abandoned to Christ.

Is there life after death? Are we reincarnated and come back as something else depending on the kind of life we previously lived? Can the dead rise back to life? Is there really a Heaven and Hell?

The answers are: yes, there is life after death; no, reincarnation isn't real; and yes, when a person dies, they will be resurrected either to eternal life in Heaven with God, or eternal damnation in Hell with Satan and his demons (John 5:28-29).

Two days ago, we rejoiced in the reason why Good Friday is so good—because, once and for all, the penalty for sin was paid in full for those who by faith, repent and trust their lives to Jesus (Hebrews 10:10).

Today, we rejoice that Jesus Christ is risen! The grave that could not hold our Savior, cannot hold us. The power of sin and Satan were defeated so that sinners whom Christ came to save would be guaranteed eternal life in Him.

Many will celebrate today with chocolate, bunnies, Easter eggs, new dresses and hats, forgetting the weightier matter: Christ is risen! And without the suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God, none of us could have the hope of eternal life.

This life and all that’s in it, is not greater than the next. No, it’s only a shadow of what’s to come after we leave this earth and these bodies. It’s only a glimpse of what we have to look forward to for all eternity. So get ready and be prepared for Jesus’ second coming by putting your hope and trust in Christ alone. Let today be the day of your salvation (2 Cor 6:2), for when He comes again, it will not be as His first coming, as the Lamb of God, no His second coming will be as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (1 Thess 4:16-17; Hebrews 9:27-28).

Are you ready? If you're not sure, read this article, "Heaven or Hell?" and/or click this link: Need God.

“For if we have been united with Him [Christ] in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

~Romans 6:5-11

Marriage is created and defined by God, not man.

The title of this article sounds like the beginning of a bad joke doesn't it?

Well, it's not. It's a very real and serious topic these days, especially since the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted on September 21, 1996, is on trial, and may possibly be voted into extinction by our government.

While this topic has brewed to the brim from the overflow of deep passions in the hearts of believers and unbelievers, talks about boycotting Starbucks Coffee Company has traveled around the dizzying social media carousel.

You've probably seen the marriage equality profile photos and the "Dump Starbucks" memes on Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, just as I have. You've also probably read all the Christian news articles encouraging other Christians to take a stand for marriage as God has defined it by boycotting Starbucks and encouraging others to do the same.

To be "Christian" is to have repented of your sins and by faith trusted in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, made into a new creation, for the purpose God the Father established beforehand (Eph 2:10, Rom 8:29).

Being Christian, is to be like Christ (Rom 8:29, Gal 2:20), to love what He loves and hate what He hates and define things as He defines it.

"In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made."

~John 1:1-3

Because we understand that Christ is the Word of God as the second Person of the Trinity, as His disciples, we all agree and understand the LORD alone created marriage, therefore He alone has the right and authority to define it.

"So GOD created man in HIS own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

~Gen 1:27

Everything our Creator God made, whether plant-life, animals or human beings, He made them all with the ability and purpose to pro-create. The union of man to man and woman to woman negates that purpose and defies the good and perfect will of God.

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

~Romans 1:24-27

So what's a Christian to do? How does a Christian stand firmly in the precepts God Almighty has established and function in this world? Rather than indulge any further in the vicious and futile cycle of human opinion swapping, let's go directly to God's word and see what our Lord says about this.

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 'Purge the evil person from among you.'"

~1 Cor 5:9-13

In the above passage God states that for Christians to completely abstain from any association with those who practice or support acts that violate His holy commands, a Christian would have to leave this world.

Understand and remember we live in a fallen and sin-filled world full of lost people, surrounded by those who not only indulge in these sins, but support it due to their depraved and darkened minds (Rom 1:21).

Unlike us, the unbelieving world has not been set free by the blood of Christ; their consciences have not been cleansed. Therefore, they are unable to see or understand the truth we do. They are still slaves to sin, but we are slaves to righteousness.

I personally don't plan on purchasing Starbucks coffee. But that's my conviction after much prayer and consideration of all that is happening in our time. How long will I do this? I don't know. I'll leave that up to the Lord. Having said that, I don't judge, nor should I judge another brother or sister in Christ who is not convinced in their own heart to do the same (Rom 12:3, 14:22-23, 15:1-3). I'm no one's Holy Spirit and neither are you.

Let me put it to you plainly. If you decide, as a Christian, that you must boycott every institution that violates God's holy commands and precepts, then you will have to:

stop shopping at Target, Kohl's and most grocery stores;
stop driving cars, using your phones, computers, tablets and such;
boycott Staples, Walmart, and Sam's Club;
stop using any public transportation or paved roads, and so much more, because the people who own or run these companies all support some principle that violates our holy God's precepts and they employ people who do the same.

Christ said He left us to live in this world as salt and light, and reminded us that we're not of the world to exhort us to abstain from our personal practice of such evils, not so we could force and boycott the world's institutions to obey God.

As Christians, we know that the world will not cease in practicing or condoning immoral behavior unless they are saved by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No boycott or any other means of social reform will change the hearts of wicked men and women.

So, stand firmly for the faith you professed in Christ; die to self, uphold God's holy principles in your personal living, exhort other saints to do the same, abstain from evil, cling to what is good, fight the good fight of faith, uphold sound doctrine, and function in this world as an ambassador of Christ; holding fast to the word, shining like stars in a dark and depraved world (Philippians 2:14-17).

Usually, the word “good” is associated with things that are beneficial and bring cheer and hope. Two thousand years ago on “Good Friday”, Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son of God was betrayed, abandoned, brutally beaten, nailed to a cross, then died.

Betrayal. Abandonment. Brutality. Crucifixion. Death. Nothing about that sounds “good” does it? But it is good. And here’s why—the Son of God:

Suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins (Heb 2:17, 1 John 4:10);
Defeated the power of Satan, sin and the sting of death (1 Cor 15:51-57);
Set free all, who by faith, repent and trust in Him (Mk 1:15, Luke 13:5, Eph 2:8-9);
Made us ambassadors of Christ and ministers of the Gospel of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-20);
Provided a way for the Father to impute His righteousness to those who believe (2 Cor 5:21).

Now that’s good news!

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

~Romans 5:6-11

Those who witnessed Jesus Christ drink the cup of God's wrath, by taking our punishment and dying our death on the cross, thought this was the worst day ever recorded in history. They had forgotten what Jesus told them...Sunday is coming!

“And taking the twelve, He said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.’”

~Luke 18:31-33

As you prepare to celebrate Good Friday, remember why Christ had to come, why we need salvation, what we are saved from and how we can honor and exalt His name with every breath we have.

May your Good Friday be spent in such a way, that it seems good in the eyes of the Almighty (Gal 1:10, 2:20).

Faithful and beloved saints of Christ Jesus, I need your prayer support again.

Earlier today, I was contacted by a precious sister in the Lord, Amy Spreeman who co-hosts "Stand Up For the Truth", (with Mike LeMay), on Q90 FM, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Amy requested an interview with me that will air live, tomorrow (March 27, 2013) from 9:00-10:00 a.m. My segment will go from 9:00-9:20 a.m.

You can either listen live by clicking this link: Stand Up For the Truth, or listen later by clicking this link: archived podcasts.

Okay, it's confession time. Most of you may not know this, but I'm an ardent introvert. I ~~like~~ love being alone and I love the quiet. Being with a group of more than one other person makes me nervous...sometimes even one other person makes me nervous, depending on who they are.

Most of my life, I've loved silence and precious times of meditating on God's word. And none of this is because I'm such a wonderfully strong Christian. No, it's because I'm selfish and prideful and I don't like to think of others or really put myself in situations where other people can see or hear me; it's my way of avoiding any kind of criticism, constructive or not.

I like to be safe. And being alone with God is always the safest place to be, but it's not always the place He calls us to.

"And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.'"

~Mark 9:2-5

The verses after the above passage tell us that Jesus then took the three (Peter, James and John) down the mountain to heal a demon-possessed boy. And this is what He calls us to do as well. Our Lord calls his disciples up the mountain to spend refreshing and glorious time with Him, then He commands us to go back down to a sin-filled land where there are a multitude that need the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remaining in a holy huddle is not an option. But it is utter disobedience.

Throughout the gospels, we read that Jesus spent much of His time serving and teaching others. Then He would slip away to desolate places so He could pray (Mk 1:35, Lk 5:16).

Two things my Lord has taught me through this is:

It's vital I often withdraw from ministry to be still and spend time with my Father to keep my spiritual stamina;
It's vital I balance my quiet times with God with care, love and service to those within the body of Christ.

I never set out to be a writer. I never set out to do anything that would draw attention to myself. I don't like that. It makes me queasy. If I had to describe myself with other biblical figures, I'd have to say that I'm a strange mix of Moses and Jonah. I can't speak with eloquence and I'm often stiff-necked and slow to obey.

But, I'm getting old and tired of being a schizophrenic version of Moses and Jonah. Tomorrow, I'll be 44 and it'll mark my 40th year of walking with the Lord. That's my favorite part of this birthday! I love that God saved me when He did and I love looking back and recounting all His goodness to me and those around me (Ps 9:1-2). God has given me a beautiful life and I wouldn't trade it in for the world.

In the Bible, God uses the number 40 as a time for preparation (e.g., Moses' 40 years in Midian before being called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain receiving the 10 commandments, Jesus' 40 days and 40 nights of fasting) and even in how God creates human beings—a baby develops in his/her mother's womb for 40 weeks. So I've been wondering if God has been preparing me for something different than what I've been doing in the safety of my home, behind my computer.

I've prayed and asked and haven't received a clear answer yet, but like I said, I want to be more like Abraham and not like that crazy mix of Moses and Jonah, so I'm content to wait on the Lord for what is ahead, if, that is, He chooses to reveal it all to me. And even if He only chooses to reveal one step at a time rather than allow me to see the entire path, I am satisfied (Ps 119:105).

Since I trust in the One who is leading me through this journey I have resolved to follow...immediately, without hesitation, no matter how dreadful the situation might make me feel. I will follow, because I know my Father in Heaven is sovereign, He is good and He loves me; that makes all my steps secure (Ps 40:1-3).

May the Lord God be glorified through this interview and may the name of Jesus Christ be high and lifted up. Let us all, make much of Jesus rather than ourselves.

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