Month: July 2023

There was a man that went to three Bible studies every week. He was gaining all that wonderful knowledge of the Bible and God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit! When asked “What are you now doing with all that knowledge?

A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads, “Talking Dog for Sale.” Intrigued, he walks in.

“So, what have you done with your life?” he asks the dog.

“I’ve led a very full life,” says the dog. “I lived in the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now, I spend my days reading at a retirement home.”

The Pennsylvania Northern Tier Chapter of FCFI is just coming off their week of sharing Jesus at the Troy Fair in Troy, Pa. It was an awesome time of sharing Jesus Gospel message of His death and resurrection.

By now you have heard the message. You understand this is a spiritual thing. We are all dirty inside from sin that we cannot clean out of us and we are born to spend an eternity away from God and His love. You have made the decision to receive Jesus into your heart and life and you are now forgiven from all your sins and clean and pure in God’s eyes.

By now we have learned that God has a place prepared for us when we leave this earth (heaven/Gold Bead) to spend with God forever. We have learned that due to each of us breaking God’s rules (sinning/Black Bead) we cannot go to heaven but have to spend eternity away from God’s light and love in a place of darkness and misery (hell).

The entire reason that Jesus came down to earth from His home in heaven was to die on the cross and pay for the sins of all mankind. God needed someone perfect to take the punishment for the sin’s (Black bead) of the world. Without this payment for our sins nobody can go to heaven (Gold bead).

What does the black bead represent? The Gold represents the Gold streets of heaven. The black represents what keeps us from going to heaven. What separates us from God? God has rules and when we break those rules, even once, we cannot go to heaven. The Bible calls those broken rules sins. The Bible verse above is from the Book of Revelation. It is talking about heaven. Look what it says. Even one lie will keep us from going to heaven. Notice it says “a lie.” Not lies. It is not like you can tell ten lies and once they are used up you cannot go to heaven. Just one lie. Do you know anybody who has never told even one lie?? The Bible describes this as a life being lived away from the light of God and in the darkness of our sins. After all, when do most people who are planning on doing something bad do it? In the darkness of night! That is why we use the black bead to describe our sins. Now, look at the end of the verse above. It says only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are going to heaven. So, someone is going to heaven! God has a book up in heaven called the Lamb’s Book of Life and if your name is in that book you will go to heaven despite your sins. Until we get our name in God’s book, the gates to heaven will remain closed to all of us sinners! How do I get my name in that book??

As witnesses for FCFI we share the Gold Bead first. Some organizations using the Wordless Bible have the Gold Bead last showing our final destination. But we like to start with heaven since it is such a wonderful place and it shall be our home for eternity if we can each become clean and pure according to the Lord’s standards.