The Church Doesn't Act So Christian Sometimes - Why ?

Now lets look at the Christian Church & I say the Christian Church because Im deliberately excluding any Church that believes that you are saved by any other means than that of the blood of Jesus.  Is this confusing?  If it is please keep reading in the days to come, because Im going to try my best to make it as simple as I possibly can.

Simplicity is what Jesus did when he put himself on that cross.  He made it simple for us to be saved and enter into the kingdom of Heaven. 

Now - Lets look at why some people in Christian Church acts out the way they do sometimes.  There is always two sides to every story.  So lets listen to both sides.  Some people in the Church fear whats on the outside.  They don't want to let the Devil in.  They don't want worldly views or worldly people for that matter to dirty their - religion so to speak.

WOW - Now what would happen if we let these two characters in the Church?  


So here is what they fear.  People they see as evil coming in and destroying Gods Church.  They want to protect Gods house from being torn apart and broken down by people that have this attitude.


I wonder why some people have this attitude about Jesus?  The very same Jesus that gave his life on the cross for their sins.  The very Jesus that wants to spend eternity loving them.  


Im willing to bet - They don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Im willing to bet they don't care to know him.  Im also willing to bet that Jesus would give his life again and again for them to come to know him.  


Here is the thing that most people in the Church don't seem to understand.  They don't seem to understand that it is our job as Gods children to bring the truth about Jesus's love to them.  It is us that need to bring the cross to them.  It is us that needs to love them even if they don't love us.  God has commanded us to do just that over and over again.  We can't save anyone only Jesus can do that, but we can bring the love of Jesus to them.


Lets looks at another one.

As a whole the Church is trying to protect what is left of the Church.  They think that the Church is weak and dying.  To think this is - to think that God is weak and dying !  I for one do not think that God is weak or dying.  I think our faith in him is weak - So weak in fact that we are afraid of letting others know the truth about Gods word.

What a shame to let so many go to Hell just because we want to protect the only one that does not need protection !  GOD !   I think he can handle the hearts we just need to let them know who he is.

God is and always will be the Almighty one.  The one and only - The beginning and the end.  

What is a Christian?  A Christian is a sinner that is saved only by Gods grace.  By accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are then covered by the blood of Jesus - from way back when he was hung on that cross at Calvary.  We still sin & this will not end until we no longer wear the earthly flesh we have now.  The good thing is we are covered be his blood and we should try daily to be more like him.  

Is God Being Persecuted By The Sins Of The Christian Church ?

Is God being persecuted by the sins of the Christian Church?  Lets look at this question from the way Jesus may look at it.  Jesus walked the earth for some 33 years loving and changing peoples lives.  He healed the sick, he loved the unloved & he gave his life for all us - so we could be with him.  Jesus took the beating none of us would ever want to take.  Jesus suffered in humiliation and pain just because he loves us.  Jesus died and was buried only to rise victorious!  He fix the one thing that could not be fixed (Sin).  He took our sins onto himself and carried them on the cross and spilled his blood for our atonement.  Who has ever done so much for someone else?  

He did so much for us - that some have a hard time believing it.  What a sad sad thing :(

How does the world look at the Church from the outside?  Well lets see -
A few years ago the world witnessed one of the most horrific sights the church has been involved in. It happened during the TV coverage of the funeral of Matthew Shepherd. A group of professing Christians had traveled to Montana just to hold signs outside the funeral protesting the gay lifestyle. They taunted the victim’s parents as they came out of the memorial service. They yelled at the parents that their son is now in Hell. They held up signs that said “God hates fags.” Not only were they not representing the spirit of Christ, they were putting words in God’s mouth, a dangerous practice, to say the least.

Now I know not all people in the Christian Church act like this.  I know they are not all this extreme, but lets ask ourselves - How do we act when a person that has lived in a different lifestyle or has a bad background or even a person of a different color walks into the doors of our churches?  Are we loving towards them for real or do we act like we love them?  Now don't get me wrong I know some of you are totally loving and welcoming to all :)  But what about the majority ?

What damage does this type of thing do to the Christian Church?  Better Yet Lets Ask - What Damage Does This Do To GOD ??  The people that are most effected by this types of hatred, think that the Church as a whole all think the same.  Many even think that since the Church acts this way then God must feel this way too.  

What does the bible say about hate ?
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
(Matthew 5:43-47) 

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
--1 John 4:20

Next we will talk about the other side of this and see where we all should stand.  Should we stand apart or Hand in Hand ?

God Really Loves Us All - My View of Gods Love

OK today Im going to skip the Genesis study - just for today :)  I think its very important to study the bible so you will know for yourself first hand - THE TRUTH.  I say just for today, but if it ends up being a lot then it may be for a couple of days.

Last night I watched Lost & it was showing Richards past.  He has accidentally killed a man and went to prison for it.  He was in his cell reading the Bible when a priest walked in.  Richard asked the Priest to pray for his forgiveness for him????  If he was really reading the Bible then he should know we don't need a priest or Mary to pray for our sins.  Ok ok - so the priest tells him that he can do nothing to earn forgiveness for his sins & went on to tell him that the Devil was waiting in hell for him!!  WOW - what at contradiction to the truth about Gods forgiveness!  This just makes me angry because so many people actually believe these types of things when they hear them.  This was national television telling a straight out LIE !

The truth is the God loves us so much that he took a part of himself and manifested into a man (JESUS)  He grew up on this earth to teach us the truth.   He then took all of our sins apon himself and died for us. You see by him giving his life and making the final most important blood sacrifice.  He is able to forgive us for our sins (PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE) The rules changed when Christ died on the cross.  You no longer have to make blood sacrifices for forgiveness.

You simply have to realize that you are a sinner.  You have to repent of your sins. (Does this mean you can't sin again ? No!) We will always sin and fall short of Gods perfect glory, but we have to get off our high horse and admit that we are sinners.  We have to accept him as our Lord & Savior and let him lead our lives.  Does this mean we have to all be preachers & teachers?  No.   But it does mean we all need to trust in him and his promises.   If we accept him he will love us unconditionally and have a place for us in Heaven.  

I Don't care what kind of life you live.  I don't care what you have done.  You can be part of Gods family.  

All Richard had to do was ask God to forgive him of his sins and ask god to come into his heart & put his trust in God and he would have been saved.  What Richard did was listen to another man & believed that God would not forgive him. 

Don't be a Richard -  Don't take what others say as the truth just because they seem to be an authority figure.  Read the Bible for your self and get the GOOD TRUTH.  God loves us and we can be saved just by asking.

You can't work your way into Heaven - So if you are a Jehovah Witness or other organization that thinks you can work your way then you are listening to the wrong one.  You need to Read the HOLY BIBLE - It is a complete work and if you read Revelation you will see that it is wrong to take away or add to this book.

Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

So don't listen to any church or organization that  teaches or preaches from an added Bible.  If your church doesn't specifically teach from the Holy Bible and only the Holy Bible then you are more than likely in a Occult.
Im not trying to say anything bad about anybody, but if you are being taught anything different than - You get saved by asking Jesus into your heart - then you are being taught wrong.  Nobody can work there way into heaven - Its not about work, but it is about LOVE !!  Love God first then one another :) 

God made it simple for us to be Saved and go to Heaven.  Its not hard - He did this so we could all be saved and we simply have to accept him. 

John 3:16  
For 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.

First we have to know that everybody came from Adam & Eve - And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,” Acts 17:26. The gospel makes sense only on the basis that all humans alive and all that have ever lived are descendants of the first man Adam.  Thus, there was only one man at the beginning—made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7).

This also means that Cain’s wife had to be a descendant of Adam. She couldn’t have come from another race of people and must be a child born from Adam & Eve.
Genesis 3:20  Says “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” In other words, all people other than Adam are descendants of Eve Because she was the only woman.

Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve recorded in Scripture (Genesis 4:1). He and his brothers, Abel (Genesis 4:2) and Seth (Genesis 4:25), were part of the first generation of children ever born.

Even though the Bible specifically mentions these three brothers. Adam and Eve had other children.
Genesis 5:4  Says “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.”
The Bible does not tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve, but considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years—Genesis 5:5), it would seem logical to suggest they had many Children.

Remember, God commanded to (be fruitful, and multiply) (Genesis 1:28).

Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
From this context we gather that Cain had married a wife before he ever slew his brother. 
Many people think that Cain wasn't Marries when he killed his brother, but this was not the case.

So in conclusion Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod. 
He didn’t find a wife there but “knew” (had sexual relations with) his wife.

Now this makes sense because of what Nod means. Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew. So when Cain went to the land of Nod, he was literally going to the land of wandering, not a place full of people.

Ok so whats next ?

• What become of Cains Family?
• Why did God let all of this happen?

If you haven't excepted God's calling yet - Don't wait till tomorrow - do it today.  God has called everyone to come and know him personally.  He sacrificed himself so we could have a chance to know him.  Times are getting worse and worse - so don't delay and take a chance at not knowing Jesus.

Gods Punishment For Cain Killing Able

After Cain Killed Able, The Lord came to Cain and asked him where his brother was. Able answered by saying - I don't know - Am I my brothers keeper? As I said before Cain was really having a attitude towards God.

Why do you think God came to Cain and asked him where Able was? We all know God already knew what happened. See God wants to give everyone every chance he can so he can forgive them. In Cains case he gave him many chances. Cain just dosen't have any respect for God at all!

Do you have respect for God?

After Cain lies to the Lord by telling him he doesn't know where Able is at, God lets him know that he knows what he done. God said in Genesis Chapter 4:10 - What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. God now immediately gives Cain his punishment.

1. He first drives him from the ground where his brother is laying dead.
2. He tells Cain that the ground will no longer produce food for him.
3. He tells him that he will be a restless wanderer of the earth.

Other words he will no longer have the plentiful crops he used to have, he would be like a homeless person because he was being kicked out of the area where he lived. Does this sound familiar?

Now Cain is still not happy !! He tells the Lord that his punishment is too much!!  Cain still has no regard for anyone except for himself.  Cain goes on to tell God how if anyone finds him that they would kill him.  I wonder if Cain had any love in his heart for anyone, but himself?

Now why would someone kill Cain?  Most people wouldn't even know him from anyone else right?  Well remember this was early on and Cain and Able were the first born of Adam and Eve and there wasn't many people on earth yet. More than likely Cain was afraid of his own family, because they would know that Cain was mad and upset at Able. 

Even now God still has mercy on Cain and tells him that surly nobody would kill him.  In fact God made a sign and put it upon Cain so if anyone sees him they would know not to bother him.  If they did then God would punish them seven fold.   I think God was yet still giving Cain another chance.  Instead Cain went into the land of  Nod which means Exile.  He got married and started a family. 

Wow there are a lot of questions around this part of Genesis.

• Where did Cains wife come from?
• What become of Cains Family?
• Why did God let all of this happen?

The bible answers all of these questions and we will discuss them next.

Cain Kills Able - Cain Shows His True Colors!

Well after Cain shows his first signs of becoming rebellious towards God.  God gives him another chance by telling him - if he would just do what is right then he would forgive him and everything would be good again.  (This was when Cain brought God the fruits of the field instead of a blood sacrifice)  Now Cain just gets more mad & more rebelious.

Have you ever felt this way?  Your parents or boss makes you do something and you get mad and want to do something worse just to show them whose boss.  Sometime your anger gets to you doesn't it?  Here God warns Cain about this when he told him that sin was crouching at his door and it desires for you - But you must master it.  What do you think this means?

 
You see God already knew what Cain was going to do if he didn't master his anger (sin).  Did you know that anger is a sin?  It is because of the distruction it causes.  Here Cain instead of listening to God and getting control of his anger, lets his anger grow inside of him and ends up killing Able. 

Now even after killing Able, Cain was still mad.  He must have really been mad!  Because most people that get mad and do something crazy usually feel remorse afterwards, but Cain didn't.  How do we know this?

The Lord comes to Cain and asked him where his brother was.  Cain answers him with another question.  Am I my brothers Keeper?  Well this was a mighty smart way to address God wasn't it? 

This just amazes me that Cain had this much anger and hatred in him that he would kill his own brother and disrespect God at the same time.  Talking about spitting in someones face!!

Next we will look at Gods punishment for Cain. 


If you are reading this and you are a member of the Youth Group at Lake Swamp Baptist Church -  I expect to hear some questions about these things tomorrow night. :)   

Hey Guys thanks for taking time to read these posts.  Feels free to comment or ask questions.  I would love a chance to answer them.

Also take a minute to follow these post.

Cain And Able - Where Did The Blood Sacrifice Start?

Yesterday we talked about Cain and Able's Offering to God.  Lets look at this a little closer because there is a lot questions around these offerings.

• How did Cain and Able know to give a blood offering to God?

Lets go back to when Adam & Eve first sinned.  They were still in the garden of Eden.  They had eaten the fruit from the tree of knowledge.  After they ate this fruit, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. (this was the first effect of there sin. They were ashamed of their nakedness)   God knows what they have done and sees that they have used fig leaves to cover their nakedness.

