Gawk This Way

Day 311 in my "Year In My Life Through Pictures" blog series

Seems like Steven Tyler is having a bit of a comeback these days. I suppose it's fueled by his new-found fame on American Idol, which has introduced him and Aerosmith to a whole new generation of kids. I was first introduced to Aerosmith back in the day when I was about 14 years old. I even went to see them in concert once later when I was in my 20s or so. If you read back through my blog you will see that I had a real strong liking to rock music before my conversion(Day 9 of this series). Aerosmith was probably one of the milder bands that I liked, while my tastes were more in the heavy metal/ hard rock realm.

My musical tastes is one of the first things that God sanctified me from after He saved me. It wasn't a gradual process either, it was one of those immediate changes. I do recognize that it was by His grace that He did take that from me and I did not (and still do not) struggle with giving that type of music up. At that same time God took away a 24 year addiction to cigarettes that I had tried very unsuccessfully to quit on my own several times. I had started smoking about the same time I started listening to rock music and doing a bunch of other things as well.

Through all of those years I was banking on my profession of faith as an 8 year old child. I am not saying that isn't possible for some children, but just telling my story. At 8 years old I did not know a whole lot about sin. I actually didn't know anything about sin, even though I had been raised in a rather large church in the area. I remember hearing all of the cool bible stories and even remember the Sunday School teachers always asking us to raise our hand if we wanted to be saved. I never raised my hand because I didn't want to be embarrassed that I never had done it before. I definitely wanted to fit in and raising my hand would have done the opposite. But, on a youth trip I did raise my hand during an evening service. I remember the preacher preached on hell and all I knew is I didn't want to go there and the only way I wasn't going was by raising my hand. So I did and I talked to a man who said the prayer for me and I nodded my head and was proclaimed "saved" after we got back to the altar. So, for the next 30 years I always pointed back to that prayer and that man's affirmation as my salvation. I never pointed to Christ and I definitely never lived like scripture says a Christian lives. I was a part of the world and I loved it. I loved sin and I did as I was always told, ask for forgiveness and you are brought back into a right standing with God.

I lived a very me-centric life and only thought about God at bedtime, when I said my prayer to ask for forgiveness for the same sins day after day. I did a lot of wretched things through my life and always justified it by telling myself to just ask to be forgiven, so I did. I was living a very deceived life, but it was the only type of Christianity that I knew, which is no excuse. That is until God really got hold of me when I was 38. He used a few men that really opened up scripture and showed me just how marred and scarred by sin I was. Ray Comfort, John MacArthur and Paul Washer were some of those men that God used and still continues to use to this day in my sanctification walk. I now rest my faith in Jesus Christ as my salvation, not only from the hell I always feared, but from a sinful life that brings grief to my Father. I am by no means perfect, but I know the One who is and He knows me.

Life has never been the same since He converted me. He continues to mold me and show me things on a daily basis. He has given me a new heart that actually desires things of God and hates things of this world. Not fully sanctified, but on that narrow path and looking toward to goal of my faith in Christ. I praise Him for what He did to me and for me and I continue to praise Him every day. He is my strength and He is my fortress and I will always be His.

What Are You A Slave To?

Day 252 in my "Year In My Life Through Pictures" blog series

I'm about 3/4 the way through John MacArthur's newest book, "Slave". I will say that before I began to read the book I already knew we were called slaves, but what I didn't really full get was exactly what that means. Now, being almost finished with the book I can say that I am developing a better understanding on the 1st Century understanding of slavery and how it actually pertains to Christians.

One great passage from the book says, "To 'confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord' (Rom. 10:9) is to simultaneously acknowledge one's own obligation to obey Him with total submission. His will is absolutely sovereign, and His slaves are expected to obey no matter the level of sacrifice required." Pg. 80 - Now that type of language is very rarely said from a pastor these days and is not very popular. Thing is, it';s Bible.

Today's feel good, easy believism, me-centric messages that stream from pulpits is very contrary to slavery. Instead of acknowledging that we are, in fact, slaves of God, it has been turned into "God has a wonderful plan for your life and exists to make your life happy, make you feel fulfilled and give you out of His abundance". Not exactly 100% accurate, just read the Bible and see how the majority of the Apostles had their lives ended. Then compare your life to that of the Apostles whom spent a lot of time in prison for proclaiming the message of their Master faithfully. Not saying that you have to go to prison, but one should at least be joyful about actually sharing the gospel with others.

