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Why do people believe that they will go to Heaven when they die?

Why do people believe that they will go to Heaven when they die? Before we even open the Bible, we need to be honest about something. People believe their loved ones go to heaven when they die because it feels better than the alternative. It is comforting to imagine them above us, in bliss, watching over us. It softens the pain of loss. It gives us something warm to hold onto in the middle of…

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“When Fiction Becomes Doctrine: The Lie That Outlived Its Author” People don’t realize how easily a story can shape what people believe. It doesn’t even have to be true — it just has to be told well enough. We’ve seen it in our own time. When H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” was read on the radio, thousands of people panicked because they thought aliens were actually invading. It wasn’t real,…

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Understanding the Word of God

“One of the most confusing and misunderstood scriptures in the entire Bible is John 1:1. People quote it. People argue about it. Entire doctrines are built on it. But very few people ever stop to ask: What did John actually mean when he wrote it?” Why did John call Jesus the word? “Before we can understand John 1:1, we must understand something far more basic — how God works. And the Bible…

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Thou Shalt Not vs Thou Shall

Thou Shalt Not vs Thou Shall I don’t spend a lot of time preaching on thou‑shalt‑nots. Most religion is built on them. Most sermons are built on them. And when you look at the Ten Commandments, about eighty percent of them are thou‑shalt‑nots. Only two are positive statements. That’s the foundation a lot of people build their whole faith on. But when you turn the page from Moses to Jesus,…

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Reading straight forward scriptures

When I look at how people handle Scripture, it reminds me a lot of trying to solve a crime. There are really only two ways to go about it. One way is to start with a suspect already in mind. You decide ahead of time who you want to be guilty, and then you spend all your time trying to make the evidence fit that conclusion. You ignore what doesn’t line up. You twist what contradicts your theory.…

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Who is Jesus

Who is Jesus? Some of you may read the first few lines of this message and decide it isn’t for you, and that’s alright. Many believers have already settled their understanding of Jesus, and I’m not here to argue with anyone’s traditions. My hope is simply to speak to those who are still searching, still reading, still asking whether the Bible presents Jesus as God Himself or as the Son whom God…

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What is the Soul

Brothers and sisters, today we’re going to examine a concept that has shaped centuries of theology, influenced countless sermons, and yet—when held up to the light of Scripture—reveals a surprising truth. I’m speaking of the idea of the immortal soul. Many of us grew up hearing that the soul is an invisible, eternal part of us that lives on after death. But is that what the Bible actually…

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What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?

I never understood the idea of being born again until one night I woke up and it finally hit me. The first time you are born, you are born into a culture — the culture of the world. And that isn’t an instant process. It takes years to be shaped by your parents’ ideas and habits. Maybe they were rich or maybe they were poor. Maybe they were religious or maybe they weren’t. Maybe they were generous…

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How punctuation and grammar — or the lack of them — shaped Bible translation

When you pick up a Bible, you naturally assume that what you’re reading is exactly what was originally said. But that isn’t always the case. The words God spoke and the words the prophets wrote didn’t come with punctuation, capital letters, verse numbers, or even sentence breaks. All of that was added thousands of years later by translators doing the best they could. And sometimes the choices…

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Tradition or Truth?

I’ve been called a heretic more times than I can count. Not by people who know me, not by anyone who’s ever sat at my table or coached a Little League game with me. I’m called a heretic for one reason: I don’t repeat the doctrines people were raised on. I ask questions. I go back to the Scriptures themselves. And that makes some folks uncomfortable. But before you judge me, let me ask you…

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One Bible Undivided

For some reason, people decided that the Bible should be separated into two parts. The first 39 books they call the Old Testament, and the last 27 books they call the New Testament. So what does testament mean?  In simple terms, testament means covenant. It’s not talking about two books, two religions, or two versions of God. It’s talking about God’s covenant relationship with His people.. So…

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Human Prophesy vs God's Decrees

Human Prophesy vs God’s Decrees People have always warned that some great disaster is about to wipe out the world. In the 1800s, people said Halley’s Comet would poison the atmosphere. In the early 1900s, some claimed the Titanic was a sign that technology had reached a dangerous point and that human pride would bring global collapse. During the world wars, many said civilization would end. In…

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Wayne Simmes Sermon The Silent Testimony of the Universe

The Silent Testimony of the Universe When you look up at the night sky, you’re not just seeing stars. You’re seeing a universe that runs with a precision so exact that if even one piece slipped out of place, everything would unravel. Take our own solar system. One sun at the center, and every planet moving around it in a perfect path. Not too fast, not too slow. If the earth sped up even a…

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Wayne Simmes Sermon Misunderstood Scriptures

Misunderstood Scriptures Every week I talk with people who are trying to defend a doctrine by using one or two verses pulled out of their setting. They’re sincere, but they’re starting with a belief and then searching for a scripture to support it. When we do that, we end up forcing the Bible to say things it never actually says. The problem isn’t the verses; the problem is the assumptions we…

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How Should I Read The Bible

How Should I Read The Bible When people ask me how they should read the Bible, my answer is simple: open it to the first page and start read

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What Death Ends and What Resurrection Reveals

Ecclesiastes 9:5 in the New World Translation says, “For the living are conscious that they will die, but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all. Neither do they have any more wages, because the memory of them has been forgotten.” The English Standard Version is slightly different. It says, “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all. Neither do they…

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How Should I Read The Bible

How Should I Read The Bible When people ask me how they should read the Bible, my answer is simple: open it to the first page and start reading. If you don’t understand how the story begins, you won’t understand anything that comes after it. Genesis isn’t just the opening chapter of the Bible; it’s the foundation of everything God reveals. It tells you who God is, who we are, why the world is…

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