Tag: calvary

Grave Yard Charm! India 1985

Sound appealing? Would any church leader surround his church with a grave yard? Probably would not be a draw for big crowds? Most people here in America today want a grave yard placed out of their sight! In our mission work in India I discovered churches completely surrounded by grave yards? It seemed foolish at first until I spent a few years there and then it made sense! What the British did in India for 200 years was take the Gospel to the people! One of the problems faced there was Hindu’s and Muslim’s taking over a church, desecrating the altar and erecting a temple or mosque over it. This same problem going on in Britain and America today. So the British surrounded the churches with grave yards especially in remote area’s of India! Halloween would have been a big hit there! The Muslim’s and Hindu’s were fearful of grave yards so they left those churches alone! So the British protected their central worship centers while reaching out to the community in evangelism. We discovered this first hand because we rented out an old fellowship hall next to the grave yard and no one would attend our meetings! So we moved our location from the church and Hindu’s and Muslim’s began to attend services! The fear of death is a bondage to men! This is why Easter reminds us and confirms to believer’s in Christ that death has been conquered! He is risen! He who also promises us to raise us from the dead! As I used to walk through the grave yard on my way to worship services I was reminded of my mortality and that Christ who I serve defeated death for me! My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and righteousness! Jesus is more than a man He is God! Only God could achieve the miracle of the resurrection from the dead! O’ death where is thy sting? O’ grave where is thy victory? The opposite of fear is love! For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son! Christ will return to judge the living and the dead! No one escapes! Accept the judgment Christ took for you on Calvary! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Judah Territory! Joshua Chapter 15

Is history important? Without it we have no reference for the future and the promises of God given to us! Without history there is no basis for predicting the future. It has been said that the only thing man has learned from history is that he has not learned from history! Each generation repeats the same errors! History therefore repeats itself. If you go to the ancient Biblical maps of the territory occupied by the twelve tribes of Israel you will find many fascinating facts. Here is just a sampler. Our Savior Jesus Christ was born from the Tribe of Judah. Judah was given territory after the conquest of Canaan. If you study this ancient map some very obvious things are there! The Red Sea completely borders Judah territory. So when Moses crossed the Red Sea with the millions of Jews escaping Egypt they entered the future territory of the Tribe of Judah! The birth of Jesus was in Bethlehem which is in Judah! Now this where it gets even more interesting! Our complete atonement at Calvary or Golgotha was located east of the Road to Bethany and Jericho which is just east of the Kidron Valley. The Romans liked to crucify people along major highways so the conquered population would be able to witness executions so they would not get any idea’s about overthrowing them! Another fascinating fact is the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended to Heaven and where He promised to return at His second coming is on the eastern side of the city and in Judean territory! These are places of great historical events in Judah territory! God is consistent like the sunrise and the sunset! You can set your clock by His Prophetic calendar and His promises to you are as sure as history itself! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Treeless Worship Deuteronomy 16:21-22

“Thou shalt not plant a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shall thy set up any image, which the Lord thy God hateth.” We first need to look at the Hebrew root word for the English word “groves.” The Hebrew root word translates to the word “Asherah.” Astarte is a Phoenician goddess of fertility. She was the Canaan fertility goddess believed to be the consort of Baal. The noun is most often used for the carved wooden images of the goddess. The image was associated with high places and fresh green trees. The Israelites were commanded to cut them down and burn them! False worship was a problem even to the extent that Asherah’s image was erected in God’s Temple itself! There were no trees around the temple in Jerusalem!  I witnessed idol worship during the three years we spent in India. These idol’s were everywhere! Often these huge wooden images were parked along tree lines. In the Hindu Temples prostitution was a regular business! I was offered a teenage girl in one of these temples! If you are going to worship the goddess of sex then prostitutes come with the package! To look deeper into the root of idol worship we need to go back to the Book of Genesis. If God took a rib from the man and created a woman then when they are united in marriage there is a completeness. However if you are going to make an image of a woman and worship her through sex then this is self-worship because the woman was taken from the man! Let us look at Genesis 2:9. “And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God warned them that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die! Why? God understood that they could not handle it! God knew that created beings with the knowledge of evil would sin! Let us look at Genesis 3:22. “And the Lord said, Behold the man is become one of us, to know good and evil, now lest he put his hand and take also the Tree of Life, and eat and live forever.” God had to block them from the Garden of Eden because to enter Heaven with the knowledge of evil for eternity would doom them forever! This was an act of Mercy by God! So what about the Tree of Life? This Tree represents Christ, redemption for man and eternity with God! So what did man do with Christ? They cut down a tree and crucified Him on it! This is what happens to all that eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! You commit evil and then try to do good? However God’s plan was engaged by the evil of men and brought redemption to the world! Without Christ whatever God has given to man as a gift turns to evil! All the religions of the world whether Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, ect, try to find God through their own efforts! Eating from the wrong tree! We all have access to the Tree of Life through Christ and our knowledge of evil is atoned for by His blood sacrifice on Calvary and we can live forever not separated from God but joined with Him in peace and love forever! We cannot save ourselves even though the world religions since creation have and still try! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Blood Moon and Signs!

