Why I Believe Biblical Christianity Promotes Religious Liberty

     In chapter 9 in the book of Luke, Jesus and the disciples, John and James were walking through Samaria. A group was sent into a town ahead of them to prepare the Samaritans  for a visit from Jesus..The town's people rejected the offer. John and James were angered and suggested that fire should be called down from heaven and destroy the town. Jesus answered them by saying, " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
     The Apostle Paul in the second book of Timothy instructs Christians; " The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patient. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, perhaps, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." In the book of 1st Peter we are instructed to; " Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but on the contrary be the blessing, we are called to be."
    Jesus in the parable of tares in the book of  Matthew, taught that we should leave the tares among the wheat so that God himself could separate the good from the bad at the end..The Bible teaches us in 1st Thessalonians; "Now we exhort you brethren , support the weak be patient toward all men...No where in scripture does it teach that the followers of Christ are to force, coerce or punish others for not sharing their beliefs..On the contrary we are taught to love and be kind and patient with unbelievers..Jesus Himself said in John 3-17, " For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."

                                      Wesley Jones

Why I Have Never Given Up On Going To Church

    One of the hardest things to get past when going to church is the immutable fact of universal human frailty..We all have our faults and blind spots whether we attend church or not..As I have matured and grown in Christ I have come to the realization that I am not always right and all knowing..I have also learned to be more patient with those who share the same propensity to error. Too often we go to church and expect a perfection in others that we are not able to attain ourselves. Having said that, there are genuinely bad experiences and less than honest people in some congregations and positions of authority in Christian churches..
    Fortunately we live in a time and place where we are free to choose from many different kinds of churches, or attend a different church with different leadership within the same denomination..With so many options I find it hard to come up with an excuse to ignore the biblical command; ...And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
    One of the most compelling reasons I have not given up on attending church is, I love to be where my God is worshiped openly and where the Holy Bible is read and taught.. I also love to be around people who are making an honest effort to seek and please God, even if like me they are doing so imperfectly..I receive a lot of peace and grace from corporate worship..Our Lord Jesus taught us that in this world there will be persecution and tribulation..We need each other to help heal the wounds this world inflicts on us..
     One of the most important things attending church has taught me is a love, and patience with people I might not agree 100% with. We all have different life experiences and degrees of knowledge, so we are not always going to be on the same page all the time..However my love for Jesus Christ produces a love for my fellow Christian as well as the rest of mankind..Church has civilized and softened me..It has also lifted me up when I have been down and out...The friendship I have found in Christian churches has been wonderful and I have learned much from other believers...
     Church is not perfect and is often  messy...But in this troubled world it is a safe port in a very fierce storm..I have attended hundreds of churches in my life..I know from experience there are many out there full of honest kind people who are trying their imperfect best to please God..I would encourage everyone to make an effort to find a church home where you can be encouraged and encourage others...

                                        Wesley Jones

Biblical Encouragement For Those Who Worship The Son Of God...part 3

Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ...1 John 1-3

The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin...1 John 1-7

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil..1 John 3-8

He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son...1 John 2-22

Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father...1 John 2-23

Ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father....1 John 2-24

And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ...1 John 3-23

God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him....1 John 4-9

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world...The apostle John.....1 John 4-14

Whosoever shall confess Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God...1 John 4-16

Who is he who overcometh the world, but he who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God..1 John

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of  his Son..I John 5-10

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God...1 John 5-13

      This is part 3 of a series of posts meant to encourage those who in truth and love worship the Son of God...
                                  Wesley Jones

Encouragement For Those Who Worship The Son Of God...Part 2

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father..Jesus Christ....John 10-15

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life...Jesus Christ....John 10-17

Say ye of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world , thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of God...Jesus Christ....John 10-36

This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God might be glorified..Jesus Christ...John 11-4

She said unto Him, Yea Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world...John 11-27

And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father I thank thee thou hast heard me...Jesus Christ....John 11-41

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father, who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak....Jesus Christ...John 12-49

He that receiveth  me receiveth Him that sent me...Jesus Christ...John 13-20

Let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me...Jesus Christ...John 14-1

I am the way, the truth, the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me...Jesus Christ...John 14-6

I go unto my Father...Jesus Christ...John 14-12

He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father....Jesus Christ....John 14-21

If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him....Jesus Christ...John 14-23

The word you hear is not mine, but the Father's, who sent me...Jesus Christ..John 14-24

If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I....John 14-28

    This is part 2 of a series of posts meant to encourage those who worship the Son of God, Jesus Christ....

