I just got home from church. It was a fantastic service. At "our church" we play this video nearly every week. I love it, it perfectly describes my church. The people there never ever display a holier than thou attitude. Most have made mistakes, sometimes big ones. Rather than down them or gossip about them they are loved all the more by people ready and willing to help when they have had enough. When they repent ( turn from their sin ) we are there to help them pick up the pieces.

Many were homeless when they first set foot in Blessed Hope, https://blessedhopechurch.net/ ,some drug addicted etc etc. There are no perfect people there, not one. Everyone is accepted and loved, they are all treated with dignity and respect. There are great success storys, people that have gotten off drugs off the streets, perhaps stopped selling their bodies or whatever, pick your posion.

There are also heart breaking story's of some who were a part of our fellowship for a while then let their sin draw them back for even more pain. Some will never return, others I trust will come back but probably with even more scars, some that may be with them for a lifetime. I've seen friends go back out and rather than beat them over the head for going, if they were to come back, I would be filled with joy at their return. So would Jesus. I miss them so much sometimes and wonder if they are alright. I don't go trying to drag them back or make them feel guilty for going, they have their right to choose, but I miss them and pray for their safe return. Occasionally I will bump in to one of them on the street and hug their neck. I always wonder when they have left if I will ever see them again.

No one can make the choice to follow Jesus for you or for me. It is our choice and ours alone. There is an old saying that God doesn't have any grandkids. How true that is. You won't go to heaven or hell because of what I do or what someone else does. You won't go to heaven for being a "good" person or even filling a pew every Sunday. You won't go to hell because your not perfect either. You will go to heaven if you open the door to your heart and ask Jesus to come in to your life. If you admit to him that YOU ARE a sinner and that you need Him as your Savior. Jesus says,

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Rev 3:20 (NIV)

It's not nessasarily an easy life, it can be a hard road sometimes and it's likely going to get even harder as time moves along. Jesus never promised we wouldn't go through hard times, only that we need not go through them alone.

"But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" John 1:12

Being a child of God is, and can be for you, the most wonderful thing a person can experience here on earth. That I can sincerly promise you.

There is a T-shirt I saw recently that said: "Not if but when", ever seen it? The Bible states that every knee shall bow, and every tounge confess that Jesus Christ Is Lord. Its not a matter of if but when. Do it now, while your breathing and you become a child of the living God, do it after death and you will be cast in to the lake of fire, without hope, without a chance to "make it right". I invite you today to become a child of God. Ask God to become real in your life, ask Him to help you know Him, to forgive you and save you. In the matchless name of Jesus, it is my prayer that you will do that even now.

Justmyopinion,

Bill
https://blessedhopechurch.net/index.html