Cultivating Courage

Men are supposed to be brave. We are supposed to be like Jack Bauer (on the TV show 24), willing to step up when the need arises, no matter what the cost, no matter what the pain, just because the mission is more important than any personal comfort or safety. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it is essential.

Courage makes a good theory, but sometimes we need help to practice it. We have many opportunities each day to step out of our comfort zone to serve God. When we don’t have courage, we need to be reminded of God’s promise in 2 Timothy, and we need others’ encouragement to take the leap of faith.

Perhaps you need someone to tell you: Volunteer for that job at church because they need you. Teach that class. Have lunch with your co-worker to discuss matters of faith. Maybe you should join that small group, or the Men of Steel. Remember the mission that Christ gave to us, to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). First we seek the lost (Luke 19:10), because God is seeking true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

We recently read the book of Esther, which tells a story of love, sacrifice, and God’s timing. Mordecai, a Jew in exile, refused to bow to Haman, second in command to King Ahasuerus. Haman became furious and plotted to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews. So Haman deceived the king and persuaded him to issue an edict condemning the Jews to death. When Mordecai told his cousin Queen Esther about the edict, he urged her to intervene. “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” he said (4:14). Approaching the king uninvited was punishable by death. But Esther seized the moment to save her people!

When we are able to rescue others, we should do so at all costs. Ask God for His direction and act! He may have placed you here “for such a time as this.”

Be courageous for Jesus. Be obedient to the point of risk. Sometimes it takes just that first step of courage to serve our wonderful Savior.

Erwin McManus has something to say about courage.

Try these steps for size:

  1. Identify your calling.
  2. Identify your fears.
  3. Consider how your fears will thwart your calling.
  4. Consider the authority of Christ over your fears.
  5. Trust God’s ability rather than your limitations.
  6. Decide whether you want a life of compliance or rebellion.
  7. Always choose obedience in the face of fear.
  8. Join forces with others of similar calling.
  9. Remind yourself that God’s side wins.
  10. Embrace the adventure of a life of significance.

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Always on Call

Christianity is about being “others oriented.” It’s relational. When Jesus called his closest men, they came out of the everyday work life, fishermen, tax collectors, political activists, rather than the religious community. The problem is that not many people in a local church are called to full time vocational Christian service. Men have their careers and need to make a living, and time is valuable to take care of business, family, chores and relaxation. Who has time for people or anything else?

I remember my younger days and looking forward to the future. Automation and machines would make life so much easier that Americans would have shorter work weeks and lots more free time. With the emergence of the computer and the simpler life we’d enjoy from our modern conveniences, our biggest challenge was supposed to be choosing how to spend all this extra time we’d have on our hands.

I look at life today and think, “What a cruel joke.”

Have you ever seen a day when people were this strung out with work demands, longer hours, tighter deadlines, breakneck schedules, and higher expectations? Whatever little time and energy is left at the end of earning a paycheck, running errands, and keeping our homes in working order usually ends up stretched out on the sofa with a cold drink; and then hope that no one will bother us. At this pace, we just don’t have time for people.

Check out what Jesus said to the disciples in Mark 10:35-45. I believe they may have had their own ideas on theology and what pleased God, and basically wanted to follow God on their own terms, as long as Jesus did what they wanted Him to do (Mark 10:35). When we try the same thing, Jesus reminds us that we just don’t know what we are asking for (Mark 10:38). We don’t get it, just like the Twelve. We always think we know best. In our ignorance and selfishness we would never expect the same answer (Mark 10:39). We don’t expect to be treated in the same fashion as Jesus Himself; abused, beaten, misunderstood, homeless, poor and eventually executed. These never make our to-do lists. We (as did the disciples) want to sit at the left and right hand of God, to have a place of honor and comfort, were we belong (Mark 10:37). Problem is that if Jesus did not spare his closest men from hardship, why should we expect anything less?

So what was the specific instruction of Jesus for the disciples? Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). To me, this means that we are to be “others oriented” and always looking for opportunities to serve people. While men are in a vocation in the real world, we have to realize that we are always “on call.” An opportunity arises and the pager goes off, we must decide to do the right thing or to ignore the page. When you’re on call, ignoring a page is not an option.

What an opportunity, then, for men to make the love of Christ stand out in a crowd—every time you forsake the sofa in order to meet a need, serve a brother, or help a neighbor. The sky light is open for us to “shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:15) and see God’s face light up.

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Appointed or Anointed?

We have been studying the life of David in our Sunday morning Bible study and something struck me the other day. It’s no secret that Kim and I have been called by God to minister to the Lord through a local congregation, but if we are not careful, we can lose focus on how we got into the ministry in the first place. Let’s take a look at Saul for a moment…

In 1 Samuel 18:7, 8, 9, Saul is imploding as a leader. He’s got anger issues. He’s got jealousy issues. He’s got evil spirit issues. He’s a madman who’s got fear issues (1 Samuel 18:10, 11). I believe it is all because Saul forgot who had called him in the first place. He was more concerned about his popularity ratings with people than pleasing God. The people praised David more than the king (1 Samuel 18:7), “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands!”

This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “The people credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.” Saul forgot who had made him king! Saul was afraid of the people appointing David, but Saul wasn’t appointed by people. He was anointed by God.

If you forget who called you, you’ll run into trouble. You’ll become a people pleaser. You’ll feel threatened because of your insecurities. And the fear of man will be your downfall. David was Saul’s greatest asset, but Saul was threatened because of his insecurities.

Mark Batterson at National Community Church in DC writes:

Can I offer this simple reminder to pastors? You weren’t appointed by a denomination or elected by a congregation or ratified by a board. You were anointed by God. And if you forget, you’ll leadership will implode. I’m not saying you aren’t accountable to a denomination or congregation or board. But never forget your ultimate accountability is to the one who anointed you in the first place.

For David, he understood the anointing (1 Samuel 15:17), “The Lord has anointed you king of Israel.”

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God Making Mistakes?

I was reading a blog recently and the author posed this question, “Have you ever felt like God made a mistake?”

Well, the Bible does record that He was sorry for ever creating mankind in the first place (Genesis 6:6-7, see also Exodus 32:14, 1 Samuel 15:11, Jeremiah 26:3). Sin sorrows God who is holy, blameless and without sin (Ephesians 4:30), so don’t sorrow Him by the way we live. The Lord’s sorrow does not indicate an arbitrary change of mind, though it seems that way to man. Rather, it indicates a different attitude on God’s part in response to some change in man’s behavior. Because He is holy, He must react against sin. The description “was sorry” expresses God’s change of action (Genesis 6:7) in terms understandable to man. God would no longer be longsuffering with such widespread wickedness. Sin impacts the work which the Spirit does (Ephesians 4:30).

Back to the question, “Have you ever felt like God made a mistake?” That is how the Israelites felt with the Egyptian army breathing down their necks and the Red Sea staring them in the face (Exodus 14:2, 3, 9, 10). Here’s the kicker: God led them there. From a military standpoint, they should not have been there. They have no escape route. They couldn’t retreat or advance. It seems like God has made a mistake, and the Israelites let Moses know about it. But God had them right where he wanted them.

Sometimes God leads us to a place where we have nowhere to turn but to Him, and that is often the last place we want to be. But it’s the best place to be. Here is the great irony: all of us want to experience a miracle, we just don’t want to be in a situation where it is needed. Sometimes you need to be between the Pharaoh and the Deep Red Sea so God can reveal more of His glory (Exodus 14:4).

We often know what to do, but we cry out to God anyway. God’s response to Moses was, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the people to get moving.” (Exodus 14:15). Just when you think God has made a mistake, He parts the water (Exodus 14:16).

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Creative Ways to Disobey God

This is a message that I preached at King’s Grant Baptist Church. As children, we often look for ways to be disobedient, and dealing with God there is often no difference. From the life of Pharaoh, we can learn six creative ways to disobey God…

Postponed Obedience – Exodus 8:1-15 – Put it off until tomorrow.

  1. Water into blood did not work, so here comes plague #2
  2. Frogs are everywhere – (Exodus 8:3) – in your house, your bedroom, your bed, the houses of your servants, on your people, in your ovens and kneading bowls; covering the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:6).
    1. Magicians’ response – (Exodus 8:7) – more of the same, status quo
    2. Moses’ response – (Exodus 8:9) – empowering others to make decisions
    3. Monarch’s response – (Exodus 8:10) – “tomorrow” = procrastination
  3. Knowing what to do and waiting until some other day is the same as disobedience; just as deciding later is really a decision not to.

Practical Obedience – Exodus 8:25 – We rationalize in order to do what we want.

  1. What we want to do is more practical and doable than what God wants us to do, sacrifice within the land…
    1. There are dangers outside of Egypt, and I can’t protect you.
    2. There are logistical problems in moving so many people so far away.
    3. There are old people and infants, it will be a hard trip on all the people, I care about them.
  2. We often desire to walk by sight rather than by faith
  3. Another example is King Saul:
    1. 1 Sam 13:8-13 – performing the sacrifice when Samuel was late.
    2. 1 Sam 15:9-11, 19-22 – sparing King Agag, the people taking the spoil to sacrifice to God. To obey is better than sacrifice!
  4. Doing what is practical may be nothing more than disobedience. Obedience may not be doing what is practical, but doing the will of God!

Partial Obedience – Exodus 8:28 – I’ll go so far and that’s good enough

  1. We must go three days into the wilderness (Exodus 8:27)
  2. “I will let you go, just don’t go far away” (Exodus 8:28)
  3. Moses says it’s not good enough and sends the plague of flies (Exodus 8:29)
  4. What has God called you to do and you tell him that you will go so far and no more?
    1. I’ll give to your kingdom, but not sacrificial giving
    2. I’ll go to a Sunday school class, but not teach anywhere
    3. I’ll hand out bulletins on Sunday but not hand out meals at the shelter
    4. I’ll teach an adult class but I won’t serve in the preschool or children’s areas
    5. I’ll pray for missions but not give to missions
    6. I’ll give to missions but will not go on a mission trip
    7. I’ll invite people to church but not share my faith with people
    8. I’ll sing in the congregation but not in the choir
  5. How do you define where to draw the line – to obey or not?

Pivotal Obedience – Exodus 9:34-35 – I surrender all, and then change my mind and take it all back

  1. The hail came down until Pharaoh admitted that his people were the wicked ones (Exodus 9:27)
  2. Pharaoh was in a tough spot; “Pray to the Lord for the hail to stop and I’ll let your people go” (Exodus 9:28)
  3. Moses said he would stop the hail as soon as he was out of the city (Exodus 9:29)
  4. The thunder and hail stopped, and Pharaoh changed his mind (Exodus 9:34-35)
  5. How many times has this happened in life?
    1. I forgot I had a test today, God help me to pass, and I’ll do anything you want…
    2. We promise God all sorts of things if only I can get that promotion: If you get me the promotion… I’ll start tithing, I’ll be more faithful in church attendance, I’ll serve on a few committees.
    3. We make a vow when we pray for a family member to be healed
    4. Please God get me out of this mess and I’ll serve you faithfully
  6. This method of disobedience is basically lying to God!

Parental Obedience – Exodus 10:10 – the men and parents may go to serve the Lord but not the children

  1. Some time after Pharaoh goes back on his offer to let them go, Moses is asked, “Who are the ones going? (Exodus 10:8)
  2. With our young and old, our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds! (Exodus 10:9)
  3. Pharaoh said to take only the men (Exodus 10:11) which is unacceptable to Moses
  4. God wants all of us involved in his mission in the world.
    1. It’s not just for men, all people are called to salvation and service
    2. It’s not just for the women, so often men feel that Christians follow a wimpy Jesus always talking about love, rather than a manly Jesus who was a skilled craftsman & carpenter, with strong morals, firm convictions, strong social skills.
    3. He attracted people to his message and held them with a charismatic personality where men wanted to follow him, and eventually gave their lives for his mission.
    4. Children and youth may very well say that Christian service is for my parents, not me. I have too much to do right now, I’ll serve him later. God can’t use me, I’m just a youth Think about the call of Jeremiah – Jeremiah 1:5 or Timothy – 1 Timothy 4:12 – let no one look down on your youthfulness…
      1. Be an example to others, perhaps older people (1 Timothy 4:13)
      2. Read and teach the Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13)
      3. Exercise your spiritual gift (1 Timothy 4:14)
      4. Live out loud where people see your progress (1 Timothy 4:15)
      5. Persevere is sharing the message of salvation (1 Timothy 4:16)
  5. How often do young people feel that it is the older generation’s responsibility to serve the Lord?

Phony Obedience – Exodus 10:17 – Going to church with no real conviction, and a false sense of security

  1. After the locusts Pharaoh had enough, he declares to Moses and Aaron that he has sinned against God and them (16)
  2. He begs forgiveness (just this once) and their prayers, to remove this death from him (17)
  3. Pharaoh makes some sort of phony confession with intent of not following through; he hardens his own heart in 10:20.
  4. It may look good on the outside but God is not fool with such phony foolishness.
    1. A youth wants to date a Christian girl so he makes his confession
    2. A woman does not want to loose her potential finance’ so she attends church with him
    3. A prisoner before his parole board claims to now be a believer
    4. A businessman wants to increase his business through church people so he joins the church to make contacts
    5. A husband has a brush with death and he vows to be in church from now on
  5. Jesus said…
    1. That a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:16)
    2. If you love me you will keep my commandments (John 14:15)
    3. Not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21) EVEN those who served him and performed miracles; depart from me I never knew you (Matthew 7:22-23)
  6. Remember that Samuel told Saul that to “obey is better than sacrifice.” We cannot go through religious motions, playing games with God. “A call to come to Christ is a call to come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). That’s not a popular message, but Jesus is the Lord and is to be obeyed or he may very well say to us, “I never knew you.”
  7. Look over the list of creative ways to disobey God. What is your favorite excuse? How are you going to get right with God? Don’t wait until tomorrow!

Follow Through and Finish Well

When I think of men, we get involved in a lot of stuff. Sometimes we have too many irons in the fire and some fairly important things get left undone. Any married man might identify with this situation, we had the best of intentions, we never intended to not follow through, we never planned to let our wives down, but we did not finish what we started. My house is a standing monument to unfinished tasks… well, to be honest, many projects have not yet been started (there’s just a list posted to the refrigerator door).

After being delivered from centuries of slavery in Egypt, the children of Israel followed this same pattern. God gave His chosen people a simple instruction to possess the land, which meant they were to completely drive out the current residents. If they didn’t follow through, the Canaanites would drag them down spiritually, which was seen over and over, and the Israelites chasing after false gods rather than sole loyalty to the One True God. It’s recorded twice in two separate books: Joshua 17:13 and Judges 1:28.

In our present situation, we do the same thing. Not by worshipping false gods, but we claim the salvation of Christ yet still hold on to the old sinful nature of the past. While the nature doesn’t ever completely leave (the struggle continues throughout life – Romans 7:14-25) we cannot allow known sin to permeate our lives. John tells us that no one born of God sins (that is, habitually practices sin – 1 John 5:18), but we must strive to completely drive out the evil that desires to ensnare us into bondage to sin (2 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 12:1, 2 Peter 2:20).

So what is the result of our not completely driving out the old sinful nature? I believe that God was tired of their hypocrisy. Check out the word of God through the prophet Jeremiah:

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? Jeremiah 7:8-10

Wow! Let’s get serious about walking in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ (Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, . He saved us to live in faith (Colossians 2:6) not to walk in the same way as the world around us. Take on the “yoke” of Christ and learn from Him (Matthew 11:29)… that’s discipleship.

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Who is in Control?

Part of the Lord’s Prayer mentions, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13).

