PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: INVITED

From Pastor John Collins:

“Then He said to him, ‘A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 

But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 

And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask that you have me excused.' 

Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 

So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 

And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 

Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highway and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.” Luke 14:16-24 (NKJV).

God has invited you to come to His supper and to join Him in celebration. Are you one of those who received the invitation and are just too busy to come? Is your job keeping you busy, your home and family keeping you from God, or your cars, clothes, friends, hobbies and past-times keeping you from joining God at His supper?

God deserves time, our time and attention and our thoughts and actions. God deserves for us to consider Him, take time for Him and to obey the gospel and that takes time. Obeying the gospel is not accomplished in a few hours a week. Obeying the gospel is a way of life, a devotion of thought, time and effort. Obeying the gospel is a conscious decision to show up with bells on ready to serve every day and every minute of that day. Do you have your priorities right? Have you been invited to supper only to ask to be excused because your life holds your full attention?

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26 (NKJV).

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: LOST

From Pastor John Collins: 

“The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.” Psalm 11:5-6 (NKJV).

Does anyone take notice of the violence in our children’s video games, the violence in movies and the violence in our streets? Violence is entertainment and violence is a way of life. People want to say that guns are at fault, others want to blame the parents, or the schools, or the gangs, or the mob, or the terrorists, or the government and of course they want to blame God.

People don’t value life. People take life for granted, become embittered, nurture hatred and ponder violence and then act on it. People don’t care about consequences. People don’t want to hear about the judgment of God. People have lost their way.

Life is precious and can be good. Life matters and God wants each of you to value life and to seek the kingdom of heaven. God is loving and compassionate and God is wrath. There is a limit to His longsuffering and judgment does come and in the end God always wins. God is the one who always wins. When people show utter contempt for His creation it is an offense to Him and He notices.

Before it is too late, turn and learn to do righteousness, learn to love forgiveness and learn to seek God every minute of every day and teach that to your children. It is time to turn this thing around and time to stand up for all that is righteous and good and learn to walk in the ways of Christ.

“For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.” Psalm 11:7 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

From Pastor John Collins: 

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens!  That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence- As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil- To make Your name know to Your adversaries,That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.” Isaiah 64:1-3 (NKJV).

God created mankind and has not left him alone. God has come down, given His word, directed and fought for His people and has given His Son for us. God has come down and instructed His people and God has given man free will. God has not given up on mankind and yet so many want God to come down again.

What would you do if God came to you? Would you feel justified in His presence, would you welcome Him and would you feel good about discussing your life and your choices with Him? If God came down would you be ready and would your faith allow you to believe?

Many people only want to think of God as love, compassion, kindness and grace and they choose to ignore that He is righteous anger, justice and truth. God is full of love and grace for the soul who seeks Him and believes in His Son which is why it is so important to care for your soul before you care for anything else because once you pass away then you have to deal with God’s righteous anger and justice if you have failed to obey His instructions.

Benjamin Franklin said that you should not put off until tomorrow what you can do today and today you can get right with God so that when He does reveal Himself to you, you will be ready.

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And we are all the work of Your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: A JOB TO DO

As a Christian, we all have a job to do.  We need to make the choiceof whether we will do that job, or not.  Our salvation depends on it.John Collins, Evangelist, John Collins Ministries

From Pastor John Collins:

“And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’ And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” Luke 2:42-49 (NKJV).

As a Christian you must be able to look at the life of Jesus and to see the focus and devotion that He had to doing the will of God and to make the effort to emulate it. Jesus knew that His life on earth was temporary and that He had a job to do while He was here and although the life of the Christian may not have the importance that the life of Jesus had, each life of a Christian comes with a job to do. Each person that is a believer in Christ has an obligation to the kingdom of heaven to glorify God and to follow Christ. That is the most important job that you can ever have and it is the only job that will see that you are permitted entry into the kingdom.

Whether you are busy being a parent, an employee, a student, a child, an athlete or a bum, you still have a responsibility to God. There is not any activity or obligation that you have that takes precedence over being a man or a woman of faith and living a life that shines for Jesus. There is not any excuse that you can give that will justify you ignoring God and choosing to not follow Jesus. We all have a job to do and either you do that job and receive the reward or you don’t do that job and you deal with the consequences. God is merciful and has much compassion but He is also righteous and His wrath will fall upon the wicked and the self-serving.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are too busy for God because He is not too busy for you.

“And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Luke 4:12 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES: TRUTH-WRATH AND LOVE

From John Collins Ministries:

ALL will face the righteous judgement of God, whether or not you
believe it, whether or not you want to~Pastor John Collins

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV).

It is time for a serious reality check for every single person living on earth at this time: You are going to die an earthly death and will have to face the righteous judgment of God. You may think you know what that means, you may not care but let me fill in the blanks for so many….whether you choose to believe in God or not, whether you find God fair or not, whether you agree with God or not, whether you end up dismissing God or not, whether you reject God or not and whether you end up getting as angry at God as you want and as defiant toward God as you want and you can ignore Him, disobey Him and reject His Son but in the end, ALL will come before the judgment seat of Christ and ALL will face the righteous judgment of God, whether you want to or not and whether you believe it or not.

Heaven is NOT a given. Heaven is NOT guaranteed. Heaven is a reward of the salvation that you claim when you choose Jesus and obedience over your worldly life and yourself. People are so selfish and self-involved and so full of self-importance that they just can’t seem to work out their salvation with fear and trembling because they have lost their capacity for reverence and most have never bothered to develop it for God in the first place but have transferred that delight and wonder and awe for the material things of this world and for the prestige that can come with it.

Everyone wants to talk about how God is love and just ignore the truth that God is wrath as well. Remember that God is complete, God is divine and God is the Creator of all and is without flaws. Judgment happens in a moment and is irreversible and it is forever. Why take any chances with your eternal soul when today allows you call on Jesus and to obey the Lord. Do not be lazy in your faith. Get right with God.

“For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:11-12 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS