Good People Don't Go to Heaven

We all think we are good. We seek to do those things that help not harm others. Well, there are some out there who are bad. They care only for themselves and don’t care how their lives effect others. But not us. We are good people. We even get compliments from others about how we try to do good. For the most part, we want to be good.

But what does God say? We know He is good, too. He is perfect and holy as well. He created the heaven and the earth.  To know what God says we look to the Scriptures. Jesus tells a law abiding citizen that no on is good but our Father in Heaven. (Mk. 10:18) Strong words. But it was the character of man that brought about the flood. (Gn. 6:5)

We think we are good. But it makes no difference what we think. What is important is what God thinks. You see, our righteous deeds are considered polluted garments. (Is. 64:6) No amount of good works will make us clean. Sobering words indeed. But what help is there for us? Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

To think we can earn our way into heaven by our goodness is to put our trust in ourselves. But God wants us to trust Him alone. We must decrease and He must increase. (Jn. 3:30) The less we trust in ourselves, the more we can trust in Him. And how do we do this?

First we must realize who we are in the eyes of the Lord. If we just compare our thoughts to the 10 Commandments, we will indeed fall short. And if we are falling short, we fall short of the glory of God. (Rm. 3:23) Second, we must understand the judgment we deserve. Are we going to heaven or going to hell.?  Third we must admit our need for a redeemer, someone who will pay or fine to the jailor. And then we can understand what Jesus did on that cross. He paid our debt meeting the legal demands of the Law. By His death He destroyed death. This is all God’s doing for He is that good.  (Col. 2:14)

So let us have a healthy perspective on our own goodness.

You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, 
those who remember you in your ways. 
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; 
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 
We have all become like one who is unclean, 
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. 
We all fade like a leaf, 
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Is. 64:5-6)

Bullying & Homosexuality: A Challenge to Youth Ministers

It seems that everyday there is a story of a teenager committing suicide because of bullying. Typically, it is a youth who has been identified as gay. What a horrible world we live in that says to a child, to alleviate the abuse you suffer, kill yourself. Unfortunately, many celebrities have made public service announcements (PSA) that say, "It gets better." This is not comforting to a kid who is emotionally wounded. And for that matter, where are the PSA's that say bullying has no justification and is wrong.?

I am addressing this to Christian youth ministers because it is never too early to share the gospel with our youth. But the Gospel is not, "It get's better." For the homosexual who does not repent, it does not get better. Suicide is not salvation. The young teen who 'checks out' will find eternal punishment waiting for them. (Ex. 20:13; for more on suicide, see Augustine's City of God, Book I ch. 18-23)

And the bully is not justified either. If his or her hate leads a person to kill himself, then Jesus' words in His Sermon on the Mount are all the more sobering. (Mt. 5:21-22) In other words, without repentance, the bully will find himself side by side with his victim suffering eternal torment.

We should never assume that a youth pastor's flock knows the Gospel. If a teen does not have a regenerate heart, then they are damned. (Acts 15:8-11) If the straight boy believes he is not a sinner based on his predilection for girls, he is sadly mistaken. If people believe the saved can commit suicide, then God's Law is mocked. Our actions matter for they flow from the heart. (Mk. 7:21) It is our heart that needs to change. And this is the job of the Holy Spirit for nothing is impossible with God. (Mk. 10:26-27)

Youth pastors, use the Law as it was meant to be used, as a guardian until we have faith. (Gal. 3:24) Shepherd your flock through the Law aiding in the teenager's knowledge of her sin. When they can see their need for the Cross, their heart will change. The bully will become humane, the gay will become straight. A heart of stone will become a heart of flesh. (Ez. 36:25-27)

Sin is real. We are all sinners. It is not a respecter of age. There is no purgatory. Death is final. Save our children by showing them in a very personal way, just exactly what Jesus did on the Cross for it is He who saves us from hell. When the truth of this Good News is realized in the teen's heart, the fruit of repentance will show forth. Then it will get better for the gates of hell will have been closed and the child will mature into their faith.

Are You A Judge Over God?

Do we ever question God? Have we ever wondered why God allows evil to occur? Why a prayer is not answered? Or even made statements defining God is such a way that unbeknownst to us contradicts Scripture? We all do it. It’s a part of human nature.

Adam and Eve questioned God. They did not believe God’s Word. Sure they were tempted by the serpent. But they listened to the serpent rather than trust what they heard from God’s mouth.

Our minds are like that. We may read something in Scripture and then we have our doubts about its truthfulness. Surely God doesn’t mean this or that? But who are we to judge God?

Think about that. We judge God. We put Him in the dock questioning His motives, explaining what would be better in our world. And not once do we think about how sinful that is. Us, wickedly sinful people, corrupt in our very nature, judging God.

You see, God is King, the one true King. He governs all things. Nothing escapes His notice. He rules over what He made. He can do that. After all, He made the heavens and the earth. By His very Nature, He is holy, perfect and true. Yet, we are more than willing to judge Him, the One who gives us life.

A lot happens in the world. A lot of what happens causes unhappiness. There is a lot that we just don’t understand. God remains holy, perfect and true. What we don’t understand is a reminder that we are not all-knowing like God. As we go about our lives we must remember that whatever happens, it is a part of God’s plans. He is not capricious. There is no confusion about Him. He knows what He is doing. As His children we are called to trust in Him.

King David trusted God. He knew that each of his days have been planned. He knew that God gave him life. And that being the case, whatever happened to him was planned as a part of His good promises to him.

Our lives have been planned by God. What happens to us that we do not understand, is a part of God’s sovereignty in our life.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.  (Ps. 139:13-16)

Real Presence

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”  (Mark 14:22-25)

What are we to make of these words by our Lord? He points to the bread before Him and says. “This is my Body.”? He takes a cup and says, “This is my Blood.”? Much debate goes on about the ‘Real Presence’, that is, how is Jesus present in the bread and wine of our Holy Communion. It may help us to remember again what Jesus was about to do as He led this Passover meal.

