Whats It All About?

Dear Shawn, There were a couple of questions -- very critical questions -- that you asked Wes Huff during your interview with him a few weeks ago. If I may be so bold, I wanted to follow up with some additional comments and scripture. I myself have asked these same questions many times, and I feel like most followers of Christ do. It is vital to our faith to pay attention to what we believe about the heart of our Father in these critical areas.  This compels me to expand a bit, using scripture, on the topics you asked Wes about. I am neither a scholar or linguist, but simply a lay-teacher and believer. Hopefully my years of study, my personal experiences, and my insight will be of some help as you (and all believers) wrestle with these topics. On a personal note, my background is in the military as well, and am grateful for your service. Your journey to faith is of great encouragement to me.     Question 1 (paraphrase): What is the point of living like a Christian…all you...

Notes adapted from a sermon by Pastor Keith Waggoner at Grace Bible Church in Nampa, ID. This is a popular song that is sung around the Christmas season:   Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King… I'm sure you have heard this song many times. ...Let earth receive her king... Have we really?  Has the earth received her King?  It would seem that for much of the world, the answer is no. Whether consumed by evil, false teachings, or just plain hedonism, the world, for the most part has not received the King. During the Christmas season, the analogy of giving and receiving gifts is relevant to consider. It’s interesting to think about the concept of receiving a gift. You can see a gift, hold it, know about it, even open it up (as in a present, for example).  However, until you actually use it and make it part of your life, you really haven’t truly received it.  The same is true about the knowledge of Jesus. Seeing, holding (in your mind),...

One of the most asked questions is what will happen when I die?   Will I stand before the thrown of God and give an account of all I have done in life, in hopes it will be good enough to get into heaven? This can be very disconcerting and a stressful mentality from which to base your world view.  I don’t believe this is what the Bible teaches. But rather, we have someone who is advocating for us.   And when we align our lives with Him, we can rest in peace and assurance of what is to come. First let’s go through some background in scripture about how we find ourselves in the predicament of needing a Savior. The Bible says in Romans 3:23-24. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory… And in Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death… Think about the word reconcile for a minute.    It means to bring back into harmony and peaceful coexistence. You see, our sin and wrong-doing separated us from God. All of us are less than perfect.  In other wor...

Prayer. "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19. Prayer is the most essential part of any Christian life. It should come as no surprise that I make this claim, when you look at the life of Jesus, and how many times he withdrew to a solitary place, or fasted and prayed and spent time speaking to his Heavenly Father. There are several Bible stories about Jesus extracting himself and praying. Luke 5:16 says “But Jesus often withdrew to...