To My Fellow Schwab Employees

As I have already stated in my email from today, I cannot thank each of you enough for the impact you have had on my life. Some of you had a significant impact, while others only a small, but nevertheless you have impacted my life and made a contribution that I can never repay... Thank you.

I care deeply about every one of you. Some of you are going through some very difficult, life-altering events, and I have been praying for you. These circumstances are never easy, but we all must go through them every now and again, and I believe with all my heart that it is these circumstances that God desires to use to get our attention about our life and eternal matters (Lamentations 3:33-41). Our life on this earth is short; it is the eternal things that truly matter (2Cor. 4:18). We ought to make sure that what we believe about eternity is true.

When I say that I care, I really mean it... and what kind of person would I be if I said that I cared deeply but didn't share with you what I believe about eternity?! If I stayed silent on this matter, I would be a hypocrite that just says that I care, but doesn't care enough to tell you what I believe is true. Someone that is a true friend will always tell you the truth, even if it hurts (Prov. 27:6). Please consider the following words. I believe the bible is the word of God, and this is what it says:


WE ARE SINNERS
God is holy, perfect, pure, righteous, and completely just (Deuteronomy 32:4; Genesis 18:25; Psalm 92:15); we are not... not even close. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20) because we have broken God's holy standard (1John 3:4). Even if we have sinned just one time in our lifetime, that still makes us sinners that have broken God's law/standard (James 2:10). Just like when words go out of our mouth and cannot be reversed, so when we sin it cannot be undone. From our human perspective and understanding we can try do something to make up for the mistakes we've committed, but from God's perspective his standard is perfection (Isaiah 64:6; 1Peter 1:15-16). We have personally offended our Creator, and since he is holy, perfectly just, he must judge sin; there must be a consequence for sin. If there is no just judgment of sin and no consequence for sin, God is an unjust, imperfect judge, and if the God of the bible is true this cannot be! God is not a liar (Titus 1:2). When we die we will stand before God and give an account of our life (Hebrews 9:27). If we stand before him in our sin, we will have no hope... we are all guilty. There is nothing we can do on our own to redeem ourselves from our sin... We need a savior.


WE NEED A SAVIOUR
It is clear - we are guilty sinners before a holy God. To be forgiven of our sin, and redeemed from the consequences of our sin (death, hell, and the lake of fire - Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15) we need a way of escape. We need a saviour! Jesus Christ is the one and only savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1Timothy 2:5). God does not want us to perish in our sin (2Peter 3:9; Romans 1:16); he has every right to let us perish because of our sin, but the Lord chose to love us and offer a way to escape the just judgment we deserve. The bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1, 14; 10:30; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23), and when Jesus died on the cross he chose to bear the sins of all mankind on his shoulders (1John 2:2) and therefore receive God's full punishment for sin (Isaiah 53:6, 10-11). Please understand what this means... God took your sin and my sin and received our punishment for our sin so that we may have the chance to be redeemed! There is no greater display of love than this! Jesus has truly become the Saviour we need... (John 3:1-36)


WE HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE...
As we've already established, we are sinners and we truly need the Saviour, but now we are at the crossroads of the most important decision you will ever make... What will you do with Jesus?

#1 - Will you choose to believe this and receive the free gift of salvation God freely offers through the Lord Jesus Christ?

#2 - Will you choose to not believe this and reject the free gift of salvation God freely offers through the Lord Jesus Christ?

The bible says it clearly and very simple:

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:9-13
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.


This is why I believe the gospel with all my heart and am not ashamed of it...

• God is real
• God is holy, perfect, pure, and just
• I am a sinner
• As a sinner I have violated God and deserve to be separated from God for all eternity
• God loves me and is not willing that I should perish in my sin
• God provided a way for me to be redeemed from my sin... Jesus Christ!
• The Lord Jesus Christ is my Redeemer because I believe he loved me, took my sin, took my punishment, and I called upon him to save me; without him I can do nothing

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog entry... Will you prayerfully and carefully consider these things? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email: swineka@gmail.com

Until our paths cross again!
-Stephen Wineka

Going Deeper... "Follow Me"

God has been stretching me lately by calling me to a life that will be willing to go deeper with him... and I have determined that I need to write more about these things. I need to remember what God is doing now so that when I look back over my life at a later point in time, I can thank him for all the things he has done. In my life I have always learned that my ways are pathetic in comparison to what God desires to do, and yet it is such a battle to keep my flesh under subjection (1Cor 9:27) and stay content in God's ways. To be honest, one of the things that keeps coming to my mind is fear when it comes to going deeper with God... but why?! God gave himself to redeem my soul, as well as to offer eternal redemption to all those that would believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:3; 9:12-15; 10:10-14; Jn. 3:16-17, 36; Acts 20:28; Gal. 3:13; 1Thess. 1:10; 1Pt. 1:18-19; 1Jn. 2:1-2). Therefore it should be a very small thing to give everything that I am back to him! This is where I cannot help but to think to myself...

Romans 7:24-25 - "24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

This has been my conviction lately... I exist and am alive in this world for the sake of Jesus Christ and his gospel, therefore I must further the gospel in some way everyday. If I lay my head on my pillow at night and cannot be persuaded that I have furthered the gospel, then I am not living in the center of God's will. O Lord, help me! I cannot do this on my own strength, wisdom, or power. You, Jesus, must change me from the inside out in order for me to obey this conviction... and I know that there is nothing that you ask of me that you haven't given me the ability to do each day, so I need to believe you and obey you.

Matthew 4:19 - "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Matthew 16:24 - "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Mark 8:34 - "And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Luke 9:23 - "And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

John 10:27 - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"

John 12:26 - "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honour."

1 Corinthians 4:16 - "Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me."

1 Corinthians 11:1 - "Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ."

Ephesians 5:1 - "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;"

Philippians 3:17 - "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample."

1 Thessalonians 1:6 - "And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:"

Hebrews 6:12 - "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Luke 10:42 ...one thing is needful...

God just reminded me of a simple truth that is nearly lost among professing Christians today...

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Psalm 27:4, 8

4 One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple... 8 [When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Philippians 3:13

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

There is "one thing" in the Christian walk that is "needful", that we should "desire" and "do"... and yet, we often feel as if there are "many things". If we make a mistake we want to make it up, fill the gap, and prove ourselves trustworthy. For example, if we don't think we are spending enough time reading or studying the scriptures or praying we often feel that we need to find a way to do better next time. If we miss an opportunity to evangelize to a friend, family member, or stranger we often feel as if we have failed and attempt to conjure up a plan to succeed the next time the opportunity comes. If we happen to give in to that familiar temptation and sin that so easily besets us we think that we are now on God's bad-side and make up steps to never do it again and beg for forgiveness. It is in these circumstances we feel that we've somehow let God down because we are not meeting all the criteria that makes up the definition of "Born-again" in the biblical dictionary. We feel like an utterly defeated failure.

The truth is, we've got it backwards... We've fallen prey to our own opinions and developed our own system of legalism. God doesn't expect us to change, he wants to change us - he must change us! This is exactly why Paul stated in Galatians 3:3, "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Salvation comes through faith, not works (Eph 2:8-9; Gal 2:16; 3:24; Rom 3:28), so then why would we think that we can work out the Christian life by our own works?! Colossians 2:6-7 state, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." We are to walk each day in the similar way we trusted Jesus Christ to save us! God must change us from the inside out. We cannot expect to change things in ourselves and somehow that will help change the inside to glorify God. God must be allowed to work in us first before we can ever behave in such a way that he would be glorified through our actions... and this is what Mary, David, and Paul all knew how to do. Instead of being like Martha, who was cumbered about with much serving, we need to make sure that we have the heart of Mary first. Once we submit ourselves at the Lord's feet with a heart-attitude of "whatever you want, Lord", then we can go and serve and glorify God. 

Never forget, when we do the "one thing", the Lord will take care of the "many things".

-Stephen

Ephesians 1-3 ~ Because of our Saviour...

Through Jesus Christ we are…

 

Chapter 1

Given grace and peace (vs. 2)

Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (vs. 3)

Holy and without blame before God (vs. 4)

Adopted children in God's family (vs. 5)

Accepted in the beloved (vs. 6)

Redeemed and forgiven from our sin (vs. 7)

Given an inheritance (vs. 11)

The praise of Christ's glory (vs. 12)

Sealed with the Holy Spirit (vs. 13)

Given the Holy Spirit as an earnest of our inheritance (vs. 14)

Given hope (vs. 18)

 

Chapter 2

Quickened from the trespasses and sins that made us dead (vs. 1)

Quickened together with Christ (vs. 5)

Raised up and seated in heavenly places (vs. 6)

Shown God's exceeding riches of grace and kindness (vs. 7)

Saved by grace through faith (vs. 8)

Saved not by our own works (vs. 9)

Created to walk in good works (vs. 10)

Made nigh to God (vs. 13)

Granted peace with God (vs. 14)

Reconciled to God (vs. 16)

Given access to the Father through the Spirit (vs. 18)

Fellowcitizens with the saints (vs. 19)

Built upon the foundation of God's apostles, prophets, and Christ (vs. 20)

The temple of the Lord (vs. 21)

The habitation of God through the Spirit (vs. 22)

 

Chapter 3

Fellowheirs, of the same body, and partakers of God's promises (vs. 6)

Given the unsearchable riches of Christ (vs. 8)

Given fellowship in the mystery of the church (vs. 9)

Given boldness and access with confidence to God (vs. 12)

In God's family (vs. 15)

Loved with an incomprehensible love (vs. 18-19)

Given the ability to be filled with all the fulness of God (vs. 19)

WOW!!

-Stephen

Adam & Eve... Jesus & the Church

Ephesians 5:25-33
"25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

Genesis 2:18-25
"18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

What God did to create Eve from Adam is the exact thing that he did to create the church from Jesus Christ! As God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, so God sent his Son to die upon the cross and fall into a deep sleep. As God wounded Adam to take out a rib and create Eve, so God wounded Jesus Christ by putting our sin upon him and taking Jesus's righteousness and putting it upon us to (re)create us. As Adam awoke from sleep, so Jesus awoke from the dead. As God brought Eve to Adam, so through the salvation of God we were brought by the Lord to Christ. As Eve was declared bone of Adam's bone and flesh of Adam's flesh, so the church is one with the Lord Jesus Christ, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. What a miracle is the mystery of the church! Christ in us and us in Christ!

The Lord is Our Treasure, Reward, and Portion... What more would we want?!

(KJV) Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

(KJV) Psalms 16:5,6
5 The LORD [is] the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant [places]; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

(KJV) Lamentations 3:24
24 The LORD [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

(KJV) 1 Corinthians 3:22
22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

(KJV) Hebrews 13:5,6
5 [Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

(KJV) Revelation 21:3,4
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Not Ashamed...

Romans 1:14-17
"14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

When we are sound in God's word, persuaded in his promises, hoping in his gift of salvation, we will not be ashamed of our state before God. We are redeemed! God is not ashamed to be called our God... Why would we be ashamed of his power into salvation?! We ought to be ready to preach!

Is 6:8; Matt 9:38; 1Pt 3:15; Ps 199:46; Jer 26:12-16; Dan 3:16-18; Matt 10:18-20; Lk 21:14-15; Acts 5:29; Col 4:6; 2Tim 2:25

Gen 2:25; Ps 34:5; Ps 119:80; Rom 5:5; 2Tim 1:12; Heb 2:10; Heb 11:16