Ask the Pastor

No, I think God’s grace and mercy run deeper than that. God longs for us to repent of our sins and turn to Him.

Romans 12:1-8 teaches us that we need to be living sacrifices. We are to purposefully give our lives for God’s service and glory. If we chose to live for our own glory, we are disobeying God’s command through Paul. Being disobedient is sin. Sin leads to death. Death is the opposite of salvation. We have lost the gift through our choices. God wanted to hold us firmly in His hand. We have chosen something different.

I think the clearest teaching comes in Luke 16:19-31. In this section Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a poor man who both die and who both end up in different places. One is in a place of comfort. The other is in a place of torment. Although this reads like a parable, which is a story that represents a greater truth, I think this story is different. This is the only teaching story that Jesus told where he told us the name of one or any of the characters. As Lazarus is named in this story, I think Jesus is teaching that there is deep truth in this story.

I don’t think we can lose our salvation in the sense that we lose our car keys. Our salvation doesn’t fall away from us and we don’t know it is gone until it is too late.

We lose our salvation when we make the decision to walk away from God. It should be clear to us that we are living for our own purposes and not for God’s glory.

We lose our salvation when we think that we can pray a prayer and keep living the way we’d like.

You can be sure that you are saved because God is faithful to answer the prayers of his people. All over the Bible God assures us that he hears the cries of our heart. A prayer of salvation is one that would not be missed.

We Americans have this thing about experiencing a feeling whenever we do anything. It is just like God to make sure we don’t have that kind of experience, because God loves doing things that go against the culture.

“I grew up in a church where the alter was always "open" as far as during prayer we could come down and pray and then at the end of most services there was an "alter call". I have been to several services at Rossville and this never happens. Please share your beliefs and feelings on this. I have also attended the Dayton United Methodist Church an they also have an "open" alter so I don't believe it is a denominational thing.”
- Feeling shut out of Prayer

Please stop using sharp things to cut yourself. This does not help God to hear your prayers. God cares for you like a gentle and loving Father. He walks with us through pain and suffering. He doesn’t want us to cause pain and suffering to ourselves.

When Jesus was asked about prayer he said

We are told this story in Luke 11 (NIV): “1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.
2 “He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,

Question: My husband and I married young in 1965. We were married many years, had two children and then divorced in 1980. We both remarried eventually and both divorced again. Now in our older years the Lord has brought us back together. We haven't remarried legally because of health issues involving federal insurance and income. We have been back together more than 10 years and feel we should renew our vows before the Lord. But then I read the first few verses of Deut 24 and I am so confused I don't know what to think.

I believe and The United Methodist Church teaches that God does NOT “foreknow” which individuals will accept God’s gift of salvation.

The word that Paul uses for “Foreknow” in Romans 8:29 is used 5 times in the New Testament. 2 of these uses (Act 26 and 2 Peter 3) are referring to people knowing something before now. These 2 uses are not in reference to God. They don’t help us here. One is used (1 Peter 1) for God foreknowing Christ. This seems to be a special case that doesn’t effect us.

Some drunks can walk away from the bottle and never look back. For others it is a daily struggle that they never feel like they have a victory.
So it is with my sin nature. There are some sins that I can walk away from without looking back. There are other sins that I have to guard against all day every day.
It seems to me that the question isn’t “Shouldn’t I be a better person?” The question is, “Are you a better person than you would have been without Jesus in your life?”

Question:
Pastor Rick: I have a question. My friend that lives in Texas and I have been wondering where the cave men fit into the Bible. This may be a strange question but in reading the Bible we both get the feeling that the people mentioned in there are educated men of a sort at least but when did the cave men exist? We cannot fit them in the history of the Bible.

Help!

Thanks, WT

Answer:
I think that it is not our thinking about the time that cavemen lived that needs to be adjusted, but our image of what a caveperson was.

Answer:
Yes.

It might be 1,000 years from the time we die until the time that we are in eternity. It will feel like we walked from one world into the next.

Answer:

There is much we can do to not take full advantage of our salvation. There is much we can do to embarrass God that we have salvation. There is plenty we can to ignore our salvation.

The only way we can lose our salvation is to walk away from it. We must give our salvation away. It cannot be taken from us.

We give it away by not taking the time to build a relationship with God. We give it away by living for our own glory and not for God’s glory. We trade it in for the stuff of this world.

Answer: The cross is life to me. The cross reminds me that I can’t do much that is considered “good” on my own. It is only through God’s works of grace that I can do anything.

The cross reminds me of God’s mighty sacrifice for me. What offering of thankfulness can I offer back for God’s work on the cross?

Answer: Philippians!

How can you not love: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (3:12-14).

Or “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:4-7).

Or “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me” (2:17-18).

Paul is real in Philippians. There are some excellent quotes for life in Philippians.

Answer: Forget the guilt of losing the past. Remember the good relationship. Start with short, regular prayer times. Spend the time meditating of the person and attributes of God. When the time is right God will move you from that to a prayer time of requests and other business.