tylerramsbey Culture, Ministry

God Is Not Angry At You.

Preacher3

God is not angry at you.

Whenever I see Street Preachers screaming at the top of their lungs, proclaiming that every single person around them is going to Hell, I cannot stand it! These “preachers” attempt to scare people into the Kingdom of God. They make God out to be an angry, abusive, and distant Father that is waiting to punish every slight act of disobedience with eternal fire, offering no mercy.

I want to share a powerful verse with you from the Psalms that I read today.

“For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive
rich in faithful love to all who call on You.” – Psalm 86:5

I want to draw three applications from this verse.

1. All of us are sinful and in need of God’s forgiveness.
Don’t get me wrong. When I say that God is not angry at you, I do not mean He will not punish sin. Scripture teaches that Hell is hot and eternity is a LONG time and all those who reject Jesus Christ will suffer for all eternity.

With that being said, God desires ALL to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Gospel (That’s why Jesus lived a PERFECT life and died a BRUTAL death so you don’t have to!). He does NOT delight in the death of the wicked.

All of us NEED forgiveness – from the pastor to the prostitute; we all stand condemned apart from Jesus.

2. God is ready RIGHT NOW to forgive your sin.
You do not have to wait until you “have your life together” before you ask for forgiveness. We see all throughout Scripture that God stands ready to forgive us of ALL our sin. Our sin can ONLY be forgiven by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Brennan Manning, in his book Ruthless Trust, helps us understand God’s love:

“With a strong affirmation of our goodness and a gentle understanding of our weakness, God is loving us – you and me – this moment, just as we are and not as we should be. There is nothing any of us can do to increase His love for us and nothing we can do to diminish it.”

3. In order to be forgiven, you need to CALL on God!
There is a condition attached to this verse. Yes, God stands ready to forgive your sin but YOU have to do something. James teaches, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. (James 4:8)”

You absolutely cannot afford to stand distant from God!

He promises if you draw near to Him (regardless of the junk and sin your life) He will draw near to you. Then, if you confess your sin (which means agreeing with God about it) and repent by the power of the Holy Spirit (turning FROM your sin and TO Jesus) you will be forgiven.

I want to invite you today to confess your sin, turn to Jesus, and know that the Father stands READY to forgive you of ALL sin (see 1 John 1:9)!

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Culture, Ministry

I REFUSE!

IREFUSE

I just finished reading Revelation 14. God has convicted me of a truth we often overlook in our evangelical church culture.

God will not overlook sin forever.

Hear me Christian!

I am disgusted by the fact that so many of us are content with keeping quiet about who Jesus is. I have seen many people in the church – who claim the name of Christ – refuse to call people to repentance in an effort to be “tolerant”.

I REFUSE to tolerate millions of people dying apart from Jesus Christ and spending eternity in Hell.

I REFUSE to tolerate sitting idly by while friends, family, and even church members live with a false sense of security.

Christian – Why is it that when you are in the midst of unbelievers you are too much of a COWARD to talk about Jesus? The most UNLOVING thing you can possibly do is be quiet about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Not everyone is going to Heaven.

Matter of fact, the vast majority of people walking on earth today will spend eternity separated from God (see Matthew 7:14). Apart from Jesus Christ, there is absolutely NO way to the Father.

Not Islam. Not Buddhism. Not New-Age. Not Mormonism. Not the Watchtower. Not Hinduism. Not even “being a good person”.

Truth is NOT politically correct.

Every single day, you look into the eyes of fellow human beings who, if they were to die today, will suffer “the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger.” They “will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night.” (Revelation 14:10-11)

Yet… “God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

You can’t afford to be a coward!

Christian – I PLEAD with you to lovingly but BOLDLY proclaim who Jesus is in every area of your life.

REFUSE to be silent.

(DISCLAIMER: I do not advocate self-righteous hatred against those of different religions. But I DO believe that love is shown in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with EVERYONE of EVERY religion. Even if they are offended.)

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Finances

Three Reasons Why YOU Need a Budget!

budgetcalculator

In a couple of weeks, Ashley and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary! Today I was thinking about some of the practical things that made our first year together a success. One of the many tools we implemented was a budget that we actually use.

YOU NEED A BUDGET!!!!!

I cannot overemphasize that point. Whether you are in high school, college, a 9 to 5 (or more than one of those) you NEED to be following a functional budget. Below are three reasons why.

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” – Proverbs 21:5

 

  1. A budget helps maximize your giving.

One of the pushbacks I hear about sticking strictly to a budget is that it overemphasizes money. Honestly, I think this is just an excuse for lazy and foolish people to not properly manage their finances (before you get mad that I called you lazy and foolish, go read Proverbs and you’ll find out it’s true). I have found that keeping a budget does not decrease your giving, it actually INCREASES it.

When you form a budget you are able to create certain categories that have set amounts. When you spend out of these categories, you do not have to feel guilty or worried about your monthly bills because you know you can afford to spend money in that area (as long as your budget is actually functional of course).

Practically, I highly recommend having at LEAST two areas for giving in your budget. The first one being tithing to your local church (yup, that DOES mean at least 10% of your income). Second, I would recommend setting apart an amount that you can give to other people. This amount can be used for any type of giving – from charity to taking a friend out to eat. This will make you much more generous AND give you confidence that you won’t go broke.

 

  1. A budget destroys the power of money.

If you have never used a budget, you probably think this point is counterintuitive. You may be asking, “How does spending time managing my money help remove its power? Wouldn’t that put a greater focus on cash?” The keyword to that question is MANAGING.

Either YOU will manage money or MONEY will manage you.

If you are going through life without a budget (especially if you are on a fixed income) you will constantly be attacked with thoughts of anxiety and stress over your finances. You will buy a gift for someone or have to repair your car and then spend the next two weeks worrying about whether or not you will be able to pay your rent and electricity bill.

If you manage your money properly, money will serve you. If you do not manage it properly, you will serve money.

 

  1. A budget increases your income.

Okay, not technically. If you stick to a budget I cannot promise that your income will go from $30,000 to $60,000 but it WILL increase your savings and your overall wealth. Sticking to a budget is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It takes many years of discipline. Yet the time will come when you will look back and are grateful you heeded the advice of being strict with your spending habits.

“If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”

Above is a quote by Dave Ramsey. If you live and are strict on your budget now, you will reap the rewards later. This should not be your sole reason for sticking to a budget but it is the eventual outcome. I would like to take some liberty and change Dave Ramsey’s saying slightly… If you live like no one else, later you can GIVE like no one else.

Sticking to a budget will maximize your giving, destroy the power of money, and increase your income! So why not give it a shot?

Do you use a budget? What are some of the advantages that you have noticed when it comes to properly managing your finances?

By the way, I highly recommend checking out the ministry of Dave Ramsey. His website can be found at www.daveramsey.com – He has loads of Biblical wisdom when it comes to managing finances.