London Terrorist Attack-Pray for the Terrorists

This may be an unpopular post. I know "Pray for London" will be a phrase trending all over the Internet today and in the days to come. And we should be praying for those who lost loved ones, those who will work to ensure the safety of Londoners on a daily basis and the governments who are struggling to keep these evil events from happening again.

But, as Christians we must also pray for those who would do us harm; the terrorists.

The words of our Savior say as much as Luke reports:

27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. Luke 6:27-33 (NASB)

What more good can you do than pray for those who do not know Jesus?

I know it's hard, but Jesus loved us while we were His enemies.


Paul told the Romans:


For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10 (NASB)

At one time, before we were saved by the grace of God, we were His enemies! He loved us so much he sent us His Son to die to become our sin and take the punishment for that sin that we deserved!

Islamic terrorists, as a matter of fact anyone who doesn't know Jesus need Him! Time is running out. Jesus is returning and we don't know when, so we have to get busy spreading the Gospel and praying for those who do not know Jesus.

So today, when you are "Praying for London", pray for those who are planning more attacks. Pray for those around the world who do not know Jesus!

If you had been cured of cancer wouldn't you also pray for those who have cancer to be healed as you have been?

So it should be for those of us who have been healed through His stripes! The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior, healed us of our sin! Thank God!

Even so LORD Jesus, come quickly!

2017 The Year of No Fear

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

We've read this verse over and over and over again. God has NOT given us a Spirit of timidity and fear......

The Greek word Paul wrote here for fear is "deilia" which means, timidity, fearfulness or cowardice.

So Paul is saying that because of the Spirit we have been given by God, we can be bold, fearless and courageous!

In Acts 1 it is recorded that Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Power. The word used there is "dynamis" which is where we get the word "dynamite". It is portraying explosive power! It also is power "inherent" in someone or something. Power by virtue of it's very nature. So, it is a natural power that now resides in us.

We should learn to tap into that power.

This year, promise yourself to tap into God's power that is now inherent in you. The power of the Holy Spirit.

No more timidity. Step out and be bold for Christ this year. No holding back! Let the power of God loose and see what great things He does through you!

Happy New Year.

vassal of the King: Husband, Pray for Your Wife!

vassal of the King: Husband, Pray for Your Wife!: HUSBAND: PRAY FOR YOUR WIFE! Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church There just might be some news that would toweringly so...

Help! My Pastor is Leaving! What Do I Do?

Pray.

That's what you should do. You've just found out the man leading your flock is leaving. Not for any reason other than a change in his life has brought him to move onto another situation in ministry.

Once you catch your breath, pray.

Thank God for his and his wife's service to your church and the community.

Pray that God will prepare his new congregation to accept and love him as you did, maybe even more!

Pray for protection for him, his wife and his family, so he will not be distracted from the work ahead of him. (Hint: You should have already been praying this one while he was serving your church!)

Pray that God is already stirring the heart of the man who will replace your pastor.

Pray that the man's family will be open to coming to Long Island and embrace your congregation, as well as your community.

Pray for the selection committee to have an open heart to God's leading to the man He wants to lead your congregation.

Pray that your church family's hearts will be prepared to accept and love the new pastor as much, if not more than the one who is leaving.

Pray for your church to remain steadfast as the process plays out.

Then, pray, that you can used by God in all of this in a way that glorifies Him!

Then thank God that He has everything, including this in His sovereign control!

Evil Will Continue to Exist Until Jesus Makes Everything New

We have to come to grips with the fact evil will continue until the end of time when God makes all things new.

We should pray. We should continue to do good, help the poor, spread the good news about Jesus Christ, but we should be prepared that evil is not only not going away, it will probably get worse. Read Matthew 24 to see what I'm saying.

It's time the church got holy. It's time we stopped worrying about unimportant things and started acting like Christ. 

Is anyone listening out there?

Jesus Christ did little to nothing about the political scene. He taught people. He loved people. He served people. He healed. He gave life. He did force the money changers out of the temple. He was always showing the religious leaders of the day their hypocrisy. But His focus was to do the will of the One who sent Him. That will was to live, to teach and ultimately to die for the sins of all of us who have ever existed.

Jesus did not come to destroy evil. He came to seek and save the lost. He did not come to earth to condemn humanity. He came to die for the sins of the world.

Friends, we need Jesus if we are going to get through it all.

Chick fil A Does Not Compromise the Gospel-AGAIN!

I guess you'd have to have been on Mars or in a cave for a long time not to know about the furor Chick fil A caused by stating it was for the Biblical definition of marriage; one man, one woman. The LGBT community and their supporters railed against them. For a long time the media, which champions most, if not all, liberal-progressive causes ran negative story after negative story about this unashamedly Christian-run company. Yet, the company and its management stood firm in their beliefs.

Fast forward to the heinous evil terrorist attack by a radical Muslim in Orlando. 49 people killed, over 50 wounded. A horribly sad event. And Chick fil A in Orlando, whose corporate policy is to be closed on Sunday to honor the Christian Sabbath, opened their doors on a Sunday to feed those who were voluntarily giving blood for the wounded of the attack. And all the food was free. The company and that store in particular, once again stood firm in their beliefs.

Though, on the surface, this might seem to go against the Christian beliefs of this family-run company, it does not. And if you are thinking that, it proves that the vast majority of America and the world do not know or understand the Christian faith. This is for several reasons, the two main ones are the failure of the Christian church to effectively communicate our beliefs to the community around us and the failure of the media to honestly report on and about the Christian faith.

You see, if you got to know us personally, you'd see what we were all about and I would guess your opinion of us would change for the better.

Now it's true that we believe what God says in the Bible about marriage, but true Christians also believe, more importantly, that we are to love people (our neighbors). It is, after all, one of the two greatest commandments according to Jesus Christ. The other being we are to love God.

As little Christs (the definition of "Christian") our example is the sinless, perfect Christ. Jesus ignored the Jewish Sabbath to love His neighbor. Luke and Mark report on two different times Jesus healed someone (a man and a woman) on the Sabbath Day. You see, our Lord and Savior obviously thought people were more important than religious tradition and so do we Christians. Chick fil A is a wonderful, real-world example of that love.

So, please, if you've had a bad opinion of Chick fil A, I ask you to reconsider it, as well if you've had a negative opinion of Christians. If there's one thing Christians and Chick fil A do not want to do, that is leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

Love Your Neighbor-Christians are Not Enemies of the LGBT Community

We woke up yesterday to the horrific news of America's worst mass murder in our history. At least 50 dead and 53 wounded. 103 people shot in one venue in one horribly evil cowardly act.

And the perpetrator was an American citizen of the Muslim faith who, according to those who knew him, was usually angry, and has now been found to have pledged allegiance, not to America, but to ISIS.

As is usual in dark times, the call goes out to pray for the dead, the affected families, the community, the state, our country and the world. But, pray to whom?

As a Christian, I know I am not a citizen of this world. Once I believed and was baptized I became a new creation, an adopted child of the one true living God, a citizen of heaven. My allegiance is to God our Father, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit our Counselor. But, is that the same as a Muslim pledging allegiance to ISIS? No, it is not.

Let's review the last mass murder of gays by a Christian.

Well, frankly, there's nothing to review.

True followers of Jesus Christ do not kill. Do not harm. Do not condemn. We love.

Sounds trite, but it's true. We love by praying, by showing up to help, by giving our time, talent and treasure. We love because Jesus said that was one of the two greatest commands He has given us. The other was loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. And, since we pledge our allegiance and our love to Jesus Christ, we want to follow all the commands He's given us because we know it glorifies Him and makes us stand out to others so we can then talk about how great a relationship with the Messiah is. That is what spreading the Gospel, or Good News is all about.

So what?

The time of calling Christians gay-hating homophobes has come to an end with this evil event in Orlando. It is not Christians who shoot gay people. We do not throw gay people off roofs. We love gay people. We pray for gay people. At least true, Bible-believing, Jesus Christ following Christians do. Anyone else just is not a true Christian.

True Christians do not ask people what their sin is. We have our own sin to deal with. GASP! Christians SIN????? Yes, we are not perfect. We are forgiven, though. We have the assurance that Jesus's death, which was necessary for our sins to be forgiven, has been applied to our lives for our sins. And that forgiveness is so overwhelming that we spread the love shown to us by Jesus Christ to others who do not know Him yet.

When Jesus said, "God so loved the world" (emphasis mine), He meant every one falls into at least one of these or other sinful categories. But, because of Jesus's death on the cross, we can have those sins become as if we've never committed them, by believing in Christ and being baptized.
adulterer, thief, murderer, liar, cheat, phony religious person and, yes, every homosexual. Every

As John wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And forgiveness is something we all need.

We just need to admit it.