Turn Your Life Away from Church and Toward Christ

If you truly want to live for Christ you must turn your attention away from church and toward Christ.

Attending church – even if you do it often – is a part-time activity.  Attending to Christ is a full-activity, for it’s something you do all your waking hours.

Christ sees you all the time and He sees every secret of your heart.  Living for Him is far more demanding than living for church.  It is also, however, far more rewarding.

Turning your life toward Christ means submitting every single thing you think, say, and do to His scrutiny.  If you’re interested in purifying your life of sin, this is the way you go about it.  Turning your life toward Christ removes sin at the root.  That is, the root of sin is trying to live life as if God doesn’t exist and therefore He is not nurturing us to be righteous like He is.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

The Kingdom of God Is Heaven-Based, Not Earth-Based

The kingdom of God is based in heaven, not on earth.  For this reason, “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with “kingdom of God.”

Contrary to the prevailing religious opinion of His day, Jesus taught that resurrection from the dead leads to angelic status in heaven.  Thus when He was raised from the dead, that’s where He went to begin His reign as King.  From heaven, He reigned throughout New Testament times.  Strange then that church leaders since have sought to relocate kingdom headquarters to earth – whether that be Rome or a city near you.

Heaven remains the headquarters of the kingdom of God, and those who seek the kingdom know that their Leader is there.  If your spiritual leader is someone on earth, then your spiritual leader is not Christ.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

Even Non-Denominational Churches Honor Their Own Names Above His

It’s not just denominational churches which promote their names above the name of Christ.  Even non-denominational churches want you to come to the “Mount Such-and-Such Community Church.”  But what about the church of God?

Do the denominational and non-denominational churches say that they promote the Lord’s name above their own names?  No, but why then are they promoting their own names at all?

Jesus said, “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”  Indeed, organized Christianity cannot stand and has not stood.  It has been corrupted by divisiveness and every form of sin that can be found in secular society.

True Christians promote the name of Christ – and no other name.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

Denominations Are Focused on the Wrong Name

To “denominate” something means to “name” it.  Each Christian denomination has its own name.  This name distinguishes it from other denominations.  These denominations, however, have lost sight of the most important name of all: Jesus Christ.

Denominations are more focused on their own names than on Christ’s name.  Otherwise, they would not have their own names.

The name of Jesus Christ is “above every name that is named.”  That’s the name to honor.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

God’s House or Our Houses?

Your decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ without being a churchgoer means that you have decided to be a part of God’s house instead of the houses of men.

Today’s churches are houses built for earthly glory – not heavenly glory.  They operate according to the commandments of men and they seek the glory of men.

The house of God is a 24/7 reality.  It is not something you attend – it is something of which you are constantly a part.

In the houses of men, people come and go.  In the house of God, people come to stay.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

All the Other Bible Heroes Are Stars; Jesus Is the Sun

The stars seem bright…until the sun comes along.

Thus we see Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other Old Testament worthies as lights in the darkness of this world – “men of whom the world was not worthy.”

Yet these stars recede into insignificance when the sun rises and fills heaven and earth with His light.

Jesus is the hero of all Bible heroes.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

The Way to God Is Found Through Righteousness, Not Religion

When God chose a man named Abram (whose name He later changed to Abraham), it was not because Abram was religious while his contemporaries were irreligious.  Rather, it was the other way around.  Abram’s contemporaries were quite religious, engaged in the worship and tolerance of many idols.  What distinguished Abram was his unwillingness to pay the ritual tribute to these idols that everyone else was paying.

Abram knew there was but one Creator of heaven and earth and that this Creator was righteous and good, requiring righteousness and goodness from those human beings He had created.  This faith that Abram held led him to live for the approval of this one God and not for the approval of idols (who could not even think or speak, much less approve of anything)…or even for the approval of his fellow man.  Abram lived only for the approval of his Creator.

If you would find God and His kingdom, you must put away all notions that the path to Him is one of religious activity.  Let your only religion be this:  to do what is right in the sight of the One who defines what is right by His own behavior:  Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

The Good News of Jesus Christ Is Too Good Not To Be True

No human mind could have crafted the story of Jesus Christ.  It is too good for that.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a story that only could have been told by God because no man is that inventive.  More to the point, no man is that good.

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh coming to earth to free us from our sins and take us all to heaven.  If this were a fiction, it would not be credible.  Only as truth does it stand up to scrutiny.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

Love Starts at Home and Work

Sometimes it’s the people closest to us that are the hardest to love.  We can find it easier to show kindness to strangers.

People in our own families are the ones who have hurt us.  Strangers don’t even know us – they haven’t had opportunity yet to hurt us.  People in our own homes take us for granted.  People in our own workplaces take advantage of us.  And on and on it goes.  It is much easier to accumulate a list of wrongdoings for your family and co-workers than it is for anyone else.

This is what makes God’s forgiveness all the more amazing.  He knows every…single…thing…we have ever done wrong.  The most anyone else knows is a fraction of that.  Yet God loves us anyway.  We have hurt no one with our wrongdoing more than we have hurt God.  Yet God loves us anyway.

Let love start at home and work by letting forgiveness start at home and work.  What grudges are you nursing?  Let them go.

God will judge you as you have judged others.  Are you prepared for that?

Be merciful to others so that God can be merciful to you.

Since you spend the majority of your life at home and at work, it stands to reason that the majority of wrongs done to you would occur in those locations.  Therefore, learn to practice forgiveness in those locations so that the mercy of God will prevail in your life as well as in the lives of others.

If you want to think of yourself as a follower of Jesus, nothing about this is optional.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.

Love Is Understood as Relationship Responsibility

We know that Jesus tells us to love one another as He loved us.  That’s a lot.

This godly love, profound as it is, however, is to take place in the context of our homes and workplaces.  That is, we don’t need to go to some exotic location to show God’s love.  Neither do we need to set up a charitable foundation to show His love.  Less still do we need to launch a social movement in the public square for all to see and join.  Rather, we are to employ His love in the otherwise mundane workings of our everyday lives.

To be more specific, husbands are to show God’s love to their wives.  Wives are to show God’s love to their husbands.  Parents are to show God’s love to their children.  Children are to show God’s love to their parents.  Workers are to serve their superiors with the love of God and superiors are to show God’s love to their workers.

In other words, when it comes to showing the love of God you don’t have to go in search of someone to love.  Instead, all you have to do is love those you are already responsible for loving.  Do some of them not deserve it?  That’s what God’s love is for.  It loves the undeserving.  That’s how you and I became recipients of it.

Bible notes on this post.

The purpose of this blog is to proclaim Jesus Christ to those who want to hear about Him without having to join a church – or anything or anyone else – but Him.