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
Tag: christ
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
Holy Spirit Dwelling
All church power arises from the indwelling of the Spirit, therefore those in who the Spirit dwells are the seat of Church power. But the Spirit dwells in the whole Church, and therefore the whole Church is the seat of Church power! Charles Hodge (1797-1878) Comment: The question remains what do you do with His power? Do you use it to build His Kingdom or your own? Do you use Him to enrich others or to enrich ourselves? To give expecting nothing else in return? Do we sacrifice for others or do we sacrifice others for our own gain? To abuse His power results in a vacating of His Spirit in your life! Then you will try to fill that void with religion. Before you were saved self was on the throne. After you were saved Christ replaced you on the throne. However self will continually try to retake the throne! This is a constant battle! If others are more important than you then Christ is still on the throne in your life! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
American Indians Confirm Biblical Event!
Joshua 10:13 “So the sun stood still in the midst of Heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.” Comment: American Indians, who would have been on the other side of the earth, have recorded in their culture about a “Long night”, that occurred at the same time in history! Research concludes we had a 48 hour Friday with one sunrise and one sunset. This Friday covers two days of time on the Gregorian-Hebrew calendar. In relation to the earth’s calendar this is one of eight days needed to line up 4096 Gregorian solar years and the 364 day calendar (4110 years) from the seven day creation week to the birth of Christ in 5 B.C. Can you imagine a North American screech owl hunting for a second night? Here are his thoughts, “Wow! Long night! I sure hope the sun comes up? I need some sleep! Really a drag out here tonight! I have eaten so many rabbits I can skip meals for a night! Thank God it is Friday! Is it?” Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Hope for the Hopeless!
Original sin is the only rational solution of the undeniable fact of the deep, universal and early manifested sinfulness of men in all ages, of every class and in every part of the world! Charles Hodge (1797-1878) Comment: As long as man uses religion to justify his sin the world will as always continue towards destruction. Only Christianity claims we are all sinners and require repentance through the atoning blood of Christ! To deny the sacrificial blood of Christ is to continue the unending shedding of the blood of men as history has shown us in declared and undeclared war against God and each other! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Accursed Thing? Joshua 7:1
What is the accursed thing? Is it something I had for breakfast? My wife’s cooking? Fast food? It will help you to go back to the Hebrew root word to help understand this. I would suggest you get a Hebrew-Greek study Bible if you want to dig deeper in the Scriptures! According to the Hebrew word this is something devoted to religious use. Some consider this word to have a contradictory element because it can also be something devoted to destruction! So something accursed is either set apart for destruction or set apart to be devoted to God! During the conquest of Canaan the Jews set aside the spoils of war for religious use. That is the silver, gold, bronze, iron and the animals were devoted to religious use. The idea here is since God has given us the victory in war the spoils belong to Him! Much like the tithe and offering today is given to God because He has given us the victory over sin, hell and death! So after crossing the Jordan River in a miraculous way they defeated the first city Jericho in another miraculous way! A man named Achan from the tribe of Judah and his family got greedy and stashed some of the gold from the spoils in his tent! God got angry and in the next battle for the city of Ai Israel got defeated. Joshua went to the Lord and the Lord revealed to him there was sin in the camp! Joshua went through every tent and found the offender! Achan and his family were stoned, burned and buried in the Valley of Achor! Is your life set apart for God or for destruction? What you do with Jesus Christ will answer that question? If you accept Jesus Christ your life will be set apart for Him! If you reject Christ then your life is set apart for destruction! The choice is yours! God will not send you to Heaven or Hell without you deciding! He will not force His will on you! Love demands a choice! So it is up to you! Victory or defeat? Heaven or hell? Light or darkness? Wealth or poverty? Health or sickness? You choose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Wonderful Councilor! Isaiah 9:6
God chose to make His dwelling place with men! A councilor is one who fixes problems! My dad was my best councilor growing up as an adolescent! He rescued me many times! Kids should learn important lessons in life from their parents! With all those close calls I had growing up God never took His eyes off me! Today many youth are exposed to a flawed view of God! There are four basic views how people view God. 1. God is a troubleshooter! We do not bother Him unless we get in a crisis! 2. God is a distant power! God is not really interested in us. This pro-active disengagement leads to many problems in marriages and home life. 3. God is a grandparent. God wants what I want! God is an ATM machine to give me my every desire! 4. God is Lord and center of my life! God is the source of all wisdom and I submit to His rule over my life! Is God a wonderful councilor to you? Are you busy and distracted by the cares of this life? I will ask God council over every area of my life! We live in cultural chaos! There are competing voices for your life! Slow down! Take time to be Holy! Pay attention to Christ! A sheep only responds to the voice of his shepherd! He will ignore all other voices! Take time to listen to the Master’s voice! People that hear from God wait on Him! John 14:26 The councilor, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things! He will remind you of everything He has taught you in His Word! Jesus was the original home schooler! Teaching requires patience, diligence, and staying with it everyday! Teaching is not a lucrative occupation! Jesus disciples were slow and rebellious! Teaching requires kindness and being intentional! The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of all things! We as a church recite the Nicene Creed because it teaches us and reminds us of very important things! What do good parents do for us from the cradle to the grave? They teach us and remind us! As we take communion this morning Jesus taught us and reminded us to do this in remembrance of Him! God is personal and interested in you! That is why He came to earth! God came from Heaven wrapped in flesh! Fully God and fully man! He told us He would be born of a virgin, die on a Cross, be raised from the dead and ascend back to Heaven! He taught His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit! The original Passover meals took hours to prepare! It was not fast food! God has taken great preparations for us! All we do is just receive the gift! Christ was broken for you yet His brokenness heals the world! At Passover in Jewish tradition the Messiah’s cup was always displayed meaning one day He would drink with us! At the Passover Jesus took the ceremonial cup and drank from it saying I am the long awaited Messiah! Jesus invites you to His table this morning! Jesus asked the Father if He could take this cup away from Him! Let thy will be done! God’s will was very costly to deliver us from our sin! Drink with Him this morning. He is a wonderful councilor and much more! No one can crash this party because everyone is invited! Source; Excerpt from Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. His complete messages can be seen on his Podcasts. Go to NewLifeChurch.org
The Christmas Party is Growing!
Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world! Islam is second. It’s spreading in Asia, Africa and South America. So the world is in a kind of religious revival, and the atheists are totally flummoxed. They thought they were winning, and now they see the are not. Dinesh D’Souza. Comment: The world is a stage for the battle between good and evil. God has only one tactic to overcome evil. Love! Love not the evil but overcome evil with good! Remember we were all on the wrong side of eternity at one time! It is righteous to punish evil! Christ took our judgment upon Himself! If you really love the Truth then point people to Christ! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Israel and Christmas! Deuteronomy 29:13-15
Verse 15 The Chaldee paraphrase reads, “All the generations that have been from the first days of the world and all that shall arise to the end of the world.” This covenant is the dispensation of grace and it is a noble testimony to the Mediator of that covenant who is the same yesterday, today and forever! Comment: The testimony to the world today is Israel as a nation and people and the Christians of the past 2000 years! Even though we have the same enemies God’s love to us and His promises to us are sure as we celebrate God’s love to us through Christ! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christmas is a Spirit!
Christmas is not a time nor season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas! President Glover Cleveland (1872-1933) Comment: Let Christ dwell in you in His fullness this Christmas and forever! Ignore the spirits of Anti-Christ who murder people and try to remove Christmas tree’s and children’s Christmas skits and plays! No one can steal Christ and the peace and hope of His indwelling presence living in us! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com