Another person once told me that the Bible contains errors and flaws.  This person said they believed the Biblical text had been altered.  From over 24,000 original manuscripts of the books of the Bible we have, we know that the original (Greek and Hebrew) text have NOT been altered.  If someone, somewhere along the line altered the translation of the original text, I believe that one of the thousands of scholarly translators would have caught an altercation in texts by now.  We have more manuscripts of books of the Bible than any other book on this planet.  The books of the Bible have been translated more than any text in the history of this world.  So, the Bible being flawed or containing errors is NOT a valid argument.

Both of these people told me they believe God speaks to them in prayer, visions, and etc.  That’s great, and I believe God speaks to us in more ways that just the Bible.  However, we must not throw the Bible out, for we are easily deceived.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”  Obadiah 1:3 says, “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you”.  God gave us His word (the Bible) so we can have instructions to follow.  When we become so arrogant to say that God’s word is “an idol of a dead book” or “God’s word to us contains errors or flaws”, we have been deceived by our own heart!  Man’s heart is evil all the time!  Genesis 6:5 states, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.  If our hearts are continually evil and easily deceived, why would we trust only our hearts?  God has given us HIS WORD (the Bible) as a guide to help us understand and know Him and what He desires for us!  God’s word (the Bible) is infallible and inerrant!  Our hearts are continually evil!  Do not be deceived, God gave us His word (the Bible) to teach us how to live our life, and to know Jesus is the Savior of the world.  Read the Bible, believe the Bible, and live by the Bible.

James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

As the news of his death hit me, I began to evaluate myself.  I asked myself questions like:  What did he see in me?  Did he see my frustrations with him?  Did he see when I became angry?  Did he see me losing hope? or, Did he see Jesus in me?  Did he see love?  I honestly do not know what he saw in me.  There were times when I would become frustrated, and there were times when I felt angry towards him.  I know that I loved him enough that I wanted him to come to know Christ, but did he see that!?

We are to be salt and light!  Salt to a tasteless people, and light to a dark world.  Are we as Christians being a tasteful light?  Are we doing our part to let people know there’s a better way to find satisfaction?  I will never again be able to speak to this young man and reach him for Christ.  My opportunity for sharing Christ with him has come and gone (though I did share Christ with him on several occasions).  There is an urgency in sharing the love of Christ with people!  No one is guaranteed tomorrow.  Will you be a tasteful light and share the love of Christ with people?

Matthew 5:13-15

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Friendship with Jesus is not something we have to worry about.  Jesus calls us “Friend”!  He is such a great friend that He laid down His life for us!  It is a joy and a comfort to know that someone so amazing loves you and me so much.  There are no worries about whether or not Jesus will contact us back.  In fact, Jesus wants to talk with us daily.  It’s up to us to reach out to talk with Him everyday!

John 15:12-15

¹² “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends.”

Many times our life gets all out of whack and we work around the clock trying to fix the problems.  There’s a better solution – Jesus!  Jesus can restore our life just the way it needs to be restored.  How often does our life shift in the wrong direction and we keep trying to fix it by ourselves?  We need to learn that we cannot fix our lives.  Only Jesus can fully restore and fix us!  Jesus says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28  Only Jesus can give us the rest and restoration that we desperately need.

“⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”

When we look at the prayer that Jesus demonstrated for us, we can easily see that it is so much more about God’s will and not about our will!  When I read the example prayer that Jesus gave us, I see it saying “God’s will be done.”  Prayer is not bargain time, prayer is not “God I need a favor”,  and prayer is not about our personal gain.  Prayer is simply about God’s will being done in our lives and through our lives.  God will help us through when we need His help, but we must learn to pray in the right manner.  Also, we must learn that there is more to prayer than us talking.  Prayer is a lot about us listening to God as well.  How can we expect to carry on a conversation when we don’t listen?  God wants our full attention when He’s speaking.  He’s often speaking loud and clear; we’re just not listening.  I hope that all of us will make it a point to THINK about how we pray, CHANGE what we need to change in the manner in which we pray, and LISTEN to what God is telling us!  Will you join us in praying the way Jesus showed us?

James 1:22 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.

^{Ezekiel 12:25}

There are often times when we actually believe that God needs us to carry out His plan.  Do we not yet know and understand the sovereignty of God?  God will always do exactly what He says He will do!  When we try to impose our plans upon God’s plans, we will surely fail and God can not and will not use us.  The amount of talent that you have been given does not matter to God.  All that matters to God is your heart!  God will greatly use someone with no talents and a huge heart, but He will not use someone with many talents and no heart for His will.  God does NOT need you and your talents, but he WANTS you to use your talents for His will and His glory!  As part of a church plant, God is going to fulfill everything He has promised with or without the people He has brought to do the job.  I am amazed and awed at my Sovereign God!  The way He uses people with little talent to do huge things to help grow His kingdom is simply astounding!  There have been many times along the way where we forget how God is in total control and does not need us at all.  We say, “How is this going to happen without ____?”  God says, “Oh you of little faith, sit back and watch!”  Come be a part of what God has promised He will do here at The Grove Church!  It’s an exciting time to see how God works.  We get to see His sovereignty each week, and nothing can compare to Him!

²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Since last week I have thought over and over about death.  Everyone here on earth has one thing in common:  we will all die to these physical bodies.  Last week, a good friend of mine lost his grandmother.  She was 82 years old, weak and feeble.  Also last week, someone I never met died.  Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player from UVA.  She was 22 years old, healthy and vibrant.  Though the circumstances for my friend’s grandmother and Yeardley Love’s death were very different, they have both met their appointment with death and have now faced the judgement.  Everything I have known and read about both of these individuals have indicated they were both amazing people.  Both were kindhearted and strong women who loved other people.  I pray that both of these women had a relationship with Jesus Christ for our works cannot save us when we reach the judgement seat.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  I believe each of these women’s lives meant something!  I believe we can learn from both of them.  I believe both of them taught us how to live our life, and I believe both have taught us something about death.  It is my prayer that the lives these women lived touch the hearts of people everywhere and through their deaths many will come to a relationship with Jesus Christ! 

So here’s the best part about death.  Christ was sacrificed unto death, but overcame death so that we can be saved from our sins (sin is what causes us to die in the first place).  For those of us who trust in Christ to save us; we will live!  We will die to this physical body, but we will live eternally.  I think back to November when my grandmother was put to rest.  What a blessing to know for certain that she had a relationship with Jesus Christ!  It was so much easier to say goodnight to her than it would have been to say goodbye.  I know I will see my grandmother again one day.  It hurts to lay a loved one to rest and not be able to speak to them and see them everyday.  However, it’s comforting to know that they are living with Jesus!  It’s soothing to know that they are not in pain and do not struggle.  How I long for the day that the troubles of this world pass.  I know when I die, I will enter into a better place because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ!  It’s amazing to know that Jesus died so that my friend’s grandmother can live, Yeardley can live, my grandmother can live, you can live, and I can live!  The lives of each of these people have meant something!  Maybe it was to show you how to live.  Maybe it was to help you think deeper about what happens after death.  Please think about death and what happens when you die.  This life on earth is temporary.  We don’t even know when our time is up.  Although this life is temporary, when we die life becomes eternal.  Only through the grace of Jesus will we spend eternity with Him!  Where will you spend eternity and why will you spend it there?

I often wonder just how many “Christians” would be considered a double agent.  I’ve grown up in church my whole life.  I’ve seen “Christians” come to church, put on their mask, leave, and take their mask off outside the doors of the church.  I personally consider these “Christians” a double agent Christian because they are NOT loyal to Jesus Christ!  If these “Christians” were ever captured and given the choice of life by denial of Christ or death by upholding His name, they would most certainly choose life by denial of Christ!

I pray that we are not double agent Christians!  I pray that we are the type of Christians that are honest about our lives, our struggles, and our problems.  As a church, we are family!  Family should be people that you depend on to give you honest advice, lift you up, and encourage you.  Earlier I mentioned that I have grown up in church my whole life and I’ve watched the way “Christians” in the church have lived their lives.  Well, God has given me the privilage to be a part of this church plant at The Grove Church.  God’s vision for this church is for us to reach the unchurched – the lost!  All praise to God, that is exactly what we have been doing!  Through this, I’ve seen people with problems come to know Christ!  Although they have come to know Christ, they still have problems in their lives just as we all do.  The only difference between these new believers and the “Christians” I watched in church my whole life is the simple fact that these new believers are not double agent Christians!  These new believers would uphold the name of Christ if put in a situation which they must decide.  I have witnessed people come into this church, give their life to Christ, take off their mask, acknowledge their struggles, leave the church with encouragement, tell others about Christ throughout the week, and come back to church the next week to find more encouragement and hope!  This is how we should live our life!  Christianity is about living your life for Christ EVERY DAY and not just Sundays!  I pray that we are not double agent Christians!  Live your life for Christ each and every day!

¹⁶This 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.

I am always amazed at how much Christ loves us ALL!  I couple of years ago, I worked at a home for at-risk youth.  I honestly had no idea how much love (the correct kind of love) and discipline (the correct kind) these kids needed.  These youth came from all different backgrounds:  drug abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, neglection, and the list just goes on and on.  Through working with these youth, sometimes they would take their frustrations and anger out on me.  Let me just inform you…1 year before working with these youth, I worked as a repo man.  So I’ve been cussed and screamed at:  no big deal!  Well, when some of these youth would take their frustrations and anger out on me (for nothing I’ve done except try to love them) I heard words I didn’t hear as a repo guy felt my ear drums build so much pressure that I really thought they might just bust!  One day I was dealing with this one youth that I spent a lot of time trying to break through to him.  At one point I thought:  I think I’m making a difference in this guy’s life.  Well this particular day, this guy blew up on me like a bomb in an elevator!  I felt every muscle in my body begin to strain, my fist begin to clinch tight, and my head feel like it was going to explode when all of the sudden something made me think of Christ!  Immediately, my ears did not hear this kid anymore and my thoughts began to think of speaking to my Savior (Jesus).  I can remember saying:  “Jesus, you have to remove me from this situation before I hurt this kid.”    Well, He did just that!  He removed me from the situation by this kid getting so frustrated with me ignoring him that he ran out of the house…thankfully!!!  As the rest of the day went on, I thought about my Savior and His love.

Jesus laid down His life for me, but He also laid down His life for this youth and other people just like him.  He laid down His life for the people that were screaming in His ear, cussing Him, and telling Him they wanted no part with Him!  He still loved them enough to die for them, even though they hated Him!  I began to think about if I truly had pity on these youth as they were in need of the correct kind of love and discipline in their lives.  I asked myself, “Am I showing these kids the love that Christ shows to me and to everyone else?”  My answer was no.  At this point, I began seeking to show these kids the love Christ showed me through my actions both when they would blow up on me and when they wanted to be my friend.  I’m proud to say that even to this day:  almost 3 years later, I still talk to these kids.  Yes, they still disappoint in a lot of ways.  However, I know I still disappoint my Jesus too, but He still loves me!  Make a difference in someone’s life by  showing them the love that Christ shows us all!