Hiding or Shining

As I woke up I looked out the window and I saw blackness. So thick that it kept even the brightest lights from shining. Staring out into the early morning there was nothing but blackness to see. I got ready for work and went out to get into my car. The fog is what made the morning so thick I couldn’t see very far. As I drove to work in the thick fog I thought about the fog and then suddenly as the sun finally started to rise it started to get lighter. I was thinking about how the world was so black, without hope before Jesus Christ came. I thought of how the disciples and all of the people that followed Him felt as He gave His last breath on the cross. What a dark world that was. What were these people thinking as Christ died? They were thinking there is no hope. Our King is dead. We are left with nothing. As the fog melted away the sun started to rise over the majestic mountains and my next thought was. There was hope because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, just as the sun was rising. The darkness melted away and the light shown bright. That Light passed its light on to others who passed the Light onto others so that there are lights shining all over the world even in the darkest parts. The next thought that came to me was how the Bible tells us to be “in the world but not of the world.” But do we let our lights shining brightly or do we hide them so no one can see then, because we fear what man can do to us. We fear what man might think of us. It causes us to go with the flow of the world instead of standing firm as a beacon on a hill. My favorite verse is Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Are you letting your light shine before men? Or are you hiding it? As for me I will let this song tell you what I am going to do. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine Such a simple children’s song but we can learn so much from it. I hope that you will think about whether your light is shining as bright as it can be shining because Jesus is the Light and we should want to share the Light with everyone.

NIGERIA

For those of you who have not heard I am headed to Nigeria the first of February for three months. Our visas came through this morning. I will be traveling with my younger sister and my grandparents. My grandparents used to be missionaries there. We will be visiting Ministry of Mercy orphanage and traveling the bush. I have been asked to give a few messages during my time there. I am super excited about all of this and I can't wait. I think reality hasn't hit me yet but I am sure it will soon. Thank you all for your prayers.

I Hope I Go to Heaven.

I was downtown doing street evangelism this afternoon. It was cold and not many people were out but as the Lord allowed me to talk to three people, I noticed a phrase that all of them said. You can probably guess what it was by the title of this note. They all said, “I hope I go to heaven.” That is an interesting phrase. I got to thinking about it and I realized that many people have this same mindset. They say they hope they go to heaven. If we truly believe in Jesus then we should know that we are going to heaven. When we say I hope I go to heaven, there is some doubt involved. It is like saying I hope I win the lottery. There is a HUGE chance that we will not win the lottery. When we say I hope I will go to heaven we are saying that there is a chance that we might not go to heaven. Are we saying that Jesus might not be able to save us then? Is our faith so small that even though we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior we still are not certain, not convinced that we will go to heaven. It seems like we are showing that our faith is not fully in Christ. Like there is a chance that Christ might not be able to save us. I am convinced that Christ has saved me and that I am going to heaven. I know for a fact that I am going to heaven because I have put my faith in Jesus Christ. Christ Alone can save us. So when asked where I am going when I die I will say I am going to heaven. What will you say?

Atheists Doubt?!

It’s funny how sometimes people seem so confident. I meet a lot of confident Atheists and there is no used arguing with them. They think that they are always right. I think that just planting a seed of doubt in their mind is the best way. Just by presenting the gospel. When I was a kid I used to doubt whether I was saved or not (now I know that I am for certain).Why couldn't Atheists also doubt? I am certain that Atheists also doubt their beliefs and think that there is a possibility that there is a God out there somewhere. They shove that thought down and say there is no God. When they doubt they loose their confidence. So if you can plant a seed of doubt about whether they are right or not then it might get them thinking. I think this is a better approach rather than arguing with them. Arguing never gets anyone anywhere and most Atheists don’t listen to logic anyway. These are just some thoughts I had the other night and I wanted to write them down. Let me know what you think. Am I totally wrong about it?

Isaiah's example

As my dad was preaching this morning I was very convicted about this and wanted to share it with you all. The message was on Isaiah 5 and 6. As we looked at the six woes on Judah in Chapter 5, we saw a parallel to the United States and where it is headed. It is crazy to look at it and very true. Then came the convicting part in Chapter 6.

Isa 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isa 6:9 He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'
Isa 6:10 "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."
Isa 6:11 Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered, "Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12 "The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13 "Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump."

Are we like Isaiah? Do we say here am I Lord send me!? Or do we make excuses like Moses made. I can’t speak to people. I’m afraid. I just can’t do it oh Lord. Are we willing to go and do whatever the Lord wants us to do? Are we willing at all or do we just want to stay in our comfort zone inside the church and say They will come to us if they want to know about Christ. I want you to notice what the Lord said. He says “Go and tell this people”. Strangely familiar. Jesus Christ also told us to Go and preach the gospel; to go and tell the gospel to all creation. Obviously if we are to go that means that we have to go somewhere where there is people who need to hear the message. We aren’t going to give it to people we know are believers. Now let’s take a look at verse 11. Isaiah says “Lord how long?” The Lord replies until everything is utterly destroyed; until Babylon comes to take Judah captive. Isaiah never saw Babylon come which means he preached this until he died. Judah didn't even listen to him, but Isaiah was still obedient. Are we being obedient? Even though no one may listen to us we still need to preach the gospel. We also like Isaiah should preach the gospel of Jesus Christ until we die or until the rapture comes. What an amazing example Isaiah is to us. We should be following this example instead of making excuses. We should be obedient to Christ command even though no one may listen; though no one may care. So STOP making excuses and GO willingly!

The Lord works even in what we think are bad circumstances

I find it amusing what the Lord does to us when we make excuses for what the Lord would have us to do. On Friday morning I woke up to rainy weather and it continued through the day off and on. I was planning to do evangelism that day and I thought to myself. Hmm I kind of don’t want to go out in the rain but I had made a commitment to go out with the guys and so we went out and we had some of the best conversations that we have had in a long time. As the night went on the weather got worse and worse but the Lord was working in the hearts of those people and they stopped to talk to us. The Lord is good. I find that in the worst weather we have some of the best conversations. Praise the Lord for such a great time out evangelizing.

Teach Me What It Means

The original is a hymn called " O Teach Me what it Meaneth" by Lucy A. Bennett. This one has been changed a little bit and put into more modern terms. I hope you enjoy it.

Teach me what it means the cross lifted high
Man of Sorrows condemned to bleed and to die
Teach me what it cost you to make me whole
Teach me Savior teach me the value of my soul

Teach me what it means that Sacred crimson tide
The blood and water flowing from your wounded side
Teach me that if none had sinned but myself
Still your blood, Lord Jesus, would save me alone

Teach me what it means for I am full of sin
Grace alone can reach me and love alone can win
Teach for I need You I have no other way
In you alone I hope and I am here to stay

Teach me what it means the rest you give
To all the burdened people who look to you and live.
Because I am a rebel, Your pardon I have received
Because of Christ’s blood, I can, I have believed

Infinite Redeemer I bring no other plea
Because you have saved me, I cast myself on Thee
Because you have accepted me I love and adore
Because of your unfailing love I praise you evermore



Teach me what it means your love beyond compare
Your love that reaches deeper than my depths of despair
Teach me til there glows in this cold dark heart of mine
A deep pale reflection of your love divine

Do people know what the Gospel is?

Why is it that we think that people know what the gospel is? Many people even people who claim to be Christians do not know what the gospel is. We think that because our nation was founded on Biblical principles that people know what the gospel is. We think that because we are able to worship how we want to and that if you call yourself a Christian then you must know what the gospel is. Many people say the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. This is absolutely true but when asked to explain what this is they simply say it is the gospel. The question I ask is what is the Good News of Jesus Christ? What is the gospel? This is the question I ask to those people who claim to be Christians. When asked this many of these people get offended that I would ask them that question. Why are they offended? It is because they either don’t know or they don’t like it that I would actually ask a “Christian” that question. If someone asked me this question I would jump at the chance to share the gospel with them. What gets me is when someone who claims to be a Christian says that they don’t want to talk about it. What! You don’t want to talk about Jesus Christ and what He has done for you?! You don’t want to talk about the gift of eternal life that has been given to you?! What madness is this? There is no reason Christians should be offended by that question and why Christians shouldn’t want to talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ.
On the other side we assume that most unbelievers have heard the gospel but in reality they have not and if they have most of the time it has been corrupted with books and movies like the “DaVinci Code” and a lot of other books Dan Brown has written. People read these books to figure out what the Bible says instead of reading the Bible itself and so they get the wrong ideas. Their minds are twisted to thinking that this is what the Bible says but it is not. When I go out to talk to people there are some crazy wild ideas out there. People don’t understand what the gospel really is. That is why we have to tell the gospel to everyone. There is no one who can be checked off the list of people not to talk to. Everyone needs a Savior! I implore all of you to go out and don’t just pass those people who claim to be Christians by, but ask them to explain the gospel to you. Ask them what the Good News of Jesus Christ is and how to get to heaven. It will be a surprising and eye opening experience.

Youth Retreat 2009

Top: Self Study, Middle: Red (Nathan Norberg) excited to be at the youth retreat, Bottom: Group Picture.

What an amazing weekend. Youth retreat went very well. We had a record of 85 people that attended. On Friday night I got to share the gospel with all of the guys for devotions. It was really good. I had forgotten how much fun it was to hang out with all of my friends and getting to know new friends a little better. I am thankful for everyone who came. I am also thankful that the Lord allowed me to stay home this year and I am patiently waiting on Him to see what is going to be next in my life. Can’t wait to see how the Lords going to work!

Serving evangelism

I have been thinking on this for a couple of days. I was at work the other night and these two girls that were serving were trying to get me to talk to them. They are both flirty girls and I don’t usually talk to flirty girls, because they annoy me. So they kept trying to get me to talk to them and told me that we were going to hang out and that they were going to call me and such. Finally I decided that I was going to talk to them if they bugged me again and ask them where they are going to go when they die. As the night went on I did not get the opportunity. So I knew that they would try to keep this up and decided that if they did I would ask them the question. So a couple days later I was getting ready to wash dishes and my boss came in and asked if I would serve supper and then they would bring in someone to wash dishes. So I served supper and can you guess who worked with me that night? That’s right one of the flirty girls. So as we were bussing tables after supper she was trying to get me to talk to her and so I said ok I will talk to you and I asked her the question. She being stunned that I would ask her that and stunned that I was a Christian asked me if I was seriously asking her that question. I said of course I am serious, she told me that she wanted to go to heaven but she thought that she might go to hell and then asked me where I thought she was going. I told her that if she did not believe on Jesus Christ then she was going to hell and repent of her sins. She was stunned again. She then asked me where I was going and I told her that I was going to heaven. Suddenly she got mad at me and said, “So you are saying that because I gave birth to my kid I am going to hell?” She obviously knew that sex outside of marriage was wrong and I said no. I said it is because you have sinned and you do not believed in Jesus Christ. She told me that she did not want to talk to me anymore. She was swearing all night long. She was definitely convicted and mad. So as the night went on I asked the Lord for one more chance to talk to her and he gave it to me. She said do you always make people this mad (in a little more colorful words). I told her only if they were convicted about their sin and she really got mad after that. At the very end of the night she told me that she really wanted to say a lot of things to me and I told her that it wouldn’t have been the first time. And that was it. I found out the next day that she had texted and called a bunch of her friends and told them that a kid told her that she was going to hell because she had a baby. Wow the way people want to justify themselves by making what other people say look absurd. I hope that every time this girl sees me she will be tormented by the question of where she is going when she dies, until she finally comes to know Jesus Christ as her Savior. It seems like a mean thing to hope for but in reality it is because this girl needs the Lord. The Holy Spirit is working on her and I have planted a seed. It’s amazing to see how the Lord allowed me to serve that night so that I could talk to that girl. What an amazing God we have. I like how these verses put it.

Psa 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
Psa 37:24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

God set all of this up before hand so that I could talk to this girl and I am so glad He did. It is amazing to watch how He uses unbelievers and they don’t even know it. God is so amazing!

They Say There is No God

They look at the beautiful sunrise in the morning and the breathtaking sunset at night.
Yet they say there is no God.

They look at the bright and shining beautiful stars at night
Yet they say there is no God.

They take a look at the beautiful, magnificent mountains.
Yet they say there is no God.

They see the flowers that bloom in the spring with their radiant colors.
Yet they say there is no God.

They see the snow in the winter and not one flake is the same as another
Yet they say there is no God

They use His name as a curse word
Yet they say there is no God

They cry out to Him in their trouble
Yet they say there is no God.

They think everything happens by chance
They say there is no God.

When they look at the sunrise, sunset, the stars in the heavens, the flowers, the mountains, the snowflakes what do they think?
They cast their thoughts aside and say there is no God
How can they say there is no God?

It is because they are fools. Psalms 14 and 53
They do not know what they are saying when …
They say there is no God.

They are rejecting the existence of the One who created them.
They are rejecting the existence of the One who sent His only Son to die on the cross for their sins.
They don’t realize what they are missing because…
They say there is no God.

Thoughts

I wrote this a while ago and forgot to post it.


Starlight glistens across the water as I look out across it to the other side wishfully thinking about future plans. Wondering what is next. Praying that I will understand the next part on my life that I would be able to serve the Lord wherever he sends me. As the moon slowly comes up I see the forest around me even better than before. It is so bright I can see all the way across the lake I wonder if there is anyone else that is thinking and praying about the same thing as I am. Then as I look around I wonder how I could live without a God that made all of this and has been with me in everything that I have gone through. Then I realize that I can’t live without Him and it makes me even more thankful that He is there for me. All of my worries are suddenly gone and goose bumps form on my arms as I think about how God is so good and He will work everything out in due time. Finally at peace I go back to my tent for a good night sleep and wake up in the morning content and refreshed.

Not much time

Yesterday as I was at work (I work at a retirement home) I found out that a dear lady had died and they were having the funeral in the afternoon. Just a few weeks ago I had been cleaning her carpet and I had seen a Gideon’s New Testament sitting on her couch. I went on cleaning and I noticed she had her TV on a channel that was trying to sell very expensive Jewelry and she sat there ooing and awing. I could see she really wanted it. I thought to myself, “She is longing for worldly things that she cannot take with her when she dies.” As I was leaving I picked up the New Testament and asked her if she had read the Bible. She said not much. I told her my favorite story was in this book and I opened it up to the book of John and gave it to her and she turned the TV off and sat down right there and started reading it. I will never know if she accepted Christ as her Savior. My plan was to talk to her about it later and I never got the chance. If some of you were in my shoes you might be kicking yourself because you didn’t share the gospel with her right there and then. The fact of the matter I am not kicking myself. The Lord moved me to share the story of Christ with this woman through the little Gideon Bible she had. Not only that the past is the past and you can’t change it so move forward. It made me think about a few things. So often we hold back talking to people about Christ. Anyone can die at anytime anywhere. When I was thinking about this, I thought there is not much time. The Rapture is coming soon and I want as many people to come to heaven with me as I can get to come. Most people don’t realize the urgency of the situation. This woman’s death showed me the urgency even more than before. People think well they will just reject it what’s the point well it is better that you tried to tell them about Jesus than to just let them go without knowing the gospel and it is not you that they are rejecting but Jesus. We should do everything in light of eternity and for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I hope that you will BOLDLY share the Gospel to everyone you know and don’t know because the rapture is near. There is not much time. I would hate to see all those people headed for hell and not even know what the gospel is. So again I implore you to join with me in telling everyone about Jesus Christ.

Apologize? Never!

The other day I was doing street evangelism and I stopped to talk to 3 kids. 2 of them were Methodists and the other didn’t go to church. I got the chance to share the gospel with them in full and just as I finished a man and a woman came out a store and walked up to me. When telling the woman I was a Christian the woman started yelling at me for telling these kids about Christ when I didn’t know what their belief was and that I should not be telling anyone about Christ. I apologized for telling them( of which I regret apologizing for) and that satisfied her until one of the Methodist boys pipes up and says “I know about John the Baptist too, do you know about Him?” and I told the boy that was very good and that John the Baptist was the man that came before Jesus telling them that Jesus was coming. The woman then turns to me and tells in not so nice a voice. “Stop NOW!” and tells the kids to come with her now. All this time the man is very quiet and as they are leaving the man comes closer and apologizes for the woman action. I am guessing that he was the father of the Methodist boys. As they walked up the street I followed them handing out tracts and the woman looked back at me several time giving me nasty looks all the way. At the end of the street I felt like going up to her and telling her that I was wrong. I was not sorry for telling the boys about Christ. But I did not and I wish I had. I can only pray that those boys will come to know Christ as their Savior someday.We are so apologetic about what Christ has done for us. When someone yells at us we say we are sorry that we shared the gospel. This is not the way we should be acting. We should not apologize we should stand boldly. Apologizing makes it look like we were in the wrong for telling people about Christ and the people we are talking to are right. But you know just as well as I, that is not true. So brothers and sister in Christ stand boldly telling people about Christ and don’t apologize because we have offended these people. The gospel is offensive to those who do not believe, whose minds are set on sinning and following the ways of the world. As for me I will continue boldly proclaiming the gospel and I will not apologize for telling anyone about Christ. I hope that all of you will join me in this.

