The Rich Man needed a change of heart. He was a self-righteous person who, for the sake of the story believed himself to be a good and perhaps, Holy Man. He kept all the laws the Jewish tradition commanded. By ignoring the poor beggar, he was showing he did not have compassion for the poor, which is something Jesus told us to do. We see this clearly in the parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Compassion for the poor is evidence of a changed heart. We can assume he fell short in many other areas of life as well. He and his brothers needed to repent of their selfish lifestyles, humble themselves and seek the one true God. Religion is not enough; religion is a set of rules to follow, but unfortunately, we all fall short of the standard God has for us—hence our need of a Savior. Try as we might, we cannot avoid all sin in this world in both thought and deed. Pride was his great downfall. His thinking, which is still very common today, is that “my good outweighs (perhaps even far outweighs) my bad” so I’ll be okay in the end.

To repent is to acknowledge that I’m a sinner and can’t save myself. I need a change of heart which should eventually lead to a changed way of living; but it all starts in our mind. We change our minds first; we think differently about God’s standard of living. None of us does this perfectly and all the Lord is asking is that we do the best we can. Radical change takes time.

We avoid Hell by preparing for our eventual death now. The New Testament is clear on this topic. No one can live a righteous and perfect life, so we need to recognize our need of a Savior now. It’s been appointed that we will one day die and then The Judgement. This is why we need to truly think about making our peace with God now by inviting His Son, Jesus to be our Savior. It’s His substitutionary death that can ensure our eternal home in Heaven. God is a gentleman in this process. He will not force himself on us. (John 3:16)

Yes, you can know for sure. If a person sincerely comes to a place of clarity about their need of a Savior, pauses and asks Christ into their life, they are a new creature in Christ. Their Eternal Destiny is secure. Evidence of the changed life will follow (perhaps right away) but it may be a slow start for some. We will have a new conscience, a prompting by the Holy Spirit that will convict our thinking. We will no longer be comfortable with our old nature, old way of living.

The use of this name in the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus is a bit puzzling. There are a few theories for Jesus using this name for his parable. Once again, the answer isn’t clear, but it’s an interesting topic just the same. This is one of those things seminary students sit up late at night and ponder. Regardless, Jesus’ choice of the poor man’s name does not change the meaning of the parable.

If you’re reading this now you are obviously living in New Testament times. It’s very clear for us concerning Salvation. Salvation is a relationship with Christ. In the Old Testament obtaining Salvation was much different, much more difficult to have assurance of. Only God can look inside us and know our hearts. Many in the Old Testament did indeed humble themselves, repent of their sins and come to a knowledge of God. Only in eternity will we know for sure about those who lived back then. We can know that none were capable of keeping the law perfectly, so we must assume that the Creator (God) has some unique way of judging those who lived then. When scripture is not clear or silent on a topic like this, we must look at the nature of God. Could He possibly send all those that lived back then to Hell for not accepting Jesus? (Jesus not having been born yet)? I don’t think so, but good question.

The easiest way to share your faith right now is to simply forward this web page link to a friend with a short note attached, “Thought I’d forward this website to you. Found this guy interesting. Curious to know what you think.” How will your friend respond? God only knows but there is plenty here to create a little curiosity, assuming the door is slightly cracked open.

Even if they don’t like it, they will at least have received the message or had the opportunity to. If it upsets someone, they’ll more than likely get over it with time. Sharing our faith can seem a bit risky, but worth it in the long run. You never know who may or may not respond, if not immediately, then in the future. Some nuts are hard to crack.

For me personally, my first Bible Study was in Miami, Florida by a woman named Kaye. She was teaching the book of Revelation at Old Cutler Presbyterian Church in south Miami. She knew the book well and I did not want to end up in Hell. This book in the Bible, not for the faint of heart, spoke about being “lost” in Hell. I came to faith not out of a desire to be in Heaven per se but more out of a desire to NOT be in Hell. That was my starting point, but much has changed over the years. I plan to go to Heaven when I die, and I’d like to take as many people with me as I can when I go. Don’t go to Hell. Thanks for the question.

No one can answer this question with absolute certainty. Only in passing will we know. It’s quite possible that even the most adamant “non-believer” could indeed be in heaven. It’s always nice to see a lot of evidence that a person truly was a follower of Christ but that’s not always the case. Did the person have a deathbed conversion? Were they formerly involved in a relationship with Christ but moved completely away from their “once-firm belief?” Did they pray to receive Jesus while listening to a tv or radio broadcast but never lived out their faith? Were they horribly abused by someone, hurt deeply, maybe even by a very “religious” person? Did a Hospice worker lead them to Christ as they silently passed into Eternity? These are difficult questions for sure. One thing I am absolutely sure of is, no matter where they are now, they would want you to be in Heaven when you die. Let that sink in.

I hear this a lot; “I don’t believe in all this Bible mumbo-jumbo stuff. “It’s all fear tactics to get you to donate money.” I can’t make you believe anything. I’d suggest that you consider the possibility and continue to search for answers. You don’t want to get this wrong. Just as there are natural laws the govern things of this world, I believe there are spiritual laws that govern the next world. I don’t have to believe in the law of gravity but if I jump off a ten-story building my personal belief about gravity will very soon become irrelevant. The same may also apply to stepping into the next world. There’s a lot at stake with this…

This is another great question. Everyone believes whatever they believe based on information they have gathered over time. Whether directly or indirectly, we come to conclusions about many topics. So, what’s the big deal about the Bible? This could be a very long answer, but I’ll be brief. There are four things that help us trust the bible (there are several more but here’s a start).

M.A.P.S stands for reliable Manuscripts, Archeological finds, fulfilled Prophecy and Statistical probability. For example, Isaiah 53 (written in 700 BC) speaks about the coming Messiah and predicts several things to look for. This one chapter tells us, He will be pierced for our sins (vs 5), He will not speak when put on trial (vs 7), He will not be married or have children (vs 8), He will be assigned to die with both a wicked man and a rich man (vs 9), He will rise from the grave (vs 11). These are just a few of several hundred fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. What is the statistical probability of just these few, written 700 years before he was born, coming true?

The Bible itself was written over a 1,500-year period in three different languages (Greek Hebrew and Aramaic) by over 40 different authors who, for the most part never knew each other. None of the writers contradict each other. Having said all this, it still requires a leap of faith to believe anything when it comes to religion or the afterlife. But with the Bible it’s, in my opinion, a short leap. Christianity has billions of followers.

Parables were a way for Jesus to communicate spiritual truths to those seeking truth. Anyone not willing to invest a little time to understand his parables for the underlying message could be left behind. One day everyone will be judged by the amount of light they were given. In a way, He’s allowing the non-believing person to not garner more wrath. It sounds a little crazy I know, but I’m not the one making the rules. Jesus once told the Pharisees that Judgment Day will be worse for them than the very corrupt (evil), people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? They acted out of “ignorance” but the Pharisees “keepers of the law” should know better (kind of like an attorney trying to plead ignorance in court).

Here’s the simplest way to explain this huge topic. In a nutshell… in the Old Testament, people were instructed to atone for their sins with (blood) sacrifice. Where did this all come from? “The Word” (instructions for what was Sin and how to atone for it) was given by God to Moses and the Prophets (and in turn, communicated to the people throughout history). In the Old Testament, Jesus the Messiah, was prophesied to come to save God’s people from their sins.

In the New Testament, Jesus (God’s Son, perfect/without sin) was sent from God to atone for people’s sin. Believing in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice eliminates the need for the (blood) sacrifices of the Old Testament. For ALL people (Jew and Gentile alike), a belief in Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice and repenting of their sin will gain a person everlasting life in Heaven and keep them from going to Hell. People spend their entire lives studying, preaching, and teaching the divine truths of the Bible. This explanation, although vastly oversimplified sums up this question.

Here’s an ever-popular question. It has an easy answer. When the Bible is silent on an issue we should be as well. Here again is where we must trust the nature of God. We must assume God knew some would never hear and/or be exposed to the truth. He’ll deal with this in His own compassionate way. We can’t know and anyone who tells you otherwise is making a wild guess.

This topic becomes very deep. I highly recommend a person read the two books I referenced in my sermon. Even if you can’t afford to buy them, go to your local library, and ask them to order a copy (or have one sent from another nearby library). It’ll be well worth your time. My personal viewpoint would be classified as the “traditional view.”

With the explosion of info online and in the media, many of today’s Christians believe they won’t be able to make a difference. An even more common reason is they don’t want to risk losing a friend or family member’s love. Over the past 50 or so years, Christianity has been demonized and beaten back into a corner. The meaning of the word “Christian” has several definitions which are not all defined as “followers of Jesus Christ.” Mormons say they are Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses say they are Christians, Unitarians say they are Christians, Unificationists or "Moonies" do the same etc... The list is very long. Even Rev. Billy Graham admitted before he died that he would not have been able to do what he did—now, in the current modern-day world. Evangelism is on the decline and the “enemy” likes it that way. Today, churches rarely have altar calls or teach classes on the topic of “how to share your faith”.