Dearly Beloved,
As we celebrate the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see various beautiful celebrations of the season, and family comes together in peace and harmony. Do we remember the reason for the season? How do we say with enough applomb, "Happy Birthday, Jesus Christ"!!! How do we recognize our relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Are we humbly beseeching Jesus Christ to be our Savior? Are we expecting Jesus to be merciful to us when we allow the genocide of babies, the killing of our brothers and sisters, the greed and lust of the business world, the commodities market, the stock market, the dog-eat-dog world of unbriddled business conducted without ethics of any kind, the disrespectful treatment of women by men and women, the disrespectful treatment of men by men and women, and the lack of family values?
JESUS says, "I never knew you, you hypocrites...There will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth."
This is a warning to our society. Recently, we have experienced the terrorist attacks on the world trade center and on the Pentagon, and the spread of the Anthrax virii among the peoples of the United States at the government centers.
Some people ask, is the world safe? Can we gain peace again? Will there ever be peace on Earth? What do we say to these things?
I SAY: REPENT, for the KINGDOM of GOD is at HAND!!!
Does President Bush have the courage to call an end to abortions by an executive order? Does President Bush have enough courage to lead us all into full repentance? How about the other world leaders? Do we want to be recognized by the ALPHA AND THE OMEGA?
Faith without works is dead!!!!!
Works without Faith in Jesus' Resurrection from the DEAD is also Dead!!!!!!
We are saved not by works but by grace, because Jesus paid for our sins. Jesus' message after this is, "Sin no more!", "Love God", and "Love your neighbor"
We need a Saviour! The only PERSON who can SAVE us is JESUS CHRIST!!!! For God sent His Only Son, that whosoever should believe on His Son should not perish, but inherit Eternal Life and abundantly so.
Is America under judgment? The answer is: none of us know, because God is all knowing and all seeing, but we are not. However, we can suspect when, why and how He can become angry,
Were the terrorists so sophisticated to know all the ramifications of their evil deeds? We know they were not so sophisticated, because the video tape of Osama Bin Laden tells us that he was not expecting the world trade center buildings to collapse: he only expected heavy damage to the buildings. So, can we expect the terrorists to have advanced knowledge of the ramifications and meaning of the war they wage with the Anthrax virus? Based on our current knowledge of the daily events, it is probably not possible for us to conclude that the terrorists know all aspects of this attack as it relates to God's Kingdom. However, certain Christians may have surmised that the term Anthrax is a greek word meaning, "Lighted coal".
AWAKEN CHRISTENDOM!!!!!!
This Christian will not dare to make any conclusions about God's judgments. My only message is, REPENT of YOUR EVIL DEEDS, immediately, or face an ANGRY GOD, full of WRATH LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER BEFORE SEEN.
In a war concerning debates over "What is holiness" , nobody wins, and peace never comes!!! Only God's direct intercession will bring an end to our world as we know it as the New Jerusalem comes forth from the sky in its great spendor. Beware of the one who says, I am the Christ! He will be an imposter, because the true Jesus shall come again in the same manner that he left earth on Holy Ascension Day. SO, PLEASE REPENT OF YOUR SINS, my DEARLY BELOVED BROTHERS AND SISTERS, BECAUSE YOUR ETERNAL LIFE AND DESTINY DEPENDS UPON IT!!!!
Let us celebrate Christmas this season by pleasing our LORD, not by continuing in our EVIL ways. Are we liars, or are we GOING TO TELL THE TRUTH and ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, IN FACT??? That is the QUESTION, we MUST answer on this Christmas day of 2001 and, ON EVERY SUCCEEDING DAY!
Will there be evidence of our decision to accept Jesus Christ? Let us put away a deceitful heart and put on a heart filled with a JESUS like heart: UNDECEITFUL and LOVING.
Love in Christ,
Brother Petros Presbeftes
Gospel Outreach Download System
http://www.orthodoxcatechism.com