As author of this blog I do not endorse or not endorse Mr. Chan (in the above caption), as until this very moment I do not believe that I've heard of him.  After visiting the page listed below (found at the bottom of this post) though, he seems to be very on point as to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

People tend to make the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ very complex with all the traditions and rules that they try and place on others, but the ministry that our Lord had during his last few years of His life in the flesh was really quite simple.  Don't get me wrong here...following Christ can be very challenging and nobody ever fully can do everything to the letter that He teaches us, but the message itself couldn't be more easy to comprehend.  

The message was, is and always will be to love our Father God.  The way to love God is to love His Son Jesus Christ.  The way to love Jesus and God and the way other people can see us demonstrate that love is by the way we love one another.  Yes, loving your wife, parents, children, coworkers and even strangers, is how to show your love to our Heavenly Father.

Even your enemies.  Some would say that loving those who hate us is one of the most important ways to show proof of your love for the Living God Almighty.  The Word of God teaches us that by showing love to an enemy that you practically be putting hot coals on their heads.  Very things will anger your adversary more than by showing love to him.  This is NOT the reason that we are to do it and in fact, they will often come around to loving you in return, but some will grow to hate you even more.

If you are confused by anything I've just said above then allow me to make it as simple as possible here:
If you wish to show God and other people your love and appreciation  for God...love everybody you can in every possible way that you can.

 The above photo was found at the following link:

http://www.christculturenews.com/5-awesome-quotes-from-francis-chan/

Black Jesus

 There has been much said about the race of Jesus Christ in recent years.  Surely there has been much said about this for the last 2 thousand years, but probably not nearly as much has been said on this topic as has been in the last few decades.

The bible makes mention of our Lord having skin of bronze and hair of wool.  This description doesn't exactly sound like the long haired white guy that we all have seen for most of our lives, yet it doesn't necessarily sound definitively like the description of a person of African decent either.

One need not look any further than the region of the world in which Jesus was born to come up with a mental image of what He might have looked like.  As for this author, I personally believe that the bible leaves out great detail on this subject because it simply doesn't matter.  If tomorrow I was to learn that Jesus looked exactly like Russell Simmons, Gene Simmons or even Richard Simmons....He would remain my Lord and Savior in any case.

The challenge I put out for anybody reading this is to examine your own heart over race and let this very topic help you to look within and discover just how much it would matter to you if Christ was a different race than yourself.  If it would matter at all then there is a real chance that you need a change of heart...because we are ALL His people and He died for each one of us just the same no matter what we happen to look like.


This photo was found at this address:

http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/05/08/01551.html

Wordless Wednesday Wordless Wednesday Wordless

This image shamelessly swiped from the following address:

http://www.travisagnew.org/?p=6119

Funny or Sacrilegious?

There are few things in life more refreshing than a really good laugh.  One of those things is getting to know and serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As for my part I attempt to serve the Lord, yet maintain a healthy sense of humor.  When I look at pictures like this one I smile, but then wonder to myself if this is crossing a line.  I'm certain there are scores of people who will see this and never return to this blog ever again, but for those of  you who aren't so easily offended, yet see an issue with this picture...please pray for my error and if you feel lead to do so...help me understand how I should go about finding the right balance between having a good time while maintaining a level of Godly integrity.

Picture found on the following web site page:
 http://wallls.com/wallpaper/19230/

...AND WE'RE BACK!!!

 Above is a photo of the Shroud of Turin.  For those of you that are unaware of this clothe...it is a big thing on the television lately.  It's certainly not a new artifact and certainly its origin has much debate as does most everything about it.  What is fascinating to me is not the fact that it cannot be proven to be the cover that was placed over Jesus the Nazareth (who lived on our planet beginning 2013 years ago) after his public execution...not at all.  What is most intriguing is that nobody can disprove that it is that very shroud.



This photo was taken from the following page:
http://blahblahblahhouston.blogspot.com/2010/04/face-of-christ-vs-facing-christ.html

Wordless Wednesday

Source:

Taken from a facebook post.

Sad But True

Most people find this to be too harsh of a reality to believe...at least at first.
One asks themselves, "How could a loving God allow his creation to burn in hell fire forever?"
This of course then leads to many other questions...things like, "What if a person was never given a chance to be exposed to the Christian teachings.  How is it fair that they would be forever condemned?"

These question go far beyond the scope of this brief article.  These things should and will be visited many times on this blog as it grows.  Comments are currently open to anybody at this time...though I fear that will be abused.  Freedom of speech is paramount here...but because this is a Christian blog, we simply ask that you be respectful that children are very welcomed here and vulgar commentary will have to be deleted.

One thing worth addressing now would be that our loving God does NOT want this for us.  What God seems to want is true friendship.  His word teaches that the Angels were first created and that they were basically made to be friends.  True friendship is a tough thing though...even for an all powerful God.  In order for a true friendship to exist there has to be an option.  Free will was given to one Angel and he chose to be a god himself....this of course is Satan.

With the creation of man there also was given this free will.  We of course also chose to be gods, preferring the knowledge of good and evil over the luxury of having it all and zero stress over what was a good and bad thing to do in our lives.

As far as wondering if all people get a chance to hear the word of God...first it may be most helpful to answer whether or not you've given yourself a fair chance to hear the words of God.  Especially for us Americans...there are Bibles everywhere...as well as all other religious books...look to those, so that you are fully aware of all the information out there.  As far as all other peoples...that is more of something that you can become involved with pondering when you feel you are fully informed.  It works much like oxygen masks do on airplanes.  Place yours on first...even before your own children.  This way, you can be useful to others and help them to get their masks on because your still awake to do so.  Likewise, its only when you have a working knowledge on your own spiritual standing that you can really be the most considerate and effective in helping others to gain similar peace of mind.

Back to that original question concerning a loving God and why He would allow us to burn, yet say that He loves us unconditionally.  Think about a mother who loves her children in all ways and regardless of what they become.  She will do everything in her power for that child and love him despite poor choices.  That love cannot save him from jail.  Sure, it may bail him out of jail.  Sure it may save him tons of consequences...but at some point, there is just no further way to save him.

It is my belief that our God gives us this same love and all of these same opportunities over and over again to find peace and joy.  Now you may be thinking, "He is God...even if we totally mess up, He has that power to save us and take us into His heaven."  And you'd be right.  If that happens though....guess what...we are back to Angels again.  This takes away the free will and whats more it takes away are very purpose for being created.  That purpose to be true friends to Him by our own choosing.  If we choose to ignore His thousands of obvious pleas to love Him, fellowship with Him and to be His friend then we choose to be in the kingdom of those who choose this same thing before us.  This is that lake of fire...Satan's kingdom...hell.

If you do not wish to find yourself in such a place...take a single minute right now and ask for God to come into your heart and keep you from that very place.  Tell Him that you want to be His friend and want to come to know Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life.  Pray this believing and it will be made real for you.  This all may sound like some insane fairy tale to anyone who has turned their hearts from this teaching in their life...and sadly there are no words that I could right to change that.  I do challenge such a reader to consider the picture above.  Most likely you are a very intelligent person....so many who choose not to believe are very smart.  If fear isn't motivation enough....I don't typically use fear to motivate this message...consider how little you have to lose by trying it.  The worse thing that can possibly happen is that you feel a tad embarrassed to yourself as nobody has to ever even know you did it.

If this has had any impact on you at all...please let us know in the comments below...especially if you are in need of prayer or advise....this is the best part of this blog right here and it is very welcomed.

Thank you all for reading this.
In His service,
Adam


Source:

This was actually taken from facebook, but as you can see in the bottom right corner it has some likely origin with Atheist Republic.

Almost No Words Wednesday Double Dose

Source for both pictures:

http://www.godtalkstoyou.com/

Wordless Wordless Wednesday Wednesday

Source:

http://maryloveslife.wordpress.com/category/gods-provision/

Wordlessly Wednesday

Source:

http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/