Welcome to Christ Journal

Realise that it’s not God who’s bringing up your past! His Word says, ‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions…and remembers your sins no more’ (Isaiah 43:25 NIV). If satan is dragging up your past – it’s because he has nothing new to attack you with. All he can do is resurrect old memories and rearrange old pictures in an attempt to discourage you. Don’t let him! Focusing on tomorrow will help you move away from today. God’s Word says: ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way’ (NIV). God is going to make a way for you! As surely as Pharaoh and Herod tried to wipe out every baby boy in order to get at Moses and Jesus, so satan will do whatever it takes to keep you from reaching your destiny. The battle is always over your future! No matter what your past is like your future is worth fighting for – so rise up and fight! ‘Where do I begin?’ you ask. Talk to God: ask Him to sho

        BE BORN AGAIN.’ JOHN 3:7 NIV The Bible says 130 years after Adam first sinned, he was still fathering children ‘in his own likeness’ (Genesis 5:3 NIV). And as Adam’s descendants we have all been born with the nature of fallen man. Sometimes people say, ‘He’s just like his old man.’ Or we say, ‘My dad was an angry man, now I’ve got his temper!’ ‘My dad couldn’t stay with my mom, now I’m going through a divorce.’ ‘My dad was an alcoholic, now look at my drinking and drugging!’ ‘My dad was a workaholic, now I put in14 hours a day.’ ‘My dad wasn’t affectionate with us, now I don’t know how to be loving toward my children.’ History repeats itself over and over through our fallen nature. Here’s a fascinating example: ‘Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her’ (Genesis 20:2 NIV). Abraham was willing to sacrifice Sarah to save his own neck. What would you have done? Before you answer, notice that Isaac wasn’t even born w

God’s patience is amazing! In one of the most extraordinary examples of it, He gave Jezebel time to repent. When Ahab her wicked husband humbled himself, God healed and restored him. Humbling yourself before God will turn things around in your life when nothing else will work. James writes: ‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up’ (James 4:10). Humble yourself – don’t wait for God to do it! The Bible says: ‘Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a son’ (Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV). Notice two important statements in this Scripture: (1) ‘Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline.’ A “nobody’s going to tell me what to do” attitude cost Jezebel dearly, and it will cost you too! (2) “Do not lose heart when He rebukes you.’ Don’t see God’s correction as rejection, see it as proof you’re His child and that He has great plans for you. Paul con

There’s a true story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained she had the same disease that he’d recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance of recovery was a transfusion from someone who’d conquered it, so the boy was an ideal donor. ‘Would you give your blood to Mary?’ the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated, his lower lip trembled, and then he smiled and said, ‘Sure, for my sister.’ Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room – Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met Johnny grinned. But as the nurse inserted the needle into his arm Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over Johnny’s voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. ‘Doctor, when do I die?’ Only then did the doctor realise why little Johnny had hesitated, why his lips trembled when he agreed to donate his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his lif

God is a God of order; everything He does is by appointment. An appointment is simply a meeting or event that has already been set up. God has a scheduled time for bringing to pass two things in your life: His promises and His purpose. You can count on that! Whatever you’re going through today, there’s peace in knowing that nothing the enemy does will preempt these two things. The problem arises when we try to rush God’s timing. When the Lord gives you a promise it’s like a seed; it needs time to take root and bear fruit. Every mother knows the order – first the seed, then the pregnancy, then the development within the womb, and finally the day of delivery. And what does she do during this time? Prepare! She gets ready for the joys and responsibilities of parenthood for when her due date arrives that little one announces, ‘Ready or not, here I come!’ The Psalmist writes: ‘Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season he will honor y

Are you afraid your old problems are going to come back again? You told others how God answered your prayer, now the enemy’s trying to get back at you through the ‘spirit of fear’ (2 Timothy 1:7). Satan will try to bring back old issues hoping you’ll rehearse them, begin to worry about them, and end up being ‘trapped by what you said’ (Proverbs 6:2 NIV). Anyone who has been delivered by God has gone through it. Satan has no new tricks. When he counterattacks it often comes through your imagination. Before you know it, what you imagined yesterday you begin to believe today, and become fully convinced of tomorrow. That’s why the Bible instructs us to, ‘Cast down imaginations and take every thought captive’ (See 2 Corinthians 10:5). Take control of your thoughts before they take control of you! Jesus said, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ (Matthew 9:29). That works negatively as well as positively! You defeat the devil by taking your sword (which is the Word of God) and cutting hi

‘IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE HE SHALL HIDE ME IN HIS PAVILION.’ PSALM 27:5 When trouble comes, do these three things: (1) Get alone with God! The Psalmist writes, ‘In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion.’ The secret place in a king’s palace was called a ‘pavilion.’ There you were protected from the enemy. All hell could break loose around you but it didn’t matter, in the secret place there was peace. Are you allowing things to overwhelm you that really don’t make a difference? Are you upset over things that should be dismissed as trivialities? Get alone with God! (2) Refuse to live beyond help because you have an image to uphold. The Bible says those of us who are strong ought to bear the burdens of the weak. There are times when we need to do the lifting; and times when we ourselves need to be lifted. Jesus healed a woman who had been bowed down for 18 years and ‘Could in no way raise herself up’ (Luke 13:11 NKJV). Sometimes you need help because you can’t help yourself. D

‘…[JESUS] HAS BEEN TEMPTED IN ALL THINGS AS WE ARE…’ HEBREWS 4:15 NAS Well-intentioned friends sometimes say, ‘I know how you feel.’ But deep down we think, ‘No, you really don’t.’ But Jesus does! He was ‘…tempted in all things as we are…’ so He can interpret and present our feelings to God. And He does. When you pray in Jesus’ name, pouring out your heart to God, Jesus acts as your attorney and says, ‘Father, I know what this person is feeling. I know what it’s like to be under pressure to sin. I stand with this child of Yours who needs Your help.’ You say, ‘But Jesus was without sin, so can He really feel my sin the way I feel it?’ Yes, He can. In fact, because of His purity He actually feels the pain of sin even more. Perhaps an illustration will help. In our everyday world we live with germs all around us, and even on us. Because we aren’t in a sterile environment we don’t notice these germs and we learn to live with them. But it’s an entirely different story in a hospital operatin

WHEN THEY WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF WEEPING…THEY WILL CONTINUE TO GROW STRONGER. PSALM 84:6-7 NLT When you lose what you love you go through 5 stages: (1) Denial – ‘No, it can’t be happening.’ (2) Anger – ‘God, why are You permitting this?’ (3) Bargaining – ‘Please make it go away.’ (4) Depression – Silence and withdrawal. (5) Acceptance – ‘Not my will but Thine be done.’ Whether it’s the loss of a child, a marriage, a job, your health, etc. when you turn to God He’ll give you the grace to embrace it, grieve it, express it, release it, and go on to become stronger. Sometimes we seek quick relief by releasing it before we’ve gone through these stages. That’s because we fear the process. We’ve been taught that any show of emotion is a show of weakness, so we stuff it. But we only stuff it into our emotional garbage can, then spend all our time and energy sitting on the lid, trying to keep the contents from spilling out. ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (John

‘…[JESUS] HAS BEEN TEMPTED IN ALL THINGS AS WE ARE…’ HEBREWS 4:15 NAS  Well-intentioned friends sometimes say, ‘I know how you feel.’ But deep down we think, ‘No, you really don’t.’ But Jesus does! He was ‘…tempted in all things as we are…’ so He can interpret and present our feelings to God. And He does. When you pray in Jesus’ name, pouring out your heart to God, Jesus acts as your attorney and says, ‘Father, I know what this person is feeling. I know what it’s like to be under pressure to sin. I stand with this child of Yours who needs Your help.’ You say, ‘But Jesus was without sin, so can He really feel my sin the way I feel it?’ Yes, He can. In fact, because of His purity He actually feels the pain of sin even more. Perhaps an illustration will help. In our everyday world we live with germs all around us, and even on us. Because we aren’t in a sterile environment we don’t notice these germs and we learn to live with them. But it’s an entirely different story in a hospital operati

ROOTED DEEP…AND FOUNDED SECURELY ON [GOD’S] LOVE. EPHESIANS 3:17 AMP  Are you struggling with rejection? When your roots spring from the soil of rejection it’s like living in a house with a faulty foundation; every storm brings new problems. You can employ all kinds of tricks from people-pleasing to workaholism to make yourself feel better, but without a healthy root system nothing works. Flawed roots always produce flawed fruit. And your roots were diseased long before you started producing such fruit. What’s the answer? Being ‘Rooted deep…and founded securely on [God’s] love.’ God wants to pick you up, shake off the old soil and replant you securely in His love and acceptance. And He doesn’t just replant you, He ‘re-parents’ you. That means you no longer draw your self-worth from your family of origin. ‘Now are we the sons of God’ (1John 3:2). But remember, it’s a process. Strong roots require three things: (1) Time to develop. Becoming confident in your identity as God’s child is li

