Do you think you’d get a better report on the Civil War from a modern historian or by spending some time with Abraham Lincoln?  Do you think you could get a better picture of what the Apollo 11 moon landing was like by checking out the NASA website or by sitting down with Neil Armstrong and having him tell you the story about when he took that small step/giant leap?

Obviously, if it were possible to talk to the people who had been a part of events in the past, you’d get some amazing stories about those events.  You could get a feeling for what it was like by talking to the people who were there when it happened.

Did your parents ever tell you about when you were born?  Did your grandparents ever tell you about what it was like to live through the Great Depression or to watch the Apollo Moon Landing on live TV?  Wasn’t it cool to hear those stories from the people who’d seen it happen?

So along those same lines, would it be better to learn about the history of the world from somebody who was never there but had made a guess about what might have happened as the world started or from Someone who was there, Someone who actually built the Earth, Someone who designed the universe as a star spangled backdrop for His favorite creation to enjoy when the sun went down?

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What could be worse than a virus that destroys your organs and causes you to bleed from your eyes and ears and other openings and eventually killing you in extreme physical agony?

How about something that causes you to be in agony without the possibility of finding relief through physical death?

And how many people will wash their hands multiple times a day to keep from getting sick, but won’t think twice about sinning against God and dooming themselves to an eternity in Hell?

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Paul said, in 1st Corinthians, that if Christ has not risen from the dead that our faith is pointless.  What use is it to believe in a man who said he would rise from the dead who never rose from the dead?  So all of Christianity is hinged on the fact of Christ’s resurrection.  And if Jesus did not really live, die, and then live again, then it makes no sense to put our faith in anything else about Jesus.

In the same way, if you can’t accept part of the Bible, then what’s the point of accepting any of the Bible?  There are plenty of things in the Bible that people have a hard time accepting–Jonah and the fish, Noah’s flood, the creation of the universe in 6 days, etc.  But if you can’t take those things at face value, how can you put faith in other parts?

Jesus taught from Genesis.  So if you believe Jesus, then you need to take the whole Bible seriously.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:27 — 21.3MB)

What drives you?  What’s your main motivation in life?  Do you enjoy being alive?  Or are you bored or depressed or unfulfilled?  What trips your trigger?

What about you Christians…why do you live a life of love and purity?  Why do you live a holy life and always make righteous choices? (By the way, if you’re not living that way, it proves you don’t belong to Jesus?  If you are a true Christian your life will produce the fruit of the Spirit and you will rid your life of sin.  You can’t love God and commit evil against him at the same time.)  Anyway, why do you live for God?  Because you love to or because you have to?

How do you think God wants you to be motivated?  Fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom.  But love casts out fear.  So if you are motivated by love–if you enjoy living for God–then you have no need to be afraid because your love will drive you to live a life that pleases God rather than incites his wrath.

So, which do you prefer?

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I’ve heard people say they think Jesus is cool–he was a nice guy, a good teacher, a miracle worker–and they say they believe in him because he was all about love and peace and helping people.  But some of those same people say they don’t like church or they don’t like Christians or they don’t like the Bible.

The sad thing is that there is only one Jesus.  In spite of all the opinions about him today.  There are cold, hard facts about who Jesus was and what he taught.  And a lot of people who are confronted with that truth don’t want to follow Jesus–just like a lot of people who heard Jesus speak blunt truth and walked away from him.

Jesus is great, but he also taught hard truths, like real love for Jesus is shown by total obedience to his commands, and you aren’t worthy to follow him unless you are willing to walk away from everything else.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think Jesus is awesome.  And the benefits of knowing him totally outweigh any sacrifice you might make to follow him.  But if you REALLY want to know Jesus, you have to accept him on his terms, not yours.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:59 — 22.0MB)

“Don’t judge me.”

I’ve heard that a lot.  In other words, they’re asking for you to ignore the decision they’ve made.

“Yeah, I decided to do what I know is wrong.  And I know that you know it’s wrong”  But I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not a bad person for doing it.  So please don’t mention that it’s wrong to me.  Don’t use your brain when you think about me.”

Well, you know, I wouldn’t have to “judge” you if you used good judgment yourself when you made the decision to do something wrong.  If you would do good, then you would want me to judge you and notice the good.  It’s only when you do bad that you don’t want people using discernment about your behavior.

And keep in mind that my judgment can’t do much more than cause embarrassment or inconvenience to you.  But we will all be judged by God for all of our thoughts and actions, and his judgment determines our eternity.

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I think too many people think marriage is just a wedding.  It’s all about planning the perfect day.  And usually that day flies by and after a few months you can’t even remember everything that happened on that day that was supposed to be so special.

How much more stable could our society be if people took planning for marriage as seriously as they took planning for the wedding?  If people actually kept their wedding promises, it would mean the relationship would be lifelong and rewarding, so the families would be stable and the culture made up of all those stable families would be stronger.

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One of the things Americans value (or at least claim to value) is freedom.  We’re so glad for our freedom and the people who defend our freedom and our ability to say what we want and worship how we choose and travel from state to state without restriction, etc.  But how much do people really value freedom?

How many people aren’t involved at all in the election and supervision of our political leaders?  If you don’t care about politics, you don’t care about freedom because you allow those who are elected to make decisions about your life without your consent.

How many people live on welfare for months and even years sometimes?  If you are happy to live as a baby sucking on the breast of government instead of working for a living, you don’t care about freedom because you are trading your own independence to live as a dependent of taxpayers.

Those who value freedom are willing to work to keep it and maintain it.

In the same way, if you want spiritual freedom, you have to live a life that values that freedom and maintains that freedom.  Want to find freedom today?  Turn to the leader who can set you free from your sinful past, and then stop living for self indulgence and start working to be the best you can be.

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I’m sure you’ve heard before the line from the Declaration of Independence that lists 3 of the freedoms that are inseparable from us as human beings because we are created by God with such freedoms being part of who we are…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It goes on to say that the purpose of government is to protect such rights.  Did you ever stop to think about what the pursuit of happiness is?  We don’t have a right to happiness.  We only have the right to pursue it.  Interesting…don’t you think?

Some interpret that right of pursuit as “property.”  In other words we own our own body and our own ability to work and to build and to trade our labor for property.  So the money/property we trade our work for is our right–and therefore shouldn’t be taxed (as with the income tax).  So it’s everybody’s God-given right to trade skills and labor for money or goods in order to better our own lives.  Or you could say that “work” is pursuing happiness because it’s your means to improving your life.  Anyway, that’s the political definition.

From a spiritual perspective it’s slightly different.  Happiness comes to a person who obeys God’s law.  When you break that law, you enslave yourself to sin and death.  But real freedom comes from living a moral life.  If you avoid all those things that hurt you and hurt other people (lying, stealing, lusting, etc.) then you never become a slave of sin or death.  So you have the God-given right (and obligation) to pursue happiness by living the way God wants you to live.  And the natural result of living that kind of life is better than happiness–it’s joy, which is a deep seated glad contentedness that comes from having a relationship with Jesus–who, by the way, is the only one who can equip you to live a life of purity and total morality.

And if you have already made yourself a slave to sin and death because of your selfish and evil choices, your one hope for freedom is Jesus.  Wanna know more?  Listen to the podcast…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:58 — 20.1MB)

To be independent is the opposite of being dependent.  So when it comes to your own life, do you have independence or are you in dependence?  Do you work to provide for yourself and your family or do you depend on government to provide for you?

The only way to have real freedom and liberty, is to live a life that is self-controlled, self-reliant, and self governed so that nobody else has to control you.

Are you truly free?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:11 — 19.8MB)