Tag: repent

WHAT AM I?

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WHAT AM I?

By Rick Mathes

I am not what I ought to be

I am not what I wish to be

I am not what I hope to be

I am not what I once was

I am what I am!

What am I?

There are certainties in the new foundation of my life what clearly forms what I am and you will be if you confess Jesus as your Lord. The cornerstone of your frame I regeneration. This includes conversion, adoption, justification and sanctification. Let’s take a closer look at them one by one so that you can untangle what appears to be a real process.

To begin with, conversion is the art of turning from sin to God by faith in Jesus Christ. This is a born again experience that can hit you like a bolt of lightning or slowly absorb you until you begin praising Jesus for changing you from what you were to what you really are; a child of the King, that’s right!

God becomes your Father, Jesus your Brother and the Holy Spirit your best Friend. They are your new family and those that love them like you become their adopted. How blessed that out of all the people in the world God chose you to be His. This is your real family and you know now exactly what you are, the adopted child of the King!

You’ve passed through the justification process of making Him your Lord and now the effect of that transaction is sanctification or the earnest pursuit of holiness. Justification is where He pardons all of our sins and sanctification is where by we are renewed in the image of God.

The new birth is he dividing line between heaven and hell.

The benefits include divine grace, wisdom, power and beauty. So with all of that, “What are you?” It will take you all of eternity to figure it out but if you are His you will have all of eternity in heaven to do so. “What are you?” You are what you choose to be! The decision is your to make right now as you read this. What are you waiting for?

 

EBONY AND IVORY

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EBONY AND IVORY

By Rick Mathes

I was stealing cars, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes by the time I was age 13. By the time I turned sixteen I had robbed a gas station, stole a motorcycle and had run away from home during a race riot in Detroit Michigan. A black “Aunt Jemimah” said, “White boy, you’re gonna die!” They were throwing whitey off the Belle Isle Bridge. I lived within we were teenagers. Ten years later I sold a luxury cruiser called “Soul Sister I” to none other but Aretha Franklin and five years later I hire the first black insurance agent in my Prudential District Office. It wasn’t until I started Mission Gate Prison Ministry that my wife and I were the only white recipients of the Martin Luther King Annual Award for making the most positive difference in the black community in St. Louis Missouri.

In the midst of my forming our Ministry we persuaded a female prisoner to keep her baby and not have an abortion. We adopted Karlita and now she is happily married, has an earned MBA degree and is a counselor for Bethany Baptist placing unwanted babies in wanted adoptive homes. How is that for going full circle? Both Karlita and I were to be aborted but thanks be to God, we were allowed to live and serve Him with all that is within us.

I said all of that to say this; we are all one in Christ. Humanly speaking, we all have the same DNA as Adam and Noah. As elect we are one Body with the Savior.

One in life: We live only to reflect Jesus to all that will look on us.

One in aim: There is one God, one faith, one Bible, one baptism, one Body.

One desire: We are all called to love God and our neighbor with all the love we have.

The black, white, yellow, red and tan issue is still a thorn in our side. We Christians of all colors are long suffering and gravitate to those of like kind without regard to our skin color. We all seek well for each other without any jealousy or malice.

Jesus has but one lesson for us all and simply stated it is just “Love.” That is we seek not our own but rather blessings for each other. That puts a smile on the Lord’s face when ebony and ivory harmonize in sweet accord.

http://www.RickMathes.org

 

 

DON’T BUG ME

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DON’T BUG ME!

By Rick Mathes

Trish and I were invited to a fellow Christian’s home for an outdoor barbeque and we accepted. It was such a blessing to not worry about my doing a Bible study or preaching a sermon, just relax. And so I did on a chase lounge on the backyard patio.

I couldn’t help but notice that there was a blue bug light to stave off the little critters from annoying us. I drifted into a dreaming mind of imagination and focused on the bugs. This light was such that it attracted the passing bugs to certain death and I wondered what it was that did so. I decided it was the blue that was a counterfeit of the normal illumination that puzzles these little critters.

It didn’t take long for me to notice the differences in their approaches to the light of death. Some bugs dive-bombed into the light and snapped and popped and exploded their bodies to smithereens. And I wondered why they did this when they had seen their friends dive to certain extinction.

Others would circle and circle the blue light watching the dive bomber crash dive and disappear. And yet after a while, their circles would get smaller and smaller until POP they too suffered an early demise, so stupid. Didn’t they see what happened to the bugs that that went into never-never land?

Finally, I focused on the bugs that kept circling a decent distance from the light and watched intently on what was happening before them. After a time, they looked and decided the counterfeit light was not for them. They saw others perish before them and wisely flew off.

What lesson have you learned from these bugs? Do you have more sense than them?

DOING LIFE WITHOUT

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DOING LIFE WITHOUT

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 2:12 (NASB77) 12  remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

What would you do if you didn’t have Jesus? What is your “Plan B?” or second choice? I bet I know: nothing but you. Without God all you have is naked you walking through a field of deadly land mines A Christless life is no life at all. Ask any born-again believer if they would ever trade their relationship with Jesus for friendship with the devil. I can speak for them, there is no life without Jesus. It is all smoke and mirrors of that lifetime of nightmares are as fresh as yesterday to my thoughts. I can’t imagine turning my back on Jesus and walk alone to my inevitable damnation.

Remember the Hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus?” It was the text of my first sermon in our local county jail service. What better friend can you have but Jesus? He personifies agape love. He is Love. He’s all the friend you will ever need. His family makes a house a home.

Just think what would happen to your family, spouse and children if Jesus didn’t live with you all. It would be a living hell to balance all that need to be done in a healthy, prosperous family if Jesus wasn’t welcome to be an important part of all you do. A family would not be a family without Him. It would e self-serving chaos.

I can’t see any hope on the horizon of a Christless home. There would be dry dynamite around every corner just aching for a lit match. What good would there be but that which served selfish needs. When everyone is out for what they can get, the means justifies the end and that results in hopelessness. What is there tolive for when you are planted in the ground and all you once owned is rusting and deteriorating into waste and rubbish?

A Godless life is not life at all. Without God you are just walking dead looking for a place to be buried. I can’t even imagine what is going through the mind of antitheist. How can they say, “There isn’t a God” if there wasn’t a God to say there isn’t one of? Makes sense to me!

DISOBEDIENCE

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DISOBEDIENCE

By Rick Mathes

George Elliott: “It is vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found; in loving obedience.”

We need to take the blows that come to correct us or those that we need to respond to fulfill the vision. At last we have a Daddy the will apply a belt to our butt as needed!

Phillip Melanchthon: “Since Adam’s fall, all men begotten after the common course of nature are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in Him and with fleshly appetites.”

There is a consequence of every action. This includes a response from the Holy Spirit when we insist “No” when Jesus says “Yes.” God so loved the world that He didn’t send a committee! When Jesus speaks we need to believe and obey or there is a loss.

To begin with when you say “No” to Jesus you lose your usefulness. When the tool refuses to be held by the Craftsman, it isn’t any good. No world can be done byu it until it fits the Carpenters hand and obeys all the directives it is given to effect the purpose for which it was intended.

When you resist His drawing you lose His approval. We were created in His image and likeness to love and glorify Him. When we resign our sole purpose, we alienate ourselves from the light of His intentions into the darkness and despair of a useless nothingness.

Not only do we risk the loss of our eternal reward but our health, family and our very life is affected adversely. We are falling when we should be rising, resisting when we should be welcoming, disobeying when we should be obeying. Death is the reward.

Once our wealth is dissipated in sinful revelry, our reputation is true to follow. We can always recover our health, family, life and wealth but not so our reputation and respect once lost cannot ever return to its first estate. The sword never left David’s hand no matter how hard he tried to make up with God and his countrymen. It is never the same when you disobey.

DENOMINATIONS BE DAMNED

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DENOMINATIONS BE DAMNED

By Rick Mathes

Father God is not a Reformed Presbyterian, Jesus Christ is not a Southern Baptist, and the Holy Spirit is not a Pentecostal. There is only one Body of Christ. Any denomination or group that separates true Christians from each other is straight from Hell. We may not all agree on doctrinal distinctions or our forms of government but if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, you are saved and that includes Roman Catholics. You heard me right!

Where I depart from some is in the doctrine that requires additions to the Bible, Jesus, grace or faith. But that doesn’t separate us from salvation. It’s not the “what” it’s the “Who” that saves. I believe that Calvinism is the gospel according to Jesus Christ and you can respectfully disagree as we celebrate communion together. But with deep respect, I demand that you certify your doctrine with only the Word of God or we will have a food-fight of biblical proportions! Ha-ha.

“T” The first irrefutable doctrine is that all men are totally depraved, thus you have the “T” of the TULIP acronym. That doesn’t mean we don’t do good works it means that no matter how many good works you do there is still the remnant of darkness in your soul that precludes it from entering the Shekinah glory of God. We need Christ’s imputed righteousness to stand naked before God.

“U” Our salvation is completely unmerited. There is no prayer, sacrament, confessional, priest or purgatory that will get us into heaven, only the Cross of Christ and His shed blood opens up the gates of glory.

“L” Those who don’t accept Jesus for their forgiveness of sin will pay the price and suffer eternity in hell. This means our Lord’s atonement on the cross was limited. It was limited to only those who accept the Savior. He didn’t die for those who turn their back on Him and His sacrifice.

“I” the predestine grace of God is irresistible, you are totally unable to resist it. We elect are attracted to salvation like metal to a magnet. Our all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present God is not wondering who will be saved and who won’t. He knows because He chose you before time began and you can’t say no.

“P” My favorite is perseverance of the saints. That means that we who are His just don’t give up. We may get knocked down by the demons from time to time but we always get back up and press on! We don’t fight on our back, we fight on our knees and always win.

COMFORTER

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COMFORTER

By Rick Mathes

Who or what is the Holy Spirit? If I ask 100 Christians I will get 100 answers that share a shred of similar gold: comfort. Isaiah 40:1 pleased God to comfort His people unaware that the God he was praying to was comfort personified in the third person of the Holy Trinity. He is the Comforter and the comforted.

All His attributes intersect at comfort. What are the components?

Let’s begin with the relief that comes with knowing we have the heaven’s best attorney, our Paraclete before the highest court of law. This ultimate Judge only has two sentences; eternal life or eternal death. So it is very comforting to have the Holy Spirit stand in our defense of deserving the death penalty.

Once we have been exonerated of all culpability of crimes worthy of the flames. We now have our best Friend monitor our activities, kind of like a house arrest. We are under constant surveillance and every infraction of God’s favor is dutifully brought before our attention by a genuine guilt that causes a sincere repentance before the bench of justice.

Now we are teachable and willing to hear, listen, learn, apply and then evaluate all the Holy Spirit lecture us on. We become His most apt and attentive student. Oh, what will our report card say!

This last stage is a real “follow the leader” stage. Whoever the Holy Spirit leads we must follow without question. Faith means just that. Our Lord is going to do with us what He wants to, when He wants to and if He feels like it. His Holy Spirit is our advocate for all the good we do to please Him and all the bad we do that angers Him is forgiven.

It is refreshing to know that there is a God that loves the weary and those perplexed with life’s complexities. It is so comforting to know who or where we are to turn when life seems unbearable. Jesus said he would not leave us without the Holy Spirit to walk with us as He would until His return. How comforting to know that He is with us when we need Him the most. We are never alone and always have Him to turn to when our world is upside down. He really is our Comforter and for that reason we need to thank Him!

CHOOSING A MINISTER

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CHOSING A MINISTER

By Rick Mathes

Lucifer was an angel of light. He was the superstar of heaven until his narcissism consumed him in pride and he challenged God for heaven. Well you know what happened, he dropped like a rock to earth and began his war on Christendom

Be honest with me. When did you meet privately with your pastor and quiz him on his doctrine? Let’s go a little deeper. Do you even know what doctrine you believe and can prove from the Word that it is true? There’s two serious considerations you need to make.

Just because you park your body in a church doesn’t make you a believing Christian. And that Preacher in your pulpit might be a devil with a mask on. You don’t know and probably don’t care. As long as he’s entertaining and you get “holy ghost bumps” from the music, the rest is ok with you.

Honestly, most people choose their church like they pick out their favorite hamburger: this one has cheese, the other has catsup but this one has a sesame bun and that one didn’t have a pickle. Oh, please spare me this mindless nonsense.

If your preacher is a counterfeit you will never or very rarely hear the words: sin, death, hell, believe, repent or obey He will say those things that will sooth your checkbook into a generous donation.

