Workin' on getting to heaven?

Yesterday I had the great honor to travel to Roy New Mexico, with some friends of mine, for a funeral to celebrate and remember the life of Francis Chavez, my friend Regina's mom. I was really encouraged to see Regina's joy as she was comforted to know that her mom is now in heaven with Jesus.

Francis had a very Catholic background, and until the day she died her Catholic roots ran deep. As a result, many of the things that she did were influenced by her lifelong participation in Catholicism. I also have a background in Catholicism and many of the people whom I love the most are devout Catholics. My main problem with Catholicism is this; that they believe in a works based salvation. I was STRONGLY reminded of this at this funeral on Friday afternoon. The priest spoke about how there are those who would believe that salvation comes by faith. (I would be included in that group) He went on to say that that is only partly true. Faith is only the beginning. He taught us that salvation starts with faith and then is completed with love and good deeds, the keeping of the sacraments (baptism, confession, communion, etc.). He was teaching all of this and calling it "the gospel". For those of you that don't know, the word "gospel" means good news. I don't know about you, but I don't think that's good news. It doesn't really matter that much that I have repented and trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior and am living for Him, because if all of that is true, yet I am not loving, doing charitable things and going to confession, then I'm going to hell anyway. And what if I am doing those things? Then praise me! I'm so awesome! I'm going to heaven only in part because of what Christ did, but mostly because of what I've done! All my good, and love, and sacrament keeping has earned my spot in heaven. The problem with that is that the bible doesn't teach that. That priest may wonder why anyone would believe that salvation is by faith alone. Maybe it's because that is what the bible teaches. The bible says, in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we have been saved by grace through faith. It goes on to say that it is NOT A RESULT OF WORKS so that no one can boast. So does this mean that all we have to do is have faith in God and we will be saved? Then we can just do whatever we want for the rest of our lives? Yes and no. The bible says that in order to be saved we must respond to the gospel by putting faith in Jesus Christ to save us. That is it. But if you go on living like the devil for the rest of your life, that would be the evidence that you DID NOT TRULY PUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS. The bible absolutely does not teach that we are saved BY good works, but the bible absolutely does teache that we are saved FOR good works. (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10) You see, our obedience to God is not something that we do in order to be saved. Our obedience to God is the evidence that we have been saved. So if we are saved (if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ trusting HIM ALONE to save us from sin, death, and hell) then you will be obedient to what the bible tells you to do; not so that you can earn favor with God, but because you HAVE favor with God because of the cross of Christ. You see, this teaching of salvation by works tells us that Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins was not good enough. Jesus crucified wasn't good enough to save us. We need to ADD OUR OWN GOOD WORKS AND OBEDIENCE in order for the cross of Christ to have any saving power. That is blasphemy. What God did, in punishing His sinless SON on the cross for our sins, was ABSOLUTELY SUFFICIENT TO SAVE all by itself. NOTHING ELSE NEEDS TO BE ADDED to what Jesus did on the cross. That is why the last thing that Jesus said on the cross was, "It is finished". What needed to be done in order that people be saved, was finished when Christ was crucified.

I had the great honor to come and administer communion to Francis a few weeks before she died. The bible speaks about how communion isn't for everyone; it is reserved only for believers. As I explained that to Francis before we took communion, I asked her if she had made Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior, trusting Him alone to save her from her sins. Her answer was so classic! Without any pause or hesitation she said with a confidant smile on her face, "Absolutely". She didn't say "I've done all the sacraments." She didn't say "I go to church every week." She didn't say "I've been baptized". She recognized that her relationship with Christ through faith was more than enough to secure her spot in heaven.

Do you know that? Do you know that all the good works in the world couldn't get you to heaven? Do you know that God did all that needed to be done to save you by punishing Jesus Christ on the cross so that all you need to do is believe that message and put your faith in Jesus Christ to be saved? Don't trust in anything but the FINISHED work of Christ on the cross to save you.

Are you "working" on getting to heaven? If so, stop! You'll never be good enough! Nothing that you can do will ever get you to heaven. Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." If you want to be sure that you are on your way to heaven, believe the gospel, turn from your sins, and run to Jesus. Only He can GUARANTEE you a spot in heaven!

A Lost Tooth

A Lost Tooth
Originally uploaded by Lopez Clan

Caleb lost his first top tooth today! The one next to it is loose too. Soon he will look very weird. Ha Ha!

Courtney Loves Jesus!

It is so awesome that we have been able to raise our kids to know the LORD! They understand what sin is and how it separates us from God. They understand that Jesus died on the cross, taking our punishment of sin (death) so that we can be forgiven and have a relationship with the God of creation! Courtney really loves Jesus and she has definitely put her faith and trust in Him! She has quiet times and actively participates in programs like AWANA, where she memorizes bible verses and does Bible Quiz games and stuff.
Now, she has the opportunity to go to California with Regenerate (the youth group) to grow even more in her relationship with God. The trip is from July 28th to August 2nd. There will be teachings every evening, quiet times in the morning, fellowship with other students, and of course, we'll be going to Disneyland! The trip costs $450 per student. We've been doing some fundraisers to bring that cost down. If you would like to contribute to Courtney's trip, it would really be appreciated! It would definitely be a great investment! Let us know if you're interested. Thanks!

~Kristi

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by Lopez Clan

I guess Kristi is all bad at Lego Indy. She beat the first movie, Raiders of the lost Arch. Lame cause she did it before me.

A Picture Share!

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by Lopez Clan

Kristi thinks she is bad at Lego Indiana Jones on the wii.

Father's Day

I know this post is a little late, but we had an amazing Father's Day weekend. The Saturday before Father's Day we went to Hyde Park with our good friends the Burdwells. Hyde Park is so awesome! It's in the mountains and they have really nice camp sites there. We didn't camp over night, but we did cook up some hamburgers, brawts, and steaks! We were blessed to get a site next to a stream and waterfall where the kids played, got wet, and went on little hiking adventures. I'm pretty sure some of them went into some poison ivy, but no serious rashes occurred. haha, just kidding. There was also a really cool playground where the kids got to play too. Little Indy (aka Ikey) loves slides, so he was pretty stoked to go there to play. Overall, it was a great day. Even Audra had fun (she doesn't enjoy the outdoors). Haha. Hope you enjoy the pics. (To see all the pictures from our little adventure, click on our slideshow and check them out at our flickr site).

~Kristi

What Does a Believer Look Like?

Being a beliver is much more than just going to church or owning a bible. It is truly loving and pursuing God more than anything else. It is living to glorify Him by displaying to the world how wonderful He is through your life. Above is the hip hop version of what I just said...

Awesome Man

Awesome Man
Originally uploaded by Lopez Clan

The Lord has totally gifted Issac in teaching His Word. He's teaching tonight in the main sanctuary. My husband is awesome!

We have a name change

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by Lopez Clan

Issac decided that it is too confusing to have the same name as me so we have changed his name to Indiana Jones. He will also answer to "Indy" and "Dr. Jones".