Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 1 John 3:7

 There is a deep need in the Church to stand on the truth of God’s Word. As we see the culture around us turn from “In God We Trust”, to a “Greek culture” that was prevalent in New Testament days, we need to heed the apostles warning. There are many     who are cheering the recent decision by the United Methodist Church to stand by the traditional Biblical view on marriage      and homosexuality. The vote was on whether the practice of     homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. It passed with 53% of the delegates agreeing and 47% voting against the proposal. While all Christians should be thankful for the UMC stance, it should be and is frightening to think nearly half of   mainline protestant denomination disagrees with Scripture. A   Pew poll states that 49% of Methodist think the church ought      to accept homosexual marriages.

John is urging “little Children” (all believers) to not be deceived  by what the world thinks is truth.   John continues, “Whoever    practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes  a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from  the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.”

Scripture is clear. Those who practice sinning are not believers and those who would try to deceive Christians are not believers. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 7:15-19).” What fruit do you produce?

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark