I do think this book is a must-read for every Christian, and I want to list out a couple of reasons why I think you should:

1) For the encouragement!  Reading stories about people like Bonhoeffer have always encouraged me.  Let’s face it, most American Christians, especially those living in the Bible Belt (The Southeastern portion of the United States) don’t face much opposition when it comes to living out our faith.  Many of us take for granted the freedom’s we have been granted, and do not share our faith as we should.  We tend to take it easy spiritually.  And because of that Satan has sort of placed us in slumber mode when it comes to loving & living for Jesus in our society.  Reading the story of Bonhoeffer’s life will infuse you with courage and the desire to want to do more for the cause of God’s Kingdom all over this world.  The stories of the martyr’s have always been a source of great encouragement for God’s Church, all the way back to the first martyr’s mentioned in the book of Acts, and this one is no different.  If you choose to read this book, just know you will be encouraged hearing about this man’s example.

2) For the theology!  Bonhoeffer became a theologian, and a good one at that.  He was no “chump” when it came to knowing about God and applying his knowledge to his everyday life.  As Bonhoeffer grew in his faith he began a lifelong journey of figuring out how his faith affected his every decision.  To Bonhoeffer, faith was more than something you simply practiced on Sundays, it was a way of life.  Bonhoeffer became an opponent early on of the German State Church, which he saw as useless & dead.  When he became a Christian, and got involved with the institution of the German state church, he found a church that was useless due to it’s dead formalism.  In fact, as I read this thread of the book I couldn’t help but notice that I have seen this same disturbing trend in the churches around me.  Bonhoeffer even went so far as to disassociate himself with the state church, that he no longer viewed as the church Jesus had died to save.  Instead, he organized the “Confessing Church” in order to bring God’s people back into line with the Church he saw demonstrated on the pages of Scripture.

I want you to do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book and make a commitment to read it.  This book is not a boring read at all.  In fact, as I got further into the book I couldn’t wait to find time to pick it up and read it again.  I found it hard to put it down.  I knew how the story ended, because I was slightly familiar with the story of Bonhoeffer’s life, and even in the end I was still hoping it would turn out differently.  That’s how good this book is.  Pick this book up and find an example of what it looks like to live with bravery that is enlightened by the assurance of an eternity in Heaven.  This is what was said about Bonhoeffer by the camp doctor of the concentration camp in which he was executed for his part in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler:

“Through the half-open door in one room of the huts I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God.  I was most deeply moved by the way this loveable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer.  At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed.  His death ensued after a few seconds.  In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die to entirely submissive to the will of God.”

I close this blog by quoting Bonhoeffer himself on his Heavenly future/hope:

“No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God, no one has yet heard about the realm of the resurrected, and not been homesick from that hour, waiting and looking forward joyfully to being released from bodily existence.

Whether we are young or old makes no difference.  What are twenty or thirty or fifty years in the sight of God?  And which of us knows how near he or she may already be to the goal?  That life only really begins when it ends here on earth, that all that is here is only the prologue before the curtain goes up–that is for young and old alike to think about.  Why are we so afraid when we think about death?…Death is only dreadful for those who live in dread and fear of it.  Death is not wild and terrible, if only we can be still and hold fast to God’s Word.  Death is not bitter, if we have not become bitter ourselves.  Death is grace, the greatest gift of grace that God gives to people who believe in Him.  Death is mild, death is sweet and gentle; it beckons to us with heavenly power, if only we realize that it is the gateway to our homeland, the tabernacle of joy, the everlasting kingdom of peace.

How do we know that dying is so dreadful?  Who knows whether, in our human fear and anguish we are only shivering and shuddering at the most glorious, heavenly, blessed event in the world?

Death is hell and night and cold, if is is not transformed by our faith.  But that is just what is so marvelous, that we can transform death.”

Your sin is wrong because it goes against the will & character of the God who created you, and made you.  And not only did He give you life, He sustains your life every moment, of every second, of every day.   Since God created/made you, He has the right to tell you what to do, or what not to do, He makes the rules.  To not obey Him is an attempt (A futile attempt, but an attempt nonetheless) to de-god God from the throne He should sit upon in your life.

With those things being said, I want you to know there is no such thing as a private, or hidden sin.  God sees & knows everything we do in our lives.  He knows every sin we commit, and He knows every time we obey His will.  The reason I am writing this blog is to help you.  You’ve been lied to.  You’ve been lied to by society & culture.  You’ve been lied to my many of your counselors & confidants.  You think you can do things that you know are wrong intuitively, but society says are ok, and you wonder why you still feel so dirty & guilty.  You don’t feel guilty because the Church or Christians are judging you, you feel guilty because God is judging you.  He has given you at least a built-in knowledge of Himself & His law, and to go against what He allows even nature itself to reveal to you is wrong.  The Bible speaks to this, many times in fact, but there is one place I want to refer you to for help in this area, Psalm 51.

Psalm 51 is a revealing prayer of David to God after David has sinned in an awful manner.  We know from Scripture (2 Samuel 11-12) the particular sin David is dealing with here.  In case you aren’t familiar with the Bible, it tells us that David goes on his roof one day and sees a woman bathing on her rooftop (David was the King. So he would have been able to look down on many of the other roofs in Jerusalem then.).  The woman’s name was Bathsheba, who was married to a man who was away fighting in David’s army, name Uriah.  So, David has sex with Bathsheba, and ends up getting her pregnant in the process.  To cover up his sin (That he thought no one would find out) David has Uriah brought home from the battle, to hopefully provide a little cover-up to his sin.  But to his dismay, Uriah sleeps in the palace courtyard (Out of commitment to his fellow soldiers) instead of sleeping with his wife at home.  So, David has Uriah sent back to the battle, placed on the front lines, and commands the other soldiers to abandon him when the battle raged the hottest, thus murdering Uriah.  So, if you’re keeping count of the sins David committed, you are definitely up to two major sins.

The point is though, is that no one knew or had to no.  But that is the point isn’t it!  Someone DOES know!  God always knows.  And no matter what the sin is, or who it against (If it even hurts or bothers people to begin with), the person most offended by our sin is the One who gave us the law in the first place, God Himself.  And even when we don’t think our sin is wrong, when we do sin, the reason we feel shamed, unclean, impure, unsatisfied, guilty, afraid, is because that’s what sin does.  Look at verses 7-12, and verse 14 of the above mentioned Psalm.  You will find those are the exact feelings David dealt with after his own “private” sin.

I say all that to this:  stop believing the lies you’ve been told.  You know all this stuff is true, not just because the Bible says it, but because you have experienced it as well!  You know the Bible is true (It is true however, whether we have felt these things or not).  I want you to see that God wants to restore you!  He wants to forgive you & wash you clean.  And He will, if you will come to Him humbly, seeking restoration & forgiveness!

I care so much about you, but nowhere near as much as God does.  No matter how you have sinned against Him there is hope of finding peace, but that peace can’t be found in simply suppressing what you know to be true so that you can feel better about yourself.  Stop listening to Oprahites!  Your hope and my hope can only be found in God’s path to freedom, and His path runs through Jesus Christ.  Through Him, and through Him alone can you find freedom & forgiveness that you know you need.  Let’s talk about it.

The letter to the church in Laodicea was a striking rebuke from Jesus to a church that was indifferent towards Him and ignorant concerning their true standing in Him.  These people grew up in Laodicea and because they were accustomed only to how faith in Christ was lived out in Laodicea and the immediate surrounding areas they had no clue they had a problem.  If you study this passage (Revelation 3: 14-22) and look at verse 17 in particular, Jesus has to point out how truly miserable their state of affairs was because they had no clue how bad things truly were.  You see, growing up in Laodicea, you tend to compare how things are with what you’ve always seen.  This Laodicea church was rebuked by Jesus due to their cold indifference toward Him.  To sum it up, the “Christians” in Laodicea had grown cold and indifferent in their love and devotion to God, and the worst thing, the dangerous thing is they didn’t even know it!  Here’s why that is so bad.  This type of “Christianity” is good for no one.  It makes God sick (Jesus said, “I will vomit you out of My mouth“), and this type of heartless, passionless, loveless Christianity drives unbelievers, and true believers alike, farther away from faith in Jesus and the Church that Jesus loved enough to give His life for.

Why do I point this out?  I have a heart for Laodicea, because I grew up in it.  I grew up in churches and have preached & served in churches that many could be rebuked because of their Laodicean tendencies.  It saddens me to say this, but looking back over my journey with Christ I could not count very many people I remember being so in love with Jesus it was obvious.  Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with A LOT of many good, even great people.  They were friendly, polite, well-mannered, etc…However, there is a HUGE difference between those characteristics and a true, genuine, passionate love for Jesus.  And therein lies the problem.  I think many of those people would have considered themselves lovers of God.  However, when you got together with them they did not discuss the Bible, God, or any other part of Christianity and if they did it was done without much passion & conviction.  I don’t remember very many people, outside of the full-time vocational ministers that led me being passionate, contagious lovers of God.

I am writing this blog for three main reasons.  First, I have a heart for seeing revival/renewal come to the Laodiceans.  God is jealous concerning His glory!  He simply refuses to allow what is called “Christianity” to continue to be masqueraded as being the real thing, and so do I.  My second reason for submitting this post is to help those who may reside in Laodicea, and may even be one of those “lukewarm” Christians without even knowing it, to be able to identify whether or not they are.  And then thirdly, to offer suggestions as to how we can turn Laodicea into Philadelphia (Revelation 3: 7-13).

The only hope of finding and having a passion that is not there but should be for God’s sake is to be able & willing to admit there is a problem.  Until we are honest about our spiritual condition we will remain passionless, going-through-the-motion “Christians.” (The reason I put Christian in quotation marks here is because it is made clear in Revelation 3: 20-21 that these half-hearted, lukewarm “Christians” are actually not Christians at all.  In verse 20 Jesus is not in their midst, He is on the outside asking in.  Let’s be honest, religious busyness & activity does not save us. Neither does passionate zeal for/about God save us either.  However, if we have truly received such a great salvation, we will be moved by it!)  If you only pursue after God (Getting to know Him more deeply) on Sunday or Wednesday, or during church activities, you are probably “lukewarm”.  If the only time you pray is at meal time & bedtime, you are probably “lukewarm”.  If the only time you spend meditating on this glorious gospel message that has brought you from death to life is when the preacher is preaching, you are probably “lukewarm”.  If you have never actually attempted to share your faith with someone with the intent of seeing them come to follow Jesus, you are probably “lukewarm”.

So, what do we do if we think or find ourselves to be truly “lukewarm” towards God & the things of God?  First, we need to repent!  Admit to God you/we have sinned in our feelings/motivations toward Him.  He knows it, so tell Him.  Agree with Him on it.  Then, begin praying and asking God to give you a passionate, sincere love for Him!  I agree with what John Piper said in Desiring God, “Only God can create a love for God.”  Then, begin practicing spiritual disciplines such as praying (And pray deeper prayers than simply praying for sick people), reading/studying/meditating on the Bible, memorizing Scripture, sharing your faith, etc…and do all these things as means’ to glorify God.  Allow God to build in your life a true, passionate love for Him.

I grew up in Laodicea but that doesn’t mean my children and the next generation has to.  Let’s be people who are truly in love with Jesus.  Let’s love Him in such a way that our love is contagious for Him.  Let’s infect others!  If you are one of those few Christians who really does love Jesus, be on guard and don’t let the cold water committees most of our churches are filled with rob you of your fire & passion for Jesus.  Don’t leave these Laodicean churches either.  Simply live for Jesus in the midst of these believers, burn hot & bright for Jesus, and maybe the heat of your fire, or maybe even a spark from your fire may set some of them ablaze.  We don’t have to live in Laodicea!

I know what you’re thinking, “Jamie, that’s your opinion.”  And just as I have a right to my opinion, I understand you have a right to yours (Christians have very good grounds, even historically, for believing the Bible to be a trustworthy document in every claim it makes.  For anyone who disagrees I welcome any intelligent conversation.).  However, the claims the Bible makes about itself, even the claims Jesus makes of Himself as recorded in the Bible puts you on dangerous ground to disagree with.  If you don’t believe the Bible is true & authoritative over your life, you’d better be right.

With this being said, let me say it pains me to see some of the approval “Christians” are giving to some who are making & have made to practice lifestyles that are blatantly in opposition to what God has commanded in the Bible.  People who disagree with me on this point always are quick to point out & throw up one of the most mis-interpreted verses in the Bible saying, “Who are you to judge me?  Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Judge not, lest you be judged‘?”  Here’s what I have always found, the people who typically use this verse use it out of context, actually making a mis-interpretation, only because they want to feel a freedom to live as they want.  Honestly, I admit you do have a freedom to make your own choices to live any way you want.  In fact, God will allow you to live contrary to His will, even though it pains Him deeply to see you do so.  Some of you may even be reading this thinking, “Boy, this sounds harsh.  Jamie sure is judgmental.”  I assure you, judgmental is the last thing I want to be or come across as being.  I am sincerely heart-broken to see so many people I call friends, people I truly do love, throwing their lives away searching after fulfillment & happiness in the all the wrong places.  In fact, this blog post is an attempt to call you to the One source for your happiness & fulfillment, Jesus Christ.  I refuse to allow the people I know & love to continue to on their way towards the judgment of God and to simply sit idly by.

Fellow Christian, let me challenge you, we have to walk a tight line here.  We live in a world that is mostly Biblically illiterate.  We need to know this.  We are going to run into it more & more where people are going to speak on behalf of God and say things that are simply not true about Him, concerning other people’s lives.  We live in a world where the line between right/wrong is going to continually be greyed.  In fact, we have a tendency to do it ourselves.  We live in a world where it will become increasingly the norm to see people living in blatant defiance to the commands God has given us in the Bible and they will be seemingly happy & blessed.  Does God bless all people?  Yes!  He blesses all people, those who follow Him & those who don’t.  I don’t have to understand why, I just know I am called to serve & follow Him according to how He has told me to do so in the Bible & I leave all the results up to Him.  I personally am thankful God DOES bless all people, even those who don’t deserve it, because I am one of those who doesn’t!  Many of us will continue to struggle with these thoughts; don’t give up!  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Seek opportunities to engage those you see living apart from God’s will, so that you will have an opportunity to lovingly point them towards Jesus, both with your life & words.  David struggled as you did.  In fact, he wrote a whole Psalm (Psalm 73) in reaction to this very kind of thought.  You study the Bible.  You know the truth, so that when the time comes you will be able to speak, “Thus says The Lord.”

Remember, we don’t wrestle against flesh & blood.  We are not called to win arguments.  We are only called to point as many people to Jesus as we possibly can, using whatever means necessary to do so.  Will everyone like us? Absolutely not!  Remember, they killed Jesus & the prophets.  However, in the end we need to ask ourselves, will Jesus be pleased with us?  Here’s one pastor that hopes he will.  Here’s one pastor who hopes he is modelling this very thing every day!

Are you hungry?  Just two days ago, when it was time to submit my newsletter article for this month, I read these verses during my daily Bible reading in Luke 6, Verses 21a & 25a, which say respectively, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied…”, and then “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” (Both quoted from the ESV translation.)  The thought hit me, how truly hungry for God & the things of God in my life am I?  One of the great truths we see taught throughout all of Scripture is the point Jesus is trying to make here; that we ought to be truly hungry for, that we would yearn for God and His truth!

I wonder, how hungry are you? When we are hungry physically, we pull up to the table and eat.  Most of us would not think of going one day without eating at least one meal, most of us eat at least two or three.  If you are like me, not only do you eat those meals, but you are thinking about others.  I like to think down the road a bit to see what meals might be coming.  This is what Jesus is talking about.  Rather, Jesus speaks of a spiritual hunger for God, not physical hunger for food.  The point He makes in these verses is that you & I as followers of God should long for more of God & nourishment from His Word.

How many times do you go through a whole day without a solid, sustaining meal from God’s Word?  I’m talking about reading God’s Word, meditating on it for a solid amount of time, so as to bury it down in the deep recesses of your soul.  It seems that I hear from people, mostly indirectly, that their souls seem far from God.  Perhaps the reason you feel far from God is because you ARE malnourished spiritually.  You can’t neglect God’s Word on a daily basis and come to worship services with your fellow brothers & sisters and expect to feel close to God.  You wouldn’t dare try & live a week on one physical meal, but far too often many of us attempt & do this spiritually and we wonder why the service just didn’t seem to have any vigor or passion.  It’s because you haven’t been passionate about God yourself.  If you aren’t spending time with God, regularly, He will be a stranger to you.  He won’t talk to you.  In fact, He will feel far from you.  As the old saying goes, “If you feel far from God, He hasn’t moved.”

What can you do about this?  You can begin by pursuing God again.  He is more than ready for you to come after Him.  In fact, this article is His attempt to come after you, to alert you to this problem/sin in your life.  In God we find fullness of joy & peace.  We find the way of life & happiness.  What steps can you take to get hungry again?  When it comes to my physical hunger, all I have to do is start thinking about a good meal (In fact, I’m picturing a nice, juicy rib-eye steak).  I think the same truth can apply spiritually.  Do you spend time thinking about God on a daily, regular basis?  Start there.  Spend time reading short passages of Scripture as a daily discipline, then stop & think about what that passage teaches you about this great God we love & serve.

These things are just a start to getting back to hungering for God again.  Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are hungry now.”  There is still time to be satisfied, and that desire to be satisfied is a sure sign that God is still working on you!  Hungry yet?

One of my favorite magazines to get in the mail as a pastor during the year is “On Mission”, the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) publication that comes out several times a year (You can find the online addition by clicking here).  Included in each installment of “On Mission” are stories of the work NAMB is doing throughout North America through Church-Planting, Missionary Involvement, church outreach projects, etc… Many of the articles are both encouraging & inspiring.  It is so great to see how God is using a variety of different people in a variety of different places, in a variety of different ways (We don’t all have to do ministry the same way) across our great continent.  My favorite part of the magazine though is an extra they provide in the pastor’s edition of the magazine, in which they share a number of different statistical information that helps reveal different trends going on across North America.  Every time it is interesting to see how people are changing their habits & beliefs, to see if we (The Church) are keeping up or falling behind.  I’ve got to admit, according to everything I see, not only in “On Mission”, but in various books & resources I view, it appears we are falling behind reaching our continent a little more every day.

Not only are we not reaching our continent, we are also falling behind when it comes to general well-being & happiness.  According to a research organization’s findings online, quoted in “On Mission”, the Southeast has now become one of the least happy places to live in the country (You can view the research yourself on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index website).  The findings are certainly educational.  The survey calculates & combines findings in a number of different areas, including: General Life Evaluation, Emotional Health, Physical Health, Heathy Behaviors, Work Environment & Basic Access to general necessities of life.  Now, certainly any survey is prone to have certain flaws, but surveys are also useful in revealing certain trends.  Here’s what you will find if you visit & explore on the website linked to above.  You will find in their report that every state in the Southeastern portion of the USA is included in the bottom two tiers of their grid, which ranks states on a scale from happiest to least happy places to live.

Here’s what concerns me most.  It is in these same Southeastern states, which are on the bottom of the scale as far as general happiness is concerned where the Church is most prevalent.  It is in these same Southeastern states where you will find the most number of churches, whether they be Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, you take your pick.  Some might ask, is this an indictment against Christianity?  I guess some may suggest that.  However, as a lifelong member of Southern Baptist Churches & lifelong resident of the Southeast (South & North Carolina in particular) I suggest it is an indictment on our religious traditions, rather than on the Christ we supposedly love & serve.  Some of you are wondering how & why I made this jump?  If you are wondering this it’s because the indictment is against you.  For too long we have separated our faith from our everyday lives.  In other words, our faith is what we do & practice, who we are on Sunday’s & then who or what we are the rest of the week is separated from that “faith” person for the rest of the week.  That is what we have turned Christianity into.  It is no longer about loving, worshiping & serving Jesus.  We have fallen into the pit & rut of our religious traditions and religion has never brought anyone happiness or lasting joy, only Jesus can do that.  We have got to fall in love with Jesus!  We have got to love Jesus more than our religious traditions or preferences.  We have got to love Jesus more than our jobs or careers.  We have got to love Jesus more than our mom’s & dad’s, more than our sons & daughters.  We have got to love Jesus more than anything, more than our lives themselves.

Jesus came to bring “Abundant Life” (John 10: 10).  You don’t get “Abundant Life” from serving a Jesus that is made in our (man’s) image rather than being the One sent from the Father.  The only Jesus who can give life is the One that came from God, in the flesh, to live a perfect life on Earth, for us & The Father, so that our sins could be forgiven & we could be given life through Him.  We have got to love Him!  We have got to follow Him, and we’ve got to do so with all our hearts, soul, mind & strength.  This all begins for all of us by first truly coming to Him in repentance & acceptance of the fact that He is TRULY our ONLY hope.  We are sinners, deserving of nothing but God’s judgement against us, but yet we get forgiveness, pardon & true freedom from sin’s guilt & shame.  Then & only then will we be able to understand how great our God is that He would forgive sinners such as we are, and it’s then we will want to live for Him.

God is truly great!  And it is surely a blessing to live for Him.  Southeast, let’s allow God to turn the tide of this survey/research’s findings.  Let’s confess our sins! Let’s repent of our sinful practices & lifestyles.  Let’s allow God to slay the idols we have created of good things like the religious practices we so cherish (Good things become bad things when we make them god things).  Let’s return, or maybe come for the first time, to the God that loves us & so desires for all people to come to Him.  Then & only then can/will the colors of this map change for God’s glory & our best!

*The letter we received:

“To the family and friends of ________________,

I was so very sorry to read about your loss in today’s newspaper.  While I didn’t know ________________ personally, I am sure that ________________ will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved ________________.

About six years ago, I lost a dear friend in death.  The pain and sadness were nearly unbearable.  However, I found comfort in a promise.  I would like to share that promise with you in hopes that it brings you some measure of comfort, too.

No matter what we go through today, God promises to make things better for all humankind very soon.  He will put an end to everything causing us to suffer–including death (Revelation 21: 3,4).  God will bring back to life all those who have fallen asleep in death in a wonderful resurrection (John 5: 28, 29).  Then, only good and happy people will live on earth forever (Psalm 37: 9-11).  This isn’t just a mere dream.  God will very soon make these promises a reality for all faithful human beings.

You can see _______________ again.  _____________ will be brought back to life right here on Earth and never have to die again.  You all can live happily together forever, and you will never have to say ‘goodbye.’ (I must say this is a possibility & it will be explained in my reply letter)

Death is not a natural occurrence that human beings are supposed to know how to deal with.  God created us with a desire to live forever, and he will soon make that possible.  I hope that focusing on the bright future ahead helps you endure this difficult time.

I have enclosed a brief tract if you would like something encouraging to read.  I will keep you all in my thoughts, and I hope that you continue to heal.”

She closed her letter, Sincerely (In case you were wondering).

Well, here’s my reply to her (With her name left out).

“Dear ______________,

I wanted to let you know we received the letter & tract you sent.  I am sure your motives are sincere, as are mine in writing back to you.  However, the promise & peace you have & speak of are misguided.

Death IS a difficult thing to go through for anyone & it was truly something God never desired/intended for any human being.  But, as the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6: 23a).

Where you are misguided is this, things aren’t going to get better for ALL humankind as you believe.  In your letter you refer to Revelation 21: 3-4 which IS glorious news, but ONLY for those who have been forgiven by God through trusting in His Son, Jesus the Christ!  What you failed to see was the promise that is also made at the end of Revelation 20 (Verse 15), just three verses above those you referenced.  That verse speaks of an everlasting judgment for all those who were “not found written in the book of life,” or as other passages in Scripture teach, did not trust in Jesus’ sacrificial, atoning death on the cross.  You also failed to read all of the verses in the other passage you referenced in John 5: 28-29.  Those verses do speak of reward for those who follow Jesus but also clearly show there is only judgment awaiting those who do not.

The reason I write to you is because your apparent concern for this family is shared by me for you.  What you have been taught is not the whole truth, which in reality makes it no truth.  The message of the whole Bible can be summed up this way: Trust in Jesus, who assumed God’s wrath for you, or you yourself will face it.  In Him & Him alone in hope!  Think about the argument you yourself made.  If all humankind will be saved, why do we need the Jehovah’s Witnesses message?  I invite you to put your faith in the ONE who alone brings forgiveness & life eternal.  Put your faith in Jesus!

In Him, Jamie Rogers.”

I hope this helps you in some of the concerns you may have concerning what is truth.  There is so much more to be said in this dialogue.  If you have any comments or questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below.  Pray this reply letter will be read by her with an open heart and that God uses it to bring her to Himself.

(Click on photo to see news coverage of the governor’s comments)

I can see why the governor’s comments would anger many people across our biblicaly illiterate nation.  To MANY people who know nothing of God’s Word, The Bible, his words come across as insensitive & hurtful.  However, according to my knowledge of the Bible they are right on.  Jesus said in John 1: 12, “But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe on His name:” (Italics, emphasis mine).

One of the main truths taught throughout the Bible is that there are two basic families represented on earth, the family of Adam & the family of Jesus (Romans 5, I Corinthians 15).  All humans are connected to one another by virtue of our all having descended from Adam.  By our lineage from Adam we all are sinners, facing the sure, coming judgment of God upon all sinners, and we all will die.  However, Jesus came to be a better Adam, the head of a different family of people.  Whereas sin entered humanity through the first Adam, life & salvation are passed onto those who become a part of the family of God, by virtue of their new birth (The “Born again” you may have heard talked about before) into a different family by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ.  Anyone who chooses to put their faith in Jesus, God’s Son, the Savior of the world is transferred from the family of Adam & is adopted into the family of God, through their faith in Jesus.  ONLY those who have put their faith in Jesus are in this family!  ONLY those who have done this are a part of the family of God.  ONLY those who have put their faith in Jesus have the Father as a dad, thereby ONLY making those brothers & sisters.

Now, that is the truth of Scripture.  Don’t like it?  Don’t get upset, it’s because of your own choosing you believe the way YOU do (and you believing the way you do doesn’t make me unhappy!).  You can choose to believe what the Bible teaches, or not, but don’t hate on someone because they choose to believe it.  In this case, the governor believes that, and he shared his opinion.

Those who are saying that believing such truth will not allow him to govern well on behalf of all the citizens of Alabama also do not understand the Bible.  I don’t know what kind of governor Robert Bentley will be, but I do know this, that by following Jesus Christ and believing that Scripture is truth, it will cause him to govern for the well-being of all the citizens of Alabama.  In fact, he will care more for those who disagree with him more so than those who agree with him.  As a follower of Jesus he is commanded to love the unlovable.  He is taught to punish evildoers & to protect those who abide by the laws.  I think every law abiding citizen would applaud such decisions.

Disagree with his statement?  You may choose to do so, but I am telling you it has no bearing on his care for ALL the people of Alabama, whether they be Christian or not, black or white, man or woman, rich or poor.  I thank God for a man who is willing to take such a stand.  I only wish those who are already speaking out against him would take notice of the truth of his comments and that many would come to faith in Jesus, because not all “go to a better place” when they die.  Only those who have put their faith in Jesus win!

1) Find a translation that is easy to understand & read. I would suggest not using the King James Version.  I tend to change the version that I use to read through the Bible in this format.  This past year I used the ESV version, which consequently I may change to start preaching out of in the near future.  Which version does not matter too much just so long as you are not using the TNIV, or The Message or anything like that (Just my preference).  Find a translation to read that you like.  This year I think I have settled on reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible (Lifeway, I expect something for plugging your translation.  Just Kidding!!!).

2) Go ahead and start reading!  Don’t wait until January 1st.  You will miss some days along the way, so go ahead and get an early jump.

3) When you do miss a day, don’t quit!  Make a habit of carving out time every day to read the day’s passage.  If you don’t you will not take time to read it.

4) Find some way of keeping yourself accountable.  Find a group that is going to read through the Bible with you.  Let them hold you accountable to making sure you are reading through the Bible.  This past year I used my twitter account to hold me accountable.  I told people I was going to put up every day a comment on that day’s readings.  I am four reading away from being through for the year.  You may want to try and do the same thing.

5) Pray before you read and ask God to give you understanding.

So, are you ready to embark on an adventure worth taking?  Click  here to find the chart to get started.  Check back in from time to time here and let me know what God is showing you!  Be ready for God to change your life!

With all that being said, here is the plan, that if began today/tonight and performed every day this week will finish up on Christmas morning.

Monday, December 20:  Scripture Reading – Luke 1: 26-38.  Songs to sing may include, “Emmanuel”, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”.

Tuesday, December 21: Scripture Reading – Matthew 1: 18-25. Songs to sing may include, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

Wednesday, December 22: Scripture Reading – Luke 1: 39-45, 57-66, 80.  Songs to sing may include, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus”

Thursday, December 23: Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 1-7.  Songs to include, “Away in a Manger”, “Silent Night”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.

Friday, December 24: Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 8-20.  Songs to include, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “The First Nowell”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.

Saturday, December 25: Scripture Reading – Matthew 2: 1-12.  Songs to include, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “We Three Kings”, “Joy to the World”.

Well there you have it.  Maybe a new Christmas tradition we can all start together.  The hymns of the church do such a wonderful job of reinforcing the story that God has recorded for us in His Word.  The story written/recorded in the Bible is a story worth you & your children knowing.  I would encourage you at the very least to follow the Scripture reading plan as it is laid out.  That way you don’t have to read the whole Christmas story all at once, and maybe, just maybe, it may stick in your children’s minds a little better.  If you go on the road like we do, then take your plan on the road.  Include Grandparents & other family members.  Who knows, these may be memories that stick with your children for years.  Once you have read the Scriptures each day take a little time & explain them.  Take a little extra time to explain John the Baptist, how he was the one to proclaim of Jesus’ coming.

I pray this Christmas will be a great blessing to you & your family.  I also pray this family Christmas worship time will be a help in that process!