

(NIV) establishes that “God<br />

resists the proud. . .” Instead of<br />

focusing on the perfect work of<br />

an infallible God, they are putting<br />

the emphasis on themselves. In<br />

an idolatrous fashion, they value<br />

their own achievements over the<br />

seminal work of God.<br />

Not only did God give a perfect<br />

gift, but he extends that gift to<br />

all even though in their thinking<br />

or actions they show they are<br />

enemies of God. While people<br />

were still enemies of God,<br />

“while we were yet sinners,<br />

He died for us.“ (Romans 5:8<br />

NIV ) While people were still<br />

doing things to dishonor God:<br />

Herod cut off Jesus’ follower,<br />

John the Baptists’s head; one<br />

disciple denied he even knew<br />

Jesus. Another sold Jesus to<br />

his enemies for thirty-two pieces<br />

of silver. There are numerous<br />

other examples. While these<br />

and others tried to undermine or<br />

negate what Jesus stood for, He<br />

was undeterred in his journey to<br />

show His ultimate love for them,<br />

the journey that would lead to<br />

the cross. To the carnal mind<br />

this is mind-boggling.<br />

As the Apostle Paul states, “<br />

. . . for a good man someone<br />

might possibly dare to die, but<br />

God demonstrates his own love<br />

for us in this: While we were<br />

still sinners, Christ died for us.”<br />

(Romans 5:7-8). The balance of<br />

giving remains uneven with the


heavy weight falling on the side<br />

of Jesus Christ.<br />

On the human level, when a gift<br />

is given, people do not expect<br />

the recipient to perform any<br />

work to receive it. If the recipient<br />

does, it is no longer a gift, it is<br />

an exchange. In fact, if a giver<br />

extends a gift to someone, and<br />

the recipient attempts to respond<br />

with a payback, the giver would<br />

probably be insulted.<br />

John 3; !6 establishes that the<br />

price of his gift was enormous,<br />

“ For God so loved the world<br />

that he gave his only begotten<br />

son. that whosever believes in<br />

him should not perish, but have<br />

everlasting life.” God’s gift was<br />

given out of love. What was<br />

his gift? His son. And God has<br />

established that there is only<br />

one appropriate response to his<br />

gift and that is by faith, receive it.<br />

God wants his gifts to be received<br />

in the spirit in which it was given.<br />

Anything given in love should<br />

be accepted with humility. We<br />

cannot outmatch God in our<br />

giving. To try to do so is an act<br />

of pride on our part.<br />

Jesus has ushered in a new<br />

paradigm. He understood and<br />

still understands the curse of<br />

labor. One does get weary.<br />

His aim is to relieve us of the<br />

burden and he says, “Come<br />

to me, all you who are weary<br />

and burdened, and I will give<br />

you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) He<br />

completed the essential work of<br />

salvation and freely extends the<br />

benefits to all. This is a call to<br />

stop the futile work, walk with<br />

God, learn of him and enjoy the<br />

rest He has provided.<br />

Short Bio: Margo McKenzie,<br />

a New York City resident, is a<br />

wife and mother of two adult<br />

daughters. She is working on<br />

her first novel entitled Shaken.


Known By Your Fruit<br />

By Vernita Simmons<br />

The life of a Christian is exciting, adventurous and filled with joy, peace, disappointments and<br />

challenges. Our purpose and passion is to show forth the “Amazing Love and Forgiving Grace of<br />

God” within a world stained by sin and to make disciples throughout the nation. Everything which<br />

a Christian does or say should reflect that we are truly saved. Our countenance radiates the presence<br />

of God dwelling within us. Most importantly, we are marked by having godly character while our actions<br />

should always please the Lord no matter what.<br />

Having said that, one amazing means in which to identify if a person is really saved is thru the fruits


that they bear. By their fruit you<br />

will recognize them [that is, by<br />

their contrived doctrine and selffocus].<br />

Do people pick grapes<br />

from thorn bushes or figs from<br />

thistles? (Matt. 7:16). Such<br />

fruit shows forth what we really<br />

believe in. It’s the evidence of<br />

what drives us to do what we do.<br />

It’s the proof of what motivates<br />

our actions. It’s the affirmation<br />

of a faith filled life in God. And by<br />

all means such a life reflects one<br />

in obedience to Christ.<br />

The evidence of the presence<br />

of God in our lives is shown<br />

through our obedience to live<br />

in accordance to the principles<br />

outlined in the Word of God.<br />

You see - Christians doesn’t just<br />

listen to God’s Word, we live the<br />

word daily. The word of God is<br />

our lifeline, a beacon which lead<br />

and guides us wherever we<br />

go. It anchors our faith in God.<br />

Therefore, we’re not just not listening<br />

as the word of is taught,<br />

we participate by practicing what<br />

is instructed within the word of<br />

God. However, when He, the<br />

Spirit of truth, has come, He will<br />

guide you into all truth; for He will<br />

not speak on His own authority,<br />

but whatever He hears He will<br />

speak, and He will tell you things<br />

to come. (John 16:13). We can<br />

depend upon God’s word to correct<br />

us and keep us on the path<br />

of righteousness. All scripture<br />

is given by inspiration of God,<br />

and is profitable for doctrine,<br />

for reproof, for correction, for<br />

instruction in righteousness, that<br />

the man of God may be complete,<br />

thoroughly equipped for<br />

every work. (II Tim. 3:14-17).<br />

The word of God is a source of<br />

life which connects us to Jesus.<br />

The infallible word of God sustain<br />

us through the tough times<br />

because we walk by faith and<br />

not by sight. (I Cor. 5:7). God’s<br />

word is trustworthy. It’s a reliable<br />

source of hope and encouragement.<br />

We know without a doubt, everything<br />

the Bible states pertaining<br />

to Salvation, faith, the birth and<br />

resurrection of Jesus Christ,<br />

and the practices of Christianity;<br />

etc; is unequivocally and<br />

wholly useful and true. There<br />

shall never be a case of identity<br />

theft with the Bible because its<br />

teaching are without error and<br />

shall not be void but accomplish<br />

its purpose.<br />

The evidence of being saved is<br />

proved by our willingness to be<br />

compassionate and forgiving.<br />

It’s having an attitude of service<br />

whether it be in missions at<br />

home or abroad, giving unselfishly<br />

of ourselves to help others<br />

while expecting nothing rather<br />

than hoping the non-believer<br />

will choose to repent and accept<br />

Jesus as their Savior. Also, being<br />

a source of encouragement and<br />

treating our enemies with grace,<br />

respect and dignity despite<br />

their opposition. (Rom.12:14).<br />

We choose to bless those who<br />

oppose us.<br />

Above all they shall know that<br />

we have accepted Jesus as our<br />

Savior by our love, which comes<br />

forth from our ABC’s:<br />

Attitude ~ Pleasant, friendly, full<br />

of warmth, walking by faith and<br />

not by sight, people are drawn to<br />

us because of our enthusiasm<br />

Behavior ~ Good conduct, obedient,<br />

respectful and self-control<br />

Communication<br />

~ Honest,<br />

listen and know when to be<br />

silent, discern in the spirit and<br />

open-minded while communication<br />

effectively<br />

Therefore, to those who resist<br />

Christianity, we shall be a “living<br />

walking Bible”; lifting up Jesus to<br />

the world while living a life which<br />

bring the Lord glory, honor and<br />

praise, through which Jesus<br />

shall draw all men to Christ.<br />

Is it possible to just “mouth” the<br />

words of salvation and not mean<br />

it with your heart?<br />

In I Corinthians 3:1-3; the Apostle<br />

Paul address a serious issue<br />

in regard to carnality.<br />

Carnal: 4559 – sarkikos (Greek)<br />

pertaining to the flesh, bodily,<br />

temporal, or (by implication)<br />

animal, unregenerate:--carnal,<br />

fleshly.<br />

In accordance to scripture,<br />

Christians can be carnal. In<br />

other words, such Christians live<br />

to appease their flesh. However,<br />

a real genuine Christian will not<br />

remain carnal indefinitely. Therefore,<br />

to answer the above question……<br />

The only way this can<br />

be possible is that such a person<br />

has a form of godliness but denying<br />

the power thereof. (II Timothy<br />

3:1-9). They have trained<br />

themselves to talk the talk but<br />

don’t walk nor live in accordance<br />

to the word of God. Such don’t<br />

mean it because they never<br />

committed themselves to fully<br />

being sold out to Jesus. They<br />

hear the word of God……even<br />

quote scriptures but are unable<br />

to be rooted and grounded in<br />

the word. They become soaked<br />

and absorbed with the cares<br />

of this life resulting in pleasing


their flesh rather than continuously<br />

feeding their spirit while at<br />

the same time confessing to be<br />

saved.<br />

The seed of the word of God<br />

spreads aboard thru out the<br />

earth. And Salvation includes<br />

a surrendered heart to the Lord.<br />

It’s being transformed by the<br />

renewing of your mind. Don’t<br />

become so well-adjusted to your<br />

culture that you fit into it without<br />

even thinking. Instead, fix<br />

your attention on God. Readily<br />

recognize what he wants from<br />

you, and quickly respond to it.<br />

Unlike the culture around you,<br />

always dragging you down to its<br />

level of immaturity, God brigs the<br />

best out of you, develops wellformed<br />

maturity in you. (Rom.<br />

12:1-2). However, when someone<br />

continues to conform to the<br />

customs and ways of the world,<br />

they want discern biblical truth.<br />

Because their mind has not<br />

been transformed, they continue<br />

to walk according to the world’s<br />

way of thinking. When you think<br />

wrong………you do wrong. In<br />

actuality, your life is built upon a<br />

delusion which convinces you to<br />

act in ungodly ways. Thus, when<br />

you hear the word of God, it has<br />

no effect because you refuse to<br />

be governed by it. So, you are<br />

quickly deceived because you<br />

want to hold on to that which is in<br />

direct contradiction to righteousness.<br />

Such people make a show of<br />

salvation and are twisted in their<br />

thinking and can lead many<br />

astray. This is why it’s important<br />

to expose your mind to the<br />

truth which is written in the word<br />

of God. That truth will redirect<br />

you to the truth of who Jesus is.<br />

That truth will purge you of your<br />

old former life of sin and decay<br />

by renewing your mind. That<br />

truth will open your eyes that the<br />

enemy will no longer hold you<br />

hostage in wrong thinking. This<br />

is why we are not ashamed of<br />

the gospel of Jesus Christ and<br />

will let our light shine that all will<br />

see our good works and glorify<br />

God. (II Cor. 4:6; Rom. 1:16;<br />

Matt. 5:16). Using the world as<br />

our platform, we walk in the spirit<br />

and bear good fruit. I say then:<br />

Walk in the spirit, and you shall<br />

not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But<br />

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,<br />

peace, long suffering, kindness,<br />

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,<br />

self-control. Against such<br />

there is no law. And those who are<br />

Christ’s have crucified the flesh<br />

with its passions and desires. If<br />

we live in the spirit, let us also<br />

walk in the spirit. (Gal. 5:16;<br />

22-25). These fruits enables us<br />

to live a life of virtue, whereby,<br />

we live with passion and make a<br />

profound difference in our home,<br />

on our job, at church, in our community<br />

and within society. And as<br />

we share the message of salvation,<br />

we are planting seeds into<br />

the hearts and minds of those<br />

whom have been deceived by<br />

the enemy. There will be some<br />

whose mind will be changed and<br />

come to Jesus. For this cause,<br />

with enthusiasm, we are world<br />

changers and history makers.


Shannon Perry TV host<br />

and Author releases her<br />

third book, a must read<br />

for mothers of teenage daughters,<br />

Shannon covers topics that<br />

relate to girls agers from 12-18.<br />

Perry has one of the largest<br />

Christian websites in the world<br />

Anyone that deals with teenage<br />

girls would benefit from the book<br />

“ Stand” In today’s changing<br />

world we all need to know how<br />

to interact better with our daughters<br />

and this book does just that.<br />

Shannon, tell us about yourself<br />

(Laughing)… I have lived long<br />

enough that I could really<br />

bore you or excite you with my<br />

response to that question, so I’ll<br />

keep it in the middle.<br />

I was saved when I was 6, and<br />

I always wanted to be a teacher.<br />

I earned my Bachelor’s and<br />

Master’s Degree in Education<br />

and worked in the public school<br />

system for 14 years when God<br />

called me into full-time ministry.<br />

I was an Administrator in a<br />

school of 120 women, so the last<br />

thing I thought God would do is<br />

call me into “Women’s Ministry.”<br />

We women can be a little “complicated,”<br />

after all. Well, that’s<br />

exactly what He called me to,<br />

and now I have the awesome<br />

privilege of traveling and speaking<br />

to my two favorite groups--<br />

women and teen girls. I have one<br />

son, Sean, who is a captain in<br />

the Air Force and he flies planes<br />

that are the size of buildings. I<br />

always tell him “don’t wreck it,<br />

we can’t afford it!” I have one<br />

daughter in love , Michelle, and<br />

they are expecting a baby just<br />

any day. My husband David and<br />

I live in Houston with our horses,<br />

dogs and humidity.<br />

What type of education do you<br />

have?<br />

Other than my Bachelor’s and<br />

Master’s Degrees in Education (<br />

with a specialty in Counseling),<br />

I am a certified Parenting Class<br />

Instructor and Crisis Counselor.<br />

What is the book about and<br />

what does it cover? Why did<br />

you choose this topic?<br />

The book<br />

“Stand” was<br />

written to<br />

offer teens<br />

the TRUTH of<br />

God’s Word<br />

in every area<br />

they face. In<br />

the book, we<br />

offer real, raw<br />

truth about the<br />

issues teens<br />

face and the<br />

truth from<br />

God’s Word<br />

in areas such<br />

as: Friendship,<br />

Dating,<br />

Esteem, Body<br />

Image, Bullying,<br />

Cutting,<br />

Gender Identity,<br />

Sex, Talking<br />

Effectively<br />

with Parents,<br />

Technology,<br />

the “Tougher”<br />

issues, and<br />

more. I chose<br />

the title “Stand”<br />

because our teens have to learn<br />

how to take a “Stand” with Truth<br />

when faced with Real Teen Life.<br />

You stated that you had help<br />

with the book, who helped<br />

you? Can you explain the process?<br />

I had amazing help writing this<br />

book from ten teen girls ages<br />

12-18. For eight weeks last<br />

summer, the girls and I met in<br />

my home and discussed what<br />

they felt were relevant issues<br />

that teens are facing. Then,<br />

the girls shared stories, advice<br />

and scripture to help their readers<br />

find answers in each of the<br />

topics we covered.<br />

How do you think, the help you<br />

Shannon Perry H<br />

Th<br />

had with the girls, impacted<br />

the book?<br />

The girl’s input made it relevant.<br />

I do not face teen issues every<br />

day, but these girls do, and they<br />

know what teens need. By getting<br />

answers from the girls,<br />

teens know that this book was<br />

written by someone who “gets”<br />

where they are and what they’re


going through. As a result, teens<br />

are more open to receiving the<br />

“Truth” of God’s Word because<br />

they don’t feel “preached” to,<br />

they feel understood and valued.<br />

The “Truth” is always easier to<br />

accept when we know someone<br />

seeks to understand us. By<br />

having the girls help with the<br />

book, teens know that we seek<br />

to understand their world and<br />

much drama goes into their<br />

friendships. Hurt feelings, being<br />

left out of a group, being talked<br />

about on social media, losing a<br />

friendship and having no friends<br />

are the continual concerns mentioned<br />

when it comes to friendship<br />

and teens. As a result, we<br />

address how to make and keep<br />

solid friendships in “Stand.” We<br />

know that girls will more than<br />

likely have drama at some point<br />

in their friendship, so they need<br />

tools to combat that drama and<br />

“iron out the kinks” quickly so<br />

that their school work, family<br />

and other social networks are<br />

not affected over the long haul.<br />

After all, “if the teenager ain’t<br />

happy, ain’t nobody happy.”<br />

Friendships can be long lasting<br />

and parents can help their<br />

teens learn the skills for building<br />

such friendships through the tips<br />

offered in the book.<br />

Has the issues that girls face<br />

changed over the years?<br />

The issues that girls face have<br />

not changed as much as the<br />

way these issues may be transmitted.<br />

Social media and the<br />

elps Parents Better Under”Stand”<br />

eir Tween/Teens<br />

By Lynn Dunn<br />

offer sound, Biblical solutions on<br />

how to deal with even the toughest<br />

topics.<br />

You discuss how girls communicate<br />

with their peers in the<br />

book, why do you think parents<br />

need to be made aware?<br />

One of the main concerns I hear<br />

from parents of teen girls is how<br />

internet bring a completely different<br />

twist to the teen life that<br />

most of us as parents never had<br />

to face. If we wanted to talk<br />

about a problem with someone,<br />

we called them. Now, teens can<br />

spread their thoughts and beliefs<br />

about someone to thousands of<br />

people with the push of a button<br />

and a great amount of damage


may result. Learning to navigate<br />

the “traps” of social media is<br />

discussed heavily in “Stand” so<br />

that teens are proactive in how<br />

to deal with such issues if/when<br />

they occur.<br />

In the book you talk about<br />

gender identity, and purity. Do<br />

you think this is still a goal of<br />

teen girls?<br />

According to our study group,<br />

purity is definitely a goal of most<br />

teen girls, but it is very challenging<br />

in a world where the media<br />

is screaming “anything goes.”<br />

The issue of gender identity is<br />

discussed at length in “Stand”<br />

because it is an “in your face”<br />

topic that teens want to know<br />

how to handle in a firm, but<br />

loving and truthful way. Most<br />

teens in our study group shared<br />

stories of those they encounter<br />

daily who profess to be “in a<br />

relationship” with the same sex.<br />

It has become a “fad” that forces<br />

itself on this generation. Christian<br />

teens want to share what<br />

the Bible says on this topic in<br />

a way that they make a loving<br />

difference in the lives of those<br />

who are struggling. In “Stand,”<br />

I share a personal story of one<br />

lady who came to a conference<br />

I was teaching as a professing<br />

lesbian who owned a gay bar<br />

and was engaged to her partner.<br />

She met Jesus at the conference<br />

where I was teaching, and her<br />

entire life changed. When asked<br />

what made the difference, she<br />

humbly admits, “It was the loving<br />

way you shared Jesus with me.”<br />

I also address those who may be<br />

struggling with gender identify<br />

and offer hope and help to them,<br />

as well.<br />

This is your third book, is<br />

every book writing experience<br />

different?<br />

I wish every book writing experience<br />

was the same! It would<br />

certainly make the life of every<br />

writer a lot easier, but like having<br />

kids, they are all different. Some<br />

are more challenging than<br />

others, and some just seem to<br />

comply with little effort. “Stand”<br />

was my “kid” who complied with<br />

little effort because of the work<br />

that the girls put into the writing<br />

process. Their input made this<br />

writing experience exciting and<br />

informative and I loved every<br />

moment of it!<br />

What did you gain from writing<br />

the book?<br />

The greatest lesson I have<br />

walked away with after writing<br />

“Stand” is that teens want honesty<br />

and to be treated like they<br />

can handle the truth. I, as many<br />

other adults, often tend to treat<br />

teens as if they need to be sheltered<br />

from the world’s ways.<br />

Unfortunately, the world’s ways<br />

are in their back pocket at all<br />

times. It’s called a cell phone.<br />

As long as there is an internet,<br />

the world has our teen’s attention<br />

at all times on all subjects.<br />

All they have to do is ask. As a<br />

Christian, it is my deepest desire<br />

to offer the life-changing truth of<br />

God’s Word, and do it in a way<br />

that is not “preachy.” The girls<br />

asked two things of me when I<br />

was writing: 1. “Ms. Shannon,<br />

don’t make the writing ‘preachy’<br />

or teens won’t read it. 2. Tell<br />

stories. Teens always relate to<br />

stories.” I took their requests<br />

seriously and did my best to provide<br />

stories that are relatable<br />

with truths that are life-changing,<br />

minus the preaching of course.<br />

Do you have plans for future<br />

books?<br />

According to my publicist, I must<br />

always answer “yes” to that<br />

question…lol. As long as God<br />

allows me to continue to learn,<br />

I will share my life lessons and<br />

the answers He gives me with<br />

others. After all, we need one<br />

another.<br />

Shannon, tell us about your<br />

show “Grace in High Heels”<br />

and the conferences that you<br />

hold?<br />

“Grace in High Heels” is the TV<br />

show that I host. It airs nationwide<br />

into over 84 million homes<br />

weekly on various networks and<br />

show times can be found on my<br />

website-www.shannonperry.com<br />

The show is a 30 minute show<br />

that includes special guests,<br />

teaching from my conferences,<br />

and other topics that women can<br />

relate to (fashion, health, etc.)<br />

I have written several different<br />

