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The Call to Repentance

The Call to Repentance: Turn to the Lord and Find Salvation. Dear friends, In these uncertain times, it can be all too easy to lose hope and feel lost in the chaos of the world around us. Yet, there is a powerful message of hope and salvation that can bring peace and purpose to our lives. It is a call to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 3:19, we are told, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” This simple yet profound call to repentance is the first step towards finding salvation in Christ. The message of the Gospel is clear: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is through faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved and our sins are forgiven. But we must first acknowledge our need for salvation and turn from our sinful ways. As it says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people, who are calle
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The Beauty of the Gospel

The Beauty of the Gospel Matthew chapter 13, verses one through twenty-three. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them, but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answ
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The Bible and the Tradition of Men

The Bible and the Tradition of Men  1. Introduction: In Matthew 15:10-20, Jesus challenges the religious leaders of his time to reconsider their understanding of the law and their interpretation of it. The passage speaks to both the religious and secular community, as it addresses fundamental issues of morality and ethics. 2. The Importance of Tradition: Jesus begins by pointing out the importance of tradition in Jewish culture. However, he also warns against the dangers of blindly following tradition, as it can lead to hypocrisy and a neglect of more important matters. 3. The Heart of the Matter: Jesus then explains that it is not what enters a person's mouth that defiles them, but what comes out of their hearts. This challenges the idea that external actions alone can make a person holy, and emphasizes the importance of inner purity. 4. The Hypocrisy of the Religious Leaders: Jesus then confronts the religious leaders, accusing them of neglecting the weightier matters of the law
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Go Up, O Sinners!

For this article, you should first read 2 Kings 1.1 - 18.  1. Go Up. Elijah hears a message from the Lord about Ahaziah. Something is very wrong here. Elijah was in no way spying on Ahaziah, yet he knew the situation well. The situation, that is, with regard to his soul. Like the whole of humanity, Ahaziah was a sinner in need of repentance. But it was worse even than that. Ahaziah was injured by an accident and it was likely to be fatal. Worse again, he was in a state of constant rebellion against God. This put him in a far worse state than anyone else. This state of rebellion against God manifested by his action in seeking a word from the devil himself. A terrible sin. So a word is given to Elijah and it was not a word of comfort. 2. Go Back. Elijah meets with the King's messengers and sends them back with the word that God has given him first. And to be fair they did their duty, both to God and the King. Not only that but they were prevented from committing the sin that they wou
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The LORD Knoweth

The LORD knoweth. Psalm 94.11 A Pious Platitude Or A Useful Observation? In the world that confronts us as it does today with Corona Virus, Black Lives Matter, natural disasters, industrial disasters, a tidal wave of unemployment, horrific child abuse, corruption, greed and a host of other things, life, we can safely say, is definitely not what it used to be. Added to that is the inescapable fact that when we ask religious people for their advice on how to possibly cope with things as we have them today, what do they say? The LORD knows! Really? Well, let's see how that's working out, shall we? Uh, not very well! If the LORD knows, why is life going down the tubes? And just how does that statement give us anything even remotely resembling a solution? Then, to make matters even worse (you thought that was impossible, I'm guessing!) they tell us that to react this way is sinful! In other words, to quote an old Bob Dylan song “You never ask questions when
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Something Serious To Think About As You Self-Isolate

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark Chapter 1, verse 15. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;" Romans chapter 1 verse 18. These may seem to be two very unlikely verses of Holy Scripture to pair up, but please be patient with me.  There is something very important at the heart of what I have to say and my motive in doing so. First of all, I wish to restate the four bed-rock points that form the pretext of this blog: One and without doubt the most important of all is that God loves you. Two is that you need to be saved.  This is the direct implication of the fact that we are all loved by God. Three is you can be saved.  It would indeed paint a very miserable and poor picture of the God of the Bible that in spite of His loving us He is not able to save us after revealing to us the two points as
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The Revelation Of Gratitude

The Revelation Of Gratitude. It is the daily morning habit of this writer to “do my chapter”. What I mean, of course, is that I take a chapter of Holy Scripture and read slowly, prayerfully and reverently through it, asking myself at each point what this is teaching me about God and life. It's a practice I have maintained since my early teenage years and now, in my sixties, I can certainly assert that it has definitely stood the test of time (thumbs up, smiley face)! And yet, as profitable as it consistently is, some mornings are more special than others. And this morning is definitely one of those more special mornings. I think, wistfully, that they are all like this if I was equally willing to unpack the Scripture before me and not be in such a hurry to get on with the rest of my day. But this morning I felt divinely arrested when I stopped to think about what I had just read. Just take a look at the opening verses from the Apostle Paul's first Epistl
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