I would highly recommend and suggest that you read this book from Johnny Mac. As always he brings new levels of understanding to those of us who really need it. God has given us a lot of great minds that have intently studied the Word and faithfully proclaim that Word. Thank God for gifting an using people like MacArthur, Michael Durham, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Tim Conway, Bob Jennings, Mack Tomlinson, John Piper, Mike Morrow and Charles Leiter. We have some invaluable assets in these men's work and studies at our disposal. Pray for these men and pray for your pastor that they may continue to faithfully proclaim the Word in truth and in righteousness.

Day 36: Blast From My Past

These three boxes, along with 3 CD cases, hold about 400 CDs from my years gone by. When the Lord truly saved me these CDs were the first thing that He pruned from me. They have been used as a table next to my desk ever since. Right now holding up various USB cables for my phone, ipod and camera's card reader.

The CDs were purchased beginning in the late 80s, when CDs first began being produced. Within one of these boxes or cases is the very first CD I ever purchased, The Fine Young Cannibals: The Raw and the Cooked. Yeah, that's right, I liked "She Drives Me Crazy" back in the day. But the rest of this eclectic mix of CDs reads like a who's who of musicians across every genre of musical styles. There is Brooks and Dunn and Vince Gill from the country phase way to NWA and Emenem from my rap choices. There is also everything in between, but mostly on the "hard rock" or "heavy metal" end of the gamut. Probably some of the most God hating music you could have ever heard. There's 3 or 4 from Marilyn Manson, the "musician" that defiles God's Word on stage and is a priest in the Satanic Church, Metallica, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Danzig - all of which have a very vocal hatred for anything pertaining to the God of the Bible.

Music has always been a part of my life, even though I have never learned to play an instrument or sing, I have always loved music. Well, I did play the saxophone in school band 6th-8th grade, but that doesn't really count. But, the soundtrack of my life is very diverse, at least before God saved me, from hell and from the sinfulness that loved ungodly music.

See, I was introduced to the heavier side of music at church camp, of all places. A new found friend was listening to someone named Ozzy Osborne, that really caught my ear. I had been used to, up to that point, just the pop stuff on the radio and fluffy country that my parents listened to. But this Ozzy fellow had something the other guys didn't. What exactly? I wasn't sure, but I was about to find out.

From that church camp my musical tastes, as well as most lifestyle tastes, changed. began to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, smoke pot, cuss, stay out late, steal cigarettes and many other sins I care not to mention right now. Oh, one small fact that I forgot to mention, I had "said the prayer" when I was 8, was told I was "in" and felt like I was free to do as I pleased as long as I asked God to forgive me. And that I did, every night - except the ones I passed out drunk on. I can honestly remember praying some very twisted prayers to be empowered to sin in various ways. I also remember once, while listening to Jimi Hendrix ask God to send Jimi's spirit into me so I could be a great guitar player. Now, that is twisted, and not something any truly converted person would be asking for.

So, the years go by, 24 to be exact, and God really starts dealing with me. In the past 24 years I had fathered 2 children out of wedlock, smoked a pack a day, did various drugs, drank a lot of alcohol and once again, committed many other sins that I care not to mention right now. God used some key people to reach me around that time, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur and a fellow that was from across the river to my hometown at one time, Paul Washer. This is the time that God saved me, converted me and began to sanctify me. First thing to go? Smoking. Second thing to go? The ungodly music I was listening to. Since then? Many things along the path, but not everything yet. But, praise His Name, He is still working on me to conform me to the image of Christ.

So now I have a very healthy Christian CD collection going. But, once again, God has been pruning even some of those artists from my playlist. I am working on a blog that will be informative and eye opening to a lot of people that are deceived about some of those that profess to be Christians, but have music that is the same as anything you would hear on the radio today. So stay tuned to this same blog channel, at this same blog time (not really same time, but Batman references will never get old)for the upcoming post.

Ten Indictments from Paul Washer

This is a definite must hear message from Paul Washer. This was given at the recent Revival Conference held in Atlanta GA, October 22nd. This comes in just shy of 2 hours, but is a must hear. Watch this video instead of 2 hours of the trash on TV tonight or download the audio at Sermonindex by using THIS LINK.

A special thank you to Lanes Blog and Sermon Index for posting the audio and video of this important message.

Gray Areas In Scripture

There are things that the Bible expressly forbids, as sins. Some of the most common are any of the 10 Commandments, hate, witchcraft and anger. But what about the “gray area’s”? These are things such as drinking alcohol, smoking, cussing, gambling and watching TV.

Let’s take a look at some of the one’s I mentioned above:
Drinking alcohol. I know people scour the bible looking for proof that it is okay to drink alcohol. I did it myself when I was younger and trying to justify my lifestyle. (Just a little footnote: if you have to do a month long study to justify what you are doing, then you should probably not be doing it). While the bible does not come out and say “Do not taketh a drink of Budweisereth or Coorseth” scripture is quite clear as to not be drunk. Galatians 5:19-21 has a short list of sins that will warrant a person from not entering into the Kingdom of God, one of which is drunkenness and reveling.

“Okay Jeff, stop being a Pharisee and a legalist.”

I did not say it, I am just pointing it out. If a person does these things they “shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Pretty simple to understand. Ecclesiastes 9:7 does say “drink thy wine with a merry heart”, but there is a huge difference between a drink and a DRINK. Before you drink, ask yourself “Why am I drinking this?” Is it to get drunk or loosen up? Then you have already answered the question of if it’s sinful or not. Is it because you love the taste of a beer? I would have to answer a big N-O for me, I never had a drink of alcohol that tasted good. But then again I do not like seafood and many people do.

Next on the list is smoking. This one hits home for me because I smoked for 28+ years of my life. When I actually did come to a saving faith in Christ, truly was born again, then God took that addiction away from me. I have not smoked in about 4 years now. But is it a sin according to scripture is the question, what I say doesn’t mean a hill of beans. As a Christian we are commanded to live a Holy life, to strive to be more Christ like in our daily walk with Him. I’m fairly sure Jesus did not have a Zippo and a pack of Marlboro Lights in His pocket. Smoking is a slow death sentence to ones self as well as those that are around them when they do smoke, which is murder but over a period of time instead of an immediate killing. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost and that we are bought with a price, so you are damaging God’s property too. Then in Romans 14 we ate told not to be a stumbling block for our brother. Plus it makes a person and everything they own smell “ickey” as my wife puts it.

Now on to cussing. A lot of people do it, a lot of people say they don’t. I will not go into a list of what I consider to be cuss words, but I am sure a few popped into your head just now. Ephesians 4:29 says “do not let any corrupt communication come from your mouth”, Jesus said in Matthew 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. But James 3:8-12 pretty much sums up the point 8. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12. Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

Gambling in itself is not even mentioned in the bible. Not a poker game, slot machine or lottery ticket one, so it’s not condemned, right? Let’s first break it down. Why do people gamble? It is for the love of money and to get more of it quick without having to work for it. This is a whole blog entry in itself, but we all know 1 Tim 6:10 states “the love of money is the root of evil”. Hebrews 13:5 "be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave thee; never will I forsake thee." Matthew 6:24 Jesus said "No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon (Money)."

Now for the T.V. question. Is the ol’ boob tube a sin? Not in and of itself. It’s just a hunk of plastic with wires, circuits and electricity running through it. What you watch on it is the question. Do you watch blatantly sinful shows that mock the name of God? Do you watch pornography? Soap opera’s filled with sexual and immoral themes? False Prophets such as Todd Bentley and Joel Osteen that peddle a false Christ? Has your TV become a god to you, a religion? Do you live your life around what is showing on TV and when?

One of Webster’s definitions of religion is: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.

I think living a life revolving around television could be lumped in there. As well as many other things in a persons daily life.


To me, if a person is a true born again, Bible believing Christian, these gray area’s pretty much take care of themselves. If you are living for Christ and walking the narrow path of His righteousness, then you will steer from things that could be considered a sin or sinful. If you are walking in the light of God, then your life will be exposed for anyone to judge (blog to come later on judging others). If you have to hide to do something, it is wrong. If you have to lie to cover up something, it is wrong. Just remember, God knows everything including your mind crimes of sin, lusting that brings forth sin. Jesus said that lusting after a person was fornication already.

In closing, there are many things of the world today that although not mentioned in scripture, are and can be considered sinful. Ask God to give you discernment of anything in your life that he doesn’t want you to do. Get out a notebook and start writing them all down. You will probably need several pages, more if you are really in tune with the Lord. Men are actually inventing new ways to sin against God. You might even say in the past 100 years there has been a “great falling away” from the Word of God 2 Thess2:3.

I beg you to seek God in all His righteousness and if you have not begun a total commitment to Him, to do so. Do not gamble eternity on a prayer you said as a child, or a decision you made a few years ago. If you are living in sin, without remorse, without a conscience, without feeling the anger of God pressing on you with each transgression of His law, then you have probably been deceived into believing a false gospel and are following a false god. One manufactured to conform to mans sinful existence. If your god thinks it’s okay to lie to anyone for any reason, to cheat on your taxes, to steal pens from your employer or to be conformed to the world through it’s music and sinful lifestyles, then your god is not The God of the Bible and you very seriously need to repent of your sins or face the wraith of a Holy and Just God. No say this short prayer, no walk down an isle, no decision will save you from hellfire and damnation. Only a true repentance and turning from your sin and a life of seeking the face of God . Please weigh your costs and make the true turn from the sin you love to the One that loves you and died for your sins on a cross.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Check out a little from John MacArthur on the subject

and here

John MacArthur on Sin

Declarations Of Salvation By Pastors

An issue that not many people put much thought into is altar calls - more specific what happens during and after an altar call.

Altar calls are a fairly new creation in Christian history. They are believed to have been started/ created by Charles Finney. He often times used "anxious seats". The reason for these seats were to force a decision, to get results.

There were in fact many decisions made using this method. Many since Finney have evolved the altar call into what it is now - A vain attempt by man to force a decision and avoid the work of the Holy Spirit on a persons conscience and soul. Some of the well known preachers that use or have used this method are D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Luis Paloa and Billy Graham.

While scripture does tell us to "Compel them to come" and "I beseech you, be reconciled to God", there is no mention of an altar call, an anxious seat or anything remotely close. Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of altar calls if God's Word has been properly proclaimed and His Spirit has done a work in someone's conscience and heart. With that being said - 5 stanzas of "Just As I Am", "I Surrender All" or "Softly And Tenderly" are probably not great works of God in a mans heart - they are songs that are used to inspire emotion that leads to decisions that lead to numbers.

The most dangerous part of this is the declaration by an altar worker, elder or pastor that someone has "asked Jesus into their heart", "made a decision for Christ" or most commonly "been saved today". With this declaration many people are being sent a firey hell. Salvation is not a walk down an isle, it is not a decision, it is not a temporary feeling that lasts for a little while and then goes away. Salvation is permanent, you can not lose it and once you have it you will walk with God, you will REPENT daily and you will be changed - BORN AGAIN. Many people are under the false impression that since a preacher told them they were saved that they have it all taken care of now. Nothing in the bible is spoken of salvation being a one time thing, salvation is an ongoing, growing existence that is evidenced by a disdain for sin, an open proclamation of Gods work in their life and a markedly changed lifestyle. We are commanded to test and examine ourselves that we are in the faith, not look at the day written in the back of our bible, recall a time walking down the isle, a decision, baptism, or "asking Jesus into your heart".

Let's break down the term "Born Again" because it seems to be thrown around a lot these days, with very little thought on it's meaning. Think of natural/ fleshly birth. If you are born a Caucasian, there is no way you can become Asian, a puppy can not become a kitten, a fish can not become a elephant. When a person becomes Born Again - they are rebirthed with a new heart, they are a new creation in Christ. A truly born again, repenting Christian can then not become a sinner again. It is not in their "make up", it is not possible. They will walk in the light of the Lord and shun the darkness, they will want to please the Lord and when they do fall into sin - they will repent, they will not use the saving grace of Christs death, burial and resurrection as a "get out of hell free card". That is an open disdain and is a lie from the pits of hell. A true Christian will be so heartbroken when they sin, that they are causing their Father pain, that they will cry out for mercy and forgiveness.

What has happend to Christianity in the USA? No where else has a decison taken the place of a true life changing experience with God Almighty. No where in scripture can be found of a decision, a walk down an isle, a magical prayer, being baptized or a proclamation by anyone other than Christ been a sign for being born again. But so many these days are being deceived by the millions. Stand in front of a pub and ask everyone that enters and stumbles out if they are a Christian and at least 75% will declare they "took care of that a long time ago" or that they are saved. Is that the case with you? Have you had a life changing experience with the Lord? If not I beg you with all that I am to repent and turn from your sinful life. Any questions? Feel free to contact me, I will show you the biblical way to salvation, and it won't be the Roman Road or 4 Spiritual Points.

Paul Washer Explains it a lot better than I can.