Preaching with a purpose

Jesus said,"Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." He promises that if you come to him for the answers to life's questions he will most certainly give you his rest. But you must come. When you are at your wits end with what this world has flung at you, there is only one answer, Jesus. He also promises,"Whoever comes to me I will not turn him away." So what are you waiting for, put your trust in him.

It is Jesus who tells us most about hell. He tells us of being "thrown into outer darkness" and of "wailing and gnashing of teeth." He speaks of being sent to Gehenna, the rubbish dump, where dead criminals' bodies were thrown into fire that was kept burning. People try to pass this off as poetic license, but Jesus is usinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifg these pictures to show somewhere that is awful and terrible. He threatens the religious leaders and the rich with this destiny if they do not repent. The tax collectors and prostitutes are more likely to turn to Jesus for forgiveness.It has been calculated that about 13% of Jesus' teaching was about hell. We must not dismiss it or put it to one side. Read more about Hell at this link. The Hottest topic:Hell

At the end of January I have been asked to speak to the Local Preachers' meeting about heaven and hell. These are not popular topics these days. I was the one who suggested we should look at these subjects. I will be speaking from a totally Bible-based standpoint as I believe that is the only one that matters. Conjecture can give us no solid base, only scripture can enlighten us. I am at present gaining much help from "Whatever happened to Hell" by John Blanchard. I have two more books lined up to read soon. Hardly a little light reading for the Christmas period. This is a very important topic. It is not possible to brush aside the reality of hell. One needs to think deeply about one's eternal destination. If you wish to avoid hell, put your truat in Jesus and his death on the cross. Ignore him at your peril.

If you have Jesus you need nothing else. You may have lost your earthly best friend but still you have Jesus, the fairest among ten thousand. If you are poor and struggling to make things meet financially, you have a Father who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He will provide for you. If your health is poor he is the balm in Gilead that will soothe your aches and pains. I used to suffer a lot from depression, at those dark times Jesus was the one who carried me through. I still have small patches of depression, enough to remind me that I need my Lord. Trouble can be a great blessing to us because it reminds us who is of most value in our lives. When everything is easy and going our way it can be a curse which takes us away from knowing our need of Jesus.

There once was a man who liked to hoard everything, even junk mail. He intended at some time in the future to read it all, even though all the information would be out of date. He also hoarded things which may have been useful, like a pram. All these things were put in the attic. Many years later some squirrels found their way under the roof and made a home for themselves among these assorted items. If any of the things had been worth having before this they certainly were not after. Physical junk is a bad enough problem but spiritual junk is much worse. We need to read our Bibles to find what are the good things worth keeping in our lives and which need turfing out. Once you may have believed something which was not right, but you cling onto it beccause you are used to it. We need to throw out that well worn belief and let Jesus in. For advice on how to deal with physical clutter click the link below. For advice on belief click the second link. How To De-clutter Your House...

Last night I wrote about friends coming around for the evening. Tonight I had another friend come. She stayed nearly two hours. We talked about our families and about our problems. But perhaps it isn't like that for you. Do you have a friend or friends ? so many people live alone these days, for one reason or another. Some are so used to their own company that they've forgotten what it is like to have a friend. If you click on the link below you will be taken to a page where I make suggestions as to how you can find a friend. Do you know who the best friend of all is? It is Jesus. I know that because he has been my friend for most of my life, well all of my life really, but I didn't know it at the beginning. My other link below will take you to a page which tells about Jesus becoming our friend. Making Friends And Keeping Them Justification By Faith

Many people make promises, but today a lot of leaving and forsaking takes place. I've done it myself. However there is one person who will keep his promise. When Jesus says,"I will never leave you or forsake you" you can be sure he will keep his promise. Jesus died on the cross so that all who believe in him will be acceptable to God. Is he saying to you, "Come unto me?" He will forgive your sin, put you right with God and never leave you. To read more see the link below. Justification By Faith

I do so many things that I end up in a chaotic state. Any flat surface like a chair or a table attracts things to be put on them. It's a wonder I found somewhere to sit on this settee. I guess I need to develope some sort of system in my life. I'm sure it would be a great benefit. I even wrote a page on Squidoo on how to declutter your house. You can see it below. I am an expert at cluttering and need to learn to continually de-clutter. I can de-clutter quite well, but only about once in three months!! Our internal lives need de-cluttering too. We can be full of resentment in our lives. We need Jesus to sort us out and put us on the right road. How to De-clutter-Your-House

This is Woolly Doughnut and he has been in our family ever since my now 38 year-old son was three and received him as a Christmas present from an aunt. Woolly spent many years in retirement and then I took him on some adventures as you can see in the link below. Imagination is a wonderful thing, but it can get you into trouble. You can imagine that everthing is alright between you and God, but unless you have asked Jesus for the forgiveness you need you are in danger of God's wrath. He is a God of love and he offers you life through Jesus, but He makes the rules and this is the only way to be right with Him. If you accept his way you are going to receive a life where you know his forgiveness and faithfulness for ever. Woolly Doughnut on an adventure

A beautiful rose with a beautiful name. How can we get peace in this day and age? Is your life peaceful, or are you caught in the rat race? As prices go up you have to work harder and harder to make ends meet. Can you keep this up? There is another way. You can find peace with God in Jesus. He can give you a peaceful life, because when you find him, many of the things you think are essential, you will find you can do without. He will become the centre of your life and in him you will find satisfaction. Here is another poem of mine about God. I try to catch you with my words, But you are elusive as an eel. To catch the essence of you my God But you slip through my fingers, And will not be confined In my understanding. How great you are, How small I am, How small my picture of you. Greatness is not enough Splendour not sufficient To describe you, No word can tie you down. I marvel at the wonder of who you are, But my contemplation is not enough To come near you. And so my finite br...

No, it's a moth. I discovered this moth on my front door, as I came in this evening. I looked it up on the internet and found it is a Buff tip moth, camouflaged to look like a birch twig. Is this moth so clever that it can develop this camouflage all by itself over many years? No, while it was changing it would be eaten. This moth was given its camouflage by God Almighty. I have looked at the theories of evolution and find them ridiculous and unbelievable. I do believe in God who can do anything and is a wonderful Creator who has designed a wonderful creation which works in symbiosis and polybiosis. A creation that once worked perfectly but has now been spoilt by human sin. Sin is a problem we humans all suffer from. None of us can accuse anyone else of being more sinful than we are, we all have the same problem. There is a solution to this problem. Jesus died to free us from sin and bring us back into God's favour. If we put our trust in Jesus our sin problem is solved...

God says,"If you look for me with all your heart you will find me." You can only find God through Jesus. Jesus said,"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." The Bible is where we can find out about God and know what he is like. Try this Squidoo lens to help further:- The God who does not change

Sometimes if you make friends easily you lose them just as easily. A good friendship needs working at, something like a good marriage. If you come to Jesus he will be your best friend ever. He already knows the worst about you and yet he is willing and able to forgive you. If you ask for his forgiveness he will blot out the past and turn your life around. Instead of pleasing yourself you will want to please God and amazingly you will also find fulfillment in that. Throw away you desire to rebel against God and turn to him. In Jesus he will accept all who come to him. For more help read this page. Justification by Faith Also for help finding friends. Making Friends and Keeping Them

Here I am an English woman of 64, on the internet trying to reach other people. What do I want to happen? Well I just want to give anyone searching for answers to their life, the answers I have found that work for me. I know that Jesus has been with me all my life taking me through the good times and the bad and never leaving me. Wouldn't you like a friend like that? If you ask Jesus to be your friend he will not turn you away. He has promised that in the Bible. But the whole point in having Jesus as your friend is so that he will deal with the sin in your life. There's an old fashioned word "sin". Don't worry about it, everyone has it in their life, yes even me!! It's just a part of human nature. We all have this problem and only Jesus can deal with it, take it away. Well you don't want to keep it do you? It's crippling your life and keeping you separated from God. Love you to add a comment below.Here's a story from the Bible about a wom...

Have you ever wondered where all those billions of people on the internet are hiding. Not many of them seem to find their way to my blog or my Squidoo lenses. I must be in some little backwater in among the reeds and under the trees. I guess my keyword canoe is frail and not getting me out into the midstream. Amongst all the others crying for attention mine seems to be a voice crying in the wilderness. Well there was someone like that many years ago and yet he managed to introduce Jesus to the world. So I won't dispair, I will keep on crying until someone hears my message that Jesus is still available to them, wherever they live, whatever their age.Look here for a man who told as many people as he could about Jesus. Interesting Bible People:Paul

I seem to be making a monthly visit here. I am still writing my daily poem on Squidoo, see below, but my blogging has fallen by the wayside. I have jumped another hurdle in that I have passed Section C of the Faith and Worship preaching course. I am well into section D and hope to send it off in good time for the end of March. Life is good. I am looking forward to a fuss free Christmas. Jesus came to save us, not to shackle us to consumerism. I'm not being a kill joy. If you enjoy all the razzmatazz, go ahead. I would rather have a bit of quiet contemplation. If you are not careful you can end up serving mammon for Christmas. Here is the link to my latest month of poetry. A poem for every day in November

Farmville in many ways is not like real farming. If you don't fence your animals in in real farming they will wander all over the crops and spoil them. In real farming you can't unwither your crops, once they have withered that's it. But some things are like real life. If you help your neighbour out he will often help you too. You can work in a co-op to get higher yields. The animals on Farmville sell at a rediculously low price. Sheep farmers would say that is true to life. I think Jesus would have used Farmville as an illustration if he was here now. He would say it's no good just helping those who help you, you must give to the ones who can't return the favour too.He might also say don't spend your life on something which is worthless, but I don't think he would be a kill-joy like that. He would see the benefits of people interacting even on the internet.The internet can be a place where we find out about Jesus by sharing our faith with one another...

On the Facebook game Farmville, if you have the game bar it tells you when the harvest is ready. Jesus said that the harvest was absolutely ready now and that farm hands are needed to bring the harvest in. What did he mean? He meant that men and women were at the point where they were ready to hear his good news that God had sent him to rescue us from the bad things in our lives and bring us into a wonderful party with him and God where everything would be sorted out and peace and joy would be everywhere. Those of us who know Jesus should realise that the harvest is ready. People are hungry to hear they can be rescued by Jesus. I like to say I play Farmville so that I can relate to the young people in our churches and outside. The truth is I find it addictive. However I think it could be used to illustrate all sorts of things in a sermon to the young and not so young. So I'm going to pretend that is my reason, because I need material for my sermons as I am a trainee local preacher....

Do you know the story of Naaman in the Bible? If not take a look at the link below.Naaman had leprosy. He was sent to Israel and eventually found the prophet Elisha who sent him a message to say, if he wanted to be cured he must go and wash in the river Jordan, seven times. But Naaman thought this was too easy and was furious that Elisha had not come out to heal him in a magical way. He had sensible servants with him who persuaded him to go and wash. We are like Naaman only our problem is sin. We want to make up for our sin by doing good things. We want to please God our way, but God has made the only way, Jesus. Jesus died for us, we need to put our trust in him and let go of our sin. He deals with it freely. Interesting Bible People: Naaman

When we lose a loved one it is natural to wonder how they are faring in the next life. I would warn against going to a medium to find out. At worst these people are charlatans after your money, the rest misguided or worse. We are told in the Bible not to try to reach the dead. The best person to call on in this situation is Jesus. That's right, go to the top. He is always available through prayer and doesn't make a charge. All he requires is that you look for him with all your heart. He has the answers to all of life's difficult questions.