In the midst of the falling dow, rising inflation, and swine flu threat, life goes on. Jesus said “The thief has come but to steal, kill, and destroy, but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
The end-result of knowing God in the free pardon of sins is everlasting life. It is the best quality of life, it is abundant life. It is to have assurance and security in the here and now, and heaven in the hear after. That’s the good life!
Hell is a biblical reality. It was created for the devil and his angels, but those who do not come to Christ will forever be in the company of those damned and doomed in hell.
The clearest biblical picture we have of a person in hell is in Luke 16. This man cried for the mercy of a drop of water to cool his tongue, as he was tormented in the flame. The divine record of his situation tells us some things about those who are in hell.
Do you have anybody in hell? You probably do, and you can be sure that they are praying for you. This man in hell wanted his brothers to repent. He wanted them to be sorry for their sins, turn away from them, and turn to God with their life. Jesus has provided a way for you to do that by dying for your sins. Would you turn to Him now, asking Him to forgive you and save you?
Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God).” That being the case, it is safe to say that “with faith it is altogether possible to please Him.
God created us to be “faith people.” We are created in His image, and we are to imitate Him. Was it not faith when God said, “Let there be light” before there was any light? It was the word of His power, but it was undergirded by faith that it would surely be as He said. He calls things that are not as though they were.
A loose paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1 is, “Consider things to be so, eventhough they are not so, so that they will become so, because God said they are so!”
There was a line in the song, “Old Time Religion,” that said, “it makes me want to love everybody.” It is true that God’s love in the heart of an individual translates to loving others.
Determining to love others, and being able to do so by the help of the Holy Spirit, not only is biblically right, but it is healthy. It has been proven by those in the medical field that the human body releases harmful chemicals when under major stress. We are created to live in harmony with God, thereby enabling us to live in harmony with others, and when there is a break-down in that harmony, a harmful stress will result.
Why not make a concious decision to replace your thoughts of conflict with thoughts of good will toward those who have brought difficulty into your life? Pray for those people, that God will bless them. You may be very surprised at the result.
I have heard that most churches build too soon and too small. I’ve known of churches, however, that built a huge worship space that looked like it was still empty, when their normal crowd was present. The problem with this is that it has a bad pyschological effect on the membership, and it makes a bad impression on visitors.
If there is a “rule of thumb,” it might be to determine the growth trend of the church and the community, and if the result is steady growth, project for 5-7 years future growth. If the result is not steady growth, the size of the building would not need to be nearly so large.
Another factor is the amount of property the church owns, and the amount of parking available. Some churches are able to use neighboring businesses’ parking lots on Sundays. It has been determined that there will be one car for every 1.5 people present. Therefore, it is not wise to outbuild the amount of possible parking space.