Scriptures: Joel 2:31, Matthew 24:29, Luke 21:25 and Revelation 6:12-13.  A Blood Moon is a total lunar eclipse. The lunar tetrad is where four lunar eclipses happen six months apart. For example they have happened on April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014, April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015. The two April eclipses have coincided with important Jewish Festivals. They occurred on Passover! The October and September eclipses occurred during the Festival of Tabernacles. Eight of the tetrads since the 1st century have coincided on Jewish Holidays! The word sign means to reveal the character and the truth of any person or thing. It is a mark or token. It is a memorial, monument or proof. Simply the signs in the sun, moon and stars is a reminder and confirmation of Jesus promises to us! It is a confirmation that His return is on schedule! His promises to us are revealed in the Heavens and on the earth! Whether the star over Bethlehem or the earth growing dark over Calvary His signs are everywhere! Look up for your redemption draweth nigh! Take comfort and trust your yesterday, today and forever with your Christ! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Are You Having a Cloudy Day?

A cloud is simply water vapor that condenses into rain, snow, ice particles or fog. Clouds at night reflect heat and keep the earth warmer. During the day clouds shade the earth and keep it cooler. On our other planets in our solar system clouds are not made up of water vapor. For example Jupiter has clouds made up of ammonia gas. The clouds on our other planets will not support life. The Bible has 108 verses that speak about clouds. You need to have a cloud to have a rainbow! Remember in Creation God moved upon the waters! Jesus walked on water! The Jews in their wilderness wandering were provided a cloud by day for protection! The Tabernacle was covered in a cloud! God spoke to Moses in the midst of a cloud on Mount Sinai. When the cloud moved the tribes of Israel moved! God’s GPS was a cloud! Remember the cloud at the transfiguration? Jesus ascended into a cloud! Jesus will return in a cloud! The two Prophets in Revelation will ascend into a cloud! God turns water into clouds and clouds into water! Noah was saved by water and the earth destroyed by water! There was a cloud over the earth at Calvary! Today when you see a cloud in the sky think on these things! God is Faithful to you and look up for your redemption draweth nigh! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Signs of the End! Matthew 24:7 Earthquakes

First our condolences to the families of Nepal in their great loss of life! God does not cause earthquakes! God does not cause physical death! Man’s rebellion and sin against God is responsible! But God has promised to raise us from the dead! According to the Bible there are many signs on the earth and in the heavens in the last days before Christ’s return that will be present. Here is a brief summary: 1. Increase of knowledge 2. Government ability to enforce the Mark (One world government) 3. Man of Sin revealed 4. Violence and sexual immorality 5. Rise of spiritualism 6. Massive animal deaths 7. Natural disasters 8. Unsealed prophecy 9. False Christ’s and prophets 10. World pushing for peace 11. War 12. Famines 13. Christians being killed 14. Increase in Sin 15. Christians departing from the truth 16. God destroys those who destroy the earth 17. The Gospel preached into all the earth. There are many scriptures that support these signs! Most all the signs are on us today! I want to talk about natural disasters today. There has been a 200 percent increase in natural disasters since 1979. Large earthquakes with a value of 5 or higher have doubled in 2014 compared to each year since 1979. You can see by viewing USGS stats page. As of February 22, 2015 there are around 3100 earthquakes happening every month! Remember Jesus on the Cross at the 9th hour when He gave up His Spirit in death? The earth was covered in darkness and then a great earthquake! The vale in the Jewish Temple was rent in two and the graves were opened and people were raised out of their graves and brought to life! This particular earthquake did not kill people but raised people from the dead! This is historical evidence that those who trust in Christ will be raised up! Remember that all will be raised from the dead! Some to everlasting life and some to judgment! Why does the earth quake? It longs for redemption! What you do with Christ will determine your outcome! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

