judgment

Show Them the Way

/ Mark Brady / 4 Comments
Image generated via A.I.

There are many ways to share God with people. I have either heard or watched as others tried their way. One person told two young women they were going to split hell wide open. He judged them after learning they were lesbians. That wasn’t a very effective method at all. I told the individual, “Those ladies needed to hear of God’s love, not your judgment.”

I watched one Saturday night as an individual argued “religion” with another person, thinking they were going to convince them to accept their views and accept Jesus. It didn’t work.

People come to God in many ways. One way of sharing God that I have found to be effective is what I like to call “Lifestyle Evangelism.”  If you come across an individual that you know you are going to be seeing from time to time, you can start sharing God and his love little by little. Whether it is going out of your way to help them, or remembering them in a time of need, or if they are celebrating a life event.

Eventually, they begin to realize that you are not “weird” but that you really do love God and want to love on people. People will begin to see that you and your way of life are so different from anyone they have ever known. It happened to Jesus. This can lead them to ask or to be open to hearing how to accept Jesus Christ into their life.

People don’t like to be controlled; they prefer to be led.

You could put it this way: people don’t want to be told what to do. But they are sometimes open to being led in the way they should go. Jesus is the way. Show people the way. Show people, Jesus!

Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NET)

Be imitators of me (Paul), just as I also am of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1 (NET)
(The insert of the name “Paul” is mine.)

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Nope!

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment
Image by 13smok from Pixabay

A man once told his wife that the reason he didn’t go to church and had dismissed his belief in God is because he was abused as a little boy in a main denominational church, and he couldn’t believe a loving God would allow that to happen. I hate that it did happen. It was so wrong, but the truth is this: you will not be exempt from hell because of someone else’s moral failure! Nope! Notta!

The Bible is clear about this issue. “Everyone must die once. After a person dies, he is judged.” Heb. 9:27 (ICB) That same man will not be judged for the sins of someone else, but he will be judged for how “he” lived his life.

All people have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory. 24 People are made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25 God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith. And all of this is because of the blood of Jesus’ death. Rom. 3:23-25a (ICB)

Recently, a famous senior pastor, who proceeded over several campus locations and was on television, had his past sins revealed. The indiscretion took place many years ago but was disclosed. He probably thought it was hidden and would never be known publicly. This shows that scripture is true when it says, “Everything that is hidden will become clear. Every secret thing will be made known.” Luke 8:17 (ICB)

My point in bringing this up is no one can say, “See. The church is full of hypocrites, and I don’t want to be like them. I’m just as good as they are. So, I will live my life how I want to!” The church is indeed full of imperfect people, but they are forgiven if they have asked God to forgive them in the name of Jesus.

A reporter once asked President Bill Clinton, “You have committed an indiscretion in the Oval Office, yet we see you go to church and carrying a Bible.” President Clinton smirked and replied, “If anybody needed to be in church, don’t you think I should have?” Honestly, he was right.

There is no getting around this matter. There are only two eternities. One is heaven, and the other is hell. God cannot allow people into heaven who are filthy and have not been washed in the blood of Jesus. Fair or not, that is the way it is and must be. For God is Holy.

It is your evil that has separated you from your God. Your sins cause him to turn away from you.  And then he does not hear you. Is. 59:2 (ICB)

Each creature was calling to the others: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven’s armies. His glory fills the whole earth.” Is. 6:3 (ICB)

God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 Jn. 1:5b (ICB)

Your eyes are too good to look at evil. You cannot stand to see people do wrong. So how can you put up with those evil people? How can you be quiet when wicked people defeat people who are better than they are? Hab. 1:13 (ICB)

That is why God had to turn his back on his Son, Jesus, while he was dying on the cross because Jesus took on the sins of the world. So get it through your head today: either accept God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ or die as a sinner and be condemned to spending eternity in hell. It’s your choice. You will not be able to blame anyone else.

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Truth

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

You don’t have to watch the news for very long before you will see someone got caught. It doesn’t matter for what, either. Stealing, murder, inappropriate behavior, etc. It seems that, for the most part, no matter what someone has done or how long ago, the truth comes out.

People don’t just have to be on TV to be guilty of doing wrong. The world is full of individuals that choose to do evil. It’s not always murder or stealing but something that hurts someone else. It’s difficult to watch these less-than-perfect ones seemingly get by with inflicting pain on another.

Guess what? They don’t, and they won’t!

For there is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come out into the open. Luk. 8:17 (AMPC)

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luk. 12:2-3 (NIV)

I am just as guilty. I have said and done things I am not proud of either. I have hurt people that never asked to be inflicted. By recognizing Jesus Christ is the Son of God and by accepting Jesus into my life and asking him to forgive me of all of those wrongdoings, they are forgiven.

I will admit, though we may have to wait a long time to see it, knowing that those who have hurt us will be dealt with is reassuring that they won’t get away with it after all. Everyone someday will know the truth. The lies will no longer be believed. On that day, the only judgment that will matter is God’s!

Truth, can not be hidden! Ever!

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Grace is Enough

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

What reason do I have to wake up with the rising sun
And not be held down by the weight of all the things I’ve done?
What reason do I have to feel this hope instead of hurt?
How can it be I don’t receive the judgement I deserve?

How can you see me at my worst and still say I am loved?
What promise can I stand on when I don’t feel good enough?
When the enemy’s reminding me of all that I’ve done wrong
What freedom do I have to sing this new creation song?

I know the only reason I can stand here free of all my shame
Is wave upon wave of grace upon grace
Wave upon wave of grace upon grace
Upon grace

I have done so many things wrong in my life and, at times, still do. I’m not too fond of it when my wife, who is full of love and grace herself, sees the darkest side of me. There are times I am ashamed of my behavior. I thought by now, with God’s help, all my personal struggles would have been defeated. I can only continue to ask for forgiveness, ask for help, receive God’s grace, and continue fighting the good fight of faith. God’s grace is for you too!

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. 1 Tim. 6:12 (MSG)

Parts of the song “Grace Upon Grace” were used.
Songwriters: Matthew West, Aj Pruis

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

I Was Found Guilty!

/ Mark Brady / 4 Comments

“Mark, you have the right to remain silent. In fact, just don’t say anything at all unless I ask you to. Anything you do say will definitely be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, and at the age of seven I doubt you can, one will be appointed for you, but you won’t find any available.”

I appealed to have my hearing moved to the neighbor’s house, hoping that would allow for a fair trial, or at least a lighter sentence. The judge denied my request. As we begin, I looked around and failed to see a jury of my six, seven, and eight-year-old peers.

“Mark, where were you on the morning of July 7th?” asked my mother.

“I was in my bedroom, building a new train station,” I replied.

“Did you or did you not take cookies from the cookie jar after being told not to?” she persisted while raising her voice hoping I would crack.

Sweat began to bubble up on my back. “No. It wasn’t me.”

“You sure?”

“Yes!”

“That’s odd because I have an eyewitness that says you did.”

Gees! My accuser struck again. Seems like my older sister always caught me doing what I wasn’t supposed to be doing, and then she would run and tell my mother. In this case I was found guilty as charged. I would forever be known as a convicted cookie thief.

We all will stand before God one day. And the accuser of the brethren will be there telling on us. Informing God what we did wrong, our sins while we were on earth. We will be found guilty. But then, Jesus Christ will step forward and say to his Heavenly Father, “No punishment will be necessary. I have already paid the wages of their sin. We will escape eternal damnation, and not spend eternity in hell.

Jesus Christ did that for every one of us, out of love. Out of obedience to his Heavenly Father, God. It’s there for the asking, and it’s free. His forgiveness of our wrongdoing means we can no longer be known as a cookie thief or be forced to wear any other degrading title. We will be known as children of God and invited to enter heaven, and live happily ever after.

Salvation and power are established!
    Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
    who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
    and the bold word of their witness. Rev. 12:10-11 (MSG)

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.