Newsletter, June 2011

Dear Friends, There are two false beliefs which are commonly held that must be examined.  One false belief is that all roads lead to heaven, and the other is that there is no Hell.  If we embrace either of these, we deny the Bible as the Word of God, and we have no compassion for the lost. A person has the right to choose the faith or religion he wishes, but that does not make all choices correct.  Freedom to choose does not absolve a person from the consequences of his choice no matter how sincere he might be.  The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that God is a Holy God who cannot look upon sin.  A person may have lived a good life by comparison to others, but our measuring stick is not the lives of other people  -  it is the life of Jesus.  How does your life measure up against Jesus’ life?  There is no one who has sinned so little that he does not need forgiveness nor is there anyone who has sinned so much that he cannot be forgiven. In John 3:16 Jesus says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life..” In John 8:32 Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”  What is the truth? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” John 14:6. Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  God desires that all people be with Him in heaven, but He has given each of us a free will and we are allowed to choose. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.  And He rose from the grave.  The grave was empty.  He rose bodily and He revealed Himself to over 500 brethren at one time. 1 Corinthians 15:6. There is no other religious leader who has died to take away our sins, no other person has risen from the grave. If God would send His Son to suffer the agony of the cross so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with Him, would He then accept anyone according to beliefs of their own design?   Would He provide a way and then say it doesn’t matter, come any way you want? What about those who have never heard of Jesus?  Romans 1:19-20 says . .. . because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. If anyone is truly seeking the God of creation He will reveal Himself.  With God nothing is impossible. Luke 1:37. Hebrews 9:27 says, It is appointed for men to die once and then the judgment. We must make our decision before we die.  But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev. 21:8. People say that if God is a loving God He will not send anyone to Hell.  It’s important to understand that God does not send anyone to Hell – but people choose not to believe in the “way” God has so lovingly provided. Read again John 3:16 “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” When you die do you know you will go to heaven?  You can know.  All you need to do is ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive your sins, and repent of them by turning away from your sins and following Him. He will remove your sins as far as the east is from the west. He will write your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He will send the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and you will be “born again” of the Spirit.  Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:15. God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him.     Praise & Prayer This is the third month we have been dealing with the roofing problem.  Between the heavy winds, rain, hail, and the roofer’s schedule, we are still operating under plastic tarps.  Please pray that this will be resolved soon. We have had to replace a computer.  Not only was this another unexpected expense, but it generated additional techy stuff for me to deal with. This computer is our avenue to send our programs to KCBC via internet and our newsletter to those receiving it by email. The sound room computer has also been unhappy.  I have a number of computer whiz’s that I can reach by telephone, but picture this: I am under a table among hundreds of cables, describing to someone in North Carolina that a gizmo died and I removed it. The old back-up battery is acting crazy and I’m moving cables and wires to a new back-up battery.  Of course the new battery is different from the old one.  I was informed that we could have lost everything on the hard drive, which would have been disastrous, but we didn’t!  Praise the Lord! We are receiving more opportunities to air on additional radio stations. But as of this time we do not have the finances. Pray for God’s will and perfect timing. A big thank you to all who support the ministry financially and those who keep us lifted in prayer. Continue to pray for the building of a new website.  Pray for Jim Miller. Our radio programs will be on the website and you will be able to download them – when all this is completed. All contributions are tax deductible If you would like to receive the newsletter by email please send your email address to awstradio@gmail.com.   In His bonds, Norma Bonds