Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24) “Abstain from every form of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:22) “…to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 8:21) Sin no longer condemns us, Christ has overcome the penalty for sin by his resurrection to perfection...and he will do that for all in God's timing. The above Scripture is not warning of the penalty for sin. All sin has been atoned for at the cross and Christ has set us free from the law and we are FREE... "It was for freedom Christ set us free....He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (Galatians 5:1; 1 John 2:2) HOWEVER, we still have to live out our appointed time in this “present evil age” , a

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, God with us...and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:23; 21) "And she gave birth to her firstborn son...good news of great joy...for all the people; ...in the city of David there has been born...a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:7-12) "...the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) "...the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord..." (Romans 6:23) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John

“He’s making a list and checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice...you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is comin’ to town.” (John Haven Coots and Haven Gillespie) I love the songs and the whole story of Santa Claus, and I love watching kids relate to him and write letters assuring him they have been good. I have no problem with that fairy tale and do my best to keep my Grandkids from finding out who he really is, or isn’t, for as long as possible. However, sometimes I wonder if our ideas about God come more from fairy tales than the Bible. If you’re good you will be blessed and go to heaven, but if you’re bad…look out because Jesus is coming back to town. At least w ith good old Saint Nick, bad children only get a lump of coal and a Ho Ho Ho, while the angry God of old Saint Religion sends bad children to be coal for an eternal fire - Ho Ho Horrible! Anyway, enjoy the fun of Santa Claus this Christma

"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for ALL THE PEOPLE; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 210-11) We may best say that if the divine interference is absolutely necessary to the salvation of any creature, it must also be necessary for every creature. The fact that He does save one of his creatures is conclusive proof that He in time will save all of them because if He saves some and not others, a few and not all, the Scriptures which HE inspired would be nothing more than a lying mockery and deceit. God is no respecter of persons. Alan Burns (-1929) Faith Fellowship Magazine Volume 58, Number 1

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create EVIL: I the LORD do all these” (Isaiah 45:7) The great barrier to belief in God, and especially to a loving God, is the presence of evil in the world. Quite frankly, I do not blame people for rejecting God or at least rejecting the idea of a God who really cares about people. And I am confident God does not blame them either. The Bible, read in its entirety, can help us understand evil, but few have read or even had opportunity to read it. After all, the printed Bible was not made available to the public at large until recent times. So why, if there is a God, did He create evil and why does He continue to allow it to prosper?                                 וְנָתַ֣תִּי אֶת־לִבִּ֗י לִדְרֹ֤ושׁ וְלָתוּר֙ בַּֽחָכְמָ֔ה עַ֛ל כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם ה֣וּא׀ עִנְין The above Hebrew is translated in the Concordant Version of the Bible as follows: “I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom conce

“...set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things....When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  (Colossians 3:1-4). Glory is mankind's final destiny. And we do not have it now except in the form of the promise of God.  It is our hope... “…We... rejoice in hope of the glory of God”  (Romans 5:2). And Glory comes with our resurrection... “…Sown in dishonor… raised in glory…”   (I Corinthians 15:42-43a). In this life we experience suffering from time to time but we can cope with the suffering when we "set our minds on the things above, not on earthly things" - "in hope of the glory of God" to follow... “…The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be…”  (Romans 8:18). As we celebrate Jesus we should not focus simply on a baby in a manger but set our minds o

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Many among Christianity have made God’s thrown one of fierce judgment rather than Grace. And by judgment they mean an angry God pouring out His wrath on the sinner…and by wrath they mean casting them forever away from Him into a fiery furnace to be tortured forever.  But God says His throne is where we come and find Grace and Mercy, not condemnation and everlasting punishment.  It is not that God does not get angry, and that He never pours out his wrath on men. But His wrath ends in death which is the "wages of sin" . (Romans 6:23) The Scripture tells us that  "God is love"  (1 John 4:8) so even His wrath flows from Love and therefore must be remedial in purpose… and short lived. Surely He does such as he instructs us to do… “Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Ephesians 4:26) B

"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:4) Let’s be perfectly clear, the Grace we receive from God is FREE . We do not earn, accept, or reject it. The GRACE of God is ours as a FREE gift. We only learn of it “by Jesus Christ” . And we are SAVED by the grace of God, it is also FREE . And we only learn it is ours “through Jesus Christ” . “…the FREE GIFT of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b NASB) I notice some translations leave out the word “free” but look at it in the original Greek and the idea of being free is there. These translators have a problem with "eternal life" being free. They also have a problem with salvation being free as a result of the "grace of God which is freely given you" . They prefer their own version which requires joining their group by accepting their offer of salvation with heaven the reward. They add words like

Paul declared… “I am crucified with Christ…” (Galatians 2:20) When Jesus hung on the cross it was a graphic declaration that death is the only path to GLORY, for himself and for all mankind. Got it? Sin, death, and the grave is the path to GLORY. Christ the first fruit, then all the rest of us… “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep...Ought not Christ to have suffered these things (events of his death) and to enter into His GLORY (by his resurrection) ?...But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death , crowned with GLORY and honor" ...(1  Corinthians 15:20; Luke 24:26; Hebrews 2:9) It is the SPIRIT within us which longs to live, not die, and testifies to us “the sufferings of Christ and the GLORY that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11) There is NO path to GLORY among the present self -righteous religious institutions of men in this present age, moderate or radical. There

"...Sanctify them in the truth, Your Word is truth." (John 17:17) Truth is always truth whether people believe it or not.  I don't think it can be discovered and appreciated without thinking and reasoning about God and His Word. “Come let us reason together says the LORD, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ” (Isaiah 1:18) I have reasoned that God is not just the creator, but the Father of mankind.  And He loves them in spite of their faults, and intends to make them into his image through death and resurrection. I reason that mankind must experience the death of the old mortal creation in order to appreciate the new creation to come, the abundant, immortal life which will be the  mirror image of God. Jesus was the first, all the rest of us will follow. God is lhe originator of truth. And truth regarding mankind, in a nutshell, is the good news that God in His grace intends to give mankind eternal life after death. But this truth cannot be

“…continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43) Whether you think that only those who believe the gospel in this life will be saved, or as I, believe that all will eventually be saved after their resurrection when they believe, one thing we should have in common. This salvation from death, this resurrection to immortal life….is purely and solely by the unmerited favor (grace) of God. We do not choose it, we cannot earn it, and we will not be rewarded with it because of any good works that we do. We first came to a knowledge of this unmerited favor by hearing the gospel of our salvation. We believed the good news, if at all, as a result of the gift of “faith” granted to us by the  "grace" of God … “…it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by GRA

“When he (Barnabas) came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad.” (Acts 11:21-23) Few Christians see the grace of God at work in people who have not joined their group. I think it is because they are looking for works. They look for obedience to some creed or law rather than looking for the unmerited favor (grace) of God for all people. Their religious upbringing blinds them to the truth of the good news of grace. They look for repentance, decisions, baptism, attendance, tithing, evangelism, etc. when they look at others. None of those works are the “truth of the gospel” which has come to mankind. None of that matters to God as far as His grace is concerned. His gift to mankind is salvation from death into a new, immortal, spiritual life. And Jesus has shown us "the way, the truth, and the life" ... "I am the way, the truth, and the life...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life..."  (John 14:6; Romans 6:23) When Ba

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge." (2 Corinthians 2:14) Thanksgiving is here again, and I was reminded of the above verse. Paul was giving thanks to God for the “fragrance of His knowledge” . A fragrance that can flow from one person to another regardless of culture or background. And I am NOT talking about Christians going to church and singing “cume by ya my Lord” . I am referring to those few in this life who actually believe that good will eventually triumph over evil, if not in this life, then in the next. That “knowledge” and faith in a future triumph manifests itself in the form of love, joy, patience, kindness, etc. and that lifestyle “diffuses” the “fragrance” of hope to all around them.  Just as there are pleasing physical fragrances that can be noticed by our physical senses, there are also pleasing spiritual fragrances. Most people attempt to put on this fragrance lik

“We are tempted to think that this world would be much better if the saints could only get control of the political power, or if the highest offices were filled only with men of God. But the Scriptures do not contemplate any such condition, and give no instructions for ruling, only for obeying. …The governments today have many honest, capable men, but they find themselves thwarted by the unseen spiritual powers which are leading mankind in opposition to God and His Christ.” A. E. Knoch (1874-1965) Unsearchable Riches, Volume 41. "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him…” (Daniel 2:20-22) Don’t look for a religious man as a political savior. Just vote for the man you d

First of all the idea that we should take them in because we are a Christian nation is absurd. My observation of Christians or Muslims is they will rarely help the poor in their own town. They will go all over the world to tell them what they think they have to do to be saved, and kill them if they refuse, or threaten them with eternal torture, but most likely will help them with little, if any, physical needs whether they join them or not. And even if they do help, it is temporary...a bandaid on the problem...not a long term solution like a job. That is up to the entrepreneurs of the world who start businesses which create jobs for those who want to work so they and their families can eat. Jesus had the power to heal everyone, but he refused. He had the power to meet the financial needs of all the poor, but he refused. He had the power to create enough jobs for all, but he refused. He didn't come to feed the poor, take in refugees, form a church or start a business. He came to dem

“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) As I said yesterday, the calling of God is that sinful mankind is to be given the “free gift of eternal life” . “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life…” (Romans 6:23) Not just a few folks who make a wise choice, but all who die as a result of sin. The unmerited favor (grace) of God in doing so was such wonderful good news that Paul prayed that those who he told about it, and had believed it, would live in such a way that they would be "worthy" of such a free gift. They get it anyway, because it is "free" and based on the  "grace"  of God (unmerited favor). But Paul wanted peopl

“…live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” (Ephesians 4:1) Our "calling" is to be a recipient of eternal life as a "free gift of God" .  Just for a minute or two try to forget all you have been taught in the church or at home. Assume for a moment that all you know about God and Jesus is what Paul tells you below… “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life….As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive…I tell you a mystery…we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:22

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Death is a thief that robs mankind of life and joy. It is the result of sin and all of us sin. Jesus did not come into the world to start a religion. He came to reveal God’s plan to give abundant life, after death, to mankind. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23)

“And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:15-16) Don’t look back, keep moving forward. Why?  Because it is our tendency when we look back to start longing for what was, rather than appreciating what is or what can be. The above Scripture refers to Abraham and his family.Had they looked back to Ur from which God had told him to leave, they would have had a tendency to want to return to the past. And if so, Abraham  would not have become the father of FAITH. Barbara Streisand sang beautifully about memories in the hit song of the movie The Way We Were… "Memories light the corners of my mind, misty watercolor memories of the way we were Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind, Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were Can it

“A rejoicing heart makes the countenance cheerful” (Proverbs 15:13). When I used to sing in a church choir we would sit in the choir loft during the worship service. It always amazed me as I looked out over the congregation how little joy was in the facial expressions of those attending the services. Too often religious doctrine does not bring joy, just bondage and fear. Many people go to church hoping they can avoid the the wrath of God for not doing so.  They would prefer to be hunting, fishing, golfing  or just resting. Only the freedom of knowing and actually believing that God has taken away the sins of the world makes a heart rejoice.  If our facial expression, especially during a worship service, is not  “cheerful” …why not? Maybe because the message in most churches has become something other than good news... “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Now that is good news...and

"...let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) Life is what it is. We don’t ask to be born, but here we are. We can’t request where we are born or to whom. It is what it is…God has decided. Sooo the best we can do is to "run with patience the race that is set before us” . But why should we be “ looking unto Jesus” in FAITH? Jesus was a man just like us. He had a race to run as we all do. His particular race reveals to mankind what, but for sin, we could be now, and what, after sin is done away with, we all will be after God is finished with us in this present mortal life. Jesus died just as we will die, and he was resurrected never to die again, just like we will be. And that is what is meant by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our FA

“With great power the apostles continued to TESTIFY to the RESURRECTION of the Lord Jesus. And God's GRACE was so powerfully at work in them all.” (Acts 4:33) It is the testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that is important for mankind. And in that testimony alone does the power of GRACE work among mankind. The Christian church has lost the proper emphasis when proclaiming the gospel. It is not the cross, but the resurrection that gives mankind hope beyond death. The cross is an instrument of DEATH. GRACE has to do with the unmerited favor of God toward mankind. And mankind, all of us, miss the mark (SIN) which results in death to us ALL. “…in Adam ALL die”…”For the wages of SIN is DEATH” ... "...people are destined to DIE once..."  (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27 ) The RESURRECTION is the means by which sinful dead men are SAVED and this SALVATION is a FREE gift flowing from the POWER of the GRACE of God. It is our HOPE and the GOSP

“The god of theology is a well-meaning, good-intentioned weakling, whose intentions, however amiable, cannot in every case be carried into effect, and whose universe is a rickety affair subject to accidents of every kind.” — Alan Burns Most Christian leaders speak of God as an Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent Sovereign God, and He is. However, certain of their false doctrines reveal their true opinion of Him to be those set forth by Alan Burns above. To them each man determines his own fate regardless of what God desires to do…which is to SAVE them. The following are well established doctrines of Christianity and are false. They have each contributed to the separation of mankind into two categories…those who agree with us and go to heaven, and those who disagree with us and go to hell. I feel certain that the following false doctrines offend God. Self Determination (Free Will) Eternal Conscious Torment Immortality of the Soul The Trinity Vicarious Atonement My brother Bill pos

Some people get condemned and shamed for rejecting the gods of religious institutions. If you are one of them, do not worry about that at all, for you have not rejected the real GOD, but the made up god of religious institutions. And that is a good thing, in my opinion. “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) I think it is impossible to reject the real God.  He does not "separate" Himself from us…only the gods of religion do that. “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor messengers, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things about to be, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God...” (Romans 8:38-39)

“Be not judging anything before the season, till the Lord should be coming, who will also illuminate the hidden things of darkness and manifest the counsels of the hearts. And then applause will be coming to each one from God” (I Corinthians 4:5) In 1991 Anthony Hopkins won the academy award for outstanding actor in a leading role for the film “Silence of the Lambs”. He played the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychopathic murderer. Anthony Hopkins played the part just as the script was written and performed so well he received the highest award of the motion picture academy. God created the universe and all that is in it according to the Bible. “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things…I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host…by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions

"God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired..." (1 Corinthians 12:18) Once upon a time it was understood that the body of Christ was the church.  That the body was composed of people chosen by God and resided in the hearts of its diverse members. Families of its members would meet together in homes, and then in separate buildings constructed for that purpose.  Each Sunday they would gather with other members in the area  to study the bible, sing the old hymns, listen to a sermon, and when necessary help those of their community in need. The church residing in those families would then go to their individual homes having felt good about being with friends.  T hey were not concerned with growing the numbers, they grew in numbers as they helped people in the community who saw in them the love of God. Then one day it all began to change when some decided the church was an entity residing in the buildings and if they would incorporate and coop

“Now it occurred three days after, that he (Paul) calls together those who are foremost of the Jews. Now, at their coming together, he said to them "I, men, brethren, doing nothing contrary to the people or to the hereditary customs, was given up a prisoner out of Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans…For this cause, then, I call for you (the Jews) , to see and speak to you…Now setting a day for him, more came to him in the lodging, to whom he expounded, certifying to the kingdom of God, besides persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning till dusk…Now there being disagreements one with another, they were dismissed, Paul making one declaration, that, "Ideally the holy spirit speaks through Isaiah the prophet, to your fathers, saying, 'Go to this people and say, "In hearing, you will be hearing, and may by no means be understanding, And observing, you will be observing, and may by no means be perceiving,"…Let it be

