It's called Christmas with a capital "C"

Enjoy!! and to think, Christian radio stations still feel it is necessary to play Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer!

Here is a copy of the letter I sent to WCIC radio station out of Peoria, IL.

Good morning Stephanie,

I wanted to send this to the station manager but was unable to get his email address off the computer here at work. I hope you don't mind me sending this to you.

I am seriously considering finding another radio station to listen to. It is pretty upsetting to listen to secular Christmas music on a "Christian" radio station. I know this particular radio station does not like to present the whole gospel message. It is on a very rare occasion that sin is spoken of and the need to repent of sins is even a more rare case. There will come a day when people will say, "Lord, Lord, and he will say, depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you." I worry that could happen to WCIC. You (not you personally, Stephanie) will stand before Jesus and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we play good Christian music to honor you to try to bring people to you? And I get the feeling He will say, depart from me you worker of iniquity (Lawlessness -- For MY LAW is not within you), I never knew you. Please don't cave into pressure to worry about offending people with the gospel. If all you do is sugar-coat the good news, the good news will not make sense. I listened to your radio station for years and always felt blessed. But the truth of the matter is this. I was not saved. I thought I was. I listened to Christian music every day. I read my Bible. I went to church. But I was not saved. It wasn't until someone FINALLY presented God's Law (the Ten Commandments) to me in such a way that my sinfulness became exceedingly sinful and I realized that I was headed for hell. It was at that time the message of the cross made sense to me. It wasn't by listening to music that I was saved. It wasn't by listening to music that it eventually brought me to being saved. It was by the Law and the Law only. I would venture to say that over 75% of the people who listen to your station are not truly saved. They have not repented of their sins, they are not fulfilling what God told us to do. Go and preach the gospel to every creature in all the world. I would bet that not a single person within your own radio station is out evangelizing in the streets in an attempt to reach the lost. Right? I pray that I am wrong but I also pray that you can see why it is important to change your message that you are feeding the listeners. Give them the whole news. Not just the good news, but let them know they are headed for hell if they don't repent and put their trust and faith in Jesus alone. Then give them the good news of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. It will make sense then. I know I will most likely not get a response to this letter, but I hope you will at least consider what I have said and you will pray about the direction of your radio station for next year. In Ezekiel we are told to warn people of the danger to come (hell) and if we do not warn them, then when they die, they will die in their sins and their blood will be on your hands. If you do warn them, then when they die, if they do not accept what you have said, they will still die in their sins, but you will be guiltless. It is very important. Won't you be a radio station that does the right thing?

My prayers are with you.
God bless

till His nets are full

Brian Culver

I did receive a reply back from Stephanie and here it is:

Brian,

Thank you so much for listening. We truly value your input and opinion and I have forwarded your email to our station manager, Dave. I will be discussing this with him personally and I will be sure that he gets in touch with you as soon as possible!

In Christ,
Stephanie Miller
Office Manager
Business Underwriting Director
Family Friendly 91.5 WCIC
309.692.9242

I hope that the station manager does reply back to me in a positive manner. I truly believe he will not change. I pray that he is truly saved because if he is falling to the temptation to not mention hell or sin on his station, then why bother calling it a Christian station. Please keep this and all Christian radio stations in your prayers.

When you've been hurt by the church!

You go to church thinking all is well. You picked this particular church because either you knew someone who attended there, it was close to where you live, it was the denomination you grew up in, or you have heard great things about the pastor and the youth program. You are excited to be a part of such a loving family of believers. You eat up everything they offer to you. You go to all of the sunday school classes, you volunteer your time with the youth, you go to every Bible study they have and you sit in church drinking your coffee while the pastor gives his sermon and you feel as though you are on top of the world. You feel good when you leave church. Everyone tells you to have a nice day and they will see you next week.

That was me! And it quite possibly is you too. Sounds good, doesn't it? The only problem is, you have this inner sense of not being fulfilled. Something is missing. You don't feel any different than you did before you came to church. You hear Scripture being read. You hear great stories that "really relate" to your life. You hear the story of the "pig with the wooden leg" and you know that it just has to go with the Scripture that is being read. And you are right. The sermon title is: "Are you walking around with a "wooden leg?"

You go home that day from church and you can completely remember the joke about the pig with the wooden leg. But what was the sermon about? What was that Scripture that was read this morning? It had something to do with being persecuted as a Christian. From all of the people I have talked to in my church (pastor included), none of them had ever really been persecuted as a Christian. Is that just because we live in America (the land of the free?). I would rather think it has more to do with the fact that we as Christians are not doing anything that bothers Satan. We have become so comfortable in church. Let's take our lawn chairs, some pepsi and potato chips and let's listen to what the pastor has to say today. When the sermon is over, let's pack everything up and go home and watch tv. See you next week Pastor!

How long have you gone to church like this? I went for years. Hey, I ever was a pastor and held services like this for 5 years! You know, it has to do with entertaining the people, (just like I learned from watching Willow Creek Church services!), it had to do with telling stories so that people would see they needed to have a purpose in their life (just like Saddleback Church). I wanted to have a church service like everyone else was having. After all, that is what the people wanted at this particular church. As far as the last church I attended, that is what they want there too.

But something happens. You come across something that totally changes your life. For me, it was coming across Way of the Master. It changed my life. No longer do I just "go" to church, but I truly want to hear God's Word being taught "word by word." I want to not only say WWJD? But rather, I want to know what "did" Jesus do?! The first one wwjd, has to do with trying to interpret what you think Jesus would do in a given situation. The second one, wdjd, is something you can validate by reading God's Word. You can open the bible up and see exactly what Jesus did do! That is a much better way of doing things, it takes all error out of the equation. Anyway, as a newly saved person, I flooded myself with God's Word. The difference this time is this ---

I WAS OBEDIENT!

I had never been taught that I had to be obedient to God's Word. I heard a lot of feel good stories, I heard a lot of jokes (I can still remember many many of them!!) but I never was told that I had to repent of my lustful thoughts, of my lying, thieving ways. I always just figured all I had to do was just say, "sorry God, please forgive me." And I would go on my merry way. Off to commit the very same sins day in and day out!

You will be amazed by this but when a Christian decides to become obedient to God's Word, you can bet that he or she will finally see persecution. Unfortunately it will come from the least likely source. Many times it comes straight from your church family. They start to look down at you like, "who do you think you are to become so self-righteous?" I myself, had not become self-righteous, I became humbled by my total depravity. I finally "got it!" Jesus died on the cross for me. Not just because I was a "sinner," but because I was a totally depraved man so deep into sin, a breaker of all of God's Commands, and definitely not worthy to enter into heaven based on anything that I could do myself.

I REPENTED

See, when you become obedient to God's Word, you realize that you need to truly repent of your sins. You can't just go through the motions of being a Christian. You have to actually die to self and pick up your cross and follow Jesus. Where will He lead you (many people will say we don't know but we will follow anyway). I tell you I know where He will lead you -- STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN! He will guide you along that narrow road that few will find.

PERSECUTION -- WHAT NOW?

So what do you do when the church brands you as "one of those 'super' Christians?" Someone who feels they have attained such a high level of godliness that no one can relate to them. Here is your answer...

You do what God's Word tells you to do. Be loving, display the fruits of the Spirit, thanksgiving, repentance, love, long-suffering, patiences, etc. You do what the Word tells you to do...

You get out and reach the lost for Christ. You evangelize to people. 150,000 people are dying each and every day, the time is now! Get out of your chair. How many of you reading this right now, spend more than an hour at the computer and don't spend a single minute out trying to reach the lost the way Jesus did? How many of you spend hours watching TV, but don't spend a second, being a Good Samaritan to someone by pointing them to the cross? I have personally witnessed to over 300 people this year and that just seems like such a small number to me. And that was after going YEARS without witnessing to a single person! I am not talking about inviting people to church, no, it is presenting God's Law to them then following it up with the wonderful grace of God! Just one person per day (not one person per month as some pastors goals would indicate!), and it is not enough. I do not want anyone, regardless of who they are to go to hell.

So, what do you do when the church has hurt you? Do what Jesus did...

Honor thy Father in heaven! Go into all the world preaching the gospel to every creature. Can you do just one person per day? Try it! Once you get in the habit of doing it daily, you will want to increase the number. Will evangelizing the lost get you saved? No! Will it make God smile?

Yes! Give Him the glory in everything you do. Praise His wonderful name. We are here to glorify Him and for His good pleasure. Let's bring people to Christ, regardless of what members of your own church are saying about you. Be faithful and don't give up! And if you want to hear the pig joke, just send me an email!!

Non-Christians -- you are falling!

One minute for Christ!

LOCKED DOORS
OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH
Non-believers
Chapter 19

This book is for the person who does not believe in Jesus or has never been told about Him. I must apologize to you for our (Christians) lack of interest in saving you. As you can see from reading this book, we are all guilty of not doing a good job of sharing Christ with you. You are right when you say that “if we truly loved God” why are we not out in the streets proclaiming Him to everyone? To be honest with you, I am not sure I can answer that question. As Christians we feel compelled to pray for you and to be there if you need us. But for some reason we just do not get out of our churches to meet you. It is as though the doors are locked “after” we get “in” the church. Our Christianity is locked inside the church. We know that we are supposed to get out and make disciples for Christ but we always assume that someone else will do it for us (or for Christ!).
While we Christians shamefully keep our faith to ourselves: while the only place we truly serve Christ is within the doors of the church: we are losing ground. There are thousands upon thousands of “Christians” who have not repented of their sins. The Bible clearly states that no liar, adulterer, murderer, whoremonger, effeminate, fornicator will ever inherit the kingdom of God.
Does that mean that if you are guilty of one or more of these sins; you will go to Hell? Many people want to hear an answer of “no” of course not. They say that my God is a loving God and He would never send me to Hell because I believe in Him. He will forgive me of all my sins. Will He? What if you continue in the same sin day in and day out? What if you never repent of your sins and never try to change your ways?
If that is the case then you do not truly love God. The answer to the Hell question is – Yes. You will go to Hell. Because God is a just and loving God, He will and must judge each person. If you repent and confess your sins to God then you will be saved. It is when we put off the old self and put on the new self that God will change our hearts and our ultimate destiny.
Have you repented of your sins? Are you humble and truly sorry for not following Christ? There are people out there right now as you read this book that are doing a job that every Christian should be doing. They go out knocking on doors and talk to people about Jesus. Unfortunately, they are leading people to Hell because they are proclaiming a false gospel. They use Christian words and they read the Bible but Satan has confused their mind. They do not seek the truth and when it is spoken to them, they ignore the Truth. Earlier in the book I showed you what they believe about God and the Bible. The longer it takes you to get out of the church and out into the streets where the sinners/lost souls are, then the more people will be deceived and ultimately headed for Hell.
Dan Arnold said, “the gospel has not been clearly preached if the hearer doesn’t know that not to make a decision is a decision.”
What decision have you made? Take a look at the Ten Commandments again and see if you are guilty before God.





Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no God before me.
2. You shall not make any graven image.
3. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. You shall keep the Sabbath Day Holy.
5. You shall honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill. (Hatred for brother)
7. You shall not commit adultery (lust)
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet.

Go back to the beginning of the book. Look at each one of these Commandments in depth. If God were to judge you for breaking His Commands, would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or Hell?
Are you willing to go to Hell just so you don’t have to give up your sinful ways? You know what sin is now so you have no excuse when you face God. (The same is true for all believers!)
Imagine if you will, you are on top of a tall mountain covered with snow (not you, the mountain!). You are going to attempt to ski down the mountain. You start out well enough but you gradually pick up speed and it is going too fast for you. You try to stop but you can’t. All of a sudden you lose your balance and you start to tumble down the mountain. You can’t keep yourself from doing somersaults and flipping over and over. You crash into some rocks and bang your head a few times. You break your leg and then your arm. The pain doesn’t hit you yet. It won’t really hit you until you hit the bottom of the mountain and come to a crashing stop. Death is certain and it will not be a painless death. Those that loved you will have the memory of watching you fall down that mountain and there was nothing they could do to save you. You do not die right away, you wish you could but the pain just stays and gets worse and worse through time.
Now suppose you are at the top of the snow covered mountain and you are going to attempt to go it alone. You begin downward and the speed starts to go faster and faster. It is faster than you can handle. You try to stop but you can’t. You lose your balance and start to tumble. You do several flips and are about to crash into the rocks, which will certainly break at least one of your arms. Right as you are about to hit the rocks an arm reaches out and is able to pull you to safety. It pulls you to a tightrope that leads back to the top of the mountain. You grab hold of the rope and hold on with all your strength. The person who saved you is right behind you to make sure you make it up the mountain safely. You are relieved that someone cared enough to reach out to save you. You are on your way to a safe haven. As you go back up the mountain you look out onto the mountain and see a loved one trying to go down the mountain alone. They run into the same problem you had and are starting to tumble.
What would you do? Would you ignore them? Or would you reach out your hand and bring them to safety too?
As a non-Christian, you are attempting to go down the mountain by yourself. You are confident in your own abilities but whether you feel the pain now or not does not matter. When life comes to an end you will feel pain. Not just a temporary pain: but an everlasting tormented pain!
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
If you are tumbling down the mountain right now and don’t know how to stop it, the thing to do is to acknowledge your sins to God and repent of them. Do it right now! As you do, you will receive the hand that will save you from your fall. Look up to God and give Him thanks. Praise His name over any other name on earth. Jesus died on the cross so that you will not have to suffer the pain of death (eternity in Hell). He loves you so much that He is not willing that any should perish. Won’t you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior today? Confess your sins and truly repent of those sins. No longer be a slave to your sins but take charge over your life with Jesus as your pilot (or the lifeguard on slopes of life)

Elders and Board Members!

