Author: pastortoney

16All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,17so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3: 16-17 HCSB

In what sense is Scripture inspired? The short answer is in every way possible. Although I am sure that is not the answer that you are looking for. The essential point to be grasped is that when men wrote the Scriptures, their statements did not originate in their own thinking, but were put into their minds by the direct action of the Holy Spirit. They wrote the word of God in the sense that they wrote words that came directly from God. Thus, when Paul wrote, for example, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart” (Romans. 9:2), he was certainly expressing his own feelings, yet his desire to express that sorrow, and the words with which he expressed it, and perhaps also the sorrow itself, were put into his heart by the Holy Spirit.

Consider another example, that of Jesus’ disciples who would be taken before rulers to give an account of their faith. Jesus told them not to think about what they would say, but rather to “say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). Here Jesus explains what inspiration involves. When an inspired speaker or writer says something, even if it is first-person testimony, it is not he who is speaking, but God. Now of course the person is speaking in the sense that he expresses thoughts that are in his mind, but he is not speaking in the more important sense that he formulated those thoughts. The inspired speaker or writer utters only words put directly into his mind by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).

In 2 Peter 1:21, Peter explicitly denies that the Scriptures were written “by an act of human will.” The motivation to write Scripture came rather from the Holy Spirit, as we have seen. Scripture originated when “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” That is, the Spirit impelled them to write, and they wrote only words that came from God. There is disagreement as to what verse 20 means, but in my judgment it refers to the writer’s interpretation of his subject matter: “No passage of Scripture expresses one’s own [i.e., the writer’s] interpretation,” since the impulse to write comes from the Holy Spirit, not the writer’s will (vs. 21).

Accordingly, when Paul declared “the word of God’s message” to the Thessalonians, they received it “not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13; see also 1 Corinthians 2:12-13). The letters of Paul went out over his signature, and truly expressed the thoughts in his mind, but those thoughts were put there by God (2 Peter 3:15-16) and were expressed in sentences provided by the Holy Spirit.

Consider the Psalms, which were written mostly by the prophet David and which contain many prophecies of Christ. David’s own testimony about the origin of the Psalms could not be clearer: “David the son of Jesse declares, the sweet psalmist of Israel, The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue ” (2 Samuel 23:1-2). Similarly, Peter explains, “the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David” (Acts 1:16). When David and the other prophets prophesied of Christ and his coming kingdom, they were puzzled by the statements being formed in their minds, and so they were “seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Peter 1:11).

Another interesting glimpse into the mental processes of an inspired writer is provided in Acts 2:25-31. There Peter (speaking “as the Spirit was giving [him] utterance,” vs. 4) explains that David, although writing first-person pronouns in Psalm 16, as in “Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades,” was not writing about himself (since he would remain in the grave), but about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since David was a prophet (vs. 30a), God was giving him the words of Psalm 16 (see Deuteronomy 18:18), but as he wrote them, his mind was fully engaged to understand as much as he could of what he was writing. He recalled (presumably with the Spirit’s nudging) God’s promise that the Christ would come from his descendants (vs. 30b), and, with insight provided by the Spirit, he “looked ahead” to that day and (in words provided by the Spirit) “spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay” (vs. 31). The inspired writers evidently understood most of what they were writing, although some understanding of it was not granted to them (1 Peter 1:11-12).

29“But you,” He asked them again, “who do you say that I am? ”

