The Gospel

So I figured I would get the blog started with stating some truth. What is the Gospel? Well it's God's Amazing Grace! See we are all sinners, born into sin from our mother's womb. Our sin nature has separated us from God and destined us for eternal separation in hell. This is where some people say, "I am a good person, God would never send me there". Well how do you know you are a good person? How does God measure our goodness? That's straight forward, its the 10 commandments! Lets review them shall we:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Wow, these commandments represent God's holy character. To be found righteous we must keep these commandments and we will be judged by them when we face God one day after we die. You might say, "well I haven't broken any of these commandments, so I have nothing to worry about" Well I have news for you, we all have, I have too many times. Jesus states in Matthew that if you even look upon a woman with lustful eyes, you have committed adultry in your heart. WOW! thats raising the standards high. Have you ever stolen something? Now let's be honest. Have you ever told a lie? I think everyone is guilty here. Some people might say "Well God loves us and He would never punish us?" Well that is creating a false god in your mind and breaking commandment #2. Because God is a perfect judge He will punish sin where sin is found! What good judge would let a criminal act go unpunished? Because God is Holy and perfect, He will punish sin. If you have broken a single commandment in the slightest you have broken them all and are guilty to be sent to hell. So your asking the question, "you mean all of us deserve to be sent to hell?" That is correct. All of us deserve it justly. No man has kept the 10 commandments, but Christ.

So now that we know the bad news, let me tell you the GOOD NEWS! God knew that man could not possibly keep the 10 commandments so He sent His son Jesus to take the punishment we deserve. It is much like standing in front of a judge with a long list of crimes and someone then came and payed all of the debt that you owed for those crimes. This person is JESUS my friends. He payed the price as the perfect sacrifice. He is the ONLY way to the Father! He fulfilled the Law by keeping the 10 commandments. Now I am not going to go deep into theology on the fulfillment of the Law, that is for future discussion. Jesus is sinless and was crucified on the cross for our sins, the sins of the world. He died so that we may be saved! All we have to do is ask Jesus into our hearts! I will say that if you give you life to Jesus, your sins are payed for! God will no long see you as a criminal, but an innocent man! He will then bring you into His Kingdom!

For those of you who read this who are saved, I hope the Lord has encouraged you! If you are not a believe, I will say that I am not talking about religion here... I am talking about a relationship. Religion is man made rules and nothing more. Christ said that He is knocking on the door of the hearts of man that He may come in and dine with us! He desires fellowship, deep fellowship. Now Christ is not just a man, He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe! He payed this price because He loves us! Accepting Jesus as your Savior means all of your sins are forgiven, past sins, present sins, and future sins.

I will say that I hope this long, broken, poorly written post will penetrate readers hearts and that the Lord will speak to those who need this message desperately.

PK <><

Welcome to The Tailgate!

So I was looking at my wife's blog and got inspired to create my own. I wanted to document my experiences as a Christian man. I want it open so that others can see and read the Gospel. My first passion among many passions(hobbies) is evangelism and serving the Lord. My hobbies range from welding/fabrication to fishing and anything involving an engine and that is big or goes fast! I am so Blessed to be in a field that involves what I enjoy doing on my own time and that is welding! I am a welding engineer for an EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) company. I am a degreed engineer (BS Mechanical Engineering and MS Industrial Engineering with and emphasis on systems). I also have a math minor. I grew up welding since I was a young man on various projects from bumpers and custom truck beds to farm equipment on my grand fathers ranch. I am a blue collar man at heart. I love the outdoors. I love working with my hands and I love to create and build stuff!

With all of this said, I am first and foremost passionate about the Gospel and ministry as mentioned before. My desire and prayer is that this blog will reach and encourage other Christian men. Along with posting on my feelings towards cars, trucks, tools, fishing equipment, welding equipment, fabrication, and general topics related to men, I hope to discuss real issues that Christian men face along with good discussion on some theology, faith, and application of Biblical principles. I will say to those who read my blog that I am not perfect by any means, but by the blood of Jesus I am saved by His Amazing Grace and nothing else. I am simply a man whom desires to serve God and may He be Glorified in all I do. So stay tuned and pay attention to Christ and keep Him in your hearts.