LOCKED DOORS
OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH
Elders and Board Members
Chapter 16

To the Elders and board members of the church, please read the following chapter with a prayerful heart and see if your church has strayed from being a Biblical church.
Before getting into the preaching taking place in your church; I want to focus on your requirements for your pastor search team. What exactly do you look for in a pastor? After looking at this list would Moses be able to preach for you if all you had to look at was his resume? How about John, Peter, Timothy, Barnabas? How about Paul? I have gone to many websites with listings of open pastor positions. Up front, I will tell you that I am a single man (just like the Apostle Paul); I have a son (adopted and no longer school aged). As a pastor I have to ignore listings because of certain requirements set forth by search committees.
Here is a sample listing – is your church similar to this sample listing?

Church seeking Full-time pastor/preacher/minister/evangelist.
We are a loving congregation that is lucky to have a great youth group.

The pastor we desire must…
Be between the ages of 30-55 (Biblical?)
Be a talented speaker (like Moses?)
Be a leader who can help the church grow to its fullest potential (membership numbers or spiritual growth?)
Be married with a wife and children that are school aged (too bad for Paul! Too bad for guys with toddlers)
Have between 5-10 years experience (the early church grew from the message more than from the actual person)
Be able to sing or play a musical instrument (are you kidding? I am still looking in the Bible for this one!)
Have an Mdiv degree (already shown that a Seminary degree is not a true measure of a successful preacher)
Be able to get along well with people (nice, probably couldn’t think of anything else to say, huh?)
Be experienced with computer technology (again, it is God’s message that transforms lives)
Follow the leadership of the Elders (a pastor is “called” into his position by God. An Elder is someone who aspires to the position. Let the pastor follow the leadership of God. Work along side your pastor. Remember, Paul wrote letters to the churches encouraging them and admonishing them when they had fallen from their first love.)
Be willing to follow the leadership and work with the former gospel preacher (great, if he was truly a man of God who preached the Bible and preached against sin by using the Ten Commandments. But if the church members did not actually get out of the church to reach the lost, why follow him. Why not allow someone who is following God’s lead by making disciples for Christ? Sure he was probably a nice man but listen to God leading the way)

Do a Google search on pastor jobs and you will see that these requirements (or a variation of them) are expected by a very high percentage of churches.

Please understand that I have a lot of respect for Elders and for the Board members. It is their love for the church that they desire only the best for it. Unfortunately, many blindly do more harm than good for their churches.
Instead of allowing God to send the perfect man to your church, a man able to motivate and encourage and get people out of the pews into the streets doing real ministry for God, you have locked out potential leaders because of your unbiblical requirements.
A pastor does not have to be married. If he is married, he must be married to only one woman and not have been divorced. While I am at it, a marriage is between a man and a woman the way God created it to be. The Bible never ever says that it is a union between a man and a man or a woman and another woman. If a man is not married, just understand that the single man is able to devote his time wholly to the church (look at Paul). Maybe you worry that a single man is not able to minister to the married couples in the church. A single man that knows God and His Word can minister to any person regardless of the situation.
Too many churches are looking for the polished performance led pastor. He must be entertaining with a good sense of humor and able to relate the Bible to today’s society in a way we can understand.
Have you noticed though, that all of the pastors who relate story after story that the Bible is relevant for today, they fail in the one aspect that can bring about true change. They do not look you in the eye and tell you that adultery is a sin. They do not look you in the eye and tell you that looking at a member of the opposite sex with lust in your heart is a sin. They do not preach about Hell. More than entertainment, what this country needs most is a pastor who will speak for God. SIN IS SIN! Stop and repent now, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We need a man of integrity in the pulpit.

(UPDATE) This post was taken out of my book, Locked Doors of the American Church. On Friday, Nov 30, I will post a message geared towards the church-going Christian. On Saturday, Dec 1, it will be a message for the non-church attending Christian and on Sunday, Dec 2, I will be talking about the non-Christian. Be sure to look for each article as I am sure you know someone is each category (including the previous post on Seminaries, Bishops and Pastors)

Remember my chains!

"Remember my chains" is one line of Scripture that has always intrigued me. There is something so simple and yet so powerful in that one line that has a way of challenging me and encouraging me at the same time. It is part of a personal plea from Paul in the final part of his letter to the Colossians.

When you go through difficult times...

Remember my chains.

When life seems to be bringing you down...

Remember my chains.

When you are not sure what the future holds...

Remember my chains!

Check this out ~~

I grew up as a church-going young child (I used to call myself a Christian but until recently, I have changed my thoughts on that!). When I was 14 years old, my parents gave me the option of going to church or staying home. I decided to stay home! I went the next 14 years, not going to church, but always feeling like I was going to heaven based on the fact that I "believed" in Jesus. When I was about 25 years old, I was working at Hardee's Restaurant as a manager. I was not making much money so I decided to take the exam to get hired by the US Postal Service as a mailman. I went to take the test and prior to the actual exam they let you take a practice exam. I took that exam and completely bombed on it. I didn't get any of the answers right! They then took that exam away from us and gave us two more minutes to study and practice. When it came time for the actual exam, I was able to go through the whole thing and I scored a 100% on it! I was the only one to get a perfect score. I was at the top of the list to be hired. I waited and waited and nothing was happening. After about a year I decided to go back to school. I went over to Bradley University to see about getting into mechanical engineering. I was accepted to attend there. I was supposed to put my deposit down for my dorm on August 31, 1985. On Aug 30th, I received a phone call from the Post Office saying I had been hired. I had to make a decision. Do I take the government job with the good pay or do I go to school for four years and make even more money down the road. I took the security of the Post Office job! After spending a year as a part-time carrier I decided to transfer to Arizona for an opportunity to work full-time. I went to work in South Phoenix and was living in Tempe, Az. I didn't know anyone out there so I got involved in coaching little league baseball. My second year out there, I met Cole (an 11 year old boy). He asked me if I could take him, his older sister and his little brother to church because his parents were going to be out of town. I said I would. When I went to church, everyone treated me so nice and I decided to join the church. It was a Mormon Church. I knew nothing about that religion. They said words that seemed to be Christian. I had heard about salvation, Jesus, God, the Trinity, Holy Spirit. My knowledge was only that of a 14 yr old. I got completely involved in the church. I ended up being the Youth secretary in charge of finances for youth camps. I read my Book of Mormon faithfully every day. I abstained from drinking Pepsi (I cheated some times!!) I was in the church for three years. I started having some questions about what they were teaching. Some things did not make sense. How could God discriminate against people with dark skin? That didn't sound like the God I grew up with. Common sense told me that man did not live on the moon and on the sun (even though that is what was taught by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young). I did not believe that I could be a god myself. I was single and was made to feel like I was less of a person because I was not married and would not be able to have spirit children when I die. (I will say that Cole and his family always loved me even though I was not a whole-hearted mormon). On my third year in Mormonism, me and Cole and his family all went to the Temple in Mesa to watch an Easter pageant. There was a group of concerned-christians there handing out gospel tracts on mormonism. As soon as it hit my hand, Cole's mom grabbed it from me and said, "don't look at that, it is from the devil." I never saw what it said. Later that year, around the end of the first week of October 1990, my heart rate went down to 26 beats per minute. It stayed that way for six weeks! I went to the hospital and to doctors and specialists and none of them could tell me what was happening to me. They all said I was the healthiest dying person they had ever seen. I was sleeping 17 hours everyday! Six weeks of sleeping 17 hours each and every day! My heart, my lungs, my brain (debatable!), my blood were all excellent. They could find nothing wrong with me. The mormon elders would come over every night and lay hands on me and pray ~~ "in the name of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ, we heal you." They would repeat that every single night. Nothing worked! I felt like I was going to die. It finally got to the point where I got so scared and frustrated that I threw my Book of Mormon down on the floor and cried out to Jesus to save me. The very next day, I woke up completely healed. That was on Thanksgiving Day of 1990! My heart has been normal ever since that time. Doctor's never did figure out what was wrong with me. So the next day, I went to a Christian bookstore. It was the first time I had been in one, and what did I see under the heading of "Cults"? Mormonism!! I bought every book I could lay my hands on. For the first time since joining the Mormon church, I was able to read Scripture and it all came alive to me. I could see where Joseph Smith had twisted the truths of the Bible. I decided to go to a United Methodist Church (I grew up in the UMC). I finally was in a service that I remembered from my childhood. As the next baseball season started, I met a boy on my team and I ended up dating his mom. We were engaged to be married in November of 1991 (I know, kind of quick, but I had been single so long!). In October of 1991, I receive a phone call from Rey (the boy on the team) and he said to me -- "he's back!" It seems her exboyfriend had moved back in with her and they were sleeping together. I asked her about it and she said she didn't think it was any of my business. I kind of disagreed with her! I called the wedding off. I was mad at her and at women in general. I was a new christian and this was not supposed to happen to me. I held on to this pain for over a month and a half. Finally in January of 1992, I gave all of my pain over to God and asked him to bring someone else into my life. In October of 1992, he did. I met my son. He was on my mail route as I was delivering mail. He had just turned 9 years old. It is a long story but a wonderful story. Around this time, I had an exposed nerve on my wisdom tooth. The pain was more than you can even imagine. I was bouncing off of the walls. I got in my car at 4am and started driving. Not knowing where I was going, I was screaming at God asking him to stop the pain. I was yelling at Him for not helping me. I finally pulled over at a phone booth and looked up dentists in the phone book. I found one that was just one mile down the road. I sat in the car still screaming at God because it seemed as though the pain was getting worse. When I was finally able to open my eyes enough to see, I drove to the dentist office. I pulled into the empty parking lot of the dentist office. There was one light on in the building. I walked up to the building and was able to walk inside. I found the doctor's name on the board and saw he was up on the second floor. I took the elevator up and as it opened up, it opened up to the room with the light on. The dentist was sitting in his chair drinking coffee and reading the newspaper at 4:30am in the morning! I banged on the door and he let me in. He took care of me and as I was leaving, i asked him why he was there so early in the morning. He said his wife's car broke down the night before and she had to take his car out of town so she dropped him off four hours early so she could leave. Here just one mile earlier, I was screaming at God and complaining that He wasn't helping me and yet, the night before, he had already put into motion events that would take care of my need at the time I needed it most! Remember my chains! As for the boy on my route -- I ended up adopting him as a single man and we moved from Arizona to Illinois. I am white and he is Hispanic and I love him with all my heart. He is now 24 years old and has two little boys (3 yrs and a 5 month old). I love them and his wife, Sarah. They are such a blessing to me. After moving back to Illinois, I got into the ministry. I felt God was calling me. I went back as a student pastor. I had to finish my associates degree while working at a church. I met a girl who was just out of high school. She was very depressed and almost suicidal. We became friends. After lots of phone conversations she finally got her life back on track. One month before I started in the ministry, my dad died suddenly. He was my very first funeral that I ever did. As a pastor, I told a lot of jokes. Let me rephrase that, I told way too many jokes behind the pulpit followed by way too many stories. I had a lady come up to me and ask me if I was going to talk about homosexuality. I said I wasn't. She asked me not to because her son was visiting at our church that day and she did not want to offend him. I didn't say a word about it in the service. I never saw the young man again. I lost my chance to witness properly to him about the need to repent of his sins. I never felt right about that. Remember my chains. After a couple of years, we moved to a larger church. Again, I was telling my jokes (just had to be funny!). During this whole time of my ministry, I was an unrepentant sinner. I was living a lie. I did not tell people about God's Law and the need to repent of their sins. I only gave the "feel good" messages. I can honestly tell you that I was not saved as a pastor. I was the equivalent of an emergent pastor, of a Rick Warren or Bill Hybel type of pastor. I had to entertain the masses! Look at how popular I can be!!!! I was about to serve a new church in Iowa when my son and I decided to move back to Galesburg, IL to visit my mom. She was not doing well. The car was not running, the yard had not been mowed for over 7 weeks, and her plumbing was messed up. I called the church and told them that I was going to take care of my mom. I still was not saved but was still calling myself a solid christian because I believed in Jesus (this time around, now that I was not a mormon!). My first day on the job at a local grocery store was 9/11/01. The tragic events of that day will be remembered forever. When I went to work, everyone was in a state of shock. I was able to minister to people about God's love. I went through some very difficult times in my life during the following years. By living a life that had no repentance, I was destined to fall apart. I must have hit rock bottom. I felt unloved by the world and desperately wanted to get that feeling back. I attended church over the next few years and saw things that bothered me. I could see my "feel good" messages were not working. I didn't feel good. Remember my chains! Finally, after hitting rock bottom, I somehow came across Way of the Master and heard a recording of Hell's Best Kept Secret. That changed my life forever. For the first time in my life, I could see just how exceedingly sinful I really was and that I was headed for hell. I was a pastor that was headed for hell. I was a christian that was headed for hell. I was a very good guy that was headed for hell. God's law was preached. I was a liar, a thief, an adulterer and on top of that, I was also a covetous person, a murderer (hate), a person that dishonored my parents. I had not put God first in my life, I worshiped a god that was not the God of the Bible (I always figured that God would not send me to hell for my sins), I blasphemed the name of the Lord by being a terrible example of a Christian to my family and I never kept the Sabbath Day holy. I broke all ten of the Commandments. There was no way out, I was headed for hell. I cried when I finally "got it" that Jesus completely paid the price by dying on the cross for my sins. I finally repented of my sins. truly repented of my sins. I still sin once in a while, but the change is so drastic from where I used to be it is unreal. I now get out and seek to reach the lost. I have witnessed to over 350 people since the beginning of the year. I plan to more than double that next year. Remember my chains!

Life is finally good. I did a revival this past October and was totally persecuted by pretty much every church and even within my own church that I was attending. I count it as joy. Satan never had to worry about me when I was a pastor because I was not doing anything to bring people to God. I was creating false converts. Now that Satan is shooting his arrows at me, I can see that he is worried about me now. I count that as a tremendous joy! Remember my chains. Why did I write this long personal story? I want you to look back on your own life. Can you see where God opened and closed doors to you? Can you see any growth in your spiritual life? Can you see Satan actively going after you? Is Satan worried about the works you do for Christ sake? Remember my chains and remember your own chains. God is in control. He will not lose any of his children. He will gather them to himself! Rejoice in the truth of God's Word. Rejoice in His promises. Remember His chains!

The Ten Suggestions...

The words -- Ten Commandments, sounds like such harsh words, so judgmental! Maybe we need to soften it a little bit by calling it the Ten Suggestions. And while we are at it, lets rephrase some of the "suggestions."

1. God loves you, so why won't you take some time to love Him back?

2. God will help you "prosper" so go to church and "make some money!" but don't bow down to any wooden idols, okay? but if you want to be a god, you can!! (just ask Tom Cruise or any other scientologist or Mormon)

3. God loves you, won't you please stop using His name as a cuss word? Please????

4. God created the world in six days! Isn't that awesome? You need to work six days too, okay?

5. God loves you and if your parents are two homosexuals or two lesbians, that's okay, because all that matters is that they love you like God loves you and you need to love them too.

6. Now put that gun down. we don't want to kill anyone. If you hate someone, just try to put yourself in their shoes for a second. Good boy!!

7. Just because you see people having sex on TV is no reason for you to do it. If you see people making a million dollars selling ice cream, would you do it too?

8. If someone takes something that is yours, just do an OJ and go get it back! But do it lovingly!

9. We aren't supposed to tell lies, okay?

10. If you want what your neighbor has, all you have to do is pray about it and God will give it to you!

UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

It makes me sick to hear the way today's contemporary church has fallen apart! We don't want people to feel offended so we sugar-coat God's Word. We are not doing anyone a favor by doing that. I love some of my Mormon friends. It kills me to think that they are headed to hell because they are following a Jesus that is not the Jesus of the Bible. They are being led astray by false teaching and they are blinded by the truth. Please, please, please -- Chris B, Kim, Cole, and Josh and Van, I pray that your eyes be opened to what Scripture says. Please read my blogs on Mormonism and do not let your lifetime in the LDS Church cloud your judgment. I love you all so much and I do not want to see you head to hell. Please also, do not look at today's contemporary church and feel that is an example of what Joseph Smith said when he said "all" churches were apostate. God's Word tells us that His Word will live on forever and will NEVER fail. There are many good churches and many good Godly preachers (such as John MacArthur), but unfortunately, Satan has infiltrated the contemporary church with his lies (much the same way he has been involved in Mormonism). You want the truth? Look below...

The Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no other god's before me (this does not say that there actually are "other god's" it just means don't have something that takes His place)

2. You shall not make for yourself any graven image (you show not bow down to false idols - much the way Catholics worship Mary and the Pope. Much the way Mormons worship Joseph Smith)

3. You shall not take the Lord's Name in vain (you shall not blaspheme the name of God. You shall not, in God's Name, proclaim another gospel and call it Christianity!)

4. You shall remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy (I know how LDS people keep Sundays holy, but if you are worshiping a god that is not of the Bible, you are wasting your time on who you give worship too)

5. You shall honor your father and your mother (only to the point that it does not contradict the Bible. Jesus said that if you are not willing to leave your father and your mother for His sake, then you are not worthy to enter heaven!)

6. You shall not kill (Jesus said that to hate is as bad as murder. There are Christians and Mormons both who are guilty of this one. They hate the other group.)

7. You shall not commit adultery (Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust is guilty of adultery in their heart. With the pressure of women to make it to heaven as eternally pregnant women, they have to rely on a temple worthy man to get them to heaven. Guys are looking to women because it is important for them to sire as many children as possible to be pleasing to God)

