Which Way Is North?

Which way is north? Do you know? What would happen if I asked you to point to where "north" is right now? Which way would you point? If there were a few of us doing this at the same time would we all be pointing in the same direction? What would happen if I asked you to tell me why you pointed in the direction you chose as north? I imagine that you would give me some point of reference such as mountains or the a highway that you think goes north, but would you be correct in your assumption? What does it take to know just what direction north really is? Well if you were a boy scout you would probably know the answer to that question right away. You would tell me that you need a compass to know what direction north is.
Right you are! You really do not know which direction north is without a compass. Without a compass you are left to what?; YOUR FEELINGS! Just this week I was up in the mountains of the Eastern Sierras and as I drove along a forest rode and looked into all those trees I realized just how easy it is to get lost. When I hear those stories about people getting lost I always thought, "Well why didn't you just go back in the direction you came" but without a compass you don't know which direction that is.
As Christians we are supposed to be "Christ like" but what does that mean and how do I accomplish this? Sadly I believe that an awful lot of people both outside and inside the church are determining how to be Christ like by what they "feel" and the result is we have a huge number of people lost.

What is your "compass" as a Christian to find your way to Christ likeness? If you said the Bible you would be correct! Hosea 4:6 NLT says this, "My people are being destroyed because they don't know me."
I have a great and growing concern that this verse describes all to closely much of the Christian church today. Over and over again I hear people say (not always in these exact words) "I don't see any thing wrong with it." or "I feel ..." When I ask people to defend their "feelings" or "opinions" on certain subjects that I see contradict the bible they cannot tell me where the bible supports those feelings or opinions.
How about a for instance? How many times have we heard this statement "You don't have to go to church to be a Christian." Well technically that is correct because we are saved by grace and not by going to church (but I wonder how many who use this position could even tell me where that bible verse is found), but does the fact that I am not saved by going to church mean that going to church is optional for me or that I can go whenever I feel like it or when other things I want to do more don't conflict? I am not going to list them all now because I have already made this post longer than I wanted to but I challenge you if this is your "opinion" PLEASE prove your opinion by the Word of God and not by what you "feel" or simply want to believe. As a Christian you are to be people of the Book. If the Book is not our one and ONLY compass then we are all lost and going in a direction that will ultimately lead to our destruction.

I encourage you to get into your bibles and spend time learning how to live the Holy life God calls you to.

Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon