Tag: Love

I love the book of Proverbs.  I read it all the time.  No matter what I might be studying, I always like to read Proverbs (and Psalms as well).  Many nights, Proverbs is the Book of the Bible that I read to my son before his bedtime.  It is filled with great insight and wisdom for living a righteous life in everything you do on earth.  God gave this wisdom and insight to Solomon, son of David, king of Israel at that time, and with that wisdom he penned the Book of Proverbs.

My son is eight years old.  He just started third grade this year.  He hit a growth spurt over the summer, and he is much taller and stronger.  He is a smart kid, and very witty and funny.  He likes theater and he can really ham it up!  I love that about my son, but sometimes he has a tendency to not take things as seriously as he should…and that gets him into trouble.

He has been learning hard lessons about respect and a good name at school.  I have told him many times, “Son, salvation is a free gift from God, but you have to earn respect.”  I tell him to act right and listen and watch what you say because people will know you by how you live your life.  I tell him to not hang out with foolish kids who act wild because he will end up getting hurt or in trouble.  Sometimes he hangs out with kids at school that are well known trouble makers, and I have had to share Proverbs 13:20 with him many times.  So much so he knows it by heart now.  I tell him these things because of the mistakes, sins, and trials I have been through in my life, and I want him to be victorious and live in peace with the Lord.

“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”

Proverbs 13:20

He has been doing great and we are very proud of him for his effort and dedication in his school work.  He is not a trouble making kid, and my wife and I make sure of that.  With that said, a few weeks ago, he was caught messing around in the school bathroom and I received a call from the principal.  It wasn’t too bad, and he got off with a warning.  Then last week I received another call from the principal.  Apparently, my son was trying to flush a locker lock down the toilet.  I was in the middle of writing a piece when I got that call around 2 p.m., and I had to go pick him up early because the principal sent him home.  He is blessed he wasn’t suspended.  The principal was mad because he could have damaged the entire plumbing system.

He lost his bathroom privileges at school, and now he can only use the bathroom in the nurses office.  The school security guard and the principal both talked to him about trust, and now they are watching him more closely.  He lost his good name.  It was a hard day for my son.

We were upset with him and disappointed, but he is learning valuable lessons from this.  Mainly, that a good name is worth a lot.  He does not like dishonor, he does not like the feeling of losing the respect he had, and he is working hard to earn it back.  My son is well liked in school by all the teachers and his fellow classmates, and he wants to keep it that way.  He is a kind kid who is nice to everyone (even the foolish ones!)

He has been more focused at school the last week, and he is back on track to earning that respect back.  Last night, I opened the Book of Proverbs and turned to chapters 21 and 22.  I prayed for our time and I prayed over my son, and then I read these Scriptures to him:

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

Proverbs 22:1

“A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead.”

Proverbs 21:16

“He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”

Proverbs 21:21

“Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.”

Proverbs 22:4

My son was listening intently as I read each verse.  When I had finished, he looked up at me with such a deep look of understanding I knew he was having an epiphany!  I said, “Do you understand now son?”  He looked deep into my eyes, shook his head yes, and smiled real big.  “Keep earning that respect son,” I said warmly, and with that, I patted him on the back, put my arm around him, and prayed for him.

As I prayed for him, I prayed those verses over myself and our family as well.  It is not only eight year old little boys who need the wisdom of God found in Proverbs.  We would all do well to take heed of those verses and strive to live them out!

“May we all keep a good name in Christ, never stray from the path of understanding, fear the Lord with humble hearts, and pursue righteousness and love all the days of our lives, in the Name of Jesus, Amen!”

Grace and peace to you all!

I love to study the historical context in which the Bible was written.  In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he is writing from a Roman prison cell.  He is nearing the end of his ministry.  The time frame is around the 60s A.D. when Emperor Nero was persecuting Christians after falsely accusing them for the great fire in Rome.  Paul knows the Romans are going to kill him, so he is writing Timothy to encourage him to keep following Jesus and be strong in his faith.

The beginning of the letter is beautiful:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Timothy 1:1-2

He comforts Timothy and encourages him to not be ashamed because of his imprisonment.  He also tells him to not be ashamed of Jesus, and gives a powerful explanation of the Holy Spirit.

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.  But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God…”

2 Timothy 1:6-8

The persecution in Rome is fierce and the believers are scared and scattered.  Many people who were once trusted friends to Paul have deserted him and want nothing to do with him or Christianity.

“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me…”

2 Timothy 1:15

Paul talks about his first court hearing where he barely escaped an execution by lion.  At this time, Nero was feeding Christians to the lions in the coliseums as a spectacle for all to enjoy.  Rome was Satan’s playground.

“At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.  May it not be held against them.  But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.  And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.”

2 Timothy 4:16-17

Paul knows his time is coming soon and throughout the entire letter he impresses upon Timothy the importance of persevering in his faith in Jesus.  He loves Timothy as a father would a son, and he wants him to continue the ministry.  Paul gives him wise advice at every turn of the page.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:14-17

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.”

2 Timothy 4:1-2

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

2 Timothy 2:22

In the last chapter of the letter, Paul pens some of the most heartfelt words any human being could ever write at the end of their life.  He is not scared.  He is at peace, and he is ready to go.

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Paul was never fed to the lions.  When he was in his sixties, shortly after writing that letter, the Romans chopped his head off with a sword.  He never gave up his faith and he preached the Gospel to the very end.  I am very much looking forward to meeting Paul in Heaven someday, and I pray that I can be as strong in my faith to the very end and be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”

Grace and peace to you all!

Yes, on December 18, 2016, 20 years after she accepted Christ in 1996, I baptized my own mother at our church in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!  She had been baptized when she was 21, but she didn’t know why she did it and she had not received Jesus yet.  I am going to give the floor to my Mom on this one!  I have posted her written testimony below that she submitted to our church before she was baptized.  I pray it is an encouragement to you all!  I love you Mom!

Before I get to her testimony, I wanted to share something my Mom just posted the other day under my piece titled “Seeing and Believing”:

“Ryan, when you returned home from college as a believer in Jesus Christ, my prayers had been answered and I was so grateful to Him for surrounding you with Christian friends.  Then, another blessing was brought to us when you came home for break.  Now, with the authority of the Holy Spirit, you went room to room, casting out the demon in our home that had frightened us for four years, it was cast out forever!  I don’t know how to explain the feeling in words, but after you were done, their was a real feeling of lightness in the air, a peace that filled our home because we just knew it was over.  And, it was.  “Praise God!”  You, along with the Holy Spirit, conquered and wiped out that demon, and I will be forever grateful.  I’m truly sorry you went through so much fear while living there.  Sorry, for all of us, but there was a silver lining…we were all saved that year.  I am forever grateful for that, too.  God is good.
Love you, Mom”

My Mother’s Testimony:

“When I was a child, my Dad taught me The Lord’s Prayer and to say my prayers before bed.  I grew up believing in Jesus and I was taught that God created us, the animals, Heaven, and earth.  But, we never went to church as a family nor was the Bible ever read to us at home.  I didn’t grow up really knowing Jesus, I didn’t have a Bible, and never saw one at home.

When I was around 11 or 12 years old, I walked to church with my neighborhood girlfriend and I enjoyed going very much. I recently reconnected with my childhood girlfriend on Facebook, and I was very happy to see she is cheerfully spreading His word.  Looking back, it feels like I was always seeking Jesus, I wanted more, but I didn’t know how except to go to church, so I continued saying my prayers and went to church and Bible School when I could.

Then when I was a senior in high school, I began dating the man I would one day marry.  His family went to church every Sunday, and I loved going with him and his family.  I enjoyed singing the hymns. I enjoyed helping his Mom with the Sunday dinners that followed church, and the rambunctious, fun afternoons with his family. I always liked that his Dad said grace.  I was baptized when I was 21, just before we were married, in my husband’s childhood church.  What I remember about being baptized during that time was thinking, “now I can go to Heaven.”  I don’t remember needing to or wanting to repent.  I know I didn’t accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at that time.  After our son and daughter were each born, we had them baptized at the same church my husband was baptized as a baby.  I thought we were being good Christians.

