Do We Believe Anything Anymore?

There was a poll recently that I read in our local newspaper. It was conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Here are a couple of the findings:


57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.


My comment:
Don't we really believe anything anymore? Don't we believe the very word of the God we worship? Didn't Jesus say that He was the way, the truth, and the life and that no man can come to the Father but by Him? Numerous scriptures teach us that through Jesus alone we find salvation. The Interfaith movement is a great deception. We can't accept every religions teachings as truth when they reject that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. If we don't hold to this simple truth we are no longer Christians.


In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.

My comment:
How can there be more than one true way to interpret anything? There may be several interpretations, but there is only one truth. The "truth" about God is not a collection of opinions. Our interpretation of scripture or our sincere opinion does not define God or establish truth. There is a truth. It is up to us to be seekers of truth not philosophers with just one of many valid opinions.

Nearly across the board, the majority of religious Americans believe many religions can lead to eternal life: mainline Protestants (83 percent), members of historic black Protestant churches (59 percent), Roman Catholics (79 percent), Jews (82 percent) and Muslims (56 percent).


My comments:
Clearly churches are failing their congregations. We will cling to Jesus Christ as our only hope and teach it to all who will hear. God help us!

By similar margins, people in those faith groups believe in multiple interpretations of their own traditions' teachings. Yet 44 percent of the religiously affiliated also said their religion should preserve its traditional beliefs and practices.


My comments:
I know that religion gets it wrong a lot of the time. The watered down message being delivered from many pulpits have made people skeptical. Preachers have become so compromised by sin and scandal that people reject their message even though they cling to their religion. They formulate their own version of truth because their preacher has no anointing. Whatever happened to preachers that are men of God? Men that trembled in God's presence and prayed for the words to speak so the people could be led into truth?


"The Catholic church teaches that the "one church of Christ ... subsists in the Catholic Church" alone and that Protestant churches, while defective, can be "instruments of salvation."

My comments:
How can a defective church be an instrument of salvation?

Roger Oldham, a vice president with the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, bristled at using the word "tolerance" in the analysis.
"If by tolerance we mean we're willing to engage or embrace a multitude of ways to salvation, that's no longer evangelical belief," he said. "The word 'evangelical' has been stretched so broadly, it's almost an elastic term."
Others welcomed the findings.

My comments:
Things can be stretched so far that they lose their true shape. I pray that churches and Christians will reject the lie that there is salvation in anyone other than Jesus Christ.

See for Yourself

John 5:3939Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

The entire Bible points to the coming of Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah said:
“Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day couldn’t recognize that the scriptures pointed to Jesus. What a tragedy that He was standing right in front of them and couldn’t see Him. He was speaking to them but they didn’t hear Him. He was right in front of them but they didn’t reach out to touch Him.

Don’t make the same mistake!

Saw (Luke 5:12)
When a man with leprosy saw Jesus he fell on his face. He knew that Jesus was his only hope. When we recognize that Jesus is our only hope we need to fall on our face before Him and cry out to Him.

Heard (Mark 10:46-48)
A blind man heard that Jesus was passing by he cried out for Jesus to have mercy on him. Those around told him to be quiet but he cried the more. He wasn’t going to let his only hope pass by without getting his attention. We can get Jesus’ attention today. We just need to cry out to Him.

Touched (Luke 8:43 through Luke 8:44)
A woman with a disease of twelve years came behind Jesus, and touched the border of his garment. When she touched Him, Jesus noticed. He notices today when we touch Him with our need. Jesus always responds to the cry of our hearts.

1 John 1:1Why could the apostles preach with such conviction? They had seen Jesus with their own eyes. They had heard Him with their own ears. They had touched Him with their own hands.
I haven’t heard Him with my ears but I have heard Him speak to my heart. I haven’t seen Him with my eyes but I see Him through my faith. I haven’t touched with my hands but I have touched Him with my heart.

But more than that I know He is real because He has touched me. He will touch you if you will reach out to Him.

Man's Best Friend

There's a reason they call them "Man's Best Friend". Our dog, Gabe, a beautiful Golden Retriever died last Friday, June 6th. He was born 8/1/97 and we had him since he was six weeks old. He was always a great dog. I got him as a gift for my wife's 40th birthday but he soon became my dog. He was overjoyed every time I came home from work. He was beside himself when we would get ready to go to the cottage. Somehow He knew it was time to go up north and would start to get excited Friday afternoon even though we hadn't even started getting ready. As most dogs do, he loved to walk so we would take him out as often as we could. He was a big dog, over 100 lbs, but was great in the house except for the tail knocking things off of end tables occasionally. He slept by our bed every night until he got older and couldn't get up and down the stairs. He loved pizza crust and popcorn. He must have hated us going on a diet because the goodies dried up. He slowed down quite bit as he got older. Lately he just layed around a lot but still enjoyed going into the front yard with us. He would lay in the yard and watch people go by as we sat on the porch. Our 1 year old grandson could crawl all over him without us worrying. Gabe just moved out of his way if it got to be too much.

Even though Gabe had slowed down the past year his death took me by surprise. I got up early to go to work Friday and he was laying in the dining room. I would normally let him outside but it was early so I just let him lay there. My wife told me she couldn't get him to go out and his breathing seemed to be labored. He had seemed to be OK Thursday night. When I got home for lunch he still hadn't been outside so I helped him up but he was unsteady. He went out but he was so weak he just layed down in the grass. His breathing was even more labored. It was hot and humid so I got him back in the air conditioning and called the vet. The soonest they could get us in was 2:15 so I went back to work. I came home again just before 2:00. I tried to help him up but he was completely listless. Just a few minutes later he took his last breath while my wife and I stood by. We loved Gabe and I believe he loved us. He was raised with our family and never knew anything else. I'll miss my old buddy.

