Category: Take First Steps

September 13, 2019September 12, 2019

God sees Us Like Diamonds & Pearls—Precious & Pure!

Precious stones are highly valued. Some of the rarest of gems can cost 3 million dollars per gemstone.

Pearl necklaces can be worth up to 1.5 million dollars. Of course, all these prices are subjective. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet, most people who appreciate the beauty of these gems, very rarely think of the ‘how.’

What I mean is this—the amount of time and pressure of each diamond results in the incredible allure of the precious stone. The more time and intense stress that gems endure the more valuable and almost perfect it becomes.

Pearls have the same type of pressure but a different adventure.

Most people don’t know that it is a tiny parasite that causes the oyster to try and get rid of it by secreting a fluid called ‘nacre’ into the invading little nuisance.

The more of this fluid is injected into the parasite, the bigger the pearl gets with each layer of nacre. A little less than a decade or so, you get a pearl. Sometimes it takes more than a decade, but that would be an average period to make a thing of exquisiteness. Again, this precious stone is produced by constant friction.

In the same way that precious stones are created, our mental, physical, and most importantly, spiritual health comes from constant friction and pressure.

The more a person works out with weights, the more the muscles have to breakdown and then get stronger. The more medical students are deprived of sleep, the better they will adapt to it until each medical student goes on an auto-drive where pressure becomes a thing that they are dealing with calmly.

As Christians, we too don’t like trials. We want smooth sailing from start to finish. Some people can handle the spiritual warfare that comes when we become disciples of Jesus. Most people will stop serving because of these constant spiritual battles.

Parents see their kids wavering on their commitment to Christ and automatically go and try to ‘save’ their children from harm. This is the worst thing that you can do to your kids. Why? Because with strife, contention, division, anger, envy, and all the rest of the things the enemy uses against them and us, the deeper your children will have to depend on the LORD instead of running to us to bail them out.

The more ‘friction’ we go through spiritually, the more beautiful our spirits are becoming. Just like those precious gems and pearls, the pressure and friction are what causes us to get into more profound dependence, prayer, and fellowship with others.

Parents, I encourage you to do your best and try not to help your kids by bailing them out of critical situations that require the LORD’s help. Some of those perilous situations may be self-inflicted, and all of us need to have our Heavenly Father come to our rescue. This is the only way that we will learn, like the small parasites that embed themselves into an oyster, or diamonds weather the incredible pressure the earth places them through.

So parents, if your kids are wavering on their walks with God and you see their commitment lacking, don’t give up on them. Fasting and prayer, pointing them always to the only One that can help them, will be the way that they will come back to His presence.

Nagging them, yelling at them, forcing them is the human way to try to bring your children or spouse back; and is always detrimental to their relationship with God and you.

Love on them, pray for them, correct them calmly, and tell them that God loves them and has not given up on them!

I am not an expert, but I know who the Great Expert is. God will be the one to mine our kids or dive deep into the dangerous oceans to bring them out of the friction and pressures of life. God will release them from their personal and tight enclosures to reveal their preciousness. Each of us and our kids are one of a kind precious gems to God. Your kids will be so refined and valuable to Christ, that their worth will be known to all.

Just don’t give up on your kids, don’t bail them out all the time and allow God to bring out their worth……

If you’re not sure how God sees you & want to ensure that you are precious in His sight, get to know Him more:

Know God

https://www.topteny.com/top-10-expensive-pearls-world/

REFERENCES:

https://pearls.com/pages/how-pearls-are-formed

September 7, 2019September 6, 2019

September 3, 2019September 3, 2019

Music To My Ears! |Training Up Children

Poppa, I like bible study!” My grandson exclaimed.

I turned around as I was getting ready to start our Saturday with an early breakfast. We had our Friday night study the night before, and my almost-three-year-old grandson and my practically one-year-old grand-daughter were with us.

My grandson brought music to my ears when I heard him fluttering the pages of his children’s Bible. He was pretending to read along with the adults.

I have been in all age group ministries. I have served kids of all ages, from babies to adults. There have been many great memories seared into my mind and spirit. Most of these have been wonderful to remember, with very few regrettable ones.

The ones I cherish are not of significant events or church plays or retreats or after-glows. The ones that I hold close to me are the ones when I saw my children who are now adults, pick up their first bibles with the same awe of wonder and delight that my grandson did over the weekend.

You see, it wasn’t just on Friday night and Saturday morning that my spirit leaped for joy. It was the whole long weekend.

This happened Friday night, early on Saturday morning before we left them, and again on Monday at our family get together. Rosh just keep on telling the story of Moses and Pharaoh, with his little voice changing when retelling what God commanded Moses to say to Pharaoh!

As my little buddy was glowing with delight over learning something new the night before, he then started recollecting Bible stories that my daughter and son-in-law tell him; and this Poppa was smiling from ear to ear with humble pride.

Yes. I know those two words are opposites, but that was the feeling at that very moment. Humbleness because I see my daughter’s children learning about God, His grace, and the gift of eternal life that we can receive. That is truly humbling and satisfying. Because what I heard from this toddler-boy was like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Or like Louis Armstrong’s rendition of What a Wonderful World. Or like your favorite sports team winning the championship.

“Poppa, I liked Bible Study!” Is still resounding in my mind…and yes, still bringing an immense smile to my face as I write this.

Some of you may be saying, ” Yes, that’s wonderful, but wait until his teenage or college years, Oscar.”

If there are some of you thinking the above, I encourage you to stop and then go and pray about not giving up on your children. Because we must hang on to God’s promises always. We are always to train our children and grandchildren, drenching them in God’s word. That is our job; it is God’s Spirit to bring them to His saving grace.

I have heard the skeptics tell me throughout the years, what if your kids are out there doing stuff they are not supposed to? Why bother, when they, sooner or later, disappoint you?

My question every time is, ” Do you have your kids in some sport or dance or music lessons?”

Most often, the answer is, “Yes, we do.”

Then I ask them, “Why don’t you save yourselves the time, money and aggravation; just have them quit!”

In most cases, the parents think of what I have just asked, get annoyed because they realize their folly of answering. If they say, no, it’s an investment for our kids. They may get good enough to land a scholarship. Or we want them building character. Or, it helps them focus better, etc. Whatever the answer, what would be more important than knowing and committing to Christ at an early age?

If then, they stray when they reach young adulthood, God tells us that they, our kids, will not depart from the training of the Word of God which you diligently gave them.

So, when I hear my grandson telling me that he enjoyed sitting with the adults and listening to Poppa talk about God, it fills my heart with hope for the future generations I will leave behind to share and point others to Christ. Because, being good at sports, or playing virtuously on an instrument, or being a great investor, or being able to figure out the Laws of Physics, will never get your children or grandchildren into God’s kingdom.

I encourage anyone reading this to not give up or get tired of speaking to your children and grandchildren about the LORD. I promise you, that the eternal dividends will be worth it! All the other wonderful achievements will be icing on the cake…

Th Altar Of Insanity |Moral Truth Series

There’s not much that I can add to the words below except, it’s time to— Protect the future of our children’s children…

—When people worship at the Altar of Insanity

Morals that are deemed perfect are not.

Morality that should be taught is not.

Unhealthy Lifestyles are deemed clean.

Clean lifestyle is deemed unclean.

Those that worship at the Altar of Insanity

want to drag our kids into this unhealthiness.

People will not worship at

the Altar of The Way, The Truth & Life

because they have bought into the Lie.

They have worshipped at the Altar of Insanity

far too long to know the insaneness of it all.

If you want to walk away from the Altar of Insanity & get to know the real Way, Truth and Life personally:

Know God

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019

Sundays: Don’t Politicize, Criticize, Compromise or Chastise — But Liberlize Thru Christ

Is posting political posts and debates serving our community? Especially when family members or friends who are unbelievers are watching us on what’s supposed to be one of our Holy Days? ….

First off, as Christians, we have a duty to be involved in all aspects of life. This includes having a political view. I am a firm believer that we, as Christians, should gIve back to the community in everything and by individual callings God has placed in each person’s heart. If this means being the best doctor or lawyer or political leader, you do it to the fullest. Because God gives all of us different gifts and directions to journey through in life.

Secondly, if you have to work on Sunday’s because of the industry you’re in, keep doing your work cheerfully until the LORD brings you out of this period. Be an example to all who see your work. Let those who don’t know the grace and peace of Christ, glorify His name and want to have what you have.

Now to the thing I have noticed— Sunday Posts:

I see more and more political posts on Facebook. Even Christians are getting to the political arena or into things that may not be what we should be talking about on Sundays.

Sunday is the Lord’s day. This is when Christ rose. And this is where we, as Christians, observe our faith in God’s miraculous mighty power of defeating death and bringing people back to a personal relationship with Him.

Of course every day should be the Lords day. But on Sunday it’s a special thing. Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ believe that we need to keep the Sabbath Holy. Yes, this is God’s command to all humanity. It is not a Jewish thing to do. But remember what Paul said in Romans:

…4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One man regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.… Romans 14.

I personally have a Friday Night study that has been going on for years. I did not start it as a Sabbath Study or to keep the Sabbath, but because I wanted my kids and their friends to have a safe place to be on Fridays. I just kept teaching on that certain day and the blessing of seeing the Orthodox Jewish folks pass by and hear me speak about Jesus and his prophetic Jewishness, is a blessing to know that they are being witnessed to as they pass by our house and the windows are wide open for all to hear.

Now the reason why Sunday’s are crucial to observe and why we call it the LORD’s Day is because of Jesus’ resurrection, and the most important implications for us as Christians. You see, without Jesus rising from the dead, there would be no faith in our own resurrection through Christ’s work on the cross and in the grave. We tend to forget this essential and highly critical second part of His work.

Which brings me to what we as as Christians should be doing for our community. Sundays are too important to get caught up in political debates which sometimes get heated. Because politics will never ever save anyone, or ever change a person’s heart.

The only way that we will change this country is not by going at each other politically. Yes, there are times when we have to say something to refute the fake news or dangerous political views being glamorized on TV or schools, but…

We have six days to do this. On Sundays, I’m going to start first by sharing what God has done for me.
I will post of His promises and of His love for people without comprimising my tenets:

—That God became human as He was born to a Judean virgin named Mary.

—That Jesus grew up with every human weakness we all face in our lives.

—That God brought His promises from prophecies of old.

—That these promises of old, became real and were fulfilled in Jesus.

—That Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again.

—That Jesus ascended into heaven and promises us to come back for His sheep.

—That if He rose from the grave, He has conquered death and we also have conquered death through His power of salvation through God’s grace, which is given freely for the repentance of our sins.

—That we as Christians, need to become His actions here on earth, and reach the community with the Gospel.

—That we share the gospel so intensely with our actions and love, that we will not have to preach it with our mouths. Because non-Christians will see Christ in us through our actions and the way we live.

—That we go out into our communities and make disciples of all nations! Literally here in Souther California, there are hundreds of languages being spoken. We are the crossroads to the Asian Continent. We don’t need to fly thousands of miles to reach the world for Christ. We can, and should start in our community first, this is our Jerusalem.

Therefore, we need to change people’s hearts and minds through the power of salvation , regeneration and transformation into each person’s life.

We as Christians need to be a community united in one accord in prayer, discipleship, and outreach to our communities. This is the only way that we will be effective and change the direction we are seeing all over the United States and the world. Join me in sharing the Gospel in some way on Sundays. Leave everything else behind. May we concentrate sharing and discipling the Grace of Christ and His commands with our families, our neighbors and our friends on Sundays. Sports, politics and entertainment can wait until Monday…

August 20, 2019

Aspects of His Story—For His People |Christian Basics Series

People have asked me what the most important thing about Christianity and its influence on the world are. Some of these I have written about before. Now, I am tasked to give my opinion on five historical events that have influenced the church today. I stand with the following but could also give many different answers for the last one.

A bit lengthy but these aspects are too important to shortchange

Jesus’ Death on the cross.

His life and influence have been felt all over the world throughout history (His Story). We have the Four Gospel Writers giving us the horrific events that took place before and during Jesus’ hanging on the cross.

A copy of the second Medicean manuscript of *Annals*, Book 15, chapter 44,

Non-Christian historians who wrote about the historical figure of Jesus. One was a Jewish historian named Flavius Josephus and the other was a Roman historian named Tacitus (Copy of Letter above). Both wrote about Jesus and the repercussions of His actions, along with his disciples.

Pliny the Younger was the governor of Bithynia et Pontus around 11 A.D. He wrote about Christians following a Jewish Teacher named Jesus whom they called a God. Moreover, Pliny was fearful that this faith would spread like it already was throughout the Roman Empire. Although he did not personally write about Jesus, he did write about the influence of a person named Jesus over His disciples and was not happy with the way Christians were worshipping and taking people’s faith away from the gods of Rome.

All accounts both in the Gospels and by outside non-Christian writers validate that Jesus was a person who came to influence the Judean nation, the Roman Empire, and later, the whole known world.

Without Jesus’ death, there would not be a story of Redemption. The Redemption of grace and mercy given to humanity, to be able to reconcile ourselves back to complete communion with God. Jesus became the Last Sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world. With His death, the final sacrifice on the Temple Mount laid a foundation for all who would come asking for God’s forgiveness.

The Resurrection:

While Jesus’ incredible work of the cross is without compare, the Resurrection of Jesus is as important as His Sacrifice on the cross. Without Jesus resurrecting as He and the prophetic scriptures said would happen, Christians would not be here, able to say that we through Jesus have conquered Death’s sting.

If the cross brought a sweet-smelling aroma to God’s Throne room, the resurrection sealed or stamped the Sacrificial Lamb with the Heavenly Stamp of approval. You see, Jesus had to conquer Death, yet the His disciples, the hordes of hell and his earthly enemies did not understand that.

His disciples were dejected and felt rejected. They had seen The Messiah of Israel do astonishing miracles. Yet, their Rabbi and future’s Hope had dashed and crashed away with Jesus’ Death on the cross. These men, laid hidden, fearful of the Jewish authorities. Not able to understand why their beloved Teacher was now dead.

Most of the Sanhedrin, who opposed this simple, poor, interloper called Yeshua, thought they had gotten rid of this nuisance who called Himself the resurrection and the Life., The Way, Truth and Life, The Good Shepherd, The Bread of Life, etc.. These devout legalistic men who wanted power thought they had stayed in power.

Satan and his hordes who saw Jesus born and made every effort to get rid of this baby God as soon as possible. These evil forces which influenced the soldiers of Herod’s Guard to kill the innocents in Bethlehem and its surroundings. The same evil horde with their leader taunting Jesus as he was being beaten and whipped. What must have gone through satan’s mind seeing Jesus tortured, hanging on the cross, dying a gruesome death, His body buried in a cave? This evil demonic swarm must have celebrated seeing the shocking event of God dying by the hand of His most precious creation. Satan had won, or so he thought.

“How I wish I would have been there,” is every Christian’s thought. The event of the resurrection changed life itself. We are now the heirs of this resurrection and the hope it gives us. The hope of one day resurrecting into eternity, and finally becoming whole once again. This event is the blessed hope Paul speaks of in Titus. The hope of everlasting union with our LORD and Savior Jesus, when He comes for us.

Fire flame on black background. blaze fire flame textured background. Premium Photo — Corutesy of Freepik

Pentecost:

Fifty days after Jesus became our First Fruit of Resurrection, the third most important event happened to the Church of Christ. Without it, the church would have died a wimpy and minute death. You see, what the Death and resurrection were for us, the filling of the Holy Spirit was just as important. This filling is where we as Christians get our power, not through anything we do, but through the Power of God’s Spirit.

Jesus needed to go through this sacrificial Death and why we as Christians celebrate it today as the most important of events in world history. The eye witness accounts of his Death and burial cannot be rebutted by any critic because there were too many witnesses to Christ’s ministry, crucifixion, Death, and resurrection.

We also have the enemies of Jesus who by their silence after the miraculous events, did not deny a resurrection or that Jesus performed great miracles. They tried to bribe Jesus away and force His disciples to not preach in His name.

1517 Basel printing of the Nitey-Five *Theses*

The Reformation

With a widespread movement, there tends to be a downhill period of moral decline and corruption. This corruption happened to the Christian church when it became universal, and its leadership became too powerful.

With absolute power, comes absolute corruption. No checks and balances for its leaders.

There were too many followers and too few who could read the Word of God. Illiteracy was the vehicle for leadership to take grasp for power. God led Luther to pen Ninety-five Theses where Protestants, later on, would protest with The Five Solae or Alone’s or Only’s.

The Reformation revolutionized faith in Christ alone and not the church, the word alone and not with traditions of men, faith, and grace alone without bribing your way to heaven, and God alone instead of a man absolving your sins away.

The Internet

I remember seeing a chart that looked like a hockey stick. It was a timeline showing the technological progress of humankind. We see the agricultural age for most of human history and then the great boom of the industrial age. We then accelerate the knowledge pace when we hit the digital age, and double the knowledge with the information age! The internet can be used for evil, but I am an optimist. The Gospel has been preached throughout the world.

Just this blog alone has made it to 87 countries and counting. From Brazil to China and in every continent except Antartica. Imagine Paul having the internet? What would Christianity look like if he had his hands on such an incredible piece of technology?
This is the Golden Age for sharing the Gospel. This is our time to impact history. We have learned from Scripture and those that have come before us.
Let us make the world know who Christ is and what He has done for them! Go and make disciples of all nations…

If you want to know who Jesus is and what He did for you:

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019

Know God

References:

Flavius Josephus

Full Transcripts of Tacitus letter about Christ

4 Gospels:

I am Willing…Be Free! |Attributes of God Series

He has set the captives free… He sets people chained up free!

Today is a solemn day for me. On this day back in 1996, my brother Eddie went home to be with the LORD. He was 33 years of age. He was not, by any means, a saintly person. He had fought with the wickedness of alcohol and lost the battle.

He had gotten a managerial job in a plush hotel in Mexico City, where he would entertain guests coming in from all over the world, and this was his downfall.
Yet, I know one day I will see him again. You see, we had been going back and forth on my faith. He would call from the hotel he worked at and would quickly say hello and ask about my faith. I was always telling him that we were praying for him. He would just laugh and say goodbye.

I thought he was not interested, but it turns out that he was listening to everything I was saying and by what I was doing as a husband and father to my babies.

He called me and his voice was different, he was not tipsy, and he sounded serious.
“Oscar, I have committed my life to Christ,” he said joyfully.
At first, I was skeptical. But the more my brother spoke to me over the phone, the more I realized he had committed himself to a faith in Christ.
I wish I could say that my brother was able to change his lifestyle. But the job he had was too tempting for him. The tourists my brother would take on a tour of the city would become like friends. These tourists who did not know the LORD allowed the alcohol and partying to start drawing my brother into their circles.

I don’t blame the job he had; I blame him. No one put a gun to his head and made him drink. He knew he was wasting away his life physically. And he understood that he was on his way to losing himself spiritually.
I would hear my brothers voice on the phone, most of the time, he had been drinking.

Now I know that when he would call, it was as if he needed to hear a familiar voice telling him to stop doing what he was doing before it was too late. My brother knew I didn’t drink, and he was proud of me for not touching the stuff.

So when the call came, and my brother told me the great news of his commitment, I prayed harder for him because I knew that the hardest test for him was beginning. The enemy and alcohol would not let a slave go free that easy.

Six months after my brother had committed himself to Christ, his battle with alcohol was over. He had lost the battle, but he had won the war. His body had taken too much of a beating with the abuse. Yet Eddie is now home with the LORD. He had asked for help at the last hour of his life. Did he know he was going to die? I don’t think so. He had plans. He wanted to quit his job and come back State side. He never made it back home…scratch that…my brother Eddie finally made it to his true home…

I write this extremely personal story so that those reading this who are chained up to this horrible sin of alcohol abuse or drugs or whatever else that is holding you captive, by encouraging you. I want to give you hope.

The hope of Jesus the Savior of this world. The same Jesus who set the captives free from sickness, from death and from Hell.

If you are reading this and are struggling with anything, ask God to help you break the chains. If you have seen your father and grandfather, your mother or grandmother in some kind of addictive bondage, it’s time for you to break the cycle!

You can’t do it. I know, because the power to be set free comes from God. Allow Him to break the chains and vicious cycle which has enslaved you and your loved ones.
Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins. Ask Him to help you break the chains that are keeping you enslaved and not moving forward. Ask him to break the cycle so that your kids and grandchildren will not go through the same hopelessness.

It’s time to set yourself free with the help of the One that came to set the captives free from Hell and the pre-cursers of Hell. Be free!

How to ask God to help you:

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019

Know God