He was about to die as an ultimate sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice for our sins. No more need we go to the Temple and offer a bull or a goat for our daily sins. If the shedding of blood was necessary for the forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22) then once and for all it will be shed by the sinless Son of God. When we take the cup we are never to forget this! For that very next day Jesus body was broken on that cross for all of our sins. He became the new Passover releasing us from the bondage of our sins. For if there is life in the blood, (Lev. 17:11) then Jesus desires to have us consume His life for our very nature is death (Eph. 2:1) until we are born again! (Jn. 3:3) We are sustained in our exile from Eden where the Tree of Life was withheld by our feeding on Jesus in the here and now for it is in the here and now we are asked to live!

Never are we to forget what Jesus did that guarantees our eternal life. Let us come to the table humbly because we are not deserving but forgiven. And forgiven if we truly repent. Let us not forget the pain endured by our Savior that saves us from eternal torment for our sins. If we are present with Jesus at His table, then He is really present with us.

HE was the Word that spake it;

He took the bread and brake it;

And what that Word did make it

I do believe and take it. 

~ John Donne

CHANGE - Why We Hate It!

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. ~ C. S. Lewis


Change is inevitable. Nothing stays the same. As a bumper sticker I saw once read, "Change is a constant. Struggle is an option."


As a pastor, I have often been confronted with complaints from parishioners about changes in parish life usually regarding changes in the liturgy. There seems to be an expectation that when we arrive on Sunday whatever happened last week should be the same this week. Surely we do not expect this in the workplace? After all, what pastor has not heard, "We've never done it that way before."? Why do we not expect change in the Church?


Deep down we all know God is immutable. He does not change. He says so. (Malachi 3:16) So we expect the church to reflect that. Never mind it is made up of people who are not God although I have known many who pretended to be! But it is not God that is the problem. As usual it is us! We need to change. We cannot remain the same. We have to change. And God will change us whether we like it or not!


There have been a lot of changes in my life. I am recently divorced. I am in a new denomination. I do not know where tomorrows income will come from. I have moved back to Atlanta. I spent the last couple of days looking for the first house I lived in after returning to Atlanta. I couldn't find it even asking for help from the town's welcome center. I do not remember the address. I only lived there a year and this was 25 years ago. My suspicions is that that area of town has become a shopping center or an apartment. But to realize I cannot go back to where my professional life began evoked much sadness. And another day I visited a shopping mall that I enjoyed frequenting during my days of being young and single. It too had changed. All of this is to say I am not the same person I was years ago. But I desire that there be constants in my life. The truth is there is only one constant. And that constant is God. But we have to change and God will insure that we do.


The gospel accounts of Jesus begin with John the Baptist's screaming for us to repent. The very nature of the word, 'repent' means to change, specifically, to have a change of heart. We have to change in order to enter the Kingdom of God. We do not come into the world ready to enter into God's presence. We are too sinful for that. Pride says we are not, we are just fine for God. But the Truth says we need God's help to become the people He needs us to be. So like clay in the potter's hand, we are molded into His desire for His creation. We will change.


John Stott reminds us in his study of the Beatitudes that when Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Mt. 5:4), Jesus is referring to us mourning our sins. As I look back on my life, I am not the same person I used to be. And this is Good News as the old me could never enter into God's holiness. I can see how poor I was spiritually when I gaze upon my early adulthood. The Bible is full of stories of faithful people being moved from one place to another. Did Abraham ever miss the Oaks of Mamre? Did Moses miss the pastures of Midian? When he was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling of his prison cell, did Paul ever experience nostalgia before running into Jesus on his way to Damascus? The answer to that question can be found in Philippians 3:7-9.


To mourn our past life means we have recognized that we have died to our old self. The Good News is we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. This is a comfort as the days ahead are indeed by God's design and I know it. It also means change is not over. I am still clay in the potter's hand. Praise be to God!


Change is inevitable. It means God loves us!


 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

  a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

  What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

  I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is,already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.

  Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to seewhat will be after him? (Ecclesiastes 3)

Born Under the Law

Simeon and Anna Praise the Infant Jesus
Arent de Gelder

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”  (Luke 2:35)

When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to fulfill the Law’s demands to dedicate the firstborn and for Mary to be purified, a righteous man named Simeon recognized the importance of their child saying “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.” (Lk. 2:29-32) Looking at this child, Simeon saw our salvation. This is Good News. But he warned Mary that her soul will be pierced as she will witness His crucifixion.

Paul reminds us, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5) When a law is written, there is a penalty attached to it for those who break it. If I break a traffic law by going faster than the speed limit, I must pay a fine or lose my license. When we break God’s Law which is perfect, we pay a fine called death. The penalty is eternal punishment. (Rom. 6:23) The Law is meant for lawbreakers not for God. Those who are born of God, his heirs, do not need the law.  (Gal.5:18)

When we are born again, we are born of God. He adopts us as His own and we become His heirs inheriting eternal life, not eternal punishment reserved for the lawbreaker. When we compare ourselves to the Law taking an inventory of our thoughts and deeds, we see we are nothing more than lawbreakers. In other words, our hearts have been revealed. Before Jesus grew up, Simeon could see in this Child our salvation. Jesus would teach us His Father’s will and then go to the Cross to suffer under the Law! Only Jesus could perfectly fulfill the Law.

Those who are born again walk by the Spirit of God as Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:6, Gal. 4:6) Let us measure our thoughts and deeds to the Law of God. And let us accept with faith Jesus fulfillment of the Law’s demands for this is Good News.