Why Christmas?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Man sinned, therefore, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Sin is everything contrary to that which is right, God is right!  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus never sinned, but He willingly died for our sins according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures; presenting Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to His disciples over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.  Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God and is presently making intercession on behalf of everyone who comes to God through faith in Him.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  Christmas is the celebration of the first coming of Christ.  Jesus came as a baby in a manger; the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus second coming will not be as a baby in a manger. He will return at a time of the Fathers choosing as King for judgment.

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious thrown.  All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left.  The sheep are all those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; they hear His voice and follow Him as Lord and Savior.  The goats are all those who do not believe in Jesus, reject Him, and do not receive His sayings.  The goats will go away into eternal punishment, but the sheep into eternal life.

NEVER GIVE UP

This is my blog dedicated to my Lord who bought me at a high price; His own blood, therefore, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.  My former master is cruel for the wages of sin is death, but Jesus my Lord and Savior is kind, He redeemed me from the penalty of sin; and He is redeeming me from the power of sin; and He will redeem me from the presence of sin.  Therefore, all that I do belongs to Christ.

In the summer of 1992 I got out of the Army after nearly 5 years of service; I was lost and did not know what to do, I had a wife and child with no job.  At that time, I did not know the Lord and was not following Him, but I can now see the hand of God in everything.  I had signed up for the Army college fund when I joined the Army, so I decided to go to school that fall since I would receive a monthly check while attending college.

I attended the local community college that was near my boyhood home.  Richland College in Dallas, Texas.  After two years of college I received an Associates of Arts & Sciences in May of 1994.  A general studies degree received at a junior college prior to beginning junior and senior level classes at a university.  My wife was a surgical technologist, so I knew several nurses and thought that it would be a good profession.  I applied to the University of Texas at Arlington in an attempt to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I was not accepted.

I was now back where I was when I got out of the Army feeling hopeless and lost.  I now had two years of college, but still no real wage-earning job.  That summer I retook a class that I had gotten a C in to raise my GPA.  I got a job at Medical City in Dallas and spent the next year as a transporter pushing patients who needed x-rays around the hospital on stretchers and wheelchairs.  During that year I applied again for admittance to the University of Texas at Arlington and also the nursing program with the Dallas County Community Colleges.  Once again, I was not accepted into the University, but I was accepted into the community college nursing program.  I graduated with an Associate Degree in Nursing in December of 1997, passed the nursing board exam and began working as a Registered Nurse.

I quickly gravitated towards Critical Care (ICU) Nursing and then Cardiovascular Intensive Care Nursing.  Once I came to know the Lord and follow Him, April 2003, my outlook on nursing began to change from income oriented to servant oriented.  My personal philosophy of nursing proceeds forth from my faith in Christ Jesus.  God is love and Jesus is the image of the invisible God making Him the personification of love.  He said to love one another even as I have loved you; God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were, yet sinners Christ died for us.  Nurses are helpers of those in need!

It had always bothered me that I was not able to obtain a bachelor’s degree, but it was difficult to justify going back to school when it would change nothing with my job, I would remain a Registered Nurse with or without a bachelor’s degree.  This came to a head in June of 2014.  I enjoy teaching but was not being allowed to teach because of my associate degree and lack of nursing certifications.  Therefore, I applied for the RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the University that I had been turned away from 21 years prior.

To the glory of God, I graduated on December 17th from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.  While sitting and taking part in the graduation ceremony I looked at the decorated caps on many of the young graduates who were just entering the profession of nursing.   Several of them had decorated their cap and some of them had the words written “NEVER GIVE UP”.  Wow!  21 years ago, I was turned away from the University that I am now graduating from.  NEVER GIVE UP! 

While attending school, I had planned to attend seminary since I would now be eligible for graduate school and had a desire to follow my Lord Jesus Christ and serve Him. But while taking part in the graduation ceremony, I saw something that changed me. The graduate students were the first to walk across the stage. There were several receiving a Master of Nursing Administration, there were a great number receiving a Master of Nursing Practice, but a very small number receiving a Master of Nursing Education. With the great majority of graduate students going into advance practice or administration who is going to teach people to be nurses?