8. You shall not steal (don't take that which is not yours)

9. You shall not lie (or bear false testimony)

10. You shall not covet (or desire what your neighbor has)

The Bible tells us that no one has kept the first of the Ten Commandments and that we are guilty of breaking all of the commandments if we break just one of them. You are headed for hell by breaking His Commandments. What do you need to do to go to heaven? It is not have several babies (that is "works" based! salvation is a free gift), it is not do temple work (that is also "works" based!), it is not tithing (again, "works" based), it is not going to church ("works" based), it is not abstaining from certain foods ("works"). It is solely putting your trust and faith in Jesus Christ to save you. Repent and be obedient to His Word as you have been saved by grace and not of works. You might say that to repent is to do "works." No, when you are saved, you are given the "fruit of repentance." Again, I ask that you read the part of Mormo and the Mormons and also the 33 things mormons won't tell you. If you want me to provide you with documentation on what I am saying, I will. It will come straight from the Doctrine and Covenants (not taken out of context but shown in its entirety) as well as out of The Ensign, the Book of Mormon and most importantly THE HOLY BIBLE. The Bible is correct and is translated correctly as being God's Word. When you only look at one line of Scripture and try to make it mean something that it doesn't, you are defiling the Word of God. You are creating a God to suite your needs (which is breaking the 2nd of the Ten Commandments). I have had someone tell me that the 33 things were all lies and that I was a liar. You know me well enough to know that what I am saying is true. For all of the people around the world who are reading this...

Please keep our Mormon friends in your prayers. Please keep our churches in your prayers as too many of them have fallen away from biblical preaching. And please, get out of your house today and go and reach the lost the way Jesus did -- PROCLAIM THE TRUE GOSPEL!!

There is only ONE WAY to heaven and that is through the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Sorry, Oprah, you are headed to hell if you don't acknowledge your sins to God and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Sorry, Tom, you are headed to hell if you don't put aside your own theology and realize that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh.

it's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring -- in church!

Is it a sin to fall asleep in church?

Is it a sin to let your mind wander while in church?

Is it a sin to look with lust (even if you are single?)

Is it a sin...

In my run for President of the United States, I have encountered many problems.

1. Lack of Knowledge

2. Lack of Name recognition

3. Lack of Interest

4. Lack of Funds

5. Lack of Experience

or what I like to call -- KNIFE

See, I am going to cut right to the point. How can you gain knowledge of God's Word if you are sleeping? How can you recognize what a Christian should look like if you only are into easy-believism? How can you truly love God if you lack interest in learning more about Him and His Word? How can you give your tithes to a church that you know is not biblical? How can you gain experience in reaching the lost if you never get out of the house or out of the church and actually try experimenting on the lost people out there?

As for my Presidential run, I will just keep running since it is a great way to keep in shape!! Maybe if I had Batman as my running mate, I would be sure to win the votes of all of the pre-adolescent children (of course, I will have to wait 10-15 years before they can vote!)

The children are our future! The children who sit in church and who learn that church youth groups is nothing more than a place to have fun and games and little drama skits, but no mention of what it takes to go to heaven. Little cute songs are nice and they are easy to remember, but we must remember that even little children can learn the TRUTH. My three year old grandson (little David) has more knowledge than a lot of teenagers (maybe even adults) do. Little David heard that someone had died. And his response to me was that Jesus died too, to save him. It is a very simple response and as David continues to grow he will learn about repentance of sins. Right now, he understands words like obedience and not doing bad things again. I can see him by the time he is 4 years old being able to not only say the words but actually know what he is saying about salvation. Why? Because he is hearing it on a daily basis. He is being trained in God's Word. He already knows about the cross and can tell anyone that Jesus died on the cross to save us. He already knows that Jesus is God and that we pray to Him. When I asked the youth in the church I was attending, "Why are you a Christian?" and not a single teen could tell me, it scares me. When I asked them what it takes to go to heaven and they didn't know. It scares me. When I asked them what happens to homosexuals who continue to live in disobedience to God's Word, none of them were willing to say that person would go to hell. They have been trained by the World!

Christians are falling asleep. "AWAKE! Awake! Stand up! O Jerusalem, which has drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou has drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out." Isaiah 51:17

We need to rouse the church. We need to wake them up. They all know that God sent His Son to die on the cross for their sins. They all know that if they would just believe in Him, they will be saved. Then why aren't they doing anything? We are saved by grace, but where is the fruit of repentance? Where is the fruit of thanksgiving? Where is the fruit of love? The kind of love that says, my neighbor is headed for hell and I need to go talk to him and I need to do it RIGHT NOW!

If you are worrying about whether it is a sin or not to fall asleep in church, there is a pretty good chance you are missing something in your relationship with Christ. Only God knows your heart but we are to examine ourselves to see to it that we are in the faith. Jesus said, " verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." John 14:12

Why did Jesus come? To seek and save that which was lost. And that is the Great Commission that we have all been given. Are you doing it? Why not? Can you actually think of an excuse that will PLEASE GOD? In all we do, we should be glorifying God. We are here for His good pleasure and for His glory. It's not too late people. Almost 2 people die every second of every day. How much time have you wasted in not reaching the lost? 150,000 people a day are dying. Do you know when your time is up? Do you know when your unsaved neighbor's time is up. Don't waste another second. Seek and save the lost the way Jesus did!