Be Patient...God Has Got "It" Covered!

A few years ago I took five months to preach verse by verse through the [Mathew 13] what you have in this blog is what I taught from this single verse [Matthew 13:26].

The point that I drove home in conjunction with the rest of the chapter was[When God created the universe and man He thought of everything…]
So Be Patient…God Has Got “It” Covered—Whatever Your “It” Is.

Opening Statement:

I want to begin this one verse sermon by saying that, “All of the basic entities of the universe and life are all covered by God.” From thermodynamics, matter, time and space, [which include the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the solar system] to the complexities of order, and biological systems, plants, animals, and human life itself [I want you to know that God has it all covered!] Including the marvels of the reproductive process, and the almost-infinite complexity of the genetic systems of plants and animals [I want you to know that God has it all covered!].
When God created the universe and man God thought of everything.

So the next time anything challenges your faith, remember that, “When God created the universe and you He thought of everything…

Regardless if anyone ever admits it or not, we are a people who like to fix things on our own…
When we run into trouble, or experience things that threaten us—we almost always try and fix things on our own…
And I don’t think in every case and situation it’s not that we don’t trust God, sometimes I think it’s that we don’t want to trouble God with things we think that we can handle…
But God wants us to take everything to Him [especially those things that threatens our walk with Him].
God is not concerned with the color of socks we walk around in, but He is concerned with our walk with Him…
So, if there is anything that threatens our walk with Him, He wants us to know that is worthy of us letting Him handled it… God is not surprised or threaten by anything that threatens us, and He wants us to know not only has He thought of everything, but He has everything covered that would seek to cripple our walk with Him…

When I think about God in creation and the attention that He gave to every detail to make sure that everything He planned for man, animals, and nature was covered, I can only conclude that our God is God…

When I think of the cycle of life, how the seas are contained, how the earth is preserved, how the solar system and the stars protect our way of life and give us constant information, along with navigational directions, it’s very easy for me to admit that when God created the earth He thought of everything…

When I think about how some bugs are food for some animals that become food for humans, I am more than impressed with God; I am humbled to know that I serve a God who has thought of everything…

When I consider that since the initial creation of everything that God hasn’t had to redo anything, because He thought of everything, it makes my being submissive and surrendered to Him and His will very easy to do.

When I read the prophecies and the promises within the Bible and see how each and everyone has come to pass just as God said, I not only know that God has everything covered, I know that things yet to be fulfilled will be fulfilled, because God has “it” covered as well.

*So my best advice to everyone about God, is to “Be Patient” not only has God got your “it” covered, He has thought of everything, and He is in control of everything—even the things you might be tempted to think that He can’t control. God’s sovereignty tells us and proves to us, that He is not only in charge of everything but that He has thought of everything before hand as well…

Context:

In this parable about weeds and wheat earlier we saw that the devil had sown in weeds/tares that looked like wheat, so that this particular farmer’s field of crop would either be completely destroyed, or at least very devalued…
In explaining this parable I have communicated that the symbols represented in this parable were...

The man is Christ (v.37).
The seed is believers, children of the kingdom (v.38).

The field is the world (v.38).

The enemy is the devil (v.39).
And the tares or weeds are the children of the devil (v.40).

So when we put all of that together what we can conclude is the work of the sower/the man which is [Christ] has been counter-worked by his enemy [the devil], by comingling his weeds which initially looks like wheat but is eventually discovered to be weeds.  

Observation: [READ VERSE and 24-25…]

Being a Christian is not automatic—Christians are the growth of seeds sown by Christ in the world…And Christ is not satisfied with Christians having ideas about God, or having the ability to teach/talk about God, His aim is what it has always been—growing souls… And what a harvest of crops looks like to Christ is not just thoughts, philosophy, and doctrines—but men and women of God.
With that being true, then bad men are like tares/weeds sown by the devil that manifest their mischief by living wicked amongst the righteous crop with the intent of not only crippling them, but corrupting them as well.

It is obvious by the language here that there were a whole lot of weeds that had been sown in amongst the wheat. Actually what the enemy did was over-sow the weeds with the wheat. And this wasn’t an accident; the amount of weeds the enemy sowed was deliberate. So, the enemy [the devil] was not trying to just threaten the farmer’s crop, he was not trying to just reduce the farmer’s crop. This enemy wanted to destroy the farmer’s crop… This wasn’t just a sick joke; this was intentional deliberate sabotage…

From this parable we see the personality of the devil and his complete hostility towards God…

This parable teaches us so many things that I probably shouldn’t attempt to number them, but for the sake of order—and interest let’s see look at—at least 12 things today—knowing full well that we won’t cover or consider them all…

1. …That evil will be present in the kingdom of heaven [which includes the church].
2. … That evil has a source and a duration [a specified time limit and then it must come to an end].
3. … That trying to forcibly expel evil is dangerous. Evil will be finally/fully exterminated one day.
4. … That the devil is patient when it comes to ruining us—why can’t we be patient when it comes to God preserving us?
5. … That every truth has a counterfeit. And the extreme length to which the devil goes to provide it.
6. … That there must be some distinguishing factors between us [the wheat] and them [the weeds]. This is not conclusive, but if the wheat won’t show it—then it will be hard for the world to know it.
7. … That when something of value is visible it exposes that which has no value at all.
8. …That weeds won’t be exposed if the wheat never grows or matures.
9. … That the enemies work won’t be seen immediately, but it will be seen eventually.
10. … That evil can only be discerned by spiritual judgment and expelled only by spiritual power.
11. … That the kingdom of heaven and the church universal and local has 2 kinds of imperfections………………
    (a.) the personal defects of the un-regenerated, (b.) the membership of un-regenerated people.
12. … That God’s people have to do something—so that it will be evident that the devil’s people are doing nothing…

Here are some examples of what God’s people have to do…

We who are “wheat” must show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…etc.
Because as we the “wheat” demonstrate these things that there is no law against, we make evident the deeds of the “weed” which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these…

Let me try and say that another way: [using the “when” and “then”] found in this verse.
As I have said on many occasions; “You can’t have a “then” if there has be no prior “when.”
The “then” means it wasn’t until “now” [after the “when-ness” of the wheat’s sprouting and baring grain] that the “weeds” were exposed. Before this “then” – “when” the “weeds” were so much like the young immature “wheat” it was hard to tell the difference-between the “weeds and the young immature wheat.”
So, this tells us that both truth and falsehoods [weeds and wheat] are not known by mere professions [in other words by their green blades or leaves], but the way that truth and falsehoods are discovered is by the flower or fruit…
Recently I was having a discussion with an elderly gentleman who still plants a garden every year, and he told me something that I had never considered although I had always saw it. He told me, “It doesn’t matter what you plant if it is a fruit or a vegetable that grows above ground—when it first breaks the dirt/soil, it’s going to come out as two green blades.”
Did you get that?

Initially everything looks the same [that’s the when-ness of it], but eventually as it grows and matures, it will be obvious to what it is [that’s the then-ness of it]. Watch this!He told me that’s is why when you plant something you take the empty package that the seeds came out of and put it on a stick in the garden so you’ll know what it is before it matures…  

When I say that God thought of everything/that God has us covered… I am speaking of just like with the “weed” and the “wheat” God thought of everything—God put something in us who are “wheat” that in not in those who are “weeds.”
Guess what that something is? THE HOLY SPIRIT….

The words evident also: they mean that God sees to it that the world knows what “wheat” is and how beneficial it is to them.
As well, God sees to it that the world knows what “weeds” are and how detrimental they are to any crop.

“When” wheat is doing what God designed it to do,
“Then” the weeds will be exposed for what they can’t do…

When I say that God has it covered that means that nothing is impossible with God….
Although in the natural world “weeds” can never become “wheat.” I am just glad that my God is not limited to the natural world…
But in the spiritual world we who once belonged to the dark world of “weeds” [can by the grace of God] be transplanted [if you will] into the bright kingdom of God, it a monumental task but God can do it without ruining us...Let me talk about how “weeds” and “wheat” get tied at the roots…When “weeds” are sown in with “wheat” it’s not long before they are inextricably mingled together

Even the closet scrutiny will often fail to detect the difference between the “weeds” and the “wheat.”
When both are young or less developed…
When “wheat” is not developed it’s not that it looks like “weeds”, it’s that “weeds” look like young/immature “wheat.”
In other words, there are many in the field who are not the Lord’s, yet they resemble those who are…
They go to church regularly, they pray, they read the Bible, just like Christians—but they are not wheat yet!
Some folk are shaped like a Christian, they have the make-up like a Christian, and they talk like a Christian, they hang out with Christians, they function like a Christian—but the fruit/grain, the substance of what makes them Christian is not there…
The failure and success of the seed is known by the quality of its fruit bearing…
No one can know someone’s heart until we can see their response to the gospel…
If the gospel produces in you holiness and love towards God and mankind “then we know” that there is good soil in you, but if a person only looks promising, but never performs—“then we know” that their soil is stony.

Summation:
So, Be Patient… *Patience is proven when you are in no rush to remedy or change your situation.
Be Patient… Sometimes we’re too quick to want to remedy/change our situation.
Be Patient… You don’t have to pull it, God will expose it, and then everyone will know what to expect from it [them].
Be Patient… It will work out—after awhile.
Be Patient… Trouble sometimes matures us.
Be Patient… Weeds can’t change the nature of wheat.
Be Patient… The weeds will be exposed—one day soon.
Be Patient… Counterfeit members even in the church can be changed into genuine and profitable members.
Be Patient… And careful in your discriminating—it’s hard to tell the difference between weeds and young wheat.
Conclusion:

Closing with Luke 22:31…Peter being sifted as wheat by Satan…

There was an occasion when presumptuous Peter wasn’t being patient, he must have thought that God had missed something, he must have thought that God didn’t have everything covered, because when Jesus was discussing His betrayal and His soon death, Peter shouted that—that would never happen, Peter also said, if he had to fight, go to prison, or die—no one would ever mistreat Jesus…
But, do you remember what Jesus, said to Peter, “He said, Simon, Simon the devil has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you…”

Listen, if you going to be used by God, you need to know that the devil is going to oppose whatever you do, but know this God has “It” covered, whatever it is…

"Your Minister ~ God's Messenger"

I am writing this as a pastor for members to remember that maybe your pastor is just another man to you, but if He’s truly called by God—in God’s eye your pastor is an angel. I am using [Revelation chapters 2-3; 3:22] as a support for the use of the word angel.
Although this may flow like a sermon, this is just my thoughts put to paper on how and what you should think about your pastor [if he truly recognizes the dignity of the office of pastor].

Let me begin by asking a question:

How many of you know that many churches have ministers who are not God’s messengers?
If you want to be able to distinguish a God-sent pastor from one who sent himself: Just listen at what he is saying, and not saying to the church. If he is not saying exactly what God said, (Preaching exposition ally from the Bible) then God did not send him.
Because if God sends Him, then he is only going to say, what God said…  “Are you listening to me?”
Listening with the intent to obey is becoming a lost art, [2 Tim.4:3].

There is a difference between listening and hearing… See, listening precedes hearing… You can listen without hearing, but you can’t hear without listening…
And God has given every one of His churches a god-called pastor with a message to hear… When people neglect to listen to their pastor, they cannot hear, and thus they contribute to their church not conforming to God’s perfect will for their church.

One thing every church needs is a preacher sent by God to listen to, and one thing every preacher needs is a church member to preach to… Both the preacher and the member can exist without each other—but they cannot become better without each other…

So to you your pastor may be just another man, but in God’s eyes he’s an angel!

The word angel means “messenger.” Angels act under the control of God’s command. Angels deliver the message of God, without changing it in anyway.
Angels protect the integrity of the written Word of God.

When we analyze the contents of these letters to these churches in the Book of Revelation, we will find that they constitute a message to churches today with similar challenges. I know you thought you attended the only church in town with problems, but the truth of the matter is every church in town has problems and challenges. (Why?) Well, what I’ve discovered about church and not just “our” church, is, the church [local assemblies] are full of problems because they are full of people with problems, and the only way you will ever get rid of all the church’s problems is by getting rid of all the people in the churches. Because, as long as your church has people in it, it will have problems in it. [1 Thessalonians 5:14-15] tells us that there will always be wayward people, worried people, weak people, wearisome people, and even wicked people in the church.

But God has given you an angel in the form of your pastor who knows what they are going through, to whom if you would listen to, he [the pastor] would be able to guide you through, around, under, and over your problems.

Let me just say this… The only reason why there are corporate problems in the church is because people haven’t resolved their personal problems at home…  Can I go further? The problems in homes stem from the problems in people’s hearts that live in the homes that make up the communities that go to the church.  “Are you still listening to me?”

Let’s look at a few of the churches and their problems…

The members in the Ephesus church in (2:4) had become a Loveless Church that had drifted away from its devotion to Christ. “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Pergamum church in (2:14) had become a Compromising Church by departing from the biblical faith and truth. Some of them had brought the things of the world in the church and no one in the church was willing to address it, even though they knew it was wrong. “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Thyatira church in (2:20) had allowed a false prophetess to cause their church to be an Immoral Church, and the only way you become comfortable with immorality is by practicing immorality… “Are you still listening to me?”

The members in the Sardis church in (3:1) had become a Dead Church that was only alive in name. They were not physically dead, they were spiritually dead. “Are you still listening to me?”

You might be thinking, “How can a church be dead, but alive?” Sardis… for example…

Light; - the nearest stars to us that give off the light we see in the night sky are trillions of miles away. Astronomers in their quest to explain the vast distances between us and the stars, came up with an appropriate measurement called the light-year. One light-year equals the distance that light, traveling at more than 186,000 miles per second, travels in one year; that’s more than 6 trillion miles. So with that information consider this, if a star thirty light-years away from the earth imploded and died five years ago, we would not be able to tell by looking at it for another twenty-five years. Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed….Well, this illustration perfectly sums up the situation in many churches today.
They still shine with the reflected light of a brilliant past. And since we only can look at them from a distance, one might think that the church is still shining and that nothing has changed.
When the truth is… the church imploded and died a long time ago.

They may still have a reputation [the church] but their light is only an illusion!

And lastly the members in the Laodicea church in (3:15 – 16) had become a Lukewarm Church, this church was filled with people who were not genuinely saved, but they didn’t openly reject the gospel either. They attended church and claimed to know the Lord but they didn’t. Listen, some churches make the Lord cry, others make Him angry; but this type of church makes God sick…
“Are you still listening to me?”

When you neither hot nor cold = you are unmoved by the gospel, and it evokes no spiritual response from you. Then you nauseate the stomach of Christ.

Listen, I don’t know much about much. But I do know, that if there’s anyone you don’t want to make sick (in the sense of being tired of what you’re putting down) it’s Christ.
“Are you still listening to me?”

Summary:

Think about it: The book of Revelation shows us that all hell will break loose when the church is removed from the earth. “Are you still listening to me?” 

If you want to assure that your church is hearing what the Spirit is saying to it, (first) protect your pastor’s time… (secondly)  pray for him daily… (and finally) Pay him at least three times a week…

Yes, I said “pay him.” And here’s how you do that.

Once a week you need to pay him double honor in salary, and at least twice a week “pay him” with your attendance at bible-study when he is teaching, and your attendance at church when he is preaching.

[Closing Illustration]

With all of the businesses in downtown Houston, many times during the day when one business needs to get information across town in hurry and it’s too much to fax, they call a messenger service. The service sends a messenger, “aka” courier who picks up the information and delivers it to the right person. The messenger’s only job is to deliver the message to the right person, without changing it in anyway.

Well,…  God the Father has a big business, and Jesus the Son runs it.

And everyday He’s trying get information to everyone in town, and it’s too much to fax, email, tweet, or blog, so Jesus uses a messenger service.

And these couriers called preachers, get the information and deliver it.
They have one job, and that’s to deliver the message without changing it.
We are not to mess with the message! We’re to just deliver the message…

Delivering the message consist of opening the Word of God and expounding on its truths so that the Voice of God may be heard, and the Glory of God seen, and the Will of God obeyed…

I know many times you might want your minister to change the message, but he can’t do that.

We cannot mess with the message!

(Why?) Because we are God’s messengers and not just your minister!

Don’t treat your mailman better than you treat your pastor.

You don’t quit on the mailman (the city’s messenger) when he delivers stuff you don’t want!

So don’t quite on your minister and God’s messenger when he delivers stuff you don’t want.

Random Q & A's for Pastor Boston

This is by no means all of, or just the only questions that I have been asked over the years as a pastor and teacher. But I decided to share with you through my blog some of the questions that I often get asked as people join or visit our church, or questions that people ask me when they find out that I am a pastor. I pray that by just reading through the questions I have been asked, and the answers that I have given, that they benefit you in your biblical understanding and bless you in your walk before a watching world.

Question…If God hates, will He hate me if I lie or will He hate the lie that I told?

Answer…[Proverbs 6:16-17] is just one of many verses that prove that God hates lying. Before I go any further with this answer you must know that just as God’s love is perfect, His hatred of things is perfect as well. Because we as humans can’t employ this, it is difficult for many of us to accept this. Now, as for God hating you or any person for that matter. God doesn’t hate the sinner; He hates the sin that the sinner commits, whether it’s lying, stealing, or even killing. God knows how to hate, just as He knows how to love, [perfectly].

