You may not know the story told through Samuel’s books, so please let me give you a very brief upbringing to this point which I will have you read in just a few seconds. Basically… Israel is without a king in the beginning of the book, but like any nation, they fight wars and have many conflicts which they must deal with. In the midst of all of this, they begin to look away from God (God being what is in place of their king, and the reason they do not need one) and hope to have themselves a king which will lead them into victory! This being something which turns their trust from God and to man, is ultimately sinful, because they doubt God and what He has told them.

Eventually God grants and chooses for Israel a king which He sees as fit. Around the time that this all actually happens, the people of Israel become aware of the sinfulness and lack of trust they placed in the God who delivered them and provided for them. They begin to cry out, doubting God would ever love them again, but then… Samuel  tells them this… (I hope it rocks your world or paradigm as it has rocked mine)…

1 Samuel 19-22-

And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 

I hope this is hitting you hard. God does not want His people to sin, right? God called Israel His own though, correct? After being called His, they were to follow after God. When they sinned against God, they knew that they failed to respect or accomplish what they thought God to be expecting from and of them. But instead of hearing  condemnation, they heard a powerful word of encouragement. “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord.” Do not turn! That is so powerful. Even though you have failed to do exactly what you think God is expecting you to do, do not turn from God. Your failure is expected! Do not allow your failure to cause you to stop following the one who is pleased that you are one of His people. 

It is in these moments of failure, that we turn to lesser things. We turn to these things, because they do not condemn us like we think God will condemn us. But remember this. “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has PLEASED the Lord to make you a people for himself.” Isn’t that amazing! God will not condemn you! It has pleased Him to save you, and He just wants you to follow Him and love Him in return. That is all! Be encouraged. Christianity is not about living to a perfect expectation. In fact, that expectation was never meant to be met. Instead live your life as the person you are. A person who is claimed and saved by the living God!

God has great grace. That is shown through him giving all of us sinners the ability to live even though we deserve death, and this grace is amazing! It is no wonder that John Newton wrote the hymn Amazing Grace after his years as a slave trader. He realized that what he did would have been justly punished with death, but God let Newton live and even let him come to know salvation. Which is utterly amazing in itself when we remember that we have been told that the cost of sin is death!

I came across this topic last night as I was reading from Wayne Grudem’s book titled, Systematic Theology. Grudem rose some great points. One of which is that just because we experience God’s grace here on earth does not mean that we are saved. You can see this in the lives of many, many people today. Some good examples could be people who have no fear of God, and they make tons of money and have provision in most everything that they do. And another example could be presidents of nations who feel as if they are running a nation by their own hand, not God’s, and still continue to have powerful nations and armies.

God’s grace is amazing. We shouldn’t take advantage of it, and we should let it show us that God is far more loving and caring than we could ever imagine. How do you experience God’s grace in your life? Do you feel like God does have grace upon you?

The answer to this question is… Yes! Of course God has grace upon those who were alive before the time of Christ. I started this post out with this question for a reason; I wanted you to begin to think about what it is that saves us. I wanted you to realize that it isn’t just saying that you believe in Jesus. I believe that it is totally and completely the grace of God, and that is shown by faith, patience, and endurance for and of the Gospel.

There are many people in the old testament who have extreme faiths in our creator God. Some of these men are Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, and  Jonah. When you look at these people what is it that signifies their salvation? Is it because they go to church every Sunday? Or is it because they have simply said a prayer? No, it is there proven relationships with God! Abraham was extremely faithful and trusted in God (Genesis 22).  Joseph trusted in the Lord and had a heart full of grace, because he believed in God (Genesis 42:18). Daniel loved the Lord and showed his devotion through prayer (Daniel 6). And Jonah believed so strongly in the grace of God that he didn’t want to share the Gospel with a nation of heathens (Jonah 1).

I am beginning to realize that it is completely possible to see an extremely clear picture of what the Gospel is by looking at Godly men in the old testament. It also is easy to do the same in the new testament, but what I think our culture has done today is turned the Gospel into a couple of words like, “Believe in Jesus.” So, what has began to happen, as a result, is a bunch of people who think that they are born again because they have simply said that they believe in Jesus. Don’t get me wrong here, please! It is absolutely necessary for a person to believe in Jesus to experience the act of being born again. But this belief must be accompanied with a repentant and a faithful heart.

So if you look back at the old testament, you see a bunch of men who aren’t marked as saved because they said the name Jesus, but because they actually had a real faith in him. Their faith was so strong that they believed and persevererd even without seeing and knowing the atoning blood sacfrice from Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. To them God was much larger than just a fad, but it was a choice and it showed through their lives. So lets follow the example of the men from the old testament, and not just say that we believe, but let’s really belive!

Looking back in history there are a lot of wars, slavery, murders, rapes, incests, diseases, and tons of other horrible things. So why is it that the only God many people want to believe in is a God of love, if by the look of things that God doesn’t exist? I am guessing that the reason people want a God of love, is because that is who God is. The Bible tells us that God is a loving God. But the Bible also tells us that God is a just and a fair God.

So that leads people to say things like, “if God was really a loving God he wouldn’t send anybody to hell.” Well, would you really want to serve a God who didn’t punish people for the gross and evil things that they do? I don’t think that would be love at all. God wants to see us all live in his image. We are to pursue righteousness, but we can’t do that on our own. And God knows it! He shows us his love by dying on the cross that we may have the strength and a “handicap” so that we may be seen as righteous. He loves us so much that he was willing to provide the sacrifice so that he could forgive us. Now if that isn’t a loving God, I think there may be more to their excuse than what meets the eye.

How about you? How do we know that God is a loving God?

The Change

Living, Learning, Being

Running for all you know

Turning from all you don’t

Hiding from what you need

Hurting, Testing, Hating

Striving towards what was there

Flipping from what is right

Disappearing from all that is

Living, Knowing, Loving

Living in the grace He gives

Knowing that all is real

Loving a grace so deep

I hope you are not getting the wrong picture. I am not saying that I am addicted to porn, that I have fits of rage constantly, or that I find my self contemplating murder. But I find myself stumbling less often everyday with the less evident versions of these like lust, frustration, and jealousy. Although I am a Christian and I know that I am not saved because of how good I am but by the grace of God, I still feel like the world is over when I realize that I have been stuck in a rut with these hidden sins.

So what should I do? The first thing I always do is pray. I know that God wants to see me live for him. So I ask him to give me the strength to not fall back into these sins, I also ask if he could help me discern situations that would tempt me to fall into these as well. Then I will usually think about it and feel bad about it for a long time, but I don’t think God wants us to linger on the sins of our past.

Although the sin may have been committed 2 minutes ago, it still was in the past. If we sit and linger on that sin we will only let the glory we should be giving to God, go somewhere else. And that is no good. We should glorify God in all things, including our sin.

How do we glorify God in our sin? We can glorify God in our sins by not continuing to sin. We can strive to live pure and holy lives, and when we come to a point where we stumble we shouldn’t allow it to take our eyes off of the greatness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who died for the forgiveness of our sins. If we get stuck and depressed because we have sinned in such a minute way, I don’t think that we really are glorifying the work of forgiveness which he accomplished through his love for us, on the cross.

What do you think? Is it possible to glorify God through our sin by seeking to become more pure? And if so, is it also possible to steal his glory by lingering in our past sin?

But I want to tell you something. As Christians we should all understand love in a totally different way than the world does. The reasoning for this is simple: (Romans 5: 6-8)

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Love is shown by God in the most real form ever. He gave his life that we may have life. There is no greater love than this. It is a great example, and it is how we should approach love. I don’t mean that we should all go and die, but I do mean that we should be completely selfless in our love towards others. We don’t love others so that we can gain, but we love them so that they can benefit, because we want to help them, and we want to see them do great thing. The reasons could go on forever, but here is a great passage of scripture, it is Paul telling the church what love is and what it isn’t: (1 Corinthians 13)

The Way of Love

13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, [1] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [2] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

So let us take this and learn to love others in our patience, and kindness; and let us also show it by not being irritable, or resentful; and lastly let us show our love by not envying, or boasting. Paul wrote the book of Romans, and he also wrote 1 Corinthians, so that means that the love which he is describing in this passage is a description of the great love he described earlier, and let us never forget that great example.

I go through life knowing that all that I do isn’t enough to please God. I understand that I can’t work my way to heaven, and there is nothing I can do to get myself closer to God. But I don’t always understand the great contrast between God’s holiness and my sinfulness.

Through life it is easy, especially lately for me, to get caught up on irrational stresses. These stresses cause me to focus more on myself than God. While doing this I fall further and further away from what God wants me to be, but through it all it has brought me to a more realistic understanding of who God is compared to me.

Tonight during the praise and worship at our church I came to a point where I could almost taste my filthiness. It was crazy. I truly felt like everything I had to offer during my praise was worthless. I felt so extremely humbled as I began to reach out for God, asking him to forgive me for being the sinner which I am. I began to think of all the things I have done in my life: the wrongs, the rights, and the inbetweens. I began to realize that no matter how hard I try to please God I am always stumbling over some form of sin wether it be lust, anger, jealousy, gluttony, or whatever other sin I happen to get caught on, and the image and definition of the contrast between God’s holiness and my sinfulness became more than real to me.

I wanted to share this with you, because I think we too often get caught up on what we are doing, instead of what he has done. It is so amazing. I still have a hard time understanding why a God as perfect as our God would come down from heaven to redeem someone as sinful as myself. But then again, I guess that is why he’s perfect.

I think it is silly to say that we want to come to know the Jesus of the New testament. He isn’t different. He is never changing. He is the beginning and the end, so please make sure that you believe in the right Jesus. The one who was involved with the writing of the old testament, the creation of the earth, and the salvation of your soul.

This is important with our spirituality too. If we decide to only focus on the love of Christ then we will most likely forget about the full person of Jesus Christ. It is too often that people will do this, and quite frankly I am getting really tired of it. I am tired of people ignoring parts of the Bible so that they can justify something that they want to do. This is seen more and more with homosexuality, other religions, and obviously many other things.

The Bible very clearly state that homosexuality is a sin. I am not sure if and where the Bible talks about it being worse than other sins, but I do know that it is a sin. Why must people try and fight that? Why must they take it into there hands to justify there own wickedness?

The Bible also teaches us that there is only one way to God and that is through God, aka Jesus. Jesus has some very exclusive teachings that tell us this truth. I am tired of people trying to mend the broken relationships between religions. How about we treat them like we should, with love, and and not some mushy gushy love. But a love that comes from our beliefs that if they don’t turn from their sins they will be facing an eternity in hell. Just because they don’t believe that Jesus is really the Messiah doesn’t exclude them from judgement.

As Christians we need to learn to be balanced. We need to love others, and not condemn them. But we do need to step up and be bold about what we believe. If we truly believe it then why is it so hard to say it? Are we afraid that we may not be liked, or is it maybe that we feel that it is wrong? I don’t know but let’s be bold and stand upon the rock which we have been given as a foundation, and let’s never forget that his name is Jesus Christ.

1. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
2. 1 John 4:1-6
3. John 14:6
4. Romans 3:21-24
5. Romans 2:12

There is an overwhelming amount of talk throughout the Bible which is extremely clear as to why you must believe and confess Jesus’ name in order to be saved. I understand there are people who are born into religions such as Islam, or Buddhism. But I also understand what the Bible is saying here. So how about instead of constantly arguing about it because we have different opinions, how about we come together and help each other share the Gospel with those who are so unfortunately blinded by the ruler of this age…

That’s right… He said, “and STUFF.” I’m sorry if this is a little out of my norm, but this is the problem we face today as Christians. Many who are Christian forget to mention the fact that Jesus is much more than just a savior; He is our Lord too.

The reason this is so offensive to me is that when a person comes to know Jesus as nothing more than a savior, they may never truly be saved. You are probably thinking… “Uh… no you are wrong they will still be saved!” But you could be wrong, and let me tell you why. If we come to know Jesus as solely a savior we will have no reason to fear God. We fear God not because He is waiting to kill anyone He can, but because He is in total control. If we don’t treat Him as our Lord, we will continue to hold the ultimate authority in our own lives, and if we do that we set ourselves in charge of what is true and what is not. As a true born again Christian, you believe that the Bible is the written Word of God, therefore you will place it at a much higher authority than even that of which you believe.

So please reconsider if you are one of those people who has accepted Jesus, yet continues to live the way you did before. We know that once a person is born again, according to the Bible, that there will be some sort of change. If you have had no change, then think deep, and be honest, have you really been born again?

If you want to read more about Jesus being a savior click here to read it on another blog which I write on…

As a leader I need to have a very, very, very clear understanding of the Gospel, and a very, very, very solid application of the Gospel in my life. But it is very, very, very hard at times. Meaning, it is hard to constantly see the areas in my life which are not going in accordance with the Word. I should constantly be inspecting myself through the Scriptures, to make sure that I am really following and trusting in Jesus Christ. With so much going on sometimes, it is very easy to let little areas of my life slip into sin. I think this is a very common thing. If it were not, people wouldn’t have struggles as Christians, right?

But like I was saying, it is so important for me to remember that the Gospel is not just for the person I am speaking to, but it was also intended for me. Don’t let the worries of this world get in the way of your relationship with Christ, and make sure it is just that, a relationship. Knowledge is a great and powerful thing, but we must remember that knowledge is not what saves us. The only thing that can do that is the blood of Jesus Christ.

Look it’s no time to listen to the story of the Crucifixion.

Jesus is no longer here he’s risen!

I gave my life I’m now saved like a brand new

Road, freshly paved.

I pray to God to fill me with the Spirit so I’ll be brave

Untouched unscaved. Walking through the fires of temptation

And rage I shun the enemy back to his cage with

Confusion I put him in a daze.

A new person I am he cannot faze every demon I cross I set

Ablaze puttin them to the test through a maze

Which they won’t even finish

It’s the end of their days.

My life’s just begin-in it’s time I start win-in breaking threw

Pushing threw the times when I thought I knew that

Doing drugs was cool boy was I a fool

But look at me now and some say how this is to you devil

Kabeljou.

Listen close and take it in once I laid it before him my spirit lifted

It’s time to strengthen. No burden of sin I’m finally livin.

The breath I breathe the lungs I use are not longer abused

My fears and tears cry-in at the feet of the father for my seventeen

Years before I let him in, and gave my heart blessed me with a

Brand new start. How do I repay for waking up to another day,

Spread his word to the world I once was in.

Me pressin-in I’m now on a mission to save the lost from burnin,

Fallen into a bottomless well and away from that forsaken place,

Hell.

Bein reborn Saved and Set Free

I remember all the times he was torturing me,

Can’t you see?

Do you understand “Reborn Saved and Set Free” take my hand

And come with me, I’ll teach you if you wanna learn.

To live in the LIGHT

Or

Darkness forever

BURN.

Feedback is appreciated.

Eventually my mom pulled up and came and stood next to me. She told the man we had no money, and he once again he said, “I only want food.” So my mom said she would buy him something. So we went inside and bought him a full meal.  I filled his soda up, and then went outside to give it to him. He was so thankful.

I said, “God bless you man.” He returned the statement, and I began to say, “I hope you…” then I realized I had no idea what to say now, I couldn’t say, “I hope you find a job,” or, “I hope you beat your addiction.”

So he happily completed my sentence by saying, “…get better.” It truly almost brought a tear to my eye. I just want to ask you to pray for those who are not as fortunate as you and me.  I know that helping the poor won’t bring us salvation, but Jesus died on the cross for us, is it really that hard to forward the love and give someone a sandwich?

