What Happened To Sin?

What Happened To Sin?

Have you ever heard the expression, “Give ‘em an inch, and they’ll take a mile”?

It reminds me of the compromises taking place in some modern churches.

These ungodly distractions enter into a church and pretty soon the whole Gospel message takes a tumble.

How sad it is when we read news items like:

  • More churches are letting the culture dictate what’s taught in God’s house. Messages about sin, forgiveness, the end times, and salvation are bumped for more “feel good” sermons about what nice people we all are.

You can’t make this stuff up. It’s really happening.

As discerning Christians, we need to be aware of deceptions like these, and not fall for them.

That’s some downer news for our faith, right?

But God is with us, no matter what.

What happened to Sin

No one knows His divine timeline, but we do have the triumphant return of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to look forward to.

No secular movement, false gods, or future political agendas will ever be able to change or delay His return.

Praise the Lord!

All Sin Is Against God

As Christians – we must be discerning.

Changing the gospel message to satisfy cultural movements is a deception.

Can you believe the depth of the disrespect and irreverence towards God this all is? Changing God’s inspired Word?

Thoughts about the news items mentioned above prompted me to write a poem called “What Happened To Sin?”

It’s been on my heart and I was finally able to put pen to paper.

 

What Happened to Sin?

Who is Man to twist God’s Word?
Oh, haven’t you heard?

“The Bible’s too convicting,
let’s put it away, or we won’t grow our church,”
the false teachers say.

“Let’s only preach Love, and helping the poor
Just forget that Hell is real with an open door.
Talking about Sin will just turn them off
We must grow our church at any cost.”

“So what if our sermons are not “sound” preaching?
Our coffee is good and our influence far-reaching.”
We exclude parts of Scripture, so people feel good,
Jesus came to make us happy, right?
Don’t you think we should?”

“Why give a sermon about God’s Final Judgment?
The church will empty, they’ll find the message repugnant.

Keep it lighthearted and throw out the hymns
Crank up the amps, keep the lights dim.”
Light some incense to set the mood,
Leave the End Times out of it,
It will all be good.”

To those preachers, I say,
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
Those external trappings aren’t what churches should be pursuing.
We’re to share the Gospel and reach the lost.
Our salvation as sinners came at such a high cost.
Jesus came to save us – a Ransom for you and me,
His Word is absolute truth  —  just…let…it…be.

By Gracie Jane © 2018, All rights reserved.   

###

Share

Brooks And Dunn Believe

Sounds Like Heaven

One of my favorite things to do on this blog is to share new Christian music.

These are songs whose lyrics have meant a lot to me in some way, or the hook is appealing.

If it’s a Christian song with a good beat and meaningful words, then I like to sing it out loud to the delight of the neighbors.

I will spare you that concert for now. 🙂

This time I’m sharing a song that’s a bit of an oldie.

The message is timeless and emotional.

It’s a subject that points towards the great hope that we all share – seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ again who have gone to Heaven before us.

Seeing Jesus is more than enough.

Knowing that our saved loved ones will be with us as well is yet another example of God’s grace and incomparable love.

Have I piqued your interest?

The song is called “Believe’” by award-winning country music artists, Brooks and Dunn.

Have you heard it yet?

Brooks and Dunn Believe

Brooks and Dunn Believe

*Brooks and Dunn photo credit at the end.

“Believe” came out in 2005 and won three top CMA awards the following year.

If you have five minutes to spare, turn up the volume and watch as the poignant story line unfolds.

I posted “Believe” on my social media account and friends responded how much they loved it too.

If you’re missing a loved one who has passed, I hope this song will bring you some encouragement.

God bless

###

*Source: “Brooks and Dunn – Bama Jam 2009,” by “justjennifer.” Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC-BY2.0). Accessed 6 August 2018. https://flic.kr/p/6w52NP

Share

Who Is God?

Who is God and What is He Like?

If someone were to ask you that question, would you have an answer?

It’s a pretty important question, judging by the amount of people on their computers asking it.

According to the search engines, they number in the thousands every single month.

Can you see what an opportunity this is?

As Christians, we can’t keep the knowledge of the Blessed Savior to ourselves.

When an opportunity to share our testimony presents, please tell someone!

Look Heavenwards

Have you ever visited a place that is jaw-dropping in its beauty?

For my husband and me, it was the view from a mountaintop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It took my breath away and it wasn’t from the altitude.

The realization that God created all of that for us is too extraordinary to comprehend sometimes.

Author of the Universe

This treasured verse from the opening lines of David’s Psalm 19 speaks volumes.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. – Psalm 19:1.  NASB.

The heavens declare His glory

Fellow Christian writer, Sandra Boyte, wrote a beautiful poem about this I thought you might enjoy.

 

God Is

by Sandra Boyte
06/13/10

“God is kinda boring!”
I heard the young man say.
And I wondered at our message
Which made him feel that way.
Do our orchestrated lessons
Reveal or conceal His Glory,
Honor, strength, and wisdom,
The wonder of His story?

The Sculptor of deep canyons,
And Painter of the skies,
Maestro of all music,
Composer of lark’s cry…
Conductor of the thunderstorm,
Source and Designer of creation,
Dreamer of the rainbow’s arc,
Architect of every nation!

“God is simply irrelevant!”
I heard the Academic rebuff.
And I marveled at the void
Of a live without hope or trust.
Where love, faith, right and wrong,
Are held as empty conceits,
Ideals can have no anchor
But drown in unbelief.

Oh, Author of all languages,
Instructor of all knowing,
Mathematician, Physicist,
First Gardener of all that’s growing…
From anthropology to zoology,
All that is seen, or felt, or heard,
Atomic to astronomic
Begun with just one word!

“God has been replaced!”
I heard the politician preach.
Supposing that man could control
Things placed outside his reach.
Sinfulness exalted,
Righteousness ridiculed,
God’s laws met with scorn,
His word is over-ruled.

Eternal God and King!
Judge of all mankind!
Great Warrior in battle,
Outside both space and time!
Ruler of all beings,
Of earth and heaven above,
Administrator of justice,
Your name is Truth and Love.

God Is Who He Is,
Beginning and the End,
Alpha and Omega,
Master, Father, Friend.
Mere words can never express
His Grace and Majesty
Whose Presence fills the heavens,
Yet stoops for one like me.

# # #

*Scripture quotation is from New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

**Poem shared, courtesy of Sandra Boyte, from article url: https://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=185177

Share

Kicking The Slump To The Curb

Don’t Give Up

I’m feeling a little sad.

A few days ago, I read a post from a fellow Christian blogger.

He said he’s discouraged and having trouble writing about some of the heavier topics in our world.

Perhaps he’s just suffering from a temporary case of writer’s block, but maybe not.

As he explained later in his post, he’s struggling because, as a Christian, he knows that if you have Christian beliefs that go against hot-button secular opinions, you face the possibility of aggressive backlash.

I get it.

Sometimes I feel beat down myself, and I can’t blame it on writer’s block.

I get distressed at how misled some people are.

You can see one of the headlines I’m talking about for yourself.

Unhinged Backlash

Kicking The Slump To The Curb

The hatred against Bible-believing Christians has lit up in social media.

I’m sure you’ve read some of these rude comments as well.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.

If you post a biblical response to something on a “public” Facebook page, then you can quickly become fodder for nasty written attacks.

Who are these name-calling people anyway?

They appear to lack any conscience whatsoever.

Tact and polite discussion aren’t in their vocabulary.

Even so, we know we must pray for enemies of Christianity.

Compassion versus Anger towards them is necessary because they don’t have Jesus in their lives.

Kicking The Slump To The Curb

We must get ready for the long haul.

It’s ultimately a spiritual battle.

Even churches are not immune to Satan’s attacks.

Alarming doctrinal changes are coming to light.

For example, changing pronouns in Scripture to make the gospel more PC is outright deception. Reading about issues like this can bring me to tears, but it is happening. We need to be aware of this and not bury our heads in the sand.

We know that Satan works to undermine everything of God.

All I can say to try and encourage you as fellow Christians, (p.s. I need encouragement too), is to please continue looking for opportunities to share your testimony and talk to others about your faith in Jesus Christ.

Don’t fear the slump and don’t let it stomp out your witness for good. I understand taking a break, but please don’t give up.

*Footnote: I emailed the blogger I spoke about earlier to give him some encouragement. He was very appreciative.

###

Share

More Than You Know

HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW

Does God care about me

Are you struggling right now, feeling lost and hopeless?

Do you wonder if God even cares about you?

Atheists will tell you that He doesn’t even exist.

Agnostics offer no hope for the Eternal because they don’t have any themselves.

Don’t let the negativity of those who have no hope, destroy yours.

Why?

Because He does love and care about you.

Please take a moment and think about this.

more than you know

The kind of love the Father has for you is immeasurable.

That’s countless light-years further than “To the moon and back,” for all you bedtime-story-reading parents out there.

Psalm 86, a beautiful prayer of David, reminds of the holiness and greatness of our God.

4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. – Psalm 86:4-5, (ESV).

His love is steadfast and unchanging. In fact, He can’t love you any more than He does right now.

There’s a song called “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us”, that was written by Stuart Townend.

Recently, I found a lovely version from Cameron and Kelly.

Do you need some encouragement today?

If you can, close your eyes, listen closely to the lyrics, and let them sink in.

He loves you more than you know.

Be encouraged.

You are a child of God.  ♥

###

*Scripture quotation is from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Share
1 … 68 69 70 71 72 … 109