BE THE CHRISTIAN YOU WANT UNBELIEVERS TO BECOME

"The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." ~ Brennan Manning

There's a phrase that says, "Actions speak louder than words." So naturally so spiritually. I can say I'm a good basketball player all I want, which I'm not this is just an example, but until you see me with a basketball on a court, all I'm doing is running my mouth. There's a lot of us believers running our mouths and that's all we're doing. Not throwing stones either, because I'm guilty of it myself. A lot of us honor God on social media and in church because it's easy. We share posts that say stuff like, "Share this if you believe in God." or "Share this and you'll receive a miracle." With stuff like that, I see why some see Christianity as a fantasy. Someone that's on the fence about their spirituality will share one of those posts and then realize that miracles don't work that way, and that little thing right there can be the period on the sentence of unbelief.

We get mad at problems that we ourselves cause. It's like putting your hand on a hot stove then getting mad at the stove for being hot when we're the ones that turned the stove on. The fire usually doesn't start by itself. Someone has to ignite the flame.

You know they say, be the change you wish to see in the world. Let's put it like this. Be the Christian you want unbelievers to become. Good fathers live like the man they want to see their sons end up being. Good fathers live like the man they want to see their daughter marry one day. Nobody is perfect, but that's no excuse for on purpose imperfection. You can't purposely do something wrong then use the excuse, "Nobody's perfect." 

Being a Christian doesn't make you perfect, but it's you trying every day to be like someone who is. So when someone is not perfect, we shouldn't give them the scarlet letter treatment. Especially when we're supposed to be in the business of winning souls. We can't win souls when we're disowning with those who don't agree politically. We got to realize that even though we're all striving to have the mind of Christ that we are all still individuals. So we can still be saved and not think the same on politics.

If we can't still show the love of Jesus to Christians that we don't agree with, how can we expect to win unbelievers? Some of us, when we see a brother or sister in Christ slip just a little bit, and we forget that all have sinned, and we automatically assume that they never knew Jesus in the first place. I can't speak for others but what I try to do is pray for those who are going through. I've learned in life that prayer changes things that talking about them cannot do. Prayer can do what dragging on social media can't do.

Jeremiah 31:3 "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

When the enemy comes in like a flood---

Hello Hello once again coming from the Greenwood Public Library. I left my head phones at home so even if it did allow me to listen to music...ah well. Again no music for this one. Let's move.

I'm getting  more and more irritated at the fact that we spend more time bashing and criticizing and not praying. We got to pray for our leaders. I'm talking from our pastors, bosses, all the way up to the President. Bashing them isn't going to change a thing. I heard it said that prayer changes things. Prayer changes things. Let's be about it then. I put up a status on my facebook that we got to be about it. We talk a lot of stuff while at the same time ain't about nothing (double negatives I know, but who's blog is it? I thank you. Plus I was raised in the south, give me a break.) I'm learning more that talk without action is just talk. You know like a presidential debate. All talk and no actions makes a good politician....I believe that's how it goes. But back to the point. I believe the Bible says, Life and Death lies in the power of the tongue. What are we using out power for? Life or death? Recently, not going in to details, I used the power more for death rather then life. My anger really got the best of me. The Bible says be angry and sin not. I got the angry part down, but the sin not part is where--

There's a song that was sung when I was coming up in the church that said, "God's got a blessing for you. God's got a blessing for you. If you want it, reach up and grab it. God's got a blessing for you." Regardless if you know it or not, God is moving. God is blessing right now. All we got to do is live right and believe in what God says. I believe that that miracles signs and wonders are not on the way. They are here. There's a song out that says, "Greater is coming." Greater is here right now. We just got to believe and receive it.

I'm going to share this. On my Tumblr an individual asked me about my beliefs regarding homosexuality. Telling me that it's a fact that it's not a choice. Telling me that it's hateful to be against homosexuality. Basically saying that homosexuality is natural. And here's how I responded:

 "I think that its not hateful being against something that one has to come out and say that you are. I don’t have to come out and say that I am mixed. You can see it. You can see Clinton is white. You can see that Jackie Chan is of Asian decent. let’s get this straight, I do not hate gay people. What they do in the closet does not affect job performance or anything else. Also I am not against love. I believe that a man can love a man. I believe a woman can love a woman. Its the sex that I have issue with. That’s all. Let me precurse all this and say I am a Christian. I believe the Bible and what he says, and the Bible says for God so loved the world. He may not love what the world does but he loves the world. Like a parent. A parent, a true parent, loves his or her child despite of what they do. May disagree with what they do but that should not affect the love for the child. God bless."

Now was there anything disrespectful in that? I tried not to come off as disrespectful, but apparently this individual didn't see it that way, saying that I was "blindly following the Bible." That's when the conversation ended and this individual was blocked. I play and clown around about a lot of things, but one of the major things I don't play with is the Bible and food, but mostly the Bible. I believe homosexuality is a sin just as I believe adultery is a sin. Sin is sin. And if the Bible says its wrong, I'm going to say it's wrong. I'm not going to degrade gay people as I've done in the past cause I don't want to be degraded. But wrong is just wrong.  I've never been one to follow trends or fads. So if everyone says that being gay is natural and there's nothing wrong with it, and I'm standing alone saying it's wrong, then so be it.

I didn't mean to dwell on that, but I heard from  a preacher recently that we as saints have been too silent when it comes to things not of God, and I'm not trying to be silent anymore. I believe it's written that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up a standard...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
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