• What does God do here and why?  Adam and Eve made an attempt to cover their sin with fig leaves.  This was not acceptable to God as a cover for their sin. So God shows them what he expected in order to be forgiven for their sin.  
• God makes the first Blood sacrifice recorded in the Bible.  He sacrificed a animal to make new skins for Adam and Eve to wear in order to cover their nakedness (their sin). From this act we know that not only does God tell us what he wants - He shows us what he wants.  (Later on he shows us more specifically what he wants from us through his son Jesus)

Lets remember that Cain and Able were grown men when they made their offerings to God.  More than likely they had made numerous offerings to God that was accepted before the one talked about in Genesis 4.  But for some reason Cain decided to disregard what God wanted and give something he wanted to give instead of what God wanted him to give.  Even though he disregarded what God expected of him, God still gave him another chance to redeem himself.  He then gets mad and lets his sin nature take over him so much that he kills his brother Able.

Why didn't God accept Cain's offering?  First God had commanded them to give blood sacrifice, we know this because he did this himself when he made Adam and Eves clothes to cover their sin & later own he makes it law for everyone to do this in order to be forgiven for their sins.(This of course was before Jesus Christ came and give himself as the blood sacrifice that will cover all of our sins)

Lets look at a real world example of debt & payment

God required a certain payment for sin.  Now lets look at this in how even a sinful world expects certain things for payment of a debt. (After all sin is actually a dept that has to be paid to God) Imagine that you owe a huge amount of money to the bank, and you go to the bank and say, "I know that I owe you a lot of money. However, I am totally broke, and cannot pay my debt with money. (but I have another plan to pay you.) Here's my plan: Every day, I will come and vacuum the carpet at this bank . Thus I will work for you until I pay off my debt. " How would the bank respond to your proposition? Perhaps the bank would get angry, or perhaps they would laugh at you, however, what is certain is that they would not accept your offering! Why would the bank not accept your offering?  Because there is no way you can pay your huge debt to the bank with some feeble "good works."

Cain and Able - Brothers that go Different Directions With God

Because of  Adam & Eve's sin every person since them has been born into sin.  Starting with there very first two sons.  Cain and Able. 
Lets look at what happened with them a little closer.  If you read Genesis 4:4-7  we see that Cain and Able both brought an offering to God.  God took Able's offering and looked at Able with favor, but Cain he didn't look at with favor. 

This is so powerful !!  WHY?  Because he simply expected Cain and Able to see themselves as sinners just like he wants us to do today. 

To explain this further - In the old testament times you had to bring offerings to God.  If you wanted forgiveness for sin it had to be a blood offering.  See Able saw himself as a sinner and brought the correct type of offering to God (a blood offering).  Cain on the other hand didn't see himself as a sinner so he brought God a offering that was not of blood. 

The very first thing we need to do before we are saved by the blood of Jesus is to realize that we are sinners,  and are not perfect beings & we fall short of God's glory. 

In verse 7 God even explains to Cain that if he does what is right then he would look upon him in favor also.  Cain just didn't see himself that way and was not willing to change.  If fact he took it a step further and let his jealousy and anger turn into murder.  WOW - what a way to go wrong!   

Ask yourself today are you a Cain or Able?  Don't let your own self righteousness keep you from knowing God.  Just because you are a good person doesn't mean you are going to heaven.  You must realize that you are a sinner because you were born into a world of sin.  You have to realize that through Christ you can be saved, but you have to except him into your heart.  In order to except him into your heart you have to confess you are a sinner and then except him.  You see he already paid the blood sacrifice for you - all you have to do is believe and except him. 

Gods Punishment for Sin - What Happened Next?

Now after God gives his punishments - he kicks them out of the Garden of Eden.  The bible doesn't say anything about doing away with the garden of Eden it says he placed Cherubim and the Flaming Sword (which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life)  See if Adam and Eve could get to the tree of life then they could once again live forever and God would not allow this because they were now sinners. 

Now the Bible goes straight into Adam & Eve getting pregnant.  Eve gave birth to Cain then gave birth to Able.  Able was a keeper of flocks and Cain was a tiller of the ground.  We are fixing to see the different heart that these two brothers have. 

It says that Able brought a offering to God - the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions.  Cain gave of the fruit of the ground.  God had regard for Able's offering, but no regard for Cain's.

Now some people see this as God doing wrong - because both brothers gave their offering to him. So why did God have regard for Able and not Cain?  Well God knows everyones heart and he knew Cains heart.  Cain did not give from his heart and God knew this.  Cain proves his selfishness and sinfulness in his reaction to God not having regard for him.  Cain got angry at God even though he was the one that done wrong in the first place.