The Lord had put me in nursing and my nursing philosophy was given to me by Him. The Lord’s great commission is to make disciples and teach them to obey all that He commanded. I realized that it would be keeping with His great commission to teach young upcoming nurses to love and help people in need. Therefore, my desire is to honor God, exalt Jesus Christ, and seek the best for my neighbor. I believe that this can be accomplished by teaching people about the Lord Jesus Christ and teaching people how to best serve others in nursing.

Josephine Dolan a nurse historian wrote as quoted “Even after nineteen hundred years it is difficult to fully comprehend the impact of the birth of Jesus Christ and His teaching on society and the care of the sick” (Hutchison, 1998).

References

Hutchison, M. (1998 October).  Nursing Yesterday and Today. Retrieved from http://www.ncfansw.org/nursing-yesterday-and-today/

Who Are You Believing In?

I have some free time this morning so I thought that I would write about an encounter that I had yesterday evening and along with that a subject that is dear to my heart.  Yesterday evening I had a young woman come up to me inside of a local store selling Sonic coupon cards for $5.  I say young, I do not know how old she was, because so many look young to me these days.  She said that she was raising money for her church to help needy children.

I asked for the name of her church. She said, "Jesus Christ Church International, we are a nondenominational church."  I then asked her to tell me the gospel.  She then paraphrased 1 Cor 15:3-4.  So I thought, “Ok that’s good.” Then I asked her, “What must I do to be saved?”  She answered, "Believe...And follow the bible."  I then asked, "Would it be correct in saying that you must repent and believe?"  She answered, "Yes."  I asked her, "What does it mean to repent?" She said, "To change."  I then gave her some money and a gospel tract.

When I got to my car I looked up her church on my phone.  I then found out that her church is Oneness Pentecostal. I was saddened that I had not spent more time with her telling her about the Son of God Christ Jesus.  I took solace however in the sovereignty of God, because I had given her a gospel tract that I had written many years ago to hand out at Christmas.  The tract clearly says who Jesus is and what His relationship is to the Father.

Here is what the tract says on the backside:

“If you have ever lied, stolen, murdered (hated), committed adultery (lusted), you have broken God’s commands which the Bible calls sin.  The penalty for sin is death in hell, eternal separation from God (all goodness).  God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who took our punishment on the Cross so that we might have eternal life with God in heaven.  All that God requires of you is to repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ, accept Him as Lord by Faith.”

Oneness Pentecostals are (modalist), they believe that Jesus and the Father are the same person, that the Father left heaven and became a man.  This seems to be the opposite theology of Jehovah Witness who denies the deity of Jesus the Christ.  But in all actuality they are two sides of the same unbelieving coin.

             The Lord Jesus said in His high priestly prayer to the Father, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn 17:3)  Jesus is not the Father He is the Son, the Word of the Father.  Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.  He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.” 

So if you worship Jesus you are worshiping God, if you obey Jesus you are obeying God, if you believe in Jesus you are believing in God, if you believe Jesus you are believing God, because Jesus is the Word of God become flesh.  Jesus is not the Father He is the Son, who has all authority in heaven and on earth.  If you disobey the Son of God who are you disobeying?  The answer is you are disobeying God.

Endings

The Lord just before He gave up His Spirit on the cross said, "Tetelestai" which means "It Is Finished".  There are many things that come to an end.  We are now in the last month of the year.  Today Jason McMurray and I spent our last day of the Fall Semester on the campus of Tyler Junior College.  I am in the last chapter of my quest to memorize the Gospel of John.  In a week Lord willing I am done with college and then a week after that I should graduate.

Many things do come to an end.  Some endings are sad and some are happy.  Some endings are seemingly sad as was the case with the Lord's death on the cross, but on the third day when He rose from the dead it turned out to actually be a glorious new beginning.  Jason McMurray and I have already made plans for telling others about Jesus during the spring semester on the campus of Tyler Junior College through the public proclamation of the Word and by striking up conversations about Him with others.

I ask you three questions not to hurt you or belittle you, but because I love you.  Are you a disciple of the Lord Jesus?  If so, are you telling others about Him?  If not then why?  The apostle Paul said,

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor 13:5)

In Christ alone,
Mike Peek
A Slave of Jesus Christ