| HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! |
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Friday, July 10, 2015
WHY MUST THE CONFEDERATE FLAG COME DOWN?
A friend of mine sent me a message the other day asking me the following question:
Racism is not cool in my eyes! But I must ask you? As a black man? They have been flying the Confederate flag for years! Why all the sudden are your people mad about it? This was my answer to him: Thank you for asking. "My people" are not "all of a sudden" upset about the confederate flag (also called the rebel flag, the Dixie flag, and the southern cross). The South Carolina incident -- the shooting up members of a black church -- was just the last straw. We (along with MANY whites and Hispanics) have been angered by the flying and image of the confederate flag ever since its inception. Just because that flag has been flying for years does not mean it was right to do so in the first place! What most lovers of that flag fail to realize is that that flag was adopted in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War. It was adopted as a battle flag by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. It represented the 11 breakaway (slave) states from the United States of America [* and two states that never officially broke away, yet sided with their cause]:
The flag represented the southern states' right to maintain slavery, and the raping, whipping, dehumanization, and otherwise humiliation of the black race in this country who were forcibly kidnapped from their homeland, and made to serve the white man in a land they knew nothing about. The flag represented the southern states' defiance in denying freedom for the slaves, and perpetuating hatred and resentment toward a people who desired emancipation from those who held them in bondage. The flag represented the southern states' bodacious treason in denying their American citizenship, and forming a country of their own so that they could continue to mistreat and hold down black people in those territories. When the Civil War ended, and the confederacy of turncoat states surrendered to the victorious Union, the (former) confederacy was forced to rejoin the Union. They were extremely resentful toward the Union, but they had lost the war; there was nothing they could do about that. So they cowardly turned their animosity toward the newly emancipated (yet defenseless) former slaves. Under the confederate flag they formed the Ku Klux Klan, and they set about to terrorize all black people mainly in the south. The confederate flag was seen by black people as a symbol of terror, evil, hatred, oppression, retaliation, and vicious attack! Wherever slavery and the hateful acts that accompanied it was represented, the confederate flag was flown there. MANY white people opposed the flag and the confederate sympathizers. They joined forces with blacks to seek equal rights for black people and ALL people. The southerners wanted to return blacks to the plantation. They sought to return blacks to bondage. So when the black people asserted their right to be treated equally, the south retaliated by attacking and killing and bombing black people and their establishments -- all under the waving of the confederate flag. When Governor George Wallace of Alabama prevented blacks from being involved with whites in his state, he flew the confederate flag. When he stood on the steps of the Capitol building in his state in 1963 delivering the inauguration speech after just having been elected and declared: ... he did so with the confederate flag flying freely. The flag has ALWAYS offended "my people." It should be offensive to all people!
The flag has been offensive to many since day 1. We have continuously tried to get the flag taken down over the years. My parents lived it! They grew up during segregation. They remembered how the flag affected them. They lived in Mississippi and South Carolina; they endured the wrath of the white people there who supported and enforced white supremacy. So when Dylann Roof entered a sacred place of worship in South Carolina and gunned down 9 African American citizens because, as he has said, "Black people are taking over the country," and then later was discovered to own an Internet site that included a cache of photos of Roof posing with a handgun and a Confederate Battle Flag, as well as with the widely-recognized Nazi code numbers 88 (an abbreviation for the salute "Heil Hitler!"), it was the last straw!! That flag is NOT about southern heritage alone [apart from kidnapping, slavery, oppression, reconstruction, Jim Crow, and civil rights]. It's about hate. And that heritage IS hate! One cannot be separated from the other in this circumstance! When it comes to the confederate flag the heritage and the hate are one and the same! That's why we are mad about it! Added comments: Without knowing the history about the flag I can see why lovers of it are so upset. You believe it's an attack on your southern heritage and way of life. You may believe black people have something against you personally. That notion couldn't be further from the truth. By and large, African Americans are well aware of its history, its meaning, and what it has always been meant to represent. Please research your history and know it well. The flag that unites us all in these United States of America is the American flag! I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Note: Some of the commentary in this letter was taken from a researched source. "With liberty and justice for ALL!"  by HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT |
Saturday, July 04, 2015
INDEPENDENCE!
by HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT
A Child, once under the control and guidance of his/her parents, leaves home one day to go to college, join the military, get married, get a job in another part of the country, or one of a number of other endeavors. The parents have done the best they know how to raise the child, or perhaps they did not. Nevertheless the child, now of age, flies the coop in independence! An Inmate has spent days, weeks, months or years behind bars paying society for a crime he/she has (or unfortunately, has not) committed. The parole board has met and assessed the inmate's prison behavior record, or the inmate has "maxed out" his/her prison sentence. After a period of confinement and duress the inmate is released back into society to gain their independence! The Israelites sold themselves into slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt because of a very severe famine in their own land, and they remained enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. God chose a young man named Moses, a man born a Hebrew but raised an Egyptian by (the new) Pharaoh's daughter, to lead the Israelites to freedom. Most of the Israelites had only known life in slavery; the concept of liberation was unknown. Yet God used Moses to purge them from captivity via the Red Sea to independence! When Jesus Christ came to earth the entire world was in captivity to sin. It was the reason He came here, to free us from our sins. To do so He had to submit Himself to die, be buried (entombed), and then be raised from death to life on the third day. Now anyone in the world, after accepting His gift of eternal life by obeying the gospel can, from sin and eternal death, gain their independence! The Nazi Party was formed in Germany by Adolph Hitler in the early 1930's. Hitler's aim was to drive out and/or murder all "undesirables" from the country. For those whom did not escape or leave willingly, Hitler took hostage, tortured and starved with the eventual intention to exterminate. These victims were mostly Jews, however other victims included homosexuals, the disabled, the mentally ill, the Polish, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other POW's. For twelve years their incarceration and progressive annihilation took place. Yet the Soviet, British and American military forces in April 1945 won for the survivors their independence! The American War of Independence was a battle between the 13 British colonies of North America (New Hampshire, Massachusetts [including Maine], Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York [including Vermont], New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia [including West Virginia and Kentucky], North Carolina [including Tennessee], South Carolina and Georgia) versus the Empire of Great Britain. Since 1608 the colonies had been under British rule, but the North American colonies rebelled against Great Britain and on July 4, 1776 proclaimed independence! [Of course, this independence was not extended to blacks held in bondage. In 1787 and 1788 these thirteen colonies became the United States of America, and her first president, George Washington, was elected in 1789.]The year 1619 began 246 years of the kidnapping, bondage and physical/mental mistreatment of West Africans in the United States of America. The Europeans sought slave labor to plow, plant and harvest the land - and also to otherwise serve their masters - a land and native people they had raped years before. The Natives were not going to submit to this type of back-breaking treatment, so the colonists sought to gain the trust of an unsuspecting group of people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Like the Israelites in Egypt, most of the black slaves over their 240+ years of captivity had never known freedom. Yet when the southern states threatened to secede from the United States, it cracked open the door for the thousands of captives. President Abraham Lincoln led the fight in the War Between the States, and though it was not initially his intention to free the slaves, his preservation of the Union freed them at war's end in April 1865 to gain their independence! "With liberty and justice for ALL!" |
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
RAINBOW DISPLAY NO REASON TO FACEBOOK "Unfriend"
| by Steve C. Singleton DeeperStudy Some Christian friends of mine have begun "unfriending" anyone they know who superimposes a rainbow flag over their Facebook photo. Please let me urge you not to do that. Three Categories Those displaying the rainbow flag fall into three categories. The motives and rationale are different in each group. 1) Many people in the U.S. believe that the triumph of Same-Sex Marriage advocates is a civil rights issue analogous to the historic movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for voting, housing, and service in businesses to be colorblind. They are celebrating Same-Sex Marriage, not as an affront to biblical morality but as a victory for justice. We all want justice to prevail in our country—Christians as much as everyone else, if not more. 2) Others have friends and/or relatives who are gay, and they sympathize with them and join them in celebrating this victory for their cause. 3) For a third group this victory is really personal because it is not just a struggle of someone with whom they empathize; it is their own struggle. What they have longed to do for many years is now legal, and they feel vindicated by the Supreme Court decision. Why we should not "unfriend"? I would urge my fellow believers not to unfriend anyone in these three groups, thus cutting yourself off from the possibility of having communication with them. We should stay connected, even if we can't agree that Gay Marriage is a good idea. We should continue to interact, continue to dialogue, and maintain our relationships as an expression of the Second Great Command of Jesus, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31, in which Jesus is quoting Leviticus 19:18). Want to go deeper? 1. Consider these words by Jesus and Paul: Jesus – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (Matthew 5:13). “Losing its saltiness” seems to mean becoming conformed to the standards of the world, becoming so worldly that there is no difference between Christians and non-Christians. Obviously we should avoid doing that. But isn’t there also an opposite danger? Some would describe it as “staying in the salt-shaker,” or becoming "cloistered," or turning ourselves into a "Christian enclave" — aloof from any contact with people with whom we disagree and therefore isolated from any possibility that we could have a positive effect on them. Paul – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:5-6). Paul assumes that we do not break off contact. He challenges us to engage in conversation, and with such a good attitude that our dialogue partner finds the incident “tasty.” Part of what it takes to do this is to lower your expectations for such an interchange. Don’t think the occasion is a failure if you don’t persuade the other person to become committed to following God and His Word. Seek to understand where the other person is coming from, what their interests are, and their reasoning on this or any other issue. Then try to communicate in a clear and loving way your understanding. Find things you can agree on; build common ground. Try to encourage them as a person. 2. Take a look at this blog entitled, “Cloistered Christianity” by Carl Ruby www.carlruby.com/cloistered-christianity/. Dr. Ruby is saying the same thing as I am. Now it’s your turn. Am I wrong-headed about this? What do you think? Please "share" and "like" if you find this helpful or even if you think it is just a good stimulus for discussion. |
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Friday, December 12, 2014
IT'S ALL PERSPECTIVE
| I The are some cultures of people whom speak loudly to one another. From the outside looking in it appears that they are upset with one another - arguing their respective points. But they're not upset at all. It's just their way of communicating as to how they've grown accustomed. It's all perspective. II On earth a year is a long time - 365 days, and 24 hours is only one of those 365 days because it takes the earth 24 hours to complete one revolution on its own axis while taking 365 days to complete one revolution around the sun. But on the planet Mercury it's quite different. It orbits the sun once every 88 earth days, yet it takes 176 earth days for it to complete one revolution on its own axis. So Mercury's year is shorter than its day. It's all perspective. III In Canada and the northern United States we associate cooler weather and the changing of the leaves with September and October. Just the mention of these months conjures thoughts of harvest, hay in the barn, football and cross country, and the new school year. But in the southern hemisphere - like in Australia, autumn for them is our spring. March, April and May is when the air turns crisp and the leaves turn gold. It's all perspective. IV Sometimes it seems like there's no way out of misery. Every day that arrives is another day to suffer in silence and despise the sun for making yet another appearance. Sometimes it seems no matter how hard I try I just can't do anything right. Now at age 52, what do I have to show for my life? Still a schmuck after all these years? V Well, with God available at just a call from my throat, nothing is hopeless! There are always possibilities! If everybody on this earth were to write me off, they'd be in the minority because where God is concerned He is always the majority. If God is all I have, God is all I need. If He be for you, who can be against you? He makes a way out of no way. When all around me gives way, He, then, is my hope and stay! As long as I am breathing there is hope! COPYRIGHT © HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT ~ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
Friday, July 27, 2012
CHRISTIANS FOR BEARING ARMS
| The biggest proponents of rabid opposition to gun control are professing Christians! If you, for whomever this applies, clutched and clung to the Cross at least as tightly as you do to the gun you'd realize that God said: ~ Micah 4:1-4 [1] In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. [2] Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [3] He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. [4] Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken. [5] All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. God was not speaking about the distant future in Micah. He was not speaking of the end of the world. He was talking about when the kingdom of God would be established here on earth. Christians know that the Bible teaches that the kingdom of God is here now. It came in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. So why are we the main ones leading the fight to build our plowshares back into swords, and our pruning hooks into spears? Do we care what God said? Or are we just going to be bull-headed and go with what our selfish wants demand? The Christian nation is composed of many nations. God's word is what settles disputes among these nations within the kingdom, not the sword, nor the spear, nor the knife, nor the gun! Christians who lead the fight for the right to own guns should be ASHAMED! Usually it's the Liberals who want to allow everything and the Conservatives who seek stricter controls. But in this case it's actually the so-called conservative Christians willing to sell their soul for the right to allow every type of arm to be available on the market for the common citizen in the United States. Christians love to scream about the 2nd Amendment. Since when are we to put man's law above God's law? Since when? I don't care how many amendments there are, we don't now nor have ever had authority from God in the Scriptures to supercede His commands with our own. Anything you say in an attempt to justify ordinary citizens in purchasing oozies, glocks, machine guns, bulletproof vests and bullet-resistant head gear - that's between you and God, and you will have to answer Him for it. Answer me this though: Do you believe Jesus would be leading the fight on this issue if He were here in the flesh today? ~ 2 Timothy 2:4-5 [4] No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. [5] Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. That's God's rules, not man's rules usurping God's rules. The soldier being spoken of here is the Christian soldier. Civilian affairs are those of the world - outside of the kingdom. The commanding officer is God Almighty. What are the weapons we are authorized to employ today? The Armor of God ~Ephesians 6:10-18 [10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [18] And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Most of those who departed Europe in the 1500's - 1600's to explore foreign lands were conquerors, and they conquered with the gun - an arm unknown to the natives in America at the time. They raped and murdered the native Americans with the gun. They sailed over the Atlantic to Africa to conquer and enslave blacks with the gun. They sailed back over the ocean and kept the newly acquired slaves in line with the gun. These same bandits wrote into the constitution the right to bear the gun and to kill with gun. And today Christians ... I said Christians - so-called disciples of Christ - are the loudest ones to be followers instead of leaders in advocating the weapon of lawbreakers, the gun. For those of you Christians that cantankerously push the agenda advocating no gun control, realize that the gun is your Cross. You are fighting a worldly battle rather than a godly one. You are fighting Satan's battle, not God's. The devil has cleverly mounted his assault on gun control with droves of unwitting Christians doing his most incensed bidding, and you don't even realize it. All you know and care to know is that the 2nd Amendment allows for the bearing of arms, and doggoneit you will fight to the death for it no matter how many innocent citizens are sprayed with bullets and mowed down at will. ~ Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Your consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. You are beyond the capability of listening to reason on this issue, and you cannot feel for the victims enough to change your mind. ~ 1 Timothy 4:2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. You can rationalize it all away if you like. It's your own conscience that will be called to the carpet when it comes time to give an account. As for me, I will serve the Lord. HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT |
Saturday, July 07, 2012
JESUS LOVES ...
 Whoever you are, whatever you've done, no matter how many times you've hurt or been hurt, been thrown away, used or been abused ... He loves you just as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you the way you are. ~ Jesus |
Friday, August 21, 2009
THE PRICE FOR LOOKING BACK!
GENESIS 13:13 "NOW THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED AND WERE SINNING GREATLY AGAINST THE LORD." GENESIS 19:12-13 "THE TWO MEN SAID TO LOT, 'DO YOU HAVE ANYONE ELSE HERE—SONS-IN-LAW, SONS OR DAUGHTERS, OR ANYONE ELSE IN THE CITY WHO BELONGS TO YOU? GET THEM OUT OF HERE, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO DESTROY THIS PLACE. THE OUTCRY TO THE LORD AGAINST ITS PEOPLE IS SO GREAT THAT HE HAS SENT US TO DESTROY IT.'" GENESIS 19:14 "SO LOT WENT OUT AND SPOKE TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW, WHO WERE PLEDGED TO MARRY HIS DAUGHTERS. HE SAID, 'HURRY AND GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, BECAUSE THE LORD IS ABOUT TO DESTROY THE CITY!' BUT HIS SONS-IN-LAW THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING." GENESIS 19:15 "WITH THE COMING OF DAWN, THE ANGELS URGED LOT, SAYING, 'HURRY! TAKE YOUR WIFE AND YOUR TWO DAUGHTERS WHO ARE HERE, OR YOU WILL BE SWEPT AWAY WHEN THE CITY IS GENESIS 19:16 "WHEN HE HESITATED, THE MEN GRASPED HIS HAND AND THE HANDS OF HIS WIFE AND OF HIS TWO DAUGHTERS AND LED THEM SAFELY OUT OF THE CITY, FOR THE LORD WAS MERCIFUL TO THEM. AS SOON AS THEY HAD BROUGHT THEM OUT, ONE OF THEM SAID, 'FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES! DON'T LOOK BACK, AND DON'T STOP ANYWHERE IN THE PLAIN! FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS OR YOU WILL BE SWEPT GENESIS 19:26 "BUT LOT'S WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT."
