So your life is falling apart. I know, you lost something. You lost your job, or you lost your wife in a divorce, or you lost your father, mother, son, or daughter because they died, or you lost your health. So now you’re in pain, and not the kind that an aspirin can help you with. You’re in the kind of pain that makes you realize you need help–from God.
Well I’m here to tell you some things you’ve probably never heard before about becoming a Christian. You want God’s help, so you’re ready to ask Jesus Christ into your life, but you probably don’t realize what you’re in for. It’s not like you’re buying a gold fish for yourself, throwing him into a bowl of water, and feeding him once a day. Yes Jesus can help you, but remember, He’s the One Who created you. He’s the One Who created the whole world, and more than the world He created the sun and the whole solar system. And more than the solar system, He created the whole galaxy. And more than the galaxy, He created the whole universe. He created quarks, and black holes, and oceans, and mountains, and atoms, and electrons, and clouds, and comets. When you invite Him into your life, yes, you get His help, but along with the power to help you, you get the rest of His power too. He will willingly walk with you through your pain, if you’re brave enough to willingly walk with Him. It takes courage to invite that kind of power into your life.
Another thing about Him: His standards are impossibly high, and you’ll never live up to those standards. Like all of us, you realize you’ve failed in your life. At one time or another, maybe very recently, you’ve lied, or you’ve stolen, or you’ve lusted, or you’ve broken a promise. Other religions try to teach you how to live, but with Christ, God provides you with life. God of course knows about your sins. So God provided His Son Jesus, to die for those sins, on your behalf. Jesus is life. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
You have access to that life, to eternal life, to new life. You have access to Jesus Christ. You can not only experience God’s presence while walking in your pain, but you can experience God’s presence forever. You can live, with Him, in heaven. In fact, God says: If you don’t want to live with Me in heaven, it will have to be over My dead body–the dead body of My Son. If you accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for your sins, if you accept Jesus Christ into your life, if you ask Jesus Christ into your heart, to be your savior, and your Lord, and your friend, then you’ll receive God’s presence in this life, and in eternity.
To accept Him now as your personal Lord and savior simply say the prayer,
Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins and I thank you for doing that. I believe you rose again and that you are the Son of God. Please come into my life and into my heart. Be my Lord and my Savior.
The words aren’t magical, what’s important is you opened your heart to invite Jesus into your life. And that’s the beginning.
Now find yourself a bible and read it. (I recommend these bible reading plans on the YouVersion App) Don’t worry about how much you read. Just be sure to read a little from the Old and New Testaments each day.
Find yourself a church that teaches through the entire Bible and attend it. Hang out with other Christians–you’ll be blessed.
Pray, every day.
Tell others about Jesus.
If you have questions, send me an email at kurt@kurtbennettbooks.com.
[Image via Tim Li – Creative Commons]
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What Jesus Gave For Christmas
Surrender by “Ancient History” – Creative Commons
The thermometer said 3 degrees and there was snow and ice on the roads. We were experiencing some unusually low temperatures here in Oregon and it was during that cold snap, I was reluctant to leave the nest to go to church. Inside, my house was warm and cushy. There was food in the fridge and games on TV. The lure of the self-life called strong. I didn’t want to give up that comfort to go worship Jesus corporately.
What Jesus Gave
Have you ever thought about what Jesus gave up, to come to us? He didn’t leave a warm home on a cold day, he left heaven. He left his Father. He left his throne. He left multitudes of angels who supported him at his every turn. He left a place where there’s no pain, a place overflowing with joy. He left a place so magnificent we can’t even imagine it. He gave it all up so he could come to our place, planet earth, to bleed on the cross, because it was the only way to reconcile us with our Father.
Jesus gave up everything for us. He gave it all.
What I Give
That’s what we celebrate on Christmas. I’ve been thinking about that lately, what He gave up and what I gave up. He gave up everything, I gave up–not much. I became a Christian a long time ago but there has always been some something I wanted to hang onto. Oh I wanted to be a Christian to be sure, so I could make it into heaven. But I didn’t want to let go of certain things.
I wanted to remain a Christian but… Read More
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Posted on December 21, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young
Christmas, Christmas surrender yourself to God, Surrender Yourself to God
Overwhelmed by God–Book Review
I don’t write many book reviews on God Running but the timing of Steve Mays’ book, Overwhelmed by God, was pretty incredible. About a year ago, my two and one half year old grandson Andrew developed a lump on his right shoulder. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. His pediatrician thought it was just an unusually large swollen lymph gland. But after three treatments with three different antibiotics the lump was still there. All those treatments, all those trips to the doctor, they took time. Months passed. Eventually his parents took him up to Oregon Health & Science University where the lump was misdiagnosed again. Finally his dad and mom sent an MRI down to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, to the same doc that did the surgery on his skull for craniosynostosis. (That was one radical adventure. If you’re interested you can learn more about it here.)
So now a year has gone by. The doctor at Phoenix Children’s says, Hey, they missed the diagnosis up at OHSU. We need to take that tumor out right away and have it diagnosed by a pathologist. “Diagnosed by a pathologist.” I’m not a doctor (nor have I ever played one on TV) but even I know what that means. That means they need to check it for cancer. Read More
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Posted on December 14, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
depression, Overwhelmed by God, Overwhelmed by God book review, Overwhelmed by God review, Steve Mays
What God Wants
Jesus’ Last Moments
Jesus hung there on the cross between the two criminals. The sign Pilot ordered, hung over Jesus’ head, it said, This is the King of the Jews. The bible says the Jewish rulers were “sneering” at him. “He saved others,” they said. “Let him save himself if he’s God’s Messiah.”
One of the criminals who hung there with him also sneered. He said, “You’re supposed to be the Messiah? Save yourself and save us too.”
Darkness came across the land.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Then Jesus called out loudly, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
And then he died.
(Luke 23)
How God Said It
In the story of Jesus’ death we see him mocked and sneered at while he hung there to die. Before that we feel his pain as we see him falsely accused, and whipped, and crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross. We see it, we feel it, we experience it. That’s the way the bible is written. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever noticed all the sensory experiential language in the bible?
And there’s also all the talk about Jesus our bridegroom, and how we’re his bride.
And those are just a few examples. So why does the bible push all this sensory and experiential language on us? What is God saying to us?
What God Wants
What is he saying to us? What does God want? Here’s what He’s saying to us: Read More
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Posted on December 7, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian, Christian living, Psalm 63, Surrender Yourself to God, What does God want?, what does Jesus want
What Would You Ask of Jesus?
Christmas is coming. The celebration of Jesus’s birth is coming. And people are asking others for gifts.
Jesus asked the two men, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
If you were sitting by the road,
And Jesus was passing by,
And you could ask him for anything,
What would you ask?
[Image via Peter2010 – Creative Commons]
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Posted on December 4, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
What would you ask Jesus?
Love Like Jesus–Love the Unlovable
(One of our most popular posts–from the archives)
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16-17
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved people by spending time with them, in spite of their sinful lifestyle.
How to Love Like Jesus
There’s a blog I follow called Not Ashamed Of The Gospel. Not long ago, they posted a three part series about a ministry which reaches out to sex industry employees. I couldn’t help but notice there weren’t many comments offered on the last post in the series, An Insider’s Look — “Awkward!” I think for most people, that post was just too hot to handle.
Finally, one person posted and as best as I could tell he used scripture to infer this post about the sex industry ministry was an example of ungodly men perverting the grace of God.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to comment.
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Posted on November 30, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian, Christian living, how Jesus loved people, legalism, Love like Jesus, Mark 2
Thanksgiving and Noah’s Ark
I think Noah demonstrates for us one of the most important keys there is to walking closely with Jesus Christ. The very first thing Noah did after he stepped off the ark was to sacrifice some of the clean animals and birds to God. I can’t imagine doing that. In my own flesh I would have said, “I have just seven sheep here, should I take the seventh and make a sacrifice? I have to populate the whole world from this diminished tiny herd. Doesn’t it make more sense to wait until the animals have multiplied before sacrificing to You Lord?”
But in the words of Matthew Henry, “Serving God with our little is the way to make it more; and we must never think that wasted with which God is honoured.” Obviously Noah had a grasp of this truth.
And Noah had a grasp of the power of thanksgiving. Imagine with me that you’ve been cooped up in an ark with thousands of animals (and with all of the sanitation issues that implies). You’ve been cooped up like this for more than a year! For 377 days! What’s the first thing you want to do when you get out? Celebrate with a party? Go for a long walk just because you finally can? Build a house for yourself? Play some frisbee football? That’s what I’d want to do but that’s not what Noah did. Noah Read More
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Posted on November 23, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis
Christian, Christian living, Genesis 8, In everything give thanks, Noah's ark, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving and Noah's Ark, Walk with Jesus
A Time to Die
It’s Time to Die
The last post was about how important it is not to die indiscriminately. In other words the last post was for people who can’t say no, as you might gather from the title: How Not to Become a Christian Doormat.
This post is probably more important and for a greater number because this post is for all of us who don’t want to die. And at some point everyone of us will have to. I’m not talking about the physical death of our bodies necessarily, but rather the time when the Holy Spirit will tell you, “Yes, it’s time. It’s your time to die now. It’s your time to submit to My will and not your own.”
You and I and every single one of us will encounter God in that way. Every single one of us will be called upon by God to die, and frequently.
Frequently because we’re commanded to love, and love so often demands that we die to our own will. And there are all kinds of ways to do that, there are all kinds of ways to die. You might be called to die by allowing that guy at work to take the choice assignment, or by agreeing to your wife buying a new pair of shoes, or even by simply turning off the TV and engaging with the kids.
Or, it could be something much harder.
A Tale of Two Fathers Read More
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Posted on November 23, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage
Christian, deny yourself, die to self, die to self Christian, Jesus, Love like Jesus, take up your cross
How Not to Become a Christian Doormat–How to know when to die (From the new book Love Like Jesus: Chapter 28)
Doormat
Content from this article is from the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus). For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in February of 2020.
A Dormitory Door Mat
There are these two roommates Walter and Craig who live on the fifth floor of the Barnhart dormitory at the University of Oregon. Craig is on the football team. He’s pretty sure he’s one of the best athletes on campus. He’s really into his sport and his friends, like a lot of guys are during their college years. Two of his favorite hangouts are the weight room and wherever the current party happens to be. He’s a Grand Theft Auto and Madden NFL kind of guy.
But his roommate Walter is different. He’s kind of bookish, if you know what I mean. He’s a good student. He belongs to the college writing club. He’s watched all the Lord of the Rings movies multiple times—on Blue Ray. He’s an English major but he’s taking a physics class, just for fun. He’s more of a Minecraft kind of a guy.
Well one day Craig has a chance to move into an apartment off campus. The day the apartment comes open is the day before a home game, and he wants to move in right away so he can have a victory party after the game. He already invited a bunch of his friends. Getting people to come to his party was no problem. But getting people to help him move wasn’t working out. Not a single friend was available. So, even though he very much preferred not to, he asked Walter.
“Hey, I need you to help me move my stuff over to the apartment.”
“I’d like to but I can’t,” Walter said. “I have a midterm and a group project presentation tomorrow.” He also said yes to a request to give a presentation at his writer’s club right after the midterm. And his parents were arriving for a visit after writer’s club. But Walter was too embarrassed to disclose that to Craig.
“I don’t really see a problem,” Craig said. “I only need you for like, one hour.”
Walter didn’t respond but Craig could see the reluctance on his face.
“Come on Walter, don’t be selfish.”
For some reason every time Walter experienced a pang of guilt he thought of the dentist’s needle injecting lidocaine into his gums. Except instead of his gums, he imagined the needle penetrating his heart. And instead of pain followed by numbness, there was just pain. Craig had a knack for triggering that response in Walter. So did his dad. So did his mother. So did a lot of people.
And there was that word: selfish. A Christian can’t be selfish, can he? Read More
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Posted on November 16, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage, Suffering
assertive Christian, assertiveness, bully, bullying, die to self, doormat Christian, Holy Spirit, How not to be a doormat, how to receive the Holy Spirit, pushover Christian
What Happens When We Disregard the Laws of the Universe
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
A Deer Disregards Sir Isaac Newton
I was walking in my neighborhood the other morning and came across the skeletal remains of the deer in this photo. You know, if the deer was still alive, we might say to her, “Don’t cross that highway because you might get hit by a car.”
And the deer might reply (assuming of course, that the deer could understand English), Read More
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Posted on November 12, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young
Christian, consequences of sin, Salvation, wages of sin, wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, what happens when I sin
Calling a Christian a Pharisee
Emil Nolde – Pharisees (1900)
Calling a Christian a Pharisee
I heard a great bible study Wednesday night and I want to encourage you to listen to it. Just click on 2 Chronicles 17:1-19:3 11-06-13 W7101 by Jon Courson.
The reason I’m so interested in you checking out this study is because one of the issues addressed is the use of the word pharisee to describe Christians. And I am guilty of using that word, in that manner.
And I was wrong.
It happened the same day as the aforementioned evening bible study. That morning Read More
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Posted on November 9, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young
calling a Christian Pharisee, Christian, Christian blogger, Christian living, Pharisee
What It Means When We Work Without Rest
Work without rest.
I saw these math equations today on a blog I started following recently.
Work – Rest = Trust in self.
Work + Rest = Trust in God.
If you’re interested, you can read the rest of the post here: Your Faith in Math by SammyA. I thought he pretty much nailed it.
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Posted on November 6, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Suffering
Christian, Christian living, rest, sabbath, Stress, Stress Rest Christian, Sunday
So Your Life Is Falling Apart
Well I’m here to tell you some things you’ve probably never heard before about becoming a Christian. You want God’s help, so you’re ready to ask Jesus Christ into your life, but you probably don’t realize what you’re in for. It’s not like you’re buying a gold fish for yourself, throwing him into a bowl of water, and feeding him once a day. Yes Jesus can help you, but remember, He’s the One Who created you. He’s the One Who created the whole world, and more than the world He created the sun and the whole solar system. And more than the solar system, He created the whole galaxy. And more than the galaxy, He created the whole universe. He created quarks, and black holes, and oceans, and mountains, and atoms, and electrons, and clouds, and comets. When you invite Him into your life, yes, you get His help, but along with the power to help you, you get the rest of His power too. He will willingly walk with you through your pain, if you’re brave enough to willingly walk with Him. It takes courage to invite that kind of power into your life.
Another thing about Him: His standards are impossibly high, and you’ll never live up to those standards. Like all of us, you realize you’ve failed in your life. At one time or another, maybe very recently, you’ve lied, or you’ve stolen, or you’ve lusted, or you’ve broken a promise. Other religions try to teach you how to live, but with Christ, God provides you with life. God of course knows about your sins. So God provided His Son Jesus, to die for those sins, on your behalf. Jesus is life. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
You have access to that life, to eternal life, to new life. You have access to Jesus Christ. You can not only experience God’s presence while walking in your pain, but you can experience God’s presence forever. You can live, with Him, in heaven. In fact, God says: If you don’t want to live with Me in heaven, it will have to be over My dead body–the dead body of My Son. If you accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for your sins, if you accept Jesus Christ into your life, if you ask Jesus Christ into your heart, to be your savior, and your Lord, and your friend, then you’ll receive God’s presence in this life, and in eternity.
To accept Him now as your personal Lord and savior simply say the prayer,
The words aren’t magical, what’s important is you opened your heart to invite Jesus into your life. And that’s the beginning.
Now find yourself a bible and read it. (I recommend these bible reading plans on the YouVersion App) Don’t worry about how much you read. Just be sure to read a little from the Old and New Testaments each day.
Find yourself a church that teaches through the entire Bible and attend it. Hang out with other Christians–you’ll be blessed.
Pray, every day.
Tell others about Jesus.
If you have questions, send me an email at kurt@kurtbennettbooks.com.
[Image via Tim Li – Creative Commons]
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Posted on November 2, 2013 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study
become a Christian, depression, divorce, how do I become a Christian, how to become a Christian, Jesus, Jesus Christ, loss
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