The Gospel Of Repentance

The writer will begin by saying what a Christian is not. A person is not a Christian because they are religious (See Acts 17:22) [1] . A person is not a Christian because they attend Church. It does not matter if they attended the same Church for fifty years, serve as a deacon, teach Sunday School, or is involved in the homeless ministry, feed the hungry and visit convalescent homes. A person is not a Christian because they are a gifted singer that leads the choir ( good lookin out Gee )! A person is not a Christian because they can play an instrument or multiple instruments on the praise team. A person is not a Christian because their Father is a Pastor, and their Mother is an Evangelist. Proxy saves no one. A person is not a Christian because they “feel Jesus in their heart.” Salvation is never based on our subjective sentimental feelings. A person is not a Christian because they have been water baptized. Baptism has never saved anyone. A person is not a Christian because they wear ...

  I realize this is a very strange title for an article, but rest assured I will explain. I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with some members from my Church and another Church this past Saturday. As we walked in the neighborhood, we encountered a gentleman who engaged us, but also ridiculed everything we said regarding Jesus, sin and the need for repentance and forgiveness. This is no surprise to me as I have encountered people who have mocked God after I have shared His word, or even if they “agreed” with me, they told me what sins they were about to engage in letting me know the word had no penitential effect on them. My point being is when sharing the gospel truth to someone face to face, or online, we must be discerning. We are not to waste our time with those who have no desire to hear the truth. This is not a harsh response; it is a Biblical one. When Jesus was preaching the sermon on the mountain, He said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, and do not cast your...

As time marches on, it is more difficult to strike a balance between engaging our culture, and at the same time not succumbing to its evil trappings. We live in a world of tempting compromise. What I have discovered is that if you stand your ground, and stick to your moral convictions, you’re a bigot, phobic, conspiracy theorist, hypocrite, religious zealot, intolerant and unloving. You’ll get canceled on the largest social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. While free speech is our constitutional right, not everyone likes what others who have a different opinion than theirs have to say. In a lot of instances, many people hate worldviews that do not agree with their own - especially Biblical worldviews. These disagreements can degenerate to venomous shouting matches, violent fights, and worst of all some become fatal. As a Christian, we are commanded to love all people. This is never easy since so many people are hateful. The world has love twisted though. They belie...

The first thing that needs to be done is to define our terms. The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh. The Greek word is Psyche. Several words are used to define it. It means breath, self, life, person. It is the immaterial real you. In Genesis 2:7 it says God breathed into the nostrils the breath of life and man became a nephesh, a living being or soul. The soul of man is the living breath of God. When we use phrases like, I put my heart and soul into this or that, what we mean is we gave it our all. The real us cannot be seen with the naked eye, but we reveal who we are by what we say and do. We can also define soul as the seat of our emotions, desires, appetites, and choices. Our will is derived from our soul. This is the innate component that makes us in the image of God. Let me make this clear: we do not have a soul, we are souls. Our physical body houses our soul. The Lord designed us that way. Our bodies are animate because the soul empowers it. At death the body will decay, but the...