Tag Archives: salvation

Being a Christian is More Than Just Going to Church

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Being a Christian is More Than Just Going to Church

I recently received an email from a reader asking a question about going to church and whether or not that affected their salvation. This reader basically wanted to know whether or not they would go to hell if they didn’t attend church. This week I thought I would share my response with you since others out there may have the same or similar questions.

Email from reader

I have a job working at a restaurant on the weekends, and I work almost every Saturday and Sunday. I know it says in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Also, I know some people say the Sabbath is Saturday and not Sunday and that some Christians have been confused by this. Will I be going to hell, in your opinion, for not keeping the Sabbath since I work a lot on the weekends?

My response (headings added for easier reading)

It is not my place to say if you will be going to hell because I am not God, and I do not know your heart as He does. However, my initial reaction is that, no, God will not send people to hell if they do not go to church on Sunday (or Saturday). People who say this are operating in what’s called “legalism” (rule-keeping). Jesus, and later Paul through his writings, firmly corrected people in the New Testament for legalistic attitudes and behaviors. Keeping the rules isn’t enough to make us holy or wipe our sins clean. Only Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection can do that.

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV)

“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Galatians 2:16 (NLT)

Salvation is about your relationship with God, not going to church

Your salvation, and going to heaven, are about your relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. It’s about truly knowing Him and being known by Him. It’s about making HIM your number one priority over all other things, making Him Lord. This means surrendering and submitting to Him as your “master” as your… leader, ruler, guide, boss, etc. Basically, He needs to be the ultimate authority in your life where you trust and obey him completely. Jesus can’t just be your savior—He needs to be your Lord. You need to have a genuine relationship with Him, and this involves more than just going to church.

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” John 17:3 (NLT)

True disciples

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Funny Friday: This heat made me realize

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This heat made me realize meme

Funny Friday: This heat made me realize

One of my friends saw this posted on a sign recently. 😂 “I need to get my life together. This heat made me realize I can’t go to hell.” **Just in case you need to “get your life together”…click here. 😉

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 (ESV)

What I Learned From a Bunny About Reaching the Lost

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What I Learned From a Bunny About Reaching the Lost: Helping People Without Pushing Them Away

What I Learned From a Bunny About Reaching the Lost: Helping People Without Pushing Them Away

Several years ago my husband stumbled upon something pretty cool in our backyard.  It was a bunny nest.  Apparently, a rabbit had built a nest in our backyard under the kid’s playset, and when my husband moved it to mow he realized something moving around when he mowed over the area.  Now don’t panic (yet)…none of the babies were hurt.

So we moved the playset back over the top of the nest, and I scooped up one of the little escapees and nestled him back in with his siblings so he would be safe.  We were even able to watch the momma bunny come back later that evening and nurse the babies as they hopped out from under the playset to meet her.  We are some major animal lovers at our house (ok…maybe just my daughter and myself) so this was REALLY cool for us. We come across a variety of wildlife at our house, and we love being able to appreciate them.

What happened next…

What I Learned From a Bunny About Reaching the Lost: Helping People Without Pushing Them Away

Bunny Nest

I wondered about those baby bunnies all night.  Well, the next day after dropping my kids off at school I went home and let my dog outside, watching her to make sure she didn’t go near the nest.  I noticed several very large crows hovering in the trees over our backyard and flying around.  Then I noticed a cat in the wooded area behind our back fence, and sure enough, my dog went straight over to the playset and started sniffing around.

So I went outside to redirect her and shoo away the crows and cat.  To my horror (now you can panic), I discovered that the bunny nest had apparently been attacked by some predator.  Several of the bunnies were missing, and I found remains of partially eaten bunnies and 2 more that hadn’t been eaten but had apparently been killed.  I was mortified!

I noticed there were still 2 babies in the nest.  Then, I decided to survey the area for any others and clean up the area to avoid any more predators (probably why the crows were lurking overhead).  I found two more babies that were out of the nest.  One was further underneath the playset, and one was against the back fence.  I retrieved them both to put them back in their nest and get them out of the open.

However, one of the bunnies kept hopping back out and running into the open again when I did.  I kept talking to him and said, “Hey, I’m trying to help you.  I’m not going to hurt you, just trying to save your life.  I’m a friend, not an enemy.”  He was understandably very frightened (and apparently couldn’t speak human!). Each time I put him in the nest, he kept running back out until he eventually ran to the fence and underneath it into the wooded area behind our house.

I had to let him go.  I said a quick prayer for him and his safety as he hopped away.  He didn’t understand that I was trying to help him and that I actually loved him and wouldn’t hurt him.  He didn’t understand that I had his best interest in mind.

A spiritual analogy for reaching the lost revealed

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Lessons from Barabbas at Easter

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Learn the symbolism of Barabbas in the Easter story

Lessons from Barabbas at Easter

I’m super excited about this week’s post!  I went all “college professor” on this one doing some extended research, even researching some books and scholarly articles to examine some history and expert opinions. With this being Easter Week or Holy Week, I’d like to share a bit of what I’ve learned about Barabbas.