 One of the most destructive tools of the devil is worry. He uses it subtly to weaken you gradually. Worry never adds anything good to anyone. Rather, it takes away every good thing that God has blessed you with. Philippians 4:4-7 vs 6 says: "Be anxious(be careful) for nothing..." The Amplified Bible puts it thus: "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything..." That is a divine command! It's not a suggestion! It's a commandment and it's time for you to begin to obey it day by day. "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything...because no matter how bad the case may be, IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO GOD and no matter how dead (HOPELESS) that situation seems, IT WOULD HEAR THE VOICE OF HE THAT Ordered: " Talitha cumi" (see MK 5:40-41) and it MUST LIVE AGAIN! Any closed door will hear "TALITH CUMI" and OPEN! Any closed womb will hear " TALITHACUMI" and open! And that is why WORRY IS A SIN! Instead of worrying yourself abo

(Psalm 41:1) ***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, when we accept the Lord as our personal Savior and still sin, even though we don’t mean to, will we still be judged for those sins? This is very confusing to me and I know it is for others like me. ANSWER: Christ paid the price on the cross for ALL of our sins. However, when we sin, we forfeit the peace, joy, and abundance we should enjoy, plus, whatever consequences there as a result of our sins. the Bible talks about crowns in Heaven. Little is known about those crowns and rewards, other than they will be for our faithfulness and obedience. We don’t lost our salvation, but we probably forfeit some crowns and rewards. I want to encourage you someday to take about an hour, sit down with your Bible, and look at all the scriptures concerning care for the poor and needy. One thing I have learned to understand about God and the way He has divinely given us His word, is when you see the same issue talked about over and over, especially thr

(Judges 13:24, 14:3; 16:1, 16:21, 16:30) ***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, if the anti-Christ is alive today, does he know he’s the anti-Christ or will this not become apparent to him until later? ANSWER: Great question. I honestly am not 100% certain, though, I have a feeling someone who has the incredible abilities to bring together a one-world government, a one-world-economy, and a one-world religion, may even feel they are inspired by God! Another thing, none of these things are possible simply thru brute force, so the anti-Christ will be an incredibly charismatic, incredibly intelligent, incredibly gifted person to bring together the world under one single banner. Of course, once in control, the evil of one human being controlling the world will become apparent. Very scary. No matter how long you have been saved, no matter how greatly God is using your life, the fact is that we each wake up in the morning and face the choice of who we will serve that day. I have used the li

(1 Timothy 6:12) ***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, my sister and I were talking about that papyrus found that mentions Jesus might have a wife and I said if he was married, it would have been written in the Bible. She said, King James and possibly others before him, took out some of the books he considered “unacceptable.” ANSWER: First, you are 100% CORRECT. Jesus was NOT married, and did NOT have children or it would have been in the Bible. If this papyrus is even legit, it was probably from one of the SCORES of “books” written but deemed not inspired and inerrant prior to the complete canon of 66 books we recognize today as the Bible in 90ad, or after. Just like today, many “books” were written that were theologically, historically, archeologically, scientifically inaccurate and not accepted as Scripture. Just like today, there were many “cults” that took pieces of Biblical Christianity but added their own “Scriptures.” If it is not in the Bible, it is not true! “Fight the good

(Luke 18:1-8) ***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, some people think God chose who he was going to be saved even before they were born. I tend to think He just knew who was going to follow him and who wasn’t. What is your opinion? ANSWER: It is the age old debate about “election.” God in His omniscience knew before the foundations of the earth was formed who would accept Him and who would reject Him. Having said that, despite His knowledge, man has the free will to accept or reject Christ and God DOES NOT interfere with that free will choice, meaning each person is responsible for what they do with Jesus. Otherwise, there would be no need for preaching the Gospel, there would be no point in evangelizing, and all of the commandments regarding telling others (Romans 10) would be meaningless. One of the greatest tests of our faith is when we pray about an issue and NOTHING happens. We pray some more, and still nothing happens. We pray until we simply can’t pray any longer. Let me say up front, there

(Revelation 13:16) “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead.” Revelation 13:16 Over the years, I have written many times on the fact that we are in the “last days” according to the Bible. All you have to do is read the words of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 24, the words of Paul in 2 Timothy Chapter 3, and the words of Peter in 2 Peter Chapter 3, to see that what they describe as the conditions in the “last days” clearly exist today. Of course no man knows the exact date or time Christ will return, only God knows that, but based on the signs the Bible says will mark the “last days,” it is clear His return is imminent. Let me explain to you how close we are. Ten ago, I was laughed at when I shared with you about a company called Mondex. Mondex (the word is a combination of the word MONETARY=money and DEXTER=belonging to the right hand) is a company that is providing a cashless system through

'...SUBMIT TO GO. RESIST THE DEVIL...'JAMES 4:7 NKJVs When it comes to temptation, remember these seven things: 1) Never say 'never.' You never become so spiritual that you're immune. 'No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it' ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV). 2) Realize you can stumble on the last lap. Because you haven't blown it yet, doesn't mean you can't. satan is a master of timing, and he's in no particular hurry. 3) Acknowledge your basic drives. St Augustine said, 'There is nothing more powerful in bringing down the spirit of a man the caresses of a woman. ' Your flesh is powerful; once indulged it will always want more. 4) Understand that you are responsible. Sin is a choice. When you chose to abuse God's grace you pay th

