Why Won't They Come to Church?

I remember when I was growing up, I was probably about 9 years old and the First Free Will Baptist Church bus used to come through our apartment complex. I would get up and get on that bus all by myself on Sunday mornings. I remember coming home one Sunday with anticipation because I had heard the story of Jesus! I went into my bedroom later that day and knelt next by my bed and asked God into my heart. It's funny how when you are an innocent child you can comprehend the simplicity of the Gospel: God sent His son to live as man, he was crucified, died for our sins, resurrected, and now lives! So why as adults do we find it so hard believe that, live like it's true, or even attend church?

The truth is there are too many of us that claim to be Christians, but nothing in our lives reflects a change in any way. We stroll into church every other week, ask God to forgive us for some broad spectrum sins, toss a $20 in the offering plate and live the rest of our lives like God never came as man, died on a cross for our sins, and left the Holy Spirit to comfort us and live through us! Sure you don't have to go to church to be a Christian, but what are you doing in place of the time you would be spending at church? Are you helping the poor, the widows & orphans, the homeless? What are people seeing in you that makes them think that you are any different from them? If we are truly saved shouldn't we want to be with other Christians praising God for all He's done for us? The Bible says in Hebrews 10:24-25, " And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." If Christians who are saved won't go to church than why would somebody who is lost go? God is coming soon. "The Day approaching" is the coming of Christ. Are we going to be found in Christ when He comes or will we be doing our own worldly thing?

There are many verses in the Bible that tell us how we should live and I have put them in previous blogs. Titus 3:3 says, "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another."I don't want the lost to see that in me! I once was those things, but not any more! I am a new creation! I'm not who I used to be, nor do I want to be her again. We are to stand out from the world, not fit in.  

When you are visiting family and you are the only Christian, do you invite your family to go visit a church because you don't want to miss what's going on with God, even for one Sunday? When family comes to visit, do they understand that you and your family go to church on Sunday morning and Sunday night, no excuses and if they want to spend time with you then they can come with you? Do people see you and think, "Man, she sure loves God!"? We don't have to have perfect attendance and shouldn't feel guilty when we don't go to church every Sunday, Sunday night, or Wednesday night, but there should be a want to be at church, to talk about God to people, and show your family that God is the priority over everything. 

I got an email yesterday with a prayer for our country by Billy Graham. This is what he said, "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable... We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!' With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called 'One nation under God!'

I don't think I could even begin to add to this prayer anything other than an another "Amen!" 

Think about it!

Are you ready to be a stand up Christian? One that not only attends church but is the church? Is it time to be courageous and show your family and unsaved friends that God and church coincide and are most important in your life? Don't let "the Day" pass you by, leaving you behind wondering what it was you could have done. Get your relationship with Christ settled today and know that you know that you know, He is your Savior for real!

To My Chicky Baby: I wish you could see what I see

I Wish You Could See What I See

I wish you could see what I see when I look at you: a loving young woman, a mother, and a daughter too. 


The outside is just a shell of the real girl in the mirror. If only you could see what I see maybe you could see yourself clearer. 


The number on the scale is not a measure of your worth, no matter your size, you were wonderfully and fearfully made even before your birth.  


We believe the lies of world, that skinny is in. If you want to be happy, well then get yourself thin!


The devil is a deceiver and he will make you believe, that your outside is more important than the heart God perceives.


Stop beating yourself up with words that are unkind. Climb into the arms of Jesus...relax and unwind.


And when you get down and discouraged and sad, just say a prayer then live in victory! Because God made us in the image of Him, but He also made you in the image of me.


So from here on out, let it be heard, "That you my dear chicky baby, are the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world!"


Love you!
Mom

They Don't Know God

I recently joined another website to promote my blog. Usually this never turns out well for me. The reason is that I have a very strong convictions about my faith and when I see the comments that some people make about God being a superstition and how nature just magically appeared I get super hot mad!! The truth is I don't need to read those comments first of all, and second of all I have to love those people in spite of what they think. We all have had times in our lives when we were not connected to God and most definitely not in a relationship with Jesus. I personally remember a time that my feelings toward God were: as long as He was there when I was in trouble I was good with Him hanging around. It's funny, not LOL funny, that I used to be one of those people that didn't understand fully what and who God really was and the impact He could have on my life if I only surrendered myself to His will.

My pastor said this about the Bible, "The Bible doesn't have to be defended. It defends itself." If you have never picked up your Bible and read any scripture then you can't truthfully make a decision about whether it's contents are true or not. Many intellectuals have studied and read and tried to disprove the Bible only to find themselves believing the very thing they set out to disprove! God is real and very much alive! So what does the Bible say about these things? Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." This is how powerful the Word of God is for those who read it and hear it! It cuts to your heart revealing things to God that you had hidden from the world, exposing them so that He can provide healing. It goes to the bone, the very marrow of the bone, and penetrates even the hardest of hearts. It radically changes your behavior, your thought processes, and your attitude! 

It's easy to say that the Bible is not relevant, or old fashioned or even a myth if you have never even read one scripture. It's like going trying to be a doctor and never going to med school. How can you be knowledgeable about something you know nothing about? I fought for many years to allow God to change my Christian walk. I didn't want to be changed. I was "good enough", so I thought. But on that special day in March of 2000, not only was my heart changed, it was broken and today it breaks for what breaks God's heart. As hard headed and hard hearted as I was, God pierced my heart with His Word. If you have ever read the book of Job you know that not only was Job tried with trials, he was completely stripped of everything that mattered to him and when he was at his weakest and could curse God for even being born, he realized God's greatness. Job 9:2-13 says, “Truly I know it is so,But how can a man be righteous before God? If one wished to contend with Him,He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered? He removes the mountains, and they do not know when He overturns them in His anger; He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars; He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea; He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; He does great things past finding out,Yes, wonders without number. If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him; If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’ God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him."

Sometimes, we have to put our intellect aside and listen to what God is saying to us. I've heard this saying many times, "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." It is in knowing Him that we come to know the things that are important in eternity. The reality is, that without God, my life would leave no legacy.

Think about it!

Do you think God is real? That He is the creator of all things? That He loves you whether you believe in Him or not? Will you open your Bible and let God pierce your heart with His Word? What are you afraid to give up so He can change you? Let Go and let God!! Love Y'all!