HIS BIRTH WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING…

“If Jesus had preached the same message
      that ministers preach today,
           He would never have been crucified.”
                —Leonard Ravenhill

For the most part preaching today is focused on feeling good about yourself and others. For the love of God, love for others, but a tragic disregard for the cross of Jesus Christ and its message.

JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS AND MINE! We are all sinners. In need of love and for loving others? Yes, but first and foremost we need to know the Source of that love, by accepting the Greatest Love, the love of God in His Son, Jesus. The love He displayed upon the Cross. The love displayed by the One who was sinless, who gave His life for us sinners.

It is impossible to separate Christ's love for us and His desire for us to love others, from the message of the Cross. In order to get to God we must go to the Cross, agreeing with God that we are sinners and accept His wonderful gift of salvation. It is only then when we discover what true, selfless, sacrificial love is all about.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:16)

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

My prayer for this Christmas season is for all to see the reason for the birth of Jesus—for His life, His death and His resurrection. He promises eternal life both now and forever to all who believe.  

❤ Merry Christmas,

~~Dave

The Lord will provide!

Good question…

“What's crazier: 

Living and dying

for a cause you really believe in,

or just running with the rat race

until you die?”

 —Lee Strobel, "The Case for Christ"

Daniel and the lions den

~ ~ ~

WHAT IF…?

WHAT IF JESUS WERE TO COME VERY SOON? He could. There is so much pointing to this reality. Would you be ready? But what if He didn't come for months or years more? Or what if He never came during your lifetime. What does it matter? Your life could end today. Death claims the lives of all us... naturally or unnaturally. The question remains. Would you be ready to meet the Lord?

Get ready. Please. How? Go to Him. He's as close as your next breath. The God of the Universe stands at the door of your heart and knocks, desiring for you to answer, to respond to Him and His wonderful forgiveness through His Son, Jesus.

You're a sinner. I'm a sinner. We're all sinners in need of a forgiving God. And God so loved the world that He gave His one and only, unique Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

If you haven't accepted Christ as your own Savior and Lord then what are you waiting for, a sign? Look around you? The signs are everywhere.

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Sin is a very heavy burden to carry without the forgiveness of a loving God. And if you don't know Christ then you continue to carry that burden until you give it over to Him. One needs to repent. Repenting means that you agree with God that you are a sinner and you turn to Him for forgiveness.

Don't wait until it's too late. Come to Him now. "Today is the day of salvation!"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

One day, and perhaps one day soon, the Lord will call His Church, His Bride home…

An Urgent Message for Urgent Times...

I believe these are most urgent times. I believe the world is heading for the home stretch. The end of this age is upon us. Just take a moment and think of all that is transpiring around the globe. It should rattle you to the core. If it doesn't you should ask why.

We can ignore it and go about our business, continue to get caught up in the things of this world, or we can at least pause to consider that something is not right, that things aren't what they used to be, that there is an increasing presence of evil and disaster like never seen before in our lifetime.

I believe we are at the end and believe with all my heart that Jesus remains the Answer. He is salvation. Do you know Him? Don't say that you're a Baptist, a Methodist, an Episcopalian, a Catholic, an Orthodox or what have you. That doesn't matter in eternity. What matters is that your future destination is determined by what you do about Jesus Christ and Him only.

Do you know Him? Are you born again? Jesus, in speaking to Nicodemus said, "You must be born again... from above." Jesus came that we might have life. Life in Him and through Him. What that requires is that we must die to self and receive Him as our new life, our new birth. And in order to get there you first have to see yourself as in need of a savior.

About 33 years ago I was sitting in my living room reading the Gospel of John. Up till then I thought I was a Christian. After all, I wasn't Jewish, I thought, and I was brought up in a Christian church. But in reading the famous passage, John 3:16, it suddenly (God suddenly) hit me...

"For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten (one and only) Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

"...whoever believes in Him..."

For some reason the light went on and I became awakened to the fact that this Jesus and believing in Him is as personal as it gets. I finally realized that it's not enough to belong to a good church or be "brought up in the Christian faith." I must accept God's offer of salvation in His Son PERSONALLY.

It's not about being or becoming perfect. It's not about all the good deeds one does or doesn't do. It is all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, dead, buried and rising from death. He is the "first fruit" of the promised resurrection for us, proving that through Him we too may have life, both now and forever.

"Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” — John 6:29

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." — John 17:3

So the question remains, "Do you know Him?

Don't wait any longer. Seek Him with all your heart while you can.

I'm praying for you.

— Dave

…

Wake Up Call

Every so often the Truth grabs me by the shirt collar and slaps me upside the head. I pray that God continue to keep me awake.

Some in Germany are more awake to what's happening in the US, and ultimately what's happening in the world, than most here in the US. Watch the video above for details.

You can dress a slave in all finery, satisfy his needs, but in the end he's still a slave. The US is a debtor nation, living on credit, money that doesn't exist. And we are slaves to this system created by a few. And so it is with the rest of the world.

It's time, way past time, to awaken to the truth. We can deny it, go around it, try to shove the monster back under the bed, but it remains true and very real. Things are getting nasty out there. Why do we think that civil unrest only happens in other countries, but could never happen in our own?

We are on the brink. We have reached a point of no return. It's time to change, not the country or the world, but yourself. It's time to change, to turn from the enslavement to this dying world, turn from a self-centered focused life, and turn to Jesus Christ, the Author of Life.

Jesus offers forgiveness, hope, freedom and eternal life. And He remains our only hope. I urge you, I plead for you, you who don't know Jesus, come to Him now. Don't wait until tomorrow. You may not have tomorrow.



I'm praying for you.


Dave