NPPBC's Media Ministry

If you’ve sat under a preacher then you’ve likely heard that God will appear to you at least one time. He has warned everyone that you will appear before Him at your death and give an account for everything you did and didn’t do. If you are a child of God then He has given you mercy but if you are lost you lack His mercy. If you do not listen to God and His invitation then once you die you will open your eyes to Hell. We all have mercy right now, but at the final trumpet call, you will not have time to get saved. It will all take place in the twinkling of an eye. God is worthy of everything that we can give Him. He has done so much for us that even if we tried to thank Him today it wouldn’t be enough at our death. The things that you have and own down here on Earth don’t mean anything to God. God allows us to have certain things but if they take place over God then they become a problem. Paul was a great man of God but even though he was great he still struggled with his flaws. He stated that he had to die out daily, kill the sins, and repent to God the sins that try to take one over. We should also strive daily to repent. Those who are of an older age and eventually surrender to God’s invitation, always say they should have done it sooner. There is nothing like the love of God and the love that He has for His children. He never leaves, forgets, or stops loving. If you’re lost and don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, then you have no hope. You can try to bargain with God all you want but Hell will be your home at your death for eternity.

We as Christians are to keep the fire burning. Since the beginning of sin, there was a mandatory death, a sacrifice offering for the sin. Before Jesus came, the sacrifices and offerings were an atonement, a covering of the sins. When Jesus came and died he paid the penalty for our sins that we couldn’t pay. Who is responsible for keeping the fire going? Revelation 1:6; 1 Peter 2; the saved are the chosen generation and to keep the fire burning in the house of God. It must start with you. If you’ve lived like Hell all week long and expect the fire to burn only on a Sunday morning, you’ve been badly mistaken. There is something about a fire that just brings out the people. The light, warmth, and the calming of a fire are welcoming. If Jesus Christ isn’t exalted then the fire will not burn. According to Jewish custom, they kept the fire burning for 800 years. God knows the difference between a strange fire (not His) and a Holy fire (His). The Word of God is not made to make you feel comfortable. Is there enough fire in the church to save people? It’s every saved person's responsibility to keep the fire going. Cutting the wood, bringing in the wood, stoking the fire, etc. If you’re not working and doing your Christian duty then you’re relying on someone else to do it for you. Shame on you! God has done everything for you to save you from entering into Hell. If all you’re looking for is a religion, don’t come here. Religion will lead you straight into Hell. One mind and one accord. What do you think would happen if everyone in the house of God came into it with one mind and one accord? We all have a responsibility to keep the fire burning. One person can’t do it all! We have babies in the church that once God speaks to their hearts they will get saved. It’s the church's responsibility to keep the fire burning so that God can be welcomed. Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He tends the fire within the soul. He requires each person to tend to their own fire. If you’re disobedient to God it doesn’t mean that your fire goes out. God wants the fire to spread so He continues to chastise. The internal fire will never go out. It might grow dim but the amber will never go out. How do you keep the fire burning? Fire needs air and oxygen. How do you get more air to the fire? It’s not about the air but the things that are smothering it. You take a heavy enough blanket and throw it on a fire and it’ll smother it out. Sin is like a heavy blanket and it will smother out your fire. It doesn’t matter what it is or what you call it or what the world says it is. If the Word of God says it’s sin, then it’s sin. Fire needs fuel, 1 Timothy 4; we often times neglect to add fuel to the fire. Get the bad stuff off your fire, the ashes, the sin. Then place some fuel to the fire. The Bible says wood so they had to cut it, chop it, and split it. It took work to get the fuel for the fire. Readying your Bible daily, studying your Bible daily, praying to God daily, and attending church regularly are all things that are fuel to your fire. Fire needs attention. Don’t take your eyes off the fire. The rate at which a fire burns often deceives us. Have you ever known someone that burnt out? Don’t throw all of your fuel on the fire all at one time. Someone who has lived by a fire cooking and keeping their house warm knows you can’t throw all of their fuel on the fire at once. Pay attention to your fire and don’t neglect the fire. If one never cleans the ash (sin) off or adds the fuel then the fire will start to go out. Give your fire some attention.

The same word can mean different things. One example is the word, fish. This word can be used as a verb or a noun. To understand the word one must understand the context. In John 3:16 we see the word, world. We know that God did not send His son to save the world because we know that the world will be destroyed. The word refers to humankind, persons. In John 3:19 the word world means the same thing, mankind. He didn’t die on a cross to save planet Earth, the trees, or nature. For God so loved mankind, He gave His only Son. The Trap 1 John 2:15 we see the same word, world. This word means the wicked, worldly. The things of this world, are sinful, and the things that keep pulling people away from God. Love not the sinful (world[ly]) things. Matthew 5 says to love the enemies therefore we are not to hate them. Bless them not curse them. Love them and not hate them. Care for their soul. Love the sinner and not the sin. Each and every person is a sinner and He loves each and every person. He hates and despises the sin. Reproving a person means one loves another. A lost person loves the things that are in the world, the sin of the Earth. The problem is not the nature we live in, it’s the human race. Adam and Eve sinned first by disobeying and rebelling against God, it wasn’t the fruit or the tree. The blame can’t be placed on anything other than Adam and Eve. If you love the world today then you’ve been caught in the trap. Until one understands 1 John 2:15 then one will not understand John 3:16. The first thing a person thinks that to be saved they must give up _______, fill in the blank. That “thing” is a sin and they think they must remove it before they can be saved. This is not true because we can’t save ourselves. God saves and He cleans house kicking out the “things” that need to be removed. The Lust 1 John 2:16; the lust of the sin (world). God will never tempt you with a sin. He will never tempt you with beer or a naked woman. There is a war going on in a saved person's life. There is an outward man and an inner man. The inner man is the saved person's soul, holy. The outward man is the flesh that is sinful and lusts after sins. Lust is built into a person. Anything that is not of faith is a sin. Have you given yourself to God completely? When was the last time you attended a church service? When was the last time you read your bible or studied it? When was the last time you repented of your sins? When was the last time you hated someone? A lost person doesn’t understand an inner and outer man. A Christian understands this and is at war with the person in their mirror. The inner man drags the outward man to church because the outward man doesn’t want to go. The flesh has desires. The eyes have lusts. Then there is pride that everyone has and must be dealt with because it’s a hurtful, wicked thing. Life 1 John 2:17; humankind will die, all of us. 1 Corinthians 15, when a Christian dies the flesh (outward man) is left behind and the soul (inner man) goes to Heaven. The dead will rise first (those that are already dead). Some people are missing, some are ashes in urns or scattered, and there are also some in the ocean. All of those people's souls will be brought back alive. If they were saved then they will be in Heaven. However, if one is lost then they will also live forever but they will NOT be entering into Heaven but into Hell. They will beg to die but they will never die, they will be tormented in Hell for eternity.

You might think that you don’t have the smarts or knowledge that others may have but once you’re born again, you’ve been granted access to the “wise men training program”. This program is 10 times better than the world could ever teach you. One must understand what is 10 times better. Let’s compare some worldly things. A four-wheeled vehicle is better than a 2 wheeled one when you’re trying to get out of a mud hole. West coast beach is brown, rough unclear water where the sand is grey and brown too. If you’ve ever been to the Gulf of Mexico you’ll find out the sand is powder soft and white. The water is clear and blue. It’s 10 times better. The first time you see your soon-to-be wife or husband oftentimes it’s a known you’ll be married. Your spouse is 10 times better than any other. Your home church is 10 times better than any other church out there. Jesus Christ, multiple books have been written about this man and the things He has done, and not a single book has exhausted what He’s done. When you first meet Jesus He is 10 times better than anything else out there. A Commitment Daniel 1:8; they refused to defile themselves with the world’s meat and drink. Many saints of God have gone home and if they were a part of your life they were 10 times better than any doctor or medicine you’ll ever know. When something flips your world upside down the first thing you do is run to others, social media. A good saint of God is someone you could run to because they will point you back to God to find out what to do. Will God say you were 10 times better or will He say you were lazy on Him. Romans 12:1-2; half-hearted will not ever equal 10 times better. It’s not a “lil-dab will do ya” relationship. Grace Daniel 1:9; God did something that no one else could do. He placed them in the favor of the prince. In order to be 10 times better than this world we will need a little grace. 10 times better is not just for the world but for other “Christians”. Many so-called Christians run around doing things they ought not to do. You might say you’re seeking after God’s grace but somehow you run out of it on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Chores: at a young age children often have chores to do at home. If the child asks for help and they seem invested in their chores the parent will usually help them out. However, if the child never does their chores they find themselves in a rough situation. A Test - Faith Daniel 1:10-12; in that time period God had given a commandment that certain meats could not be eaten due to them being unclean. Daniel told the king to test them. Going through a test is where faith blooms. Daniel was committed before he had to make a choice. Daniel knew that if he stood with God He would bring him out of the test 10 times better. A judgment is coming to everyone but to the believer, a God will judge what was done and not done. Will God tell you, a believer, “Well done my good and faithful servant”? Are you, just saved? Not doing for God? Just sitting in a building every now and then? Never reading and studying His word.

Luke 5:27-28 The first step to salvation was to accept Christ’s invitation to follow Him. One can’t ask yourself.   Isaiah 53:4-10 The reason why Christ can call one to salvation.   Mark 1:17  Ezekiel 47:2-3 It’s a process in order to swim. Being a strong Christian is a process that takes time to be stronger and stronger in the Lord. God wants to build you up.    Mark 6 We read about the abundance of fish and bread after Jesus blessed it. He can do this for you too. In order for God to do this the small boy had to give up his lunch. Just the same as this small child, we have to give up something in order for God to work in our life.    Philippians 4:19 God does what He does because of what and who He is, not for who you are. Jesus Christ does because He is who He is. He always over pays.   Psalm 37:3-7 God knows the desires of your heart and He cares.   Psalm 23:6 Unworthy of His love. Unworthy of His sacrifice. Unworthy of His grace. Unworthy of His blessings. Once you’ve been saved then you will dwell with God forever!   Matthew 8:14-15 Working for the Lord pays off.

All the while Moses took the people out into the wilderness with each hard thing that came against them their reply was, “Let’s go back”. Going out into the wilderness was not Moses’ idea, but God’s. The people of God got upset with Moses but it wasn’t Moses that decided it. God got upset at the people because of their disobedience and lack of thankfulness. God continued to bless them even though. There are things in our future where we may trip up and at times fall, but that shouldn’t stop your commitment to God. If you’ve been saved do you really want to go back to the time that you were lost? No! If you’re going to go forward with God you must be born again. A lot of people are sitting on church pews and they’ve never been saved. One can’t keep something that they never had. A hog once cleaned will go back to the mud because it’s still a pig. A saved person can try to live a lost person's life but the comfort of it will never be there. A foolish person builds their house on the sand so that when the storms of life come their house will fall. A wise man builds their house on solid rock and when their storms of life come their house will stand firm because of its firm foundation. It’s not in God’s plan that you ever go back to being lost once you are saved. He is always there regardless of the situation. When God called Moses, Moses cut some ties. He was brought up in a great home with Pharaoh but he cut those ties to obey and follow God. He made his mind up that he would rather follow God than live in Egypt in a king's home. The same to a saved person. God called the Christian out to be different than the world and that requires cutting some ties. It costs a little at times to be a Christian. Moses saw his enemies die. Do you think it ever crossed his mind that he would rather go back to Egypt? As a Christian we know how the story ends, the enemy dies. Why in the world would you want to go back?

To be victorious one must be first born again. One also must know that they are an over-comer. Being a Christian means that you get hooked up to a body of like-minded individuals who will love and help you. Four points that are enemies that contain multiple enemies within them. These enemies have ALL been defeated by God if you’re a born-again believer. The World John 16:33; 1 John 4:4, The world is against God. Everything about it is against God. These enemies hate everything about Jesus Christ. However, God is over the world and if He lives in you then you have overcome the world.  Romans 8:35-37, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword. The harder these things are the deeper a Christian digs into God. We are more than a conquerors. Romans 8:38-39, nothing can separate a Christian from Jesus Christ. NOTHING! The Wicked One 1 John 2:12-14, the first thing about Satan is that he is not God or a god. He is a created being and therefore he is not omnipresent. Yes, he does have minions yet they too are not omnipresent. Just because he is much lower than God he is not to be forgotten about. He is out to steal, kill, and destroy. Through the strength of God our redeemer, we are over-comers of Satan and his minions. Sin Romans 7:23-25, As a Christian, God washed away your sin however, He did not take away your sinful nature. The outward man is the sinful nature and the flesh will not inherit Heaven. As for Christians, we will be given a new body, a Heavenly body that will inherit Heaven. Romans 12:20-21, the application. This is like having bullets in your gun. One can carry a gun but without bullets it’s useless. An offensive ability against the enemy.  Death 1 Corinthians 15:52-57, people can defeat drinking, drugs, and sex, but one they will never defeat is death. The day one is born death is on their heels. As a Christian, death will be swallowed up in victory.  As Christians, we should be living as a victor and not as a defeated individual.

We are all born a sinner. The doing will not get one into Heaven, it’s the believing. Why did Jesus come to Earth? Jesus was a Spirit and came to Earth as a human, flesh. He had a purpose. Mark 15:29-31 Jesus Christ did not come into the world to save Himself but to save us. John 3:16-17; Matthew 18:11; Mark 2:17 The purpose of Jesus Christ coming to Earth is to save us from the torments of Hell. We the church do not charge for salvation. Jesus has not hidden the requirements of salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 Churches that have removed their mourner's bench are scary. A dedicated place to repent before God. It’s a piece of furniture that welcomes those that are broken to be healed. Repent means that a person has done something wrong and they know it. It is saying you are sorry and asking for forgiveness. Repentance is required by everyone. You will either repent before you die or at the feet of God. Acts 17:29-30 God winked during the time before Jesus Christ was born. However, He requires all to repent before Jesus Christ to be saved from spending eternity in Hell. A saved person needs repentance every day. People will not repent on their own. We try to wrestle our way out of it because it’s uncomfortable. One must be brought to repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10; one doesn’t have to go through a list of sins to know what is right and wrong. Everyone is born with a moral compass and a choice to follow it. A Godly matter is a preacher standing up and preaching to you in love. Another Godly matter is a person who comes to you and tells you in love that you are living or doing something wrong. This should bring sorrow that you’ve sinned against God. Why do people live on the line of waiting on God to snap His fingers before they repent? It doesn’t have to be this way. Take care of the sins every day before God. As a child of God do you know what it’s like to be broken? Romans 2:4 At times, it takes the Word of God to grab you up and show that you’ve sinned. Other times, it only takes the sweet goodness of God to break one. Just speaking of the wonders of mercy can break stubbornness into repentance. God isn’t looking for the doings but the condition. Psalm 51:16-17 If you come to repent and arrive unbroken then you’ll miss the forgiveness. The only condition that God accepts for His forgiveness is broken. Romans 5:8; 1 Timothy; James 4:8

Witness, record witness, witness of God, witness in himself the record, and the record. The world is looking for truth and they will never lay their earthly eyes on it. Verse 6. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. John was a witness to Jesus’ work. He was also a witness to Jesus’ death. There is proof, a record of Jesus Christ. There is a greater witness of Jesus Christ and that is God Himself. When Jesus died on the cross the earth shook and the sky went dark. God turned His back upon the sin that Jesus took upon Himself in order to save who would be saved. A name above all names, Jesus Christ. He is our lamb. Verse 7. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost all three bear a record in Heaven. There are earthly records down here on earth, deeds, birth/death/marriage certificates, and even a church record when one joins a church. But none of these records mean anything in Heaven. We take a lot of stock in the earthly records. These records could be destroyed down here and cause a lot of grief. However, when one is saved there is a record of your name written in Heaven that will never be destroyed, forgotten, or lost. Ephesians 2:1; we have to die out to self before we can be saved. At the point of salvation, God writes your name down and it’s eternal. Romans 8:18; salvation bears witness with others that are saved. The Holy Spirit of God will not lead or deceive you. The devil wants you to be deceived and will try to confuse you. Romans 6, 2 Corinthians 5:17; a new creature is created at the time of salvation. If there has never been a change then you’ve not been born again. The Holy Spirit of God is not confused if you’ve been saved or not. Luke 2:20; a record written in Heaven. When your name is written in Heaven there is a witness of angels. These angels rejoice when one is saved. Just the same in a court of law there are also witnesses when an important document is signed to make it legal. How do you know that you’ve been saved? 1 John 5:13; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 2:3-5; 1 John 5:12, and the list goes on and on within the Holy Scriptures.

There are things in this world that declare God. Things that we experience in our lives that are clearly only a God thing. We ALL will be held accountable for things at our death. There is a God and we ALL will stand before Him and give an account of our lives lived. All that we have done, good or evil, will be judged. There are people who don’t understand why people would go to church on a Sunday or Wednesday. It’s our responsibility as a saved person to help them understand whom we serve and why we attend to honor the one who saved us. The Gospel has power in itself. It doesn’t need us to soften it or harden it. It abides in a saved person and it’s our responsibility to share it with others. In this reading, we see a man with leprosy. His little maid was excited to hear about Jesus coming through because she knew He could heal him of this great disease. If you are a lost person then you are like this man with leprosy, sick and in need of a cure. The saved should be excited to share the Healer with the lost people so they can be healed. The lost must want to be healed of their sickness before they’ll want the cure. The church attendance problem is due to the fact that the congregants don’t think they are sick. There isn’t a single person who is not a sinner. A person is born into sin whether they want to or not. This is part of the original sin and curse of Adam and Eve. There was a certain man named Bartimaeus and he was born blind. Every day they would bring him out and lead him to where people passed him in order for him to gain donations. There was one day that Jesus walked by and he cried out to Jesus for His touch of healing. His cries stopped Jesus in His tracks. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, cry out to Jesus. Most don’t intend to lay down on God but just a little sin will cause great harm. Naomi just thought she was just living in a place for a very short time. What she found out was that that little stay turned into a destructive, sinful life for her family. The Prodigal Son did the same thing. He left his protection and wanted to do what he wanted to do. Once there he lost everything. Satan is out to steal and destroy and he will make you think you’re doing alright until he’s destroyed everything you once had. In today’s reading, we have no idea who the maid was. She wasn’t named. An unnamed maid told the Naaman and an unnamed messenger also told Naaman. Naomi was in the same place. An unnamed person told Naomi that there was no longer a drought to go back home. Both Naomi & Naaman just needed someone to be obedient and tell them some good news. Nathaniel wasn’t looking for anything just sulking in his depression, and here came Phillip running to find his friend. The best friend you will ever have is the one who will point out your sin and then tell you how to get it taken care of. Phillip told him the good news of Jesus, their savior. All that one has to do is just say, “Come and see”. A simple invitation to salvation. When the servants went out to invite the people to the master's great feast, the people invited all came back with some type of excuse as to why they couldn’t come. When the servants went back to inform the master, he told them to go back out and invite all of the invalids, so they did as they were told. Once the servants went back out and invited the invalids, they all accepted the invitation and came. The master then stated, that there was still room for more. This story is about Jesus telling his children, the saved, to go out and invite the lost. Compelling them to come into the great feast to fill his great hall. Not all will accept the invitation but we are still to invite them anyway. Jesus didn’t tell us to save them. He just told us to invite them.

We can look around and see all of the things that God has created and we should give Him praise for all of those things. The things that He has done should be praised. How many times have you prayed and asked God for something but never thanked Him for saving you from Hell? We oftentimes just throw our demands at Him. We should be praising Him instead of demanding. Plain and simple, praise and thanksgiving. Just trying to think about how good God has been to us is incomprehensible. God said He would show us ALL His goodness. Not just some or a little bit, but ALL. Why do we not see the ALL that God wants to give us? It’s because we hold back on God and try to hide things from Him. He knows all things so why we try to hide our sin is because we are ashamed. Stop being ashamed and carrying it around, and take it to God. God gave His only son for us. That one thing alone is enough to glorify His name for the rest of our lives. Could you give your son up for someone else? How many times today have you given Him praise? It doesn’t take long to say thank you. Just a few minutes of your day.

Lazarus was dead. He had been dead for three days. We all agree that the dead can not hear anything, they are dead. Yet, Jesus spoke his name, he heard and became alive. A woman with a great health issue where she was bleeding. She simply touched Jesus’s robe and Jesus made her whole. People sleep during the church service physically and mentally. What will it take for them to awake from their slumber? The voice of Jesus. A group of fishermen heard Jesus tell them to come be with Him. They stopped and abandoned their nets and boats just to follow Him. Multiple accounts of demon-possessed people that when the demons heard the voice of Jesus, they fled. There is no confusion in the voice of Jesus. His children know His name. We as a church must respond to Jesus. Things happen when Jesus speaks. How do you explain the voice of Jesus if you’ve been saved? When your creator speaks your name, isn’t odd that you don’t have to wonder who it was? When Satan whispers in your ear the first thing that happens is confusion. If the demons respond instantly with Jesus’ voice how long will it take for His children to respond? Don’t we operate on the “if we want to” attitude? Jesus wants a commitment yet we don’t respond. Everyone wants to be a Christian but they don’t want to respond to Jesus. People attend church on a Sunday morning but they won’t return back for the Sunday or Wednesday night services. If you’ve heard His voice and responded to be saved, why are you still struggling with simply attending church? As a child, we start off on milk. We get a bottle of milk and we grow. As we get older we get something other than milk because we need more substance. We can tell a baby to hush but they don’t because they don’t understand. Once they get older it’s expected from them to understand or they receive the consequences. God operates the same way. At the time of salvation, we read and learn the scripture as being on milk. We should be growing and graduating to teaching others and knowing the scripture without having to have a Bible handy. The battle against the devil is quickly approaching and we must gain strength through more than just milk. You will make a choice when God speaks. Not making a choice is a choice. You will either commit to God’s calling or deny it.

00:00 . . . . . . Fishers of Men 00:02 . . . . . . No Longer An Orphan 07:09 . . . . . . Treasures 10:29 . . . . . . I’ve Not Forgotten 13:38 . . . . . . Made Me This Way 19:25 . . . . . . Never Begged for Bread 29:09 . . . . . . One Prayer at a Time 32:59 . . . . . . Jesus Loves Me