I believe there will be three surprises when we get to heaven.
A lot of the people we thought would be there, won't be.
A lot of the people we never thought would be there, will be.
We will be there!
Now, I am joking, because if you are a believer in Jesus, you can be confident you will be in heaven one day.

But know this: wherever there is the genuine, there will be the counterfeit. Satan would love you to see a few of those counterfeits and say, "That's it, I'm not going to church anymore. There are just too many hypocrites!" My response is this: "Hey, don't let that keep you away. There's always room for one more!"

Listen, all of us have been hypocrites at times. What is the definition of the word "hypocrite," as used in Scripture? It is an actor, someone who pretends to be something they really are not.

We have all pretended to be more spiritual at times than we really are. I know I have. This is not an excuse for hypocrisy, just an explanation. We all want to pray that God helps us to be the "real thing" as we follow Christ.

It really comes down to this: Jesus was committed to the Church, and we should be too! There is just nothing this world offers that is like the Church. The Church may have many critics, but no rivals!

And I'm proud to be a Christian and a member of the body of Christ, the Church.

How 'bout you?

Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.
— Matthew 26:49


The worst kind of sin is the kind committed by someone who doesn't think he really is a sinner. It was Cicero who said, "Of all villainy, there is none more base than that of the hypocrite, who at the moment he is most false, takes care to appear most virtuous."

Think for a moment about a garden-variety sinner. Then think of someone who attends church every week. Is it possible that a person in the church pew could be in worse shape than a garden-variety sinner? It is possible. Here's how: If the person who is an unbeliever recognizes that fact, there is hope that one day he or she will come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, turn from a sinful lifestyle, and believe in Jesus. But the person who attends church every week with no intention of responding to what he or she is hearing is actually a hypocrite.

It is better to just be what you are. It is better to say, "I am not into this. I don't believe in this. I don't care about this . . . " than to pretend to be spiritual when you are not. God hates hypocrisy.

This doesn't mean that you won't be inconsistent at times. It doesn't mean that you won't fall short at times. We all have had moments of hypocrisy. But a hypocrite is someone who wears a mask, someone who pretends to be someone they really are not.

The hypocrite extraordinaire, if you will, was Judas Iscariot. When he betrayed Jesus, he did so with a kiss. He could have just pointed and said, "There is Jesus. My job is done." But he kissed Him. At the moment when he appeared to be the most virtuous, he was the most sinful. And that is lying to God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
— Ephesians 6:18


To be successful as a Christian, you must have a prayer life. Prayer, simplified, is hearing from and communicating with God. There are different kinds of prayer identified in Scripture, including public prayer, private prayer, verbal prayer, and silent prayer. Also, any position is acceptable for prayer: you can pray kneeling, standing, sitting, lying down, or even driving (but always keep your eyes open, of course).

God hears our prayers wherever we offer them. Consider some of the places that people of the Bible prayed: Jonah prayed from the stomach of a whale. Daniel prayed in a den of lions. David prayed in a cave and also in the wilderness. And Peter prayed both on the water and in it after he sank. Wherever you are, God will hear your prayer.

The key is that we should pray frequently. We should pray in the morning. We should pray in the afternoon. We should pray in the evening. The Bible says, "Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:17–18).

Prayer can be continuous. Elijah, in seeking an audience with the wicked King Ahab, said, "I swear by the Lord Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab this very day" (1 Kings 18:15). Elijah was aware of the fact that wherever he went, he stood in the presence of God.

You, too, are never alone. Wherever you go, God is with you. You can commune with Him and fellowship with Him and pray to Him and hear from Him. That is the idea of continuous prayer: being in fellowship and communion with God.

If you want to grow spiritually, then make prayer a vital and regular part of your life.

"I am the Lord, and I do not change."
— Malachi 3:6


A. W. Tozer said, "Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God." I think that is true, because if you don't understand who God is, if your view of God is warped, then it will affect you in the way that you live. We must have a proper understanding of the character and nature of God.

What you believe will enable you to get through the challenges and the difficulties of life. And there is no better place to start than with God himself and what the Bible says about Him.

When Paul was on the tempest-tossed sea on the way to Italy and it looked as though everyone on the ship would die, God assured him that he would arrive safely in Rome. So Paul was able to tell the crew,

"Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What's more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.' So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said." (Acts 27:23–25)

Paul believed God, and we should too, because we live in a storm-tossed world. We don't know where the problems we're facing today will lead. These are uncertain times, and we need a real certainty that will help us get through it. Though times and circumstances change, God never does. All but God is changing day by day. God says, "I am the Lord, and I do not change" (Malachi 3:6).

When you believe God, it doesn't necessarily change your circumstances, though sometimes it will. But more often than not, it will change you.