                           Wesley Jones

I Am Not A Prophet ; But I Have A Hope And A Vision For My Country

    The Bible tells us if  someone prophesies in the name of God and what they predict does not come to pass, the people are not to fear them...I have thought I knew God's will many times and said so, only to be dead wrong..God's ways are far above and beyond my capabilities to comprehend..However  the Bible also tells us without a hope and a vision the people perish..For there to be a hope for a better day, someone must possess a dream or a vision that things can be better and can move forward..Not only a vision is needed but there needs to be people who are willing to work and sacrifice to see that vision come to pass..
    I believe the apostle Paul when he said; In Christ there is no Jew or gentile, bond nor free, male or female. We are all loved by and important to the God of the Bible. However, God knows the beginning from the end. He knows what nations, people and individuals will serve or reject him.. Nations and their leaders have been raised up and thrown down according to their obedience to the God of the Holy Bible..I believe the prosperity and freedom we enjoy in present day America is built upon our founders belief in, and obedience to the Biblical Christ..The Vision and aspirations  I have for my people and my country are based rightly or wrongly on what is contained in the book of Romans chapters 10 and 11..
     Not only is the Holy Bible a revelation of God and his Son, ( our Messiah ), it is the history of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel..God deals with other nations in the light of their relationship with the God of Israel..Not only in the past and present but also the future..The salvation of Gentile people and nations, according to the apostle Paul has as it's main objective to provoke Israel (both people and nation ) to jealousy that they might be saved and come to knowledge of their Messiah, Jesus Christ.
    Moses in the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in the New Testament prophesied that God would not only raise up a people, but also a nation that He would bless in such a way that it would provoke the Jewish people to jealously and anger, and they would begin to seek the Christian Messiah...I believe the people Paul and Moses were referring to are Gentile Christians..As far as the nation they referred to...It is my hope and dream that my country the United States will fulfill that prophesy...
     The apostle Paul went on to say in Romans 11:11  I say then has Israel stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy....Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their salvation........In other words when Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah salvation and blessing came to the Gentiles...If their rejection of Christ became a blessing to the Gentile world..How much more blessing will come to the world when they accept Christ..The apostle Paul put it this way in verse 15 ...For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead..
    I say all this to give some substance to my hopes and dreams for the United States...We can continue our drift into moral chaos or strive to become the nation so blessed by God it even provokes Israel to an angry jealousy..A revival so thorough and nation wide it would give God the latitude to bless and prosper us in unprecedented ways..If a revival here in the States could provoke one among the Jewish population and Israel, it would become a catalyst for world wide revival and a blessing to all nations...
   We can give our country and the world over to evil with no hope of redemption. Or we can work towards something the Bible not only says is possible, but even desirable...

                                            Wesley Jones

  

Some Encouragement For Those Who Worship The Son Of God...

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him...........John 1-18

I saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God ...John the Baptist...John 1-34

Nathanael answered, and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; the King of Israel....John 1-49

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.....John 3-16, 17

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things unto his hand...John 3-35

Verily, verily, I say unto you,  the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.......For the Father loveth the Son and showeth him all things........John 5-19, 20

He who honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the father, who sent him... John 5-23

For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son, to have life in himself......John 5-26

I can of my own self do nothing , I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me...Jesus Christ....John 5-30

This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent...Jesus Christ..John 6-29

For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me..John 6-38

Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me..If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself...He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory; but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, no unrighteousness is in him....John 7- 16 thru 18

For I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me...John 8-16

I am one who bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me...Jesus Christ...John 8-18

I do nothing of myself ; but as my father hath taught me, I speak these things....And he that sent me is with me..The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that please him...Jesus Christ...John 8-28,29

If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceed forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me...Jesus Christ...John 8-42

If I honor myself, my honor is nothing ; it is my Father that honoreth me, of whom you say , that he is your God...Jesus Christ...John 8-54

    This is the end of part 1 of what I hope will be an on going series of scripture posts encouraging Christians to hold on to their belief and worship of, both the God of the Bible, and His Son Jesus Christ...

                                           Wesley Jones

A Native American Christmas Prayer In The Form Of A Poem

O Great Spirit, Grandfather, God of the Holy book.
Like the Hebrew children to Thee we pray, we look.
As a man I have troubles, my people many sorrows.
Sins of yesterday, have tainted even our tomorrows.
.
For a redeemer I pray, a great messiah our people need.
Send Him to my heart first, my soul desires to be freed.
Is the Christmas manger where the savior laid His head?
Is the child from Bethlehem He who rose from the dead?

Did God include the red man when His only Son He gave?
Can Jesus not only my soul heal, can He my people save?
I can find no other hope when I walk through a barren land.
So to this Christmas Jesus I will lift a trembling weary hand..

" Let not your heart be troubled you believe in God. Believe also in me"....Jesus Christ
                  
                                           Wesley  Jones