see what really counts...

some more questions. how are you using your life? are you using it to build your kingdom or GOD's kingdom?

i invite you to join the winning team. woodrow wilson: "i'd rather temporarily loose with a cause that will ultimately succeed, than temporarily succeed with a cause that will ultimately loose." it's very easy to be popular today. you just have to please everybody. do whatever you can. but popularity doesn't last. one minute the hero the next minute the zero. stars we don't recognize today were on the cover of people magazine 6 months ago. it's not worth it. get an eternal vision. see what really counts.

how do you get those rewards:

1. you commit your life to CHRIST. if you haven't done so you need to do that. it's not a religion. commit your life to CHRIST.

2. you need to be baptized. that is the first statement to the world: "i'm not ashamed to say i am a CHRISTian." a little boy asked one time, "pastor when can i get advertised?" that's what baptism is – an advertisement for JESUS. i want the world to know what is on the inside of me. it's the wedding ring of the CHRISTian life. i made a commitment to my wife: i had no idea what i was doing. i said "i do" – two words that changed my life and i'm working out the implications for the rest of my life. she gave me an external symbol to remind me of an internal commitment. the ring doesn't make me married, it shows that i am married. baptism doesn't make you a CHRISTian, it shows that you are a CHRISTian. i can't imagine being married and being ashamed of this ring. i can't imagine a person saying they're a CHRISTian and not wanting to be baptized to say, "i want the world to know that i am a CHRISTian." JESUS said "if you're ashamed of me here on earth i'll be ashamed of you in heaven."

3. you need to join a church and get involved. find a body and say "that's my church." don't set on the sidelines anymore. whether you have 5 years or 50 years left, make your life count.

just a though from the front porch…