Jesus Can Save You ~ Fortis Media ~ Video

Now, being that this is the first of the blogs that I am posting here, from Foundation Church Portland, let me introduce you to JJ McNown. JJ is a young man that I followed on Twitter one day, and then found his Fortis Media channel on youtube.com. In this post, you will see one of JJ McNown's preaching messages in the video below, during his time pastoring the church he founded, at just 22 years old.

The message is referring to Genesis 41, the story of the Pharoah's dreams, and how Joseph rose to power and saved Egypt, and the world, during the seven years of famine. Brothers and Sisters, in this message, JJ explains the meanings of this chapter, and how they relate to Jesus Christ. Not only that, but in this message, JJ also shows us how we can only be Saved through the Grace of God, through our Faith - a Gift of God - and not by our works, as said in Ephesians 2:6-10 (NIV):

"6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Also referenced in this message is Zechariah 12:10 (NIV):

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son..."

There is a good reason that I chose this video, to be the first of the ministry videos that I will provide here on The Cross Tribe Network. Unfortunately, there are many of us who are Christian that may not have realized how important the Old Testament is in understanding His Grace, and His gift of offering His Son Jesus Christ for our Redemption, just as Zechariah prophesized.

Love Softens Our Hearts

Things on my heart...

Love Softens Our Hearts

Verses of the day, which gave me some insight on what we are up against. Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV):

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

My thoughts on this:

Those three verses explain very well why it is so hard to explain God's love to people. Yes, as the world is, there is a lot of hardening of our hearts. Yes, I had a long period of my life where my heart was hardened, and looking back, it was always a matter where I felt there was some worldwide conspiracy to keep me slightly in poverty (relative to my peers)... Imagine that, predictably, I was outraged because "some unknown power" was always holding me down. And, I wasn't ever going to have the lifestyle of the rich and famous; so, therefore, my belief was that they were all just greedy.

Do you see what I am getting at, yet? What I am saying, is that by some miracle, I finally realized that the real joy in life was in loving people, despite their "place in life." Which, eventually, softened my heart, and which allowed me to find the sensitivity I needed to get back to the life God wants for me. It is what made me understand, completely, that Love Is The Way. If I could finally find His Truth, so can anyone else. I really do my best now, to Melt Their Hearts With Love. Love is the way. I'm just sayin'....

Can we trust Biblical prophecy?

From GotQuestions.org - The Bible has the answers.

Question: "How can we trust that Biblical prophecy can indeed predict the future?"

Answer: The main reason we can trust biblical prophecy is that it, like the rest of Scripture, was written — literally “God-breathed” — by the Creator of the universe. It is inerrant, perfect, and true. We must understand that before we can understand the role of biblical prophecy.

Biblical prophecy plays two roles. It foretells the future, and it explains what the positive or negative results of future events will be. Prophecy may announce events that bring joy and pleasure or fear and foreboding. When prophecy is ignored, it is usually because the hearers don’t like what they hear for one reason or another. Biblical prophecy is not usually general in nature. It normally is very specific as to how it will affect someone or something. But it is always dependable and worthy of our complete trust. We can allow prophecy to help shape our lives, giving us direction and guidance in serving our Lord. It should be a source of strength and instruction for us. Unlike what we hear called “prophecy” today, both in the church and outside the church, true biblical prophecy is always accurate and precise. What God prophesies always occurs. [Continue reading]

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Glenn Beck's story of Christmas

The Glenn Beck program brings you the story of Christmas.

You can either read the transcript, or listen to the actual audio from his show. And here's the really good part: It's free! Please read and/or listen to it. I know you've probably heard the Christmas story many times. However, in this segment, Glenn discusses a perspective of the birth of Jesus that I had not ever thought of or heard before. In other words, an overlooked part of the Christmas story that may help you.

This is a story, this is a story that has been told so many times. We all know where it begins and how it ends. It's a story of birth and death. Of hope and despair. Of great doubt and even greater faith. That's the part we're going to concentrate on, great doubt and profound faith. As anyone can tell you who has stood at the foot of Abraham Lincoln, the Memorial in Washington D.C. and gazed up into his face, our historical figures are so often painted with such bold strokes that they become more giants than men, yet I believe to truly understand their brilliance, their courage or their faith, we need to see them first as who they really were: People just like us, people with hopes and dreams and fears. Just like us. [Continue reading or listen]

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