The phrase that I continually hear in Christian circles revolves around “I really should read the Bible more.” Well, here’s your chance! And unlike a membership at the gym, you don’t have to get all sweaty to do it (unless stepping into the presence of the creator of the universe who knows everything about you is something that will make you sweat!)

Maybe you’ve never read the Bible before… Maybe you’ve never read a single book of the Bible from start to finish. I’ve written an earlier article which discusses the different translations, but any Bible will do, just pick it up and read!

I’ve posted a yearly Bible reading plan on my churchs’ website that should take about 10-15 minutes/day and it’s crazy-simple… Just cut out the four bookmarks, and read the four suggested passages for each day. If you want to only take only half the time every day and read the Bible through in two years instead of one just use two bookmarks instead of four, and then use the second pair next year! There’s no wrong way to do it, so just do it!

Reading the Bible is God’s talking to you. Your daily prayer life is your talking to God. Done together, you begin to have a dialog. If you only talk to God but don’t listen, you’re lecturing. If you do nothing by listen but don’t respond you’re being lectured to. Neither is conducive to a healthy relationship, in human or divine relationships.

Don’t know what to pray for or about? Pray about that! Don’t know what a particular passage of Scripture says or means? Look it up on one of the popular Bible commentary sites, Google the passage, or hey, ask it here! Someone reading this blog will have the answer or at least point you in the right direction.

Let me know if you are going to commit to read the Bible in a year. You can start any time – it doesn’t have to be January. Just read, learn, and listen what God has to say to you. God Himself tells you why you should:

Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

So, let’s get started, shall we? I have 3 hours left to read my 4 passages… God Bless, keep in touch, and I’ll see you on the road ahead…

-Anthony

Now, don’t start throwing stones… I want people to “love me no matter what” as much as the next guy but I also want to love them enough to tell them the truth. Hey, it’s not my truth anyway… Jesus said it Himself… “I am the way, the truth, and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father except through me.” So, where I’m going with this is, don’t shoot the messenger.

I heard something disturbing this week, but something that actually holds a good amount of weight… It was Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs that said “People don’t read anymore.”  When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader. Why? Because we only had four television channels, because my family sat in the living room reading the daily paper, comic books, etc. Because I was reading the latest Hardy Boys mystery or Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We didn’t have podcasts or internet sites and cable or satellite TV with 238 channels and “Nothing On” as Bruce Springsteen would say. Reading was a major component of American life just a short time ago.

I want to take this Website and podcast in a slightly different direction… “Kick it up a notch” as the celebrity chef Emeril would say, and add a little of this and a little of that… including some reading.  I’m going to make the main messages smaller, a little less theological, and add in components such as book reviews, website reviews, Bible Study resources, and maybe some interviews if I can get them. Would you like to be interviewed (or maybe interview me) on The ReformedCatholic.com? Shoot me an email and we’ll get the ball rolling.

It’s a little early, but I wanted to get the word out… The teaching and resources at Ligonier Ministries has been instrumental in my research and study of the Bible and by looking at what the Bible teaches us (or more accurately, what God teaches us) it has helped me see the flaws in what I was raised to believe as a Catholic and steered me toward my faith in Christ, and Christ alone.

I wanted to encourage you to take your own walk of faith. It’s one thing to listen to a podcast; It’s another to read this blog or another book (aside from the Bible of course) but it’s a wonderful thing when you can study under the guidance of some of the greatest minds and teachers who have devoted their lives and loves to exposing the truths of the Bible.

This year’s national conference (this will be my fourth) looks incredible and it’s theme is Evangelism According To Jesus. I would encourage you to take this walk with me in growing your faith, learning what Christ Himself told us about Himself, and how he wants to let others know about Him.

Below is an excerpt from the conference bulletin that you can read below or at the link above. One word of Scripture I will leave you with (emphasis mine):

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. -Romans 5:1-2

He wanted you to know that…

God bless you, and let your light shine!

-Anthony

2008 National Conference:

Does our evangelism introduce people to the wrong Jesus?

Nearly half the population of the United States claims to be “born-again.” Self-identified “evangelicals” are a voting bloc courted by our major political parties, and a large percentage of citizens attend church services at least once a week. Yet, as we look at the culture around us, an unmistakable erosion of the Judeo-Christian ethic has taken place. God is regularly blasphemed, professing believers often live no differently from non-Christians, and many churches are captive to the trends of this present age.

Two factors explain this set of contradictory realities. First, the church has failed to preach the biblical Gospel. Instead of preaching about mankind’s depravity and the truth that citizenship in the kingdom of God comes only by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, we hear about a powerless and insipid Creator and the cheap grace He lavishes upon all. Secondly, because the church has failed to preach the biblical Gospel, our evangelism has too often introduced people to the wrong Jesus. We are told that “Jesus can give us our best life now” or that “He wants to be our best friend,” and not that He is our Savior from enslavement to sin and the righteous judgment of God. As such, He demands a life of costly discipleship (Luke 14:25-33).

This spring we invite you to join us as we seek to help the church address these critical issues. On March 13-15, 2008, Ligonier Ministries will hold its 21st annual national conference, “Evangelism According to Jesus,” in Orlando, Fla. During three days of worship, fellowship, encouragement, study, and prayer, we will proclaim the different aspects of the Gospel and explain how they must impact our evangelism. Joining us will be respected pastors, theologians, and leaders Sinclair Ferguson, Steven J. Lawson, John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, R.C. Sproul Jr., and Joni Eareckson Tada, all of whom will remind us of the great truths of the Gospel and help us evangelize more effectively.

It is imperative that we preach no other Gospel than the one delivered by our Lord and His apostles. I hope you will join us in March as we explore and apply the faith once delivered to the saints.

R.C. Sproul,
President and Founder

Well, the Bible does say that faith comes by hearing and you certainly can buy yourself an audio version of the Bible but nothing compares to reading God’s word and reflecting on His wisdom and plan for your life in His own words direct to you.

The one thing you don’t want to be is a pew potato: As a Catholic, all my life I had let other people tell me what the Bible had said. Once I started visiting churches that were Bible-centered and Christ-centered a whole new world had opened as I was challenged to read the Scripture for myself, both during the worship service and on my own time at home. As I started to understand more and more of the Biblical truths and someone actually presented me with a Christ-centered plan of salvation backed up by the words of Scripture, I asked “Why had I never heard any of this before?” Christ had always been “hidden in plain sight!”

Now, reading the Bible can sometimes seem daunting, or even scary, but here’s the good news right off the bat: you will never know it all! You can be born into a Christian household and read the Bible every day your whole life and when you’re a hair’s breath away from heaven at the age of 92 you will think you’ve only scratched the surface. That’s how rich, powerful, and living God’s Word is. Just like when you get married, the longer you are with your spouse the more and more you learn about them… you never stop learning. So it is with God, and God gives us this relationship through His Book.

Choosing a Translation:

First things first: If you are going to read a Bible, it’s gotta be a Bible you can read. If you open up and see words like “thy, thee, sitteth, saith, thou” that’s not the Bible you want to start with.

There are two basic types of Bible translations: word for word and thought-for thought. The word-for-word translations attempt to take each individual word in Greek and Hebrew and translate them into the native tongue (i.e. English) literally. Sometimes you run into some grammar problems like you would say, translating Spanish: In Spanish you would say “I’m going to the house of John” where in English you would say “I’m going to John’s house.” This is where translation shows itself as an art and not a science.

Some good modern word-for-word translations are the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New American Standard Bible (NASB). King James does have a more up-to-date translation but it’s accepted by many (myself included) that the ESV is the best and most readable modern word-for-word translation in print today. You can follow this link and watch a great video about its history, purpose, and acceptance by many churches today, and you can purchase your own ESV through their site or at the Online Resource Center at www.TheReformedCatholic.com

Thought-for-thought translations take the general idea of what the writer of scripture is trying to say and re-word it into a contemporary or more readable form. Sometimes nuances and underlying meanings can be lost but in general the Scripture is more readable. One of today’s most popular translations has been the NIV, or New International Version. More recently, a version called The Message has been written by a pastor originally for his young nephews, and is extremely contemporary and very readable but there is a lot to be said for the “dumbing down” of Scripture to make it more readable. I myself, when I first came to faith and decided to read the Bible in its entirety read the Contemporary English Version, or CEV. It’s very readable and holds a treasured place on my bookshelf as it was the first Bible I had ever read cover to cover.

What Type of Bible Will You Read?

Once you get past the translation, or version, of the Bible, you then have your choice of what additional information, if any, you want to have in your Bible. First, there’s just the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. This type of Bible contains only the Scripture and maybe some footnotes or cross references in the center or at the bottom of each page, but in general, is nothing but the Scripture. You can then choose to get a Bible with study notes of one kind or another. There’s the Life Application Study Bible that has notes on how you can take each verse of scripture and see how it can affect the way you live or how you can apply it in your life. There’s a Devotional Bible that can walk you through the Bible in a year or may have man or women-specific notes. There are Soldier’s Bibles, Firefighter’s Bibles, a Boys’ Bible and the list goes on. Each one gives helpful instruction for each type of application in your life, wherever you are.

I have a confession to make here… I used to tease my wife as to the number of Bibles she had when we met… I asked “Isn’t one enough?” Now I have more Bibles than she does (though right now I pretty much stick to my ESV Reformation Study Bible when I’m at home and I have a small travel NIV when I’m going out!)

A Quick Walk Through – From Genesis to Maps!

If you have a Bible, go get it and turn to the Table of Contents. The Bible, as you probably already know, is divided into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. All together there are sixty-six books in the Bible and they are divided up into the following sections:

Old Testament

• The Pentateuch: Genesis through Deuteronomy
• The History Books: Joshua through Esther
• Poetry and Wisdom: Job through Song of Solomon
• Major and Minor Prophets: Isaiah through Malachi

New Testament

• The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• Early Church History: The Book of Acts
• The Epistles, or letters to the local Christian churches: Romans through Jude
• The Book of Revelation: God’s ultimate plan (we win!)

Understanding what you should understand…

Though the writings of the Bible are intrinsically simple (that is, even a child can understand the major messages, like the teachings of Jesus, the story of Adam and Eve and Noah, etc.) there are parts that you definitely won’t understand in the beginning. Don’t worry about it… you’ll deal with that later.
If you are going to read the Bible straight through for the first time, I have one word of advice: after reading Exodus skip on through to Joshua… Your first read through should be like getting familiar with a new friend: in this case, you are going to see God’s historical plan for his people in a 10,000-foot overview. Many people get to the book of Numbers and quit, so don’t lose your momentum.

Also, pick a time to read every day for 90 days. The Bible, as big as it seems, like an elephant, can be consumed one spoonful at a time. Some days you will sit at a banquet, and other days you will just have a snack, but consistent, daily reading of Scripture is a great way to start and end your day. You know what they say about building a habit: it takes 14 days to build a solid habit, and then it’ll be hard to break. (Speaking of which, tomorrow is day 2 of my new daily exercise habit (ouch!).

Finally, don’t hesitate to use a pen and either underline passages that are especially meaningful to you or that you may not understand and want to go back to later to get more information. Many Bibles have generous space in the margins or blank pages in the back for just this purpose. Think of the Bible as an instruction manual for your life. Someone once made an acronym for the Bible that reads Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. The Bible is your life’s workbook. If you came and saw my first Bible, that CEV I was telling you about, it’s got a bunch of underlines. If you look at my current Bible, my ESV Reformation Study Bible, you’ll find underlines, stars, sermon notes, personal notes, references to other books and pages, and more. The evidence of a Bible that is worn out is a life that is not.

