Would you save a life?

Recently, we lost a treasured actor who brought us all laughs in many forms.  Equally, he brought us tenderness as well as humbleness.  Though this is not meant to be a tribute to a favorite actor of mine, Robin Williams' death did come at a surprise and perhaps placed a bigger "blip" on the radar for topics such as depression, loneliness, and suicide.  Another topic that sprang to mind today was what would you do if you knew he was going to make the final choice?  Think carefully.  Would you have saved him?

Let's bring it closer to home.  Another hot topic has been the rise in children being left in cars, windows closed, unattended for hours to be barely alive if not dead.  What would you do?

If a friend, spouse, relative, co-worker, even your pet were to dart into a roadway with a oncoming car, would you run out to save them?  Would you?  In your mind you might be saying, "yes."

What are you getting at Wyatt?  I am stretching out my words, my virtual arm and asking you a serious question, "Can I help you live?"

"Help me live?"  What do you mean Wyatt?

We would blindly save a child who has fallen into a well.  We would not think twice to run down a highway to save a runaway dog.  Correct?  Why, then, would you not want to live forever?

Here comes the curveball...  Perhaps.  Please do not stop reading.  Please give serious thought and attention for the remainder of this blog.  Yes, I am speaking to my friend, my cousin, my aunt, my parent, my co-worker, my minister, my child, my colleague.  I am reaching out to you because I care and love you enough to tell you about a life that is worth living for.  I am jumping into the roadway of your life, blocking that oncoming car of life so that you can be spared.  A future that holds a reward like no other.

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." - John 15:13

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." - John 3:16-17

God loved you!  God loved you enough to send His only Son to represent your sins, your failings, your crimes so that you could live in freedom; to have an eternal, blissful life.

Like the Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine who jumps into the rain of bullets, shrapnel, or mortar fire to save his/her wounded friend, Jesus stepped in so that you could live.

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." - John 10:10b

God wants you to have an abundant life.  He wants you to enjoy life on this earth and in heaven.

But I am a good person.  That should count for something.  You may have a noble heart but let me ask you 3 quick questions to measure that.

1)  Have you ever stolen anything?  How about time from work?  How about a pen from work?
2)  Have you ever lied about anything; white lies count?
3)  Have you ever lusted after another?  This includes the pinup posters, looking at people on the beach, or perhaps an actor/actress on TV or a movie.

If you said Yes to 1, what are you?  A thief
If you said Yes to 2, what are you?  A liar
If you said Yes to 3, what are you?  An adulterer  How am I an adulterer, I never slept with that person?  No, but have you craved after that person?  "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  - Matthew 5:28  Jesus tells us that lusting is equal to the physical act of adultery.

In a courtroom setting, using only the 10 Commandments as our guidelines and having asking you only 3 of those commandments, do you think that a judge would declare you guilty or innocent?

God is a forgiving God.  "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9  Repent means to turn away or to change your ways.  God wants you to believe in Jesus and rely on Him.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," - Romans 3:23  Everyone has sinned.  It is in our blood to lie, to steal, to lust, to covet, and so on.  God is holy and has no room in heaven for sin.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23  We have 2 directions to go...eternal life in a bliss and joyful Heaven or torment and pain in hell.

I am reaching out to you, again, yes you old friend, kin, relative, co-worker.  Yes you in Pennsylvania, Idaho, New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, North Dakota, Alabama, New York, California,
Great Britain, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, and everywhere else...I am talking straight to you.  I want you to have an everlasting life.

Sin was paid for.  Jesus stepped in and took your sin.  He died to give you life.  "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."  - Romans 5:8-9

What can you do?  If you have questions.  If there are things you do not understand and want to talk to me about, please....PLEASE reach out to me.  wyatt.bloom@yahoo.com, facebook, or @servantwb

Allow me to end with this... "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'  For 'whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"  - Romans 10:9-11 & 13.

If you would like to turn your life around.  If you would like to have an eternal life, please pray out to Jesus.  There is no script.  There is no prepared prayer to say.  All that is required is you wholeheartedly speak, yes with your mouth and voice, directly to Jesus and believe in Him.  Believe that He has saved you from sin.  "
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."  - Acts 16:31b

Again, if you have questions.  If there are things you do not understand and want to talk to me about, please....PLEASE reach out to me.  wyatt.bloom@yahoo.com, facebook, or @servantwb  Do not be embarrassed, afraid, shy, or anything of the sort.  I will gladly and humbly answer questions and speak to you no matter who you are.  No matter your age, your position, your relationship to me, no matter what because I care enough to tell you that I love you and I want you to have eternal life.

There is no perfect church, so why church?

Here's a little ditty, but not about Jack and Diane.  As I was waking up this morning, I was struck with an internal question; why go to church?  Couldn't I benefit from the extra sleep, more time with my family, an extra couple of hours to tackle chores?  What about the annoying concerns about how a church functions such as what they believe, what they do not?  What about the tithe, how do they use it?

I have pondered these questions for quite a bit of my adult life, approximately 20 years.  The questions that sift to the top are more often about the actual church, the governance, the tithe and use of it, their beliefs, etc.  A former pastor and mentor posted a jaw dropping post earlier this year that stated, "the church is a whore, but I still love her."  Yes, how could 1) a pastor post something like that and yet 2) be so true?

