Daily Devotional #1,695

 Most nice respectable American churches don't talk about sin, judgment, or hell. Why? Because they are post modern. Most Americans read the Bible selectively, omitting those parts they don't like. The first thing many  American churchgoers throw out is the concept of hell, because (in their view) a nice, well-behaved God  wouldn't let anybody go to hell. After you lose hell, you lose a sense of sin. Nobody is guilty of anything.  Everybody is just a victim. The call to repent has no meaning. That’s not how the gospel works. We are sinners  and there is a hell…according to the Bible. When the John the Baptist began preaching…the first words  recorded are “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” When Jesus began his  ministry, the first words are “Repent of your sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” In Acts  2 the Apostle Peter preaches the first Christian sermon and ends his message about who Jesus is and what he has  done. The Bible says that when they heard this they asked, “What should we do?” And this is what is recorded  there… Act 2:38 NLT Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in  the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The  Bible is an either take it all or understand you are on your own for life and death and heaven and hell. We are  all sinners…that’s the bad news. And we all…yeah all, are headed for hell. So what the Bible is telling us is  that there is a rescue plan in place for anyone who wants it. The good news is that God is on your side. Yeah,  judgement is real, but so is God’s grace. So if you accept God’s grace and follow him…you are “walking in tall  cotton” as they used to say long ago. Remember…you and only you choose your future. And you are free to  choose anything you want. But there is no victimhood here. God is rooting for you, calling to you and waiting  for you. But it won’t last forever. So as the Bible says…Repent of your sins and return to God, for the  Kingdom of Heaven is near. Here’s our Bible verse for today… 
Matthew 3:2 NLT “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”  
PJ