If you are reading this to object to it, then don’t bother. If you are reading these words to oppose what is being written, then don’t bother. If you are reading this because you are curious about who Jesus is or would like to bump into him, then read on. You see Jesus will never force his ways or his truth on anyone. He says that he will stand at your door and knock, but you have to OPEN THE DOOR AND INVITE HIM IN IN. No one else can do this for you , no one else can answer the knock for you. You and you alone must open the door and invite him in. This is who Jesus is. He will stand at your door for a lifetime knocking if that what it takes. No one else——whether it be mom or dad or your wife or your best friend can answer the knock. My hope is that you will at some point in your life open the door and invite jesus in and be changed forever.

Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come and eat with that person, and they with me.

Writer and author Bob Gass put into words the disconnect that people have with Jesus because we don’t fully understand who Jesus is and what he is all about. Bob Gass writes, “God is not interested in religion: He is interested in having a relationship with you. Religion only becomes significant when it enhances that relationship, which it doesn’t always do. Often, religious rules and regulations become a deterrent to a relationship with God. The Bible is filled with religious people who missed connecting with God altogether. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with our religious ideologies, teachings, doctrines and principles, that we fail to understand that what really matters most in life is a personal, intimate, daily, talking-and-listening relationship with God.

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well..

I am just an ordinary person trying to find my way in this jungle of a world who bumped into an extraordinary person who calls himself Jesus and my life has been changed forever. As I learn about this man named Jesus, I have learned that He is the Truth and the Way. As I pursue him and this truth, my life has taken on new meaning and purpose. As I learn about his ways through the reading of his word in the Holy Bible I have learned That He is the Word. Not only is He the Word, He was with God and is God in the Beginning. He is the Creator of the Universe. How He created this world is still a mystery to me but I believe he did it. I believe everything He says, has said and has done. He is incredible, awesome, majestic, etc, etc. Words do not come close to describing him and his story that is told in the Holy Bible. I feel that there is so much more to know about Jesus and feel that I will never stop learning about his mysteries.

John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is misunderstood. He was 2000 years ago and he still is misunderstood today. The greatest force in the universe is one who means you well and brings you hope, meaning and purpose into your life. Yet most of us ignore him. What is wrong with us? How can we ignore a person of this magnitude. Why do we ignore Jesus? I’ll tell you why. Its because we are broken. The Bible calls it sin. You can call it what you like, but it is the truth. Our sin and brokenness keeps us from believing in the one person that can heal our brokenness with a unconditional love and grace that nothing else in this universe can equal. God is real, Jesus is Real, Heaven and Hell are real. We may not understand these things, but it doesn’t make them any less real. Jesus is a real person who died on a real cross and went through a real resurrection to defeat death. He offers the same to anyone, ANYONE who believes in him. So this is the message to us. Check him out, bump into Jesus, answer his knock at your door and change the trajectory of your life forever.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

How many of us live in the past. We make mistakes, we sin, some big and some small. But we believe that our mistakes and sins are unforgiveable and that we are stuck in them and cannot move on. We believe there is no future for us because of our past. But here is the good news, God through Jesus will meet us right where we are. He will forgive us of our past sins with an unconditional love and grace that is beyond our understanding. We can move forward in his grace. FROM NOW ON we can live a different life than our past. We can accept the love and forgiveness of Jesus and begin our life anew. FROM NOW ON we can live a life of purpose and meaning. We can change the way we have been doing things. We can start living with the Holy Bible as our blueprint for our future. FROM NOW ON can be the three words that change our life. We have got to believe that Jesus really is God. He is The Way and The Truth. Our salvation and redemption come through Jesus and only him. We need step out in faith and believe!!

Galatians 6:17 – From now on, Let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

Society has a poor attitude towards losing and failure in general. Many, many young people do not participate in sports anymore because they are afraid of losing and being branded a failure. Even our youth in schools are failing tests because they just don’t want to try. If they fail a test or class they are scared to death that they will be labeled a failure.

The legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant believed, “You have to lose to know how to deal with losing”. A lot can be learned from failure. Many of our greatest scientists throughout the world failed time after time. But they never quit…..thank goodness. They then went on to make the world a better place. We need to experience losing as a step to success down the road. We need to compete, lose and get up and try again.

One of my favorite sayings sums up what I believe. “Success is never final, failure is never fatal, it’s courage that counts”. We need to teach this to our young(and old) people every chance we get and quit believing what the world is telling……that we are a failure.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give your hope and a future.

God Bless you and have a great week…….

The birth of Jesus Christ was the most significant event in human history. Only fools deny the birth of Jesus for it has been historically recorded. Our modern calendars are based on the birth of Jesus so its pretty factual that it happened. The big debate, of course, is “Who is Jesus”. The Holy Bible, thousands of writings, hymns, and songs, attest to his birth and life. The greatest artwork known to man paint a picture of who he is and his impact on mankind. He was simply the greatest person who ever lived. He claimed to be God and I believe him. His life is living evidence of his Divinity. I know many people do not agree on who Jesus is, but I believe that each one of us have to answer to Jesus. We need to make our peace with him. We cannot avoid him. He will never go away. He is our Lord and Savior. The king of Kings, the Alpha and Omega. The great I AM. The Creator of Heaven and Earth. Our Lord and Savior.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word(Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Merry Christmas and I wish you peace and prosperity as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The problem is us, not the constitution, not the laws of the country. It is us and our leadership in this country. Mankind has historically, from the dawn of time, screwed things up. Just read about Indian Wars……one screw up after another by both sides lead to a mess. What a disaster through time with Native Americans. Both sides share the blame, both sides are humans. The world wars…..the same. All through history we have peace then war. Mankind is so, so broken. The solution begins with Jesus. Yet mankind cannot and will not even agree on that. So we continue to repeat our mistakes. And the beat goes on. Will it ever end. Will man’s march to self-destruction ever end……I doubt it. But for you and me it can end today thru Jesus. One needs to find out who Jesus is and what his teachings say. He is The Way and The Truth. Our lives can have purpose and meaning and our mistakes can be forgiven. Redemption is through Jesus. We can’t figure it out on our own. We have proven that time and time again.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I would like to share a writing by James Bryan Smith with you today. It is not only proof of God’s Love, but also proof of the work of His only son Jesus. It reads as follows…..Out of love Jesus was conceived, and out of love he chose to die. There is something in us that God finds loveable. It is certainly not our sanctity, nor is it our fidelity. When I look at my own baseness, my incredible ability to sin at a moment’s notice, I wonder what God sees in me.

But if we doubt God’s love, all we have to do is consider the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For centuries that has been the clearest sign of God’s radical acceptance. In Jesus we hear God saying to us , “What you cannot do for yourself, I myself will do. Your sin stands between us, and you cannot remove it, so I will do it for you. My blood will cleanse your sins, and I will remember them no more. Nothing will stand between us. I will rise from the dead so you can live. My love is too strong for death to conquer. Once alive, I will invite you to die and rise with me. Eternal life is now available. It is in my Son.”

Romans 5:8 – God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God Bless You and have a great week……

“Imagine a world without condemnation. If we would really help those close to us and dear, and if we would learn to live together with our family and neighbors in the power of the kingdom, we must abandon the deeply rooted human practice of condemning and blaming”. Those are the words of writer Dallas Willard. They still ring true today. We are a generation that criticizes, blames, and condemns others. Everyday we see it and participate in it. The social media platform is awful for blaming and condemning, and rejecting others. Just today a well known, good person was condemned on social media for his opinion. The person condemning him said, “I don’t respect him anymore.” When we do that we sentence that person to exclusion. I am guilty of this too. I judge people too often and need to stop. I need to accept all people. Even when it is really hard.

Jesus loves everyone always and I need to follow his example.

Matthew 7:1 – Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

God Bless You and have a great week.