What if the rapture IS Real?

Now I want to talk about some other matters, brothers and sisters. We taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. In fact, that is how you are living. In the name of the Lord Jesus we ask and beg you to do it more and more. 2 You know the directions we gave you. They were given by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

3 God wants you to be made holy. He wants you to stay away from sexual sins. 4 He wants all of you to learn to control your own bodies. You must live in a way that is holy. You must live with honor. 5 Don’t desire to commit sexual sins like people who don’t know God.

6 None of you should sin against your brother or sister by doing that. You should not take advantage of your brother or sister. The Lord will punish everyone who commits these kinds of sins. We have already told you and warned you about this. 7 That’s because God chose us to live pure lives. He wants us to be holy. 8 Suppose someone refuses to accept our teaching. They are not turning their back on us. They are turning their back on God. This same God gives you his Holy Spirit.

9We don’t need to write to you about your love for one another. God himself has taught you to love one another. 10 In fact, you do love all God’s family all around Macedonia. Brothers and sisters, we are asking you to love one another more and more. 11 And do everything you can to live a quiet life. You should mind your own business. And work with your hands, just as we told you to.

12 Then unbelievers will have respect for your everyday life. And you won’t have to depend on anyone.

13 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know what happens to those who die. We don’t want you to mourn, as other people do. They mourn because they don’t have any hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again. When he returns, many who believe in him will have died already. We believe that God will bring them back with Jesus. 15 This agrees with what the Lord has said. When the Lord comes, many of us will still be alive. We tell you that we will certainly not go up before those who have died. 16 The Lord himself will come down from heaven. We will hear a loud command. We will hear the voice of the leader of the angels. We will hear a blast from God’s trumpet. Many who believe in Christ will have died already. They will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them. We will be taken up in the clouds. We will meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18)

So let's talk . . .

1. Let’s not get caught up on words!

The word rapture does not occur in our English Bibles. We get the word by way of St. Jerome (c. 347-420 A.D.). In his work of revising the Latin New Testament from the Greek New Testament, he translated the Greek word ἁρπάζω (harpazō) into the Latin “rapiemur.” The Latin verb form is “rapio” and means to be caught up or taken away. From these Latin words come our English word rapture. While Paul used the word ἁρπάζω only once (1 Thessalonians 4.17), he taught the doctrine of the Rapture in other places using other expressions. The Greek word ἁρπάζω means to “seize” or “snatch away.” It is used 13 times in the following verses: Matthew 11.12, 13.19; John 6.15, 10.12, 28-29; Acts 8.39, 23.10; 2 Corinthians 12.2, 12.4; 1 Thessalonians 4.17; Jude 1.23; Revelation 12.5.

1. So what does this mean for us now?

• Live Out LOUD
  • We taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. In fact, that is how you are living. In the name of the Lord Jesus we ask and beg you to do it more and more. (v4)
    • Live a life that honors God.
    • Set the example.
    • Be prepared (keep your lamps burning . . .  Matthew 25:13)
• KNOW the signs
  • We don’t want you to mourn, as other people do. They mourn because they don’t have any hope. (v13)
    • Be aware of what is happening but be confident in Christ. He is in control! (Matthew 14/Luke 12)
    • Don’t live in fear, but in anticipation! (2 Timothy 4:8)
• Be Encouraged
  • Many who believe in Christ will have died already. They will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them . . . So encourage one another with these words of comfort.
    • Live a life that others will want to imitate and embrace!

Valentine Week 2015: No better LOVE!

Lookin for LOVE? Consider it FOUND!

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.  This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12-17)

There was a song long ago that cried out: Lookin' for love in all the wrong places . . . too many faces . . . it was a plea of frustration, and failure.

However, in Christ we find a perfect LOVE . . . a forgiving LOVE. . . LOVE that never ends. But it comes with a price . . . a price paid by Jesus Christ. It must be accepted on His terms or it is a lost love!

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (Romans 14:11-12)

Do not miss out on the LOVE of a lifetime . . . choose Christ today!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Week 2015: From WHERE do we LOVE?

The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction. Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent, but folly brings punishment to fools. The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction. Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:21-24)

LOVE is produced deep in the heart and soul of a person.  Evil is as well. The WORDS that a person speaks are deeply formed within the recesses of one's heart. They are taught, learned, formed, and rehearsed well before they are heard by someone.

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts . . . murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” (Matthew 15:18-20)

We all must be careful what we take in through our eyes, ears, and minds. Written word, media, other's words and actions . . . all contribute to the feelings and thoughts we form deep within our hearts (souls). The heart is a garden of cultivation for the words and actions of life.

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my HEART be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies. (Psalm 141:3-4)

Valentine Week 2015: Why do we LOVE?

WHY do we love? 

 . . .since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

What is our motivation to LOVE? God first loved us! (1 John 4:19) Even while we were His enemies . . . He loved us! (Romans 5:8) God IS love. (1 John 4:8) We are made in His image (Genesis 1:27) so we have a desire to love and to be loved.

Does this change in any way your idea of LOVE?

Valentine Week 2015 : How do we love?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 (Corinthians 13:4-7)

Read the verses again . . . LOVE is much different from God's point of view!

A simple question today: How do 'ya love? 

Valentine's Week 2015: Who do 'ya LOVE?

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. (1 John 3:11)

Here's a thought from my reading this morning . . . "I used to think being loved was the greatest thing to think about, but now I know love is never satisfied just thinking about it." (Bob Goff)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)

We hear it often: Love is a verb as well as a noun. Loving someone is a bit different than being in love.  One may not always feel as though they are in love or being loved, but we as CHRIST-followers are always called to love.

Who do 'ya LOVE?

A Joy-Filled Weekend!

Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor . . .The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.  There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan  that can succeed against the Lord.  The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord. (Proverbs 21:21,29-31)

It's tough walking with the Lord and trying to live a righteous life. Imagine being young and attempting this . . .It's really rough on our youth! Whatever we can do to set the example for them, to encourage them, to show we care is so helpful.


They need us in their lives . . . even when they push away. We need to gently push back!  Engage them in love! I really like how John the Elder addresses his followers as dear children . . .

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. (1 John 2:28-29)

We must show them the joy we have in striving to serve our God! But do we have that joy? Share it with the kids we hold dear!

Keep pushing forward . . . no going back!

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

I hear folks all the time believe it is normal to be a CHRISTian and accept the trivial sins . . . even deliberate sins in life. No guilt . . . no shame . . . no repenting. REALLY?

 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)

Jonathan Edwards once preacheed on falling into the hands of an angry God. I think we need that kind of preaching today! I don't know about you, but I still fear the God who saved me. Yes, I love Him dearly, but I keep a healthy fear and I strive to be sinless. I do  not want to  to disregard all He has done for me. We need to hold one another accountable! God deserves it!!!

Who Knows What Is Right?

He guides the humble in what is right  and teaches them his way.  All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful  toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.  For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. (Psalm 25:8-15)

How are we possibly to know where to turn today? So many suggestions. . . so many classes . . . so many diets . . .so many groups! Everybody you meet has a new plan, a new book, or a new idea.

I have an idea . . . why not follow God's plan . . . HIS plan for each of us! (Jeremiah 29:11)

 Well, to know His plan we must know Him! Without faith in Him, it is impossible to know Him, or to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6)


Do YOU know Him? Will you commit to HIS ways? In this case, the original plan is still the best plan!

I don't care what people think!

   “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)

I don't care what people think. God knows my heart and He knows me! What I do is between me and God!


Ever hear that attitude? Is it right? Is it proper coming from a Christ-follower? Read on . . .

  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God  even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

Though we are free in Christ and not under "The Law" as were the Hebrews, we still are responsible for the influence we have over others; believers and non-believers alike! What we do in public (and private for that matter) can in fact sway a person to Christ or away from Him.

Let's think about our actions. Like the old saying: "Actions speak louder than words!"

Just tell me what to do!

 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (Deuternomy 10:12-13)

 Just tell me what to do and I will do it! I believe this is what most teenagers what to hear today. Just give 'em some boundaries. We all need to know what is out of bounds, especially our children! Even the champions of this world have been known to "cheat". People are skirting the rules all around us. Are we living by the rule book . . . the BIBLE?

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

In a world where wrong is right and right is wrong, are we surprised that our kids are confused?  It's challenging enough for a mature adult! Jesus Himself made it very simple when asked how one should live;

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

A friend from New Orleans once told me this: "Love God with all you got and love people 'til you drop"! Advice for the CHRIST-follower to live by . . .