All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8 (NKJV)

A majority of people reading this may not know much about what Jesus Christ truly did 2,000 years ago that we take time to recognize this weekend. While we can debate the exact timing of events, that is insignificant, because the fact is that Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, resurrected, and then ascended. Now what does that mean for every person?
Many have wrongly assumed that the New Testament was God’s “plan B” for humanity, nothing can be further from the truth. When Adam and Eve fell, God was never surprised by the event. The fact of the matter is that the work of Jesus Christ was already established well before the fall of mankind. The Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ was slain before the events recorded in Genesis during the Creation account.
Every sin must be paid for. You can read of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. For many the Old Testament can be confusing to understand at first, the key is seeing it through with a New Covenant mindset. The Old Testament is full of foreshadowing of the Savior to come. In the Old Covenant, they were given Kings, High Priests, Judges, and Prophets, even at their very best, they all fell short. The Old Covenant was showing us that we need a better King, High Priest, Judge, and Prophet. Jesus Christ is all of those foreshadowings in One.
Jesus did not come to be an earthly ruler, but a heavenly ruler. The Kingdom of God is spiritual, one must be born again to be birthed out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God.
You are born into this world initially with a sinful nature after the first man Adam, today is the day to become born again after the Last Man Adam, Jesus Christ. Who is the only One to live a total sin-free life and was tempted at every aspect of His humanity. He gave Himself willingly as the perfect spotless Lamb of God to pay the penalty due to us. His sacrifice paid the penalty for sin, when one declares their faith and trust in Him alone their old nature is buried with Him, and they are risen to the newness of life. When one is born again, they are never alone, they are placed back into right standing before God and can have a living relationship with Him.
Eternal life is not just about making it to Heaven after this life. Being born again as mentioned in John chapter 3 is talking about being born of God’s original intent which was lost at the fall, and Jesus came and made the Way for us!
Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussions of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

1 Timothy 1:4 (NLT)

With the many distractions going on this year, I wanted to share a few thoughts…
I’ve seen numerous posts and videos about certain so-called prophets saying this or that will happen during the upcoming solar eclipse. Please know solar eclipses and blood moons have happened many times through the course of history. Concerning the return of Jesus Christ, He will return when He returns, we are not called to try to figure out the day or hour.
These so-called predictions while maybe done by well-meaning people are the same as the predictions that went around in 2015 about the four blood moons.
We need to be focused on God’s Word and sharing the Gospel, not popcorn prophecies about current events or who will win a race.
The enemy is working hard to distract the church,. Many (with good intentions) gave into following the so-called ‘prophecies’ concerning 2020. Let us not repeat that this year! If the result of a race robs you of your joy, then are you truly established on the rock of ages, Jesus Christ? He is our true source of joy!
The gift of prophecy in the New Testament is about edification, exhortation, and exhalation for the body of Christ. Predicting who will win a race does not fit the genuine gift that is sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit as seen in the New Testament.
As someone who believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit still being available today, I remain grieved to see continual abuse and counterfeits of these gifts.
Don’t follow the various fads that go on in the name of Christianity, stick to following God’s Word!

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24 (NKJV)

Today we have what is called the seeker-friendly movement, they seek to draw people in by various means with worship and other tactics. The seeker-friendly movement is one of the most unbiblical movements in Christianity.
It makes man the consumer of worship. It focuses on how can we attract the unconverted man via carnal means. The question in the seeker-friendly church is how can we make worship attractive to the world?
The consumer of worship is not man, God is the consumer of worship. We need to ask how God wants to be worshiped. How God wants to be worshiped is founded upon Scripture alone for His glory. It’s not supposed to be about fog machines, nightclub lights, and having a catchy tune.
True conversions will not come from drawing people in with things they can get from the world. True conversions will come from people seeing the power of God displayed in the lives of people within the church in both worship and daily living. You can worship with your carnal means and invite a counterfeit spirit of this age in, or you can truly worship in Spirit and Truth founded upon Scripture alone and have the undeniable presence of God fill the sanctuary.
No one in the early church was ever converted from the church blending what was popular in the world with the things of God. Yet many today think that is the formula. The Apostle Paul didn’t get saved because he was in a trendy worship service, he had a genuine encounter with Jesus.
Get back to the Bible folks! The church should be attractive to the world not because it is like the world, but because it offers what the world can never offer! This is not about being legalistic, it is about being Biblical!