End of the World!!!!!!!!

I was going to take a shot at Harold Camping and his mathematical system he created to delve into the mysteries of the Bible that had today as the Judgement Day.  But instead I will ask this question instead...If it really was the end of days do you know FOR SURE  where you would go? Heaven? Hell? Wal-Mart greeter in purgatory?  Drummer for an all girls polka band? 


Salvation is the only way to live for eternity with our Lord in heaven.


Romans 3:23   All have sinned.
A sin is anything we do wrong, anything we do that is disobedient to God. This is one reason we should read our bible so we understand what is sin and what isn't.

Romans 6:23    The wages of sin is death
The death being spoken of here is not physical death but it is separation from God for eternity in Hell.

Romans 5:8      Jesus paid the penalty for your sin.
God sent his one and only Son to die for YOU on a cross so that you may be forgiven of your sin.

Romans 10:9-10    Believe in the Lord Jesus and the salvation provided through Him.
It's simple all you have to do is believe that Jesus is God's Son and he was sent to die for YOU upon a cross and confess with your mouth and believe with your heart.

Romans 10:13   Everyone who calls on the name of te Lord will be saved.
All you have to do is pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins and you must repent of (or turn away from) your sin.


Now the end of the world has no fear for you, you now know your final destination.

Salvation Verses

Easter

A little late but...

HE HAS RISEN INDEED

Prospective Shift Two

I was having coffee today with a Pastor had I have just met from another church in my area. He is a part of Chicagoland Transformation Fellowship(CTF) which is a group of pastors and Churches that pray and ask God for his blessings and correction in local government (Aldermen, Public Works employees, Police Officers and yes even firemen-may they stub their toes in their next on duty beach volleyball game). I had never heard of anyone setting out to pray regularly for local government unless it was an election. This is a much needed and excellent method for Christians to positively affect their communities. But then again I digress.

I have been in this profession long enough that I reflexively interview people that I do not know. Somewhat suspicious of this Pastor (Officers are paid skeptics)for no other reason than I had never met him in person before, I was asking him questions to get information out of him to see if he was on the level and providing him with as little information about me as possible...all of this happening before I was even conscious of it. Anyway, he provided me with his testimony.

Now most testimonies are very similar with a narrative that begins with too much alcohol, sex, drugs, jail, violence, etc, you then decide you hate your life and everyone around, Jesus finds you in the gutter and you start your walk as a forgiven saint. This is where he threw me down, mentally, and provided me with a prospective shift. What he said was, "I enjoyed my life (pre-salvation), I enjoyed the drugs, I enjoyed the alcohol and I enjoyed the sex. I was happy with my life and did not feel compelled to change anything".

Yet because a co-worker began witnessing to him while he was at work, he started asking the questions, accepted the Lord and never went back to the list of sins he had been committing. He had not fallen into the gutter, God had not removed all the support in his life, he had not suffered any profound affects of sex, drugs and alcohol. God found him where he was at and convicted him before the final blow came.

I always conceptualized our path as sin that was pleasurable, that turns to suffering, then redemption and the Holy Spirit's aid in removal of this sin from our lives. It never occurred to me that God (and of course he can) can convict and remove sin while it still was pleasurable. What hope! We do not have to wait till we suffer the consequences of our actions before we can repent and move on. I have always become convicted of an area where I have fallen into sin, only when it has turned from pleasure into pain. Now I have a chance to turn pleasurable sin into forgiveness and extinction of the action/thought from my life. What a wonderful chance to return to the straight and narrow path in a few steps, rather than returning, bleeding, cut and numb and tired from walking in all the circles. How much more can God's plan be carried on with more steps upon his path.

Christian Rock

I have been very very busy at work and have fallen off my target of two posts a week. However now that my master's program has concluded I should have the time to stay on target.

Carol and I have begun attending Christian concerts on a fairly regular bases in the last year or so because of our discovery of: Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me and the News Boys. Carol and I and a bunch of our couple friends have attended a number of concerts by these three bands. However at the last Christian music festival I was talking to the other husbands, that while these three artists were our priority in selecting which concerts to attend, it would be nice to have a heavy metal/hard rock alternative. Well I think we have may have found one.

Brian Welch was a founding member of Korn and their lead guitarist, when he became addicted to crystal meth, hit bottom and found the Lord. I have listened to his album and I like it and we may going to the next local place he plays. I am approaching his recent works with caution because salvation is the greatest step but nevertheless the first step on a long road. Brian's got the "Matthew 11:28" tattooed to his neck and "Jesus" on his knuckles but like all of us he is a work in progress that I hope provides a lasting positive influence on Christian heavy metal but then again may falter.

Here is the article in the Chicago Tribune where I found out about his conversation.

Ex-Korn guitarist Welch navigates his new path
Louis R. Carlozo, Tribune reporter
October 6, 2008
In the heavy rock band Korn, Brian "Head" Welch provided the guitar attack for a collective whose lyrics ranked among the raunchiest around. Then Welch found God, became a Christian and left the top-selling act. In Chicago to promote his debut solo album "Save Me From Myself" (Driven Music), Welch talked about his new path, old bandmates and the trials of not fitting in to any musical camp:

Q Have you shared what's going on in your Christian life with your former Korn band mates?

A They all know what happened to me. One of the other guys in the band actually got saved too; he's just working within the band. But for me it was like, 'I'm out, I've gotta go.' I want to give everything that I am, I want to have that resurrected life. And that's just so good. So they understand where I'm coming from. But I don't really talk to them. I talked to them last summer and we were going to hook up but it didn't really happen. I'm just doing my own thing and they're doing theirs; they wish the best for me and I wish the best for them.

Q How are you tackling the challenge of getting your music exposure? I'm sure it was much easier in Korn than it is now.

A You know if Korn puts out an album, they'll get play on every radio station, the best radio stations. I put out mine and it's a struggle, it's a fight. Some stations are really cool. They're playing it a little bit here on Q101, but some stations are just like, 'No thanks.' Maybe because they know what happened to me and they think maybe 'That's it.'

Q You say you're trying to provide an alternative by making very heavy music, but with a positive message. Tell us about that.

A I was one of those kids who was just not happy in my own skin. I drank and did drugs all the time. You call it fun, but the real reason you do it is that you don't like yourself, and you're just trying to escape, because you want to be happy and feel good. The whole thing about God was my eyes were opened, and I want to do anything I can with my power and my gifts to open as many eyes as I can. My message is, 'Don't listen to me, go try talking to God yourself and trying to change your life, and you're going to believe.'

Q Have you listened to much Christian music?

A It just seems like the Christian radio stations, it's all one type of music. I guess it's made for praise and worship. But it seems like there's this one group of bands that they play over and over, and I just wish they'd expand more—especially the Christian media too.

Q It seems you're misunderstood in the Christian world.

A I've got a new video out on my website, and it's really raw. It's about drugs and flesh, and there are girls in it who are sensual with each other, and they're playing with this pink powder that's supposed to symbolize drugs. I've gotten comments on my site that are saying, 'How could you show that stuff?.' When I saw my video, I was like that too: 'Can I do this?' I'm a Christian but I got over it. I like to be shocking, not for the sake of it, but to show people what's going on. I'm not called to be a Sunday school teacher. I want to bring a message and use the media as much as I can, and I don't want to sugarcoat it. The cheese has to go.

Link to his Web site (cut n paste): http://www.brianheadwelch.net
His book: http://www.amazon.com/Save-Me-Myself-Found-Kicked/dp/0061251844