Using a Fraudulent Resume to get into Heaven

Revelation 20:12 "...The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books."

When we reach the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Book of Life is opened we will be perpetrating a fraud. The Son of Man, seated at His Father's right hand will tell the whole world that there is nothing written in the Lambs Book of Life and that we have lived a blameless life. "Well done, my good and faithful servant" will reach our ears but we will know it's a lie. We will stand there silent - not protesting the obvious miscarriage of justice because we are getting off scott free. We will know that our resume contains all sorts of vile and despicable acts. But where are they in the Book? We listen to the list of degrading acts done by others before us and watch them being cast in the lake of fire. Some of the things they did weren't anywhere near as bad as what we did, were they? Why is my page blank?

The voice will tell me to step inside. The rags I will be wearing when I arrive will be replaced. The illnesses I have carried around with me for so many years will be gone. I don't deserve to be here, I will say.

But then, that hand, the one with the nail scars will take me by the shoulder and say - But, I forgave you when I paid your fare. Follow along and you will see the place I went to prepare for you.

Wilkie Nunn, Pastor, Downsville Church of the Brethren

On Your Mark!

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, 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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him 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 sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

At the crack of the pistol we are off and running! Second place just doesn_t cut it. After all, second place is just the first loser! We are raised and it is our innate nature to compete, to strive to win! When scripture tells us to run the race for Jesus, we are off and running like the hare against the tortoise! But, we must realize that this race isn_t about coming in first place! After all, I remember reading somewhere that the first will be last and the last will be first!

Our race of faith is one of endurance with eyes fixed on Jesus! Sometimes the day_s race may find us going in the opposite direction we ran yesterday, but if we are truly fixing our eyes on Christ, that is the direction we are to go. And when we look at the other runners in the race, they should all be Jesus. Some runners are behind us, some beside us, and some ahead of us. If we are running to beat the others to the goal, we have already lost the race. Look at the race Jesus ran to the cross for each one of us. His eyes were firmly fixed on the Father. Let our eyes remain on Jesus. He won by perseverance and endurance, even unto death. Let us endure and persevere, even unto death. When the obstacles of sinful man lay before His feet, He remained on the course, the will of God. Let us not grow weary of the obstacles of sinful man either and remain on course.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

To finish the race is to keep the faith, not for riches, honor, or glory to be bestowed upon us, but because of the riches, also called grace and mercy, we have already received from and in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Running with you,

Jeffrey Cole

Who do you think Jesus was?
Who do you think Jesus is?

Some of you today may have a problem with the concept that Jesus could be both human and God. To doubt that means that you doubt that God has the capacity to be more than He appears to be on the surface.

Was He human?

He walked this earth, leaving footprints in the dust just as we do. He developed blisters and calluses learning his trade as a carpenter. He left fingerprints on his work – Forensic evidence that he was a man.

Was He God?

He healed the sick and left more than fingerprints on them. He brought sight back to the blind and left more than fingerprints on them He gave the lame back their hands and legs and left more than fingerprints on them. He raised the dead and left more than fingerprints on them.

He left an indelible imprint of the GOD on them

We also know of this Galilean that

He died for our sins

His blood washed us clean.

He was himself raised from the dead – the one event that seals the door against any doubts as to who He really was and who He really is.

The one event we will gather to celebrate at Easter. This is the one event that makes Him different from every man or woman born of woman on this planet.

Yes, He left fingerprints and footprints behind. Those have long been erased by time. He left His Blood behind and that will only be erased when time ends. That will only be erased when we see Him standing on a cloud in the Eastern skies. That will only be erased when we hear the trumpet, when the earth and heaven we know have been replaced. As it says in Revelation 21: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…”

Wilkie Nunn, Pastor, Downsville Church of the Brethren

Hold on to it!

John 8: 31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

No matter what else you do after you have come to believe and confess Jesus as your personal Savior, hold to His teaching! Never let it go or let it slip from your grasp! Even when you are caught in the storms of doubt or in the heat of battle with the enemies of heaven hold on to it! Why? Why should you hold on to it you may ask? Do you believe you can walk upright and righteously any time apart from Christ? What happened when Peter commenced walking on the water with Jesus and let go of His teaching? At the very moment he let go, he began to sink!

Hold on to Jesus’ teaching for your life’s sake! His blood did not wash away your sins so that you could then take off on your own once again! No! Don’t you know as soon as you turn away your foot will stumble and you will once again fall into the muck and mire of iniquity.

Oh, the three glories of holding on to His teaching; discipleship, truth, freedom. To be a disciple is to be at His side every step of the way. Did not Peter, John, and the other disciples remain by Jesus’ side the entire time? So must we if we are to become His disciples. And as they too did not understand at the first His teachings and the truths he spoke, the longer they held on to those teachings the clearer the truth became! To know the truth we must hold on to Jesus’ teachings even when they are mysteries we cannot understand! In holding on to His teachings more and more clearly the truth will be made known to us! And when we know the truth by holding on to Jesus’ teachings we will be set free!

Free from our sins, free from death’s grip, free from the bonds of slavery at the hands of men! Though Paul was in prison on this earth many times, he was never imprisoned and always a free man because he held on to the teachings of Christ! To be free is to know the truth, to know the truth is to be a disciple, and to be a disciple is to have held on to the teachings of Jesus Christ! May you never let it go! Amen!

Free at last, Jeffrey Cole

Spiritual Health Insurance

One of the hot topics in the news is health care. Many politicians call for the reform of the current method of providing health care to everyone. When did going to the doctor become providing health care? Somewhere along the way the terminology changed and health care added new terms to our lives like HMO, PPO, co-pay, prescription card and family deductible.

One health insurance plan has not succumbed to the market pressures. One health insurance plan has remained unchanged for centuries. The Creator of the Universe still makes house calls. The Great Physician works round the clock. There is no co-pay. You get to choose your own doctor and stay with Him for as long as you live. At that point, and not any sooner, you go see Him in His office. There is no waiting room there. There are People magazines from last year at His office.

Turn to Spiritual Health Insurance today. Turn to prayer right now. Bring down the full power of the Great Physician to heal your loved ones and friends by the simple act of asking.

Prayer is the most powerful tool we have in the fight for spiritual, emotional and physical health. It is free. There is no waiting period to join the plan. Open enrollment was invented by God the Father!

The doctor you drive to see makes you wait and then hurries through the examination in order to get on to the next patient. The Great Physician comes to you and takes as long as you need. The Great Physician still makes house calls – all you have to do is ask.

Wilkie Nunn, Pastor, Downsville Church of the Brethren

Mr. Magoo

1 Corinthians 13: 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

When we first read scripture we do so with eyes like Mr. Magoo! It is as clear as mud as far as what our hearts see through our farsighted eyes! No matter how many times you read it, you shall still see but a poor reflection, only see shadowy objects that are indiscernible and make little or no sense!

When our poor eyes start to fail us, unlike Mr. Magoo, most of us go to the eye doctor and get corrective lenses. To see God more clearly, we must go to the eye doctor which is Jesus Christ! John 9:11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."

Oh Jesus! How I need Lasik surgery from you this very day! I want to see you face to face! To see you with mine eyes, I must first see you with mine heart! How can I enter the gates of heaven if I first don't swing open the gates of my heart to see you? Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you!

Hypocrites cannot see far past their own nose due to the log in their eyes. How quickly we are to judge, criticize, and condemn our friends and neighbors! Look first in the mirror at your own reflection not with the eyes of Mr. Magoo, but with the eyes of an eagle that soars closer to the heavens!

May the scales fall from your eyes and the mysteries of God become clearer and clearer! Though you see now but a poor reflection, I pray you will soon see face to face!

Seeing IS believing,

Jeffrey Cole