I am not sure if you are referring to giving financially or serving in
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The real answer must rest on what is the truth. The Bible starts in Genesis by stating, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". I along with millions of others for thousands of years have held that the Bible is the inspired Word of this one true God. God has chosen to reveal Himself as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God became flesh is what the celebration of Christmas is all about, Jesus God in the flesh. Jesus is the one who proclaimed that He is the way, the truth and the life. That no one could come to the Father except through Him. Jesus went on to say that He was the gate. That there is a narrow gate that leads to life and a broad gate that leads to destruction. People, cultures have adopted other beliefs that are part of this broad gate. Many people are trusting in a belief system that has no foundation that can assure them the means for forgiveness of sins and of having a right standing with the one true God who is the Creator. People need to know the truth and the truth is that there is only one name given among men where we can be saved, "Jesus". The Christian church should be a place where every person is treated with dignity and respect. No matter what the sin or spiritual condition might be a person should be greeted warmly and treated respectfully. The phrase "open and affirming" that some churches are using goes far beyond that. They are promoting the lowering of Biblical standards for the lifestyle expected of Christian membership and ministry. It is basically a means to welcome LGBTQ has an acceptable lifestyle with full rights to become members and even hold pastoral office. No where in the Bible can you find God encouraging someone to continue living in sin after confessing to having accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. I've had many individuals who were living in obvious sinful lifestyles attend my church. They came and saw the love of God in action. They also heard the truth concerning sin, the wages of sin and the gift of God. Some stayed and had a life-changing experience with Christ. Some left because they were convicted by the Holy Spirit and refused to confess and repent from their sin. The Bible has been translated into more languages than any other book in the world. It is by far the number one best seller every year with over 61 million sold or given away yearly. In America 91% of the homes have a Bible. There are at least 50 English translations of the Bible. Bible translations use two basic means to translate from the original language to present day English. One is striving for a literal word for word translation and the other is more of a thought for thought translation and of course some use a combination of both. Here are six good choices to consider: NKJV-New King James Version, NLT -New Living Translation, NIV-New International Version, NAS New American Standard, ESV English Standard Version, KJV-King James Version. I recommend having more than one version so you can do a comparison when you study. Jesus made several statements that help us to be able to answer this question. All of these have to do with believing, accepting by faith that Jesus is the Savior. Jesus said, "whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life", "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed", "he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life", "He who believes in Me as the Scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water", "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he will be saved", "He who believe in Me though he may die, he shall live", I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me". The only way to know for sure that heaven will be your eternal home is to put your faith and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. References John 3:15, 3:18, 5:24, 7:38, 10:9, 11:25, 14:6. The experience of having an abortion and the realization of what it all truly means is very traumatic. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God has completely forgiven you. Receiving forgiveness from God is the first step toward healing. By faith you have been forgiven and made clean before God. The Bible goes on to say that our mind needs to be renewed. This happens as we spend time in prayer with the Lord wanting to know Him better. When you accept Jesus as Savior the Holy Spirit comes and lives within you. This spiritual born again experience begins a healing, renewing and cleansing of your total being, body soul and mind. Check out Michigan Right To Life web site RTL.ORG click on to find help, post abortion for more information and help. If being good enough was the solution or the assurance of making it to heaven then it would be very important to know how good, what standard do I have to be at to make sure I will go to heaven. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one" Romans 3:10. The truth is that no one can become "good enough" on their own to make heaven. That is why Jesus came to be the substitute sin offering for us. The only way to be sure of heaven is to by faith accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Once you do that we are then to let our faith and our works be seen in our life. Our desire to be good, live good is because we want our lives to show that we love God and want to live out our faith. You are not alone in this. Many people feel trapped, hopeless or are dealing with emotional or physical pain that they just want it to end. They see no other way for their situation to change. Letting someone know how you feel is a good place to start. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” There is a real devil that wants to destroy each one of us, but Jesus wants us to have an abundant life. A mature Christian pastor, friend or counselor can help you see things from a different perspective. This may be a combination of spiritual, emotional and physical issues. I know God loves you and wants you to experience His love and peace. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. One of the hardest things I ever faced was the death of my own first-born son just two hours after birth. I can relate to your pain and sorrow. First Thessalonians 4:13 mentions about grieving for those who have died but not like those who have no hope. Death has come into the world because of sin and it touches young and old alike. Our hope is in a loving God who has conquered death and the grave. Our hope is that God has prepared a place in Heaven for all those who will trust Him. One day we will see those babies in Heaven. It is a place where there will never be any sickness or death. It is a place where we will see that the final enemy death has been conquered. We will grieve their loss but we can still have a hope that God has them safely in His presence. Almost every Christian church will encourage a new believer to be baptized. The word baptism means to immerse or dip. The churches that practice baptism where a person is dipped or immersed in water are following the biblical example and command. The practice of pouring water instead of dipping or being immersed began in the early church when there were situations where people had placed their faith in Christ but there was no lake, river or large enough body of water to immerse them. However, the ideal situation is water baptism by immersion. According to the apostle Paul it is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the new believer to be baptized showing that they now have a new life in Christ. |
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