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    You are at:Home » Q&A: What Does Reverend Deal say this week?
    Religion

    Q&A: What Does Reverend Deal say this week?

    October 27, 20162 Mins Read0 Views
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    Rev.-David-Deal2Q&A: What Does Reverend Deal say this week?

    “God will pardon your sins”

         Question: Knowing what Judas Iscariot did to Jesus can he make it into heaven?

    Answer: What did Judas do? According to the scriptures (Matthew 26:14-16) Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver; and in (Matthew 26:48-49) Judas revealed to Jesus captors who Jesus was by a kiss.  Ultimately, Jesus was led to His crucifixion by a kiss. The outcome of Judas actions against Jesus caused Judas to hang himself.  Did Judas make it into heaven? According to Matthew 12:31; all sins are forgiven except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost’. So, God will pardon our sins.

         Let’s continue to search the scriptures. Isaiah 55:8-9 says; God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and God’s ways are not our ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher that our ways….’ In other words only God knows if Judas made it into heaven. One of God’s attributes is His omniscience. We serve an all-knowing God. The Bible speaks about how scripture had to be fulfilled concerning Judas (Acts 1:16-18). Further search of scripture one can extrapolate that Judas did not make it into heaven. In John 17:12; Jesus called Judas “the son of perdition”.

         The meaning of the word perdition is: a state of final spiritual ruin or damnation, hell’ (Dictionary.com) In John 6:70-71; Jesus talks about choosing his twelve disciples and that one of the twelve chosen is a devil’.

         In closing John 8:21-24; Jesus talks about the impossibility of following Him if one dies in their sins….If you believe not that He is, you shall die in your sins.

    Reverend David Deal is the senior pastor of Every Christian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Reverend Deal can be reached in care of the Westside Gazette, 545 NW Seventh Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Fla or Email at David.Deal55@gmail.com

    Rev David Deal Westside Gazette
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    Carma Henry

    Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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He has grown his flock from the 25 or so students who showed up at his first services to more than 200 each Sunday. Sometimes, it’s standing room only. “We’ve been trying to figure out what to do next because on Easter Sunday we had 342 people, and some were standing in the back,” he said. Word In Black talked to Lockett about the secrets of his success: how his adjustment of Sunday ser-vices got people into the pews, why his philosophy for guiding students on their spiritual journey centers on independent thought, and how his “Spin the Block” initiative is shaking things up on campus. The in-terview has been edited for length and clarity. Word in Black: The first thing we want to know is, how do you get so many young people to chapel every Sunday?. Lawrence Lockett: Well, first of all, I changed the time of service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I realized a lot of the students like to sleep in late. It gives them time to do whatever they need to do. I’m sure many of them still like to party hearty over the weekend. So they have a good chance just to kind of refocus, recali-brate, get themselves lunch, and then come over to the chapel for service. When I started in November, maybe 20-25 students came, but now it’s over 200 that come every Sun-day, and it’s pretty cool. So now we’re repositioning ourselves to go after the freshman class this year. If we have the same success as last year, there’s definitely not going to be any room. Word in Black: Tell me about pastoring on a college campus. Lawrence Lockett: Morgan actually started as a biblical institute, so the Christian traditions have al-ways been here. As a pastor or shepherd, I’m walking students through their questions, not always just trying to preach answers to them. It’s about being vulnerable. I tell them I was in their same position, just trying to figure it out. And it’s not me just trying to give them answers. Having been there helps me really walk with them and anchor them in the storm of life that’s going to come. I want them to understand that their soul really matters. A lot of students focus on mental health, but they really need to focus on spiritual health as well. It should be one and the same. So I’ve been trying to preach that, if anything, spiritual health is just as important as your mental health. But we do encour-age the use of the counseling center, for sure, if there is a mental health crisis. WIB: What does Monday through Friday look like for you? LL: Mondays, we are usually off because of Sundays. On Tuesdays, we have Bible studies, so I’ll host a Bible study at noon along with my colleagues that work in the chapel. And then, I’m teaching a class called Hip-hop and the Gospel on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., dealing with mixing culture and religion. On Wednesdays, we do something called “breath and balance,” which is just a meditative type of pro-gram with breathing exercises as stress relievers. We work with the School of Nutrition Science and the food resource center so that the students get a nice free meal and practice breathing exercises and meth-ods to feel good about the day. For Thursdays, we started something called the mosaic, in which we have different campus ministers gather in small groups, just like a mosaic painting. So the students who come on Sundays then get plugged into small groups on Thursdays. And on Fridays at 1 p.m., we do prayer for Muslims.. We have an imam lecture and then lead in corporate prayer. It’s a good mix. WIB: What is “Spend a Block?” Didn’t you receive an award for it? LL: That started last year. We just basically do services outside: outside the residence halls, in the quad, wherever it may be. Honestly, worship on a college campus looks different than it did 20 or 30 years ago. 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