In Defense of the Christian Faith

Christians are "traders," not "traitors." BIG difference! A traitor defects to enemy lines, but a "trader" trades in what he wants for something else. Likewise, as Christians, we trade what we want -- our desires -- for God's will. We put aside self and follow Him. That is the subject of this video. Enjoy! "[N]evertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." ~ Luke 22:42

Matthew 7:16-21 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into th fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven...." There are varying opinions on what this verse means, so today, I'd like to focus on this passage briefly. Let's start by examining verse 15:  "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Here, we see that Jesus was speaking about hypocrisy. But it is important to notice that this was right after He said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broa...

A few weeks ago, we talked about how the Jews of the Dispersion mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1 were Gentiles who had been sanctified; we talked about this in connection with the OSAS doctrine . Today, I'd like to continue on this topic. Let's begin with verse 3 of chapter one: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... We immediately notice from this Scripture that we have a "living hope"; too often, we are full of "wishful" thinking in the worldly sense -- "I wish that could happen," "I hope so," etc. But the Biblical word for hope is "expectancy." It is used everywhere in the Bible in the same sense as it was with Abraham: "being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform." In other words, hope is "knowing" that God will do what He said He wi...

While an atheist professor was teaching a college philosophy class, he told the students that he was going to prove to them that God does not exist. He looked up and mockingly proclaimed, "God if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!" After more than ten minutes, the professor continued to taunt God, saying, "Here I am God, I'm still waiting." With only a couple minutes remaining, a BIG football player walking down the hallway passed by the door and heard the professor's taunts. The football player slipped into the classroom. As the clock ticked through the last seconds before 15 minutes had passed, he sprinted, hitting the professor, and sending him flying off the platform into a couch on the side. Cursing, the obviously shaken professor got up, exclaiming "Where did you come from and why did you do that?" The burly football player replied, "God was busy, so He sent me!" -----------...

Sorry that I'm posting this so late in the day... In addition to my reading , I'm preparing for a major project this weekend. Here's today's Word For Wednesday. For more, check out Yeah right ... "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." ~ Mark 9:49-50 What does it mean when Jesus says "everyone willl be seasoned with fire"? 1 Corinthians 3:13 says, "...each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is." So we can see that Jesus is speaking of our works being tested. In fact, this same passage in Matthew (5:13-16) states, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to b...

I've been thinking a lot about the subject of surrender -- full and complete surrender to God, even if we are faced with death. I've been reading a number of books dealing with this subject. Did you know that every day, Christians are persecuted for their faith in Christ; yet they are "faithful unto death"? Among the many obsticales that they face daily, they must also be prepared to die, if necessary; sometimes, the pressures can be too much, and they wonder, "Is this the end?" Yet, they are so passionate about sharing Christ's love. They can't stop; people need them -- people need to hear the Gospel. Their stories are truly a challenge to those of us who live in comfortable, complacent America; we hardly face any persecution, so we really can't relate to such a commitment to Christ. Yet, the thought keeps nagging me, "What would you do if you were in there place? What does God want you to do for Him in this nation, as these Christians do ...

The following is a study I did as a result of reading Amy Carmichael's biography, A Chance To Die (which I have not finished reading yet). For a better understanding of what I will present here, see " Every Man's Work ," by my good friend, Alice. Something that struck me was that even though Amy was doing all these wonderful things for God, she still felt like her work was wood, hay, and stubble, as it says in 1 Corinthians. I began to ponder this, and I wondered, "How do I know that my works will last?" Thus, today's WFW. I am not a Bible scholar, but this is what I found. If there are any Bible scholars out there who have something to add, feel free do leave a comment. Thanks. ------------- Proverbs 17: 3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. tries -- to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively, to investigate:--examine, prove, tempt, try (trial). Example -- Abraham's heart...

Titus 1: 15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Today, we continue our study on good works -- that is, the works that are "done in God." I would like to accomplish this by looking at John chapter 15. Here, Jesus is talking to His disciples shortly before His death. This chapter speaks of much of what we've already covered in previous WFW studies, but it also sheds some more light on what these "good works" are that we should be accomplishing. John 15 1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that this verse is speaking of the chastening of the...

Note: Today’s WFW was rather interesting… I had written this post a while back, saved it on my computer, and forgot about it (never published it, either). All day yesterday, I had been thinking of what I could post today, but nothing seemed to come to mind or jump out at me in the Scriptures. Then, I was searching for something “non-WFW-related” in my computer archives, when I came across this would-be post. I began reading and editing it before I actually realized that it is again about faith! ;) I once read a good, apologetics book, which had some great information in it; however, in an effort to sort out an apparent contradiction, the author mixed up the truth of God's Word with his ideology when he briefly mentioned the difference between James' and Paul's interpretation of faith and works. He said that James was talking about justification before men, and Paul was talking about justification before God. At first glance, it may seem probable, but anyone who reads Ja...