PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: RAPTURE AND END TIMES

From Pastor John Collins:

"And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceit many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be said.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  Matthew 24:10-14 (NKJV).

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  Mark 13:32 (NKJV).

Many are saying that we are nearing the end of times, that Jesus will return soon, that the rapture is near and tribulation is upon us.  Jesus said that only the Father knows theme so it is impossible for anyone to know when the end will come.  Yet, with so may preachers teaching this and so many eyes open to the happenings in the Middle East and so much attention being drawn to prophecy and supposition, what are people not taking their faith more seriously?  Why is there not more people repenting and coming to the foot of the Cross?

When prophets were sent to Israel and Judah, they were not always heard.  The sad truth is the majority of the people clung to their ways, their sin and their attachment to this world.

Too many perished because of their stubbornness and refusal to submit to God.  Every day that God holds back the judgement of the world is a day of mercy us all.  Each of those days in an opportunity to shout from the rooftops that salvation is available to the lost. Each day is filled with the hope that we will come to our senses and get right with God.

We need to take our faith and salvation seriously.  We need to stop procrastinating and stop putting off changing our lives and our ways.  We need to get this right for ourselves and each other.  We cannot be half committed, somewhat devoted or undecided when it comes to being a follower of Christ.  We need to give all, believe whole-heartedly and commit completely to living a life that is in obedience to Jesus and in submission to God.  That is what ensures our eternal salvation with the reward of entry through heaven's gates

We all can do better, be better and become more Christ-like.  Each of us needs to be willing to alter our lives and purify our hearts.  It is not enough to say, "I am a work in progress."  We need to get honest with ourselves about what we hide from the world, about what we don't admit and about what needs to change.  Jesus is your strength and He wants you to belong to Him.  Do not deny yourself forever in heaven because you were unsure or lazy in your faith.  Even when you have doubts, call on Jesus in truth and I know that those doubts will fade and the truth along with the hope of salvation will bloom in your heart.

"Behold, I stand at the door and know.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I have overcome and sat down with my Father on His throne."  Revelations 3:20-21 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

Read more about John Collins Ministries or contact me, Pastor John through John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.

Christmas Thoughts

From John Collins, Evangelist:

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 (NKJV).

“And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” Luke 2:40 (NKJV).

Jesus came to be our Savior, to teach us and to die for us. As you go through life, you are to look to Jesus to care for you, to guide you and to strengthen you. The human spirit is strong and can withstand more than you could ever imagine.

Jesus is strong in spirit and knows your weaknesses. He knows what scares you, what intimidates you and what you avoid. Jesus is there to help you face your fears and conquer what you thought you couldn’t. Jesus will listen to you and will help you.

Faith in the Lord allows your spirit to have courage. Hope in the Lord allows your spirit the freedom from worry and that confidence allows you to serve the Lord honestly. The human spirit is capable of being beat up, smashed down and trampled upon and it will still get up and fight. The spirit of a person is a gift from God and faith in His Son is the eternal blessing.

If you are in the need of encouragement just look to Jesus and His life and you will find it. Look to the character of Jesus and you will find the beauty and grace of God. Look to the Son to find the hope of all of your tomorrows and you will know that the spirit that is inside of you is made of strong stuff indeed.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

Read more at John Collins Ministries or reach me personally at www.johncollinsministries.com

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: GOD VALUES WOMEN

FROM PASTOR JOHN COLLINS:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” John 20:16-18 (NKJV).

Pastor John Collins: A role of strength and dignity

Pastor John Collins:  Mary Magdalene believed in Jesus, sought Him out, anointed Him with oil, wept on His feet and wiped those feet with her hair. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, learned from Him and was a disciple of His. Mary was the one that Jesus chose to see first after He was resurrected. Mary was brave and humble when she went to Him in that house of the Pharisee as she cared not what others thought of her, nor spoke of her but cared only to go to Jesus and kiss His feet and seek His forgiveness and His acceptance and Jesus not only gave that forgiveness, accepted her love for Him but spoke that she would be remembered for her actions and He demonstrated her value when He chose to go to Mary first and to give her the honor of knowing He was alive and to relate that information along with her witness of Him to his brethren.

It took courage to follow Jesus during His ministry and it took faith to know Him as the Son of God. Mary had that courage and had great faith in her Lord. There were dark centuries that followed the beginnings of the Christian faith. There have been centuries of oppression of not only the uneducated but of women as well. Women have come a long way from the days of the dark ages, of the days of education denial (for many parts of the world, anyway), and from the denial of equality of the genders. Women push forward in their search for that equality and for the opportunities to make their mark in this world but I want to remind women that their mark has been made and has never been taken for granted by God. God values women and Jesus demonstrated the love that He had for Mary by going to her first, by teaching her and standing up for her. Women should never forget that their value begins in the home, for they are the caretakers, the bringers of life and the mothers of our children. Do not underestimate the value of those things as being a mother allows you to teach your children how to get to heaven, how to live boldly and with faith in this dark world and being a wife allows you to help your husband be a part of a family that relies on God. A woman’s role does not have to be one thing or another but it should always be a role of strength and dignity with love and compassion at its core. That is the love of God within you and God has provided women with the complex ability to keep a family together and to guide it in love and faith with trust and truth at its center.

Pastor John Collins: Heaven is waiting, families need strong women to guide them

There always seems to be an agenda on the table and as progress ticks away and women continue to fight for what they believe to be most important to them I can only hope that they remember to value what has always belonged to them from the beginning. Family is everything and while equal pay may seem to be the biggest priority to some this world seems to be allowing the family to fail. Industrial success will never replace the failures of our homes and women need to find the courage, like Mary, to believe in our Savior and to brave the opinions of others to declare their loyalty to Him as they live up to the great responsibilities that have been entrusted to them. It is not easy to choose faith over finances, faith over popularity, faith over apparent success or faith over personal gain but in the end heaven is waiting and families need strong women to guide them.

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

LOVE THAT CROSS PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Read more about John Collins Ministries or reach me, Pastor John, at John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: WORTHY OF ANSWERED PRAYER

From Pastor John Collins:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NKJV).

Many times, when we are going through tough times or are experiencing tragedy or extreme hardships, we will pray to God and ask for His help, for a miracle or for strength to get through. Many times, when we are not suffering, we pray to God and ask for this or that or something that we want. In order to have our prayers answered we must first seek to become worthy of answered prayers. What does that mean, ‘worthy of answered prayers’?

God does not answer prayers from non-believers although many non-believers seek His help in times of trouble. God does not answer the prayers of the unrighteous which means that He is not creating financial stability in the lives of those who do not follow His Son. Many people attribute their ‘success’ to God when He had nothing to do with it. God wants the believer to recognize their need for a Savior and to come in submission to the foot of the cross. In order to have your prayers answered, genuinely answered by God, you must follow the steps of the believer which is repentance, submission, seeking to obtain righteousness and a pure heart through obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You cannot expect God to listen to any of your prayers if you are not bothering to listen to the words of Jesus and obey them. You must seek heaven above all else and you will find yourself praying for the fruit of the Spirit to become yours and you will find yourself praying for all of the right things and those prayers will be answered. When you pray for righteousness first and mean it, then God will be for you and not against you. Look at Solomon who wanted wisdom so that he could rule as God would have him rule and God gave him wisdom and then so much more. It is not about the stuff in this life, it is about the richness of the spiritual life that you can have and in having that rich spiritual life you can be such a blessing to others and that is the heart of the gospel that will ultimately have you receiving the prize of entry into heaven.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN, BELIEVE THAT!

Read more about John Collins Ministries or reach me, Pastor John, at John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: SNOOZE FEST BORING CHURCH

From Pastor John Collins:

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2 (NKJV).

It does not take a person of great mental gymnastics to recognize the reason that charismatic preachers and musical ministers have claimed the hearts of so many ‘Christians’. Traditional church with traditional preachers equals boring church that families have been members of that only have their doors still open due to obligatory ‘respect and allegiance’. Traditional church is a snooze-fest!!!!

Church should be led by a pastor who is filled with the Holy Spirit and is inspired in their teaching of the word of God. Church should TEACH you how to apply the gospel to your life and why!!! Church should not be a concert, a motivational speaking class, a boring sermon recited by a boring pastor or a boring lesson with readings from the bible that are not applicable or relevant to your life.

The bible teaches you how to live your life, the gospel teaches you that Jesus Christ died for you and He teaches you that you must obey Him to claim the reward of heaven. Church should be a wake-up call for you to recognize your sin and to evaluate your choices in life. Church should be about teaching you to love Jesus and worship Him and the Father. 

Boring traditional church does not claim the attention of our children and by making this experience a part of their Sunday is not helping them become true followers of Christ. You would be better off keeping them home, spending an hour reading some scriptures and talking about why it matters to obey God, why it matters to remain pure and why it matters that they should not approve of the filth in the world nor partake of the bounty thereof. Exciting music and inspirational speakers are another influence that lacks the reverence of God, the seriousness of worship and makes the gospel shallow. 

Music is wonderful to worship with as long as the preaching is full of substance and godly wisdom and is the focus of the service. When seeking a church be picky and be aware of whether your children are sitting there in bored silence because you say they must or if they are paying attention and for that matter, how are you feeling about the service yourself? Just because something is traditional does not mean that it is what will guide your soul into heaven.

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, BELIEVE THAT, PASTOR JOHN

Reach me in person and read more about John Collins Ministries at www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: GLORY INSIDE AND OUT

From Pastor John Collins:

"And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.  But they were hearing only, 'He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy."  And they glorified God in me." Galatians 1:22-24 (NKJV).

What does it mean to have God glorified in you?  It is when your behavior and your character reflect the work of God and is noticeable by men.  When you come to be a Christian by choice, not by upbringing as something that you do, but by your choice to believe that Jesus died for your sins and you're committing your life to obedience to Him and service to God.  

That is really what it means to be a Christian as it is not when you believe in Jesus and as you commit sins you know better but you do what you want anyway because to him that knows better and does it anyway, to him it is sin.

If you were once the thief who turned over a new leaf in the name of Jesus and you stick to it then people will glorify God in your.  When you pick that moment to change our life and turn your back on the sin you once knew and you choose to walk with God then people will take notice and will give the glory to God.

Every Christian should recognize their blessings and want to give back to God by living a life that shows others the kindness and compassion of our Lord.  Every Christian should not just think about their wallet when they think of giving to God but should think about their time and what they can do with it by lifting up others in the name of God and helping others come to the Cross.

The power of God is unlimited and when you revere God, thank God and choose God just imagine how His love can alter your life and help you to overcome what you must in order to claim heaven as your eternal home.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:16 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

 #please share this

Read more or contact me, Pastor John Collins at John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com. 

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: CO-DEPENDENT

From Pastor John Collins:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"  Philippians 4: 6-7 (NKJV).

Have you ever been co-dependent?  Have you ever been depressed, miserable and feeling so lonely that you allow negative relationships to build with negative people in your life?  Have you ever been afraid to be alone? Are you keeping unhealthy relationships alive in order to avoid emptiness?

In order to be healthy in our lives in our souls and not only our bodies, we must be able to be honest with ourselves. If you truly want spiritual health, heart health and mental health then get to know Jesus Christ.  When you give you all to coming to the Cross and submitting to God's will for your life, you will find yourself supported, whole, happy and fulfilled.  There is function and independence in being a servant of God and a follower of the Lord Jesus.

The life of Jesus has a purity of thought and intent that we all should learn from.  Jesus was sure of the right and wrong in the world and Jesus was sure of His place in the world and every Christian has that surety and confidence offered to them.  There is not a person that is not given the opportunity to be freed of the 'need' of others and freed of the insecurity of life.  The need in life is to find the hope in Christ and with the effort to come to know Him comes the clarity of strength and the assurance of independence. 

People don't need to feel lonely or miserable but just need to call on Jesus and stay committed to Him.  Jesus will heal you, free you and guide you into a lifetime of doing His will that will cure your loneliness and fulfill your needs.

Sometimes it is necessary to just stop in your life.  Stop what you are doing and take an honest inventory of where you are at emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Life is precious and should not be experienced in a state of agony and insecurity.  Seek Jesus and He will hold your hand and lead you to the promised land, if you let Him.

"Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things."  Philippians 4:8 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

Read more or contact me, Pastor John Collins, Evangelist, at John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: A PRAYER

FROM PASTOR JOHN COLLINS:

Heavenly Father, I pray to You today and ask You to wake up those who are sleeping, those who are resisting You and please Father help the little ones who believe in You.  There are children hurting, children being murdered, children being abuse and these little ones have such a need for Your protection Father, so please bring help for them into their lives.

Father God, I know this world is defiant and this world is full of stubborn people, but Your are bigger than any problem here, You are more powerful than any resistance here and You are needed so very much by all of us here.  Please know that You are our hope and our future and we are thankful to You,  God and we have hope because of Your precious Son, Jesus, who I ask to watch over our children and help their little hearts to know that they they are loved.  

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN, BELIEVE THAT!

See more or contact me, Pastor John Collins at John Collins Ministries, www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: BULLYING

From Pastor John Collins:

In response to a question about people who claim to be Christian in their business and in their lives and yet treat people with contempt and dismissal, I have this to say:

The Catholic Church used to use ‘ex-communication’ as a threat to hold over people that included the added horror of dying while in such a state of separation from that church that would lead to being buried in unhallowed ground.

Guess what?  Every bully is known to God.  Who is one person, one church, or one group to determine who can belong to God and who is not welcome among His people?  Who is to determine who His people are?  The bully who uses you in the name of God and then discards you with a threat of slandering you amongst fellow Christians is in fact one of the tares being allowed to grow alongside the wheat and in the end will be plucked up and cast into the fire.

If you are among the lied about, slandered about and bullied about, have no worries because God has got your back.  The big thing to do is to not feed the fire which means that you do not have to be confrontational and ‘prove’ your righteousness but let you light so shine before others that they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

There is something to be said for taking the high road because God will always lead you home if you are truly following Him.  If you allow God, then He will bring you new opportunities to have fellowship, have business and have a life that is righteous and true as long as you have the trust and the patience to let Him work.  Some things and people may be removed from your life and some may be introduced into your life.  Just remember that you don’t have to prove a thing to any man as it is God who should concern you and He is more than capable of seeing you through this trial too.Your true Christians friends will be there support you as well.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life; and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

#pleasesharethis

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PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: CHRISTMAS RESTRAINT

From Pastor John Collins: 

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:24-25 (NKJV).

Black Friday is here and before you run out and break the bank, overload the credit cards and spend hard earned cash that you should not, please rethink this holiday season!!

One of the hardest lessons to learn in life is restraint. When to restrain yourself from acting, from speaking and from reacting in a manner that is expected from you. Just because the world, especially the United States has come to drive buying in excess to please our loved ones in some kind of celebration for the birth of Jesus Christ for some and just an excuse to shop for others does not mean that you need to buy into the nonsense.

Jesus Christ was NOT born on December 25th. Although you may believe that you are celebrating Him when your family opens its gifts on that cold December morning, I promise you that Jesus would rather you not go into debt, not struggle to pay your bills in order to buy those presents and He would rather you not buy those gifts and would rather you restrain yourself from the manic need to “show your love” through material means.

Jesus is about love, salvation, hope and eternal bliss. Don’t make this year the same as all of the rest instead choose to make this year a new tradition that includes all of the love and faith that you can summon with all of the joyous celebration that you can endure without partaking of the “Christmas Traditions” that celebrate materialism and not God.

And for those of you who have small children, please learn restraint. Christmas is not about filling up the space under the tree. If you do buy gifts, restrain yourself and limit your purchases. One gift is lovely and if opened with Jesus on your mind and not yourself, then that is a pure and true rejoicing in Him and not the excuse to give and receive. We should never think of Christmas as if it were OUR BIRTHDAY and therefore our right to receive gifts and the same goes for our children. It is not their birthdays. This holiday season, learn to restrain yourself.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN! BELIEVE THAT

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: COMPLETE SUBMISSION

From Pastor John Collins:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NKJV).

Let’s assume that you have some faith in your life. How often do you reflect on the lesson in the trials of your life? Do you look for the wisdom gained and apply it to your life or do you ignore the lesson and just appreciate that the storm has passed for now?

You can certainly claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior in a moment but righteousness takes some serious dedication and hard work. If God granted you complete faith in the instant that you believed, what would do with it and do you understand what complete faith really is, anyhow? Complete faith is never doubting to trust the truth of Christ and His work on the cross and it is living a life that is COMPLETELY in submission to God. Complete faith is a consciousness of God always not just sometimes. Complete faith is living a life that pursues the approval of God over all else. In order to claim complete faith you must work for it and it does not come easy.

Living in this world of distractions and entertainments and sinners and filth does not make it easy to choose to do the will of God every time and not only some of the time. It is through the tough times of tough choices that bring you a step closer to God when they become consistently righteous choices in your life. Every Christian needs to learn to want to obey God and every Christian needs to learn all of the tough lessons from God in order to claim complete faith and righteousness.

Pay attention to what motivates you and pay attention to the choices that you make and then be really honest with yourself about what the bible says about your feelings, choices and behavior. One of the biggest mistakes that a Christian can make is to think that the bible is antiquated and that God and Jesus really don’t feel strongly about the sin of today. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and it is time that the Christian does better and gets back to reverence of our Lord.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” James 1:12 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN, BELIEVE THAT

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: THE BLIND CHRISTIAN

From Pastor John Collins: 

“Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their heart, And return and be healed.” Isaiah 6:10 (NKJV).

“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seek after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12 (NKJV).

When we think of those who have been blinded and made deaf, those who have been given over to their lusts, we think of the obvious sinners, the ones living life in defiance to the commandments of God and Jesus Christ. Yet, the most pitiful and dreadful blinding that exists is the blind Christian.

Blind Christians believe they have it right. These believers gossip, hate, are self-righteous, are greedy, selfish, proud and just don’t even realize it. They believe because they know scripture, may even be able to quote it, they go to church and claim Jesus as their Lord that they are the real deal. These are the most dangerous and desperately lost of all. When one is so confident in their salvation that they cease to look within, that person is not working out their salvation with fear and trembling.

We must walk a fine line in our faith. We must believe in our salvation and forgiveness yet we must always maintain our awareness of our souls and the need for repentance, the need for purity of our mind and heart as well as the need of our devotion to gaining knowledge in the word of God.

Our faith must be active and alive. We must nurture it so that it grows. It will be tested and it will be tried by fire. We must learn to participate in our lives with Christ. We must be willing to seek the truth in our souls. This I can tell you plainly: whatever ugly is inside you, God already knows it is there. We must acknowledge it, face it, and release it through repentance and forgiveness that is genuine and not lip service only or we will take it with us to hell. Fear nothing, be honest when you look within and make sure that your personal inquiry is based on the truth of the gospel and not your perception of some weakened version of it. Come to the foot of the cross in truth, naked and trusting, bare your souls and receive genuine salvation. It is only with transparency that we will find forgiveness and we are unable to be honest as long as we are holding on to our self-image as seen through the eyes of this world.

“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.” Philippians 3:14-15 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS