Recently, My oldest son, Tom (18)  and I have enjoyed looking at the census in England and Wales tracing relatives. This information does not explain why someone died, or the quality of his life.  Dates, place of birth and occupation can only tell you so much. We came across a ninety year old who was born at sea in the 1760s . She was of independent means and when she was old she lived with her daughter. She was one of  Martyn’s (my husband) ancestors. The men in his family seemed to have lived much shorter lives, leaving behind young widows and small children. This has prompted me to encourage the males in my family to live healthy lives to move away from any genetic curse!

Did our Relatives Believe in God?

I have also wondered whether these long forgotten family members are in heaven. Was the inclusion of a name like Joshua indicative of  faithful parents or was it a fashionable name  in the late nineteenth century? In nineteenth century Britain it is likely that most of our relatives at least believed in the existence of God, in the same way that most early Americans did. But we should understand that  acknowledging God’s existence is not enough.

Is Believing in God Enough to go to Heaven?

The Bible explains that the devil believes in God: James 2:19 “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” This verse does not say that faith is unimportant- it is essential. However if someone does  not exhibit any Christ like behavior, that person is not a Christian. Real faith results in a changed life, impacted profoundly by the Holy Spirit. Even the devil believes that Jesus is God.  We need to encourage others to enter into a relationship with Jesus rather than there being satisfied with an awareness of His existence.

The fact is that I will not know the fate of most of our ancestors this side of heaven, but I can impact the eternal future of  those who are alive now. So much is achieved through prayer. We should pray persistently for those who are spiritually lost and we should seek opportunities to help them understand how much Jesus loves them.

Will Our Relatives Find our Names in the Census ?

One day we may be a name, attached to a date of birth with an address that a future relative discovers on a census. How sad that in many cases we do not even know the full names of our great grandparents and we can’t even find them on a census. In truth, none of this is of any importance compared with whether our names and those of our loved ones are written in Jesus’s Book of Life. Unlike the census, we are not recorded in it because we live in a certain place. Rather,  our names will be there if our sins have been forgiven by Jesus; if we have received the Holy Spirit and if we are “new creations ” : God’s children. Please pray that your loved ones will be adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus, through His grace that we can never earn..His gift is free but life changing.

Jesus’s “Book of Life” is Like a Census for Eternity

Hopefully we will meet ancestors in Heaven. I can do nothing to influence this, but I will strive to pray, encourage, and help those who are living that they may be added to God’s eternal “census”: never to be forgotten by the “King of Kings”. Instead of reminding us of dead relatives, the “Book of Life” reminds of wonderful, eternal life in heaven. I hope to see you there!

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

The Book of Life is like a Census. Are our Names in it?

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At a wedding recently I was struck by the joy and the excitement of the bride and the bridegroom. The pair had not been living together, they are both Christians and this was the beginning of a wonderful life together. The Bible compares Jesus’s love for His Christian children with the love of a married couple.

Jesus is our Bridegroom, is the Church a Responsive Bride?

In Ephesians 5: 31 Paul writes: “As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”  Jesus calls us to an intimate love, which resembles the love between man and wife in a loving relationship.

Jesus does not want us to share the love that is intended for Him with others. Like a husband he deserves the bride’s focused attention. He is rightfully jealous of our love for Him, knowing that if we stray away from Him our lives will be wrecked like the aftermath of a divorce.

Who do we Worship- Jesus or People?

We are aware that our love for Jesus is prone to falter. Perhaps we prefer the thrill of materialism when we are admired for looking good in our latest purchase. Do we prioritize the attention of those who flatter us with effusive words because we can actually see our human admirers?

We need to re-focus. Our human admirers will grow old and die. I have just been looking at a book about Ronald and Nancy Reagan : “Entertaining At The White House”.  They were beautifully dressed in a glamorous setting. Ronald Reagan was an effective president but suffered years with alzheimer’s followed by an unremarkable death. Nancy is now a wizened old lady. Even Princess Diana who featured in the book, as a radiant star, is no more than a pretty memory.

In their heyday we would have been tempted to join the crowds to shake President Reagan’s hand in preference to sitting at the feet of the King of Kings, praising Him through prayer and worship.  Thousands of admirers arrived in London to pay tribute to Princess Diana. Watching this spectacle on television, it seemed that the crowds were worshiping her more than remembering her life respectfully. If only they would pay the same attention to their Savior and Maker.

Is Jesus is Your Bridegroom?

One day we will see our true hero: Jesus. He will be radiant and the light of Heaven will shine from Him. The sun will be obsolete. Whether we will be in Heaven as the bride of Christ, to celebrate the ultimate wedding feast, will depend on whether we have faithfully put our hope in our wonderful “bridegroom” while on earth. Adulating human heroes will provide no lasting benefit.

In Isaiah 62:4, we are told ….”as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” What an honor!  Let’s receive God’s love with a thankful heart and let’s respond to His love with a fervent, joyful commitment. This should be a love that is characterized by godly self sacrifice, dominating our hearts, souls, minds and strength, overflowing to impact all  other relationships and culminating in  an even greater depth of  joy in Heaven. Only God can supply such love.

If you haven’t yet experienced His love, ask Jesus to wrap you in His arms and keep seeking  Him fervently. He will not disappoint you.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

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Peter Fished for a Living

When Jesus told Peter that he would be made into”a fisher of men” he was using language that Peter understood. Peter was a fisherman, not the casual kind, but the type who caught fish for a living. Peter did not wake up in the morning and wonder whether he would go to the lake and catch a fish or two for pleasure. Fishing was his job.

When Jesus invited  Peter to join His group of twelve disciples or close followers, Peter’s job description changed. Although he would still fish, his main purpose was to be a “fisher of men”.

Jesus Taught Peter How To Fish For Men

Peter did not become a really effective evangelist overnight. He spent three years with Jesus learning first hand what it looked like for God to heal and to perform all sorts of miracles, as Jesus drew people to Himself so that they would hear His message of repentance and salvation.

In the first chapters in Acts we see Peter earnestly seeking the lost, preaching a message of tremendous hope for those who became followers of Jesus. By this time he has witnessed Jesus rising from the dead and at Pentecost he had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had made Him a fisher of men.

Jesus had given him an object lesson when Peter and other disciples were out fishing. They spent all night trying to catch fish without any success (John 21: 1-6). On their own they could catch nothing. After a frustrating night Jesus told them to cast the net on the other side and the net was immediately full of fish.

The lesson applies to us too. Catching fish in Peter’s life is a metaphor for bringing people to a life saving knowledge of Jesus. We cannot do this without Jesus’ help. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit. Pray, seek, go!

We Can Be Fishers Of Men

Yesterday I went to my daughter’s middle school. For the last seven years I have gone there to teach a Bible club. Before we discuss the Bible we sit at the picnic table and eat cookies while kids walk past. When an encouraging number of kids came to the club, my focus was to talk with them. Now that the numbers have dwindled, I look beyond the three or four kids who now attend and focus on the kids who walk by.

The kids who pass by are in many respects like fish. They move along swiftly but they pause when they see the cookies! They are hungry by the end of the school day and cookies are like bait for hungry fish. Some ask for cookies and we tell them what our club is about. We invite others to find out about how much God loves them.

We cannot predict the responses. Some move on quickly explaining that they have no interest in religion. Others say that they attend church and a few stop and say that they really want to find out about Jesus!

As We Fish, Jesus Does Most Of The Work.

Our job is to cast the net. Jesus does the rest. In the last couple of weeks three kids have received Bibles and I have prayed for them as they have expressed an interest in Jesus. This is a crucial beginning. The seeds have been planted.

The few remaining Bible club members are witnessing some of what Peter witnessed when he was Jesus’ disciple. They are seeing Jesus at work and one of them has started calling out to kids as they pass: ” Are you interested in God?” Danny who is twelve or thirteen is now becoming a fisher of men too.

Do you take Jesus’ call to be a “fisher of men” casually or seriously? Are we praying for opportunities to draw people to Jesus or are we like recreational fishermen seeking a quiet life? I promise you that there is nothing more exciting than realizing that Jesus has already started working in some of these kids’ hearts. We need to cast the net and see who Jesus brings to life. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to learn when we need to cast the net in a different place.

How many youth pastors are so busy focusing on the kids who show up in their youth rooms that they fail to notice the fish in another part of the lake . It is not just pastors who have a responsibility to cast their nets wider.  Jesus can make all of us into “fishers of men”. Are we willing to learn? Are we willing to join with someone who is already a “fisher of men” so that we can be encouraged to carry out the Great Comission?

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

Peter Was A Fisher of Men- Are You?

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I enjoy telling people about Jesus and my greatest pleasure is to show a non believer the path to forgiveness, faith and a new life in Jesus. I also give the new convert a New Testament: “How to Find God New Testament- Living Water for Those Who Thirst”. This is a wonderful, modern translation published by Tyndale and it includes notes about sin, prayer etc. I suggest that you purchase some to give away. Bibles At Cost sell boxes of these very cheaply: www.biblesatcost.com

The New Testament introduces us to Jesus and that is why I give away New Testaments. However, I do not want anyone to stop there. I do hope that those who have received a New Testament will soon get into the Old Testament as well. How can we understand why sin is in the world, and why there is suffering unless we read Genesis, the book of beginnings?

The Old Testament Teaches us That Man is to Blame, Not God

The Old Testament is full of wonderful truths about God and how He interacts with man, but one of the most important truths is that God created man in His own image: good and incredibly capable. It was the first people, Adam and Eve who disobeyed God, choosing to submit to Satan in their quest to be like God. Only then, once they picked the forbidden fruit, did life become dominated by sin, pain, disease and death. Don’t blame God, blame Adam and Eve!

The Old Testament is full of prophecies about our Savior Jesus (God Himself) who would enter into the world to die in our place, so that we can be forgiven the sin that we inherited from Adam. Jesus did not merely arrive in Bethlehem unannounced. When my kids were born we sent out announcement cards. The first two included sweet baby photos, our third, Alice, was announced minus a photo. We were too busy!

The Old Testament Announces Jesus With Prophecies.

God proclaimed the birth of Jesus with an incredible star and  angels, declaring the good news to local shepherds. But God started announcing the Savior  thousands of years before. In Genesis 3:15, God cursed the snake, soon after the serpent, Satan deceived Adam and Eve. God announced the first of many prophecies proclaiming that Jesus would come to triumph over Satan: ..”I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head , and you will strike his heel.”

Let’s study the Old Testament and notice the many other startling prophecies, written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Micah 5:2 foretells Jesus’ birth place.  The passover in Exodus describes the passover lamb and how the blood was put round the door frame to save the first born from death- foreshadowing the “lamb of God”- Jesus who died to save us from eternal death. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in Psalm 22 describes exactly the words that Jesus would call out from the cross hundreds of years later, and Isaiah 53 is full of prophecies about the suffering servant- Jesus, who would die for us. These are just a few of the many events in Jesus’ life that were predicted years before His arrival on earth.

God’s Plan Was For Jesus To Die For Us.

A good understanding of the Old Testament strengthens our faith and helps us understand why Jesus needed to die for us, and to what extent His birth as well as His sacrificial death were planned right from the beginning. God always planned to rescue us from the power of sin and death. I hope that this makes you realize how He loves you!

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

The Old Testament Announces The Coming Of Jesus

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God Shakes Our Lives To Help Us Focus On Him.

For a long time I have been frustrated that few people in sunny Southern California are really hungry for God’s love and help. My prayer has been “Lord please do what it takes to make people (including myself) seek your presence.” The answer to prayers like this may initially shake our lives but ultimately re-establishes many on a firmer foundation, resulting in a deeper awareness of Jesus.

The Witch Creek fire ravaged our area a year and a half ago and three years before that another massive fire burnt many homes. Watching the television from a hotel surrounded by concrete in San Diego, during the most recent fire, I watched as brush about half a mile or so from our home was in flames. The reporter was windswept and shouted that without water being dropped by helicopters, he did not know what would stop the fire spreading. It was too windy for helicopters. The wind was blowing towards our home and while my kids escaped to see a movie, my husband, Martyn and I watched and prayed.

God Has An Eternal Home For Us.

