It’s so good to be back with you! There are some exciting changes coming at the ministry, and some new faces are joining us. This fall, you will be introduced to two new women who will be writing for the newsletter while I focus on writing the next Bible Study and speaking. I know many of you are encouraged by these emails, but there was just no time for me to write them, so I’m grateful for God’s provision in creating a ministry team.

I look forward to seeing how God uses them to encourage you!

In love,
Jennifer

———————————- How Many Paths? ———————————-
Facebook is an interesting thing. Sometimes I like it and other times I’m certain I would be better off without it. Recently, a string of comments about there being many paths to God and Heaven has weighed heavy on my heart. The most surprising thing is that the comments have come from both Christians and non-Christians.

I used to be a Christian who thought there were different paths to God. In fact, I have a very clear memory of defending that position at book club about 5 years ago. That memory makes me hang my head in shame now, but as a young Christian I had a hard time believing that God would let all the people of non-Christian religions go to hell. Some of you might have similar thoughts.

My argument came from only having a partial knowledge of God. I knew from the Gospels that God was loving and kind. My mind couldn’t reconcile a good God with a God who would only allow one path to Himself and His Kingdom. It was because I did not understand who God really is. My mind wanted to see only the love of God, not the holiness of God that requires justice.

A loved one recently said to me, “My God is a God of love and He is not going to keep people out of Heaven because they didn’t accept Jesus.” The point they are missing is that God IS Jesus. If you don’t accept Jesus, you don’t accept God – you simply worship a man-made image. Jesus and the Father are one. You can’t separate them or take one without the other.

God did not limit access to heaven through Jesus, He opened heaven to everyone through Jesus. Every single person on this earth has the opportunity to accept or reject Jesus, regardless of what religion they practice.

And, as Christians, we stand against Jesus when we do not proclaim this message of salvation through Christ and Christ alone. It IS the Gospel. If the message of the entire Bible were to be summed up in one sentence, it could be, “God created and so loved the world that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die so that anyone who believes in and accepts for themselves the death and resurrection of Jesus as the punishment for their sins shall not perish in hell but have eternal life in Heaven.”

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

I know some of you doubt whether the Bible is even true. I have found that most people who don’t believe the Bible is the true word of God haven’t even read it! That is the first step…read your Bible. Learn who God really is. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it’s the most important decision you have to make in this life.

While there is much historical evidence that supports the validity and truth of the Bible, it is still very much a matter of faith. Do you trust God and His plan? Do you believe the Bible is the true word of God? Or, do you think you have a better plan for salvation than God and therefore His plan must be wrong?

And, finally, if you still think there are many paths to Heaven, I kneel at your feet, and with great love and caring, ask you to consider with all your being: Have you really surrendered your life to Christ, truly giving your life over to the God who created you?

When you realize that you can’t earn your way to Heaven and that only Jesus’ death can pay the price to get you in – and you accept Jesus’ payment for yourself – you can know with complete certainty that you HAVE found the path to Heaven and that when you come to the end of your life on earth, you will be in the presence of God in Heaven.

———————————- Dig Deeper ———————————-
Here’s your chance to start researching this for yourself to determine what you believe about access to Heaven and whether or not Jesus is the only way. If you don’t have a Bible, there are many good websites you can use to look up Bible verses. Or, email me and I’ll send you a Bible.

1. Read Genesis 3:1-7.
a. Summarize verses 1-6.
b. From verse 7, what changed for Adam and Eve?
c. How did they react?
d. Read verse 8. How did they further react?

2. Mark your place in Genesis and move to Romans. Read Romans 3:23.
a. Who has sinned?
b. What, if any, exclusions are indicated?
c. What is the result of that sin?

3. Mark your place in Romans and move back to Genesis. Read Genesis 3:21.
a. What action did God take as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin?
b. What would God have to do to the animals to use their skin as garments?

Here we see the first death of the Bible – the first bloodshed in all of history – and it was shed to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. The death was required so that Adam and Eve’s sin could be ‘covered’ and they could be in the presence of God.

4. Read Romans 6:23.
a. What is the wage of sin?
b. Is a wage something you earn or something you are given?
c. What is the gift of God?
d. Is a gift something you earn or something you are given?
e. This verse indicates there is an avenue to receive the gift of eternal life. What is it?
f. What other avenues, if any, does it say will lead to eternal life?

We all have eternity ahead of us, it’s just a matter of whether your eternity will be life (with God) or death (separated from God).

5. Read Hebrews 9:22.
a. What is required for forgiveness?

6. Read Hebrews 9:14-15.
a. Record your thoughts.

7. Watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oDeREWqs8s (4 minutes)
a. What does God’s gift mean to you?

My friend, I am praying for you today. I pray that God will speak His truth to the depths of your soul. I pray that you will hear Him calling and that you will respond, turning your heart and your life over to Jesus and accepting His death as the payment for your sins, that you may be guaranteed eternal life in Heaven. Amen.

Be blessed,
Jennifer

^MkThe men seized Jesus and arrested him. ^LkWhen Jesus’ followers say what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ^JnThen Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ^Mt“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?” ^LkBut Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.   

- Matthew 26:50b-54, Mark 14:46- 47, Luke 22:49-51, John 18:10-11 (as presented in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order)

 Malchus.  The name made my day. I love the thrill of hidden treasure that comes from finding something new in a familiar passage of scripture. 

 Malchus.  I knew Peter cut the ear off. I knew Jesus healed the ear. But I never realized we knew the name of the servant.

 Malchus.  It’s not a name taught in Sunday school. It’s not a name we recognize but can’t place. It’s a name we don’t notice and easily forget.

 Malchus.  A man come to seize Jesus, at the forefront of soldiers armed with torches and weapons. A man seeking the Messiah, his piercing eyes fixed on Jesus.

 Malchus.  As he stands in confrontation against the troubling man from Nazareth, Peter’s sword is drawn against him and in one slash, his ear is hanging.

 Malchus.  Is he stunned? Angered? Doubled-over in pain? Filled with rage and ready to attack?

 Malchus.  The declared enemy of Jesus. Set to destroy Him. Prepared to end Him.

 Malchus.  A man on a mission to destroy.

 Jesus.  The God on a mission to save.

 Jesus.  Calming the situation with only His words (the Word of God is powerful stuff).

 Jesus.  Looking full-on the humanity set to destroy Him with calm. Facing His weapon-rich crowd of enemies without fear.

 Jesus.  Heals the enemy. Graces him with His powerful touch. Makes whole what has been broken.

 Jesus.  Searching eyes will find Him. Angry souls need Him. Broken lives are healed by Him.

 Jesus.  A no name encounters THE Name and nothing is ever the same.

 Jesus.  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12