Mark 8:29 HCSB

Who do you believe Jesus is? You see the way we answer this very important question will determine our eternal salvation. You might be thinking to yourself how is that possible? I was talking with a man today who was a very nice man. I asked him if he would join us one Sunday for fellowship. This man was very polite but declined my invitation, saying that he didn’t believe the same as we do. So as you probably guessed by now I asked him what he believed. After some circle talk he told me that he thought Jesus lived and even died upon the cross but wasn’t God’s son. He went on to say some other things that we will cover in further articles. You see much like this man there are many people who believe that Jesus lived and even died upon the cross but just want to believe that He was a good man, prophet or even a teacher. Then there are religions out there that believe that Jesus is a god, but not the God. Both of these views are completely contrary to what the Word of God says. The Bible tells us in John that Jesus (Word) was with God in the beginning and was God. It goes on to tell us at the baptism of Jesus, God spoke from Heaven telling us this is His Beloved Son. Maybe your thinking right now, everyone is entitled to his or her own views or opinions. Well you are right, but when they are wrong isn’t our duty as followers of Christ to share what’s right. When you are wrong about who Jesus is, that changes everything about salvation. You see our God doesn’t sit high upon a mountain and expect us to climb up to Him, He came to Earth in the form of His Son Jesus to redeem His creation back to Him. So they might be the best people in the world or sincerely believe something someone else has taught them. But when the rubber meets the road you can be well intentioned and still end up wrong. So let me ask you who do you say that Jesus is? You see Peter got this question right, what about you?

21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? ’ 23Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’ Matthew 7: 21-23 HCSB

Well let me just say at the beginning that some of you may get mad and not like what I am saying in this article. Just remember that what I say is out of love and concern for your eternal destination. I have found that in my time as a follower of Christ that there are many fake Christians. Understand what I mean by that. You see if you just watch their outside actions you might even buy into the idea that they are a follower of Christ. The thing to remember is that the outside doesn’t always tell what the book is about. I found that many people sit in church and really don’t know why they are sitting there. Grandma and Grandpa sat here and mom and dad brought us as kids. You see they can’t answer the most important question. Let me ask you right now. If you died after reading this article and was standing in the doorway of Heaven looking through the door and Jesus was standing on the other side asking you why He should let you in, What would you say? Well what would you say? The sad thing is there are some of you sitting there that are firing away the same answers I hear on the streets. Let me see if I can guess any of them. I am a good person, I go to church, I walked the aisle, I got baptized, I am a member at so and so. Did I get any of them right? You see all of those things are good things in and of themselves. But not one of them will get Jesus to open the door for you. What they will do is cause Him to repeat the words of Matthew 7: 23 to you. You see sitting in church doesn’t make you a Christian; no more than sitting in the garage makes you a Buick. Nor does getting baptized save you, because if you weren’t saved prior to it; all you did was get wet. I guess what I am saying is make sure that you can remember a time when you surrendered your life over to Jesus and began a personal relationship with Him. You see the only thing that will get you into Heaven is to accept what Jesus has done for you upon the cross. God made a way for us because He knew we could not do it ourselves. Why take the chance? You can either hear Jesus say welcome home or you can hear Him say depart from Me, it is up to you.

9If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.10One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.11Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, 12for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10: 9-13 HCSB

For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  Mark 8: 38 HCSB

Have you ever heard of an Undercover Christian? You say what do you mean. You know the person who shows up on Sunday mornings and looks the part but on Monday your not real sure they are the part. I am not saying they aren’t saved, because only God can make that judgment. You see our society celebrates the fact that others stand up for what they believe. After all Muslims can protest and call for their customs to be pushed upon Americans. There are people who have decided that standing on the flag is better than letting it fly above them. (Although that is supposed to be illegal) If you are an Atheist it is ok for you to make that known in school and even teach our youth about it. But if you are a believer in Christ, it is wrong for you to stand up for what you believe. This attitude in society has created the Undercover Christian movement. Instead of standing up for what God has said they tend to keep their mouths shut. We even find that many Christians have even begun to bend or sway on what God says. You see I have said this a hundred times my opinion doesn’t matter it is what God says that matters. It is my responsibility to stand up for what God has said. I don’t have to be mean and rude about it.  You see when we keep our mouth shut for sake of unity or social acceptance we are really just slapping God in the face. I agree that when you begin to stand for what God says that your family, friends and even strangers won’t like it. The question is whom are we trying to please? You will have to answer that question for yourselves. Let me say that when you stand with God your on the winning side. Do yourself a favor and don’t be an Undercover Christian. The reason I say that is, you may be so undercover that Jesus won’t recognize you as a Christian.

