Faith and Faith alone can save

In the book of Romans Ch. 1 verses 16 & 17, the Bible says, " For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the Power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the Just shall live by Faith."
If a person is too proud to bend their spirit before God, then that person will never get to heaven. They may be a kind, gentle, loving person; they may even give to charity. But if pride keeps them from admitting their need for Christ, then they are not accepting His gift of salvation.

Many people are in hell today because their heart was too hard and they really believed that their mind was too smart for the God who created them. There is only one to make it to heaven. Holy God can not tolerate sin in His presence, and God decreed that the penalty for sin is death. " For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23 declares... And Romans 3:23 is clear that ALL men are sinners. So, God has provided a bridge between Himself and mankind. Merciful God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in man's place. Jesus sacrifice is all that is necessary for a person to enter into a relationship with God.

A person does not work or reason their way into heaven. The bridge that spans the gap between each person and God is crossed only through an acts of faith. By acknowledging the need for a savior and by accepting Christ;s death on the Cross as the payment for their sins. The truly wise people of this world are the ones who have accepted this truth and have bowed at the feet of the worlds redeemer; Jesus Christ

NEW WORD SEARCH TOOL TO ENHANCE YOUR STUDY

Let me tell you about a brand new feature at the bottom of this Cross Focus Blog. It is a Bible Word search tool that will take you into the depths of God's Word. Simply type in a word or phrase that you wish to study, and this tool will take you into the Greek or Hebrew where you can dig out the great truths of the Word of God. I personally use this very tool in daily study and sermon preparation. I mean this is a great way to learn the Word and the original intent in the Word.As with everything on this blog, we have put this here for you. Please avail yourselves of this tremendous Bible Study adventure. You will be glad you did.

Thoughts on the Rapture

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

The rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ is the next great event on the horizon of time. Without going into great detail at this time, I want to give a few salient points as it pertains to this all important subject.

1] There are many signs of the times that point to the fact that we are living in the last of the last days.
+Restoration of Israel as a nation in 1948, fulfilling Bible Prophecy
+Wars and rumors of wars
+ Spiritual rebellion and outright apostasy
+ An emphasis on material prosperity and material and cultural influence
+ An increase of knowledge and fast paced travel
+ Many and various natural disasters
+ Perilous Times.
+ False Prophets will abound in the last days. For Example, the so called Kansas City Prophets that have fostered some of the worst false doctrine in the body of Christ. And now, we have Todd Bentley and his unbiblical angel craze, plus many more abberant doctrines.
+ Wickedness that beggars description
+ Demonic activity will continue to rise as we go deeper into the last days.
+Persecution of the saints will become more pronounced, even in the USA, as we get closer to the Lords return.
+ At the same time, the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will be spread throughout the earth at a breathtaking rate.

2] Now lets look at the purpose of the Rapture.
+ To resurrect the dead in Christ, separating them from the wicked dead.
+ To take the Saints to heaven, where their works will be judged, they will receive rewards, and partake in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
+ At the rapture, we will receive our immortal glorified bodies.
+ we, the saints, will be presented before the Father.
+ We will be made whole in Spirit, Soul, And Body. The saints will.
+We, the saints, will escape the Great Tribulation.
+ The hinderer of lawlessness in the world, the church, will be removed.
+ The antichrist will then be revealed.

3] Who is worthy to escape?
Those who are in Christ. The Greek word for worthy is "Axios" meaning, "deserving to be fit, to be accepted." Meaning that our living, our walk with the Lord, our Faith, our lifestyle proves our relationship with Christ.

4] EXAMINE YOURSELVES.
2 Corinthians 13:5 admonishes us to " Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the Faith, prove yourselves...."
Examine means "to test, to try" ourselves to see whether Christ is truly living in our hearts. Paul is stating that there must be a true relationship between us and the Lord. Our actions are the actions of a true believer.
The great question of the hour for every believer is simply, "Are You READY?"
Those who are ready are listening for the trump of God.

we wish to thank Evangelist Donnie Swaggart for his insights on this topic.

READING DEVOTIONAL: CITIES OF REFUGE

REMEMBERING DAD

Yes, That is me on the tractor and my Dad making sure I did not fall off. Dad was always making sure that we kids were safe. It was a blessing to be raised in that era, as our parents taught us much about how to think and respect for others.

As Fathers day approaches, I remember many wonderful things about my own Dad, who passed away in 2006. It doesn't seem like it has been 2 years since I've seen and talked to Dad. I sure do miss those times. One thing I remember well and miss very much, were those times when we would sit at the kitchen table and have coffee together and just talk. We talked about everything. Those were great times.

Let me encourage those of you who still have your Dad with you, call him; spend time with him; someday, you will not see him again in this life and at times that can be a lonely feeling.
On this Fathers Day, why not do something extra special for your Dad.

Dad, I love you and miss you.

FROM ME TO YOU

Below you will find 3 excerpts of our telecast. You can view them in their entirety, as well as many others at www.acts2618.com As you view them here at Cross Focus, I believe you will want to watch the entire series.
I feel that these excerpts will be a blessing to your spiritual life. Please, when you have time, visit the www.acts2618.com site; as well as our You-Tube channel.
Thank you and God Bless.

UPDATE; JUNE 5 2008

Praise the Lord! A brand new month is now upon us and the Holy Spirit is moving on the hearts of people through this ministry. We give God all the praise and glory for it.

In the days ahead, I am going to be releasing a powerful, new word that God has given me for the days we are living in and I pray that all of you will check back with our blogs often.

The writings will be fewer in number in June, as we are moving to gain more room for our office. But do keep looking for these new releases that are to come.

At the bottom of this Cross Focus blog, I have added a You-Tube player with one of my videos and several by other men of God that I pray will be a blessing to you. If you click on the http adress on the bottom of the player, you will go to our You-Tube page and let me tell you, you will be blessed by the selections that we post there on You-Tube. God has opened this up to us as a brand new ministry venue. There will also be many personal videos posted there. We have also placed the same player at the bottom of our Cross Talk blog and two different players on Angies Spirit Led Corner blog. Please take full occasion to make use of this material. It will bless you, of that I am certain.

We have also received the results of the feedback on the books we sent out freely to several Christians, called "The Heavenly Man" by Brother Yun. Those who prayerfully took the time to read this free book that we gave them, all gave positive feedback and felt challenged by the book. That was the point. Those who did not take the time to read the book, for whatever reason, well , what can I say.American Christians really need to wake up.

Again, let me thank all of you for your continued use of the sites and may God richly bless each of you.