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  “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Phil. 4:5) When it says that our gentleness should be known or be evident to ‘all men/people’, that would include those who are closest to us, who spend the most time around us, and who see us the most often. It goes on to admonish us: “Be anxious for nothing.” (6) When it says “ be anxious for ‘nothing’…”, there is no footnote in my Bible that makes an exception, suggesting it’s okay to be anxious for things like who’s trailing in political elections, or if a Muslim family moves into your neighborhood, or if oil prices spike again, or your favorite sports team gets upset over the weekend. Yes, that list could get rather lengthy here, could it not, when it comes to talking about things that make us ‘anxious’? Why, you could even show up at the wrong airport to catch an important flight home, only to be informed you are at the wrong airport in the wrong city, with less than 90 minutes to get to the airport you are ...
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  If we take the time to genuinely ask ourselves: “Am I truly abiding in Christ?”… which is a far more important question to ask than ‘am I saved or not’…then how do we even know where to start, when it comes to assessing the answer to that question? The same could be said when it comes to taking Paul’s advice to heart, that we ‘examine ourselves to see if we are even in the faith…and if Christ is in us…lest we fail the test’ (2 Cor. 13:5). Certainly ‘comparing ourselves with others’ is not the wisest way to evaluate, I hope we could all agree on. So why not use God’s word as a ‘mirror’ of sorts, to see how we ‘line up’? Jesus gave a pretty good benchmark where ‘all would know’ whether we were His followers or not…’by the love we have/demonstrate for one another’, in John 13:34-35. And while that word ‘love’ can be quickly diluted in our modern day culture where that word gets tossed around to describe how we ‘love God’ or ‘love pancakes’…1 Cor. 13:1-8 gives us a nice descripti...
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  So in conclusion…to our little discussion on the topic of ‘once saved-always saved’ that we touched on the past two days here…or as some folks like to debate- ‘can a person lose their salvation…or not?’…I’m reminded of a framed cartoon/sketch my dad, (who was a dentist) had in his office for years. The picture is of a dentist standing on a dental chair in the clinic with pieces of plaster laying all over the chair and floor. The bewildered dentist is sticking his head through a hole in the ceiling and asks: “Did I hit a nerve?” :- ). I have to wonder at times if when Jesus ran into opposition from the ‘religious experts’ of His day, usually in response to things He was teaching, if not doing…was He was ever tempted to ask: “Did I touch someone’s ‘golden calf’?” Church doctrines can become that to us if we are not careful; and usually it is the word of God itself that causes those ‘defensive impulses’ to rise up within us. Personally speaking…I have no issue with anyone if you be...
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  We waded in to a rather sensitive (if not ‘hot) topic yesterday that centers around ‘eternal security’; a.k.a. ‘once saved-always saved’. In other words, for those who may not be familiar with this terminology…it has to do with a person who comes to Jesus in faith, recognizing their need for a savior if they have any hopes for ‘eternal life’. The debate arises when the question comes up…can a person who ‘receives salvation’ ever ‘lose’ that ‘free gift’? Interestingly...the phrase 'lose your salvation' never even appears in scripture; but the idea of 'falling away from the faith' is addressed repeatedly. Do you know that one of the more significant teaching moments I have had over the past six years, (and there have been plenty) had to do with realigning how I approach this topic of ‘salvation’. We tend to always want to ask ourselves…’are we saved’…or ‘when were you saved’…and ‘can you ever be ‘unsaved’ or ‘lose’ your salvation. The real question we need to be asking...
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  Soooo…..let’s talk about it. ‘Once saved – Always saved’; it’s a phrase I’ve heard tossed around and debated amongst Christians ever since I first became aware of the concept of 'getting saved’, over 40 years ago. And I guess the definition or explanation of what it means would vary, depending on who you ask. So let’s dive in and examine this touchy topic more closely. Most of us have probably heard the statement, if not had it taught to them as ‘truth’…that once a person has ‘placed their trust in Jesus…they can never ‘lose their salvation’. I would think having a better understanding as to what ‘salvation’ is, or what it means to be ‘saved’… including ‘what are we saved from?’…would help to address this concept. And we can circle back to that later; but for now, let me present three general scenarios in how many of us have heard this 'eternal security' explained over the years. The first scenario is presented with the understanding that ‘salvation’ is like receivin...
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  A young adult leaves home to set out and make a life on their own, but after a series of unfortunate events, mixed in with some bad decisions, they end up drowning in credit card debt and hit rock bottom…before humbly returning home seeking help from his/her parents. Suppose the parents are more than willing to welcome their child in and help them get back on their feet; even offering to pay off all their accrued debt. Such a scenario might surpass the expectations of many of us, even if living in perfect world. So let’s assume that son/daughter is overcome with gratitude, knowing they were undeserving of such mercy and grace to have their debt cancelled like that, and they are now determined to ‘get their act together and turn a new page on their life story. Now imagine…that despite living back at home for a while, they begin to slip back into some of those reckless spending habits, racking up more monthly debt while being unable to pay their bills. And once again, they go to t...
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  “Nobody can live a sinless life; only Jesus did!” “God knows we’re not perfect and He’s always ready and willing to forgive us of our sins!” “The Bible says that we are deceived if we claim to have no sin!” (1 John 1:7) Those may have been a few of the first thoughts to come to mind after reading yesterday’s message. Trust me…it’s not like I’ve not been down this path myself and had those same ‘lines of defense’ rise up within me to refute some of the very things we read from God’s word yesterday. Which is why we have to be very careful when other ‘arguments’ well up within us in opposition to what God’s word says. Where do you think those thoughts are coming from? Yes, there was a Bible verse thrown in there in that third statement, but let’s not forget that even Satan quoted scripture to Jesus in the wilderness when trying to tempt Him to back off from the word (Luke 4:10-11). So let’s take a look at that first statement, about how ‘nobody but Jesus can live a sinless life...
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