Looking for a missionary to support?

If you are someone who is looking for an opportunity to support a missionary, I highly recommend my friend Tony Miano.  I had the opportunity to meet him several years ago at the Ambassadors Academy in California.  He is a great man with a big heart for God and for reaching the lost!

Here is his page with more information if you feel inclined to help!
http://tmiano.com/

Blessings,

Alan Sharpton

2012 Mayan prediction

 "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." --Mark 13:32 (ESV)

The Mayan's predicted that on 12-21-12 the world would end.  On 12-21-12, the world woke up to another day.  Throughout history, many people have tried to predict the end times and all have failed.

While I don't know the exact day/time/year,  I can tell you with confidence  that one day the world will end. But that day is up to God.  He alone knows when our time is up.

Maybe this whole prediction by the mayans caused you to think about your own mortality.  Theres nothing wrong with that, your life is short and could end at any moment.

Yes, the mayans got it wrong and i'm sure that this won't be the last time someone tries to predict the end.  But one thing is certain: 10 out of 10 people die, there is a 100% death rate for us all.  One day your time will be up and you will have to stand before God.  Are you ready for that day?

Please take just a few minutes  to read this very important information.

On the day that you die, you will have to stand before a Holy God who has seen every thought, word and deed that you have ever done.  On that day, he will judge you based on his moral law: the 10 commandments.  Maybe you already know them, but lets go through just a few.  Please be honest with yourself and listen to your conscience.  Have you ever told a lie? even a small one? That makes you a liar.  Have you ever stolen anything? the value is insignificant.  That makes you a thief.  Have you ever used God's name as a filth word to express disgust? That's called blasphemy and is a very serious offense in the eyes of God.  Here's one more: Jesus said that if you look at another women to lust after her you've committed adultery in your heart? Those are only 4 of the 10 commandments but how would you do?  Would you pass the test?

This is the standard that God will judge you by on that day, and if you've broken any of them then you will be declared guilty and your sentence will be an eternity in Hell.

But heres the good news: God sent Jesus, his only son to pay the penalty for your sins.  When Jesus died on the cross he took the full weight of God's wrath that should have been on you and me.  When he declared "it is finished", the payment was complete, paid in full.

God doesn't want you to spend an eternity without him.  What you must do is repent (turn from your sins) and put your trust in Jesus to save you.

Don't wait till tomorrow to get right with God, today could be your last day.

Hope

 "Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east."
                                  -Gandalf, the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers

This is by far my favorite moment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy  
It seems all hope is lost
Evil it appears has won
Helms Deep is surrounded and our heroes our heavily outnumbered: 

I've watched this many times, and I still get chills when I see Gandalf and his army charge down the hill.  I am reminded of the amazing truth that Jesus is coming back with an army to rescue those who belong to him. Let us never lose hope!  Like Aragorn, let us be bold and face the darkness knowing we will be rescued!

Living Worthy of the Gospel

In January of this year, I had the opportunity to be apart of the  Passion Conferences in Atlanta, GA. I wasn't able to actually go their, but they did have a live stream online that I was able to watch.  For those of you who do not know what Passion is, the best way I can describe it is Isaiah 26:8  "Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth we wait eagerly for you, for your name and your renown are the desire of our souls." That's what Passion Conferences are about, a movement of people desiring to make his fame and renown magnified all over the world.

One of the speakers for Passion this year was a man by the name of Francis Chan.  He is truly a remarkable man of God who I have a deep admiration for.  He has such a deep passion and commitment to the word of God. His message that night was  based on Philipians 1:27 "...conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the Gospel..." (ESV)



Let me illustrate this verse to you by using a scale:

The idea is that you put your life on one side of the scale and the weight of the Gospel on the other side.  The goal is to be living our life in such a way that the two balance out (i.e what we say we believe about the bible should match how we live our life).  The scale to the left is a good picture of how our lives should be.




 
 but for a lot of us, in light of what we say we believe, our lives often look a lot like this on the scale:

does the second scale often look like your life? It does for me.  Lately, i've thought a lot about this myself and I came to the  conclusion that if I were to put my life on a scale and the weight of the Gospel on the other, there would be a huge discrepancy between what I say I believe and how I live.

One example that I've thought about concerning this issue has to do with our belief of passages that talk about Hell.  Do you really believe in a literal Hell? Honestly, think about it for a moment,  do you really believe that those who have not repented of their sins and placed their trust in Jesus alone to save them will spend an eternity in a place called Hell?   If we really believe in Hell then we should be out on the streets pleading with the lost.  Our lifestyle should match our belief in this. This is sadly something I really haven't believed to the degree that it affects my life. And chances are you have felt the same way.


So what do we do? I know thinking about this can be overwhelming and the easy thing to do would be to just give up and do nothing. But that's exactly what Satan wants us to do.



I want to end with a story about a man named Rodney "Gypsy" Smith.

Rodney Smith was a 18th century evangelist. He was born in England. His mother died when he was a small boy. His father led him to Christ at the age of 15. Two years later, smith joined General William Booth's mission, and began preaching to crowds that numbered from 100 to 1500. He conducted evangelistic campaigns in the United States and Scotland for over 70 years.  He came to America 30 times and preached around the world twice.  In the Paris Opera House he had 150 conversions out of the cream of parisian society.

One day, Rodney was asked what the secret to revival was?  This was his response: "Go home. Take a piece of chalk. Draw a circle around yourself. Then pray, 'O Lord, revive everything inside this circle.'"


Powerful statement made by that evangelist isn't it?

I don't know where you are on the "scale".  Maybe you like scale #1, your walk matches your talk. If that's you then praise God!! Or maybe you are like me and feel like you would fit the second scale, your walk does not match your talk.

The only way that our lives will ever come to a place that matches what we say we believe about the Bible is when Jesus comes and revives our life.

At the end of Francis Chan's talk, a song was played that I believe really captures that statement by Rodney Smith about revival.  This has been my prayer and my hope is that you will make it yours as well.  

Note: for this song you will have to click on the link on this video to go to youtube as it will not play directly here.

Lyrics:

Spirit fall
Spirit fall
Holy Spirit fall
Fall on me

Come like a mighty wind
Light the fire again
Come and breathe your breath on me

Come magnify the son
Savior of the world
The hope for everyone

Bold as a Lion!

Proverbs 28:1 says "The Righteous are as Bold as a Lion"

At the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, a tour guide had this to say about Lions: "Lions have no natural enemies, they are the King of the Beasts, no animals attack Lions, they are Bold, Fierce and have no natural enemies, nobody can conquer them!"

Christians, if we are to have the kind of influence that shakes the very foundation of the culture that we live in then we must be BOLD!

The Early Church was BOLD, they were unstoppable for Christ, they shook the very core of the world that they lived in.  They were the issue in that day.  The issue wasn't economics, or politics or the latest fad...the issue was Christianity.

Question: what has happened to our boldness?

Hola!

Hello!

You know, the word "blog" sounds very

close to "bla."

Bla Bla Bla....

I promise to try to keep this interesting, challenging and hopefully, encouraging.

Stay tuned!!