No Compulsion in Religion? Quran 2:256

If the Quran is true then why do Muslim’s kill those who convert to another religion? Is it a one way street? If you abandon Islam you will have to go to a court where Muslim Clerics will pronounce judgment on you! Do they not follow their own Holy Book? Many contradictions in the Quran! The Quran says Jesus was born of a virgin. It also says Jesus did not die on a Cross! It also confirms the validity of the scripture and the Bible yet contradicts the Bible with many other verses in the Quran? There are about 1.4 Billion Muslim’s in the world. Yet only about 20 percent of them have ever read the Quran! So the followers listen to these Imam’s in the Mosque’s for directions! So the followers get instructions without any reference to any written guide? I remember during the 3 years we spent in India we had an incident where a Hindu man was giving us a lot of troubles in the ministry. This young Muslim man came to me and told me he would take care of this Hindu man for me and kill him? I explained to him that our Bible says vengeance belongs to God alone! I believe that if every Muslim in the world would read the Quran they would abandon the religion overnight! Ignorance is not bliss but hell when it comes to the Quran! What is really challenging witnessing to a Muslim is that 8 out of 10 have never read the Quran so even if you are familiar with it as a Christian they will not have a clue! Show them God’s love and they will respond as we have to Christ’s love! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Religion Versus Grace! Mark 1:1

Jesus did not come to correct behavior! Jesus came to give us a new identity! We are all adopted into a family where we learn a new and better way to live! Religion tries to change us from the outside in! Religious Zealots only reward performance! God said this is my beloved Son who I am well pleased! Remember Jesus had not done any miracles yet! Do you love your son or daughter because they are a gift to you from God or will you only love them based on an expected performance? The Holy Spirit will empower you to live a better way! Real change is an inside job! You must be born again! Jesus said we must repent and believe! This if done will change everything! Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. For the complete message go to: NewLifeChurch.org View his Podcast.

Grandpa and Grandma get a Son! Genesis 18

They say that if your two year old son raises his hands up to his father and says grandpa you know you have a miracle! Abraham has three men show up at his tent door in the heat of the day! Normally people do not travel in the heat of the day? These men were not normal and represent a theophany or God appearing to men Could these three men represent the Trinity? Jesus Christ is the personal manifestation of God to man! Abraham recognizes that these were not just men but God Himself standing before him! Abraham entreats them well offering the best he had with provision and water. When they announce to Abraham that he will have a son his wife Sarah laughs! Their son that was eventually born to them was named Isaac which means laughter. God also promises to Abraham and his descendants that they will be a great nation and all the earth will be Blessed through them! Later in history the birth of Christ and the nation of Israel would confirm these promises! The second mission of these three men was to destroy the gay’s living in Sodom and Gomorrah! Abraham tried to convince God to spare them because his nephew Lot and immediate family was living among them! Lot was a lousy evangelist even among his own family! God spared them but destroyed the rest of them! God could not find ten righteous in the city! God is faithful to Bless the righteous and destroy the wicked! So how does one move from the camp of the wicked to the camp of the righteous? There must be a change in behavior! Repent of your sin to Christ and let Him give you the strength to live a new life! You must be “Born Again!” Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

A Story Everyone Needs To Hear Again! Luke 2

This is an old story but is vogue today and has application above all the bad news we hear today! It is more than a warm feeling on a cold night! This is a radical, revolutionary story that has changed you, me and the whole world! This is the greatest story ever told to the world! How does a pregnant teenager tell her story? You could imagine social media buzz today if she tried to explain how God got her pregnant? What would Joseph tell the media? The shepherds were gathered around a small fire trying to keep warm and guard their sheep! An angel appears before them and tells them not to be terrified! Some of the shepherds were thinking my mommy told me not to be a shepherd! First one angel and then a host of them! God wants all people to hear the Good News! Notice Jesus birth was announced to people living on the margins! The church is to serve people living on the margins! The dignity Herod also heard the news but tried to kill Jesus! The angels through the shepherds spread the news! Shepherds were looked down on in their culture! They hung around dirty, smelly sheep! They were considered scavengers and thieves! David got his rough and tough training as a shepherd boy! If you want to take down a giant call a shepherd! They were the most unlikely people to hear the news first! Remember the lambs were raised to be sold to be sacrificed at Jewish feasts! The lambs were sold to be slaughtered! The lambs were destined to die for sin! The Good News for us and the lambs is that a greater sacrifice was born in Bethlehem. God said I give my life for you! Jesus came for the willing! Are your motives and plans for your life set in concrete? Do you have premeditated plans that leave God out of your life? This is a question we need to answer as we lead into 2015? Herod although a governor had no room for Christ and died a miserable death! Have you predetermined what you are going to do with your life? You have to be more than curious you have to be committed! Would you do anything God called you to do? Would you carry a baby for a Holy God? Why are we chosen? We get excited about the Royal couple and their baby and a baby coming out of Rome or Jerusalem! We must say yes to God even when we do not know the outcome! Are you ready to sign up? Mary was a virgin and told the people she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit! This never happened before and never after in history! Then they had to spend Christmas in Egypt to escape from Herod! Joseph and Mary were imperfect parents raising a perfect God! Do not divorce her! Joseph had to change all his plans! Love her, surround her and protect her. Joseph had a good job and business as a carpenter. I have to build my business! The Roman government requires a lot of Crosses! God has a plan for you and it usually is not your plan! You have to choose! It did not work out the way I thought but God’s plan is a perfect plan! For His plan for your life carries on into eternity! God takes the willing and builds character! Yes God I will go! How willingly Joseph and Mary obeyed! Faith is hard to explain? The natural mind thinks linear and logic does not fit! Sometimes Faith does not make sense? By Faith we let God fill in the blanks! Faith is not normal! The only thing normal in life is the setting on your clothes dryer! Could you raise God as a baby? Verse 17 goes on to say they worshipped Jesus then they went out and told everyone! The story of Jesus is now ours to tell! The angels appeared and then they diminished! Why fear the angels who are messengers? You are now the messengers! Popular culture has a fear about hearing the Good News? We have a story to tell to the nations! We all have a story to tell! With all the troubling news in the world we should be encouraged to tell the Good News! We will either tell or we will retreat? God is not looking for a perfect people to tell the perfect story! Today we are the messengers! Tell God’s story this week! How do we invite people to our Christmas Eve services? We have an amazing story to share with you and we invite you to come with us! We are caretakers of this story! The story is ours! We are the beneficiaries! We are now story tellers! Luke 24:46-49 You are witnesses of these things! You and me together go and tell! What do you want to happen this Christmas Eve? Isaiah 9:2, 6. People in darkness see a great light! A child is born and a Son is given! A wonderful councilor, Prince of Peace! Help people see the great Light! Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. December 21, 2014

Prayer 1 John 5:11-15

Our relationship with God involves prayer! How would you describe your prayer life? Here are some possible answers to this question. 1. Unashamed begging-desperate 2. Loud and lengthy-convicted 3. Terrified whispers-uncertain 4. Sterile and formal-religious, distant and impersonal 5. Speechless-do not know what to say, wordless 6. Confident prayers. Some say prayer is just a conversation with God. No! First you need to know who God is and then teach our children who God is! If we know who God is we can pray confidently! If you do not know who God is then you will pray amiss! If you do not trust God then you will trust in the wrong things. How would you describe God? God is love! He has given us eternal life through His Son! What is eternal life? Eternal life includes past, present and future. He cleans all your files past, present and future! Life means an existence without end. Jesus gave us a sample when He raised the dead! He has promised to raise you one day from the dead! He has prepared a place for you! When I came to Christ a new life began in me! All things were made new! A new reality struck me like lightning! Born again! A blessed assurance of confidence entered my life! Fear and anger and hate were replaced by love, peace and joy! Now I know He loves me and it changed everything! He is more precious than silver and more costly than gold! When we find out who God is we can pray with confidence! The world will wear you down with it’s troubles and religion! We are talking about relationship here! When you come before the creator and ruler of the world and ask anything according to His will and purpose for your life you got it! God is unique in that He can hear all our prayers all at once! Like a mother who can hear all her screaming kids at once. God’s faithfulness is like a money back guarantee! After 25 years of marriage I have learned about non-verbal communication. With eye to eye contact I know the answer before I ask her! When we are intimate with God we know the answer before we ask Him! I know of some schools that give the students the answers before the test but that is cheating! With God you ask in prayer and He will give you an answer! Either yes, no or wait. We can approach God with confidence and know He is listening! He respects you and hears your prayers. Through the Holy Spirit it is like eye to eye contact with God! God is leaning into you! He is paying attention to you! He also wants your attention! We should ask for things He wants to give us! Revelation; Pray His promises to you! Reading and studying the Bible will lead to proper conversation and prayers to God! We already know the answers to our prayers if we pray His promises! God will bring good people into your life and lonely people to minister too! Just as in marriage intimate relationship with God leads to success! That is why Satan works overtime to break up relationships and marriages. We are going to tackle next year with a strong foundation for our families as provided to us in the Gospel of John Chapters 14, 15,16 and 17. Jesus said, “Ask in my name and I will do it!” If we remain in Him we will ask the right things! Marriage should be a picture of our relationship with God! We His church are His bride! In regards to prayer we can ask from those we know very well! Our promises from God are guaranteed! They are sure! Good as gold! Here is a sample of His promises to us from the Bible. 1. He gives us peace. John 14:27. 2. He wants to give us rest. Matthew 11:28. 3. He wants to give us courage. John 16:33. 4. He wants to give us wisdom. Luke 21:15. 5. He wants to give us a family. Psalm 68:5-6. The Bible says you have not because you ask not! Do you take time to ask or try to go it on your own? Pray God’s promises! It is so exciting to give God the Glory when He comes through! God loves to hear from you as you remind Him who He is! A father likes to hear from his children that he is their father! Prayer changes circumstances! One of the Greek words for prayer in the New Testament means to invert in a good sense! From poor to rich! From sad to joy! From lonely to relationships! From purposeless to purpose! From weakness to power! From hate to love! From hell to heaven! Try God and see He is good! Source; Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Micah Nails Down Place of His Birth! Micah 5: 1-2

Micah prophesized the Messiah’s birth place about 700 years before the event! The chief priest’s and scribes quoted it to Herod when they were asked where Christ was to be born. The prophet Isaiah had a lot of revelation about Christ hundreds of years before He came including birth, death and resurrection! It is interesting that the revelation of Christ was spread out among several old testament prophets. This is also true in the Body of Christ today! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecy! He is the Chief Prophet and it says in Revelation 19:10, “Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy!” Remember Christmas is more than about His birth! Remember that during the future tribulation period (7 years), the religious ruler of the world (false prophet), will force the inhabitant’s of earth to worship the anti-Christ (World political ruler). If you have rejected Christmas and Christ then you have chosen to follow the false prophet and worship the false Christ or anti-Christ! This will lead to your destruction! Micah a old testament prophet prophesized the coming righteous and Holy Prophet and Savior who pre-existed time and created all things both visible and invisible! Christmas is not just a point in time and a place in time but all time and all history past, present and future revolves around Him! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Sons of God / Daughters of Men Genesis 6:1

Over history three main theories are advanced to explain this. The first theory is the “sons of god” are fallen angels and the daughters of men are mortals. This ancient viewpoint hinges in part on the assumption that Jude 1:6-7 refers to these angels. If this sin is perpetuated by angels then why is man punished in the flood? Christ said in Matthew 22:30 that angels do not marry. There is some difficulty in understanding mortals as descendants of angels and not from Adam.(Acts 17:26) The second theory is that the “sons of god” are from the Godly line of Seth while the “daughters of men” are of the line of Cain. The sin which they are charged is common to the whole scripture, especially the Pentateuch; the intermarriage of the chosen people of God with those who are unholy. How can these men be considered holy when the Bible states only Noah was holy. (Genesis 6:8-9) Why is the “sons of god” not used with this meaning in any other place? Why only sons and not daughters are associated with the line of Seth? The last theory is very popular among conservatives. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the term “sons of god” was sometimes used to describe kings (Exodus 21:6, 22:8, Psalm 82:6-7) Therefore the ‘sons of god” are immoral kings who use their power to take women and use them at their will. Well pick your pleasure or poison on your choice here? Regardless these were acts of immorality. Who are the “sons of god” today? Who are the “daughters of men” today? God has sons and daughters! Who are the sons and daughters of men today? The sons and daughters of god are those who have accepted Jesus Christ into their lives! Born gain! The sons and daughters of men are those who have only had the first birth or natural birth and not the second birth! They have either rejected Christ or are living out of ignorance or do not have the knowledge and revelation about Him. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com