Gone but not forgotten

The media has gone out of its way to let the entire world know that the pope has gone on to meet his Maker and I’m sure will do so for the next several weeks. Many in the media seem to think the pope was some kind of God. I saw a Catholic priest lamenting that fact on 60 Minutes last night. The pope was not God, or Jesus Christ, rather just a man like the rest of us, albeit a good man who has devoted his life to the Lord.
I admired the fact that the pope stuck to his guns when it came to church doctrine as he interpreted it in spite of worldwide pressure to relent. He stated clear and simple that abortion is wrong, as he did with homosexuality and numerous other things that are becoming accepted by the world as “socially acceptable”, but are flatly rejected by God’s word. The pope also stood up for the poor and the weak and those who could not defend themselves like Terry Schiavo in spite of what anyone else might think.



I met a lady in the airport Saturday who was watching the TV coverage of the pope’s death and I asked if she was a Catholic and she indicated she was, but she believed that we all worship the same God, we just belong to different “clubs”. She elaborated on clubs by saying all of the various denominations including her Catholic club just have their particular “spin” on the same God. Then she stated that even the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists fall into the same category. BOINK! Not so fast. If one’s club does not have Jesus Christ as its cornerstone, it is not remotely related to the “club” that I belong to. I agree about the club concept to a point. If the Methodists want to sprinkle instead of immerse for Baptism, yet remain steadfast in their faith that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and died for our sins as atonement and then arose to rejoin His Father in heaven I can buy in. But when someone denies that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and in fact is God and refers to Him as simply a great “man” or prophet, then I draw the line. The pope will not rise from the grave in three days, nor will Buddha. The pope will slowly turn to dust as did all the other popes before him, Buddha and all of the other religious leaders, only Jesus the living Son of God did that.



I told this lady that we need to base our faith in God’s word the holy Bible. The Bible clearly states that the same God loves every human being on this planet with an immeasurable love. I went on to tell her though that the Bible also states that we will all die and face our Lord and without having accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will not be allowed to join Him in paradise. The entire world may preach the club concept and think otherwise but it will not change that reality one jot or one title. There is no safety in numbers, in fact the Bible clearly warns against it, stating that “broad is the path to destruction” and that many will choose its easy way and be destroyed like lemmings heading out to sea. Narrow is the gate to salvation.
Narrow because Jesus Christ is the gate and the ONLY way to obtain entry into heaven is through Him.



If this sounds exclusionary, it is because it is exclusionary. Our free will allows us to either accept or reject Jesus. This is the most important decision of our lives and will determine how we spend eternity. Join a club with Jesus Christ as its cornerstone. Read the Bible yourself and then find a club that preaches what the Bible states as you interpret it. The club will not face judgment. We face judgment alone, face to face with a holy God who sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for us. When we ultimately die and face God and see the nail scarred hands of Jesus, the club will not be around, and the safety in numbers will be eliminated, so will the liberal professor who with all his infinite earthly wisdom arrogantly explained how we evolved from mud and water; we alone will account for our decision as to whether or not we accepted or rejected His own blood sacrifice. We will hear “Well done you are welcome”, or we will hear, “Depart from me, I never knew you”. The choice is ours…



Matt. 7:13

Enter by the narrow gate; for

wide is the gate and broad is the way

that leads to destruction, and there

are many who go in by it.

because narrow is the gate and

difficult is the way which leads to

life and there are few who find it.









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For a great Bible research tool, visit http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible

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