“Rejoice in the Lord always. It will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7.

Rejoice.
Do not be anxious about anything, instead in every situation, pray with thanksgiving.
And the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.

The Apostle Paul penned these words over two thousand years ago. Science has finally developed enough to support what Christians have known for two thousand years: anxiety and peace cannot coexist, negative outlook and thanksgiving cannot coexist.

Seriously. They literally cannot coexist. When our brains are giving thanks, complaints and anxiety cannot be present. One necessarily cancels out the other.

Carey Nieuwhof is an author, coach, and one of the leading thinkers about the church. Nieuwhof recently wrote in one of his posts, “The people who complain the most often give the least, and the people give the most (almost) never complain.”

Yup. Science proves it. And the Bible has told us so for over two thousand years.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Saw this on social media:

If you are a drug addict trying to beat addiction, go to church anyway.
If you are having sex before marriage, go to church anyway.
If you were out drunk all night the night before, go to church anyway.
If you are not sure what gender you prefer, go to church anyway.
If you can’t quit that disgusting habit, go to church anyway.

Church is a hospital for the broken, lost, empty, confused, desperate, and rejected.

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Go to church. Get to know Jesus.

“Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person” (1 John 2:4).

I know very few people who don’t want to go to heaven. Everyone wants to go to heaven.

And the tragic thing is some versions of modern Christianity have given people exactly what they want. The only problem is that what is offered is not true. It simply is not true that all people go to heaven. If that were the case Jesus would have never taken up the cross.

This cheap version of Christianity asks little and demands little. It offers a God who saves and who never asks sinners to change.

THE GOSPEL DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

Salvation changes our destiny and our identity. Our behavior has to reflect that. And that happens through obedience – when we obey Christ and his commands rather than doing what we want, doing what we think is right, doing what feels good.

It is true that Jesus wants everyone to go to heaven. So Jesus made a way by dying on the cross and offers us eternal life as we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and commit to submitting to his will and his commands.