The Two Judgments by Samuel H Johnson

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”  - Hebrews 9:27 NKJV

Since there is judgment after death  then death is not the final event. It’s a transition from redemption to consummation. 

Also there are two judgments: The Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment. 

Depending upon your relationship with Christ every person will be in one judgment or the other.

Psalm 1:5 (KJV) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

There is a judgment for the righteous and a judgment for unbelievers and all who reject Christ. This is a hard thing but we must follow the Word of God. God is love but he must judge sin, rebellion and disobedience. He is holy and His judgment is righteous and just.

The Judgment Seat of Christ: This judgment is for those who are saved, for believers for whom Christ is Lord of their lives.

2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 

When were you in the body? – this is when you are on earth, when you are alive. You will receive rewards for what you do for the kingdom of God while you are a Christian. (I Corinthians 3:12-15 NKJV)

There are crowns and rewards at the Judgment Seat – e.g. for sharing the gospel, overcoming temptation, for faithfulness, for developing a Christlike character. For Christians, death should remind you and wake you up – what am I doing for the advancement of the kingdom of God? Is my priority God, family then ministry? We have to always reevaluate our salvation progress.

But there is another judgment – The Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is for unbelievers, those who reject Christ. I would not want anyone, friend or foe, to be in this judgment.

Revelation 20:11-14 NKJV “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

Here what the Bible says about the finality of this Great White Throne Judgment:

Revelation 21: 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Now you may be scared after hearing all this about judgment, but there is no need for alarm. There is still good news. The good news is the love of God. You can see from the creation through the fall of man, redemption and consummation God’s love is the overriding factor. He loves all mankind and he desires that all would come to repentance through Jesus Christ. God wants everyone saved.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

You have a choice to make. Respond positively to the call of Jesus Christ and be saved. Christ  has already done the work of salvation, you make the choice.

Pulling Down Statues is a Foolish Distraction by Samuel H Johnson

America is experiencing an increasing flood of hate and anger as we wind down the summer of 2017. Our current president, Donald Trump is at the center of this turmoil with several misguided, divisive and racist statements, especially concerning the ill-advised march and the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia. One of the central issues surrounding this upheaval is the increase in decisions by state and city governments to remove the statues of supporters of slavery and segregation from the places of honor in the public square. 

However, pulling down statues of slave owners and segregationists is a misguided distraction. It's foolish, overly emotional, divisive and short sighted. These statues are representatives of evil in our nation but can you think of other representations of evil in our society? What about those institutions which quietly and subtly propagate the same racist values but under a more "decent" veneer? Many people and organizations have a political and/or economic agenda in using this division to further their self interests. Others hide their true, hidden racist practice by publicly condemning racism, white supermists, nazism etc, so as to appear ethical. This is how the hidden agenda of satan is promoted. It is important that Christians identify that real enemy - Satan. Evil must be exposed and condemned because it is detrimental to our nation. 

We are missing a teachable moment. There is no need to pull down these statues. The wiser option is to place a sculpture and/or plaque next to these statues with the truth about what these individuals represented so our children can learn. Imagine a big visible plaque or sculpture next to General Robert Lee's statue with this: 

General Robert Lee: military genius, a supporter of slavery and segregation and a traitor to the idea of the American ideal.

Now that is education, truth and an exposition of evil. Also an artist or sculptor can get a job! So beware and never get distracted by the noise of the moment. Take a look at the big picture and don't fall for the emotional confusion. Remember I Peter 5:8 "Your adversary, the devil' prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"

Pulling down statues is a short-sighted distraction. We must expose evil with wise decisions. Don't fall for the bait.

Arrogance and Pride in Christians? by Samuel H Johnson

Many of us Christians carry around a pride and arrogance because we are saved and are not like the unbeliever or sinners. We think that we are special because we are saved. We made the decision to follow Christ and others should too we say. We sometimes think that God saw something good in us and that's why he saved us.

But truth be told that is false because there is nothing good in us. God's choice is not based on who we are or what we do or into what family we were born. It's not based on our education, our knowledge of the Bible, our character, wealth, charitable works, eloquence of speech or popularity. There is nothing good in us, not one. We are all born depraved, full of sin and designated for hell.

Scripture says: “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:10-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. This scripture "tells it like it really is"

God chose us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1), so there is nothing you and I could do to be saved. It's by His grace we are saved.

So we Christians must be humble and grateful that God chose us, that we responded to His call. There was NOTHING good in us. We are no better than the unbelievers or sinners. We are no better than the murderer nor the serial killer or the rapist. It's by God's grace that we are not.

We should be seeking God daily to show us how to share the gospel with others. When we think of our own depravity and sinful nature we should passionately desire the salvation of everyone we meet. So stop the arrogance and destroy the pride. We need to be humble and seek the will of God, the love of Christ and the direction of the Holy Spirit.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

‭‭- Romans‬ ‭3:23

Arrogance and Pride are deadly

How is the Condition of Your Heart ? by Samuel H Johnson

Heart Condition 

Hello Christians how is your heart? Can we say that our heart is getting more and more sincere towards God and people? So now that we are saved, are we transforming daily to be more and more like Christ?

How much time are we spending in the Word and prayer? Are we caught up with the things that are popular in this world? Are we indulging in "secret sins" by ignoring the warnings of the Holy Spirit? Is Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat etc. our way to be involved in inappropriate and sinful communications, pictures and videos that dishonor God?  Are we spending time in the scriptures that we share on social media everyday? 

I believe that we really need to reevaluate how the Internet and social media has opened vast opportunities to indulge in sin. I know the modern Information Age has indeed opened more ways to spread the gospel of Christ. How are you using it Christians? We all need a heart check. The Bible says that we have to give account for every single idle word we express. 

Sin is a heart killer and dulls our hearing and sensitivity to the voice of God. We need a heart that is sensitive to the voice of God. We all need to answer the question - How is the condition our heart?

Black American Experience of Racism is an insult to Jesus Christ by Samuel H Johnson

The Black experience has been one of chattel slavery, rebellion against slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, sabotage of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, lynchings, segregation, civil rights, unbelievable courage, boldness and sacrifice, less pay in many instances even when more qualified and the audacity for many to hurl personal insults to President Obama because he is black while "leaders" stayed silent. There is nothing wrong with disagreement but why the venom?

The big lie from the justification of slavery is still in effect that "Blacks are lazy and depend on government."

I have heard even some Christian pastors imply all the time that blacks vote people into office to get free stuff (i.e. welfare, Medicaid etc). Are we to ignore the rich and powerful who donate to (i.e. buy/bribe) politicians to get things done for PROFIT. You get the truth when you follow the money in our system.

What are the facts since Blacks landed in America? Let's look at the work experience:

1619 to 1865 No Pay - 246 years
1865 to 1964 Low Pay - 99 years
1964 to 2016 Unequal Pay - 52 years

Imagine almost 400 YEARS (397 actually) of free labor and pay inequality for black people in America and yet many say affirmative action is reverse discrimination and if blacks would just work hard they will get ahead. The majority of them work hard but the system is rigged and needs fixing. The fixes of the past was progress but we are a far way from the true America.This racism is demonic and comes from the pit of hell.

I call on all Christians to root out this demon of racism from their hearts, their homes, their families, their churches and their communities. Stop being silent- it's an insult to Jesus Christ.

I call on government leaders at all levels to execute real justice. The book of Romans (chapter 13) says that it is God who allowed you your office because you are His ministers to do good. Stop caving into to the money changers. You must stand with boldness and integrity so the wicked will fear you.

America, God will execute justice unexpectedly and harshly unless we change and those He allowed to do justice will do their jobs. There is work to be done. We will either sink or rise together.

Romans 13

“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭13:3-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
http://bible.com/114/rom.13.3-6.nkjv