A refute for those who believe that you can lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6: 4-6.

A refute for those who believe that you can lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6: 4-6.

By T.J. Kerttula

Hebrews 6:4-6

4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

Verse 4. This word enlightened means to shed light on. In this case to shed light on the knowledge of Salvation. This is talking about these people that have the knowledge of salvation. They know how to get saved. That does not mean they are saved, it just means they know how to get saved.

Notice the word tasted. This word is not to drink but to taste which means that they have tried the flavor of the heavenly gift. The heavenly gift is Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) If we look at the account of Jesus in Matthew 27:34 we see that Jesus was given wine mixed with gall and it says that Jesus tasted it, but would not drink it. It is not enough to taste Christ. If we look at John 6:53 we see that if we do not eat of his flesh or drink of His blood we have no life in us. This is not literal but figurative. It is saying that unless we truly receive Christ as Lord and Savior, we have no life in us, so we see the difference between these two passages. If we are just “tasting” then we truly have not received Christ as our Savior.

The next phrase says, “have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit”. Many think that this is talking about the Holy Spirit Indwelling believers, but if we think about it and look at scripture, we see that the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers lives as well. (1 Cor. 7:14; John 16:8) The Holy Spirit points these people to Christ as their only hope. Therefore, these people partake of the Holy Spirits benefits without being indwelt by Him.

Verse 5. Notice the word tasted once again. It means that they have taken a sip of God’s word and the powers of the age to come.

Verse 6. They have fallen away they do not want to have anything to do with God. They do not want to follow Him. If we look in John 8:30-32 it says, “ ³⁰As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. ³¹So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Notice the first underlined part says many came to believe IN Him. The second one just says believed Him. It is talking about the first group were saved because they Believed in him the second did not believe him they just believed Him. Notice the argument that happens right after it. They say that they are important because they are Abraham’s descendents and then n verse 48 they say that Jesus is a Samaritan and has a demon. Therefore, these Jews that believed him could not be saved because they did not believe in Him. They tasted what Jesus had to say but decided that they did not want to follow Him. These people who have fallen away are like these Jews. If we look at the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, we can see that these people who have fallen away are the same people who the writer of Hebrews is talking about. They have seen the benefits of Christianity and so they profess to be Christians, but they do not have a heart change and when the going gets tough, they fall away from Christianity and do not stand with the church but they openly deny believing in Jesus Christ. They cannot be renewed to repentance. It is impossible! The next phrase gives us the reason why they cannot be renewed to repentance. Because they again crucified the Son of Man for themselves and put Him to open shame. This shows that they turn totally against God and joined forces against Him. It is not just carelessness but it is malicious and deliberate spurning of Christ.

If we think about “tasting” the different promises God has given us, such as Eternal Life, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and especially the New Covenant. We can see that in the same way as we sometimes taste the benefits of the promises (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, and Davidic covenants) to Israel, unbelievers also taste the benefits of the promises to believers. We cannot claim the promises given to Israel as Christians. In the same way, the unbeliever cannot claim the promises given to believers. They are specifically for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

If we think about this passage, the only logical explanation is that this person suggested in this passage has not believed in Jesus Christ but is playing Christian. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ can lose their salvation. On the contrary, it says in Romans 10:8-10, v9 “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your Hearts that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved”. It does not say, you might be saved, but it says that you will be saved. That is a promise. If we look at Acts 16:31 it says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” There is no place in Scripture that says that we can lose our Salvation. The Bible never contradicts itself ever so if there was a place you would have a contradiction or you would be saying that God could go back on His promises, that God is a liar, but God cannot and did not do that. So therefore the only logical answer for Hebrews 6:4-6 is that this person never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but was just there to look good and when the going got tough he left and put Christ to open shame.