“Save Our Soil” was written on the bumper sticker on the car in front of us. And it seems that everywhere today we are being alerted to the very real dangers of pollution. Environmentalist such as Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and former Vice President Al Gore speak often of the dangers of chemicals, contaminants and unhealthy components in our water and air. And we should all listen and salute their efforts. But I suggest that there is a greater danger which demands our immediate attention- the moral pollution rampant in our society today. We live in a world of filthy language, fornication, perverted sex and pornography. And just as there will be a payday if we ignore the environmental pollution around us. So there will be a payday for our moral and spiritual pollution. Still applicable today is Jesus’ warning to “repent and believe the gospel “ and later, “unless you repent you will all …perish.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

When people are accepted for the FBI, they are given intensive training in how to watch for counterfeit currency. They must make a thorough study, not of the phonies but of the genuine bills so that fake will be recognized because of its contrast with the real thing. There’s a lesson here for seekers after truth. While it’s helpful to spot counterfeit Christians we should know enough about the Bible to be able to know it when we have met up with the genuine article. It is vital to learn what a person is depending on to take him or her to heaven. If it is a dependence on good works, water baptism, church membership or the like, be on guard. It is possible to be sincere, but sincerely wrong, and unaware that the Bible teaches that it is “by grace we are saved, through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. Only when trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness and a heavenly home are we real Christians.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

“It’s not often that you see your life pass in front of your eyes.” Those were the words of Irene Flynn of Bramalea, Ontario, after she and her husband Kenneth were rescued by the Peel Regional Police. The endured a sixteen hour ordeal adrift on their small boat in Lake Ontario. According to the Bible, there is a day coming when mankind will stand before God, their Maker, and their lives will pass in front of their eyes. John the Apostle, writing of that future date in the book of Revelation said: ”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.” But thankfully, though none of us can make heaven by our works, Paul the Apostle gave us the following great news, “By grace are you saved through and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

“Don’t follow me, I’m lost.” said the sign on the back of a car. The word “lost” is often used to describe a situation where folks don’t know where they are. Or it can refer to being lost at sea. But the most important and most serious use of the word “lost” was used by Jesus Himself in Luke’s gospel when He said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He was not referring to something lost physically, but of the spiritual condition of every human being. While the intellectually challenged and infants are not accountable for a sinful nature, the rest of us must stand before our maker one day to give account for how we have lived. The only way to prepare for that all-important inevitable meeting is to come into a proper relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus. Or as Paul put it, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

A recent article in MacLean’s magazine entitled “death by sugar” revealed some startling information about that sweetener. The average Canadian eats nearly 100 pounds of sugar each year. Of 600,000 food items sold in the U.S. grocery stores, 80% have added sugar. Eating sugar stimulates the same parts of the brain as drugs or alcohol. Sugar is not only linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes, but possibly Alzheimer’s disease as well. So what do we do with this information? We keep on eating sugar! While ignoring proven facts about our physical health can lead to disease, ignoring proven truth about our spiritual health can lead to disaster. Isaiah urges us to “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near….He will have mercy and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God’s Word has all the answers to our questions. Have you read it?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Heidi Connor, a suburban Chicago woman and her four children are safe after a 200 pound deer “fell from the sky”. It had leaped from an overpass, landing in the middle of her minivan as it traveled along a highway. This certainly was an unexpected and bizarre event. And as we travel down the highway of life, we can all encounter the unexpected and unusual to happen. Friends, whom we trusted can turn against us. The security of our marriages can disappear. Unemployment or sickness can knock on our doors. But in the midst of uncertainty, there is one comforting assurance- God never changes. He said, “I am the Lord I change not.” He always keeps His Word, and His promises. For example- Jesus said, “Him who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.” And He also keeps His promise, “I will never leave your nor forsake you.” You can take that to the Bank!

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Corrie Ten Boom, famous heroine of the Second World war suffered unspeakable horrors in a Nazi Concentration Camp during Hitler’s reign of terror. Her story of triumph is told in her book “The Hiding Place” she wrote, “Dear Jesus, how foolish of me to call for human help when You are here.” Most of us will never be called upon to suffer as Corrie did, but in every life some hardship and sufferings will come. Instead of blaming God for our trouble, let’s turn to Him for forgiveness and comfort, claiming the Bible promise in the book of James, “Draw near unto God and He will draw near to you.” But James was inspired to add in that same verse, the following condition for our coming near to God and He to us- “Cleanse your hands …and purify your hearts, you double minded….humble yourselves in the sight of God and He will lift you up.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a brilliant American poet, philosopher and essayist. He attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard and the Harvard School of Divinity. Although the death of his 19 year old wife caused a crisis in his faith, he later wrote, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”Emerson’s strong faith is a testimonial to the fact that faith in God need not be limited to the uneducated or average intelligent. If you are one who believes that faith in the Bible and trust in Christ is only for the elderly and superstitious, Ralph Waldo Emerson should cause you to re-think your philosophy of life. Perhaps he was thinking of the New Testament book of Hebrews -“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith in the Bible, God’s inspired Word is for people of all ages, including you and me.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He contributed to many areas of mathematics. Many brilliant quotes are attributed to him. Such as the following: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that cannot be filled by any created thing, but only God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” In that, Pascal is in line with the words of the Bible, God’s inspired Word. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me.” In spite of this, some try to reach the Father by doing good works, religious practices, or a human mediator. Timothy wrote “… there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…” Only those properly related to Jesus by faith will ever see the Father.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

The world’s tallest free standing structure is the Burj Khalifa ((burge kaleefa) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates which stands 2,722 feet. Its foundation of concrete and steel is 164 feet deep. Without that foundation, the massive structure would topple over. Foundations are vital in buildings, but also in people. Jesus warned that we should not build our lives on sand, but solid rock. And Paul wrote, “…no other foundation can anyone lay that that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Clearly we should not build our lives on the useless sandy unstable philosophies of this world, but on the solid rock-like truths which Jesus proclaimed -we are all sinners by nature and by choice and only He, by His death at Calvary, can take us successfully through this life and open the door to the next life. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell