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Showing posts from May, 2010

What If…

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On April 20th, 1889, a baby named Adolf Hitler was born in Brannau am Inn, Austria. As a boy, Adolf sang in a church choir and thought about becoming a priest. Imagine what would have happened if Adolf heard the true gospel and committed his life to Jesus? With his powerful speaking skills, Adolf could have been used by God to bring revival to Germany and other parts of Europe. Instead the Führer was used by the devil to spread death and destruction unlike anybody else in human history. God often uses the most unlikely people to fulfill His purposes. Consider the conversation between Ananias and the Lord shortly after Saul (later renamed Paul) of Tarsus got knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus in Acts 9… 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he mig

It’s a Wonderful Life?

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Some Christians don’t like it when they hear other believers witnessing to sinners by saying, “God has a wonderful plan for your life.” (Personally I prefer to use the term “awesome.”) Recently I saw a video produced by an evangelistic ministry that questioned how one could tell somebody who would later perish in a terrorist attack that God has a wonderful plan for his life. First, God is not looking to shorten people’s lives. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I’ve heard numerous testimonies of people who escaped tragedies like 9/11 because they listened to the leading of the Lord. Opponents of the “good plan” doctrine will cite examples of Christians who have been imprisoned, tortured, or killed for their faith. It’s true that 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer p