Understanding Sin and Repentance... Sin
Sin is literally missing the mark. When most people think of sin, they think of the Ten Commandments. When most people think of sinners they think of murders, idolators, and adulterers. There is a natural human tendency to think of the Hitlers and child molesters of the world as sinners, and ourselves as "perhaps not perfect" but certainly not in the same category. Repentance ...The Missing Message
The word repentance is scarcely ever heard in most churches today, pastors rarely calling for their congregations to sorrow over sin. Instead the message heard from way too many pulpits has been watered down to just “believe” and you'll be saved. Yet Repentance is presented as an absolute requirement for forgiveness in the Old Testament as well a the New. Scripture presents Repentance and Faith as NOT the same thing, but literally as two sides of the same coin. You can't believe without truly repenting, and you can not experience “Godly sorrow” without believing. Salvation
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car Salvation
Salvation or the way to be saved is far more than a religion. God releases us from the demands of eternal justice on the basis that someone else paid our fine. However receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior must be an aggressive act of the total personality and not a passive ‘acceptance’ that makes a door-to-door salesman of the Savior. He DOES NOT meekly stand by waiting to know whether we will patronize Him or not. The Meaning of the Cross
The church by and large is missing the point about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can be wrong about a lot of things but if you are wrong about the cross you are in trouble. Is The Sinner’s Prayer Effective?
The goal should never be getting someone to pray a prayer, but rather to follow Jesus. When we emphasize deciding for Christ instead of living for Him, we often get spiritual miscarriages instead of spiritual births. Our sense of safety can’t come from simply saying a prayer. Why NOT To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart
The most fundamental, vital question that anyone can ask is what must I do to be saved?... the answer to which is perhaps the most crucial point of the whole New Testament. Yet there are no end of well meaning Christians who, in answer to that life and death question, will inform you that You have to ask Jesus into your heart. The burning question is whether this phrase accurately communicates the truth of Scripture. The New Birth Born Again
These days, almost everyone talks about being born again; but virtually no one knows what the Word of God teaches about the new birth. While you don’t have to do all things people think they must do... get an education, get married, have children, carve out a career etc, and you don’t have to have all of the things people think they must have ...a home, a car etc... The one thing you have to do during your lifetime is be born again... your future for an entire eternity hangs on it. Those ‘born again’ Christians
But the kicker is, the strange places that I run into these “born again” Christians. As I have stated before we do some ministry on the streets and it always sets me back a notch or two when I hear “born again” come out of some folk’s mouths. I find them heading into abortion clinics, outside strip clubs, drinking and swearing at Ohio State Football game parties, sleeping on the streets, and yelling at the referee at high school basketball games. Yep, those “born again” Christians are everywhere. Nearly 85% of Americans, or so George Barna tells us. Maybe we should look at that term The Next Steps Whats Next
If you are reading this, then I'm going to assume that you have put your confidence in Jesus Christ as the God who took on flesh and who traded places with us (during His death on the Cross) when God judged and punished our wrongdoing ... and that, accordingly, you are related to God in a new way. What we need to do now is to look at four things: 1) what is the character of your new relationship with the living God, 2) what can you expect to happen in your life now, 3) why should you go forward from here in a relationship with God, and 4) what specific attitudes and actions can you initiate to cultivate this relationship, to nurture it, and to develop it to its fullest expression in your life? The Two Ordinances
Water baptism (by immersion) and The Lord's Supper (communion) are the only two ordinances instituted by our Lord. While neither one is a means of salvation or prerequisite for church membership, both should be observed by all Christians. These rites are outward symbols of inward spiritual grace but do not of themselves create spiritual change. We can however publicly and privately demonstrate our belonging to Christ by being baptized and having Holy Communion Safeguarding Your Soul
When a person becomes a true Christian he enters a brand new life. In a moment of time he passes from death to life, from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God. Many things start to happen to him that may be surprising. But these vital Scriptural truths are seldom heard from the typical pastor, TV or radio teachers of our day. Also See Am I Going To Hell?
Most people believe in justice. It is built in. It is part of their moral intuition, the image of God in man that is being expressed. They clamor for justice. What Brought Christ To The Cross?
It was not something unthinkable and gross and obviously devilish that was responsible for our Lord's cross; but that it was set up by the quite ordinary, decent and respectable little sins of decent and respectable people, by the kind of thing into which we are all apt to drift every other day. Let us remember that with a great shivering awe, lest in our lives too there rings out that sound of hammering, as the nails run home. The Gospel.. A Hate Crime.. Welcome to the 21st Century
How is it possible that the good news of the Gospel can be considered a hate crime? Welcome to the 21st Century. | 
