Sunday, May 22, 2011

Judgement Day...or...Maybe Not

Did you guys hear?!?! The world ended yesterday! So...apparently that means that I'm officially writing this blog from heaven. All joking aside, we know that the bible says, "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."-Matthew 24:36

Now we know that the church was not raptured out of the earth yesterday. We know that the man who made the prediction had no knowledge of the appointed time that God set in place for the time that He would call His kids heavenward. But what do we also know? We know that our world is dying. We know that our world is being destroyed by the predator of our souls. We know that Jesus is the only answer to any of the problems that this world faces, and that if they are uninformed they will never turn to Him.

I will admit it. Yes. I made a LOT of "rapture" jokes with my friend Justin Ashcraft yesterday. It wasn't poking fun about the rapture as a happening, rather poking fun at the fact that people who actually read the bible were buying in to the fact that someone predicted the time that the rapture would take place. This is not going to be a blog about eschatology or end times study. I'm writing this to ask you to look inward.

I want to ask you a what if question. What if the end of the world was today. Would you be ready? If you were take an inventory of your life and were to truly be honest with yourself...where would you be? Most of us jump immediately to a "Yes! Of course I'd be in heaven!" answer. Are you willing to bet your life on it? I came to a real knowledge of Christ when I was 17 years old. It was August of 2004 and I was baptized by my spiritual daddy, Wayne Kniffen. I caught some flack from some people because when I was 8 years old I made a profession of faith and was baptized by my biological father. I don't want to say that I wasn't saved after that, but I will say this, I did not know the implications of my actions when I was a 2nd grader. I don't know that I actually knew all the implications of my actions when I was leading into my Senior year of High School either, but I understood more of what Jesus had done for me. I understood what I was being saved from, but also what I was being saved into!

Friends, don't gamble on your life. If you have never truly made that commitment, take the time right now, wherever you are and set things straight with Jesus. You may say a prayer similar to the one at the end of this blog. Don't take a chance with your salvation and miss it. Make for sure that your eternal residency is secured! If you are ready to make the commitment to Jesus Christ today, say this prayer in your own words today.

Dear Lord,
I commit my life to You today. I invite you to come and be Lord over my life. I repent of the old sinful ways of my past life, and I commit my life to the new life that You have given me, by the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and by His resurrection from the grave. I make the exchange right now. Your life for my life, Your soul for my soul. From this day forward, I will no longer be known as the old sinful person, but as a new righteous and justified person. I thank You for Your love and Your life.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you said that prayer, then I want to be the first one to welcome you home. Welcome to the family! We are thrilled to have you! Come on in, make yourself at home and join in this community with us! If you joined the family, let me know! I would love to connect with you, and pray with you and for you in anyway that I can! I am excited about your new life, and your new identity! Love you guys, and God bless!