Now Your iPhone Is A Missionary, Preacher and Evangelist

I just did a search for “Christian iphone apps” and found out that there is actually a Christianiphoneapps.com. Who would’ve thunk it?

But anyways, one app caught my eye amongst all the Bibles and devotionals being shown. It was called, simply, iChristian. How original. So I took a gander at it in iTunes and was disturbed, but not really surprised at what it was. It is actually the same as most sermons across the USA on a daily basis.

Seems the app takes you pretty much through the 4 spiritual laws and has “THE” prayer listed in which you can say to become a Christian, er uh, American christian (small “c” because they only profess Christ with their lips on a single occasion and then live the same life as before, no changes, no repentance, no living for Christ. So they are following a false christ).

The app description touts that it contains “the minimal of required information to become a Christian”, but yet there is nothing of biblical repentance and denying everything and following Christ. Fully. In every facet. Forever. You can even register yourself as a Christian after you say the prayer. I think they will also give you a certificate proving that you are now a christian. So much for the fruits of the Spirit and actually living a repentant life, as the signs that the bible says will tell that a person has been truly converted.

This is just the next step in our culture to further blaspheme the Word of God. It takes certain verses (as most churches do) and uses them to make their point, which is actually teaching a false Christ. I was deceived for many years and sadly my wife and oldest son was too. Thankfully the Lord opened my eyes at a pivotal time in my walk with Him and soundly saved me, not through any prayer I said, but out of His loving grace for me. WOW! I still stand amazed that the Lord would save me, a person that claimed to know Him and yet defiled His precious name on a daily basis. How great is our God!

Michael Jackson Dead At Age 50

It has just been reported that Michael Jackson has died, ending a very controversial life. He has joined the ultimate statistic…. 1 out of 1 will die. He did not know that he was going to die at a young age of 50. He was actually planning a comeback tour that would have been very elaborate and probably very costly. But what about his soul? That is the most precious thing he had. In fact if Jackson did not repent of his sins he is now burning in the lake of fire.

It reminds me of the rich young ruler (king of pop). He had all the earthly desires he ever wanted, quite arguably at one point, one of the richest entertainers. He was successful by the terms of the world. But all of that doesn’t matter now. He is gone from this earth and all of his possessions have been left here, along with his lifeless body. His soul lives on, but where? As I said, if he had not repented before his death he is now in hell and has no chance to reconcile to the Lord.

So what about you? Have you repented of your sinful life, turned to the God that you hated? Have you acknowledged that Christ is Lord and laid down your own life in order that Christ may live through you? That’s the most important thing in a persons existence. Has God done such a work in you that your sins are now hated by you? Or are you your own god? Have you created a god that conforms to your ideas instead of you fitting His? Does your god turn a blind eye to sins? Does your god not care that your lifestyle doesn’t match what the Bible says it should? Or is your God the God of scripture that gave His Son on a cross for your sins and demands that you count yourself as dead so that He can live?

I beg you to seek the True God of the Bible. Not the watered down god prominently preached at most churches every Sunday morning. Be not deceived, God will not be mocked. He is Holy and we are commanded to be Holy as well. He is righteous; He is also just and must punish sin. Do not think of God as only love, that is only one facet of His Glory. Cry out to Him to show you Himself, cry out to begin a walk with Him to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing that you can do to save yourself, no prayer, no walk down an aisle, not baptism, not a profession of faith. Only Chrsit the Lord can save you and all we can do is repent and believe in Him. Be aware that repentance is not sorrow. Sorrow is a part of repenting, but true repentance is turning from your sins. How? If God truly saves you will be a new creation and you will walk by His statutes, you will conform to the likeness of Christ, you will love His Word, you will love His people and you definitely won’t be the same.

I pray that Michael Jackson was saved. I will not cast judgment on him, but will say that he is like everyone else. He was a sinner and the wrath of God was on his head and unless he repented and turned from sin and to God, he is in hell.

The Ugly Duckling Syndrome or Always Chosen last

Just sitting here thinking back to my youth…. On the playground…… kickball, basketball, baseball, football, any other sport going on…. Thinking about how it was being the last one picked for a team or being the odd person out and not being picked at all. Things like that follow a person through their whole life and help shape them into the person they become.

Some people strive to become better at a chosen sport or activity in order that they will then not be left out or be embarrassed by being the last one chosen. Is there anything wrong with that? I guess it depends on the reasoning behind it. Do they want to fit in because they desire what someone else has, in this case a relationship with other people. Or are they actually trying to better themselves? In most cases it is probably to fit in, to not be left out, to not be ridiculed, to be liked, etc.

If it is to fit in then they are in affect trying to be something they aren’t in order to gain favor with a particular person or group of people. Is that a good thing? I would say not. My reasoning, because they would then be living a lie and emulating the others instead of being their own person.

So how does this have to do with Christianity, or better yet the church? Glad you asked. So many times people get side tracked into areas where they are trying to serve someone other than God. This could be a great mission, if it weren’t for the motives behind it. I have seen many people do things they did not want to do in order to make themselves look better, make someone else happy or not get a bad reputation for doing them. All of which are wrong reasons for doing anything within a Christian body of believers.

1 Cor. 3:11-15 lays this out for us. Any works that are not built upon Christ will be burned up. That means that if you do anything for selfish motivations, the Lord will disregard them. So all the people that are serving ministries out of duty, out of a desire to be noticed, out of a desire to make themselves shine, then they are doing it in vain. But going in the other direction a person may not be as capable of doing something in the most popular manner, but have a desire to please the Lord and no one else. They may not know the correct words to say, the right buttons to push or may not do things the way some people would have them done, but they are serving the Lord and not a selfish desire.

These are the humble and weak that follow the Lord with an inward zeal to glorify Him. They are the ones that are most often time left on the sidelines because they do not fit in, or chosen last because their skills may be lacking in some areas. These weaker vessels need to be discipled instead of cast off as useless, or shunned because they may be different than everyone else. After all, aren’t all Christians the outcasts of the world? Shouldn’t the outcasts of the world be pulling together instead of apart?

Let me remind you what the Word of God says:
1 Corinthians 12:20-26 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Wow! That is exactly what the church does not do. Instead these weaker parts are cast by the wayside. They look in at what the others are doing in their little cliques and wonder why they are on the outside when all they want to do is work with the other hand, the other eye, the foot, the little finger or the mouth and glorify God, build the Lords kingdom and be a member of the body instead of being a cast off. After all would you cut your feet off because your belly was big, because your feet did not run around enough to burn enough calories for weight loss? Or would you nurture your feet and see how they could work with the whole body toward the same goal?

So next time think about the “little people” that are looking into your circle of friends and invite them in. These people could be the missing puzzle piece… er uh, body part that could complete the goal that has been set forth. Even if their skills may be lacking, they may be a little slower than you or they may need some coaching (discipleship) they may be the body part that God wants to use to His glory.

Also don’t forget he story of the ugly duckling. Not a biblical story per se, but goes right along with the 1Cor.12 quote above. The “duckling” was seen as ugly because it did not fit in, there fore shunned by its brothers and sisters. Only until they saw the “duckling” in its true state as a beautiful swan could they appreciate it in how its beauty glorified Gods work. The same could be as the outcast duckling in your church, they could be waiting for the Lord to show you His glory through them and when He does….. it will be more beautiful than you could ever imagine.

Abide In Me and I In You

John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.

All of us who are truly believers have heard the clarion call, “Come unto Me!” The Holy Spirit as the Royal Ambassador of Heaven has granted that invitation to your heart. Oh, what a great invitation this is – to come and to know Christ! It is so wonderful, so awesome, that there is hardly even anything to compare it to. Why, the very call, the very invitation to know Christ is not just an invitation to come, but that invitation has the ability to enact within you a desire to come and empower you to do so.

When you remember seeing the Beloved for the very first time, how exhilarating, how powerful, how life-changing that invitation, “Come unto Me,” was! Today’s text, however, speaks of another call from our Lord. It is just as inviting as the invitation to come. It is equally clear, powerful, and attractive. It is the call, “Abide in Me.” ........

This is one of the "essential" manuscripts/ sermons of the Real Truth Matters ministry. Please take a moment and visit the Real Truth Matters Homepage and/ or the blog. At either you will find resources that glorify the Lord, teach the converted and make the Lord's call to the lost. There are many messages for free download in MP3 format and several have been laboriously typed into manuscript form.

To God be the glory!

Real Truth Matters