Into His Presence

By: Steven D. Niswonger

Scripture Reference: Psalm 84:1-5, 10

David was a man who recognized the value of being in the presence of God. He stated that his “heart and [his] flesh cry out for the living God.” David longed to be in the presence of the Almighty, but was never allowed to be because that was the right and role of the priest alone. Instead, he had to settle for being in the courts of the Lord. Still his heart cried out for a touch, for just a moment in the presence of God. David dwelt in the house of the Lord, but could never know the presence of God. He longed to get past the outer courts and into the Holy of Holies…but he was never allowed.

Today we know and believe in the power of God’s salvation. We know that God honors the prayer of repentance. We know that God washes away our sin in baptism. We know that God fills us with the Holy Ghost when we seek after Him with a pure heart. These things are necessary. These things are valuable. But these are a means to an end. That end is a communion with God and a life lived in His presence. That is what God intends for us.

The Old Testament Temple was full of symbols that would foreshadow God’s plan of salvation and His plan for our life after salvation. The outer court of the Temple was the place of sacrifice and purification. When entering in through the gates of the Temple, the first thing you would come to was the Brazen Altar. The Altar was a place of reflection, a place of recognition, and a place of sorrow. This was the place of repentance. Repentance takes reflection and recognition so that we can see our need for God’s salvation. It is only when we see ourselves as sinners that we see how truly powerless we are to change our situation. After this recognition, sorrow comes at the realization of our trespass against God. This Godly sorrow leads us to repentance. We come to the Altar…the place of death…and we die to our old way of life.

After the Altar, there was the Laver. The Laver was a large pool of water. This was the place of cleansing. After the sacrifice at the Altar, the priests would be filthy and would need to be cleansed before entering into the presence of God. They would completely immerse themselves in the Laver, cleansing them of all the filth in which they were covered. The Laver represents baptism. This is the place of cleansing and preparation. Repentance shows us that we are filthy and makes us want to be clean; baptism cleanses us of the sins that we have committed. It was only after the priest had experience the Altar and the Laver that he was allowed to enter into the presence of God…the Holy of Holies.

Only once a year was the priest allowed into the presence of God. He had served day after day, longed day after day, and was allowed one day in the presence of God. The death of Jesus and His offering of blood unleashed the presence of God in this world. Now, He manifests Himself in the Holy Ghost and has made Himself available to all who would seek. The gift of salvation…repentance, baptism, the infilling of the Holy Ghost…gives us unlimited access to the Throne of God.

What have we done with this gift? David was happy to sit in the courts of God, outside of God’s presence, because that is all he was allowed to have. Too many today, even the saved, are happy with David’s experience. But even David’s heart and flesh cried out for something more…something that he could not have, but is available to each of us. We can do what David could not. We can get past the Altar, past the Laver, past the ceremony of religion, and into the very presence of God. He waits for us to cry out for Him, to yearn for Him. He waits for the day that we will learn to live in His presence and will push through every obstacle to reach Him.

Are you ready to enter into His presence?

Exalted By God

The Apostle Peter was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Can you imagine how humbling it would have been to have witnessed the crucifixion? As one of the disciples, Peter walked with Jesus while he was on earth and listened to His teachings. Peter, like all of the disciples, was demoralized by Jesus’ death. It seemed to Peter that the only thing to do was to go back to his old life and pick up his old job as a fisherman. Thank God that the crucifixion was not the end of the story. When Jesus was raised from the dead he appeared to the disciples and told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. On the day of Pentecost they were gathered in an upper room and were filled with the Holy Spirit. They would never be the same because of their encounter with the risen savior. The same is true today of those who have been filled with the Spirit. Have you met the risen savior? Have you had an encounter with Jesus that completely changed your life? Peter was a changed man who committed his life completely to God.

Peter learned many things from Jesus. I believe that one of the important lessons that he learned was that this life isn’t about the here and now but about laying up treasure in heaven. God will exalt us in due time if we are His faithful servants. We may never be praised by men while we live on this earth but we can hear Jesus say “well done good and faithful servant”, when we get to heaven. Living our lives for the rewards that this life brings will leave us empty and disappointed. Romans 8:13-14 tells us”13For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” I want to be led through this life by God. How about you? In order to be led by God we must be willing to submit to God’s authority in our life. So often we don’t want to give up control of the smallest thing, but God can’t lead us if we won’t submit to Him. Giving up some control can save our life. In an emergency room we willingly give up control to the doctors because we know that they can help us. In the military soldiers willingly give up control to their leaders so that they can be successful and come through the battles they will face victoriously. If we don’t submit to God we will be dominated by our fleshly desires. God wants the best for each one of us. If we will submit to His will for our life He will deliver us from all evil. We read in 1 Peter that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Jesus spoke about “rendering to Caesar” and “rendering to God”. This simply means we need to submit to the laws of the land as good citizens while at the same time giving to God what belongs to God. I want to submit to God. I want to pay attention to the needs of the spiritual man instead being constantly concerned with the natural man’s needs. I want to allow God to lead me into a full walk with Him and get myself out of the way so that God can be all in all. Will you let God work in your life?