It’s amazing to think about the fact that every act of your life is motivated by a spiritual force. So, the question for today is, “Who is controlling you?” Or we might ask, “What is motivating you?”

I am a lover of cake! Old classic cake flavors are “Devil’s Food” and “Angel’s Food.” So, aside from the dessert, which sort of food are you feeding your body? What spirit is being satisfied through your soul?

If the spirit of the enemy is allowed to work in you, then you are grieving the Holy Spirit; something the Bible tells us not to do (Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Any time you allow the enemy to work his will through your mind or body, you grieve the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also desires to use you; He wants to use you for God’s glory and God’s service. The Spirit provides a gift for you to use in the service of God. The Holy Spirit’s purpose is not to dominate you or crush you, but to fulfill you.

Satan desires to use you for his own purpose, as a pawn in his hand to laugh in God’s face. He desires to use you, abuse you, and then refuse you. You are in a state of living death when you give in to the enemy’s purpose.

Temptation is Satan’s tool for getting you to do things that you really don’t want to do. Deep inside your spirit, you know that what he is tempting you to do is wrong. The worst and most hardened criminals in our world today know they have done wrong, and they often blame others for their actions. They may act as if they don’t care about the fact that they’ve done wrong, been caught, or are facing serious consequences, but deep inside, they have to know. They knew when they were doing wrong that what they were doing was wrong.

Satan’s lie is that you have a right to do wrong. Society is at fault. You have a right to get even with society. Your daddy is at fault. You have a right to rebel against him. Your boss is at fault. You have a right to steal from him or cheat him. God is at fault. He made you this way. You have a right to act the way you do because He made you with this temper, this anger, this lust, this desire.

God’s Word says that you have a right to choose. Joshua said to the Israelites, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve … as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). You have a right to choose, a free will, a mind that can make a conscious decision. But none of us have a right to sin.

My challenge today, is to make sure that you are yielding the control of your life only to God. Eat a bit more “angel’s food” and see how your life can change. Imagine how our lives, marriages and families can be different if we totally yield to the will of God.

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The Urgency of God's Purpose

Here’s a great verse… Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, “Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you would not listen to me or obey me. – Jeremiah 35:15.

 

I remember an illustration from back in college, which came from a little booklet called, Tyranny of the Urgent. The point was that in life there are many urgent things that come up. We can spend our entire lives stamping out fires, dealing with those things that are most urgent. Then at the end of the day we wonder what we have done with our time. We must look at the important items in life and take care of those things, because no one else will do it for us. Spirital growth is just one of those important things. God will wrestle with us because it’s important. Part of spiritual growth is getting rid of sin that has enslaved us.

 

There is urgency in God’s call for us to repent of our sin and to return to Him, as well as persistence when God wrestles with us. Other people will tell us what they think, but they will eventually abandon us. God doesn’t give up. He wrestles with us until the end and isn’t distracted from His purpose.

 

I wonder if there is an appointed time for each of us, where the wrestling match in life would finally come to an end. God wrestled with Jacob “until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24). God wrestled with urgency, with insistency, with greater and greater strength. He knew that if Jacob didn’t confront who he was in that night, he was going to miss the prime opportunity to become who he was created to be. Each of us may be running out of time, too.

 

God’s urgency must not be ignored. He knows something about our lives that we don’t know. He knows when the enemy is coming after us. He knows our areas of weakness. He knows when Jesus is coming again, and when it will be too late.

 

Return to Him …

 

  • Before you lose your life …
  • Before you lose your integrity …
  • Before you lose your wife …
  • Before you lose your son or daughter …
  • Before you lose what God has given to you …

 

God’s urgency is for a purpose. Don’t ignore Him.

 

  • We don’t have time to fool around.
  • We don’t have time for detours.
  • We don’t have time for childish things.
  • We don’t have time for rebellion.
  • We don’t have time to play games.
  • We don’t have time for an affair.
  • We don’t have time for meetings and committees that really aren’t important.

 

Look at your watch right now and say to yourself, “NOW is the appointed time for me to serve God so that I might live in peace here in the land He have given to me!”

 

I hope to see you all at the Welcome Center on Saturday, April 25.

 

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Discipleship is About Life Change

A great word regarding this life change is transformation, like we read in Romans 12:2, “do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The original word in the New Testament is metamorphoo, from which we get our word metamorphosis. According to Strong’s lexicon, it means “a permanent state to which a change takes place.” There is much biblical support for doing away with the old and bringing in the new:

 

  • Tearing down the old altar and building a new one – Judges 6:25-26
  • The Spirit will come upon King Saul and he will become a different person – 1 Samuel 10:6
  • Your scarlet sins will become white as snow – Isaiah 1:18
  • Jeremiah saw the potter take the clay jar, smash it and start over – Jeremiah 18:4
  • God takes a stony, stubborn heart and replaces it with a tender, responsive heart – Ezekiel 11:19
  • Angels cleanse the High Priest, changing his clothing – Zechariah 3:3-4
  • Jesus said we all must be born again – John 3:3
  • The transformation of Paul is an illustration – Acts 9:1-18
  • Repentance put into action, burning the old books of magic – Acts 19:18-19
  • We are dead to sin and alive to God – Romans 6:11
  • We are not to be conformed to this world but transformed – Romans 12:2; 1 Peter 1:14.
  • We are to be a new creation in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22–24
  • We pass from darkness into light – Ephesians 5:8–10
  • Unbelievers will be surprised at your transformation – 1 Peter 4:4
  • Because of transformation, we now are able to do what is right – 1 John 2:29

 

So, in looking at your own transformation, how are you continuing on the road of discipleship?

 

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What is Repentance?

What is repentance and why is it so important that we do it? It’s a churchy word that means to turn from going in one direction; making a 180-degree turn and go in the other direction; to turn from sin and turn to the Savior. While repentance is not the act that saves us (since we are saved only by God’s grace and our faith in what Christ did for us on the cross) there is biblical support that we need to repent… basically how could one really be saved if we leave repentance out of the picture? So, we are not saved by repentance, but practically, how can we be saved without it?

 

Here are some of the biblical foundations for repentance:

 

  • Jesus called sinners to repentance – Luke 5:31-32
  • Jesus called needy sinners to repentance, which leads to their salvation – Matthew 4:17
  • Repentance must be from a genuine heart – Mark 7:20-23, Jeremiah 4:3-4, Joel 2:12-13
  • Godly sorrow brings repentance, which leads to salvation – 2 Corinthians 7:10-11
  • Repentance brings joy in heaven – Luke 15:7
  • God calls for people to seek Him, turn from their wickedness, and He promises to forgive them – Isaiah 55:6-7
  • God calls for people to forsake their idols and forsake practicing evil – Ezekiel 14:6
  • Life comes to the one who repents – Ezekiel 18:21-22
  • God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked – Ezekiel 18:23
  • The lord calls earnestly for sinners to repent – Ezekiel 18:30-32
  • Jesus pronounced judgment on those who refuse to repent – Matthew 11:20-24
  • God calls for repentance out of His kindness – Romans 2:14
  • Refusal to repent brings punishment, but life if you do – Romans 2:5-6
  • Disaster comes to those who do not heed God’s call to repentance – Proverbs 1:24-28
  • Repentance brings forgiveness – Luke 7:37-38, 48-50
  • God’s anger is poured out on the unrepentant – Isaiah 42:23-25
  • Return to God and He will return to you – Malachi 3:7
  • If God’s people turn from their wickedness, He will forgive them – 2 Chronicles 7:14
  • Paul preached that we must repent, turn to God and do deeds that prove our repentance – Acts 26:19-20

 

A great resource on this topic is John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus. The basic foundation is that when someone encountered Jesus in the Bible, they did not just get saved by praying a prayer, their lives where transformed.

 

BTW, if you are looking for a Sunday class at 9:45, I’m starting a new six-week study on the miracle of life change, beginning on April 26. Transformation is much more significant than just believing the right stuff about Jesus!

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