Question…Is it wrong for me to have doubts about some of the occurrences in the Bible? I’m afraid of my doubts because they make me feel like a fraud?

Answer…As it relates to doubting anything in the Bible. If Satan can get you to doubt anything, he’ll soon have you doubting everything. Satan uses doubt to obscure the love and graciousness of God. Satan knows that if you suspect Christ’s Words (the Bible), you will embrace Satan’s lies. Doubting any of God’s Word is an inlet to many sins and miseries. Don’t look for an event to make something real for you, look at your present pattern of life.

I answered this question from the aspect of you only doubting some of the events in the Bible, not your salvation. I would have given another answer if you doubted your salvation.

Question…Since Pastor Boston said that demons are real. How do we know when we are in the presence of demons?

Answer…Again, I say that demons are real because God says that demons are real. As for knowing when you’re in their presence, I believe that too many Christians or professed Christians are busying themselves with strategies that include speaking to demons and learning techniques for exorcising them. Not that this is the pretence of your question, but it bothers me when people want to know more about demons than about God.

But to be fair to your question, there is nothing more necessary than to distinguish between true and false experiences in religion; to “try the spirits whether they are of God.” And making this discrimination, there is no other test but the infallible Word of God. The Bible tells us to “let every thought, motive, impulse, and emotion be brought to this touchstone. To the law and the testimony; if they speak not according to these, it is because there is no light in them.”

(Don’t concern yourself with the presence of demons—because you may become consumed with their presence and not God’s).

Question…Why does the Bible not talk about dinosaurs—shouldn’t they have been significant enough to mention?

Answer…God in His providence allowed their species to die out—probably about the time of Noah’s Flood. Job, possibly the earliest book in all of Scripture, seems to include a description of a sauropod dinosaur. This creature, called the behemoth, “eats grass like an ox” (Job 40:15); “his strength is in his hips” (v. 16); and “He moves his tail like a cedar” (v. 17); this cannot be speaking about the short tail of a hippo like some commentaries suggest. “His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron” (v. 18). And he is too large and powerful for any but the Creator to kill him (v. 19).

The dinosaurs may have perished when earth’s climate changed severely after the Flood. We know that human life expectancy was severely decreased in the post-antidiluvean world. Before the Flood it was common for men to live nine hundred years or longer. After that, the human life span decreased notably almost immediately. Severe environmental and atmospheric changes may explain this, and the same types of changes may also explain the extinction of all the dinosaur species.

                                                           

Question…How many children did Adam and Eve have? I’ve always been taught about Cain and Abel. Were there any other notable children?

Answer…[Genesis 5:3 – 4] tells us that Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. After Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he (Adam) had other sons and daughters.

Question…If I like to look pretty and shop for nice things, is this a sign of pride or vanity or something that God hates?

Answer…Being healthy and taking care of your appearance is not a sin, unless it comes at the expense of your relationship with God. If you’re more or only interested in how you look physically, but not how you’re developing spiritually—then yes, that is a sin.

Not that this speaks to your question or you in particular, but our Christian culture has become so saturated with a consumer mind-set that such self-centeredness is no longer perceived as a vice. The poison of pride, coupled with a perilously inadequate view of God and His church, beckons twenty-first-century believers to promote their own self-worth. The result is today there are churches filled with egotistical, pragmatic, individualistic Christians who are more interested in serving themselves than serving God. And God hates that!

Question…If I gamble illegally, is it a sin to put some of my winnings in church?

Answer… Well it is good to know that you know that gambling is illegal. It is not only illegal, but it is evil as well. Its evil for a government to prey on the greed of its citizens by attempting to derive through gaming either what it ought to derive through productivity of its citizens or what it could not legitimately expect its citizens to pay in fees and taxes. –The final answer to your question I’ll answer with a question, whose money is it anyway? When a Christian gambles the money that they take to gamble is God’s, so why wouldn’t the church take it? Remember the church specializes in taking in unfit things and making them fit for the kingdom of God [all the time].

Question… What is the biggest challenge that Christians face within the church?