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6 HCSB

Let me say before we get started that I am not the perfect parent, nor do I have it all together. The other day I was driving and had a thought. Why are all the young people leaving the Church Fellowship? Do we not have enough programs, or is the music and teaching not relevant? I don’t think either one of those are at the root of this problem. Allow me to take a rabbit trail as we call it. I am not saying it is un-important to have good programs or relevant teachings and music. After all we should have no junk for Jesus. Our kids are leaving the church in groves, so what is the answer? Well I think the blame should be put on the parent’s shoulders. You see we take ourselves out of the mix because we have ball games or we really just don’t feel like going to church. We get home and talk about all the negative things that happen and we don’t guard our children from watching or hearing this junk. Again, understand that I am not saying that I have it all together. As a father of six children I understand that I do a lot of things wrong. So what makes me think that I should give advice? I am not trying to be a finger pointer, just trying to share my thoughts. You see our children do exactly what they have seen us do. When we skip out on a chance to fellowship, they figure it isn’t important so why not do it themselves. When they hear us eat the preacher for lunch or talk about so and so why would they want to be part of such a loving family? The answer is they don’t. You see the world teaches our kids how to give up or quit enough stuff everyday. We want them to grow up and serve God, but we are showing them that we really don’t believe what we are saying. It is time that we began acting like the Christians that we say we are. You see when we live up to what we say; we will find that God will honor what He has said. Does that mean that your kids won’t still leave NO? What it does mean is that you won’t be on the hook for it. So chose today whom you and your house will serve. (But be real about it) Remember Joshua 24:15b but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Train them up or Train them out you have the chance to make the greatest impact in their lives.

1Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

Here is the subject that is the most essential to the Christian’s walk, yet the most difficult for us to carry out. You see we come to Christ based upon Faith. We at the very moment of salvation we have the faith that Jesus’ works are enough to pay the price we owe for our sins. But for some reason we struggle to have faith in other areas of our lives that Jesus has promised to assist in. Maybe you are of the mindset that I don’t have enough faith to trust God with this or that. As we look back in the Bible we find several stories of people that we should be able to relate to. First, let us talk briefly about a man named Abraham. Maybe you know him? God commanded him to leave his homeland and go somewhere else. Here is the kicker God said He would tell him when he got there. Yeah you guessed it; Abraham had no idea where he was headed. But the Bible tells us that he packed up his family and belongings and off he went. Talk about trust and faith. Abraham was able to experience God’s divine plan several times on this journey to a new land. But then since he had taken the first step of faith in trusting God for a home, God would soon promise to make him the father of all nations with a son at the age of 100. Had this been the first thing God had promised him it would have been hard to trust in this miracle coming true. But you see God started with other things first. God does the same thing in our lives. First, He gives us the miracle of Salvation and allows us to become part of His family through the payment Jesus made for our sins. You see that is a huge miracle. God raised us from the dead and made us alive. Sometimes God wants to do a miracle for us, but we must have enough faith to put us out there first. We have to be willing to allow our reputation to be put on display, but more importantly we have to be willing to let God’s reputation be put on display. That reminds me of another story in the Bible. After the children of Israel had left Egypt and wandered in the desert for forty years. They had seen many miracles and had every reason to trust God at His very word. I mean after all they had watched the Red Sea open up and walked across on dry land. They were fed from the sky, they walked around for forty years and clothes and shoes never wore out. Well right before it was time to cross into the Promised Land there had to be a step of faith. They still had to cross another body of water. The Jordan River, during flood season. No problem right? God could just part the waters like He had done before. Well this time God wanted them to step into the river first before He would part the waters. You see before God would issue the miracle, He wanted them to show trusting faith. We know how the story turns out, the priests step into the water and the water splits and everyone walks through on dry land. Pretty cool don’t you think? But what happens if the priests decided before hand that they weren’t going to get their feet wet and trusts God? Everyone would have missed out on the miracle. You see in both stories it took a certain amount of trust in God to take the first step. God has already paid the price for our redemption with the blood of His son. We trust Jesus for salvation. Why can’t we have faith in other things? Sometimes God just wants us to take the first step and He will do the rest. Like I said in yesterdays writing, when we are obedient we take all the responsibility off of ourselves and place it squarely upon God’s sovereign shoulders. That is not to bad of a place to put it either. God’s shoulders are certainly big enough to handle the responsibility. So the next time you feel God prompting you to step out and do something. Do it. You could be at the beginning of a miracle.

“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7: 7-8 HCSB

Let me say before we even start that I am not a name it and claim it preacher. I don’t think that we serve a genie in a bottle kind of God. I do however believe that we have not because we ask not. I have found this to be very true in my own life. When I have an impossible situation in my life, the chances of me praying for it are slim. I ask myself all the time, why would God want to do that for me? You see the answer to our prayers should not be the reason that we don’t pray them. The answer is not our concern. God tells us that it is our responsibility to pray and leave the answers up to Him. We should seek to glorify God with our prayers. That means that we need to have the faith to really step out and ask. When we pray we relieve ourselves of the responsibility. We have taken the ball out of our court and given it over to God. This is when we need to learn to leave the ball alone. If your anything like me, you will ask God to show up in something and then you will try and solve the problem on your own. We are to take our hands off and put all the concern into God’s hands, and you can believe that He is more than capable of handling it. The Apostle Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. When we are walking by faith we hand everything over to God and don’t have to worry about those things as we are in constant communication with our Father. It is always amazing to me how we have enough faith in God to save us and forgive our sins, but never enough faith to trust God with our prayers. Persistence seems to be the key to success. Keep asking, keep searching and keep knocking all imply to continue to do the action. We sometimes give up right before God wants to bless us. Be faithful to ask and then be faithful to wait on God. If it is what we are suppose to have or need don’t we trust God enough to provide it for us. Let me leave you with this statement from my devotional this morning, the beauty of obedience is this: it relieves us of responsibility. It takes all the pressure off of us and places it squarely on God’s sovereign shoulders. The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered simply because we would not ask.

Matthew 7: 3-5 HCSB 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrites! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

As the world shifts to an even more morally corrupt environment, I find the church being selective in the issues they want to speak up against. The same sex marriage is an issue that some clergy members have chosen to fight and some have chosen to embrace. Abortion is another issue that again has the church divided. Drinking, drugs, homelessness, and poverty. You see we could all pick different issues in today’s society and run with the persecution stick. What I want you to think about are these issues any different than the secret sins we all carry in our lives. Now before anyone thinks anything wrong I am against same sex marriage, because the Bible is against it. I am against marijuana and drinking because I have never seen either one produce a faithful follower of Christ. But along with these I also believe poverty and homelessness is wrong. You see the first four things listed are acts that people set out with a bit of intention to commit. The last two are acts that sometimes just happen, and most of the times are ignored by society. We the Church who claim to Love God and Want to keep His commands should not be so divided about these issues. They are all wrong, not because I say so but because the Bible says so. I don’t draw my opinion of myself, but must draw it from the One who paid a price to ransom me from sin. Now let me say that if you want to quit reading now before I really upset you I understand. You see what really has me scratching my head is how we the Church can pick one or two of these issues and say they are wrong and then do other things that contradict scripture. You say what do you mean? I am glad you asked. We say same sex marriage is wrong and it is. Allow me to clarify what I mean by homelessness and poverty being wrong. It is not the simple act of being poor or homeless that is wrong, it is the fact that we the Church often times ignore them and think they are beneath us for some reason. God established the church to help the poor and the homeless. While people don’t see their problems as ours, but what we fail to understand is that during the time Jesus walked the Earth He made a habit out of helping those types of people. While people may read this and think that these two issues are not the same as the others, I would have to disagree. The Bible says in James 4:17 so it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it. I have to look at this issue and same sex marriage with the same glasses. God provides those glasses in the form of His Word and He says both are wrong. I know I know here I go again, just trying to stir the pot some may think. Let us get off that subject and on to the next. What about drinking and marijuana? Many people are now saying that it is ok if you are a Christian and you socially drink. I have been asked what is my opinion on that subject? I have to refer to the Bible because I don’t really have my own. The Bible outlines for us who should not drink and then goes on to tell us not to be drunks. With this issue I usually try to employ some common sense. How well would you respond to someone who wants to talk about Jesus while they are holding a beer or have a joint hanging out of their mouth? Yea, that is what I thought; you most likely dismiss them as some type of nut or hypocrite. I have never in my 38 short years of life seen drinking and drugs produce anything but pain and heartache in the end. But, we have those churches out there that would rather allow members even leaders to drink, drug, and even run around on there spouse and never say anything about it. You see the Bible says that is just as wrong as the same sex marriage or abortion. I could go on forever but what I am attempting to do is to get you to look at the fact that we categorize sin to make us feel better. The Bible say in Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. We just try to say that my sin isn’t as big as their sin. God looks at all sin as the same. For the church to make the resurgence that society needs for us to make, we MUST look at all sin the way God looks at it. Now I am not saying that we cast everyone out on their backsides because of their sin. But the days of sweeping it under the carpet need to be done. The Apostle Paul gives us a way to deal with the sin of brothers or sisters. I hope you notice I didn’t say the world. You see the people who aren’t followers of Christ don’t think they are doing anything wrong, they are living the way sinners are suppose to live. The Bible is written to those in the Church and it is time that we start living up to the Truth of what God says.

Last night as we were winding down, I watched some videos on social experiments. Although they were all a little different the main theme was the same. They took a well-dressed man and another that looked like a homeless man; they both used crutches and would fall in front of people. I bet you can guess which of the two men were helped to his feet. Yes, not the homeless man. That brought tears to my eyes. I began to think about what I would do if I were placed in that situation. I hope I would do the right thing and assist both men back to their feet. The sad thing is we are placed in that situation everyday. Okay maybe not with the physical falling of someone in front of us, but there is more to falling than just physical. Have you ever passed a homeless person walking down the highway? I know what you’re thinking; you don’t know if that person might hurt me if I picked them up. True, but have you ever passed a broken down car and then come up on its driver down the road and picked them up? Yes, I have done the same thing. The Apostle James says something about that type of action. If you look with favor on the man wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or, “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” James 2:3 HCSB Don’t you see how when we treat people based upon outward appearance that we are doing exactly what the Pharisees did in the time of Jesus. Jesus called those types of people hypocrites because they professed to love God with their mouths but their actions never showed the same fruit. It is not just about picking somebody up off the ground or giving somebody a ride. The real issue is not making snap judgments based upon what we see on the outside. Mankind has been plagued with this problem since before any of you that read this were ever born. In the Bible we find that when God was picking King David even the Prophet thought he was an unlikely candidate. Jesus himself was not one that people would have picked to be the Messiah. After all he was poor and from a family of no importance to society. Jesus would draw people to him based upon what he was doing not based upon how he looked. I find another situation to be true a lot of times. We generally only want to witness to a certain kind of person. We may make a snap judgment based upon what they look like or how we think they will respond. Thereby deciding for them if they are really worthy to hear the Gospel of Christ. Our churches today do the same thing as we go out visiting and inviting people to worship with us. Many churches have the us four and no more mentality. If they don’t look like us act like us or come from the same social circle, they need to find somewhere else to worship. Let me share an illustration I have used a number of times while preaching. One Sunday morning an old cowboy put on his best pair of jeans and shirt and decided today was the day to go to church. So off he headed and marched right in as proud as he could be. The service had already begun so the preacher saw the guy walk in. The service was a good one and the cowboy really enjoyed himself. The end came and it was time to go home and the preacher was in the back shaking hands. The cowboy got to him and the preacher was friendly, he stepped to the side with the cowboy and said he was glad that he was here, but asked him to go home and pray and ask God what he should wear when coming to that church. So the week passed and the cowboy got dressed and headed off to church again. Same jeans and shirt. The preacher saw him come in and began to get furious. The sermon was preached songs were sung and the service concluded. The preacher caught the cowboy and began to unload upon him. The preacher asked the man if he had done as he was asked and prayed to God to find out what he was suppose to wear to that church. The cowboy replied God said He didn’t know He hadn’t ever been here. You see we have churches today that are just going through the motions of a church but really don’t even let God come in. The church was established to be a hospital for the hurting not a country club for the self-righteous. I read a quote, but not sure who it comes from, but here it is anyway. A man’s character can be told by how he treats somebody he can gain nothing from. How true that statement really is. But if you are a follower of Christ, you understand that it is not the Earthly stuff you are after. My Challenge to you today is look past the outward appearance and do the right thing when it comes to helping people.

