Experiencing God At Home- must read!

It's been awhile since my last post.  I'm beginning to accept that life happens and I don't always have the time I'd like to devote to writing posts.  The kids have two more days left of school before we take off for 5 weeks, so maybe I will have some more time.

I recently read two books which were really enlightening.  The first was The Four Blood Moons by John Hagee.  It was such a great book.  One of our pastors touched on it in our Wednesday night prayer meetings a few months ago.  It talked about blood moons in the past five hundred years, and what happens when they fall on Jewish feast days.  Normally, a major event in Jewish history happens.  This year and next is another tetrad of the blood moons.  The first has already happened.  I was so looking forward to seeing it.  It was actually on a night when we were travelling back to Ohio so I was excited that we would be out at the time, but it was SO CLOUDY the WHOLE night that I could see NOTHING!  I was so disappointed.  I am looking forward to the one in the fall- hopefully it will be a clear night.

I definitely recommend the book if you're into end time events and prophecy.  Even if you aren't, it's still a great read!

The second book I finished was The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn.  Did you know that the events of September 11th are foretold in the Bible?  It is told from a fiction perspective, but you can definitely see how everything that happened lined up with what God's Word says.  I was blown away by everything that happened and how the political leaders of today have fulfilled the prophecy just like the Bible said.  I could not put this book down!  You definitely should read it!

Currently, I am reading Experiencing God At Home by Tom & Richard Blackaby.  We did a series on this at church at the beginning of the year and that was really good, but the book has not been as easy of a read for me.  It has a lot of good information, it just hasn't kept my attention as well as the other books- until this evening.  I was reading and I came across something so interesting that I just HAD to share it with the whole world!  It really makes you think about your relationship with Christ.

"The most oft-used invitation of salvation these days goes something like this: 'Today, if you will ask Jesus to come into your heart, He will save you from your sins, and you will go to Heaven when you die.'  Often the preacher will instruct everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes.  Then he'll say, 'While no one is looking, just raise your hand briefly if you want to ask Jesus to come into your heart right now.'  Several hands furtively shoot up and then back down.  The speaker assures those who raised their hand that they are now destined for heaven when they die.  When the children's parents hear of their decision, they are delighted and relieved that their child is now a believer.  The child is soon baptized and added to the church membership roll.  Being promised that 'once saved, always saved.' the youngster attempts to be a good Christian by going to church and trying to be 'good.'

This practice, though it brings great relief to parents, is dangerously misleading.  For one, this type of conversion 'prayer' is totally inadequate.  It does not include repentance.  Jesus will not enter your heart if you refuse to repent of your sin (Acts 2:38, 3:19).  Second, there is no mention of placing your faith in Christ.  Without faith, you cannot be saved (Rom. 10: 9-10).  Third, it mentions nothing of Christ's lordship (Luke 6:46).  Without repentance, faith, and surrender to Christ's will, people will not experience conversion."

It goes on to say that it is evident who is born again and who is not by their fruit.  When people are TRULY born again, they STAY born again!!

This was a wake up call for me.  So many times you hear these watered-down altar calls, that it's no wonder so many people walk away from the faith.  If you can't publicly proclaim Christ as your Savior, how can you live for Him in this sin-cursed world?  I would love to pray with anyone who has not truly accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.  It is my heart not to see anyone mislead!

I am not all the way through with this book yet, but I just felt led to share this.  I will give an update on the book when I finish it.