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| 25 Reasons Why I Might Not Go to Church |
| The church is comprised of people. While we are, to an important extent, accountable for each other and to each other, we must be aware salvation is ultimately an individual matter; that is, we are saved on a one-by-one basis. Though as members of the church we are interdependent, we must not be co-dependant. We must understand that we do not save ourselves or even each others. It is God who saves us as we individually submit to Him. Salvation is about a person making a personal decision for Jesus, and there is nothing that the church can do that will guarantee that this will occur... Read Sermon |
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| A Matter of Survival |
| We have no trouble letting the doctor do an MRI on us when we are having an unbearable pain in our back or some other part of our body. Why don’t we let the Word of God do an MRI on our souls so that we might be healed of the sins that so easily beset us and which are in fact destroying not only our future salvation but all that is precious and meaningful in the present?.. Read Sermon |
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| Addressing the Concerns of the Genuinely Concerned |
| In the days of Jesus there were, as there are today, what we might call "the liberals" and "the conservatives." The liberals in Jesus' church were called the Sadducees and the conservatives were called the Pharisees. The other day I was reading where Jesus was saying to His disciples one day, "...beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." It occurred to me that in the twenty-first century He might have said, Beware the influence of the liberals and the conservatives. I hadn't thought of it that way before, but I thought that was an interesting way to look at it. Jesus was saying, look out for the extreme points of view... Read Sermon |
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| An Interview With the Boss |
| "If in the past we were doing the right things for the wrong reasons. We now run the risk of doing the wrong things for whatever reason. The devil is a liar. He is telling us in effect that he wants us to be saved. He is telling us that he has a relationship with Jesus and of course he does but he doesn’t go on to tell you that he hates him and you too. The devil wants us to believe that he wants us to be happy but that is a lie. He is telling us that he wants our youth to be saved but that is a lie too.".. Read Sermon |
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| An Interview With the Boss |
| "There is no doubt in my mind. Satan has for all intents and purposes joined the church. He is now committed to the "finishing of the work". But his idea of finishing the work is not our idea of finishing the work. So unfortunately when we hear the words 'save the lost' or 'save our young people' or 'have a relationship with Jesus', we sign on the dotted line no questions asked.".. Read Sermon |
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| Can There Be Unity in Diversity? |
| "My wife and I are diverse in many ways. The union that we have developed during these forty years is not unity in diversity but rather unity in spite of diversity. I am convinced that we are shooting ourselves in the head if we are going to continue to emphasize our diversity the way that we have been doing in recent years.".. Read Sermon |
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| Can We Agree to Disagree |
| "Being an Adventist should be not only about the way we believe but it should also convert into the way we live. But little by little being an Adventist, for many, is becoming less and less about the way we live and more and more like the popular culture around us. And inasmuch as our theology is ultimately a reflection of our personal morality, our theology is being changed to reflect the reality of our lives"... Read Sermon |
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| Can We Agree to Disagree |
| "Is it possible for us to be a viable entity when we no longer believe the same 27 doctrinal beliefs? Or if we say we do believe but then have 10,000 ways of interpreting what they mean? Shall we just get used to it, institutionalize our diversity of doctrinal interpretation, and simply celebrate our differences? If an army fought its battles in a non-united manner, would not their declared enemy easily win?".. Read Sermon |
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| Can We Agree to Disagree |
| "In the past those who didn't agree with what the church taught or who didn't live up to the standards kept themselves in what might be called "the closet". Perhaps that was better than what we have now. Nowadays those who don't believe in the doctrines of the church are prominent and active".. Read Sermon |
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| Can We Make the Gospel Simple? |
| "To say, 'Have a relationship with the Lord and let the Spirit lead', would be almost like saying that in order to drive the car all you have to do is turn the key.".. Read Sermon |
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| Characteristics of True Obedience |
| "I believe that God judges a person in relationship to who the person is and where he is coming from. God does not hold us all equally accountable. The standard by which a first grader gets A's would, if applied strictly to a person studying for a PhD, be absurd. In the same way the standard that applies to a PhD candidate would completely crush a first grader. Obedience must be seen from God's point of view. He says, To him who knows to do good and doesn't do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). In other word's, a person is held accountable by God according to the light he has. Does this mean ignorance is bliss? Not at all. I will say more about that later.".. Read Sermon |