My husband and I sadly quit going to church after we moved from our hometown, five years after we were married.  We went a few times trying to find a church, but it never happened.  Our two children grew up like I did when they were little, hearing of God, learning to say their prayers to Jesus, but not really having Jesus in their lives.  Not going to church and not sharing our faith in Jesus and praising God as a family, is a sad regret for me.  I never thought it would be like that for our children since my husband was raised in a family that went to church.  I wanted that for us too, and for our children.

Then my son, Ryan, went to college after high school, 3 states away.  He was feeling a little lonely at first, but then he was blessed with good friends, who were Christians.  They asked him to go to Campus Crusade with them, and he began going.  Ryan accepted Jesus Christ!  He was baptized, this time with Jesus in his heart.  Here was a young man, who before college, had begun to scoff and talk with anger about his aunt and uncle going to church, or anybody else that was.  I was afraid he was on the path of turning away from God.

Then one day, our son called us to say he was going to Campus Crusade with his Christian friends, and he had a wonderful mentor teaching him the Word of God.  Not only was he going to church, he was leading many in prayer, and it was all from God.  Ryan came home during break, and shared with me, his father, and sister how he was saved…that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, told us of repenting our sins, and only through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior are we are saved, and then we will be in Heaven for eternity with him.  For the very first time in my life, I heard and understood.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at that moment, in the family car, going down highway 31, and so did my daughter and my husband.  It was such a blessing for our family.  I felt peace and gratitude, our family was saved.  There was such a great joy in Ryan’s heart when he came home, you could see it in his eyes and face, and hear it in his voice and his words. We had sent Ryan to college from Illinois to Colorado because he wanted to get back to the home he missed, but God had his own plan for taking him back home.  “Praise God.”

At that point in time of my accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, I wanted a relationship with Him that was a strong and personal one, and it is now.  That is what I was always seeking, Jesus was patient in waiting for me.  I wanted Jesus to know me, and I know he does.  In those 20 years since of accepting Jesus, I have grown in my relationship with him and my faith is stronger.  I follow, and want Jesus in my life because I love him for what he did for us on the cross, and for all that he gives us every day, the hope he gives us, his guidance, and our prayers he answers, and the strength he gives us.  He has blessed me with placing people in my life that I have been able to share God’s word with, and I feel that has given them comfort, and I know has strengthened my faith.  Because I am a sinner, I need him and give him control of my life, I know Jesus loves me and is with me.  I know he is the way, and will take us home.

I have been to Southeast many times as a guest with my son, Ryan, daughter-in-law, and both grandchildren.  I watch the services online from Illinois, and I am so grateful Southeast does that for those of us who can’t be there.  If I lived close-by I would be, Southeast has a wonderful, caring congregation and Pastor Phil is the best.  I’ve wanted to be baptized in your church for at least a year.  I feel it on my heart.  I am not the same person who was baptized at 21.  Now, since I have truly accepted Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I have repented my sins, I want this baptism so much more because I know what it means for me, and what a gift it is from God.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my testimony and share God’s word.  I also thank you for allowing my son, Ryan, to be involved with the immersion during my baptism, this is such a blessing.  My son had his mentor at Campus Crusade, but Ryan has been mine, and this means so much to me.  We have shared many passages, encouraging thoughts, and prayers together.  I feel our family is growing in our faith all the time and I am so thankful for that blessing.

God Bless you, Karen, and all the people at Southeast Christian Church.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Callahan

Baptism date:  Dec. 18, 2016, during the service at 11:00″

Glory to God and thank you Jesus is all I can say!  I love you Mom!  Tell Dad I love him too!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil.”

Psalm 37:8

That is a short verse that really packs a punch!  That is a very different way to look at worrying isn’t it?  Have you ever considered that in the midst of your worry you are headed towards evil?

Many people are familiar with Jesus’ teaching on worrying:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 6:25-27

That is hard to do for most people.  People tend to worry.  We like to think we are in control.  It makes us feel safer.  According to God’s Word, when we start to worry we begin to head towards evil.

Believe me, I know about worry.  When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease on 1-6-12 my whole world was flipped upside down.  I lived through terrible suffering and I was in pain night and day for over four years!  I believed I was going to die and at one point I wrote a will for my wife and kids.  It has been over six years now, and you know what God has shown me through all of my suffering?  Well, many things, but two of the big ones are that He is in control and He wants us to love each other.  Sounds simple, but those are deep lessons that are not so simple for people to learn–myself included!  He spoke to me a lot about those two things during my time of anguish.  He also talked to me a lot about how much He loves me, which was very cool!  He loves you too!

I got to a point in my suffering where I felt as though I was laid out in the dust of the earth and I was nothing but dust.  I know what Hezekiah felt like and I understand Isaiah 38:9-20 because I lived it!  I was forced to cast aside worry and trust in God with all my heart through the most raw and painful anguish of my life, and the Lord led me through it in victory!  Worrying did nothing for me during that time.  When you think there is no way and it is all over, the Lord will surprise you!  Just keep trusting Him and do not fret!

Do you know what would happen when I would fret during that time of suffering?  Yep, you guessed it, it would lead to evil.  I would get angry.  Angry at myself, angry at God, angry at the world—and the Lord would have to gently lead me back to His loving arms and comfort me.  Read my post titled “Wrestling God” to learn more about that.  There was no use in worrying.  All I could do and all I can still do is trust God with this crazy disease they call Celiac.  One thing I know is that I don’t want any fretting leading me to any evil.  That’s for sure!

Be encouraged today because Jesus gives us a great way to fight worry!

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:33-34

I’m telling you folks, when I was laid out prostrate on the floor many times over many years at 2 a.m. suffering from a severely damaged small intestine, seeking Him is all I could do!  He was right there with me and He never left my side!  I will never forget those dark nights of suffering, and I will also never forget how the Lord held me and comforted me during the worst pain and anguish of my life!

Cast your worry onto Jesus today.  Whatever it is, no matter how stressful, He is more than capable of carrying that burden for you!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:6-7

I especially love the way Jesus tells us about the rest He offers us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 11:28-30

I can testify that Jesus is gentle and humble in heart and He will give you rest for your soul.  A perfect rest from so many worries!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.  In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.”

Isaiah 38:17

If you believe in Jesus Christ and He is your Lord and Savior, then it is crucial that you understand the authority that has been given to you by Jesus.  This authority is transferred to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, which was given to us when we repented of our sinful nature and received Jesus as Lord!

In Matthew chapter ten, Jesus gathers His twelve disciples together and He gives them His authority over evil, death, and disease.  He also gives them instructions on how to preach and minister to people.

“He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”

Matthew 10:1

“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 10:7-8

Brother and Sisters in the Lord, we still have that same power inside of us today!  I have only had to do it once, but in the power of the Holy Spirit I cast out a demon that had been living in our house for four years!  I was only 18 and had only been a Christian for a couple months!  It was incredible!  I also stopped breathing in 2012, my wife prayed over my lifeless body, and I came back in the power of the Holy Spirit!  No, I’m not nuts, I am testifying!  It was not my time to go yet.  Jesus is The Resurrection and The Life, and He says when I go!

We have power over disease too.  Sometimes, like with the Apostle Paul, the Lord keeps the thorn in for His Own purposes.  However, God still used Paul to heal people through the laying on of hands in the power of the Holy Spirit!  The brothers in my Bible study in college and I once laid hands on our brother who had a damaged knee.  He was due to have surgery the next day.  There were over twenty guys in my study at one point.  We all prayed for his healing.  The next day when he went in for surgery, the surgeon said the new x-ray showed it was healed and he didn’t need surgery anymore!  We were all pumped when he came back to campus to tell everybody!  He ended up becoming a Pastor in Boulder.  I know God can heal me from Celiac Disease and restore me completely, but I also know I have to trust God with this thorn and rely fully on His grace.  It is sufficient, believe me!

Jesus left His disciples with one more very important command before He ascended into Heaven.  This is so crucial for Christians to understand!  You must understand the authority that has been given to you and accept it with an open heart.  It is called the Great Commission and it is the foundation of why we preach worldwide!

At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus gathers the remaining eleven disciples to a mountain in Galilee and He speaks three of the most famous lines in the entire Bible.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

That is the power and authority of God that has been given to you my brothers and sisters!  I will never forget the first time I baptized someone!  I was in college and a friend of ours had accepted Christ and she wanted to be baptized.  She asked me to baptize her because I was well known on campus from preaching almost every Friday night at Campus Crusade for Christ.  Those four years at the University of Northern Colorado were incredible!  What a time of growth in the Lord!  We witnessed so many of our fellow classmates come to Jesus!

I was honored that she would ask me to baptize her, and of course I accepted the offer with joy!  We set it up to do it that night at a pool.  Several of our friends came and it was so joyful and cool!  We bought her red roses and placed some of the pedals in the water.  It was beautiful!

Right as I was getting in the water, one of our friends who had grown up in a very legalistic fundamental church spoke up and said, “What are you doing?!  You can’t baptize her!  You are not a pastor!”

Now folks, I was trained in the Bible and evangelism by one of the best evangelists I have ever known.  He was the Director of Campus Crusade at UNC when I attended from 1996 to 2000, and he taught me the authority I had in Christ very well and I was in the game preaching the Gospel on campus every day.  Keep in mind, I had already cast out the demon in my parent’s house by the power of the Holy Spirit inside me!

I was angry at my friend for saying such an ignorant, sinful, and blasphemous statement against God’s Word and His command to us!  However, I stayed calm, looked right at her, and I rebuked her in the Name of Jesus for her lies and told her Jesus gave me the authority to do this, and I am going to baptize her.  She didn’t say another word after that, and our group of friends looked away from her and back at me.

My newly saved friend who I was gently holding in the water looked up at me and smiled.  I asked her to confirm her faith in Jesus, which she did, upon which confession I said, “I now baptize you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” as I gently dunked her under the water and brought her back up!

All of the people gathered around the pool cheered and some were crying.  It was so beautiful I will never forget it!  That girl is still following Jesus to this day!  I have since baptized many people and I will continue to do so by the Lord’s command, and so should you.

I don’t know what kind of church you grew up in.  I did not grow up in church.  I came to Christ through supernatural experiences and He showed me just how powerful He is!  I came to know Jesus through straight up Holy Spirit power!  If you believe in Jesus, don’t you ever let anybody tell you that you can’t baptize or preach or heal or drive out demons because you are not a pastor or some other ordained title of human ego!  I rebuke those lies of legalism in the Name of Jesus!  Jesus never said you have to be an ordained pastor to have this authority.  Those are sinful human regulations put on God!  You have the authority to do it in Jesus, so obey your King and do it!  “Freely you have received, freely give,” as Jesus said.

We are Ambassadors for Jesus Christ on this earth.  All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus, and He told us to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  He will be with us to the very end of the age just as He said He would be, and His authority is all the authority you need!

Know your authority in the Lord brothers and sisters, be strong in it, and don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise!

Grace and peace to you!

There are many aspects of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that the church talks about.  The most important thing to remember is that Jesus died to forgive all of your sins and reconcile you to God (John 3:16, 1 John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9).  That is why Jesus is called the Lamb of God.  He was sacrificed for the sins of the whole world!  Salvation is a free gift from God and the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).  Remember the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Today, I want to focus on the criminals that were crucified next to Jesus–one on His right, the other on His left.

These men both spoke to Jesus, but each man made very different comments to Jesus and very different decisions about Jesus.  One man rejected Jesus and the other man received Jesus as Lord.  Let’s travel back in time to around 33 A.D. when Jesus was crucified by the Romans, and listen in on the conversation.

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

“Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.  When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals–one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.  They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him.  They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him.  “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:32-43

I want to stop right there.  That is incredible!  What a conversation that Luke records!  First, Jesus forgives those crucifying Him as the soldiers and rulers are mocking Him, which is amazing and beautiful.  Then, as one criminal is mocking Jesus the other criminal rebukes the mocker!  These men had nails driven through their hands and feet and were hanging on crosses, but they were chatting away!

The criminal who repented did so by accepting his punishment as just and realizing that Jesus was innocent.  He gave glory to Jesus as his King, and he was saved right there on his cross!  He didn’t have time to live a righteous life, and he was being punished for a crime he committed, but he put his faith in Jesus, and that very day he was with Jesus in Heaven!  We are saved by faith in Jesus, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

He repented of his sin and put his faith in Jesus as he was dying on a cross and Jesus saved his soul that very day!  He was a criminal at the end of the line–time’s up!  But Jesus saved him because he put his faith in Him!  That is the power of God’s love and forgiveness!

Another important fact to mention is that he also did not have time to get baptized and that is very important because there are people out there who preach baptism for salvation.  Listen to me please, we are not saved by just getting dunked in water.  We are saved by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.  We get baptized as an act of obedience to the Lord’s command (Matthew 28:18-20) to show the world that we believe in Jesus Christ.  Baptism is a witness to unbelievers.  The repentant man next to Jesus did not have time to get baptized, but as Jesus said, he was with Him that day in paradise after they both died on their crosses.  The man was saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  Read the “My Beliefs” page on my blog to learn more about baptism into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I once heard our Pastor preach about the Roman method of crucifixion.  As you can imagine, it was the most brutal form of execution around and it was primarily reserved for criminals like murderers, and people who were enemies or traitors of Rome.  It is possible that the men hanging next to Jesus had killed someone.  Whatever it was, the repentant man believed he deserved to be there and Jesus did not.  That soft heart towards Jesus led him to a faith that saved him at the very last moments of his life!

The other man who hurled insults at Jesus and mocked him decided to take the full punishment for his own sins upon himself.  He could have cried out to Jesus too, and his sins would have been forgiven and he would have been in paradise that day as well.  Instead, he chose to reject Jesus and he died in his sins that day.

The stark contrast of that scene from the Bible blows me away!  Is that not like all of us today in our time?  Are we not all heading towards our end just like the men on the cross that day next to Jesus?  We all have a choice to make.  Time is running out.  We can accept God’s plan of salvation or we can reject it.  We can mock Jesus or we can receive Jesus and be saved!  It truly is up to us.  I made the choice to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior back in October of 1996, and I highly recommend it!  Don’t be the unrepentant guy on the cross mocking Jesus until your last breath.  Jesus loves you and He died for you too!

“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John 19:28-30

When He died, Jesus was actually separated from God and He paid the full penalty of our sin for our salvation.  That is why He said, “It is finished.”  Did you know that after He died and before the resurrection Jesus actually went down into hell and preached to the disobedient people who had died back in Noah’s time?  Yeah, the Noah who built the ark!  Check it out:

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built…”

1 Peter 3:18-20

The “spirits in prison” is hell folks!  You see, He most definitely experienced death, but death had no hold on Him!  He paid the full penalty for our sin, which is death (separation from God), and He conquered it!  Satan could not touch him, the demons could not touch him, and death could not hold him down!  None of those things can hold you down either if you know Jesus!

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26

That, my friends, is the question of our lifetime!  Grace and peace to you!

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Okay folks, this is a big subject where there is a lot of heated debate within the church.  I am going to get to the point because there are a lot of weeds to get into with this topic.  I talked with a strong brother in Christ today about the Rapture, and it got me thinking.  I posted such a long reply to him that I figured I better just do a post about the Rapture on my blog too.  So, without further delay, may I introduce you to The Rapture.

One thing I want you to remember is that it has to get really, really bad on earth before the Rapture takes place!  We will all be here for all of it leading right up to that point if it happens in our time.  How bad it is going to get before we are “caught up” only God knows.  The verse that gets me is the one in Revelation 14:12 about the mark of the beast where it says, “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”  The mark of the beast takes place during the Tribulation, so that is talking about the people who accept Christ during the Tribulation, but I take it to heart nonetheless.

Based off of 22 years of studying the Bible, I believe the time table of future events is World War 3 (WW3), the Rapture, the Tribulation, the 2nd Coming where Jesus defeats Satan at Armageddon, and the Millennial Kingdom.  Believers in Jesus will be Raptured before the Tribulation.  However, it is going to have to get very bad for WW3 to pop off and we will all be here for that if it happens in our time.