Dear God: It’s me again, the old guy from Oklahoma who asked you to help him be a better person each day. It's too early to tell for sure but I think its working so thanks for all your help.  I hope you don't mind but there is one other thing I would like to ask for. I started reading the bible and it says Jesus is your son and you and he will save the world. Jesus said in the bible that he was coming back again, I assume to save the world..it sure needs it.  And not only that, he was going to bring back to life all those who have died and make them new and good like your son Jesus.  Well as you know it has been a couple thousand years since he went to where you live and of course he has not come back. Since you are God you probably know that it is hard sometimes for me to believe he is really coming again. Resurrecting all the dead, making all of us immortal and allowing us to live forever is pretty hard for a guy like me to believe. Sounds like a fairy tale. BUT

Dear God I sure am glad you wrote the Bible for us to read so we can know how to act. As you probably know, I really like the President you gave us four years ago. Thanks! He's doing a great job and I hope you let him keep doing it for four more years. Anyway, what I really want to say is there are a lot of people who hate him for no reason and the other day I had had all I could stand and was about to write and ask you to rain down fire from heaven and destroy them all. Then, just before I did, I read this in the book you wrote for me to read. "Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them and said, 'the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. " (Luke 9:53-54) Whew! Thanks God, I was about to blow it big time just like James and John and get rebuked.  I guess you love them too, but I sure do look forward to when you save those SOBs - it sure will help my disposition. Your friend, Rober

“…Now apart from faith it is impossible to be well pleasing (to God)” (Hebrews 11:6) That sounds great and Christian’s quote it a lot. Next time you hear someone quote that ask the question…Faith in what? The writer of Hebrews had just defined faith in verse 1 as follows… “Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed” In order to "expect" something, promises must have been made, in this case promises from God. And when we know what God has promised we are to assume that those promises will come to pass if we are to please God.  We are not to get concerned if we are not now observing what God has promised but are to have the assurance they will come to pass later in this age, or in the ages to come, because God made the promises. And remember, failure to have faith does not prevent the promises from happening...they will happen because God has promised.  Having faith does not make the promises h

“Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:3-5) The Psalmist of course was addressing Israel. However, it is most likely one of those Scriptures which apply to all. If so we should… “Trust in the LORD, and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on HIS faithfulness” Not simply trust in the LORD, but also DO GOOD.  In other words WORK in the land God places you in and enjoy the fruits of your labor - instead of bitching about it. “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” (Ecclesiates 2:24) “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in HIM, and HE shall bring it to pass” We should desire

“Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense… make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.” (Proverbs 12:11) What made America great is pretty simple it seems to me...people willing to WORK! America was founded and became great because of hard working men and women. They were thankful to God for a country in which they could WORK and provide for their families. Most followed the advise of the Bible when it said... “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you... If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies…” (1 Thessalonians 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11) The problem in America is that our entitlement programs have created a large group

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance...we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things.”  (Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Timothy 4:9-11) God's ultimate plan for mankind is to prosper us and not harm us. He will save all mankind.   We have been studying the book of Revelation in Sunday School and this past Sunday we ended that study with the following promise from God... "...and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away...Behold, I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:4-6) There is to be a consummation of God's purpose for those ages. At that point in time both friends and enemies, believers and unbelievers

“The Most High dwells not in Temples made with hands. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me says the Lord? Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things? You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised” (Acts 7:48-51) Think about that for a minute…now consider what we generally refer to as “the house of God”. God does not DWELL there! Godless men have attempted to banish him to those buildings, and those who attend rarely object.  Many of them simply view church buildings as a place they can go occasionally, sing a few hymns, get their sins forgiven, and thus feel better about themselves for an hour or two. I think God prefers to be worshiped and honored in homes, businesses and places of entertainment where people live, work and play. By worship I am not talking about inviting people to church, or piously praying out loud, or trying to get people saved while in those places. I