Friday, May 29, 2015

Hold Fast!

   Are you ready for anything? Will your faith stand the test of time? Jesus encourages us: "That which you have already hold fast till I come."  (Rev 2:25). Paul adds: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Th 5:21) And in Hebrews we're told, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering" (He 10:23). Brothers & Sisters, we must hold on tight to what we have no matter what comes, no matter what we see or hear!
   Why? Be assured that Satan will huff & puff and try to blow you off your firm foundation. In the coming days, you will see & hear things you thought you never would; things absolutely and quite literally out of this world. 
  First, the world system will do all in its power to discredit God & the Bible. The prophets tell us: "...there was given given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" (Rev 13:5-6) "....and a mouth that spake very great things.....I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them." (Dan 7:20-21)
   This is not some day, friends: it's happening now! Our education system drums evolution into our kids' heads from kindergarten onward. Comedians and cartoonists mock God & the Bible with impunity. TV, movies, cartoons all preach monism and evolution. As an example, the whole premise of Marvel Comics' The X-Men is that the human race is still evolving. Anyone see the movie Lucy ? Its theme is that we've evolved from ape to man and shall evolve from man to god.
   Brace yourselves: it will only get worse! Would your faith endure should the aliens arrive and proclaim they are our creators? Would that invalidate the Bible? Listen, it wouldn't faze me, 'cuz God already told us they're coming! Hear Revelation 9:1: I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit..."  This being seems to give man the technology to open a door to another dimension, with disastrous results as our world is invaded by locust-like creatures.
   Further, the rulers of the world consort with aliens who guide the nations' actions: "and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs...they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almghty." (Rev 16: 13-14) Hey, what are frogs like? Hairless, green skin, big bulging eyes, long thin arms & legs, long thin fingers & toes.....and what are aliens like? They're like frogs! But they're really devils!
   So, you ready? I leave you with Romans chapter 8. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
   Hold fast, brothers. Jesus told you, Paul told you, and now I tell you. Hold fast.

Monday, May 25, 2015

That Old, Rugged Cross

   "To the old, rugged cross, I will ever be true, its shame and reproach gladly bear...."  pretty much sums up where I stand and what I stand for. I'm not a member of the "Truth Movement" per se, ( though I rejoice in the truth!) but one who holds to the truth of the Bible, which has greatly come under attack lately. When Pontius Pilate sarcastically asked Christ, "What is truth?" our Lord might well have answered, "Yer lookin' at it, Numb-nuts!" (FYI, He didn't)
   But what is it about that old rugged cross? It's what sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. For every other founder of every other faith says, "Follow me, people; I did it and you can do it, too!" It being not merely acceptance by God, but becoming one with Him: becoming a god in your own right (and by your own efforts).
   But the old, rugged cross says, "Not so fast!" 'Cuz something happened there. Something gross, and ugly and wrong. "For 'twas there on that cross that the dear Lamb of God for a world of lost sinners was slain". See, we couldn't ascend Jacob's ladder up to God; He had to come down here to our level....to the lowest level, and be executed like a common criminal.
   "That old, rugged cross, so despised by the world..." Why do they despise it? Because it brands us guilty sinners....they know in their hearts they deserve to die there, but they don't wanna hear it. They don't want to hear about absolute, black or white right and wrong. "I'm ok, you're ok" is the message they want to hear.
   But it's not the message I preach! I don't care if I don't fit in: I never did fit in anyway! Here's the reality: THERE IS NONE GOOD, NO NOT ONE. and ALL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS FILTHY RAGS. On that cross, Jesus took our sins, and gave us His righteousness. That's the message I live for, and if so be the will of God, I shall die for.
   So let some stuck-up atheist sue the town of so-and-so to take down that cross; His nail-pierced hands are stretched out still, and still He cries, "Come to Me, you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." But this is, as they say, a limited -time offer, as the Holy Ghost says in David, "TODAY, if you will hear His voice"!
   Tomorrow? The day is coming when the grace period on the human race ends. The time is coming when, as in the time of Noah God closed the door of the ark. I don't care what everyone else is saying or doing, let them follow their fads & trends. I will cling to the old, rugged cross.