Christian Lighthouse Ministries
We would like to welcome you to the Christian Lighthouse Ministries. To enter the message board click the above links. Christian Lighthouse Ministries is a new ministry message board for Christians of all ages. This message board has a variety of topics that includes: Prayer Requests and Praise Reports, Bible Study Discussions, Christian Talk, End Times and Bible Prophecy. There is also a place for teens, singles, parents, and couples. The site extends to include areas for Testimonies, Devotions, Christian books and music. The message board does require a username for posts. This board is absolutely free and open to everyone in the world. We would like to welcome our newest member "tarheels03".
NOTICE: This ministry is not affiliated with any church or organization and is owned and administrated out of Albertson, NC. We welcome you to join in the fellowship, worship, and praise of our Lord!
What is the goal of the Christian life, and how do we help one another get there?
One old catechism says that our chief goal in life is to glorify and enjoy God forever. This is true. Scripture says that we were created for God's glory and to proclaim his praises (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 1:11-12; 1 Peter 2:9). We exist to worship God, and in order to be genuine, this worship must come from the heart. It must be a genuine expression of our real feelings. We adore God above everything else, and we submit to his every command.
How do we help people get to this point? I think we are simply unable to achieve such a task. It is God who changes people's hearts; it is God who converts the soul, who leads people to repentance, who touches people with love and grace. We can describe God's amazing love and his astonishing grace and we can set an example of adoration and dedication to our Savior, but after all is said and done, it is God who changes each person's heart.
Yet another way to describe our goal in life is to become more like Christ and here I think we can briefly sketch some practical ways in which we can help one another as we grow toward that goal.
It is God's plan for each of us that we be conformed to the likeness of his Son (Romans 8:29). Even in this life, we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Paul labored with the Galatians until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). He told the Ephesians that our goal is attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
In Christ, we have a new identity and a new purpose for living. The new self is to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). What a concept! We are to be like God not just in the resurrection, but even, to the extent possible, in this life. We are becoming like Jesus, who showed us what God is like when living in the flesh. We are not just hoping to be like him in the next life we are already to be like him in this life.
Obviously, we do not need to look like him physically. We do not try to match his carpentry skills, his language skills, his knowledge of agriculture or Roman history. Rather, we are to be like him in true righteousness and holiness. In our behavior and in our devotion to God, we are to be like Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus Christ?
When this question is personalized, it becomes the most important question one will ever be asked or answer. Who is Jesus Christ to YOU?
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV). In 1 John 5:11-13 we are told that if we have the son in our life we can KNOW that we have eternal life. Jesus is the only way for us to live an abundant life here on earth, or receive eternal life in fellowship with God.
Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins so that we could be sinless in the eyes of God. If we do not receive the free gift of eternal life by experiencing the forgiveness achieved by Jesus, then we will receive the punishment we so justly deserve. Jesus must become the Lord of our lives. Imagine your life as an automobile, Jesus must be behind the wheel of your life.
You can change your life at this very moment. Admit your sin, repent of it before God. Believe in the atonement of Jesus on the cross and receive the gift of eternal life which Jesus died to freely give you. Invite Jesus into your life to live through you and thank him for doing so.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty human authors. It is a quite amazing collection of 66 books with very different styles all containing the message God desired us to have.This compilation of booklets contains an astonishing variety of literary styles. It provides many stories about the lives of good and bad people, about battles and journeys, about the life of Jesus along with letters written to groups of Christians that met in homes. It comes to us in narratives and dialogues, in proverbs and parables, in songs and allegories, in history and prophecy.
The accounts in the Bible were not generally written down as they occurred. Rather they were told over and over again and handed down through the years before someone finally wrote them down. Yet the same themes may be found throughout the book.
So along with the diversity there is also a remarkable unity. So what is the Bible? Well, in addition to all the above, the Bible is this:
* It is a guide for living life to the full. It gives us a road map for the perilous journey of life. Or to put it another way, on our voyage through life's ocean, we find our anchor right here.
* It is a storehouse of wonderful stories for children and grownups. Remember Noah and the ark? Joseph's coat of many colors? Daniel in the lion's den? Jonah and the fish? The parables of Jesus? In these stories we recognize the triumphs and failures of ordinary people - and we may even see ourselves!
* It is a refuge in trouble. People in pain, in suffering, in prison, in mourning, tell how they turned to the Bible and found strength there in their desperate hours.
* It is a treasury of insight as to who we are. We are not meaningless robots, but we are magnificent creatures of a God who loves us and gives us a purpose and a destiny.
* It is a sourcebook for everyday living. We find standards for our conduct, guidelines for knowing right from wrong, principles to help us in a confused society where so often "anything goes."