OUR LESSON GOD SAID IT! BELIEVE IT! AND DON'T LOOK BACK! I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS! NO TURNING BACK! |
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
OBEYING THE GOSPEL: Repentence & Baptism
You must obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be born again in Jesus Christ.
| Who must obey the Gospel? 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 4 "Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." |
| Well, what does 'Gospel' mean? Gospel means "Good News" deriving from the Old English "god-spell," translated from Greek åõáããÝëéïí (euangelion) used in the New Testament. |
| Then what is the Gospel? 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 1 "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." |
| OK, how does one obey the Gospel? I mean, how does one obey the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Romans 6:3-7 3 "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." |
| Hebrews 11:16 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." |
HEAR ..... [or be otherwise informed of] the Gospel
| Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." |
BELIEVE ..... the Gospel & CONFESS ..... Jesus as Lord
| Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." |
REPENT ..... of all your sins
| Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." |
Then ..... Be BURIED in WATER BAPTISM
| John 3:3-5 In reply Jesus declared, 3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." |
| Acts 2:38 3 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." |
| Titus 3:3-6 3 "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit 6 whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior ..." |
| 1 Peter 3:18-22 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand —with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." |
| Mark 16:15-16 15 Jesus said to them,"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." |
If one does not believe the Good News, What point is there in obeying the Good News? That person, as the Scripture teaches, is condemned! |
realize this:
| 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." |
| What initially makes us no longer wicked; what initially makes us no longer guilty of being sexually immoral, or an idolater, or an adulterer, or a male/female prostitute, or a homosexual offender, or a thief, or a greedy person, or an alcoholic, or a slanderer, or a swindler, or any other sinful type is the fact that we've repented of our sins and have been washed - buried in water baptism in the name of Jesus! |
realize this:
| Galatians 3:26-27 26 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." |
| When you are baptized (buried) into Christ you become clothed with or in Christ. If you are not baptized into Christ you do NOT have Him on ... you are naked, still in your sins, unclothed, unsaved, unforgiven. |
realize this:
| Colossians 2:11-12
11 "In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead." |
| When you are baptized (buried) with or into Christ you undergo a circumcision. It is not the circumcision done by a physician, the cutting away of foreskin from the penis as it was for the male Israelites. It is not even the removal of dirt from the physical body [1 Peter 3:21]. No, it is the cutting away of sin from your soul done by Christ while you are buried in the water; and being raised up out of the water afterward through faith in and the pledge of a good conscience toward God who raised Jesus Christ up from the dead when He was lying buried in rock within the tomb. If you do not receive this circumcision your sin remains; you are unsaved. |
realize this:
| Revelation 1:5 "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood ..." |
Therefore, the water of baptism represents His blood where we receive forgiveness of our sins. It is His blood that cleanses us, yet this cleansing takes place in the water! |
(IN CHRIST JESUS)
UNTIL YOUR DEATH!
... Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. |
Click here to find out: What did the early church believe about how to become born again?
Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name."
Undenominational Christianity
- An explanation
Undenominational Christianity
- Like it was in the Bible
LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN EDEN
WRITTEN IN APRIL 2007
| IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY, THE DEADLIEST SHOOTING IN U.S. HISTORY, WHERE 32 PEOPLE WERE MURDERED; AND THE BLOODIEST DAY IN BAGHDAD IN QUITE SOME TIME WHERE 183 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN 4 SEPARATE BOMB ATTACKS - I'VE JUST BEEN MEDITATING ON WHAT GOD HAD PLANNED FOR US IN EDEN, AND HOW IN ONE FELL SWOOP IT ALL WENT TERRIBLY AND IRRETRIEVABLY WRONG!
SOME PEOPLE ASK, "WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?" SOME SAY, "THE WORLD'S GONE CRAZY!" SOME SAY, "THE WORLD'S NOT AS SAFE AS IT USED TO BE!" AND STILL OTHERS SAY, "I WISH FOR THE GOOD OLE DAYS." MY RESPONSE WOULD BE THAT THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRAZY FROM THE BEGINNING! THE WORLD HAS NEVER BEEN A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE EXCEPT FOR THE TIME WHEN ADAM AND EVE LIVED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN WITH GOD. WHEN GOD CREATED THE WORLD AND THEN ADAM AND EVE, HE CREATED IT AND THEM TO LIVE FOREVER IN PEACE AND HARMONY WITH EVERY LIVING ORGANISM ON THE PLANET. MAN HAD NO INKLING WHAT EVIL WAS, NOR WAS HE EVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW. THE PLANET WAS PRISTINE, FOOD WAS PLENTIFUL, THERE WAS NO POLLUTION, AND SUCH CONDITIONS AS DISEASE, HANDICAPS, DECEIT, HATRED, PAIN, CRIME, EARTHQUAKES, PESTILENCE, AND GLOBAL WARMING DID NOT EXIST. EDEN WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN A HEAVEN ON EARTH. HOWEVER GOD IMPOSED ONE LAW AND ONE LAW ONLY! ONE LAW! ONE! HE DISTINCTLY TOLD ADAM AND EVE THAT THEY COULD EAT FROM ANY TREE IN THE GARDEN EXCEPT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. THERE WERE PROBABLY COUNTLESS TREES IN THE GARDEN, BUT THIS PARTICULAR ONE GOD DID PROHIBIT THEM TO EAT OF. FOR IF THEY DID GOD TOLD THEM IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, "YOU WILL SURELY DIE." NOW, ADAM AND EVE HAD NO IDEA WHAT DEATH WAS. NOTHING AND NO ONE HAD EVER DIED BEFORE, SO THIS CONCEPT WAS ALIEN TO THEM. THEY KNEW THE GOOD, THEY JUST DIDN'T KNOW THE BAD. SO IF THEY ATE OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THEY WOULD KNOW EVIL, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. AS THE BIBLE TEACHES, HAVING THIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CAUSES PHYSICAL DEATH OF ALL MANKIND. IN HEAVEN WITH GOD THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE OF EVIL, HENCE NO DEATH THERE. ADAM AND EVE HAD IT ALL! THEY HAD MORE THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEINGS HAVE EVER HAD. THEY HAD MORE RICHES, THEY HAD MORE FOOD, THEY HAD MORE LIFE - THEY HAD IT ALL! EVEN JESUS CHRIST, AS A HUMAN BEING, DID NOT PHYSICALLY HAVE AS MUCH AS THEY HAD. ENTER THE SERPENT. [THE SERPENT'S PRESENCE ALONE DID NOT EFFECT THE KNOWLEDGE OF (BETWEEN) GOOD AND EVIL.] THE SERPENT SOUGHT TO PUT DOUBT INTO THE MIND OF EVE. [PUTTING DOUBT INTO SOMEONE'S MIND CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE DAMAGE, BUT IT BY ITSELF DOES NOT EFFECT THE KNOWLEDGE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.] THE DEVIL ASKED EVE ABOUT THE TREE AND ITS FRUIT OF WHICH GOD SAID NOT TO EAT. [IT WAS NOT AN APPLE! THE 'FRUIT' WAS THE 'KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL'.] HE ASKED HER, "WHY CAN'T YOU EAT OF THAT TREE?" EVE TOLD SATAN WHAT GOD TOLD HER, THAT IF SHE ATE OF IT SHE WOULD SURELY DIE. SATAN LIED TO HER SAYING, "YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE IF YOU EAT OF THAT TREE ..." THIS WAS THE FIRST LIE EVER TOLD. EVE CHANGED HER MIND. SATAN HAD EFFECTIVELY UNDONE IN EVE'S MIND THE COMMAND THAT GOD HAD IMPLANTED, BUT IT WAS NOT BECAUSE THE DEVIL HAS THAT MUCH POWER. IT WAS BECAUSE EVE ALLOWED THE DEVIL TO CAUSE HER TO DOUBT, AND SHE ALONE CHANGE HER MIND. GOD FORCES NO MAN OR WOMAN TO OBEY HIM! EVE SAW THAT THE FRUIT LOOKED DELICIOUS. IT WAS APPEALING TO HER EYES, AND DOG-GONE-IT SHE WANTED IT NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. SHE'D JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES LATER. BESIDES, SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT DEATH WAS ANYHOW, SO WHY NOT TAKE JUST ONE BITE? ANY OF US WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING. SO SHE ATE OF THE FRUIT. THEN, THOUGH THE SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY THIS, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY INFERRED, SHE MUST HAVE FELT GUILTY ABOUT WHAT SHE HAD DONE (A FIRST FOR THAT EMOTION FOR HER). BUT INSTEAD OF WARNING HER HUSBAND ABOUT HER DISOBEDIENCE, SHE SOUGHT THE POTENTIAL CO-CONSPIRATOR IN HIM AND ENTICED HIM TO ALSO EAT OF THE FRUIT, FOR MISERY DOES LOVE COMPANY. ONCE ADAM HAD DONE THIS THEIR EYES WERE "OPENED" FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES, AND THE PROVERBIAL "PANDORA'S BOX" WAS OPENED AS WELL. NO GOING BACK! IT'S LIKE THAT CANNISTER WITH THE TOY THAT SPRINGS OUT AND ALL OVER THE PLACE WHEN YOU OPEN IT UP. FOR THE LIFE OF YOU THERE IS JUST NO WAY OF PUSHING THE TOY BACK INTO THE CANNISTER THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE YOU OPENED IT. THE DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE. ADAM AND EVE AND EVERY LIVING ORGANISM WOULD NOW BE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH DEATH FROM THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION. THE FIRST HUMAN CASUALTY OF ADAM AND EVE'S DISOBEDIENCE WAS ABEL, BROTHER OF CAIN, SON OF ADAM AND EVE. HIS PARENTS HAD BEEN KICKED OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND THE WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. CAIN GREW JEALOUS OF ABEL, SO HE LED HIM OUT TO A FIELD, AND THERE HE STRUCK HIM DEAD. AND IT HAS BEEN GOING ON EVER SINCE! THIS HAS NEVER BEEN AN IDYLLIC WORLD. INDISCRIMINANT BLOODSHED HAS RULED THE ROOST IN MANY WAYS SINCE THE BEGINNING. WITH THE EJECTION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM EARTHLY HEAVEN CAME POLLUTION, DISEASE, HANDICAPS, DECEIT, HATRED, PAIN, MEDICATIONS, HOSPITALS, CRIME, EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES, PESTILENCE, STRIFE, WEARINESS, SWEAT, WARS, WEAPONS, MASS MURDERS, ....... DEATH! IF IT WERE NOT FOR GOD SENDING HIS SON, JESUS, THE WORLD WOULD CONTINUE IN THIS WAY HOPELESSLY PROBABLY FOREVER! IT IS JUST HORRIBLE WHAT PEOPLE DO TO ONE ANOTHER! WE TREAT ONE ANOTHER WITH SO MUCH DISRESPECT! WE GET MAD AT ANY LITTLE THING. IF SOMEBODY LOOKS AT US WRONG IT'S TIME TO FIGHT. YOU CAN'T TRUST NOBODY BECAUSE PEOPLE TAKE YOUR KINDNESS FOR WEAKNESS. EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT IS NOT THEIRS. PEOPLE GET MAD AT THE WORLD BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY WERE TREATED WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP, SO THEY BUY A GUN AND GO SHOOT UP EVERYBODY IN SIGHT - AND THEN WHEN THEY SEE NO ONE ELSE TO KILL, THEY TURN THE GUN ON THEMSELVES. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. ALWAYS! OH I LONG FOR HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN EDEN. I LONG FOR HEAVEN. I LONG FOR CHRIST. HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT |
Sunday, June 27, 2004
DO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD
| EXODUS 23:2 "DO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD IN DOING WRONG..." JAMES 4:4 "YOU ADULTEROUS PEOPLE, DON'T YOU KNOW THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS HATRED TOWARD GOD? ANYONE WHO CHOOSES TO BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD BECOMES AN ENEMY OF GOD." ROMANS 12:2 "DO NOT CONFORM ANY LONGER TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND..." 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14 "DO NOT BE YOKED TOGETHER WITH UNBELIEVERS. FOR WHAT DO RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WICKEDNESS HAVE IN COMMON? OR WHAT FELLOWSHIP CAN LIGHT HAVE WITH DARKNESS?" |
Friday, June 25, 2004
THOU MAYEST