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| Characteristics of True Obedience |
| "It seems to me that a student who is trying to get 100% but missed a few points is different from the student who says that he doesn't care and is just trying to get by. In the same way there is an enormous difference between the person who prays everyday to be obedient and the person who believes that obedience is unimportant or unattainable. The obedient Christian is always sensitive to his failures and mistakes and by prayer and the engrafting of the Word of God by the Holy Spirit he is ever pressing on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.".. Read Sermon |
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| Coloring Outside the Lines |
| "When you encourage 'coloring outside the lines' where more and more people young and old no longer believe that God created the earth in seven days then the cry to color outside the lines is like saying "sic 'em" to a dog.".. Read Sermon |
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| Compassion |
| "I mentioned something not long ago about my concern that society ought not legitimize what God has declared is illegitimate and accept what God has cursed namely the practice of sodomy. After the service a person expressed that I didn't sound compassionate. Compassion is being used in some quarters like a club to beat down the voices that would call for morality and protection of family values.".. Read Sermon |
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| Compassion |
| "A person who doesn't understand that cancer is fatal cannot have true compassion for its victims. A person who does not appreciate the suffering and despair that comes from poverty cannot have compassion for the poor. A person who does not accept that the wages of sin is eternal death, cannot have true compassion for the sinner.".. Read Sermon |
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| Danger of Prayer |
| "I believe that if we pray outside the context of the revealed word of God we must be careful about the answers to prayer that come along... Read Sermon |
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| Death of Truth |
| "The concept out there that truth is how you see it or interpret it is ridiculous and cannot be true anymore than a person can say that one is the same as one million.".. Read Sermon |
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| Effective Prayer |
| "Whenever we pick up the Bible to read, it should always be with only one purpose and that is to obey. I wish it could be understood by all that the Spirit of Prophecy was given to this church not to mess up our lives but to keep us from messing up. There are hundreds of Christian religions and sects that claim to follow the Bible. The Spirit of Prophecy, contrary to the belief of some, is not the problem in the church. The problem is that we have decided to go it alone, that we don’t need the counsel given. But it is a jungle out there in the religious market place. The Scripture itself tells us of those in the last days that, because they would not believe the truth, God gave them over to a delusion that they might believe a lie and be damned. And here is the point: a person who continues to pray and yet is knowingly disobedient to the obvious will of God is either in trouble or headed for trouble in their spiritual life. How can we know the will of God? We should start from the obvious. As they say, When in doubt, read the directions.".. Read Sermon |
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| Excuse Me If I Reminisce |
| "While we are on the subject of worship let me share some other concepts. I don’t need to tell you there is private worship and there is what we call corporate worship. Private worship is about me and God. Corporate worship is not about me and God it is about us and God. So much of the new praise music is “I” this or “I” that. I think some a lot of the new music is beautiful and it touches my emotions, yet it would be better if instead of using the word “I” so much it would used the word “we”. I am not trying to be nit- picky. It is just that the society we live in is so much about me, myself, I and mine." "The Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ. Strictly speaking the church is not about me it is about us. Though it is I who go to church when I get there I must understand that my worship is about God not about me and that it is not just me who is worshiping but us. You will understanding where I am coming from when you think about it. “I” is separateness, “We” is togetherness. The gospel meets us in separateness and brings us to togetherness.".. Read Sermon |
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| Excuse Me If I Reminisce |
| "The packaging of a product either represents the product or misrepresents it. What something is packaged in either protect its purity or it can allow it to be contaminated. Packaging the pure gospel of Jesus in rock music, rap, clowns and puppets is mixing the sacred with the profane, the holy with the unholy. If we can learn something from the worship in the sanctuary service in the Old Testament it is that true worship requires purity and preparation.".. Read Sermon |
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