I just want you to think about this. Is it okay to run around as a Christian and do things you know you should not? Should you become a lazy Christian because you know that your sins are paid for? Are you even a Christian if you don’t have a will to do what is right?  Just some things to think about…

But everyone who calls him or herself a Christian has something in common, and that is the need to stay on the straight and narrow road which leads to Christ. The people that do choose to stay committed to the road are the ones whom will succeed in their faith, but the ones who decide to take minor detours here and there are the ones whom will eventually fail.

If you are a person who believes it is okay to do “little sins” then I can almost guarantee you will eventually fall away from your faith, and you most likely have never had your eye completely focused upon the cross. You cannot go out and go to dance clubs and dance a LITTLE dirty, get a LITTLE tipsy, allow your mind to wander just a LITTLE bit , cuss a LITTLE bit, gossip a LITTLE bit, etc.. Do you get what I’m saying? It is the little sins which will eventually lead into the larger sins, and it is also the little sins which will give you a hardened heart, so that you will know longer respond to the calling or the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

And you know what the saddest thing is? Once a person gets too used to taking minor detours off the straight and narrow, they will not even notice when they have completely lost their path. They will all of a sudden be headed completely in the wrong direction, but they won’t even care! Below I have posted the lyrics from a song written by Casting Crowns. Just read over it, and consider if you have been taking too many detours lately…

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade

The combination of the weather, the lighting, and just the overall atmosphere placed me into a mood where I was very observant to what God had placed down before us. I could not stop thinking of how awesome our God is that he could create such huge mountains, and decorate them in such lavish ways. He took simple things like dirt and water and turned them into beautiful masterpieces.

It is then that I believe I completely understood what the apostle Paul meant in his letter to the Romans:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
(Romans 1:19-20 ESV)

The beauty and greatness of everything around me was just so seemingly overwhelming, I could not, and still cannot understand how somebody can say that there is NO god. Paul makes it clear in these verses from the book of Romans that God has made his existence plain to us through his creation.

The best part of all is that the God who created all of this loves us so much.  Although we have all sinned, the Creator of the universe gave His only son so that we may be forgiven.  All we have to do is believe in the name of Jesus, and repent from our sins.  Isn’t that amazing? I think it is even more amazing then His beautiful creation.

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
(Pro 8:13)

One of the many things that has been heavy on my heart since I have became a Christian is fearing the Lord.  Many people who don’t understand this concept think that we should not fear the Lord, but we should be friends with Him instead.  To clarify this, we are His Friends, but the fear of the Lord means that we fear Him because He is great, and He is in complete control.  To fear Him is to trust in Him.  I know that sounds confusing, but if you study the Bible, you will find that fearing the Lord is indeed a good thing.

What I get from this proverb is that someone who is prideful and arrogant, may have a lack of fear for the Lord.  So therefore, someone who does not fear the Lord is full of PRIDE, ARROGANCE, and most likely loves his/her PERVERTED SPEECH.  You can argue this, but you will only find that it is true.  Those people who believe that they don’t need to listen to God about everything, or those whom have a lack of fear of the Lord, tend to have the three attributes listed above.

I think the reason for this is that when we do not fear the Lord, we then place higher trust in ourselves, thinking we know what is best, and that God does not.  If we want to be faithful Christians, and live our lives as an example towards others, we better learn to fear the Lord, and if you cannot learn to fear the Lord, you better go back to the basics, and find out who God really is…

Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. We know this because Jesus himself said so!

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

If you want to debate this, please leave a comment, and I am sure there are a few people out there who would not mind helping clear your perspective.

For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20)

I think this passage from 2 Corinthians makes it pretty clear that gossip is a sin.  If you are a Christian there is no excuse. Don’t gossip!  I believe that means don’t go buy those magazines at the check out, because all they are is gossip.  Whether they are talking about Brittany Spears in a good way, or a bad way.  It is still considered gossip.  Her business is her business, just like your business is your business.

• A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. (Proverbs 11:13)
• A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. (Proverbs 16:28)
• The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts. (Proverbs 18:8)
• A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. (Proverbs 20:19)

These passages from Proverbs make it pretty clear that a gossip does nothing but cause problems.  I think as a church sometimes we tend to focus on sins like drunkenness, sexual immorality, a filthy mouth, etc. And we tend to ignore the sins which are not so perverse, or intrusive.  But it is the little sins which will lead us into the larger sins, and we all know that if we continue to sin we will die spiritually, and that is not good.

We are not only called to contend for our faith, but to show our faith.  We do this by loving others as Jesus would want us to.  The goal here is to realize that the people we are around everyday are actually part of a mission field, that mission field is our very own.  So please enjoy this audio, and leave any questions and comments if you would like.

We do not see to much of this today, considering everyone is more liberal than ever in our society, but there are a few extreme fundamentalists who seem to make up their own rules that are not found in the Bible, and when someone breaks one of these rules they seem to think you may not be a Christian.  It is only by the strength that Jesus Christ gives us that we can obey the laws which God has placed down for us to follow, and it is only by his grace in which we are saved.  There is no rule that man can follow to become closer to God.

I have been wondering about the salvation of many people whom say they are born again. I am not doubting their bellief in Jesus Christ, but I am suggesting that they may not fully understand why Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Using the method of evangelism they provide you help the person you are witnessing to understand that they have broken God’s commandments. By doing this you bring a conviction to their hearts. After you tell them that by breaking this law they are destined to be in hell for all eternity you jump into the gospel and let them know of the price that Jesus Christ paid on the cross that we may all be forgiven by repenting and believing in Him. This shows the great love of God.

The problem this stirs up within myself is, what about the people that claim to be christians but are going to church because they have found their life to be easier once believing in Jesus. Maybe they are coming because it makes them feel good, or maybe it feels a hole in their heart that cannot be filled by anything else. I will not say that these are completely wrong, due to the fact that I am not very knowledgeable in the bible, but I will say that I am concerned for the people that do come to Christ in this way because they may never understand the true love that God has for us. Which would result in a lack of reverance toward God and His holy word.

From experience when I was saved a little over a year ago I turned to Jesus because I had problems with many things in my life. When I came to church I heard that I don’t have the strength within myself to change me, but Jesus does. This is what got me to the point of saying the sinners prayer and believing that Jesus is the only way to be saved. At the time though I really didn’t know what I was being saved from; I knew it was hell, but didn’t know why I was going there. I knew about the ten commandments and God’s law but I never understood that would be the reason for my punishment, and would be the reason for my salvation in Jesus Christ.

It is very important that everyone understands what the sinners prayer is. (This is just my opinion, I feel it is valid, but I am not the final word on anything, read the Word and get real answers for yourself.) The sinners prayer should be a prayer of repentance, said out of one’s own will. The reason I say this is because if you say it because somebody is pressuring you into it you may just put on a show by praying the prayer and that will not do anything except turn you into a liar if you weren’t already one. The first time my body went up there, I feel this is what he did, but tonight he meant it with his heart and there was a genuine difference afterwards. Just because you say a prayer that someone leads you through doesn’t make you saved. For example if you were to say that you were gay, but you knew you weren’t then you would just be doing it for fun.(and really weird if you ask me, but anyway)So when you are led through the prayer if you don’t mean it you are just playing around. The point to the sinner’s prayer is more or less to give you a template of what you should be asking God everyday of you life. You should constantly humble yourself before him, ask for forgiveness, and for his will to be done in your life. If you do say the prayer but fail to stay humble, then I feel you never meant what you said.

p.s.
Don’t think that I am being self righteous. I fall, actually I am so far from perfect I don’t even know what perfect would look like, but the bible tells us to judge by righteousness and I feel it is not Godly to allow people to be led astray blindly thinking that they are following the Word of God.