conferences that include teaching<br />

and music written especially<br />

for each topic of the conference.<br />

Many of the songs I co-wrote<br />

with one of the award-winning<br />

writers from Lifeway Christian<br />

Resources. One of the conferences<br />

is titled “IF THE SHOE<br />

FITS” and includes topics such<br />

as “Goody Two Shoes, Lacing<br />

Up the Tongue, Is There a Hole<br />

In Your Sole and Walk A Mile In<br />

My Shoes.” We have a LOT of<br />

fun at my events since I include<br />

a lot of funny stories, at my own<br />

expense, of course.<br />

I have also written a conference<br />

called “Purse -uing God.” We<br />

move from shoes to purses as a<br />

theme, and there are four topics<br />

with music in this conference as<br />

well.<br />

My newest conference, and one


that I am so excited about, is<br />

called “In Her Shoes.” This conference<br />

was written for Moms<br />

and their teen/tween daughters.<br />

This is a fun day for moms and<br />

daughters to connect as we<br />

have games, skits, break-out<br />

sessions, praise and worship,<br />

door prizes and more. During<br />

the conference, I teach on all<br />

the topics discussed in the book<br />

“Stand” and we are seeing God<br />

do amazing things in the lives of<br />

these moms and daughters! My<br />

favorite part of the conference<br />

is when the moms and daughters<br />

have a chance to ask one<br />

another some questions at the<br />

end of the conference. They<br />

also make a commitment to<br />

one another to work on one<br />

area where the other feels they<br />

need improvement and share a<br />

time of asking forgiveness from<br />

one another if there is anything<br />

they have done to hurt the other.<br />

There are a lot of tears and a lot<br />

of hugs and smiles during this<br />

time. It’s just awesome to watch.<br />

Churches can learn more and<br />

find out how to book an event<br />

at their church when they visit<br />

www.shannonperry.com<br />

A lady of many talents, you<br />

also have a new CD that<br />

includes music for the “In Her<br />

Shoes” Event Tell us about<br />

that?<br />

I had the awesome and amazing<br />

privilege of writing the title track<br />

“In Her Shoes” with my mom<br />

who is currently battling cancer.<br />

I am amazed at the timing of how<br />

God has allowed me to work with<br />

her so closely during this season<br />

of her life. The word “Mom” has<br />

taken on a whole new meaning<br />

for me and I want to reiterate to<br />

the girls what a special person<br />

“Mom” be fair, is right? on this The CD. same I also goes want for<br />

to God. remind If he moms treats of us the differently amazing<br />

privilege then that would they have not be of fair having either. a<br />

daughter and the God-given<br />

responsibility Another point to for all that of this life. is God The<br />

songs made a for way “In that Her is Shoes” easy to were get<br />

written to Heaven. and You chosen only to have reach to<br />

moms believe and in Jesus daughters Christ alike and with you<br />

fun, are saved. upbeat Confess messages, your as sins well<br />

as and ask deep, him thought into your provoking life. That<br />

tunes opens the that door. cause Can them you imagine to stop<br />

and if the think other about religions the relationship were true?<br />

a In mom many and religions, daughter you share. would I<br />

even have no chose idea a if couple you are of going songs to<br />

that Heaven meant until a the lot day to you me die. when Is<br />

I that was not a crazy? teen. The girls love<br />

them because they’re all new<br />

to Romans them! One 10:13 of the For songs “whoever I cowrote,<br />

calls on “Overlooked,” the name of was the made Lord<br />

into shall a be video saved.” and sends a powerful<br />

message of how no one likes<br />

to Some be “overlooked.” religions are all this based song on as<br />

the works. others So did send you powerful do enough messages<br />

God? Some to moms religions and are daughters based<br />

for<br />

of on love, merit. support Did you and do encouragement.<br />

than bad? I had This a would blast recording be a tough it<br />

more good<br />

and one for it is many the first people. project This of means mine<br />

that if I actually you lived love a bad listening life up to until in<br />

the age car. 40 and When then I turned can “jam” your with life<br />

myself, to God, I then know die it’s a two good or one three <br />

years later, you are not going to<br />

What Heaven is because your vision you didn’t of where have<br />

you enough go from time to here, do more your good. goal or<br />

dream?<br />

My I am goal telling is you to reach about into other all religions<br />

in with this the article “In as Her it is Shoes” impor-<br />

50<br />

states<br />

conference.<br />

tant to know how This they conference believe<br />

carries because such it shows a powerful that the message<br />

God made to moms salvation and daughters, is the fair-<br />

way<br />

and est and I want easiest to see way moms to reach and<br />

daughters heaven. This around is one this of the country reasons<br />

why the relationship I know the Bible they is were the<br />

enjoy<br />

intended TRUTH and to really have God’s when words. God<br />

blessed them with one another.<br />

I God also can’t want ever to teach change, truth he in can’t the<br />

areas tell a life. of dating, He can’t friendships, say one thing bullying,<br />

many esteem, years ago body and image, have communication<br />

mean something and different more so today. that<br />

it<br />

they God is have real and what he they created need a way to<br />

succeed for all of us in every to get area to Heaven. of life as a<br />

teen and eventually, as a young<br />

adult..<br />

Can you give us contact information<br />

on book, CD purchases<br />

and how to set a conference?<br />

When you visit www.shannonperry.com,<br />

you can visit the<br />

“Store” section of the website to<br />

purchase materials as well as<br />

book a conference. If more information<br />

is needed about booking<br />

a conference, simply email our<br />

office at info@shannonperry.<br />

com and we will get back with<br />

you right away.<br />

I would encourage all groups and<br />

organization’s to take advantage<br />

of the free conference that helps<br />

relates teen age girls and their<br />

mothers. In the meantime make<br />

sure you get a copy of the book<br />

“Stand” and pickup up her CD. I<br />

am sure you will receive a blessing<br />

Also do not forget to tune in<br />

to Shannon’s TV show “ Grace<br />

in High Heels,” that airs on various<br />

networks including NBR network,<br />

GEB America. Good Life<br />

and the Liberty Channel.<br />

I would like to thank Shannon<br />

Perry for taking the time to speak<br />

with us about her book. We wish<br />

you all the best.<br />

To Purchase Shannon’s<br />

books, please click on the<br />

live links below:<br />

Click here to<br />

purchase on<br />

Amazon<br />

Click here<br />

to purchase<br />

on Christian<br />

Books


There Is No<br />

Hell<br />

Just<br />

Heaven<br />

God loves me. Why would He send me to Hell?<br />

By Chris Benton<br />

The more I read articles and<br />

listen to people talk, the<br />

more I realize that many<br />

people believe this myth. They<br />

believe that either there is no<br />

hell or that everyone goes to<br />

Heaven no matter what because<br />

God loves us way too much to<br />

send us to hell.<br />

My first thought is that God is<br />

just and by being just, he can’t<br />

go against his own word. The<br />

question you have to ask yourself<br />

is, do you believe the Bible<br />

to be real or not? On this issue,<br />

there is no in between. Yes,<br />

there are some issues that we<br />

have to deal with that we have<br />

to discern on the issue. But<br />

this is not one of them because<br />

God is clear that there is a hell<br />

and people are sent there. The


whole notion that he sends them<br />

there is not right either because,<br />

in reality, they send themselves<br />

there by not believing Jesus is<br />

the only way.<br />

(Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly,<br />

unbelieving,[a] abominable,<br />

murderers, sexually<br />

immoral, sorcerers, idolaters,<br />

and all liars shall have their part<br />

in the lake which burns with<br />

fire and brimstone, which is the<br />

second death.” )<br />

You don’t get much clearer than<br />

that passage. Many people don’t<br />

want to believe because they<br />

know in their hearts that they are<br />

living in sin right now, but as God<br />

says:<br />

(Romans 6:23 For the wages of<br />

sin is death, but the gift of God<br />

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our<br />

Lord.)<br />

Again, you do not get much<br />

clearer than that passage. So<br />

many times we want to live our<br />

life and wrap the Bible around<br />

us. When in reality we are to<br />

live the Bible and wrap our lives<br />

around it. God can’t allow us to<br />

just do anything because that<br />

means his word means nothing.<br />

God also can’t have some<br />

people do the right thing and<br />

others not without some form of<br />

punishment.<br />

Imagine that you have five kids<br />

and two of them do stupid things<br />

and three of them do what they<br />

are told. My question to you is,<br />

do you treat those two the same<br />

as you do the other three? Why<br />

not? You may say that it wouldn’t<br />

I can remember many years ago<br />

as I learned about God, I would<br />

always wonder what is Heaven<br />

like. How is this possible, but<br />

God is the one that knows this<br />

answer. I have learned that<br />

there are some things we will<br />

not know the full answer to until<br />

we get to Heaven. But believing<br />

in Heaven means you have to<br />

believe in hell because with all<br />

good comes bad too. You can’t<br />

have one without the other. It all<br />

works together.<br />

Let’s pretend that all people go<br />

to Heaven, what kind of incentive<br />

do you have on earth to live<br />

God’s way? You would have<br />

none and all kinds of craziness<br />

would happen. Yes, we are<br />

seeing things we never thought<br />

we would ever see, but it would<br />

get so much worse than it is now.


Imagine telling your kids that<br />

they can have anything they<br />

want and you will never discipline<br />

them. Would you be able to<br />

raise great kids? No, you would<br />

have very spoiled kids. Your kids<br />

would grow up and become bad<br />

adults in many cases. Your kids<br />

would be so out of control that<br />

they destroy their lives.<br />

God understands this so he has<br />

to have a standard to live by.<br />

It’s all in the Bible. He created<br />

a place where all of his children<br />

can have it all. They will have a<br />

life here on earth, but then eternity<br />

in heaven. He just wants<br />

your full heart. He wants you to<br />

fully surrender to him.<br />

You may be asking why am I<br />

talking about other things when<br />

the topic was do all people go to<br />

heaven? I believe all of this ties<br />

together. You have to see from<br />

his point of view. He is perfect<br />

and he realizes that humans are<br />

NOT perfect and because of that<br />

he created a way for people to<br />

get into Heaven.<br />

Because he is perfect, he had<br />

to have a sacrifice that lived<br />

a perfect life. That is why he<br />

brought his son Jesus Christ to<br />

be that sacrifice. Christ walked<br />

this earth a perfect man and<br />

because of that he was the sacrifice.<br />

Because God is just, he<br />

had to have your sins paid for<br />

with a perfect sacrifice. If Christ<br />

did not happen then could you<br />

go to heaven?<br />

So as we have explored several<br />

angles, I hope you can see that<br />

all people can’t go to heaven<br />

because God is a just God.<br />

God has to live by who God is<br />

and without him doing that, God<br />

would not be God.<br />

Here are a few questions you<br />

have to ask. Do you believe in<br />

the Bible? Do you believe in part<br />

of the Bible or the whole Bible?<br />

Do you believe that what God<br />

says is the truth? Do you believe<br />

that God is a just God? Do you<br />

believe God is truthful or a liar? If<br />

you believe that part of the Bible<br />

is true then you have to throw<br />

out the whole Bible because<br />

that would make God a liar. If<br />

you believe in Heaven but no<br />

hell, then the bible is a liar which<br />

makes God a liar. So either you<br />

believe in the whole book or you<br />

don’t. But that is a question you<br />

have to ask yourself because<br />

when you answer that, it changes<br />

the way you read the Bible.<br />

My last point is, when you<br />

believe the fullness of the Bible<br />

then you read it with a different<br />

attitude than if you believe the<br />

Bible is just a great way to live.<br />

When you think it’s just a way<br />

to live then you see some parts<br />

and throw out the rest, but that’s<br />

not how God works. You either<br />

believe or you don’t, plain and<br />

simple!<br />

Chris Benton<br />

TheChrisBenton.com


Live It Up Now<br />

I’ll Repent Before I Die<br />

By Vernita Simmons<br />

There is a great cry going<br />

out from God to the Body<br />

of Christ to appeal to the<br />

senseless rhetoric that’s placing<br />

many in bondage thru the<br />

teachings of false doctrines and<br />

unfounded beliefs. To combat<br />

such, our greatest defense is in<br />

being a shiny light in the midst<br />

of darkness. Let your light shine<br />

before men in such a way that<br />

they may see your good deeds<br />

and moral excellence, and recognize<br />

and honor and glorify<br />

your father who is in heaven.<br />

(Matt. 5:16). You see - People<br />

will convince themselves to<br />

believe just about anything. And<br />

we must remember that the<br />

enemy has blind many that they<br />

may not believe. (II Cor. 4:1-<br />

6). When a person is spiritually<br />

blind to the truth of the gospel<br />

of Jesus Christ, they persuade<br />

themselves that they’re fine<br />

just the way they are. As they<br />

put off accepting Jesus as their<br />

Lord and Savior, their hearts<br />

become harden causing them to<br />

become hostile towards Christians.<br />

When a person continues<br />

to reject Jesus, oftentimes, we<br />

have to put ourselves in harm’s<br />

way to be that light in the midst<br />

of darkness.<br />

To risk your eternal destiny to<br />

such erroneous beliefs is futile<br />

indeed. And what I come to realize<br />

is that many unbelievers use<br />

this as an excuse to continue<br />

living a sinful lifestyle. I’ve often<br />

witness to my family, friends<br />

and others and have discovered<br />

that when they say; “they aren’t


eady”; or “I can live anyway I<br />

want and accept Jesus before<br />

I die”….... it’s due to not being<br />

ready to surrender their life of<br />

sin and commit to Jesus Christ.<br />

There’s something in their life<br />

they know is not pleasing to<br />

God, which takes priority and<br />

until they see the need to repent<br />

of their sin, they will continue to<br />

make excuses.<br />

Now, the manner in which we<br />

minister to them can make the<br />

difference in their surrendering<br />

to Christ before it is too<br />

late. As we administer God’s<br />

grace and love, we can turn their<br />

hearts towards Jesus. Thus, in<br />

facing such opposition, it is not<br />

necessary to debate or argue<br />

with them. We witness gently,<br />

patiently, tenderly, kindly impacting<br />

lives delicately. The Lord has<br />

appeared of old to me saying;<br />

“Yes, I have loved you with<br />

an everlasting love; Therefore<br />

with lovingkindness I have<br />

drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3).<br />

We point them to the error of<br />

their way by loving as Jesus<br />

loves. In other words, love<br />

must be without judging neither<br />

condemning them. We<br />

must put ourselves in their<br />

place and apply compassion<br />

while leading them to a loving<br />

Savior.<br />

By applying a meek spirit, we<br />

have a better chance of affecting<br />

lives more profoundly.<br />

God’s servant must not be<br />

argumentative, but a gently<br />

listener and a teacher who<br />

keeps cool, working firmly<br />

but patiently with those who<br />

refuse to obey. You never<br />

know how or when God might<br />

sober them up with a change


of heart and turning to the truth,<br />

enabling them to escape the<br />

Devil’s trap, where they are<br />

caught and held captive, forced<br />

to run his errands. (II Tim. 2:24-<br />

26). Our outward appearance<br />

must give evidence of humility<br />

with no signs of arrogance or<br />

pride. This is why it’s important<br />

to agree to disagree politely and<br />

respectfully. Remember, the<br />

devil, has been infiltrating their<br />

mind with false images and information<br />

for years. And the battle<br />

of the mind is a stronghold that<br />

only the Holy Spirit can destroy.<br />

By all means necessary, avoid<br />

igniting an argument with them<br />

for it only create a chaotic scene<br />

and push them further away.<br />

In actuality, behaving in such a<br />

manner causes them to question<br />

your faith. The devil would like<br />

nothing more than to have them<br />

say; “See, I told you there’s nothing<br />

to these Christians.”<br />

“I knew you were false.”<br />

Yes - Beloved, it is challenging<br />

dealing with someone who<br />

would rather exchange the truth<br />

for a lie. It can make your flesh<br />

cringe. But Jesus dealt with such<br />

throughout His earthly ministry.<br />

Anyone on God’s side listens to<br />

God’s words. This is why you’re<br />

not listening-because you’re<br />

not on God’s side.” (John 8:47).<br />

Jesus echoes such speeches<br />

throughout the book of John. He<br />

was often referred to as having<br />

a devil and being a mad man.<br />

(John 8:52; 10:20). Such was<br />

simply due because He spoke<br />

the truth of the words given to<br />

Him from His Father. When<br />

anyone desires to do the deeds<br />

according to their flesh and<br />

believe that which is in direct violation<br />

of the truth of GOD’S word,<br />

there will always be the need to<br />

induce conflict and contention.<br />

Whenever anyone holds onto a<br />

hope that leads them to a hopeless<br />

destination, they will hurl<br />

accusations and become outraged.<br />

Such actions help us to<br />

understand that some will surely<br />

perish and be eternally lost no<br />

matter how kind and thoughtful<br />

we will be.<br />

There will come a time when we<br />

simply must love them enough to<br />

leave them to their own devices.<br />

When a person doesn’t find the<br />

gift of salvation to be sacred and<br />

worthy, and choose to ridicule,<br />

reject the gospel, thus, trample<br />

on it and continue in their own<br />

sinful ways of the living, we<br />

must trust that God has another<br />

means through which to reach<br />

them. Do not give that which is<br />

holy to the dogs, and do not throw<br />

your pearls before pigs, for they<br />

will trample them under their feet<br />

and turn and tear you to pieces.<br />

(Matt. 7:6; note verse 1-5). And<br />

the Lord will send someone to<br />

share the gospel of Christ to<br />

them because there will always<br />

be some who plant and others<br />

who water. Afterwards, their soul<br />

will be touched and their heart<br />

stirred, causing them to grow<br />

and the Kingdom of God to reap<br />

a mighty harvest. (I Cor. 3:1-9).<br />

In the meantime, we continue to<br />

love them, and using the gift of<br />

discernment, we will know when<br />

to plant and water the seeds of<br />

the gospel into their life.<br />

All in all, we can’t afford to remain<br />

silent, become fearful and refrain<br />

from sharing the gospel of Jesus<br />

Christ. We must operate under<br />

the driving force of stubborn<br />

love. While there are those who<br />

are spiritually blind who will ridicule<br />

and mock the gospel, there<br />

will be those who will accept<br />

and appreciate the gospel of<br />

Jesus Christ and accept the gift<br />

of salvation before it’s too late.<br />

For this, we look forward to that<br />

blessed hope of knowing that<br />

our willingness to minister the<br />

saving grace of God to those<br />

without the hope of being saved,<br />

will receive the revelation knowledge<br />

of God and many will be<br />

saved. God bless you.


Only One Diety,<br />

Only One Jesus<br />

By Mindy L. Wallace<br />

I<br />

’ve been debating for days on just how I wanted to approach the topic of ‘the myth that says there are<br />

many gods...many deities”. Then it dawned on me. I’d rather this not be just another article of agonizing<br />

‘debate.’ Debates never have a conclusive ending, and often leave people more frustrated and less<br />

knowledgeable than before it even started. I prefer this to be a window into the heart of The One True<br />

God, so that you might see Him, find Him, and accept Him.<br />

Webster’s Dictionary defines “Myth” as a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of<br />

a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings<br />

or events; a widely held but false belief or idea.


Webster’s Dictionary defines<br />

“Faith” as complete trust or confidence<br />

in someone or something;<br />

a strong belief in God or in<br />

the doctrines of a religion, based<br />

on spiritual apprehension rather<br />

than proof.<br />

The Bible’s definition of ‘Faith’ is:<br />

“Faith cometh by hearing, and<br />

hearing by the Word of God.”<br />

Romans 10:17 KJV<br />

Unfortunately, this world offers<br />

many gods and belief systems.<br />

Numerous are founded on nothing<br />

more than a desire to prop<br />

themselves up so high that they<br />

‘out-holy’ everyone else. Such<br />

is the case with ones professing<br />

mysticism, reincarnation,<br />

the powers of positive thinking,<br />

get-to-heaven-with-good-worksagendas,<br />

manic mantras, etc.<br />

Many are borderline cults due to<br />

such rigorous demanding structures<br />

within their own church-like<br />

facilities that offer little or no freedom<br />

of choice, voice or outside<br />

contact with friends or family.<br />

What kind of gods are they?<br />

One (false) god is so strictly followed,<br />

that its followers are told<br />

to kill or be killed unless their<br />

deity is revered above all others.<br />

They constantly try to ‘work their<br />

way to heaven’ and incessantly<br />

pray to their god facing a certain<br />

direction. Hate and death is their<br />

god’s driving force.<br />

Another (false) god appears<br />

to not even have a name, yet<br />

its followers are brain washed<br />

into giving thousands of dollars<br />

to them in order to remain<br />

a member of their totalitarian<br />

sect, otherwise, they are publicly<br />

humiliated and made high examples<br />

of.<br />

One well known mid-Eastern<br />

religion boasts 320 million gods,<br />

and/or ‘forms’ of gods.<br />

Another (false) god/belief system<br />

appears to have many names<br />

professing the likelihood of reincarnation<br />

based solely on how<br />

one behaves in ‘this’ life being<br />

the judge of what you ‘come<br />

back as’ once you are ‘reincarnated.’<br />

(Examples: plant, bug,<br />

small animal, large animal, etc.)<br />

Then there is the god of ‘man.’<br />

Man has been trying to upstage<br />

not only his peers but even himself,<br />

declaring in fact, that he is<br />

God. (Example: Adolph Hitler).<br />

What do all of these (false) gods<br />

have in common? None of them<br />

have anything to do with unadulterated,<br />

selfless, sacrificial<br />

agape love. Not one.<br />

Is there a One True God who<br />

excels over all of them? Yes!<br />

He is the Great “I am”, Jehovah,<br />

Father of Abraham, Isaac,<br />

and Jacob. He is the Creator of<br />

the heavens and the earth and<br />

all mankind. He loved us before<br />

we ever even knew who He was.<br />

How do I know this? The Bible<br />

tells me so. Not to mention artifacts<br />

of verified historical archeological<br />

data.<br />

Each of us is born with a will to<br />

choose. God instilled this in us.<br />

He created us to have minds<br />

of our own so we could think<br />

for ourselves. If He’d wanted<br />

robots, He would have created<br />

robots. However, we are human<br />

beings therefore we have a<br />

choice in everything we say, do,<br />

and believe.<br />

Consider this:<br />

“In the beginning, God created<br />

the heavens and the earth.”<br />

Genesis 1:1, KJV<br />

The word, “God” is mentioned<br />

224 times alone in the book of<br />

Genesis, the first book of the<br />

Bible. Many are followed by<br />

action verbs pertaining to God<br />

intentionally relating to mankind<br />

on a personal level.<br />

“God created…God said…God<br />

called…God made…God set…<br />

God saw…God commanded…<br />

God blessed…God sanctified…God<br />

planted…God took…<br />

God formed…God brought…<br />

God caused…God knows…<br />

God walked…God cursed…God<br />

sent…God respected…God<br />

talked…God dwelled…God<br />

brought…God destroyed…God<br />

remembered…God shut…God<br />

rained…<br />

God spoke…God smelled…<br />

God went…God appeared…<br />

God plagued…God renewed…<br />

God gave…God heard…God<br />

is…God will…God keeps…<br />

God had…God healed…<br />

God closed…God opened…<br />

God did…God provided…God<br />

appointed…God stood…God<br />

hearkened…God endued…<br />

God added…God has…God<br />

sees…God met…God slew…<br />

God was…God prospered…<br />

God forbid…God showed…God<br />

fed…God visited.”<br />

ALL of which pertained to God’s<br />

specific interaction with his own<br />

Creation: mankind. 58 times in<br />

chapter 1 of the Bible God does<br />

something to, for, or on behalf of<br />

the man and woman He’d just<br />

created. How awesome is it to<br />

know that the One who made us<br />

put so much effort, time and love<br />

into our well being even ‘after’


we ‘chose’ to upstage Him by<br />

falling into sin?<br />

Has any other ‘god’ done this?<br />

Are you willing to believe that<br />

you just ‘evolved’ from some<br />

ape? Who created the ape? Are<br />

you willing to believe you just<br />

appeared one day due to primemodal<br />

ooze from the sea? Who<br />

created the sea and all the sea<br />

life?<br />

In order for there to be a ‘creation’<br />

there has to be a “Creator.”<br />

However, we are only human.<br />

That being said, we come with<br />

many flaws and doubts. This is<br />

where faith comes in.<br />

The Bible states: “Faith is the<br />

substance of things hoped for;<br />

the evidence of things not seen.”<br />

Hebrews 11:1- KJV<br />

The One True God gives us that<br />

hope which then strengthens our<br />

faith which permits us to have a<br />

unique and very real relationship<br />

with the Lord of Lords.<br />

Allow me to share a gut wrenching<br />

example of God’s intervention:<br />

“I took my two kids to a roller<br />

rink one night back in 1994. My<br />

son was 5, my daughter was 10.<br />

Upon exiting the car, my 5 year<br />

old son decided to run across<br />

the street to the other side and<br />

surprise me. He was so proud to<br />

have made it over there all on his<br />

own he was waving to me with<br />

great glee. I, of course, was very<br />

upset with him. He knew not to<br />

cross the road without holding<br />

my hand. I scolded him for it and<br />

he began running back across<br />

the street toward me.<br />

He tripped and fell on his knees<br />

in the middle of the street. Just<br />

then, a large black sedan with<br />

tinted windows came racing<br />

toward him at 60 mph. I tried to run<br />

to him, but my feet were somehow<br />

cemented to the ground. I<br />

stretched out my arm and cried,<br />

“Oh God!” as I watched my son’s<br />

body being run over just a few<br />

feet in front of me. The car tried<br />

to brake, but it was too late. The<br />

car screeched to a screaming<br />

halt after it ran over my son, but<br />

no one got out. I stood there<br />

in disbelief, with memories of<br />

Justin pulsing thru my mind. “My<br />

son is dead.” I thought.<br />

I yelled to my daughter who was<br />

still by the car to remain there.<br />

Then I prepared myself to find<br />

my little boy’s mangled body.<br />

I began to walk…one step at a<br />

time, and then my body began to<br />

shake. I kept praying for God to<br />

help me, because apparently, no<br />

one else was around. I walked<br />

behind the car. Nothing. I walked<br />

around the car to the other side.<br />

Still nothing.<br />

I took a deep breath and said<br />

a quick prayer, and then I got<br />

on my hands and knees and<br />

looked under the vehicle. He<br />

wasn’t there. I stood up, confused.<br />

Where could he have<br />

gone? For one quick second,<br />

I even looked ‘up’ in a nearby<br />

tree thinking maybe he’d been<br />

thrown? Then…out of the corner<br />

of my eye…I saw him. Justin was<br />

standing up on the curb of the<br />

side of the street he’d originally<br />

crossed over to! I ran over to him<br />

and wrapped my arms around<br />

him. I even asked him, “How did<br />

you get all the way over HERE?”<br />

He looked like he was in shock. I<br />

searched his entire body for injuries.<br />

He didn’t have a scratch on<br />

him. Not even from when he fell<br />

down in the middle of the street<br />

while trying to come back to<br />

me. The One True God had just<br />

miraculously saved my son’s life!<br />

This is The One True God I live<br />

for, pray to, worship, trust, and<br />

believe in. The One who died on<br />

the Cross for my wretched sins.<br />

The One who loves me more<br />

than anyone I’ve ever known<br />

on this planet, and more than<br />

anyone ever will.<br />

Faith is a deliberate choice and<br />

belief so strong in something or<br />

someone that nothing anyone<br />

says or does will ever change<br />

your mind. You just ‘know that<br />

you know.’ The longer you know<br />

Him, the clearer this becomes.<br />

By all accounts, there has never<br />

been a god of any kind ever (other<br />

than Jesus Christ) who has purposefully<br />

died a tragic death just<br />

for us so that we may one day<br />

be with Him and have eternal<br />

life. Not one. The One True God<br />

of the Bible is a God of pure love<br />

and offers the free gift of eternal<br />

life to anyone who wants it. What<br />

do these other (false) gods have<br />

to offer? Money? Power? False<br />

sense of security? Martyrdom?<br />

Nothing. Do not be fooled. What<br />

do they want? Your soul.<br />

The irony here is that with all other<br />

godless religions combined,<br />

none of them provide mankind<br />

with the inner peace, love and<br />

tranquility the Holy Spirit does.<br />

Yet, they’d like to make you think<br />

they do. Another tad of irony; all<br />

other false gods do not adhere to<br />

is an honest accountability from<br />

their members/congregants/<br />

believers compared to those who


truly follow God’s Word; by which<br />

the moral standard of living was<br />

originally set. The One True God<br />

expects us to love one another<br />

just as Christ loves us. Thereby<br />

treating each other no less than<br />

we would treat ourselves. Think<br />

about it. That’s because this<br />

comes from an omnipotent God<br />

whose main objective is love.<br />

The One True God doesn’t<br />

expect us to pay a membership,<br />

do good works for it, or practice<br />

bantering mantra to receive<br />

salvation. Imagine…A love so<br />

great that we can’t even fathom<br />

the realm of it until we are joined<br />

with Him for all eternity.<br />

False gods have and always<br />

will inevitably lead people to<br />

a religion or belief system of<br />

bondage. Man-made false<br />

religions are founded by manmade<br />

gods to which all in some<br />

way or another are enslaved to<br />

an ideology of pre-conceived<br />

rhetoric usually based on the<br />

leader’s ego and intentions of<br />

glorifying and benefiting only<br />

himself. (Examples: Jim Jones<br />

and David Koresh)<br />

Given the ungodly state of our<br />

world right now and how broken<br />

it is, how much more do we need<br />

to believe in The One True God<br />

who is real and only has our best<br />

interest at heart?<br />

Jesus is the Real Deal. If you<br />

have the faith of a mustard seed,<br />

He will come into your heart and<br />

never leave. All you need to do is<br />

ask Him to.<br />

“Let the words of my mouth and<br />

the meditation of my heart be<br />

acceptable in thy sight O Lord,<br />

my strength and my redeemer.”<br />

Psalm: 19:14<br />

Credentials:<br />

Mindy L. Wallace, Christian<br />

Writer/Author<br />

Published writer and author of<br />

new book: NO TIME TO CRY<br />

– One Mother’s Will to Survive<br />

Against All Odds<br />

(Tate Publishing – 2nd Edition,<br />

Sept. 1, <strong>2015</strong>)<br />

“Justin’s Story” – ENDTIME<br />

Magazine, 1995<br />

Writer/Editor – Disney, Blu-ray,<br />

ABC Studios, 2006-2008<br />

Writer’s Digest Inspirational<br />

Award - 2001


Ceremonial Salvation?<br />

Just three steps are all it takes!<br />

M a r k<br />

16:15 and<br />

16 And<br />

He said to<br />

them, “Go<br />

into all the<br />

world and<br />

preach<br />

the gospel to all nations.<br />

“He who has believed and has<br />

been baptized shall be saved;<br />

but he who has disbelieved shall<br />

be condemned. If you want to be<br />

confused by scripture you can<br />

be. All you have to do is look<br />

lightly at scriptures which appear<br />

in the first instance to be at odds<br />

with other scriptures. Don’t look<br />

too deeply though, because then<br />

you might find they have much<br />

more to say than you gave them<br />

credit for.<br />

By Helen Murray<br />

Yes, I’m being cynical. Apologies<br />

for that. But in this atheistic day<br />

and age we cannot afford to be<br />

ignorant of what the scriptures<br />

say at a deep level, and in context<br />

of the rest of scripture. That<br />

involves deep and steady study<br />

of the Word. It is not enough<br />

to assent to your pastor’s sermons<br />

because you must ascertain<br />

for yourself that he speaks<br />

correctly according to the scriptures.<br />

Unfortunately many do<br />

not. Apostate Christianity is rife<br />

currently, with pastors preaching<br />

a comfortable success religion<br />

to keep<br />

people<br />

coming<br />

rather than<br />

repentance<br />

and<br />

salvation.<br />

If there is<br />

no repentance there is no salvation.<br />

Secondly we need to understand<br />

how language changes, especially<br />

in the last century. For<br />

instance to believe something<br />

now has all sorts of imputations.<br />

‘I believe the starting time is ten<br />

o’clock.’ This may or may not be<br />

true and means that in order to<br />

be sure of the starting time we<br />

had better check elsewhere. Or<br />

‘I believe he’s looking for a new<br />

girlfriend.’ ‘Oh, what happened


to Cheryl?’ Gossip! Don’t give<br />

this great credence.<br />

How about ‘I believe there are<br />

many ways to Heaven.’ Believe<br />

it all you like, but that doesn’t<br />

make it true. ‘I believe that good<br />

karma (good deeds, or not too<br />

many bad ones) will stand me in<br />

good stead for the next lifetime.’<br />

Sorry, but you’ve another think<br />

coming.<br />

‘I believe that science has all the<br />

answers we need.’ OK How do<br />

you make sure that your children<br />

will not be hit by depression<br />

at some stage in their lives?<br />

Or, why can’t science deploy<br />

the resources of the nations to<br />

provide food for the starving,<br />

release for those in sexual slavery,<br />

and other horrendous situations.<br />

Science should have the<br />

answer for that. ‘I believe he<br />

might have been drunk when he<br />

hit that tree.’ So what does that<br />

mean?<br />

You see that the word believe<br />

has lost most of its meaning<br />

these days. So when you hear<br />

‘believe and be baptised’ it has<br />

little fire in the words. The biblical<br />

use of the word believe is<br />

something more like ‘I’ll stake my<br />

life on the resurrection of Christ.’<br />

That is ‘I’m willing to stand with<br />

those who believe in the resur-


ection, even if it kills me (which<br />

well it might in a country that<br />

doesn’t value the gospel). So<br />

‘believe and be baptised’ should<br />

read like ‘Stake your life on the<br />

Son of God who is the way, the<br />

truth and the life, and demonstrate<br />

this by being baptised into<br />

His death and emerging changed<br />

forever into a Spirit-filled Child of<br />

the Living God and member of<br />

the Kingdom of Heaven’.<br />

Are those who believe in certain<br />

ceremonies willing to stake their<br />

lives on them? I don’t think so.<br />

To stake one’s life - this is the<br />

biblical standard of belief.<br />

Well there, we have dealt with<br />

what the word ‘belief’ ought to<br />

mean to a Christian. Now for<br />

the ceremonies. If we are taking<br />

communion we are, like Jesus,<br />

staking our lives on His, and<br />

eventually our, resurrection from<br />

the dead. He shared his cup<br />

with us at the Passover before<br />

his trial and crucifixion. Crucifixion<br />

before Resurrection! That<br />

was the cup! He gave His life<br />

for us and we as disciples are to<br />

be prepared to follow Him even<br />

to death if necessary. That is<br />

the extent to which we believe in<br />

Him. Less than that is entirely<br />

forgettable.<br />

Belief in certain ceremonies<br />

might include infant baptism –<br />

If your child dies without being<br />

infant baptised it might not go to<br />

Heaven. What biblical evidence<br />

have you for that. There is no<br />

way you can really baptise and<br />

infant anyway, now is there? Do<br />

you really plan to submerge your<br />

baby under water? No. It’s only<br />

a sprinkle and there is no precedent<br />

for that in scripture. Sprinkling<br />

with water means nothing<br />

in biblical terms. It comes under<br />

the category of tradition, and<br />

man-made at that. It’s a lovely<br />

way of committing a child and his<br />

upbringing to the Lord, but when<br />

he is of age he must decide for<br />

himself whether he will follow<br />

Christ and be baptised.<br />

Then, you might say, if he is not<br />

baptised as an adult he will not go<br />

to Heaven? Well, short of being<br />

entirely unable to undergo baptism,<br />

like the thief on the cross<br />

who was saved, yes, he should<br />

be baptised. Scripture requires<br />

baptism if possible of all believers,<br />

and frankly, if a man won’t go<br />

so far as to be baptised, then he<br />

won’t be doing much of anything<br />

else for Jesus, because that is<br />

little enough to ask. In short his<br />

commitment to Jesus is highly<br />

suspect if he won’t even be baptised.<br />

In that case his love of the<br />

Lord may be insufficient to admit<br />

him to the Kingdom.<br />

‘If an adult dies without being baptised<br />

then he cannot be saved.’<br />

There are two ways to look at<br />

this. The thief on the cross was<br />

not baptised, neither could he<br />

be, but yet he was saved. There<br />

will be circumstances where<br />

baptism is impossible but salvation<br />

might ensue anyway, but<br />

they will not include a refusal to<br />

be obedient to that request when<br />

it is quite possible. The thing is<br />

it really revolves around having<br />

an experience with God and<br />

subsequently adoring Him to the<br />

extent that nothing is too much<br />

to ask, and baptism, with all that<br />

it means, is just the beginning.<br />

It’s a statement about how far<br />

one is willing to go to serve the<br />

Lord Jesus – to the death.<br />

Others believe strongly in Holy<br />

Communion . This is a wonderful<br />

little ceremony reminding us<br />

of Jesus trauma in Gethsemane<br />

followed by His mock trial. It is<br />

performed regularly at many<br />

churches. People should not<br />

think of it as sufficient to redeem<br />

a man. In fact there are several<br />

instructions concerning it:<br />

’leave your gift at the altar and<br />

go make certain you have done<br />

everything possible to reconcile<br />

anyone with whom you have had<br />

differences, then come and take<br />

communion,’ Matthew 5:23, 24.<br />

In other words the ceremony of<br />

taking communion has pre-requisites,<br />

namely a gift, and reconciliation<br />

with any person with<br />

whom one has argued, and does<br />

not by itself ensure one’s passage<br />

to Heaven. At the institution<br />

of Holy Communion were people<br />

already baptised and discipled<br />

over several years. It is not for<br />

the faint-hearted, but for those<br />

who will stand with Christ anywhere,<br />

and at any cost, because<br />

the ‘cup’ He shared was the cup<br />

of suffering, and share it they all,<br />

eventually, did.<br />

In short the question of salvation<br />

revolves entirely around the<br />

question of whether a person<br />

believes in Christ (and will stake<br />

his/her life on Him) and therefore<br />

follows all His commandments<br />

including, initially, baptism. The<br />

ceremonies of the Christian<br />

faith make the assumption that<br />

this is the case, and that the<br />

participant has a deep relationship<br />

with Jesus Christ already.<br />

Without that relationship, ceremonies<br />

are meaningless. As<br />

part of that established relationship,<br />

however, the ceremonies<br />

are wonderful expressions and<br />

statements of the faith that we<br />

hold.


Leaving a Lasting<br />

by Saviela Edwards Thorne<br />

Music<br />

“When I get<br />

to heaven,<br />

the first face<br />

that shall<br />

ever gladden<br />

my sight will<br />

be that of<br />

my Savior.”<br />

– Fanny<br />

Crosby


Legacy<br />

Blessed Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby is an original<br />

collection of the famously blind composer, Fanny Crosby, whose<br />

songs has inspired us for many generations. Her hymns such as<br />

“To God be the Glory”, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me”, “Blessed<br />

Assurance” and many more grace our churches every week. This<br />

latest collection of Fanny Crosby’s hymns is just a few selected out<br />

of the 2,700 unpublished hymns that were stored away for decades.<br />

As a tribute and celebration of her life and legacy, Integrity records<br />

offered a gathering of remarkable well resound and accomplished<br />

worship leaders and songwriters. Michael Farren is among the<br />

group of astounding songwriters and artist featured on this legendary<br />

project.<br />

Michael Farren, father, husband, worship pastor and songwriter,<br />

just to name a few of his titles, is no stranger to the songwriting business.<br />

He spent 16 years as the lead vocalist of the worship band,<br />

Pocket Full Rocks, leading worship all over the nation. He received<br />

three Dove Award nominations for Worship Album of the year, and<br />

new Artist of the year. He also earned an ASCAP Christian Music<br />

Award and #1 Christian single on the radio for Every Time I Breathe,<br />

co-written with Mike Weaver of Big Daddy Weave.<br />

When I asked Michael what was his inspiration for the new<br />

Blessed Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby, he<br />

simply replied “Fanny Crosby”. Her ability to see beyond<br />

her physical disability of blindness received as an infant is inspiring<br />

in itself. Fanny from a very young child had a gift that has blessed<br />

nations still to this day. As a worship pastor of Gateway Church in<br />

Franklin, TN, Michael has huge respect for music. “I love writing<br />

across all genres….CCM, country, southern gospel, etc. But writing<br />

songs for the Church is what I’m most passionate about. Throughout<br />

the writing process of every worship song, I’m constantly running<br />

every lyric and melody through the filter of ‘Would I lead this<br />

song on Sunday?”<br />

Michael Farren played an important role in the making of the Blessed<br />

Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby’s album. He co-wrote<br />

several songs including Blessed Savior, Fount of Grace, No One<br />

like Jesus, Wholly Thine Come to the Water and Where Could We<br />

Go. Michael enjoyed making this album because there is such a<br />

rich diverse group of talented artist and songwriters. This recording<br />

features some of the most well-known songwriters and artist in the<br />

industry such as Paul Baloche, Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton,<br />

Jon Egan, All Sons and Daughters Elias Dummer, Blind Boys of<br />

Alabama, Ricky Skaggs & the Whites, Bart Millard, Stu G, Michael<br />

W. Smith Ernie Haase & Signature Sounds, Matt Redman, Seth &<br />

Nirva, Merdith Andrews and more.<br />

I asked Michael Farren what his thoughts were on the album how<br />

did it make him feel. “When I read through some of the hymns, I<br />

was overwhelmed with emotions. The hymns spoke to me straight


from the paper”. He grew up<br />

singing hymns written by Fanny<br />

Crosby in church and now he<br />

had the opportunity to not only<br />

co-write some of the hymns but<br />

to also sing along with the Blind<br />

Boys of Alabama in the ragtime<br />

style song, Where Could We Go.<br />

His experience working with the<br />

Blind Boys of Alabama was more<br />

than amazing! He said when<br />

they were asked to be a part of<br />

the project they were so excited<br />

they responded within 24 hours.<br />

He calls them the “Real Deal”<br />

as they have been a part of the<br />

industry for over 70 years!<br />

This album is incomparable to<br />

any project of its kind. Blessed<br />

Assurance: The New Hymns of<br />

Fanny Crosby is compiled with<br />

never before seen unpublished<br />

work by Fanny Crosby with the<br />

creative vibe of many accomplished<br />

singers and songwriters.<br />

Over 100 years later she is still<br />

having an impact on Christian<br />

world beyond the grave. This is<br />

just the beginning of collection<br />

of Blessed Assurance we look<br />

forward to hearing more inspirations<br />

from Fanny Crosby as she<br />

impacts lives from the grave.<br />

Be sure to purchase your album<br />

today! Click one of the carts<br />

below:<br />

Christian Book<br />

Amazon<br />

iTunes


Some people say, “It is better to<br />

give, than to receive.” Is this<br />

always the case? What about<br />

when it comes to God? Is it better to<br />

give, than to receive? What about<br />

accepting Jesus and salvation?<br />

Accept Jesus and receive his salvation.<br />

God has unconditional love<br />

for us; therefore, it is as if he has a<br />

sweepstakes, in which HE is<br />

full of these unconditional<br />

gifts, and all we have to do<br />

is one time, step up and<br />

say those magic words.<br />

Then we can live the way<br />

we want, do the things we<br />

want, and get on our way to<br />

our happiness. True or False?<br />

If true, then “once saved, always<br />

saved”, right? If false, then who gets<br />

left behind? Do they have a choice?<br />

Do I have choice? Yes, you have a<br />

choice, so what’s your choice?<br />

Recipie For<br />

Salvation<br />

By Brenda Stapleton<br />

Salvation<br />

B<br />

ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS<br />

When someone says, “Have you<br />

accepted Jesus in your life yet?”<br />

What does that mean to you? Sometimes,<br />

people answer yes, without<br />

really knowing the extent of that<br />

answer. I have heard people ask,<br />

“Do you know Jesus yet?” Well, sure<br />

people know about Jesus, and they<br />

don’t want a thirty-minute conversation<br />

about it. The best question asked<br />

of me was, “Have you accepted God<br />

for salvation, and to be your Lord and<br />

Savior, and are you living for God<br />

today?” That is a thought provoking<br />

question. It isn’t just a one liner. You<br />

must think about that a bit more. If<br />

you answer too fast, you didn’t think<br />

about it. What does it mean? Let’s<br />

go there.<br />

SALVATION<br />

There are many requirements for<br />

salvation. Requirements? Yes, there<br />

are requirements. Many times you<br />

will hear, “Freedom isn’t free.” Well,<br />

as much as you want to believe, sal-


vation is free as well, it does take<br />

a bit of work on your part, First,<br />

to receive salvation, you must:<br />

Believe in Jesus (no other idol)<br />

This a necessity to being saved:<br />

John 3:18,<br />

“He that believeth on him is<br />

not condemned: but he that<br />

believeth not is condemned<br />

already, because he hath no<br />

believed in the name of the only<br />

begotten Son of God.”<br />

The second thing we must do,<br />

per the Bible is:<br />

REPENT<br />

We must repent; We must turn<br />

from our wicked ways:<br />

Luke 5:32,<br />

“I came not to call the righteous,<br />

but sinners to repentance.”<br />

Luke 13:3,<br />

“I’ll tell you, Nay: but, except<br />

ye repent, ye shall all likewise<br />

perish.”<br />

Another thing the Bible says we<br />

must do is:<br />

BORN AGAIN<br />

We must be born again:<br />

John 3:3,<br />

“Jesus answered and said unto<br />

him, “Verily, Verily I say unto<br />

thee, Except a man be born<br />

again, he cannot* see the Kingdom<br />

of God.”<br />

John 3:16-21,<br />

“For God so loved the world,<br />

that he gave his only begotten<br />

Son, that whosoever believeth<br />

in him should not perish, but<br />

have everlasting life. For God<br />

sent not his Son nto the world<br />

to condemn the world; but that<br />

the world through him might be<br />

saved. He that believeth on<br />

him is not condemned: but he<br />

that believeth not is condemned<br />

already, because he hath not<br />

believed in the name of the only<br />

begotten Son of God. And<br />

this is the condemnation, that<br />

light is come into the world, and<br />

men loved darkness rather than<br />

light, because their deeds were<br />

evil. For every one that doeth evil<br />

hateth the light, neither* cometh<br />

to the light, lest his deeds should<br />

be reproved. But he that doeth<br />

truth cometh to the light, that his<br />

deeds may be made manifest,<br />

that they are wrought in God.”<br />

BEWARE FALSE IDOLS<br />

You must “Beware of false idols”,<br />

or I’ve also heard it called~<br />

“Beware the ‘WRONG’ Jesus”:<br />

In 2 Corinthians 11:4,<br />

“For if he that cometh preacheth<br />

another Jesus, whom we have<br />

not preached, or if ye receive<br />

another spirit, which ye have<br />

not received, or another gospel<br />

which ye have not accepted, ye<br />

might well bear with him.”


It doesn’t get much plainer than,<br />

“ye might well bear with him,” but<br />

in the event you need a bit more<br />

steadying on the subject; there<br />

is also ~<br />

OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS<br />

OF THE LORD<br />

Considering these various<br />

requirements of the Lord, you<br />

must do and remember there<br />

are God’s commandments you<br />

must obey as well. You cannot<br />

just live as a lukewarm Christian,<br />

choosing what suits you<br />

best. A body without the spirit<br />

is empty. Some people will tell<br />

you they are a Christian, and the<br />

know they are going to heaven.<br />

The reason they know this is<br />

because they are in attendance<br />

every Sunday morning at church<br />

services. It takes more than the<br />

Sunday morning smile, as faith<br />

without works is just as empty as<br />

the body without the spirit. The<br />

Christian will tell you I am going<br />

to heaven and they will tell you<br />

why they know they are. They<br />

will tell you their requirements,<br />

and which ones they have done,<br />

and which ones they are working<br />

on.<br />

Not everyone is perfect, and<br />

there are no perfect Christians<br />

out there. The perfect Christians<br />

are in heaven. The ones who tell<br />

you I am working on the list of<br />

requirements to fulfill God’s salvation<br />

for me, because of faith<br />

and grace? Those are the Christians.<br />

Can you determine some<br />

of the other requirements that<br />

might set them apart? Those<br />

are found in those commandments<br />

of God’s we must obey.<br />

For example, I am reminded of<br />

my youngest daughter one time<br />

who said, “I don’t want to go to<br />

that church.” “I like the other<br />

one.” “That church has too many<br />

rules.” I chuckled to myself at<br />

the thought. It wasn’t the church<br />

having too many rules, it was the<br />

two churches and how they followed<br />

the rules. Have you ever<br />

faced this? Have you ever left a<br />

church?<br />

It is important you distinguish<br />

between the two churches. If<br />

not, you may find yourself before<br />

God one day, and you may not<br />

have the right answer.<br />

Consider the Kingdom of<br />

Heaven, and the outcome:<br />

Matthew 7:21-23,<br />

“Not every one that saith unto<br />

me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into<br />

the kingdom of heaven; but he<br />

that doeth the will of my Father<br />

which is in heaven. Many will<br />

say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,<br />

have we not prophesied in thy<br />

name? and in thy name have<br />

cast out devils? and in thy name<br />

done many wonderful works?<br />

And then will I profess unto<br />

them, I never knew you: depart<br />

from me, ye that work iniquity.”<br />

KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS<br />

OF THE LORD<br />

It is just as important to know the<br />

commandments as to know the<br />

requirements, and to study those<br />

and find favor in God’s eyes. As<br />

Jesus has said we prove our love<br />

for him when we keep his commandments,<br />

which are found in~<br />

Matthew 22:37-40,<br />

”Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt<br />

love the Lord thy God with all thy<br />

heart, and with all thy soul, and<br />

with all thy mind. 38 This is the<br />

first and great commandment.<br />

39 And the second is like unto it,<br />

40 Thou shalt love thy neighbour<br />

as thyself.”<br />

You can find where we prove our<br />

love to Jesus through these, in~<br />

John 14:15,<br />

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”<br />

Many people will tell you this<br />

means you are earning salvation.<br />

However, this also cannot<br />

be done, and the Bible tell us this.<br />

You must distinguish between<br />

the two with the word, and you<br />

must abide by the requirements<br />

and commandments of the<br />

Lord. In doing so, you will have<br />

accepted salvation; you will have<br />

accepted Christ, and you will be<br />

living for Christ. However, this is<br />

not a one-time obligation, and all<br />

debts are settled. For all Jesus<br />

went through for us, what gives<br />

us the audacity to consider it to<br />

be so easy. It’s easy enough, but<br />

should our expectations be so<br />

high?<br />

Let’s consider that for a moment.<br />

Let’s consider what the Bible<br />

says about the “once saved,<br />

always saved theory.” Most<br />

people who feel this is true, focus<br />

on this verse from Romans 8:38,<br />

”For I am persuaded, that neither<br />

death, nor life, nor angels,<br />

nor principalities, nor powers,<br />

nor things present, nor things to<br />

come, nor height, nor depth, nor<br />

any other creature, shall be able<br />

to separate us from the love of<br />

God, which is in Christ Jesus our<br />

Lord.”<br />

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE VS.<br />

CONDITIONAL SALVATION<br />

Reading this so carefully, you<br />

will read how nothing shall be<br />

able to separate us from the love<br />

of God- this is confirming that


unconditional love. However, the<br />

salvation is not unconditional.<br />

It does have requirements to it;<br />

there is that word again.<br />

So, what this means is we can<br />

give our soul to the Lord, and<br />

then go do whatever we want,<br />

live the way we want, because<br />

we are saved. This is like my<br />

daughter, wanting to go to the<br />

“fun” church, because they had<br />

less rules. The real truth of the<br />

Bible is found in other scripture<br />

such as Matthew 7:21<br />

”Not every one that saith unto<br />

me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into<br />

the kingdom of heaven; but he<br />

that doeth the will of my Father<br />

which is in heaven.”<br />

There once was a belief in predestination<br />

of salvation; however,<br />

this was as much as a factor<br />

as “once saved, always saved”,<br />

and predestination of certain<br />

churches or certain people. The<br />

predestination of salvation of<br />

any kind can best be summed<br />

up by this statement of Randolph<br />

Yeager, who was attempting to<br />

interpret Romans, as previously<br />

mentioned, in which he said:<br />

“The argument in Romans is<br />

devastating in its attack upon<br />

the notion that salvation can be<br />

earned by works produced by<br />

man. It also shows that while no<br />

amount of good works can bring<br />

the sinner into right relationships<br />

with God, once the sinner has<br />

that right relationship, by grace<br />

through faith, no amount of evil<br />

can separate Him from God, nor<br />

terminate his standing as God’s<br />

child. However low, miserable<br />

and degrading our state may be,<br />

children of God never suffer any<br />

diminution of our standing. “This<br />

simply means that elect believers<br />

remain legally saved even<br />

if they should fall into the most<br />

degrading sins.”<br />

Many reformers like John Calvin<br />

tried to refute the Bible, but were<br />

lost. What we currently know<br />

today, is what God has told us.<br />

“God’s design is that all humanity<br />

should be saved. He “desires<br />

everyone to be saved and to<br />

come to the knowledge of the<br />

truth” (1 Timothy 2:4)<br />

And -<br />

“God’s grace was not made<br />

available only to those whom<br />

was predestined to salvation;<br />

it is readily available to all as<br />

“God so loved the world” that<br />

He planned for “the world” to be<br />

saved through Christ .” (John<br />

3:16, 17).<br />

SANCTIFICATION<br />

I certainly do not mean to just<br />

be so negative with so many<br />

of those who “will” not come to<br />

Christ, because there are so<br />

many who will. Think about the<br />

word, sanctification. This is how<br />

you come to Christ. Do you want<br />

to accept Christ? Once you do,<br />

you learn more about him, and<br />

you start to grow. In that process<br />

of growing, you learn how beautiful<br />

Christ is and you start to<br />

learn about sanctification, which<br />

is becoming more like Christ.<br />

Scripture defining this process is<br />

found in 1 Thessalonians 5:23,<br />

“And the very God of peace<br />

sanctify you wholly; and I pray<br />

God your whole spirit and soul<br />

and body be preserved blameless<br />

unto the coming of our Lord<br />

Jesus Christ.”<br />

Striving to be pure at heart like<br />

the Lord, is what a Christian<br />

strives for through the sanctification<br />

process. If you read the<br />

Bible, you will know it is the pure<br />

at heart, who the Lord refers to<br />

as who does come to heaven.<br />

Here’s your positivity! Here’s<br />

what we want to know, and what<br />

we want to strive for, so let’s<br />

have a few examples, shall we?<br />

Matthew 5:3,<br />

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for<br />

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”<br />

Matthew 5:5,<br />

“Blessed are the meek: for they<br />

shall inherit the earth.”<br />

Matthew 5:8,<br />

“Blessed are the pure in heart:<br />

for they shall see God.”<br />

IN CLOSING<br />

Have you ever wondered about<br />

coming to God? Accepting<br />

Jesus, salvation is the greatest<br />

gift you can ever and receive.<br />

It is not unconditional; it does<br />

require something in return, but<br />

it is worth anything and everything<br />

you will ever do for it. Some<br />

people will tell you some people<br />

are predestined for salvation, or<br />

if you are once saved, you are<br />

always saved, but if it were that<br />

easy, more people would tell you<br />

they have accepted God, and<br />

their way of life has no bearing<br />

on the outcome. Are you living<br />

for God, or are you living for<br />

you? Do you believe the myth of<br />

unconditional salvation? Make a<br />

choice, your life doesn’t depend<br />

on it. Your soul does.