The next time you sit under him and his sermon take a steno-pad with you. On the left side do a stick count every time he says: He, Him or His. On the right side do a stick count when you hear I, me or mine. Look at the bottom totals and you will know who he was lifting us to worship.

True evangelical Christianity is Bible only, Jesus only, grace only and faith only: nothing added. The true gospel according to Jesus is commonly called Calvinism. All other faiths are “doing” but the real deal in “done.” Jesus really meant it from the cross when He said, “It is finished!” So I strongly suggest that you trust your soul to the real ambassador of Jesus. You only have one soul, one life, and once chance to get it right!

Go to www.missiongateministry.org or www.RickMathes.org for further “good stuff.”

 

CAGE FIGHTING DEMONS

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CAGE FIGHTING DEMONS

By Rick Mathes

Our culture leans increasingly toward returning to the arena of violence and bloodshed. Unless we Christians pull out the whole arsenal of Holy Spirit weapons we are going to find ourselves in the Superbowl of Christians vs. demons in a high tech coliseum. Only the champions of the universe will survive in a new kind of “ground and pound: that has been around since Cain did a number on Abel.

Winning is everything in the kingdom because we stand with Jesus and cannot fall in defeat to Satan. The evil one has no defense to combat our weapons of war and as a result he is not even a worthy opponent to stand before “the look of love.” Our enemies dissolve before our very eye when we look at them with a look of pity and love for those that only need to confess Jesus as Lord to see the glory of His creation through our eyes.

A soft word is a razor sharp sword that circumcises a dead-beat heart and re-awakens it to a rush of ecstasy no drug can surpass. The swelling love, the rightly placed Word, births a delight to observe as he stained tear stained face of the attacker melts in bewilderment as we speak love and resuscitation to even the “least of these.”

A tear from a repentant child will wash away any hard-heart to forgiveness as that of our worst enemy will. We may have to lose the battle to win the war but in time our opponent will tire of beating up a praying saint and will drop to his knees and plead “forgive me for I have sinned.” If only we will fight our battles on our knees. A prayer of love that is sealed with a genuine tear will ratify any peace agreement.

The annihilator of course is a “love bomb” whereby we love our enemy! I’m a person that once had a volatile, violent temper that would quickly turn into a street-fight. I learned that it is real hard and not at all fun to slug another fighter that is on his knees praying for me! That takes all the fun out of it. It takes the wind out of my sails, so to speak. Love is more than a conqueror and you can also be if you will only go into training at Camp Jesus. He’ll make you a champion over a adversaries and you will be a new-world gladiator that has put down the sword and lifted up holy hands, has put down the bottle and picked up the Bible and has put down the needle and picked up the Cross of Christ. Walk in His footsteps to  the victory lane and all of creation will applaud you!

BOTTOM LINE

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BOTTOM LINE

By Rick Mathes

When you distill the gospel to its most condensed state ti will be composed entirely of faith. Faith is entirely dependent upon the power of God and His allotment to us. Faith is not a power, it is a presence. We appropriate the Holy Spirit within us when we unleash the full import of faith within us like a laser beam that convicts us of sin, cleanses us of all unrighteousness, transforms our life to conform to His, comforts our aching heart and strengthens our resolve to keep the faith and press on!

We appropriate the promise of salvation. This frees us from the bondage of sin and fear of the superstitions the evil one conjures up to destroy our resolve to conquer this worldly kingdom for our Lord and Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ.

Once we strep out of the boat of carnality we escape the punishment, power and presence of sin: the past, present and future. This begs a few questions tht you need to put on the table to establish your bottom line.

  • Have you been justified?
  • Have you been sanctified?
  • Do you have faith or fear?
  • Are you out of the boat and walking by faith?

As a nation we need regeneration, reformation, revival and then revolution!

Let me laser in once again on your own personal bottom line

  1. You need to be assured that you have been born-again. Have you really experienced a complete regeneration or are you just the old you in a new fabricated package?
  2. Have you rehabilitated your old bad habits to bless our Lord with good habits of praise, study and prayer?
  3. Are you ashamed of the gospel or are you out front in the face of Satan making disciples for the Lord?
  4. And are you prepared to the best of your ability to be included in the rapture that final day?

You can’t avoid the bottom line: the gospel truth in your heart and soul. If you doubt that you are saved, you aren’t! So wake up, take a personal inventory because tonight might be the night the grim reaper visits you and then it will be too late!