What Did Jesus Say About Following Him? Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus had a radical message! You can only enter in at the narrow way, narrow passage or narrow gate to follow me. A narrow gate would only be about the width of your shoulders. You cannot carry any baggage with you when you go through it. Following Jesus through the narrow gate requires focus with no distractions in the way. The broad road or gate leads to destruction. Jesus does and did not go this path. It is a dead end road. Few people choose the narrow gate. American culture is more Christ resistant than anytime in our history. To follow Christ today is more costly than in previous generations. We are considered radicals by our culture and ridiculed. We are considered on the outer fringes like space cadets. Did you ever notice the on-line surveys always give you a way out. You are never committed to a yes or no answer. Kind of like politics today. Christ gave His disciples no third choice. It was either Heaven or Hell. The same holds true for us today! Yes or no? Easy or difficult. Matthew 5:1-2. Jesus real audience was more than the crowds it was His disciples. They had already made up their minds to follow Him but their trust level was low. It takes time to figure out if you can trust someone. Jesus told them the Kingdom of God is right now! It was not yesterday or tomarrow. Living right now is Monday through Saturday working, school and difficult schedules. Jesus said let Heaven break into your boring day to day world. Jerusalem has 12 gates. The wide gate is the most used gate. Examples today are convenience stores, shopping malls, fast food, ect. We like the best paved roads with the fewest traffic lights. They even have drive through churches today. Just hear a message on the internet or television. Why go to church? Studies have found that women like to shop on the internet after 9:00PM. Why? Convenient! We like to choose the easy way over the difficult. Going through the wide gate we can take along as much baggage as we want. No constraints, no sacrifices, easy choices, no boundaries, no commitment applies to all who travel the wide gate. Taking this path leads to ruin. Jesus took a narrow path from The Judgment Hall to Calvary. It was also a steep climb carrying your Cross! He took your unforgiveness, hurt, pain and all your sin. Jesus was a teacher of virtue. Creativity exits between boundaries. Whether it be inventions, music, poetry, sciences, discoveries or even the work of a humble farmer. All great work is done within constraints and boundaries. Jesus had to be sinless to fix your sin. Because of the discipline of constraints and boundaries we have very few great people. People do not like boundaries. Live together why get married? Why study? Why work? Get on welfare. Pregnant? Get an abortion. Vote for the political party that offers you no constraints or boundaries. Revelation 7:9. Heaven is not sparsely populated but has a great multitude. Salvation belongs to our God! It is a free gift like a Christmas gift under a tree and is easy to find. Jesus is easy to find but very difficult to follow. Weddings are exciting but then the couples have to learn to live together. Marriage goes from easy to difficult. The wide gate is to get a divorce or just live together unmarried. To remain in covenant is a miracle from God and requires His Grace. To stay married is hard work and a challenge. Getting pregnant is easy but raising children is hard work. The family under the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman is God’s only plan and design for relationships and for the security of future generations. Worship even requires constraints and boundaries. All people will make one of the following four choices in their life. 1. Secularism- autonomy, it’s my life, live for yourself, no boundaries, no restraints. Not Jesus way. No! 2. Moralism- Follow the rules and get the life I deserve. Entitlement. Steeped in religion that says it is all about me. I deserve to be rich and famous because I am a moral person. 3. Religion- I owe my life to God. Obligation. Things better go right with me because I am serving God! Bad exchange. Problems come! Death and disease comes to all! 4. Grace- Jesus says your life for my life! Wonderful exchange! Great Exchange! My nothingless for His everything. Give God your life and He gives His life back to you! Stop living for yourself. It is a dead end. Let Christ come in. Welcome the Holy Spirit! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. What needs constraint in your life? Do you eat food for comfort? Do you have a drug or sex addiction? Do you feed your senses to no avail. Let Christ increase and you decrease. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and He will add to your life that will help you to victory. Source: Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given Sunday September 1, 2013.