Church Of The Lost Sheep

"We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 in the Berean Study Bible Version [ 21 st  message of the Why I Don't Believe Series] Biased This is the simplest reason why atheists do not believe (in God or in Christianity) and also why Christians believe what they believe. Both are biased, whether they admit to it or not. [One has the Holy Spirit, the other do not] Out of Context And their common denominator is that (diehard) atheists take bible verses out of context, or they pull verses out of a group of verses. And they do not co

"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 in the New King James Version [This is the 5th and last of a  mini-series  of lessons (within a series)] It is recommended that you start this reading with the lesson titled " If There's A Will, There's A Plan " and work your way through the list of lessons. Please do so, before you proceed. Time May Be Running Out You may have already heard of Jesus Christ once, twice, or one too many times, enough to say your eardrums are aching -- enough with this nonsense. We understand. Every true believer felt the same way, before they believed and until they considered the possibility of "what if it was true". Certainly not, but what if was was? What if what was written about the Messiah , and what if the books which talk about what Jesus of Nazareth have said about Himself were true? That would surely

" Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelations 3:20-22 in the Berean Study Bible Version [This is the 4th of a  mini-series  of lessons (within a series)] It is recommended that you start this reading with the lesson titled " If There's A Will, There's A Plan " and work your way through the list of lessons. Please do so, before you proceed. After reading through the first lessons of this short series, we now have a fairly good idea of who the God (as written about) in Christian Scriptures is, His will and His plan for us. All throughout the Jewish Scriptures God's plan has been foreshadowed in the stories and the prophesies written down hundred

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 in the Berean Study Bible Version [This is the 3rd of a  mini-series  of lessons (within a series)] It is recommended that you start this reading with the lesson titled " If There's A Will, There's A Plan " and work your way through the list of lessons. Please do so, before you proceed. Every time God's plan comes up in conversations, almost always, this generic God's plan verse from the Book of Jeremiah will come up. Jeremiah is one of the old school prophets written about in the Jewish Scriptures. This verse is an iconic memory verse, many believers can recite this passage verbatim.  Yet, like in anything else, there is more to memorizing than actually understanding what the passage means. For this generic verse, it is pretty straight forward. God's plan for us is to: 1. Prosper us -And thi

"We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,     but God’s purpose prevails." Proverbs 19:21 in the Message Paraphrase Version [This is the 2nd   of a  mini-series  of lessons (within a series)] It is recommended that you start this reading with the lesson titled " If There's A Will, There's A Plan " and work your way through the list of lessons. Ready? Many among us struggle with the idea of God but then we don't do anything to know more about Him. Funny also how some of those who profess they don't believe in God, talk about God or bring up God into their everyday conversations more frequently than those who say they do believe in God. Yes this is a knack on both sides. If you don't believe why keep talking about Him, and if you believe why aren't you talking about God? If you have been having questions along this same lines, follow these lessons and you might get some clarity. First off. The God we are talking about is the God o

Paul’s Address in the Areopagus " Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you. " Acts 17:22-23 in the Berean Study Bible Version [This is the 1st of a mini-series of lessons (within a series)] In the 1st century, the Apostle Paul went around Europe to talk to people about Jesus Christ. After passing through and speaking to those who were in Berea, where the people were studious and they read and study things over, for themselves, he and his party went to Athens. While in Athens, he spoke to the intellectuals of the day, thinkers and philosophers, and those who discuss ideas, concepts and matters higher than themselves. If we believe the things we read about in history books, then we can at leas

At some point in our life we will question the things we believe in. If we do not believe in God or on the fence if we do or not, then there will come a moment in time when we are alone in our own thoughts, pondering about this. There will come a time when we will stop and ask ourself, is there really a God? What if there really is One? How will I know? How can I be sure? Can I? Will I? Has it already been revealed? Do I want to know? Why not?  In the same way, when we do believe there is a God, there will also come a time, we can call as our personal crisis of faith. This is a moment when we stop everything, and we question our belief system. Both are great opportunities. It means we aren't just irrational beings. It shows we aren't mere animals. It means we are above and beyond wild beasts, monkeys, primates and all of the most "intelligent" animals out there -- dolphins, dogs, elephants, etc. We are humans. This will be a series within a series. If you are in

" Then some of the Torah scholars  and Pharisees answered Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But  Yeshua  replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation clamors for a sign, yet no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century Matthew 12:38-42 TLV [The TLV uses Yeshua in place of Jesus] [ 14th  message of the Why I Don't Believe Series] The messages

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace." -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st Century Matthew 6:6 The Message Paraphrase [ 13th  message of the Why I Don't Believe Series] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ, or they have found something they think is wrong with Christianity. Religion Many people are so over God mainly because of the things they have experienced with religion. Most of these stem from the fact that we forget that the people who make up the church are all flawed, like everyone else. We touched on this in the previous message of this series. Many of the issues we have against re

" They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century John 17:16 [ 12th  message of the Why I Don't Believe Series] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ, or they have found something they think is wrong with Christianity. Most People Do Not Know Christ Because They Have Not Yet Met A Christian Estimates vary but a huge number of people all over the world still have not heard about Christ or the gospel -- mostly because they have been largely unreached. Some Do Not Believe Because They Have Met Christians Sadly the opposite is also true, about a third of those who don't believe in Christ is because they have met someone who does. Jesus Prayed For Believers Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed for His followers and then He pray

' I and the Father are one.” Again the Judean leaders picked up stones to stone Him. Yeshua answered them, “I’ve shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone Me?” The Judean leaders answered, “We aren’t stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy. Though You are a man, You make Yourself God! ” ' -Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century John 10:30-33 TLV [ 11th message of the  Why I Don't Believe Series ] [ The Name Jesus in their language is Yeshua, t he TLV uses Yeshua in place of Jesus] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ, or they have found something they think is wrong with Christianity. But Jesus Didn't Say He Was God? We have heard some people swear that they are sure that Jesus didn't say He was God. They also contend that His

" When someone comes to you telling about another Jesus whom we didn’t tell you about, you’re willing to put up with it. When you receive a spirit that is different from the Spirit you received earlier, you’re also willing to put up with that. When someone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you already accepted, you’re willing to put up with that too." -The Apostle Paul, witing to first church in the City of Corinth, 1st century, A.D. 2 Corinthian 11:4 [ 10th message of the  Why I Don't Believe Series ] The messages in this series discuss how some people who reject Christianity do so because they either cannot accept an inconvenient biblical teaching, or they have an irreconcilable stance against the teachings of Jesus the Christ. T his is understandable as all of us do not want anyone telling us what to do. The bible actually alludes to this as free will. We have also discussed that some people do the opposite as they find themselves doing what

"The whole point of what we’re urging is simply  love —love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into dead ends of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding forth with such imposing eloquence. It’s true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say. It’s obvious, isn’t it, that the law code isn’t primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex , truth, whatever! They are cynical toward this great Message I’ve been put in charge of by this great God." -The Apostle Paul, witing to Timothy, head of the first church in the City of Ephesus; written in the 1st century, A.D. [ 9th message of the  Why I Don't Believe Series ] The messages in this seri