…FORGIVE WHATEVER GRIEVANCE YOU MAY HAVE…COLOSSIANS 3:13 NIV We talk about grudges the way we talk about babies. You can hold a grudge, carry a grudge bear a grudge, or nurse a grudge. The trouble is, when you nurse something you feed it, make it grow and pretty soon it’s full grown. Are you carrying a grudge? Why? It doesn’t make sense. Why would you pick up something each day that weight you down and carry it around with you? But they hurt m.’ Yes, but by carrying a grudge you enable them to keep hurting you. Don’t do that do that to yourself! We know we’re supposed to forgive other people, but sometimes forgiving feels like we are giving up something. One of Lincoln’s stories we about a man on his sickbed who had been told by the doctor that he didn’t have much time to live. He summoned an old friend named Brown with whom he’d quarreled bitterly. They didn’t spoken for years. The man talked of how he was going to die soon of how their petty differences looked in the face of death, a

…FORGIVE WHATEVER GRIEVANCE YOU MAY HAVE…COLOSSIANS 3:13 NIV We talk about grudges the way we talk about babies. You can hold a grudge, carry a grudge bear a grudge, or nurse a grudge. The trouble is, when you nurse something you feed it, make it grow and pretty soon it’s full grown. Are you carrying a grudge? Why? It doesn’t make sense. Why would you pick up something each day that weight you down and carry it around with you? But they hurt m.’ Yes, but by carrying a grudge you enable them to keep hurting you. Don’t do that do that to yourself! We know we’re supposed to forgive other people, but sometimes forgiving feels like we are giving up something. One of Lincoln’s stories we about a man on his sickbed who had been told by the doctor that he didn’t have much time to live. He summoned an old friend named Brown with whom he’d quarreled bitterly. They didn’t spoken for years. The man talked of how he was going to die soon of how their petty differences looked in the face of death, a

A 92-YEAR-OLD woman from Florida, USA, was arrested after she fired a handgun into her neighbour's house when he refused to give her a kiss. Helen Staudinger told Marion County sheriff's deputies that she had walked next door to speak with her neighbor, 53-years-old Dwight Better, who she said had asked her to leave. She insisted she would not leave until he had given her a kiss. After a brief argument, she got a .380 semi-automatic handgun from her home and fired several shots into Mr. Bettner's home. One of the bullets flew into Mr. Bettner's bedroom, where he was hit with flying glass. The man told the police that Ms Staudinger, a widow, had expressed a fondness for him since he moved to the neighbourhood six months earlier. "I told her I'm in a relatinship," Mr. Bettner said. " She has this idea I'm supposed to be her man. " Ms. Staudinger was charged with aggravated assult and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Oh what a world of loneli

A 92-YEAR-OLD woman from Florida, USA, was arrested after she fired a handgun into her neighbour's house when he refused to give her a kiss. Helen Staudinger told Marion County sheriff's deputies that she had walked next door to speak with her neighbor, 53-years-old Dwight Better, who she said had asked her to leave. She insisted she would not leave until he had given her a kiss. After a brief argument, she got a .380 semi-automatic handgun from her home and fired several shots into Mr. Bettner's home. One of the bullets flew into Mr. Bettner's bedroom, where he was hit with flying glass. The man told the police that Ms Staudinger, a widow, had expressed a fondness for him since he moved to the neighbourhood six months earlier. "I told her I'm in a relatinship," Mr. Bettner said. " She has this idea I'm supposed to be her man. " Ms. Staudinger was charged with aggravated assult and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Oh what a world of loneli

When you lose what you love you go through 5 stages: (1) Denial – ‘No, it can’t be happening.’ (2) Anger – ‘God, why are You permitting this?’ (3) Bargaining – ‘Please make it go away.’ (4) Depression – Silence and withdrawal. (5) Acceptance – ‘Not my will but Thine be done.’ Whether it’s the loss of a child, a marriage, a job, your health, etc. when you turn to God He’ll give you the grace to embrace it, grieve it, express it, release it, and go on to become stronger. Sometimes we seek quick relief by releasing it before we’ve gone through these stages. That’s because we fear the process. We’ve been taught that any show of emotion is a show of weakness, so we stuff it. But we only stuff it into our emotional garbage can, then spend all our time and energy sitting on the lid, trying to keep the contents from spilling out. ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (John 8:32 NKJV). It’s knowing and embracing the truth, including its painful aspects, that sets you fre