I prayed about what Bible verses I should read. Immediately I turned to 2 Corinthians: 5: 1. It reads, “For we know that if the tent , which is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens……….” This describes our physical bodies, death and our future eternal bodies in Heaven, but it also reminded me that if my home was destroyed, God had a much better plan.

When we pray fervently and faithfully, we receive God’s peace and the knowledge that whatever happens we will be blessed. On this earth the worst that can happen is to be killed or to experience the painful death of a loved one. 2 Corinthians reminds us that our “earthly tent” or body is temporary and it is “burdened” (verse 4) and we groan. We are not supposed to put our trust in our health, or in our physical appearance, or in our property. Our temporary existence is far less important than our future eternal existence in Heaven.

Don’t Put Your Trust In Homes, Physical Strength Or Income.

If we have the Spirit of the living God living in us we have a “guarantee” (verse 5) from God.  If we are Christians, what is mortal will be “swallowed up by life” (verse 4). Are we focusing too much on our homes, our physical strength and our incomes? All of these things will age, decay and pass away. Instead we should focus on the heavenly body and home that we will receive from God.

The Holy Spirit is life. The Holy Spirit is the life of Jesus indwelling our earthly bodies if we are believers. When life is challenging are we not more likely to seek strength, wisdom and power from Him? If our homes and bodies will one day die, burn or crumble down,  surely we should be thankful when our circumstances test and challenge our faith? Our perception of what life is about should be dominated by the one who offers us life to the full, for one day Jesus will give us a new heavenly body that will never suffer pain and death. Our home will be Heaven.

If We Worship Our Bodies And Our Homes We Will Not Worship God

Let’s receive the challenges that threaten our safety and prosperity as reminders to focus on Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4 encourages us that as we face difficulties we are dying to ourselves, carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies. As we are afflicted by pain, persecution, an aging body, disease or poverty… Jesus  transforms us if we seek Him. If we worship our bodies and our homes we will not worship God.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Our home survived the fire but this no longer seems very important. If we turn to Jesus through the challenges we will realize that our lives are much more than the homes we live in and our physical bodies. Rather than blaming God for fires, loss of income, or declining health, let’s see these challenging experiences as opportunities to re- focus our lives on Jesus. Of course Jesus can heal our diseases and bless our finances but He may wait a while so that we receive the deeper blessing of seeking more of His presence.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

Focus on the Heavenly Body and Home that God has Prepared for Us: 2 Corinthians 4 and 5.

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I believe that God is all powerful and He is the epitome of love.  He wants us to get to know Him because He alone can turn our lives around and secure us a place in Heaven, if we realize that we desperately need to be forgiven for our innate selfishness.

If we don’t even believe that God exists why would we ask Him to help us. If we think that life is easy and fun why would we bother to find out who Jesus is? Certainly in Southern California where the sun shines constantly and the beach and the mountains provide beautiful places to escape to, many people may think that they are already in  Heaven..

Today’s San Diego Tribune online described how many people had drifted away from faith:

Loss of faith attributed to spiritual drift

Study explores reasons people change religion
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
“More Americans have given up their faith or changed religions because of a gradual spiritual drift than switched because of a disillusionment over their churches’ policies, according to a study released yesterday.”

My hope is that the swine flu may halt that spiritual drift.  Drifting into a lifestyle where Jesus does not feature may seem a good idea when life is easy. It may be fun to spend the day at the beach or watching sport, but neither will really help us if our loved ones become fatally ill. If this threat of swine flu wakes us up spiritually and encourages us to trust Jesus, that would not only help us cope with the possibility of swine flu,  it would give us a reason to feel confident about future crises and the ultimate challenge: death.

Please do not panic about the threat of swine flu. Instead, I would like to encourage you to put your life and the lives of your loved ones in Jesus’  hands. A verse in the Bible tells us who He is: “He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; He alone is God.” (1 Timothy: 1:17) Life has many challenges. Jesus is bigger than your problems. He rose from the dead and He is alive although we cannot see Him. I do hope that you will find out about Him in the Bible, find a good church or email me. Jesus is much bigger than swine flu.

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Swine Flu: Should we Panic or Trust God?

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To live a good Christian life we need more than self effort.

As a Christian I must avoid giving the impression that life is more about trying hard by applying self effort than seeking and receiving God’s  power and strength. 2 Peter 1 addresses both “diligence” or effort, and the “divine power” that Christians receive from God. In verses 5-7 we are told by ‘giving all diligence” (by working hard),  add to your faith, virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” Yes, we must work diligently to develop Christian virtues but if we were to read these verses out of context we might conclude that hard work and focus alone will result in the development of all of these important Christian qualities.

In fact, if we just try, try, try again without sitting at the feet of Jesus, humbly receiving His power, His grace and His love, as well as studying His word, and seeking His direction through prayer, we will fall flat. Our priority as Christians should be to receive God’s empowering presence: the Holy Spirit, continuously seeking His help and mercy, knowing that in our own strength we can do absolutely nothing.

We need to receive the gift of faith.

We become Christians when we obtain the gift of faith which enables us to put our trust in Jesus who through His sacrifice, made it possible for us to be forgiven and to be set free from spiritual darkness and the punishment that we deserve. 2 Peter 1:1 reminds us that this faith is not something that we purchase but it is obtained from God. It is precious and it is only possible for us to receive it because of what  Christ did for us when he shed His blood on the cross. A fundamental truth is that this faith cannot be earned by our own effort. Rather it is a gift thanks to Jesus’ life giving effort. 2 Peter 1: 2 explains that the precious faith is “by’, or thanks to, “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

This faith is not weak but powerful. Peter writes that this faith is just like his own faith (verse 1) and the faith of the apostles. There are no second class Christians. We all receive a faith that can move mountains. Let’s receive it and ask for the strong faith that helps us to focus on Jesus,  knowing that only He can help us navigate the challenges that we face. With such a faith we can apply every effort to be godly, but without faith we cannot.

God calls us to Himself. We cannot become Christians through trying hard.

A living faith in Jesus is the gift of God that we receive as Christians. The Holy Spirit, God Himself in us, is the one who gives us faith and the one who sustains our faith, giving us all that we need to live godly lives. 2 Peter 2-4 reminds us that we cannot take any credit for becoming Christians as “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…” God called us to Himself.  He called us through what He achieved, through His “glory and virtue”. We can never be good enough to receive His love and forgiveness, but we can receive with love and thanks His Holy Spirit who makes it possible for us to live for Jesus in a godly way.

The Holy Spirit transforms us so that we can live good lives.

Without God’s indwelling presence we cannot have faith and without faith we cannot please God. If we have not been transformed by the Holy Spirit, becoming a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17)  we are incapable of true virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance. godliness, brotherly kindness and love(2 Peter 1:5-7) even if we try very hard. These virtues will develop when we belong to Jesus and when, through faith, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. God Himself lights the fire in us to give us the diligence that we need to apply to life, to be the pure, holy people that He has called us to be. Without Jesus, our effort will glorify ourselves rather than Him.

Why can we not exhibit these Christian qualities unless we are Christ’s children, indwelled by His Spirit? Until we become Christians we are spiritually dead and slaves to sin. We are lost. Of course non Christians are capable of acts of kindness but they are not pleasing to God as the motivation is self oriented. Self control for a Christian includes standing firm for Christ whatever the opposition. Love must involve sharing the Gospel, for how can we truly love someone unless we share the great news of God’s salvation gift? How can a non Christian please God when he has no concept of Jesus?

Jesus offers us a new life. He will help us to do what is right.

Peter describes “the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (verse 4). Many are stumbling along in darkness, trying to find the way, but not possessing the power to rise above the depravity of this world. Lust and selfish ambition dominate this world and until we receive Christ’s forgiveness and the presence of His Holy Spirit we cannot do what is right. Receive the gift of life and freedom from sin that Jesus offers and enter a new life with Jesus at the center. Then you can do what is right, with His help.

If you are a Christian, do not forget that you were cleansed from your sins by Christ(verse 9). Do not turn your back on the power and love that Jesus offers. If you are not showing these Christian virtues in your life (verses 5-7) you are in a dangerous place, turning your back on your Savior, Jesus. All Christians will produce “fruit”. Their lives will show God’s love making a difference. Ask God to have mercy on you. Repent and seek His forgiveness. In this life time, it is never too late to curl up in a humble heap, crying out for God’s mercy and help. How we respond to God now will affect our eternity.

A fruitful life is proof that God is at work in you.

If when you read 2 Peter 1:5-7 you realize that your faith is not effective or fruitful, ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Make “your call and election sure” by responding to Christ in obedience and diligence (verse 10). A fruitful life is proof that God’s love and power are actively equipping that person to be an effective Christian. Keep trusting, keep receiving, keep following. You are on the way to Heaven: “…an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:11)

Without Jesus empowering us we cannot please Him. Our self effort alone is hopeless. When we receive the gift of faith, through what Jesus did on the cross , we will be equipped to do what is right. To this  faith we add effort and diligence, but we must never rely on ourselves. God supplies us with the love, power and motivation that we need to please Him. What a relief! When I cry out seeking God’s help, admitting that I cannot control a situation, He will supply me with the knowledge, goodness and patience, self control, love ….(2Peter1:5-7) that I need to do His will. Jesus will encourage me as I run the race that He leads me along: the journey that will bring glory to Himself. Jesus will  lead others to worship Him, as they see how He is impacting our lives! Run the race with enthusiasm and effort but remember that God gives you the power that you need. Do not run alone!

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

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Were we Born Good? Are Children Good Enough to Enter Heaven?

At school,  children may be told that they are good or great, and self esteem, at least in The States, is considered more important than actual achievement. Kids are given trophies for participating in a sport, and sports and after school activities so often dominate life that it is hard to find time to actually teach our children that according to Jesus, they are not good enough. If we are parents, surely we are aware that our children were not born perfect and unless we give in to them at every turn they will remind us of their self centered rights.

Are Adults Good enough to Enter Heaven?

Adults may be better at disguising their imperfections, calling materialism “caring for the family” and manipulative office politics as “healthy ambition”, but we, like our children, fall far short of being good enough to enter Heaven. All of us desperately need a Savior, and His name is Jesus.

We all need Salvation from Eternal Death

Jesus means “the Lord is salvation”. That is what Jesus achieved on the first Good Friday: our salvation from eternal death.  He is the Lord God and He came to the earth as a human to grow up to be punished, receiving the punishment that we all deserve. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote: …”the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Jesus offers us the Gift of Eternal Life

Only God can give us the gift of eternal life that He invites us to receive. Jesus willingly died on the cross in our place. He understood that our sin (being self centered rather than being focused on pleasing God and living for Him) would lead to fatal consequences. Paul explains Jesus’ s amazing sacrifice in Romans 5: 6 : “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We will never deserve God’s love. Even if we are not materialistic and even though we may help old ladies cross the road etc, etc…we can never be good enough to go to Heaven and to live with Jesus forever. Compared to God we are bad and we all desperately need Him. Unless Jesus deals with our bad attitudes and behavior we cannot expect to go to Heaven. If some how we arrived in Heaven with our selfish motives intact, our sin would pollute Heaven. No, we can’t arrive in that perfect place unless God intervenes and dramatically changes us. We need a heart transplant.

How should we respond to Jesus?

If you are a Christian I would like to encourage you to thank Jesus for what He suffered on Good Friday to rescue you from Hell.

If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, I would like to encourage you to consider how much Jesus loves you. Look beyond the cultural lie that persuades us that every type of life style is good, even if it totally contradicts the teaching of Jesus. Take a reality check and realize that even though you try to be good you can never earn your way into Heaven and neither can I.

If you have given up trying: good. Admit that you need Jesus’s help. Tell Him that you are sorry that you have ignored Him for so long and ask Him to forgive you, wash you clean and fill you with His love and power: the Holy Spirit (Himself). Jesus can turn your life around right now, filling you with His love that will enable you to love God and others: giving you a new heart. Don’t miss the opportunity to receive the most important gift.

What will you do with the Gift that Jesus Offers?

Let’s not rely on our goodness to enter Heaven one day. Instead let’s admit that we are by nature bad and we desperately need to depend on the wonderful gift that Jesus secured for us when He demonstrated His goodness,  dying for us on the cross. We need to humbly receive that gift and not assume that we already have it, or to dismiss it as unnecessary. Without the intervention of Jesus, none of us will ever be good enough to go to Heaven. Only He is good enough. Aren’t we privileged to have Jesus as our Savior?

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

Are we Good Enough to Enter Heaven?

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Studying at Cambridge

As a student at Cambridge University I became a Christian and I got involved in all sorts of fascinating debates. When evolution came up in discussion, I rather naively incorporated it into my world view. I assumed that God initiated and controlled evolution. Without much thought I had a confused picture of creation, trying to combine two ways of looking at the beginning of life and unsuccessfully knitting them together in an attempt to respect both God and science. This did not affect my faith and it did not seem to be a hot topic in the UK, although evolution was an important aspect of science, an arena that I avoided. I taught young school children, in both public and private schools, about the creation of the world according to Genesis, and this was perfectly permissible.

Arriving in the USA – Christmas banned. Evolution portrayed as fact

When Martyn and I arrived in The States with our children in the late nineties we were culture shocked. One of the shocks was that Christmas was a forbidden word and had been replaced with “the holidays”. Evolution was an even dirtier word for many American Christians and “creationism” was taboo for many non Christians, so much so that creation was not even mentioned in schools.

Christianity and politics

Christianity and politics were inseparable in the US whereas in the UK the Christian voice was mostly silent amongst politicians. In the US there was inflammatory division about issues such as abortion and evolution and in the UK there was ignorance and apathy. Neither situation was great, but comparing the two responses encouraged us to question our presuppositions which was a positive development. Now we understand both perspectives and we think that awareness of others’ views is valuable.

Recently at a meet the teachers night at the local high school, I spoke to a biology teacher. I suggested that it would be more academically honest for schools to teach various approaches regarding the origins and development of life. As none of us were actually present when the world began much is open to debate, speculation and faith.  If evolution is taught as fact, students are not given permission to discuss alternative theories. He was a very engaging guy but the teacher was surprised by my suggestion. Surely educators should encourage students  to look for evidence and discuss world views especially when there is still much to discover?

I am reluctant to go into details here about evolution because I am not a scientist and I am in danger of annoying someone who is. However, as a Christian I do think that it is important to take the first three books of Genesis seriously. If we dismiss the creation account as myth, why not dismiss the rest of the Bible too? Certainly the Bible is not a science text book and does not contain all the details, but God was certainly capable of creating the world in six days, instead of there being a series of mutations taking millions of years. While He could have chosen to use evolution to make living things, much scientific discovery as well as the Biblical text suggest otherwise.

An important Biblical principle in the first book of Genesis is that God made the living creatures “according to their kinds”. This strongly suggests that we are not all (animals and humans) descended from a common primeval ancestor. Also, Genesis 1 does not indicate that we are a sophisticated animal, for it is written that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…” If we are merely refined animals, euthanasia and abortion would be possible; but God has a much higher regard for people and killing others for convenience is out of the question.

Being created in the image of God rather than evolving as a result of a series of mutations from an ape, means that we are highly valued. Human life is very precious and we were designed by God to have responsibility for the animals but not to be like them. If we seek a relationship with God (Jesus) he will make us like Him and He will give us God given compassion to love,  leading us away from wrong to do what is right and He will give us mercy and justice as we care for others and for God’s creation.

I believe that it is possible for Christians to both believe in Jesus and to believe in evolution. It is not a salvation issue. However I think that it is important for Christians to consider the important principles of Genesis and to take them seriously. I think that it is essential that we have an educational arena that encourages debate, and that scientists, Christians or otherwise, should have the freedom to investigate all theories using the scientific method. I have read information recently that has caused me to question the evidence for evolution. www.AnswersInGenesis.org provides much valuable information regarding the pros and cons of evolution and I recommend that you read some of their extensive written material. I want to encourage you to open mindedly consider the arguments against evolution as well as those in its favor. Perhaps it requires more faith to believe in evolution than to oppose it. Most importantly, please don’t let this debate prevent you from believing and worshiping the creator and Savior: Jesus.

This is a post from: WomenRespond.com

Evolution: Different Views

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