Answer… Not fully understanding the heart of this question, I can only answer with a general answer and not a specific one. Because the Bible tells us that in the later days “things” will get worst—that alone tells us that the challenges that we face within the church will change, be different, and increase. But to give you an obvious answer, the busyness of God’s people certainly can be viewed as a big challenge. For all the progress attributed to modernity, a busyness comes attached that threatens to compromise our worship. Today in church we tend to add extraneous human and technical touches to our church gatherings that leave less room for the timeless touch of God.

Question… I lost my virginity before I knew what it was. So what does that make me? Can I still be a spiritual adult?

Answer…What that makes you, is a person who has had sex outside of marriage which is totally contrary to God’s kingdom agenda whether you are a believer or not. Sex outside of marriage is wrong and a sin that needs to be acknowledged and repented from. You can be forgiven if you truly seek God’s forgiveness. You can be a spiritual adult if you do the things that will attribute to your spiritual growth. For even more encouragement read (John 8:1 – 11) the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (sex outside of marriage) and how Jesus Himself forgives her.

Question… If our church grows, will we still be a close family? Especially if the leader of the church won’t be able to know all the church members’ name?

Answer…I must admit every time I’m asked this question about our church, I wonder if we understand that when we quit growing, then we have started dying. God has called us to be Christians, not a close family. The thing that we must remember is; when we are being the type of servant-Christians that God expects, we don’t have to know a person’s name to serve them or even bless them. All throughout the Bible we see and hear of faithful servant-Christians serving and ministering to people they didn’t know personally or intimately. Do you think that Peter knew the names of all the eight thousand plus members of the first church in the Book of Acts? Leading people you don’t know is something we see every day in our society in government, education, and businesses. We will always be close if we’re all drawing close to God!

Question… If babies are born into sin and die shortly after birth, where do their souls go?

Answer… “Heaven!”

…To give you a full answer to this seemingly simple question I would have to address such topics as sin, the age of accountability, and predestination. I don’t have the time or space for this type of answer. However, I know that this is a very sensitive question especially for those who have experience the death of infants and children—including those who die in the womb, those who die at birth, and those who never fully grow mentally to the point of being capable of discerning right from wrong.

But the first thing I would caution every parent to remember is that children are a gift from God. The decision about whether a baby lives or dies is God’s decision. He allows conception. He allows birth. He also allows death at birth. He allows what is in keeping with His purposes. We may called them our children, but remember it is God who first gifted us with them. Now with that in mind consider this: No death occurs apart from the purposes of God, just as no life occurs apart from the purposes of God, so it is God who determines how long it takes for every person to fulfill their god-given purposes. In case you didn’t understand that statement, let me say it another way; God claims ownership of every little one from every culture, tribe, nation, and people. So, what I’m saying is, “The (my) baby should be remembered first as (God’s baby). And that the salvation of every person is a matter of God’s grace, not our works.

Question… I’d like for Pastor Boston to say exactly how do I know if I’m saved, or am going to heaven? Is it true that all you have to do is believe that Jesus died and rose?

Answer… Well it sound as if you’re dealing with doubt, one of Satan’s most affective weapons. There are many biblical answers that I’m sure you’ve been exposed to, but somehow I sense you’re seeking certainty through some other experience. To which I will share with you something I often say about my salvation, “I don’t look for a past event or even experience to make my salvation real to me. I look at the present pattern of my life.” Focus on your lifestyle and attitudes as they relate to the things of God if you want certainty. Test yourself in this way. You once lived in sin and loved it. Do you now desire deliverance from it? You were once self-confident and trusting in your own fancied goodness. Do you now judge yourself as a sinner before God? You once sought to hide from God and rebelled against His authority. Do you now look up to Him? If you can honestly say “Yes” to these questions, you have repented and you are saved—and all saved people go to heaven.

To answer the second part of your question—a person can believe something without believing in that something. (Remember my Niagara Falls wheel-barrow illustration). So, if your belief is total surrender follow by obedience, and executed daily by faith, if this is what you mean when you say that you believe in Jesus, then yes, this all you have to do.

Question… In the original Hebrew language, what was Jesus’ name and why in the translation was the name “Jesus” chosen since this name is relatively new and quite common? I have heard that Jesus’ real name was Yeshua.

Answer…The key to this answer is really found in your question. In different countries and cultures there are different languages therefore the same person or thing could easily be called by another name in a different country. However, whatever we call Jesus does not alter who or what He is. The Son of God, the Incarnation of Deity in flesh, Jesus was and has been called many things. But just make certain that you know Him now as Savior and not later as Judge.

Question…What’s the difference between and Pastor and a Preacher?

Answer… A pastor is responsible for proving spiritual leadership, and a preacher is a proclaimer of the Word of God. At Conquerors all of its preachers are encourage and challenged to offer spiritual leadership (like a pastor).

Question… Why does our church have so many pastors? Do we actually look to these other pastors for spiritual guidance?

Answer… Well, the truth is we don’t have enough pastors for all of the ministry that is needed. They are supportive ministers similar to what Moses had in the Old Testament, and Paul had in the New Testament. There is no conflict in our/their roles at the church, I respect them as co-laborers in our church and they respect me as the Senior Pastor of our church. (For more clarity on the roles of pastors see an article I wrote on (“Why I Call the Preachers at our Church Pastors”).

Question… Why is there no children’s choir at Conquerors?

Answer… There are many things especially for our children that I as pastor would like to have, but that calls for additional committed leadership, sponsors, and full parental support. If you can help organize all these parties and get their support, come and see me—I have lots of work for you.

Question… I am not a member of CFBC, however, I was told it would be OK to submit a question… As a woman of God, how can I guide my husband to the Lord when he’s so reluctant? I feel like it’s a losing battle and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be spiritually led by someone who is not spirit-filled.

Answer… There are other things I would need to know about your relationship before I could give you a complete biblical answer to the things you’ve stated. Also, I’m not sure of what you mean when you called yourself a “woman of God.” And guiding your husband is a reversal of roles so that would be unbiblical. And a woman can have an unbeliever as a husband and still honor God with her life (according to the Bible). I would recommend that you and your husband get biblical counseling.

Question… At what age should I hold my child accountable for their actions?

Answer… If you’re looking for a Scripture to support a certain age for accountability—there is none. That’s something that has been misstated and misunderstood by many who claims that the Bible does. What I would encourage is not to tell your child that at a certain age they are free to make certain decisions and function independently, I would encourage them to do what the Bible says about honoring their parents (which is a life-long commandment), if they do that, they will be both responsible and accountable. I also assumed that the child you are speaking of is at least a young adult and not a tween-ager or teenager.
Question… I don’t believe in evolution, but shouldn’t we consider the fact that some sort of evolution takes place? The more layman term is probably (mutation). Things do mutate…

Answer… The word mutation is a word that evolutionist added to their theory to express accidental changes in heredity. But death and accidents do not create: instead they bring disease, defects, and decay into the world that God created. So mutations, (mistakes in the genes) that are occurring are used by evolutionists to try to prove that evolution is possible. They extrapolate into the past what they see today, and deduce that these processes over millions of years are the basis for evolution.

Be careful what you allow yourself to accept, the Bible tells us that there was a time when there was no sin (before Adam and Eve’s fall), and thus there was neither animal nor human death, nor disease, nor mistakes (mutations), because sin is the result of death. (Think about that!)

Question… If Jesus lived, died, and rose again, how come He doesn’t walk the earth as He did in biblical times? Then there would be no non-believers and the Word would not be misinterpreted.

Answer… First of all let’s agree on the fact that Jesus (did) live, die, and rose again. There are many Scriptures that I could give you to support this, but let me just respond to the fact that if He (Jesus) was still on earth the way He was in biblical times He’d be limited to only being in one place at a time. So, He has deposited Himself in us (believers) through Himself (The Holy Spirit), so that we could make Him known and seen and felt wherever believers are. Now as for the second part of your question, “Even when Jesus was earth there were still non-believers, and people were still misinterpreting His Word.” The fact that some will be lost, should encourage everyone to be saved, but it doesn’t.

Question… What can I say to invite non-believing coworkers to church? They are the ones who need to attend church the most.

Answer… I believe that it is not so much as to what you say or even how you invite them that make them respond favorably. I believe a favorable response to come to church with you will come after they have experience God from you in the workplace (not by what you say, but by what you do to advertise God, daily). Remember the goal is not to get people to attend church regularly; you can do that and still go to hell. And for the second part of your question I disagree, “non-believers don’t need church more than believers.” –I would agree with you though that communicating with non-believers is a problem, so you must not try and impress them with what you know, you must discover the level of their understanding in relation to Christian beliefs and start there, (that’s what was done in the early church found in Acts).

Please join me in my efforts to guard the “Truth” until He comes…

“So go and do your home work.” J