First off, let me establish my foundation... Jesus is my Rock.  He is my Savior.  God's Word has no error, it may be difficult to understand and interpret, but I still believe it to be without error.  Jesus has established the Holy Spirit to indwell in our bodies to guide us to where the Triune God wants.  Yes, I do believe in a Triune God; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, building upon that foundation is a constant construction site.  The orange cones and signs are not rubber, they are hardened cement with permanent paint because I am continuously learning and "evolving" in my walk with God.

Now the street view:  Being in the US military, I have been a part of many churches and have had my share of good and bad experiences.  I have met mentors and I have met show-boats.  I have met disciplinarians and I have met those that resolve.  I have met micro-managers and I have met leaders.  I have seen churches barely float and I have seen churches floating in yachts (not Yahtzee).  I have seen hidden finances and open finances.  I have heard gossip.  I have heard slander.  I have seen clicks.  I have seen the nappers/nodders and the Amen'ers.  I have seen favorites and shunned.  All of this and more in a church.  You may be saying, "yes and that is why I do not attend or go to a church."  Believe me, I have been there...for my friends that know me, yes, I have had this experience too.

One thing is for sure, the "church" comes in many flavors, menu options, and fads.  The one thing that has kept me grounded is what I believe the Bible says about churches.  There is no perfect church, but there are pretty darn close ones out there that actually believe in God's Word.  There may be differences and that is what happens when we do not have the luxury of the Apostles and the writers physically here to ask them what they actually meant.

Take the time to actually read and examine God's Word.  Understand what and how a church should function, then seek out those kinds of churches.  It is a daunting task I assure you.  What I can tell you is that once you have found that church, they will be a welcoming family of true believers.  Yes, there will be issues as we are still fault-full humans, but they will admit that they are human and constantly seeking forgiveness.

Why church?  We need a place to share our beliefs, joys, prayers, and sorrows as well as receive a message from God through the pastor as well as sing and praise Him in unison.

He is Risen!

It may seem a day late, yet instead I wanted to post my Easter celebration message today because there are many people, Christians included, who seem to remain glossed over with the holiday of Easter.  We tend to be overwhelmed with the activities of Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, lunch or brunches, visiting with family and such that even the Sunday message may be overlooked.

Thing back to my previous post on Good Friday.  Jesus has just endured a horrific, pain laden day.  He was nailed and hung on the cross where He gave up His Spirit and died.  Just before death, He took on the weight of all of our sins...all of mankind's sins.  All billions upon billions of persons sins, past, present, and future, and took the punishment that we were destined to face, yet the Heavenly Father had compassion and mercy on us and gave His only Son to be the perfect sacrifice once and for all for us.

Jesus was later prepared for burial, then placed in a tomb.  Our sins were buried with Him.  His Spirit loosened the chains of sins, freeing us so that on the third day, He arose into a new body.

Let me back step for a small bit because while He was in the tomb, Pilate, under the recommendation of the chief priests and the Pharisees (see Matthew 27:62), instructed the priests and Pharisees to secure the tomb as best as they could to ensure that there was no way for Jesus' body to be taken or for Jesus to actually move the large stone "door" if in fact He does rise again.  In addition, a guard was posted to ensure the integrity of the seal and stone.

(Follow Matthew 28)  On the third day, after the Sabbath or Sunday, women went out to spread more spices and scents on Jesus' body.  It is important to note here that while Jesus was alive, He told all of His apostles along with the other followers that He would rise from the dead.  He told them so that they would not be surprised and they would have hope but they unfortunately did not heed His instruction.  Much like we have the Holy Bible, full of instructions and prophecies and yet we still miss the obvious.

Nonetheless, in that early morning the earth had a violent earthquake and the stone was rolled away by an angel of the Lord, then he sat upon that stone.  His appearance was so breathtaking that the writer's best description was, "His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow."  (Matthew 28:3)  The guards were shaken from fear and fainted or passed out from their anxiety.  However, the angel informed the women to not be afraid.  The man, Jesus, whom they seek has risen from the dead.  He has gone ahead to Galilee and would meet them there.

The key word here is that He has risen!  Jesus said that He would rise on the third day and HE DID!  Jesus tasted yet conquered death!  Better than any super hero comic or movie, Jesus died for our sins.  He was buried in a tomb.  Then.... He arose victorious over Satan and death!

What does this mean to me?  Interestingly enough, I heard a great description of this at a church my family and I visited this weekend that struck a cord with me.  Pastor Greg Cooper of The Cause Church emphasized that there are many times that we look at Easter and there are times where as a Christian we tend to stop at the tomb and stop at the death part of our walk.  We don't live past that moment and live in the victory of Jesus.

Easter is about the victory!  Jesus won the battle!  Jesus triumphed over the enemy again!  We are in the New Testament era in which we only need to believe that Jesus is real.   We need to have faith that all that Jesus did for us is true.  He died on the cross, taking our punishment.  He was buried with our sins.  Then He arose in a new body, freeing all-of-us of our sins... I say again ALL......OF......US so that we could have a new life and to live eternally with God in Heaven.

Easter for me is a reminder that I am free thanks to Christ!

Would you like to know more about this liberty?  E-mail me at wyatt.bloom@yahoo.com