Richard Ellis Talks

Not everybody who hears the Gospel believes it, but that doesn't make it any less true. Every single one of us will end up in eternity, but the question is: will we spend it in heaven or hell? It's our job as believers to share the Good News -- but it's God's job to open the eyes and ears of those we share it with so that they might also believe!

The tricky thing about sin is that we never control it -- it always controls us. Sometimes, we find ourselves so tangled up in sin that the resulting consequences just keep piling up, stacking up one on top of the other like pancakes. The Bible says that we're dead to sin, but knowing God forgives us in no excuse to continue sinning as much as we want. Instead, we've got to acknowledge that there are consequences to our sin and that the only remedy is to repent and live in obedience and faithfulness to God.

When a witness is summoned to give testimony in a trial, they're asked to provide an honest account to the court of what they saw and experienced during the event in question. As followers of Christ, we're all summoned to be witnesses and share testimony with others of what God's done in our lives. The Bible tells us point-blank: if we're not reaching out to others and witnessing to them, we're not following Christ as closely as we should be.

When we're born again as new believers, it's understandable that we'd be "infant Christians" for a while as we learn for the very first time about who God is and what it looks like to have a relationship with Him. But at some point, we're all expected to grow from our infancy into spiritual maturity. And one of the marks of maturity is that we come to realize it's not all about us. A key part of spiritual development is service, and as we participate in serving the Body of Christ -- the Church -- we're not just growing ourselves, but we're growing the Body, too.

Jesus told His disciples on a number of occasions that He'd die and be raised from the dead. Yet when it actually happened, they were shocked by what had occurred. When we read the accounts of the resurrection in Scripture, it's easy to ask, "Why did the disciples doubt Him?" But we do it too, don't we? God sends us wake-up calls all the time, often through trials and tribulations, in order to draw us back to Him. Unless Jesus returns, we'll all face death one day, and it's up to us to wake up and obey His call before it's too late.

The idea of throwing caution to the wind and doing "whatever" we want, whenever we want has been accepted and even romanticized in our culture for centuries. But God calls us to a better way of living, and it starts with submitting to His will for our lives. When we live in obedience to "whatever" He has in store for us, we start to see extraordinary things happening not only in us, but through us, too!

We're happy to put God on the throne of our lives when it suits our purposes, but we're just as happy to remove Him when we feel like we can do a better job of being in charge ourselves. But there's only one King of Kings. He's seated in Heaven on the throne of the Most High, and one day, we'll all submit to His Kingship. Instead of playing a "game of thrones" with God for control in our lives, what would happen if we yielded to Him completely and allowed ourselves to experience the life He offers us to the fullest?

Racism isn't a political problem -- it's a church problem. As Christians, we should be counted on to treat all believers as brothers and sisters, because in Christ, there's no distinction between races, economic statuses, or any other disparity that separates us in the eyes of society. The only thing that can keep us together as family, regardless of our differences, is love.

When it comes to life after death, we all try to imagine what it'll be like. The Bible promises that one of two places awaits us: Heaven for those who believe in Christ and accept Him as their Savior, and hell for those who don't. Do we want to call Heaven our future home, or do we want to miss out on it altogether and be left imagining forever how it would've been?

Jesus didn't have to die. Right up to the crucifixion, He could have saved Himself. But Jesus died because He wanted us, and now we've got to be willing to be wanted in a different way, for His sake. When we speak up about the difference that He's made in our lives, people will hate it. They hated Jesus for the miracles He performed and the truth that He spoke, but He didn't back down, even when it eventually took Him to the cross. It's our job to speak up for Jesus everywhere we go, even if one day it becomes illegal to do so.