Why won’t people listen to me when I try to share the Gospel?  I have found that all the excuses can be lumped into just a few.  They are as follows; there are many ways to God, I do not believe or have always believed in God, how can a loving God condemn someone to hell, and why does God allow evil and pain to take place? All of these raise valid concern in an unbelievers mind and I a will attempt to answer these with both practical answers and biblical references.

First let us address the comment there are many ways to God. I will often agree with this statement and then clarify what I mean. I will say there are many ways to God, because at some point everyone will stand before Him for judgment. But John 14:6 says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. In this verse we see that God is referred to, as Father and that will show the loving aspect of God. He has given us the chance to be one of His children through accepting the work of Christ on the cross. John 1:12-13 says But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.    You see thinking there are many ways to God and Believing in the One true way to the Father are completely different things.

Second we will address whether or not you believe in God. Let us tackle when someone says I don’t believe in God. I sometimes will say you can stand out in the middle of the road and say I don’t believe in big trucks, but if one hits you that doesn’t change the fact that it really existed. Or if you say I don’t believe in gravity and jump out of a plane without a parachute, it won’t change the fact that you will be picked up in pieces will it. See God doesn’t exist because we believe in Him or not, He has always existed as shown in Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”* says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Next let us deal with the person who says I have always believed in God. Often times I say that is awesome so it should not be a stretch for you to believe in His son Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. I will even goes as far as giving them James 2:19-20 that says you say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. * Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

Third let us talk about if you face the question how can a loving God condemn someone to hell? I will often times just say off the cuff the it is not God that condemns people to hell, we take care of that all by ourselves. Then I will share John 3:16-18 that says ¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

Fourth let us deal with the question of why does God allow evil and pain to take place? I will instantly say that is not Gods fault that evil or hurt takes place. I will often times try and take them all the way back to the garden and walk through what sin has done to the world. Therefore explaining that it is not really allowing bad things to happen, but sin causing bad things to happen. Make sense?

Now to attempt to provide some comfort and assurance to people who have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We have all heard the parable of the farmer and the seeds, just in case here is a small part to illustrate what could happen “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. ⁴ As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.   I believe personally that after decisions to follow our sin nature automatically tries to make us believe that we really didn’t do what we thought. People will always doubt if you make Salvation out to be something it was not intended to be. I first want people to realize that Jesus simply says to follow Him first, He knows that you still have hang ups and your not perfect. He will change you from the inside out, just give Him time to work. I am also quick to share with them stories of the disciples Peter mostly and even Paul had struggles after he got saved. The most important thing I believe you can tell somebody is that Salvation is a one and done, you can’t lose it couldn’t give it back if you wanted to. Whom Jesus saves He seals and holds in His hands where nothing can ever remove you. You might have times that you need to check your salvation that is good that means the Holy Spirit is working in you to remove some impurities. Just stop and pray for guidance and trust in the finished work of the cross. If none of the above stuff seems to comfort them at all, I sometimes ask if they are sure they got saved or were they just following the crowd at the time. I then share my story of just following the crowd in third grade and show how dangerous that really is. People it is ok to pray with somebody again so that they know for sure they are saved. You would want somebody to do that for you.