| Why live as if you've got all day When the day belongs not to you? Circumstance need not dictate your eventuality. Time is short and life is fleeting. Clutch His hand with all your might. Know that you live on borrowed strength - Borrowed breath, borrowed time. Realize the gravity of this ongoing war. Take heed to he who misguides you - Blurs your focus and derails your train. Some particular day your finality will be imminent. No permission slip for absence shall be honored. What was it all for? What have you to offer for a defense? He bids entry, you who are faithful. The Lawyer and the Judge await. Copyright © 2002 Haile Nkrumah Gault |
Sunday, June 13, 2004
MISS YOUR PRESENCE
| I WEPT TODAY! CAN IT BE? HUH? CAN IT REALLY BE THAT YOU'RE NOT HERE ANYMORE? CAN I NOT LOOK INTO YOUR SMILING FACE AND LAUGH WITH YOU ANYMORE? CAN I NEVER AGAIN HUG YOU, HOLD YOU AND TELL I LOVE YOU? NEVER? HENRY WAS MY SECOND OLDEST BROTHER. HE PASSED AWAY FROM THIS LIFE THREE YEARS AGO TODAY - JUNE 13, 2001. MAN, I LOVED HIM SO! IN HIS FINAL DAYS HE DRIFTED IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THIS MAN HAD LIVED A TROUBLED LIFE. HE HAD BEEN AN INTRAVENOUS DRUG USER. HE HAD BEEN A CRACK COCAINE ADDICT. HE HAD BEEN AN ALCOHOLIC. HE HAD BEEN A GAMBLING ADDICT. HE HAD HEPATITIS. HE HAD AIDS. THIS MAN I LOVED! WHEN HE WAS CLEAN HE WAS THE GREATEST JOY TO BE AROUND. BOY, BUT WHEN HE WASN'T! NEVERTHELESS I LOOKED UP TO THIS MAN. HE WAS 11 YEARS OLD WHEN I WAS BORN. HE WAS THE ONE WHO WATCHED OVER ME. WE WERE PRACTICALLY INSEPERABLE. AS I GREW UP I SAW AS HE WAS INVOLVED IN A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING BAD. BUT HE NEVER, EVER LET ME SEE HIM DO ANY OF IT, NOR DID HE LET ME BE INVOLVED WITH IT - EVEN OUT OF HIS PRESENCE. NEVER DID I TRY ILLICIT DRUGS, CIGARETTES, GAMBLING; AND THE ALCOHOL I'VE DRANK IN MY LIFE COULD TOTAL A PINT IN ALL. NOT THAT I WAS A GOODY TWO SHOES. I HAD GREAT PARENTS AND THEY WOULD HAVE HAD HIS LIFE HAD HE ALLOWED ME TO INDULGE. AS FOR HIS OWN LIFE, HENRY JUST ALWAYS DID HIS OWN THING. I BECAME BORN AGAIN IN CHRIST IN 1993. NOT LONG AFTER THAT I BEGAN TEACHING MY OLDER BROTHER THE BIBLE. IN 1995 HE REPENTED OF HIS SINS AND WAS BURIED WITH CHRIST IN WATER BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF HIS SINS (AND TO RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT). FOR THE NEXT 6 YEARS HE'D FALL BACK INTO DRUGS, REPENT, GET DETOXIFIED, AND RETURN TO GOD ... AND DO IT ALL OVER. HOW MANY OF US HAVE NOT REPEATED THIS PROCESS IN SOME FORM OR FASHION? AND GOD WAS ALWAYS MERCIFUL TO TAKE US BACK. AT THE END OF HIS LIFE HENRY HAD BEEN AWAY FROM GOD - AGAIN. THIS TIME IT WAS REALLY BAD. HIS CHEMICAL DEPENDENCE WAS OVERWHELMING BY NOW! AND HE WAS IN THE FINAL STAGE OF HIV. I WAS 500 MILES AWAY, BUT MY PARENTS WERE RIGHT THERE. AND MY MOTHER DEAR, HERSELF BORN AGAIN LESS THAN 2 YEARS EARLIER AT THE AGE OF 67, WAS AT HIS BEDSIDE PLEADING WITH HIM TO REPENT OF HIS SINS. HENRY DID. POPPY CONFIRMS THAT HENRY DID REPENT. AND AS THEY LEFT HIS BEDSIDE THAT NIGHT HENRY'S EYES WERE FIXED ON THEM. FIXED! THE NEXT MORNING, WITH NO ONE IN HIS PRESENCE BUT THE ANGELS OF GOD, HENRY LEFT HIS BODY TO BE WITH THE LORD IN PARADISE. I MISS HIM SO! I SIT HERE LOOKING AT YOUR PHOTO, AND I ASK MYSELF ... I ASK YOU ... CAN IT BE? CAN IT REALLY BE THAT YOU'RE NOT HERE ANYMORE? CAN I NOT LOOK INTO YOUR SMILING FACE AND LAUGH WITH YOU ANYMORE? CAN I NEVER HUG YOU AGAIN, HOLD YOU AND TELL I LOVE YOU? NEVER? NO! NOT NOW! NOT HERE! NOT LIKE BEFORE! BUT THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AWAITS... AND I HAD BETTER BE READY! HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT |
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