Hiring Non-Christians

Have you had a problem getting a job?

Do you feel you are passed over because of some unseen cootie you seem to have?

More and more Christians are out of work because secular stereotypes, Let me explain: Business is tough these days; competition for the all mighty dollar is fierce. Companies want hardened aggressive employees that make every attempt to up-grade, up-sale or convert customers to more profitable products and/or services.

What decades ago was thought to be a desirable employee, (honest, punctual, moral, ethical), today is considered someone standing in the way of companies advancement AKA “corporate greed”.

Have you noticed the interview process sometimes seems the company is looking for hit men? Have you been asked, “How sociable are you?” “Do you prefer large crowds at parties or being in a small group of close friends?” “Do you prefer quiet time with family or meeting new friends?” PARTY? FAMILY OR FRIENDS? What’s all this got to do with a job? Sales jobs in particular, (and increasingly any line of work), are about going 7-24 sell mode…which is about nailing down people to listen to your sales pitch.

Have you been eliminated because of some “personality profile test”? These test are looking for party animals that push all the boundaries. Let’s face it when you became a Christian you chose a path less traveled by the world at large. A path of humility, peace and good will. You help people; you don’t trick them into costly plans/things they could live without. You avoid Non-Christians. You enjoy family time.

 Christians go the extra mile to give their best. Best is good, but not enough. Companies want barbarians…people unafraid to take risk and give it ALL to for the company. (“You can not serve 2-masters…) Sound familiar? See the dilemma?

LUKE 16:13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

What Happened To PK

Whatever happened to the Promise Keepers?

Excerpted from John P. Bartkowski’s forthcoming book, The Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men (Rutgers University Press, 2003)

Remember the Promise Keepers?  PK, as it was popularly called, emerged from the obscurity of a small 1991 gathering of around four thousand men at its first conference in Colorado to fill stadiums throughout the nation for several years during the 1990s. By 1997, PK supporters estimated at 800,000 strong filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for “Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men.” That PK event was voted the second most–newsworthy story of 1997. Now, just a few years past that triumphant march, this very same organization is struggling to reinvent itself. When these facts are considered, 1997 seems like eons ago.

Making Sense of It All: Explaining the Rise and Fall of PK

The rapid growth and decline of the Promise Keepers tells us a great deal about this men’s movement and American religion.  As a revivalistic movement that is sometimes quite critical of the religious establishment, PK was able to repackage spirituality, casting it as something other than “organized religion.” This evangelical repackaging of faith made religious conviction palatable for a large number of American men.  But eschewing “organized religion” comes at a cost.  Social movements have traditionally found it difficult to parlay their appeal into an enduring influence unless they become institutionalized.  In the world of feminism, the women’s movement became consolidated and endures as the National Organization of Women.  In the world of faith, religious movements often try to channel their charisma into organizations that are familiar to us all—congregations and denominations.  United Methodism, begun by evangelist John Wesley, is one case in point. Thus, PK’s anti-establishment approach to faith was its greatest strength and its most glaring weakness. PK was catapulted into the limelight and attracted men by the thousands through because it gave a free-flowing character to spirituality. In this way, it successfully dressed up religion in garb, such as sport, that is very familiar to American men. But this quality also meant that its fame would not last very long, as is commonly the case with revivalistic movements designed to attract a limited constituency (in this case, men).

 

Christmas by Billy Graham

(Condensed Version) To see complete original text “click here” 

1. Why was Jesus’ birth so important? The reason is because slightly over 2,000 years ago, God stooped down from Heaven and became a human being: Jesus Christ. As the Bible says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” — John 1:14, NIV

Think of it: God became a man! He did it because He loves us—and that’s what we should celebrate as Christmas approaches.

2. Why Mary and Joseph? We’re given just a little glimpse of Mary and Joseph before Jesus was born. They lived in the hill country of Galilee. Joseph was a religious man. Mary gives every evidence of having a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, even though she was a teenager. The Bible teaches that God was so pleased with her that He chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

Both Joseph and Mary followed the call and plan of God—and through their obedience the way was prepared for Christ to come and bless us.

3. Why Shepherds? On that first Christmas night, the angels appeared to shepherds on a hill near Bethlehem. Those shepherds and the sheep to whom the angels appeared near Bethlehem were no ordinary shepherds and sheep. The sheep were those bound for the temple sacrifices. The shepherds were outcasts because of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances. And their manner of life rendered legal observances unlikely, if not absolutely impossible.

How wonderful that in God’s wisdom and love the angels should appear to shepherds —the doomed and the outcast—that night.

4.  Why at Night? The greatest sermon ever preached was delivered by angels on this historic night. It wasn’t night because the sun had gone down. It was night because the world was surrounded in spiritual and moral gloom. People were driven by greed, intolerance, and lust for power. Religion had become a device for the rich in the exploitation of the poor. Men robbed and swindled and profiteered under the cloak of religion.

Things haven’t changed. Today, there seems to be a moral night that has settled over our world—sexual immorality, pleasure-mad people, lusting for money and power—the same as it was in the days when Jesus came 2,000 years ago. Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

It is in the darkest hour that Christ often comes.

How has Jesus shown Himself to you in your darkest hour?

(Condensed Version) To see complete original text “click here” 

Does God Care About Tim Tebow?

With the recent success that Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos have had since Tebow took over as the starting quarterback several questions have arisen among believers as well as non-believers.

They are:

• Is God showing favor on Tim Tebow or the Broncos?
• Does God care about the outcomes of sporting events?
• Does He chose one team over the other?

Brett Honeycutt of  Sports Spectum has done an excellent job with these questions in an article posted December 13, 2011 “Musings: Does God Care About Tim Tebow?”

(Click to read entire post. You will taken to SPORTS SPECTRUM)

Tomorrow will be somebody’s yesterday.

“Don’t worry.”

That was easy to say, I just read it in the Bible…”Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matt.6:27 KJV. But when I have no worries do I still follow God’s word? Have I confused apathy with “don’t worry, be happy”…?

I did not worry when my father’s life was falling apart, as he shunned the church and sidestepped Christ but somehow still called himself a Christian. At that time this verse was my crutch, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done…” Phil.4:6. …But God never sent anyone to help my father, God had already sent me.

 And when my friend (a Christian) was struggling all I could do was spout verse after verse about how God is there for you. I never realized until afterwards that God’s words can seem empty without a brother’s love.

 “Don’t worry about tomorrow” it’s today that needs help.

“Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” Psalms12:25

The Word

Strong’s  g3056 word (go to)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1.

 The word denotes:

The expression of thought,” not the mere name of an object: (…In the beginning was the Word…)

As embodying a conception or idea of God: (…and the Word was with God…)

Expressing His deity: (…and the Word was God.)

His incarnation: (“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” John 1:14)

The personal manifestation, not of a part of the Divine nature, but of the whole Deity: (“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life…” I John 1:1)

Monkey’s Uncle

Discover’s top 100 of 2009 is titled, ‘Meet Your New Ancestor.’ “Anthropologists are suddenly tearing up their long-held origin tale — that modern humans evolved from hunched, proto-human apes roaming from the wide-open savannas of old. The discovery of a 4.4-million-year-old hominid named Ardipithecus ramidus (“Ardi”) suggests that for a stretch during the early Pliocene, our ancestors instead lived in lush woodlands and walked on two feet. In fact, Ardi’s unexpected traits put to rest the whole idea of a chimplike missing link, (monkey without a tail),at the root of the human family tree.” “This gave us a series of fantastic…(more)

November 2009 issue of Acts & Facts, science writer Brian Thomas puts this spin on it. “If Ardi is presumed to be a human ancestor, then the century-long concept that has been taught as virtual fact—that humans evolved from a chimpanzee-like creature (based most recently on the strength of a supposed 99 percent agreement between their genome sequences)—must be discarded! This is because of Ardi’s unique features, which she does not share with African apes (or humans). In other words, arbitrarily placing Ardi at the foot of humanity’s evolutionary tree means that she negates the long-held concept of an African ape-like heritage.”

“The chimpanzee, then, would have to have evolved on its own separate path…(more)

Atheist Hymn (humor)

Suicide Hell

Let me start by saying I know suicide. My father took his own life. A colleague killed himself. And a friend hung himself at work. I have contemplated suicide myself, but never attempted it, as I know I could succeed. Attempted suicide is an oxymoron, once someone has truly embarked on that path, they will succeed. Now there are those who have given up hope and done some stupid things, but once revived decide all is not lost, and options are available. (Still what to try? click here for ways to kill yourself).

But what of those who are approaching spiritual death and can not see that life without Christ is suicide hell? Where do you turn when your life is meaningless? Who can you talk to when all others have deserted you? Where is hope when you go it alone?

Your time on earth may be filled with joy, (I am happy for you). But are you absolutely sure death is the end? What if? What if we are alien souls living a human experience just to awaken after death to eternity somewhere else?

Your time here may be full of evil and despair, (I feel sorrow for you). But know this…Christ is the one, the only thing, that you can have that no one can take from you. He is the one who will always listen. He will always be there in this life and what ever might be after life passes away.

To reject His offer of peace is suicide hell. Don’t turn away until you’re sure! (click here)

Romans 15:13 ” Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. “

Justification vs Santification

The Light of the World

Many of us have confused the doctrine of justification with the doctrine of sanctification. According to the Bible, after a man is justified before God, he begins a lifelong process of sanctification where he grows in holiness and obedience. (Romans 6)

Sanctification allows us to eliminate sinful habits and makes the sinner more and more like Jesus Christ. This is the race we run. It is our life long work.

Justification takes place before God. It is God’s choice based on our heart and not actions.

In summary: Sanctification is a continuous process of growth, but  Justification is a done deal, once and for all.