Going from milk to meat…

Once you get the 10,000 foot overview, it’s time to dig in. Either join a Bible Study, participate in one online, or get a book about a book of the Bible… Romans or one of the Gospels would be a great place to start. Check the Resource Center at www.TheReformedCatholic.com for some introductory study aids on the books of the Bible to get you started. Also, I’ll be going through the book of Romans on this podcast so stay tuned for that!

If you were a parent of a young child, would you be happy if they never matured and stayed on the floor in diapers drinking milk and eating applesauce all day? No… I don’t think so. As you are His children, neither is God satisfied with a ‘milky’ Christian. He wants you to understand the depths of the knowledge of his love, his grace, and the gift He gave us in the salvation offered to us through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. You will only get this through the daily feeding on the meat of His Word, the Bible.
So now you have a good idea how the Bible works. Pick up a version you can read, with notes that are meaningful to you, and start your relationship with Him today.

“Hey God? I’d like you to meet my friend <insert your name here>…”

He asked me to tell you that…

-Anthony

“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” -Jesus, Luke 6:48

One of my most influential teachers, Dear Reader, explained that there are four philosophical elements that every worldview or belief system must answer: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Destiny. In other words, “upon what foundation will you build the house of your faith?” The worldview given to to us in the Bible revolves around the essence of Jesus Christ: the person of God who came to Earth to save His people so they may follow Him.

Take the first four verses of the Gospel of John where Christ is described as the Word of God and take note of the underlined parts:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

Christ’s origin, like God’s, is in Eternity. There was never a time that Jesus was not. There was never a time that God was not. That is why the Name of God is I AM. When Moses asked God in the wilderness who he should say had sent him to free the Israelites, God said “Tell them that I AM sent you.” When the temple guards came to arrest Jesus in the garden (John 18:5) and said they were looking for Jesus, he responded “I AM he” upon which the power of His name repulsed them all backwards and caused them to fall to the ground. Christ is, was, and ever shall be and His name, the name above all names, is eternal.

What was Christ’s meaning, or purpose? He came to save sinners, for “there is no one righteous: not one!” -Romans 3:10. Without Christ, no one goes to heaven. He came to do something that we could not do on our own. Jesus did not come to Earth to heal the healthy: he came to heal the sick: the sin-sick souls of His chosen people so they may glorify Him for all eternity. In one fell swoop by paying the penalty of sin on the cross (as the wages of sin are death) and the evidence of His resurrection (Jesus conquered death to open the doorway of salvation to all of us) He allows us access to eternity and fellowship with the Father.

This sacrifice was a one time redemption. Think of it as getting a letter from a creditor saying “paid in full.” Your debt is over… done with. Similarly, once you accept Christ as your redeemer, you never have to approach to God as a wretched human being ever again, but as a chosen son. When Christ rose, it was, as he said in His final words “accomplished” and Christ reigns in heaven at this moment triumphant over death and hell. The Catholic Church, sadly, shows a wretched, battered Christ on the Cross, still suffering for our sins. That, Dear Reader, is not Biblical (dare I say heresy?) Christ has risen, Christ has conquered, and it is finished! The cross, as is the tomb, is empty. Take Him down from there!

Jesus came to give meaning to our morality as well. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit that God gives us, we have no moral compass. Who is to say what is right or wrong or what is lawful unless you have a law giver? How do we stand on issues such as racism and abortion and murder unless you have a standard to go by?

If you say that morality is relative, then can you say that racism is wrong? If I feel, in my opinion, that one race of people is better than another, do you have any moral ground to tell me I’m wrong to feel that way? Atheism has no moral compass. (When they say they do, they have to borrow it from the Christians.) Stalin, an atheist, was responsible for the death of forty three million people with an estimated total of one hundred thirty million killed under various atheistic regimes. Is a philosophy responsible for that many lives morally wrong? If so, by whose standard? God is the source of all truth and morality, as His law is written on our hearts. (Romans 2:15, Jeremiah 31:33) We know what’s right and what’s wrong. We try to defend our own morality, but there is a higher standard we all will be held accountable to one day.

Finally there is the Christian’s destiny promised through Jesus Christ: Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In July of 2007 the patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI essentially said that “no one goes to heaven except through the Catholic Church.” My question to him, Dear Reader, is: “From what fortune cookie did you pull that little nugget of doctrine from? Where in your Bible does it say that? … I haven’t been able to find it!”

If what the pope said were true, where does that leave the faithful Old Testament Israelite? (Is Moses in Heaven?) Where does that leave the church in China, India, Iran, and other countries hostile to the Gospel where thousands die each year in His name? Are they in hell because they weren’t Catholic? More importantly, how could Christ say to the thief on the Cross with a straight face that “today you will be with me in paradise?” That man on His left never went to Church or was baptized or received communion: it was simple faith in who Christ was, and nothing else, that saved Him.

What the pope and other officials in the Catholic Church are saying with this, however, is that what they say is true overrides what the Bible says is true, (because they think they’re the ones with the authority to interpret it, not you) and if the Bible is the Word of God, I’m going to stand as far away from any Catholic Church building in fear of getting struck by lightning or swallowed by earthquake. If I have to make a choice between who I’m more scared of offending: God or Mr. Benedict, I’ll side with God.

There is freedom in the Gospel, not servitude. There is hope in Christ’s absolute power, without which there would be no hope of salvation.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. -Romans 1:16

If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:31

He wanted me to tell you that.

-Anthony

So, I hope you like today’s inaugural podcast. I have to decide on a schedule of writing and podcasting. I still plan on making daily updates, but whether it’s a 50/50 or a weekly podcast and 4 days writing, time will tell.

Please post some comments and check to see when the podcast will be available on iTunes!

Ephesians 4:11-14

The apostle Paul gives a brief job description to every Christian believer in chapter 4 of his letter to the Ephesian Church. I say brief, as in there are few words mentioned, but it’s an enormous responsibility.

Dear Reader, there are two distinct people groups he has charged with this task:

• Those in authority: the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers
• Those in the pews: the ’saints’ (you and me)

The task given to those in authority (the men in the pulpit, the Sunday School rooms, the seminaries) are charged to equip the ones in the pews (us) for the work of ministry. You don’t need a divinity degree to minister, whether it is to one or to a crowd.

It is the job of the minister to preach and teach. It is the job of the people to minister. We are to minister to each other within the church, to our immediate sphere of influence be it your family, or neighbor, and to the world around us (kinda like what this website does!).

How are those in authority going to equip the people for ministry? It ought to be primarily through the reading, exhortation, and teachings of the things of God and Christ through His Word: the Bible. Reading, studying, and understanding God’s Word will help us apply it to our lives so they will be building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

Likewise, it is the task of the people in the pew to listen, meditate on, and figure out how they can apply God’s Word in their lives, and to call upon the gifts they have to also spread the light of the Gospel.

If you’re a pew-potato, doing nothing but coming to Church on Sunday, letting the sermon go in one ear and out the other, woe to you. (Not my words… again, I’m only a messenger!)

Christ has a special warning to those types of ‘Christians’ in the book of Revelation:

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:15-16

“Christian” is not a title, putting a label on yourself to make you feel good or proclaim to the world that you’re something special. The term Christian is a Job Description. Christian means “Like Christ” or “Follower of Christ” or more accurately, “Little Christ”. If I go out and print up business cards that have my title as “Custom Home Designer” and I sit at home and surf the web all day I’m either (1:) deliberately lying to those around me, or (2:) deluding myself, making myself ‘feel good’ by making others believe I design custom homes. Well, one day I’ll be called on the carpet to meet with someone about a house and the truth will be out that I’m a deluded liar.

Well, one day we will be called to report in on what work we have been doing. Do we claim the title “Christian” but never show up for work? Do we even put a flyer in the paper or have we even filled out the job application by reaching to the heavens and cry “Lord, show thyself! I want to know you and be known by your name!”?

And why are we to be built up to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ? Paul gives three reasons:

So that we may no longer be children; Growing in faith, taking in Spiritual truths is often compared to drinking milk (as an infant) and eating meat (as an adult). If you ate nothing but soft foods and drank milk all day and sat around letting others tend to your beck and call as an infant, would you ever grow strong? Will you ever be able to fend for yourself? Until a child learns to crawl, walk, stand strong, eat and fend for itself, they are at the mercy of those around them. Don’t be weak.

…tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine; Children are sweet, aren’t they? They are also gullible little creatures. One of my (six!) nephews once asked me how weight limits for bridges are measured. I told him “They drive bigger and bigger trucks over the bridge until it breaks. Then they weigh the last truck and rebuild the bridge.” I’ll admit I got that one from Calvin and Hobbes, but I’ve done this several times and they always seem to get wide-eyed at first and then accept it.

Likewise, you: Dear Reader, must be able to know the truth from a lie. Do you know how bank tellers are taught how to spot counterfeit money? They aren’t taught what 100 fake bills look like: They are taught what real money looks like. Then, when a fake bill comes their way, they will know it’s fake. You, by knowing true doctrine, from the words penned by God, will then know false teachings when they come your way.

…by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Sometimes people teach false gospels or doctrine through ignorance: They cannot detect fake from real, either. Other people directly use deceit to advance their own wicked schemes.

Again, educate yourself using Scripture as your guide, and when someone comes to you and says “God teaches this or that” or “This is what the Bible says…” you can identity true teaching or not.

He asked me to warn you.

In His Care,

-Anthony

God gives us the gift of music as only one of the ways we can worship Him. Today I want to discuss the song Untitled Hymn by Chris Rice. Listen to a portion of this song at the iTunes Music store by clicking on the link at the left and searching for “Untitled Hymn” in your iTunes software.

This is one of my favorite songs because it summarizes the entire life of a Christian: from the time they recognized the need for God and their acceptance of Christ for salvation, all the way to their final breath when the enter into the presence of the eternal Father. I also like it because it’s played as a beautifully gentle piano solo with a mild crescendo at the end, so it can be played sweetly in any setting.

Hopefully you will have a chance to listen to it first. Let’s walk through the lyrics:

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus – Come to Jesus – Come to Jesus and live!

We are dead in our sin. Spiritually dead, that is. We are lost in this world, not looking with any hope for the future, much less eternity. But the sinner’s heart is pricked with the Gospel call: love passes by. Love came down to lift us up, to change our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and give life to our dead soul. We come to Jesus, and we live!

Now your burden’s lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus – Sing to Jesus – Sing to Jesus and live!

As in the book, Pilgrim’s Progress, we no longer have an amazing burden on our back: the burden of sin, guilt, condemnation. We also are not burdened with having to perform unending good works to earn our way into heaven or make ourselves “good enough” before God. The job is done. Jesus has lifted this burden and carried them as far as the East is from the West. His sacrifice on the cross has washed away the stain of our sin: past, present, and future.So what do we do? Naturally we want to “Sing to Jesus” in thanks and praise.

And like a newborn baby
Don’t be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall…so
Fall on Jesus – Fall on Jesus – Fall on Jesus and live!

The Christian life is a journey. Whether you accept Christ when you’re seven or seventy-seven, you crawl at first, like a baby. Later you can run or jog and sometimes you will fall. You may fall back into sinful behavior, you may fall and flounder in your faith, but God is faithful and he will catch you when you fall, dust you off, and help you to keep walking!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus – Cry to Jesus – Cry to Jesus and live!

We live in a painful world. With the fall of man all of creation groans under the shadow of sin and death. This is not normal. This is not the way it was supposed to be. This is one of the reasons Jesus wept when he went to raise Lazarus from the dead. Death, pain, and suffering, are not reflective of God’s final purpose for His creation.

The world can very well be filled with pain, and you may feel alone in your suffering, but God has provided a solution by coming to earth in the form of a man, the Christ, that we may reach out to Him, cry to Him in our suffering, and live!

Another thing this verse is to lead you to consider is Jesus’ teaching that the path to eternal life is narrow. You will be persecuted. The way can be lonely and painful, especially if those you love do not know Christ. They can reject you or ridicule you. You may feel alone at times and you will weep over your Jerusalem but everything works ultimately, for God’s glory and goodness. Two verses that acknowledge this are:

Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 10:21-22 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Read further in Matthew for more of what Christ warns, but don’t forget the eternal prize, and stay confident that God is in charge. (Romans 8:28)

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can’t contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus – Dance for Jesus – Dance for Jesus and live!

There will be a time, hopefully earlier in your walk than later, that you will feel God’s love spill over in your heart. You will realize through some great moment in your life or perhaps through some trial that He is with you; He has always been with you; and he has chosen you from before you were conceived in the womb. Read Psalm 139 for a wonderful confirmation of God’s hand in, around, and through your life.

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side, and
Fly to Jesus – Fly to Jesus – Fly to Jesus and live!

Are you homesick? Our hearts are imprinted with eternity. We know there is a better life awaiting us. With our final heartbeat we can kiss the world goodbye and be welcomed home into the arms of our Father.

Singing His Tune,

-Anthony

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

Ephesians 2:8-10, 18-19

Dear Reader: This is a passage which is most freeing to the mind of one who lives a life trying to do their best to earn a place in heaven – something that cannot be done. Read each sentence slowly, and understand its meaning.

First, before doing so, remember and contemplate that the words of Scripture penned in the Bible and preserved throughout the ages is the Word of God, spoken for us, the people of God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. By believing that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for the atonement of your sins, all sin: past, present, and future, you are saved from the wrath of God for all eternity. Welcome to the family! You are blessed by God, as a recipient of his Grace. If you put your faith in the work of Christ instead of your constantly rebellious and failing nature trying to earn your way in you now have an eternal Father and will share a place in His kingdom.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. By our nature, since the fall of Adam, we are sinful and do not seek after the things of God. (Read Romans 1 and 3 for more on this.) We live our own lives, thinking of our temporal world and not the eternal. God gives us our faith: the only reason we seek God and seek to do His will is because he gave us our faith to begin with.

Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. God is God and He will get all the glory. God will share his Glory with no one. Answer this question: If God ordains someone to do something, do you think they can say no? Does a little human being have the power to say no to a command of an omnipotent God? Likewise, if God says “no”, do you think anyone can muscle their way against Him? Both answers are obviously no. For this reason, God gets the glory for giving you your faith and enabling you to come to Him: so that no one may boast. God chose you… you did not choose God. You cannot brag “I chose to follow God” when it was God who gave you your faith. Likewise, if you in your still sinful nature want to rebel and turn against God, that’s not going to happen. Once in His grip, He’ll never let go.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, Number 1: God made us for His glory, and no one else’s. He also created us (us believers, that is) with faith in His Son that we would do good works. Mind the parallel here: our faith enables us to do good works… we were already saved through our faith. We do not do good works in order to earn our way into heaven, dear reader… we do good works in response to the gratitude and love we show to God for calling us to be His own.

…which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Nothing is outside of the scope of God’s vision and work. Everything that happens, he has ordained to happen. Not a hair of your head goes unnumbered and not a cry of one of his children goes unheard. God prepared our lives and our good works before the dawn of time that we should walk in them and be His children, worshiping Him, and glorifying him for eternity.

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. This is the most shocking statement for many: With our faith in Christ, there is no go-between necessary: no intermediary. There are no priests, bishops, or apostles standing between us and the foot of His throne. Just as a child can crawl into the lap of their father and gain his love, comfort, and attention, so we too have access to the lap of our eternal Father. No man stands between us and God.

Will you confess Christ as your savior, redeemer, and mediator? Well then… Welcome to the Family!

He told me to tell you that.

In His lap…

-Anthony