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How To Have A Happy Church Life

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How to Have A Happy CHurch Life

I was walking my dog this week after I got home from work. You just have to know how Kobalt is. He is always on a mission to get where he is going. And once he gets there, he has his nose to the ground. It’s just one continual sniffing party. But, on this particular day and this particular walk, Kobalt did something different. It was so out of character for him that I noticed immediately. He lifted his head to look. And look he did, for several minutes. As soon as he did that, I knew exactly what the Lord was trying to get over to me. “Emery, you’ve always got your nose to the ground. You’re always trying to get somewhere. Lift up your head and look around and enjoy what’s around you.” He didn’t say those words in my spirit, but that’s what I believe was the sense of the picture He showed me. And, he used my dog to get me that message. Just wonderful! Years ago, Joyce Myer wrote a book entitled, ‘Enjoying Where You Are on the Way to Where You Are Going’. I read the book years ago but what I remember most from that book is the title. That’s what stuck with me. We need to lift our heads and enjoy where we are. Tomorrow, we’re headed to church. Do you enjoy being in church? Do you have a happy church life? Maybe you just need to lift your head and enjoy where you are. That’s what we are going to look at in today’s blog: How to Have a Happy Church Life.

[Tweet “Happiness is a by-product of the right type of pursuit, pursuing the Lord Jesus Christ.”]

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#S4-050: Why Did the Disciples Ask Jesus about the End of the World? [Podcast]

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Why Did the Disciples Ask Jesus about the End of the World?

The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each show is more fantastic than the last and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager comes forward. He apologizes for the interruption, but the theater is on fire, and he begs his patrons to leave in an orderly fashion. The audience thinks this is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last, he can do no more. The fire raced through the whole building and the fun-loving audience with it. “And so,” concluded Kierkegaard, “will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators.”1 In last week’s podcast, we began to delve into some keys to understanding Jesus End-Time message given in Matthew twenty-four. You can rest assured from what Matthew tells us and what we read in the rest of the prophetic scriptures that the end of the world will be no laughing matter.

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[Tweet “Watch your words in life. The words of your lips can set the borders of your world.”]

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Conscience Scripture List

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Here's a Conscience Scripture List to Help You Follow Yours

Jerry White writes the following in his book,  Honesty, Morality, and Conscience. My daddy used to read the cartoon series “Moon Mullins” to me, him and Andy Gump. That was sort of our Sunday time together when my mother would leave me home with my dad to sort of shame him for not going to church. One of the main characters in the comic strip was a guy named Willie. In one strip, he’s slumped in front of the television set with a coffee cup resting on his pot belly as he flicks his cigar ashes into his cup. He says to his wife, “You’re awful quiet this morning, Mamie.” And she says in return, “Willie, I’ve decided to let your conscience be your guide on your day off.” Next scene, Willie is surrounded by a lawnmower and an edger and a hoe and a shovel and he’s frantically washing the windows and muttering, “Every time I listen to that dumb thing I end up ruinin’ my relaxin’.” 1 Your conscience should be your guide. There’s plenty of Bible to support that statement. Here’s a scripture list of verses for your study and edification.

[Tweet “Your conscience should be your guide. There’s plenty of Bible to support that statement.”]

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#S4-049: What the Bible Says about the End of the World [Podcast]

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What the Bible Says about the End of the World

I have heard a great many sermons and or verses quoted out of Matthew twenty-four and twenty-five. So many sermons on the five wise and five foolish virgins and none of the sermons explained it just exactly alike. This one would get up and say that this part of the parable meant this and the oil meant that and then the next one would come in and describe these same elements entirely in a different way and in a different light. And, it got so bad until anytime a minister said that they were going to preaching out of these portions of scripture that I would just almost automatically just turn my hearing off and not listen to a word that they had to say. It wasn’t until many many years later did I finally come to understand what these portions of scripture meant. I finally had an explanation that bore witness with my spirit. I thought that it would never happen. So, in the coming weeks, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we are going to delve into these end-time passages from the Word of God and come to a proper understanding of What Are the Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus and of the End of the World?

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[Tweet “Through the vehicle of faith and patience, you drive to the fulfillment of prophetic words.”]

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Why It’s Important to Live with Purpose Instead of the Useless

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Why It's Important to Live with Purpose Instead of Engaging in the Useless

The prize for the most useless weapon of all times goes to the Russians. They invented the “dog mine.” The plan was to train the dogs to associate food with the undersides of tanks, in the hope that they would run hungrily beneath advancing Panzer divisions. Bombs were then strapped to the dogs’ backs, which endangered the dogs to the point where no insurance company would look at them. Unfortunately, the dogs’ associated food solely with Russian tanks. The plan was begun the first day of the Russian involvement in World War II…and abandoned on day two. The dogs with bombs on their backs forced an entire Soviet division to retreat.1 In this blog we are going to talk about some other useless things. Things the Spirit of God says are of no value.

[Tweet “Unbelief causes us to become prodigals of purpose.”]

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Five Things that Will Prick Your Conscience

Podcast: Light on Life Season Four Episode Forty-Eight

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There Are Many Areas the Bible Points Out WHere the Spirit of God will Prick Your Conscience

The great attorney, orator, and statesman Daniel Webster was such an imposing figure in court that he once stared a witness out of the courtroom. Apparently, Webster knew the man was there to deliver false testimony, so he fixed his “dark, beetle-browed” eyes on the man and searched him. According to the story, later in the trial “Webster looked around again to see if [the witness] was ready for the inquisition. The witness felt for his hat and edged toward the door. A third time Webster looked on him, and the witness could sit no longer. He seized his chance and fled from the court and was nowhere to be found.” 1 That man ran out of the courthouse because his conscience was feeling guilty about the lie he was getting ready to tell. His spirit was trying to speak to the man. His conscience was trying to get him not to do it. Your conscience will do the same. It will try to lead you out of wrongdoing. Learning to listen to it is a part of growing up in God. Four Things that Will Prick Your Conscience, that’s this week’s Light on Life.

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[Tweet “Ultimate Love will warn you if you are going down a path will lead you off a cliff.”]

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Who Do You Say Jesus Is to You?

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Who Do You Say Jesus Is To You?

In a 1983 Gallup poll Americans were asked: “who do you think Jesus is.” Seventy percent of those interviewed said Jesus was not just another man. Forty-two percent stated Jesus was God among men. Twenty-seven percent felt Jesus was only human but divinely called. Nine percent state that Jesus was divine because he embodied the best of humanity. Also, 81% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.1 That’s what the poll said. The question now is: “Who do you say Jesus is to you?”

[Tweet “The only thing that matters is your answer to this question, Who is Jesus to you?”]

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#S4-047: Why It’s Important to Live A Separated Life [Podcast]

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Why It's Important to Live A Separated Life

This is what the Spirit of God spoke up in my heart after a season of prayer and study. “You know son, you need to talk about people sinning in the church. I’m trying to get their attention but they’re not listening. I’m trying to help them avoid tragedy. It will come if they don’t hear me. The handwriting is on the wall.” By His instruction, these words come forth today. It’s time to live a separated life before God. It’s time to get the sin out.

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[Tweet “If there’s area’s of moral sin in your life, it’s time to right the ship.“]

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The Warning Aspect Of The Inward Witness

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The Warning Aspect of the Inward Witness

In previous podcasts, we’ve looked at the conscience or the inward witness. We have seen that the conscience is the voice of your spirit. And, that the use of your conscience by the Spirit of God is the number one way that God will lead you in the everyday affairs of life. The conscience stays supple and sensitive by not overriding it. In today’s post, we take a look at the warning aspect of the inward witness.

[Tweet “There’s a negative side to the conscience, a warning side, a lack of peace side.”]

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Conscience and the Inward Witness: A Look at the Spirit Led Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Four Episode Forty-Six

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Conscience and the Inward Witness: A Look at the Spirit Led Life

Here’s a story that illustrates many people’s view on the role of the conscience. “A man consulted a doctor, ‘I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me,’ he complained. ‘And, you want something that will strengthen your willpower?’ asked the doctor. ‘Well, no,” said the fellow. “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.'” There’s more to the conscience than being a ‘right and wrong’ referee. But that’s what we’ve been taught: that the conscience’s only role is to gauge morality.  Conscience is the voice of your spirit. It’s how your spirit communicates with you. Conscience and the Inward Witness, that’s the focus of this week’s Light on Life.

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One Necessary Component You Need for Spiritual Growth in God

[Tweet “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ will set anyone free from the law of sin and death.”]

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How To Live Holy In An Unholy World

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You Can Live Holy In An Unholy World

What do we mean when we say a thing is holy? Look at your Bible and it says, “Holy Bible.” What makes it holy? The land of Israel is called “The Holy Land,” and the city of Jerusalem is called “The Holy City.” Why? There is a quality about all three that they share in common. They all belong to God. The Bible is God’s book; Israel is God’s land; Jerusalem is God’s city. They are all God’s property! That is why they are holy; they belong to God.1 The same applies to believers in Jesus. We are holy because of who we belong to. That’s a positional holiness which comes via the new birth. But, there’s another part to holiness. It’s the day to day stuff of living on a sin-stained planet. In today’s post, let’s take a look at the topic of holy living in an unholy world.

[Tweet “We must search our hearts, lifestyles, and video storage cabinets. It’s time to get the sin out.”]

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#S4-045: Why You Should Believe in the Rapture [Podcast]

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Here Are Some Reasons Why You Should Believe in the Rapture

God’s taking the church out of the world instantaneously. The Latin term ‘rapio’, which means to “snatch away” or “carry off,” is the source of the English word. While there are differing views of the millennium (Rev. 20:2–7) in relation to Christ’s second coming (e.g., premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial), nevertheless, all evangelicals affirm a literal return of Christ to the earth preceding the eternal state.1 The Rapture: Why You Should Believe In It, that’s what we are talking about in this week’s Light on Life.

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[Tweet “The only place you can learn about the Rapture is in the Epistles of the New Testament.”]