Tomorrow Ill talk more on Caine and Ables different personalities that leads to the 1st murder in the Bible and Gods forgiveness.

Gods Punishment for the first sin.

Why do you think Adam ate from the tree of knowledge if he knew it was wrong?
What was there punishment for breaking their one and only rule?

First of all this first question is really just my view on this.  The Bible just isn't clear on why Adam took and eat the fruit.  The Bible says that man was made in Gods image, so this would mean that Adam had a lot of the same qualities as God.  One of those qualities is Love.  Gods love for us is never ending so Im guessing that Adams love for Eve was a pure love.  What would have happened if Eve had eat the fruit and Adam didn't?  Well they would have been separated, Eve would ave grown old and died while Adam lived on.  In a way I think Adam gave his own life for Eve.  This also means that Adam chose Eve over God.  Just something to think about.

First he punished the Serpent (Satan) he cursed him to to crawl on his belly and be forced to eat the dust of the earth for the rest of his life.  Does this mean that snakes are a symbol for Satan ?  Im not sure.  But I know Im scared of them! :)
He also punished the woman by greatly multiplying her pain at childbirth at the same time she would still want to have more children.  Why do women want to have children even they have to suffer so greatly during the time of childbirth?  Well its because God made it that way.
Then to Adam - God cursed the ground.  Adam and every other man that works the ground in order to eat will have to fight the weeds,thorns & thistles.  Farming is very hard work because of these things. So to this day the curse goes on.
The last and maybe worst punishment - They were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  No more perfect place to live, but work and suffering would take its place.

Lets look at the world now - because of sin and greed we have became nations of suffering.  This will not end until he comes back to defeat the serpent.  And establishes his kingdom for those that believe upon him.
 

Genesis - A closer look at the first Book of the Bible.

Do you think Eve knew about the law that God had given them? (Not to eat from the tree of knowledge)
Well Lets look at this. 
Genesis 2: 16-17  God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  He said if you eat from this tree you will surely die. 





Now Eve hasn't been created at this time.  In fact right after God told Adam this - he decided to create Eve.  Genesis 2: 21-22 Gives details about Eve coming from one of Adams ribs.

Now - did Eve know about the law - not to eat of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil?
Well in Genesis 3: 1-3  The Serpent comes to Eve and out right ask her. Did God tell you that you can't eat from any particular tree in the garden?  Then Eve goes on to tell him - yes in fact he did say we can't eat from the thee of Knowledge because we will die if we do.  The he proceeds to tell her how she would not die, but in fact she would become like God and God doesn't want her to be like him. 



 I want to point out something here.  When the Bible talks about the Serpent - It isn't talking about a serpent like a snake or some other animal.  Adam and Eve had dominion over all the beast of the earth so they would have not have let something below them influence them like this.  No this word Serpent was a word describing what kind of personality this being had.  The Serpent was actually an Angel.  This Angel Satan came to Eve and coned her into eating from this tree.  Now of course it was Eves own greed for power and knowledge that caused her to actually eat this fruit. 

If you ever notice most people that con you start by asking you questions.  When they find a problem you have then they offer a fix to it.  How many people have gotten damage done to there home during a tornado or hail storm of something only for someone to come to them offering to fix there house cheaper than anyone else - only to run away with there money?  To me these people have serpent personalities. 

Why do you think Adam ate from the tree of knowledge if he knew it was wrong?
What was there punishment for breaking their one and only rule?

In the beginning - God created the Heavens & the Earth.

The Bible is the revealed truth.  Where did this revealed truth come from?  Well God of course :) Some people say that men wrote the Bible and it had nothing to do with God, but it was Gods relationship with man that got this revealed truth into the written word.

First of all Moses wrote Genesis.  Genesis is one of the most important books of the Bible. It gives a inside view of how God wants to have a relationship with man.  He still wants to have this very same relationship with us today if we would just let him. 

God made the Garden of Eden as a perfect place on earth for man to dwell.  Eden had everything man needed.  All man had to to was stay from the Tree of Knowledge.  Do not eat from this tree or you will surely die. 

Lets look at what happened. The serpent came and tempted Eve and Eve ate from the tree.  She then went to Adam and told him what she had done.  Adam then ate from the tree himself.

Do you think Eve knew about the law that God had given them? (Not to eat from the tree of knowledge)
Why do you think Adam ate from the tree of knowledge if he knew it was wrong?

Tomorrow we will look into the answers to these questions.