This Grid Iron Is For Winners
Posted: Sunday, February 07, 2010
by Blaine Keith
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Romans 10:9-13)
DO we just ask someone to ‘repeat’ the Scripture above and then walk away? Surely if they mean it then they are saved, but there is more to salvation than just being saved. When a child is born and breathing on their own, do you leave them there, do they bathe, eat, drink, poop-pee and wipe all on their own?
NO! This all takes time and training for the child as well as the parents or caretakers – both and all grow together and the better the parent does the better the child is. However, there comes a time when the child is no longer in ‘huggies’ and this goes for diapers as well as physical and emotional situations. When infants and smaller toddlers have accidents we understand, however there comes a time when the child even at a young age will “test" the caregiver – knowing it is wrong the human nature and sin nature we are born with takes effect and eventually is followed. Now – are they excused, sometimes yes, but after they learn what (NO) means then the rules change so to speak – and so begins the next step of life and they begin to be trained on the yes and no things of life and on the Ok and not OK things and so on.
You readers who may have older children or age 4 and above we will say – but especially if they are say – 16…Driving age…are they still in diapers and do they still have the pacifier in their mouth? What health risks would they have if they were this age and still in diapers, still watching the videos or cartoons for 2-3 year old children- what physical impairments would there be and as well if treated the same way for any lengthy time they would not develop proper discernment. They, in their current mind and skill level, have great discernment and their music and their toys and their food, etc. is the greatest thing and they are strong in their stance of “my" this or that…mine, mine, mine…..but….put that same person with the mental attitude of a 3 year old behind the wheel of a car and see what happens. Sure they may be handsome, beautiful able to run, sing and play and they can dress up well and look the part….only because they imitate others….not because they can actually do it themselves. So when put to the acid test they fail because they have been pampered too much and too long and not taught the things they need to truly live and make a difference in the world around them. Mere survival skills are all they have and that is good and they can make it but seemingly it is not good enough and it is unfair as well to the child we have been mentioning, hypothetically, of course.
OK – Now.
People who are teen agers and adults that have been exposed to the Word and can read the Word or at least have the opportunity to do so – these people should be and should have been taught by their “parents" as it were to follow the Bible, read, pray, study and seek a deeper relationship with the great creator of all we know, GOD! After so long of anyone being a “new" Christian they need to be able to stand, walk, talk, eat, drink, sleep, and etc. all on their own! It does not mean that they or their teachers or we, whatever the case…it does not mean that we do not grow and learn as we go forward. It does however mean that excuses should not be continually given for people who are “new" Christians.
It pains me deeply when I hear people excuse away every sin or action that someone does when they know full and well that it is wrong and I mean all concerned. Mom and Dad, if it were your child, would they continually be allowed to get away with it, whatever, “IT" is? I think not!
I hear people say that Oh! Well…. They are new, they do not know, they…and then is added another handful of reasons why “little Frank" has to have 8 people help him blow his nose. Well, seems to me that if you have a poor Christian, they had poor teachers and leaders! If people would get away from “Frank" and quit smothering him and become the teachers they need to be to others instead of just talking about it – then ‘little’ frankly may just develop and grow. You who are gardeners or horticulturists… take a plant, flower, vegetable, Etc. and put it in the dark or with minimal light and only give it the water that you think it needs and see what you produce. Something may grow and something may have a bud even, but it will never grow and produce what it is intended to and in essence you have wasted your time and the precious time wasted has caused another life to be less functional, non-existent and for all sense and purpose, DEAD!
Quit making excuses and make witnesses, make Christians who are not afraid to take a stand for Jesus Christ, make men and women and not Spiritual babies… You who do not do a better job of teaching will find that God has some questions to ask you and what will your answer be on that day?
Churches have become nothing more today than a daycare center and are full of spiritual babies and they are being bottle fed and are becoming “buck toothed" Christians. When the pacifier stays in the mouth too long it can cause a child to become ‘buck toothed’ and so in the same way too many Christians are still being bottle fed and are becoming ‘buck toothed’ and many problems arise from this. Yet when meat is offered to them they think it strange, bad, harsh, tough, too much effort is now required to chew it, so they opt for the lazy way out and remain in their childishness and 6the arrogance of a child and the “I am right: syndrome followed by a loud and resounding HUH! Most people that consider themselves teachers and even some leaders to ‘younger’ Christians, they are eating shaved ham and have not even made it to steak yet. It makes me visualize a deli and cold cuts store that offers diaper service too….and then just two lots down someone opens an all you can eat buffet and they only serve roasts, steak, chops, ribs and all the trimmings of course and even offer a great desert menu….
People smell it and boy! Does it ever smell great….! They walk by and look in the window and their mouth flies open in awe! Inside their self the hunger builds and they remember a story of someone else who ate a piece of beef or pork and it made them sick, so they shun it and all the while their hunger pains are growing and they pass it off as__________and they add an answer to fill in the blank. It somehow never comes to their mind that the person who ate the beef or pork- well it was not tested and only partially cooked or maybe it was over-cooked… I am sure you get the analogy…. If you trust the daycare to take care of you as an adult you live a fools hope and as well if you do not know the Word and you choose to eat at the wrong place spiritually, you will get sick or you will be led deeper into a path that seems right but in the end is nothing more than death, spiritually….and maybe even physically.
Too many people fight hard to keep their bottle and diapers …. That is why churches never grow and the same people are there week after week after week……they have their favorite playmates and so why do they need any new ones… yet the idea of new and fresh intrigues them but they are too absorbed in their “old" and “own" ways to be bothered….if you remember “Charlie Brown" TV cartoon from the sixties and seventies…. LINUS always had his blanket…. Well the church has too many “linus’s" in it…… and a few more Charlie Browns are needed…. He always tried to get better and grow…he could not help it if “sister self righteous" always moved the football as he went to kick it…but he never gave up….!!!
Gerber baby food even has “graduates" that promote growth in babies and children. The idea is that as you grow you become a meat eater and not only a milk drinker. If you have a full nursery always then it cannot be re-stocked until the nursery population decreases… in other words, grow some Christians and quit offering them excuses always and make more room for those outside the church who need to come in and grow….people are dying and some and many are going to hell and no one seems to care enough to do something about it than just sit and talk, because talk sounds good, but friend, ,,,TALK IS CHEAP!
I sometimes do not believe people’s laziness, sarcasm, arrogance and complacency. God gives you breath else you could do NOTHING AT ALL…. And you give the creator the least amount of time in your day, week, month and heart…… Then the answer is given … “God is the ultimate Judge".
You are correct and the Bible said it long before we were alive, so it is not a new revelation…. look at this: Had there not been a need for Jesus then Jesus would not have died. Everyone who dies does not go to Heaven, I am sorry but it is a fact or else Jesus died in vain and the Bible is wrong and the writers of it were liars….. OK – now I have your attention again…. The Bible is 100% accurate ….and Jesus is truth, and the writers were Spirit led….so that says to me that yes people go to hell and more than go to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14)
So yes, people need Him and there are many unsaved right now and you know them and yet you do nothing in person, by phone or hand written letter to make a difference. You sit and enjoy your blessings that God has allowed and you think it is God’s favor because you are of a certain denomination, faith or surname..Friend, God has been kind and you have not done all you can and should with what He has given you and it is just about to be taken away!
Jesus also had things to say about people and the Holy Spirit through other writers had many things to say about people who are and have become baby sitters, daycare centers and filled with complacency.
Revelation chapter 3 and Laodicea, Luke 16:15, II Timothy 3:1-7, and many more. There are 66 books in the Bible and 2/3 of it deals with reproof and correction and we are NOT to live under Grace as a license to do what we will when we will….. Too much self and not enough Jesus puts the wrong person on the throne of your life and just like we have seen world wide recently – earthly thrones and houses built by man crumble with a very small breath of God.
I love my Bible – and here is a test. If you have a red letter edition – and by the way whether black or red Jesus’ Word is still important … anyway – if you have a red letter edition – just read the red Words….read nothing else, just the red Words…. Jesus spoke more about Hell and Sin and what happens if you do it and also how to avoid it than He did anything else. Also – every person Jesus ever encountered, He healed them!
What am I saying? Matthew 23 says it well and many other places Matthew 7:13,14 – I am saying quit being complacent and happy and your toddler stage and quit keeping others in a toddler stage and grow. Giving does not cause growth, donating to world events and getting a tax break or etc. Making disciples, seeing souls saved, walking the streets of your town, hamlet, community or village and city,,, this is what makes a difference. The horror of Hell is very real and we need to know it and also know that if we do not share Jesus with others on a personal level, we will be held accountable and souls will go to hell and we will be blamed. We will not lose our salvation but we will lose reward in Heaven to come and Jesus made that very clear. So as was His command to go and preach and teach and make disciples (Christians) out of all you can and those who will listen. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Plant the seed or water the one that was planted long ago – make yourself useful to the Kingdom and quit sitting around breathing God’s Air.
“If you are not willing to show up for practice then do not come to the game expecting to play – this grid iron is for winners"! (CBK- 1984)
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)You've got some interesting views, Blaine, and I agree with you that many churches have become nothing more than a daycare center full of spiritual babies. The problem as I see it is that while nearly all Christians can agree on the basics (salvation by grace through faith in Jesus) we get lost at step #2.If step #2 is spreading the Kingdom, does that mean expanding the Kingdom in the World or in the heart of humankind (in the spiritual sense)? It seems to me that the two are contradictory, something that is well documented in the New Testament, but we as Christians can't figure out which it is. I'd love to hear your views on this.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Well Blaine those are certainly very strong but very frank views that you have expressed here ! Too many people have become thankless of this human life of theirs and they live a life no more than animals just eating hoarding and copulating like animals ! But its upto us to spread this change and make people realize the importance of Lord and his kingdom !Please log in to respond to this comment.
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