A few years ago Pastor Brent Troxell, one of the pastors at my church, gave a mini-message of sorts before we took communion together at church. In less than 5 minutes, he spoke something so profound that impacted me as much as an hour long sermon. He shared part of the crucifixion story, specifically about Barabbas, in a way I had never heard before. It made such an impact on me that I made a note to go and study it further on my own, which is what I’ve done to write this post.

Pontius Pilate was convinced of Jesus’ innocence

I want to talk to you about Barabbas, but let’s back up and start with Jesus’ trial.

After Jesus was arrested, questioned, and falsely accused by the Jewish authorities, he was handed over the next day to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea (Matthew 27:1-2, Mark 15:1, Luke 23:1-2, John 18:28-29). Pilate questioned Jesus and was convinced that Jesus was innocent (Matthew 27:23-24, Mark 15:14, Luke 23:4, 13-16, John 18:38).

Paschal Pardon

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Are All Sins Equal?

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Are All Sins Equal?

Are All Sins Equal?

A couple of years ago at a church youth service we tackled the question, “Are all sins equal?” This brought up some interesting discussion, and honestly the answers were all across the board. Somehow all of us innately know that there are some grievances that are worse than others. We would be hard-pressed to try to convince someone else that a “little white lie” is just as bad as sexual abuse or murder. Even in the justice system there are levels and degrees of offenses…misdemeanors, felonies, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, etc. Some sins are just more severe, right?

However, is that how God sees it? Does God put more weight on one sin than another? Are all sins equal in God’s eyes? Answering and debating this question can put a lot of Christians at odds with one another, not to mention the conflict this argument can cause with non-Christians. One could take their arguments into opposite ditches. Some would argue that all sins are equal as a way to overlook the severity of certain sins or even as a license to sin. Others would argue that all sins are not equal as an attempt to single out certain groups of people in order to condemn them. Both ditches are wrong.

My goal today is to hopefully provide a little clarification and to give some additional resources to get more wisdom in this area.

Not a quick and easy answer

Unfortunately, I don’t believe this question comes with a quick and easy answer. If it did, here’s how I would respond…

Yes, all sins are equal in that ALL sins separate us from God, regardless of degree of severity. No, all sins are not equal in consequence or in the harm and damage caused to self and/or others. Yes, all sins are equal in that Jesus’ blood and sacrifice is enough to cover them all, each and every one, regardless of degree of severity.

Yes, all sins are equal in that ALL sins separate us from God, regardless of degree of severity. No, all sins are not equal in consequence or in the harm and damage caused to self and/or others.

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I love the way Michael Kruger differentiates between sins… Continue reading →

Baptism: The Reason For and Meanings Of Being Baptized

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Baptism: The Reason For and Meanings Of Being Baptized…

Baptism: The Reason For and Meanings Of Being Baptized…

I’ve received several questions about being baptized on my post “How to Lead Someone to Christ”. Unfortunately, I think some readers may have inadvertently skipped the part that stated “Being saved or receiving salvation is only the first step. Click here to read more about the next steps that a person needs to take after being led to Christ” where the readers are then directed to the “1st Steps to Ultimate Success” page that instructs on the need for baptism, finding a church home, establishing/growing a relationship with God by daily quiet times/bible reading, finding a good Christian support system, etc. So, to remedy this problem I decided to write a more specific post about being baptized and then put a direct link on those pages as well.

We need to be baptized to follow Jesus’ example

Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19 (NLT), “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  Even Jesus was baptized. We need to follow His example.  This serves as a public example and expression of our decision to follow Christ.

“Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.” Matthew 3:13-15 (NLT)

““I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!” One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.” Mark 1:8-9 (NLT)

“One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized…” Luke 3:21 (NLT)

Being baptized is an integral part of our faith

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How to Lead Someone to Christ

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Learn how to lead someone to Christ here...

How to Lead Someone to Christ

Knowing how to lead someone to Christ may seem like a no-brainer to some.  However, for me this was an issue that made me extremely nervous.  I was always afraid I wouldn’t do it right.  Even though I had seen and heard people be led to the Lord countless times in church, I still questioned myself on how to do it.  To be honest, I hadn’t had much experience personally on how to lead someone to Christ.  I had only led my kids through the prayer and a couple of their little friends (it’s a lot less threatening with kids for some reason!).

One time though, I had the opportunity to lead a very special friend through the process.  Talk about being a hot mess!  I was terrified.  This was the most important decision that they would ever make in their life, and I didn’t want to screw them up.  We said a prayer out loud together (I had them repeat after me).  To be completely honest, I really don’t even know what I said because I was such a nervous wreck.  In my efforts to make sure we did it correctly, I pulled out my iPhone, opened my Bible app, and read Romans 10:9.  Then, I googled how to lead someone to Christ just to double check!  I know…I’m a goofball sometimes! 🙂  I felt a lot better because it really was as easy as it seemed.  For some reason though, it just didn’t seem like it should be that easy.

In an effort to help you, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I would like to share with you how to lead someone to Christ.  Continue reading →