We will have to hold on and endure because it will get so bad that God comes to get us. WW3 will be so bad that a third of mankind dies (Revelation 9:18)!  That is 2 billion people based off today’s world population!  It will be so bad that the anti-Christ comes at the end of it and the Tribulation starts!  That is why the Bible says the world will love the anti-Christ because he brings peace (which is a fake peace) to WW3 and stops the war.  The world will think he is the greatest world ruler ever!

People forget how bad it has to get before the Tribulation can start, and that is where a lot of the disagreement is.  We will not be Raptured out of WW3.  We will have to endure. We are Raptured right before the Tribulation at the end of WW3 because the Tribulation is about God’s wrath and that is not for the redeemed in Jesus.  Imagine how bad it will be on the earth in order for the Rapture to happen and the Tribulation to start!  We have to live through everything leading right up to the moment of the Rapture (again, if it happens in our time).

The original language the Bible was written in almost 2,000 years ago makes it much easier to understand.  The New Testament was written in Greek, so let’s look at the Greek root of the phrase “caught up” about the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

I learned from Pastor Mark Hitchcock that “caught up” is the word harpazo in Greek, which means “to snatch, to seize, or to take suddenly.”  The same Greek word harpazo is used in the story about Philip and the Ethiopian when Philip is snatched up and transported by the Spirit to Azotus in Acts 8:26-40.  We will most definitely be “caught up, snatched, and taken suddenly” just like the Greek word harpazo means.  If it happened to Philip, then it can happen to us, and it is the same exact Greek wording as the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.  Believers in Jesus will be snatched and caught up (harpazo) in the Spirit just like that!  Praise God!

Pastor Mark Hitchcock in his book “The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days” teaches us about the word harpazo and where our English word “Rapture” comes from:

“Harpazo appears thirteen times in the New Testament: Matthew 11:12; 13:19; John 6:15; 10:12, 28, 29; Acts 8:39; 23:10; 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Jude 1:23; Revelation 12:5.  In those passages, harpazo is variously translated as “take by force,” “snatch,” or “caught up” (NASB).  In Acts 8, the Spirit “snatches,” or transports, Philip from one place to another that was twenty miles away.  In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes being “caught up” to heaven in the presence of the Lord.  This was a thrilling experience he wanted others to share.  In Revelation 12:5, harpazo refers back to the Ascension of Jesus to heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

Our English word Rapture is derived from Latin.  In the fourth century AD, the great scholar Jerome translated the Greek New Testament into Latin.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Jerome translated the Greek word harpazo into the Latin word raeptius.  The Latin word rapio means “to seize, snatch, or seize away.”  This word was eventually brought into English as Rapture.

So, while it is true that the word Rapture does not occur in most English translations, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17 clearly contain the concept of a catching away of living believers to meet the Lord.  The Rapture could just as well be called the “catching away of the church,” “the snatching away of the church,” the “translation of the church,” or the “harpazo of the church.”  But “Rapture of the church” is an excellent description and has become the most common title for this event.”

Mark Hitchcock, The End, pages 124-125

It is clear the Lord will come to get us and I believe in the Rapture.  However, it will get extremely bad on earth before that happens and we will have to endure and hang on to Jesus.  The Tribulation is not for believers in Jesus.  He rescues us out of His coming wrath!  In the same Book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes:

“and to wait for his Son from Heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”

1 Thessalonians 1:10

Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian believers that we will be rescued from the coming wrath and Jesus will snatch us up suddenly (harpazo) into the air with Him, and we will be with the Lord forever!

Just like Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:18,

“Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

Take heart believers!  You are safe in Jesus!  The Greek root meaning of the word “faith” means to “trust in, cling to, and rely on.”  That is exactly what we need to be doing with Jesus.  Trust Jesus, cling to Jesus, and rely on Jesus!  He will come to get us just like He said he would.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going  there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus speaking in John 14:1-4

That is not figurative language folks!  That is literal and He means it!  He will be coming back to get us, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father!  Amen!

Grace and peace to you all!