Who would have ever thought that a kid from a small town in Texas would try to start a race war in Los Angeles? The folks of Copeville were shocked that one of their boys had committed multiple murders while on drugs. They heard that he had met up with a madman named Manson, who believed the “blacks” would ask him to be their leader, after they rose up in power from killing off “whitey.” Though delusional at best, it was believable to his ardent followers, considering racial tensions in the late 60s. Racism is fertile ground where seeds germinate to bring forth the most undesirable fruit.

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:8).

The Boy They Knew…

The Watson boy they knew, grew up without a prejudiced bone in his body. They recalled a boy who made a new soap-box car every 6 months, excelled in sports and worked in his dad’s store, eventually heading out for success. The family was in church every Sunday and a pillar of the community.

In the Parable of the Sower, the Seed [God's Word] sown by the wayside, in rocky soil and among the thorns was never rooted nor grounded in the soil of their hearts. The hearers did not understand nor comprehend the Good News because their hearts we're hardened, not truly turned to Jesus for healing. But for those who were healed, the Lord said:

"The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest thirty, sixty or even a hundred times as much as had been planted" (Matthew 13:23, NLT).

A Hearer's Response . . .

Many come to the website, but few take the time to respond like Erin from Washington State.

The Holy Bible is God's love story. The Scriptures contain the knowledge that God has provided forgiveness of sin and eternal life as a free gift to whoever receives Jesus Christ, but due to spiritual blindness and lack of faith in God's promises, people remain captive to their fallen nature, caused by sin and spiritual death.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV). 

God's Love Story: The Holy Bible . . .

You may want to use the Bible Gateway app until you get a physical, paper Bible to read and study. 

The Christian's toolbox is the place in our hearts where we have all of our God-given tools for immediate use in our lives and ministries to build, renew and repair lives for the Kingdom of God.

As we come up with other tools, let's keep adding them to your toolbox, because “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

A large part of our Christian growth takes place by the renewal of the mind, creating emotional security through faith in the power of God's grace. We are given this warning by the apostle Peter, “Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:17, 18).

The Word of God

The Holy Bible is simply God's love story fulfilling our need for love and acceptance. His Word reveals the Lord rescuing His wayward children through faith in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants fulfilled by the promised Seed, Jesus Christ (Gen. chs.12; 15; 17; 2 Sam. 7; & Gal. 3).

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The foundation of the Christian life is based on faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. Our spirit is made alive [born again] when “… joined unto the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17), through regeneration. Our new Spirit is released through our soul [mind, will and emotions]. This release empowers our walk to be in harmony with the Spirit. Our soul is the gateway which releases the Holy Spirit and brings forth the power and life of God into our actions and relationships. Our bodily conduct comes under control of the Spirit as we choose in our soul to walk in line with God’s word through renewing the mind (Rom. 12:2).

The dictionary says that to confess means “ to make confession of one’s faults; to acknowledge faith in.” We are much aware of what it means to confess our faults to God and to one another. However, this  tract will consider what it means, ”to acknowledge faith in” through the confession of our mouth (Romans 10:8-10).

Confession means to speak the same thing as another; to agree with someone else (lit. “same-speak” in the Greek N.T.) This someone that we are to speak like and agree with is our Father God - His Word. “The word is alive and powerful, sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). The sword of the Spirit is our tongue speaking the Word of God, putting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

 “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” (John 3:16).

Today, Jesus’ cry continues, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38). This flowing river is the blessing of God’s love being “…poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5, 8). God's love for us has been lavishly poured out to the point of overflowing within our hearts to others and to God, who first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Also, according to the old King James language, divine love (Gk. agape) “constraineth us” (Gk. sunecho, 2 Cor. 5:14) means “to hold together.” God’s love holds us together in Christ. Absolutely nothing “…shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39).

"How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see"

God's amazing grace has been defined over the years in many ways:

• Grace is the undeserved, unmerited, and unearned favor of God (the moment you try to merit the free favor of God, His grace is nullified, Galations 2:21).
• Grace is the personal presence of Jesus, enabling or empowering me to do all that God has called me to do, and all that God has made me to be.
• Grace is God's ability working in me, making me able to do what I cannot do in my own ability.
• Grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

King David was anointed of God to deliver Israel from their enemies. He proclaimed:

"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared they faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and they truth from the great congregation" (Psa. 40:9, 10).

Today, the Internet is a great congregation to preach the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a gift that gives us the ability to reign in life. In other words, we have ability through Christ's righteousness to rule over immoral thoughts and practices, and things that consume us emotionally such as unforgiveness, bitterness, offenses, anger, and all the works of the sinful nature.

by C. Truman Davis, M.D.,M.S

In this paper, I shall discuss some of the physical aspects of the passion or suffering of Jesus Christ. We shall follow Him from Gethsemane, through His trial, the scourging, His path along the Via Dolorosa, to His last dying hours on the cross.

I became interested in this when I read an account of the crucifixion in Jim Bishop's book, The Day Christ Died. I suddenly realized that I had taken the crucifixion more or less for granted all these years ... that I had grown callous to its horror by a too easy familiarity with the grim details ... and a too distant friendship with Him. It finally occurred to me that as a physician I didn't even know the actual immediate cause of His death. The Gospel writers don't help us very much on this point, because crucifixion and scourging were so common during their lifetime that they undoubtedly considered a detailed description totally superfluous ... so that we have the concise words of the evangelist: "Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to them to be crucified... and they crucified Him."

Introduction

Make no mistake about it -- Satan is a real personality. He is also a positive enemy against God, all His purposes, His activities and His people. The name Satan means "adversary," and Devil means "accuser." He is called "the prince of demons" in Matt. 12:24.

In Revelation 12:9-10 our adversary is labeled "the great dragon," "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." He is also designated as "the accuser of the brethren," accusing them before God day and night. The name "great dragon" would speak of his power politically as world ruler and "prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2). "That old serpent" speaks of his power spiritually as the deceiver of the whole world and "god of this age who blinds the minds of those who believe not" (2 Cor. 4:4).

Stinky thinking causes emotional pain. Rather than doing something about our thought life, we choose the lazy way to deal with our pain, by medicating it with drugs, including alcohol. In other words, we choose death instead of LIFE.

But first, in order to CHOOSE LIFE, we must receive God's love. As we do, we receive God's Spirit and begin to see things from His point of view. A new identity begins to take shape in us, and our thoughts begin to line up with God's.

One of the first things we learn are the ABCs. These basic building blocks of language form our framework for learning. In a similar way, God's message of love and forgiveness has ABCs, too. These simple truths, found in the Bible, are the essential foundation for understanding and receiving eternal life.

A - ADMIT YOUR NEED - REPENT
Turn to God from sin (Acts 26:20). He is holy. We are not. Our sin separates us from Him. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

B - BELIEVE ON JESUS
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). We receive eternal life by trusting fully in Him. "God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31).

C - CONFESS JESUS & CALL ON HIM
Receive JESUS by grace through faith today (Eph. 2:8, 9). "As many as receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12). "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with your heart that God 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" (Rom. 10:9, 10). "For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved'" (Rom. 10:13). Say: l confess Jesus as Lord & believe God raised Him from the dead for my salvation and righteousness. Amen!

Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you can say for certain, that if you were to die tonight, that you would go to heaven?

Yes | No

Suppose that you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He was to say to you, "Why should I let you into my heaven?" What would you say?

My Good Works! | Faith in Christ Alone!

Eternal life is a gift from God (Romans 6:23) available free for the asking because of a love story written in blood on a wooden cross 2000 years ago. Without this wonderful gift, mankind is eternally separated from God and will suffer everlasting punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

Read more …The Gospel

"For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

Baptized into Christ
A. United with Him in His death.

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death" (Romans 6:3)? 

"I have been crucified with Christ..." (Galations 2:20).

A few years ago, a young boy brought the concept of "pay it forward" to the movie screen. He showed by example how the world could be changed if every person who experienced something good would "pay it forward." God had this principle in mind before He even created man by paying His provision forward. He knew that even though Adam & Eve would sin, their seed would eventually change if they could experience His goodness, mercy and unconditional love.

The Christian Twelve Step Facilitator

Many prison chaplains have years of experience supervising inmates who desire to be used by God. On the other hand, there are many chaplains who are more than willing to receive all the help they can find, especially from an inmate with decades of experience.

For this reason, I am offering administrative and spiritual suggestions to both chaplains and inmates around the world. These can be used as helps for developing a greater prison ministry of the Body of Christ in the chapel, building housing units and yard.

In these last days, mankind is experiencing one of the greatest crime waves in history, especially in our schools and cities. The Scriptures say, "...in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money.

"They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.

"They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NLT)!

Our prisons overflow with men and women with the traits described in these verses. Our streets are full of people heading for prison who commit crimes that stem from deep-spiritual problems.

Several years ago, I was asked to write a chapter in Larry King's new book "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt." The following thoughts are my observations and suggestions for an improved penal system.

I'm Not Complaining

I was originally sentenced to death for my crimes and it was a sentence I deserved. I believe it was the grace and mercy of God which delivered me from it and in an eternal sense, from much more. I write not to complain about my own circumstances or experience with the parole or corrections departments. I'd just like to see the system work in a more meaningful way. It seems most people have lost hope that prisoners can really change. Could this be because their own hearts need to change before they can perceive life with a confident expectation of good?

Can you envision the Body of Christ coming together behind prison walls in love for the purpose of winning the lost all around the world?

Below, you will find lessons, study charts and a building meeting plan for sharing the love of God with men and women in prison: