We are an evangelistic Christian ministry seeking to reach individuals with the gospel of Jesus Christ through evangelism and discipleship. John Rothra is a pastor and evangelist living in Fort Worth, Texas. Currently, he serves as pastor of Union Hill Baptist Church in Alvord, Texas. He holds an MDivBL with an Evangelism & Missions concentration from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is now working toward a PhD in Evangelism at SWBTS.
Posted by John L. Rothra on December 28, 2006 under General, Site Updates | 
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The “Start the New Year with a Laugh” event has been postponed at this time. We are planning on rescheduling it on a future date. Please accept our deepest apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Once a new date is setup, we will post the information. Again, we apologize for the postponement and look forward to the new date!
Posted by John L. Rothra on December 21, 2006 under Evangelism | Comments are off for this article
Christmas is a time when people give gifts, children excitedly await the arrival of Santa, and people go to church. As you celebrate this Christmas, let me encourage you to be like your heavenly father, God, who gave a free gift to you in the person of the Son: Jesus (Rom 6:23).
Have you opened your gift from God? Have you accepted Jesus as savior? If not, learn how to be saved today.
If you have, then its time to do as God did. Share Jesus with someone this holiday season. When you make your resolutions for 2007, let sharing the message of Christ with someone each week be the first resolution you make. God gave his innocent son for you; share that gift with others.
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
Luke 2:1-20, NASB
Merry Christmas!
Posted by John L. Rothra on December 15, 2006 under Devotional/Teaching | 2 Comments to Read
During the Christmas season last year, many news analysts, commentators, and religious leaders began saying there is a war on Christmas. Their position: Christ was being replaced by Santa Claus because Jesus isn’t politically correct. They stated that businesses and the media stopped saying “Merry Christmas” and started saying “Happy Holidays” and “Seasons Greetings.” I have not said much about this war on Christmas. However, I have decided to chime in this year.
The world needs to realize that there is no war on Christmas. Christmas is not under attack. That being said, there are some things that have slowly developed over the past thirty or so years.
Recently, many businesses have made a concerted effort to say “merry Christmas” and to be more accepting of the Christian beliefs. I believe this is partly due to the backlash and negative press incurred due to the efforts of those leaders and media analysts who spoke up.
During Christmas of 2005, my family went into a Christmas-only store to look around. I wanted to see what nativity scenes they had. The salesman said, “What’s that have to do with Christmas?” I replied, “Everything.” He said they had only one, though he appeared disgusted at the idea of a manger scene.
This illustration points to the fact that there is no war on Christmas. There is a war over the souls of man. There is a war against Jesus. Christmas, at least the commercialized aspect, will be around for many decades. People have no problem with Christmas, so long as Christmas remains secular. However, the minute Jesus is brought into the picture, people cringe and begin calling Christians derogatory names.
I’m sure many of you who read this will think, “without Jesus there is no Christmas” or “war on Jesus and war on Christmas is the same.” You may think I’ve become too secular myself. Christians must realize that much of what is done during the Christmas season is secular in origin, including the date on which Christmas is celebrated. Much of the Christmas celebration is a Christianized version of a secular activity. It is true that if Jesus was never born, then there would be no Christmas. However, that does not stop the world from trying to take over the holiday by emphasizing everything but Jesus. Christmas, in many ways, is both a secular and religious holiday. It is a season with religious roots. But to say there is a war on Christmas means that the world wants to abolish Christmas. This is simply not true. Satan wants to turn people away from Christ. That is the war!
The real war is not over whether it’s Christmas, Xmas, or the Winter Festivals. The war is over the souls of you and me. Satan wants to keep as many people as possible from knowing Christ and being saved. His goal is not to harm men as much as it is to destroy God’s glory. Christmas provides a tremendous opportunity for Satan to creep in clandestinely and remove Jesus from the picture of Christmas. He as used the sinful world and all those who reject Christ to forward his mission. Satan will use political correctness, the idea of being offended, or any other tactic to keep people from being saved.
Many may claim they are neither for or against God. However, that is false. In this spiritual war there are no Switzerlands. There is no neutral ground. You cannot ride the proverbial spiritual fence. You either accept and follow Christ or you reject and oppose Christ. You are either for or against God. If you reject the Son, Jesus, then you reject the Father, God. Such strong terminology may be not easy to hear, but that does not make it less true.
Every man and woman has committed a sin. However, in order to get into heaven, absolute perfection is required. Nobody is absolutely perfect except Christ. Everyone has committed at least one small sin. There is a consequence of sin: death. However, because of our sinfulness, we aren’t even good enough to pay for our own sin. Our sin required an absolutely perfect person die. God sent his own son, Jesus, the perfect one, to pay that penalty. All God asks you to do is believe in his son, confessing him and Lord and Savior.
Do you realize you own sin? Do you see your great need? Ask God to forgive you and let him save you. He loves you so much that he paid your penalty for you.
Remember, Jesus loves you!
Maybe you believe you’re good enough for heaven. Really? Take this goodness test and see.
Posted by John L. Rothra on December 14, 2006 under General | Comments are off for this article
Between the holiday schedule and final exams for the semester, I’ve been quite busy. However, I did run across a wonderful site that made me laugh. James Cook, co-owner/co-founder of SEO Refugee, started a site called ToonRefugee. His skills with computer graphics and cartooning are some of the best I’ve seen.
If you like good cartoons or just need to smile today, check out the site. One of my favorites he did is called “The Ten Commandments.” I think you’ll enjoy his work as much as I have.
Posted by John L. Rothra on December 1, 2006 under Site Updates | Comments are off for this article
All seven issue summaries are completed and available for review. It is my hope that, as ministers of God’s word, when faced with these situations in your church, parachurch, or daily life, these articles will be of great use. Often, people who ask about these issues are looking for concise answers. As Christians, it is our responsibility to provide answers from scripture to these questions.
The issues available:
If you have any questions or comments, or would like to see other issues addressed, please let us know.