Christians , are you ready to FIGHT ?
By : Pastor Mike Stahl

Welcome , ' Brothers and Sisters ' in Christ ;

Today I would like to ask you - are you ready to stop being 'wimpy' , and FIGHT for your Faith ( Whoa !! Did Pastor Mike just call us "wimpy " ? ) YUP ! Sure DID !! Now ...that I have your attention ,let me explain . As I believe I've mentioned in the past , some of the best arguments AGAINST Christianity , by atheists , non-believers , Satan worshipers , and the various pseudo - religious denominations i.e., CULTS - are CHRISTIANS THEMSELVES ! And you know what ? They're RIGHT !!

I get so upset ,nay , ANGRY - when I see people , who say , " I'm a CHRISTIAN " , yet they haven't the faintest idea of the meaning . The BIGGEST culprits are the (majority) of the various " health and wealth " televangilists , (Thank GOD 'Uncle Sam' is investigating them ) , who are nothing more than modern day 'snake-oil' salesmen / women . They take the Word of God , and 'twist and turn' it every which way , for their own personal gain , and to 'line their pockets' .( Matthew 24:4-5 ; "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." ) But , that's another sermon .

Then we have the 'regular folk' who , as I mentioned in an earlier sermon , are what I refer to as the 'plastic' Christians . In other words , they AIN'T REAL ! Oh , by ALL outward appearances , you THINK they are ! They look and dress nice , and seem to say all the right things , they go to their various churches every Sunday , throw a few bucks in the collection plate , and THEN...the rest of the week , it's back to normal for 'em . If they're business people , they'll see how much they can 'jack-up' their profit , they'll see how much they can 'fudge' on their corporate and / or personal income taxes , they'll give you the 'finger' and call you a few choice descriptive adjectives if you cut them off in traffic , or take a parking space from them . And of course , you may even see them going into a bar , sports lounge , or movie theater to see the latest 'dung' put out from 'Tinsel-Town' - Oh Yeah , you may even see them book a flight to Vegas or Reno.

Have you ever accidently burnt a cake you were making , and then decided to just 'cover it up' with the icing ? Looks GOOD from the 'OUTSIDE' , Huh ? But , it's still 'rotten' on the 'INSIDE' - I think you get my point . ( Colossians 2:8 ; " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. " ) Now , I'll 'confess' to you all right here and now ,that I USED to do those things . But...I DID them BEFORE I got Saved , and turned my life over to Christ. Heck , in the Fifty-three and a half years BEFORE I came to Jesus , I DID a lot of things that I'm not proud of .

YES !! I drank,gambled,cussed,watched 'bad' movies , fought , lied , stole , and was greedy . But , once I accepted Jesus , ALL those sins I committed , VANISHED !! The 'slate' was 'wiped clean' - as ALL TRUE Christians KNOW . 1 John 1:7 says ; " But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. " Now , does that mean that Christians are 'perfect' ? NO ! Do Christians STILL SIN ? YES ! Do I STILL SIN ? YES ! However , we DO NOT (or SHOULD NOT) INTENTIONALLY sin . In other words , there are those times when I may get upset and spontaneously say a curse word or two. I sometimes , without thinking , let my pride get the best of me . But , I then - repent of those sins to JESUS , ask his help and forgiveness , and 'move on.' You see , the key word is " INTENT " . When I was a cop , and someone said to me ,"Hey , Officer . That guy just hit me with his car ." Well , I couldn't (legally) just 'stuff him and cuff him' - I had to find out if it was an INTENTIONAL act - with malice and forethought . If NOT , then NO CRIME had been committed , because in order for the State Attorney to get a CONVICTION - they would have to PROVE INTENT !

I don't mean to put myself on a 'pedestal ' here , but now , more often than not , when I'm cussed out , when people try to do me wrong, when they make vile attempts to slander my name , etc . . I smile at them , and say , "God Bless You , 'Brother / Sister'." And I then 'turn it over' to the Lord , because I KNOW He will handle it . You see , when those things happen to us ,eiither WE can handle it ourselves , in which case God tell us , "OK , Fine . Handle It ." , OR . ,. we can let GOD handle it , in which case God says , " Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. " ( Romans 12:19).

Now we move on to the ' wimpy' Christians - and I say that with Brotherly Love , my friends . By 'wimpy' , I mean those of us who are NOT BOLDLY proclaiming the Name of The Lord , and witnessing to others . " And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, " (Acts 4:29 ) . " And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. " ( Acts 10:42 ) .

We , as Christians - MUST SPEAK OUT - when our faith is attacked by false teachers , i.e., MEN teaching their OWN (denominational) rituals , when they 'creep' into the church and think they can do as they please . It's no different than it was in Jesus' time . I challenge you ALL to read the Epistle of Jude (it's short , but 'sweet') - In sum , Jude is saying , FIGHT ! Contend ! Do battle ! When apostasy arises , when false teachers emerge , when the truth of God is attacked , it is time to fight for the faith . At the beginning of his letter , Jude focuses on the believers' common salvation , but then feels compelled to challenge them to contend for the faith . The danger is real . False teachers have crept into the church turning God's grace unto unbounded license to do as they please . Jude reminds such men of God's past dealings with unbelieving Israel , disobedient angels , and wicked Sodom and Gomorrah . In the face of such danger Christians should not be caught off guard . The challenge is great , but so is the God who is able to keep them from stumbling .

As I mentioned ,I beg of you all to read it , it's only one chapter - but says A LOT !! I just want to point out one verse in particular , where Jude tells them in Jude 1:4 ; " For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

My 'Brothers and Sisters' , I was 'guilty' of being a 'wimpy' Christian myself - but with God's help - I have learned , and am STILL learning how to overcome it -and I , for one , shall not be a Christian who is "expected" (by Satan's disciples ) to "keep my faith to myself." And , I appeal to you ALL - to do the same . Let Our collective voices be heard via witnessing and spreading the GOOD NEWS of Our Lord and Savior , JESUS CHRIST ...EVERYWHERE !!

Get some tracts , hand them out at shopping centers , movies , malls , gas stations , even leave them as a tip when you eat out in a restaurant. Let's NOT be 'stingy and greedy' by keeping the Word of Our Lord to ourselves . If any of you need some tracts , contact me - I'll give you all you need - FOR FREE !!

Let's get ready to take BACK the lost souls from SATAN !! May God Bless and keep You ALL - ALWAYS - and may we ALL have the courage to publicly minister the Word of GOD , and to remember the words in Matthew 10:33 ; " But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. "

Your Brother in Christ ; Pastor Mike