The Importance of<br />

Repentance<br />

By Vernita Simmons


There is a great cry going<br />

out from God to the Body<br />

of Christ to appeal to the<br />

senseless rhetoric that’s placing<br />

many in bondage thru the<br />

teachings of false doctrines and<br />

unfounded beliefs. To combat<br />

such, our greatest defense is in<br />

being a shiny light in the midst<br />

of darkness. Let your light shine<br />

before men in such a way that<br />

they may see your good deeds<br />

and moral excellence, and recognize<br />

and honor and glorify<br />

your father who is in heaven.<br />

(Matt. 5:16). You see - People<br />

will convince themselves to<br />

believe just about anything. And<br />

we must remember that the<br />

enemy has blind many that they<br />

may not believe. (II Cor. 4:1-<br />

6). When a person is spiritually<br />

blind to the truth of the gospel<br />

of Jesus Christ, they persuade<br />

themselves that they’re fine<br />

just the way they are. As they<br />

put off accepting Jesus as their<br />

Lord and Savior, their hearts<br />

become harden causing them to<br />

become hostile towards Christians.<br />

When a person continues<br />

to reject Jesus, oftentimes, we<br />

have to put ourselves in harm’s<br />

way to be that light in the midst<br />

of darkness.<br />

To risk your eternal destiny to<br />

such erroneous beliefs is futile<br />

indeed. And what I come to realize<br />

is that many unbelievers use<br />

this as an excuse to continue<br />

living a sinful lifestyle. I’ve often<br />

witness to my family, friends<br />

and others and have discovered<br />

that when they say; “they aren’t<br />

ready”; or “I can live anyway I<br />

want and accept Jesus before<br />

I die”….... it’s due to not being<br />

ready to surrender their life of<br />

sin and commit to Jesus Christ.<br />

There’s something in their life<br />

they know is not pleasing to<br />

God, which takes priority and<br />

until they see the need to repent<br />

of their sin, they will continue to<br />

make excuses.<br />

Now, the manner in which we<br />

minister to them can make the<br />

difference in their surrendering<br />

to Christ before it is too late.<br />

As we administer God’s grace<br />

and love, we can turn their<br />

hearts towards Jesus. Thus, in<br />

facing such opposition, it is not<br />

necessary to debate or argue<br />

with them. We witness gently,<br />

patiently, tenderly, kindly impacting<br />

lives delicately. The Lord has<br />

appeared of old to me saying;<br />

“Yes, I have loved you with an<br />

everlasting love; Therefore with<br />

lovingkindness I have drawn<br />

you. (Jeremiah 31:3). We point<br />

them to the error of their way<br />

by loving as Jesus loves. In


other words, love must be without<br />

judging neither condemning<br />

them. We must put ourselves<br />

in their place and apply compassion<br />

while leading them to a<br />

loving Savior.<br />

By applying a meek spirit, we<br />

have a better chance of affecting<br />

lives more profoundly. God’s<br />

servant must not be argumentative,<br />

but a gently listener and a<br />

teacher who keeps cool, working<br />

firmly but patiently with those<br />

who refuse to obey. You never<br />

know how or when God might<br />

sober them up with a change<br />

of heart and turning to the truth,<br />

enabling them to escape the<br />

Devil’s trap, where they are<br />

caught and held captive, forced<br />

to run his errands. (II Tim. 2:24-<br />

26). Our outward appearance<br />

must give evidence of humility<br />

with no signs of arrogance or<br />

pride. This is why it’s important<br />

to agree to disagree politely and<br />

respectfully. Remember, the<br />

devil, has been infiltrating their<br />

mind with false images and information<br />

for years. And the battle<br />

of the mind is a stronghold that<br />

only the Holy Spirit can destroy.<br />

By all means necessary, avoid<br />

igniting an argument with them<br />

for it only create a chaotic scene<br />

and push them further away.<br />

In actuality, behaving in such a<br />

manner causes them to question<br />

your faith. The devil would like<br />

nothing more than to have them<br />

say; “See, I told you there’s nothing<br />

to these Christians.”<br />

“I knew you were false.”<br />

Yes - Beloved, it is challenging<br />

dealing with someone who<br />

would rather exchange the truth<br />

for a lie. It can make your flesh<br />

cringe. But Jesus dealt with such<br />

throughout His earthly ministry.<br />

Anyone on God’s side listens to<br />

God’s words. This is why you’re<br />

not listening-because you’re<br />

not on God’s side.” (John 8:47).<br />

Jesus echoes such speeches<br />

throughout the book of John. He<br />

was often referred to as having<br />

a devil and being a mad man.<br />

(John 8:52; 10:20). Such was<br />

simply due because He spoke<br />

the truth of the words given to<br />

Him from His Father. When<br />

anyone desires to do the deeds<br />

according to their flesh and<br />

believe that which is in direct violation<br />

of the truth of GOD’S word,<br />

there will always be the need to<br />

induce conflict and contention.<br />

Whenever anyone holds onto a<br />

hope that leads them to a hopeless<br />

destination, they will hurl<br />

accusations and become outraged.<br />

Such actions help us to<br />

understand that some will surely<br />

perish and be eternally lost no<br />

matter how kind and thoughtful<br />

we will be.<br />

There will come a time when we<br />

simply must love them enough to<br />

leave them to their own devices.<br />

When a person doesn’t find the<br />

gift of salvation to be sacred and<br />

worthy, and choose to ridicule,<br />

reject the gospel, thus, trample<br />

on it and continue in<br />

their own sinful ways<br />

of the living, we<br />

must trust that God<br />

has another means<br />

through which to<br />

reach them. Do not<br />

give that which is<br />

holy to the dogs, and<br />

do not throw your<br />

pearls before pigs,<br />

for they will trample<br />

them under their<br />

feet and turn and<br />

tear you to pieces.<br />

(Matt. 7:6; note verse 1-5). And<br />

the Lord will send someone to<br />

share the gospel of Christ to<br />

them because there will always<br />

be some who plant and others<br />

who water. Afterwards, their soul<br />

will be touched and their heart<br />

stirred, causing them to grow<br />

and the Kingdom of God to reap<br />

a mighty harvest. (I Cor. 3:1-9).<br />

In the meantime, we continue to<br />

love them, and using the gift of<br />

discernment, we will know when<br />

to plant and water the seeds of<br />

the gospel into their life.<br />

All in all, we can’t afford to remain<br />

silent, become fearful and refrain<br />

from sharing the gospel of Jesus<br />

Christ. We must operate under<br />

the driving force of stubborn<br />

love. While there are those who<br />

are spiritually blind who will ridicule<br />

and mock the gospel, there<br />

will be those who will accept<br />

and appreciate the gospel of<br />

Jesus Christ and accept the gift<br />

of salvation before it’s too late.<br />

For this, we look forward to that<br />

blessed hope of knowing that<br />

our willingness to minister the<br />

saving grace of God to those<br />

without the hope of being saved,<br />

will receive the revelation knowledge<br />

of God and many will be<br />

saved. God bless you.


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Confession<br />

OF SINS<br />

Is for Healing<br />

By Helen Murray<br />

Scripture says, among other things, ‘Confess<br />

your sins to one another that you may be healed’.<br />

James 5:15, 16 tells us. ‘And the prayer offered<br />

in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord<br />

will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will<br />

be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each<br />

other and pray for each other so that you may be<br />

healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful<br />

and effective.<br />

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful<br />

and effective.<br />

Yes, and some churches therefore insist that you<br />

confess your sins to a priest who is, supposedly, a<br />

righteous person with a very effective prayer ministry.<br />

This may or may not be the case. It probably<br />

should be the case but nevertheless this is not by<br />

any means 100% correct. The words ‘confess your<br />

sins to one another’does not limit the discussion of<br />

one’s errors to the clergy. In fact the clergy is not<br />

getting a mention here at all. And it is quite possible<br />

that the clergy cannot possibly give all their<br />

time to listening to everyman’s account of his sins<br />

in a large congregation. The text reads ‘confess<br />

your sins to one another’. A good idea is to have<br />

a Christian friend with whom you keep accounts,<br />

so that you study scripture together, and how it<br />

affects your Christian practice. When a scripture,<br />

or the Holy Spirit, shows that something you did<br />

is out of alignment, or you know you have done<br />

something wrong, then you and your ‘buddy’ can<br />

talk about it together (either one of you bringing<br />

up the subject) and work through what is needed<br />

to get it right with God. This is done in love and<br />

with lots of support for getting it right. This is a<br />

healing process, and much to be encouraged. If<br />

needed you can take it further looking for advice<br />

from a trusted Christian elder about your problem<br />

behaviour, but this is rarely (though sometimes of<br />

course) necessary.


Nothing in scripture implies that the ‘buddy’ must<br />

be a clergyman, pastor, priest or apostle. What<br />

scripture does say is that it must be a righteous<br />

man, one who knows and loves the scripture and<br />

believes in its power to direct him rightly. S/he<br />

may or may not have a high position in church –<br />

that is not the point. The point is that you and your<br />

‘confessor’ are firm believers in scripture as ‘given<br />

by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,<br />

for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:<br />

2 Timothy 3:16. You will then find that<br />

sharing your experiences of life at this level is an<br />

amazing and wonderfully healing process.<br />

Psalm 141:5 Let a righteous man strike me—that<br />

is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my<br />

head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will<br />

still be against the deeds of evildoers.<br />

A righteous friend is acting only from the great and<br />

expansive love which God Himself has invested<br />

in him. You can indeed fearlessly confess to<br />

such a trustworthy person (don’t go confessing to<br />

everybody unless as part of the healing process it<br />

becomes necessary, or you choose to state it as<br />

powerful testimony to what God is doing in your<br />

life). Your righteous friend/confessor may give<br />

you some straight talk about what you are doing,<br />

but it is only to help you see a better way for yourself.<br />

There is much love behind it. He is acting in<br />

your best interest and genuinely desires the best<br />

for you. You also are doing this in the process of<br />

becoming a more righteous and effective person.<br />

Congratulations. You are doing well.<br />

Putting sin right with God has nothing to do with<br />

saying a few mantras or muttering a few repetitive<br />

prayers. It has much more to do with asking<br />

forgiveness of anyone against whom you have<br />

sinned, and putting it right if restoration is needed,<br />

or something has to be returned to them. Or possibly<br />

you need to forgive and get over anger or a<br />

grudge. Wonderful! What a release it is to actually<br />

forgive, and love your ‘enemy’ (seek his best<br />

interest, especially if he needs to come to the


Lord himself).God has given us<br />

the POWER OF HIS LOVE. Use<br />

it. Become the best friend your<br />

enemy ever had. Don’t fuss<br />

because s/he doesn’t always<br />

please you. Pour heaps of coals<br />

on his head by returning love<br />

and real help to him or her, just<br />

as you would to a misbehaving<br />

child. You don’t take a grudge<br />

against a child long term if he<br />

behaves stupidly. You tell him<br />

what he has done and that you<br />

don’t expect it will happen again.<br />

Treat adults the same way. What<br />

healing this is! Your prayers are<br />

against the DEEDS of evildoers,<br />

but the offensive person himself<br />

is the subject of your LOVE.<br />

Remember, even Jesus was in<br />

trouble for forgiving sins (Mark<br />

2:7, He is blaspheming. Who<br />

can forgive sins but God alone?)<br />

That was because they didn’t<br />

realise He was God and could<br />

certainly forgive sins. They were<br />

right in saying that God alone<br />

can forgive sins in the eternal<br />

sphere. No man apart from<br />

Jesus has that capacity. But He<br />

confers upon us the outrageous<br />

dynamic of forgiveness one to<br />

another – or give one another a<br />

nudge if repentance is needed.<br />

Praise the Holy One of Israel.<br />

It is funny that the more you love<br />

the Lord and want to be free of<br />

sin, the more you will become<br />

conscious of its presence in your<br />

psyche! TRAUMA! STRESS!<br />

Not at all. That is the Holy Spirit<br />

who loves you and shows you<br />

increasingly the path to becoming<br />

that righteous man whose<br />

prayers are very effective. It<br />

is increasingly joy to run to the<br />

Lord and repent of our sinful<br />

nature, rejoice in His forgiveness<br />

and the magnificent exponential<br />

learning curve that He<br />

has mapped out for us. Because<br />

narrow is the gate, and narrow<br />

is the way, which leads unto<br />

life, and few there be that find it.<br />

(Matt 7:14). Make sure you are<br />

one of them.<br />

We all have sinned. You don’t<br />

have any monopoly on sin. We<br />

are all in the same boat. How<br />

wonderful that we can help each<br />

other get it right with God. Peace<br />

to you.


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When a pet owner dies or becomes disabled, what happens to their pets?<br />

According to the ASPCA, 8 to 12 million dogs and cats enter shelters nationwide every year and 5 to 9<br />

million are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats). Of the animals surrendered to shelters, 2% to 3% are<br />

relinquished due to the death or disability of their human caregivers.<br />

“Orphaned” pets do not adjust well to the experience in a shelter—they refuse to eat, they are despondent,<br />

and they are often labeled “unadoptable.” Sadly, many healthy, adoptable pets are euthanized simply<br />

because their pet owners did not plan for their continuous care.<br />

Pet owners should identify committed caregivers who can care for their pets, maintain written care<br />

instructions and set up a finance plan or set aside funds to cover the expenses for the continued care of<br />

their pets.<br />

For more information, to volunteer or to donate please visit www@2ndchance4pets.org.<br />

2nd Chance 4 Pets is a 501c3 all-volunteer nonprofit advocacy organization. Our team is working to reduce the number of pets<br />

euthanized due to the death or disability of the pet owner. For more information, please visit 2ndchance4pets.org. Our tax ID<br />

number is 13-4280812.<br />

www.2ndchance4pets.org

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