Biblical Moments with Frank King

According to Hebrews 11:6, without faith, it’s impossible to please God. Not hard; but impossible. If you must see the total picture, or if you must always know the total game plan before you move or act, you won’t accomplish much for God. In this episode, Frank King focuses on the importance of living by faith. He says that whenever we choose to follow God’s lead, His plan will always require us to take a faith journey.
When Abraham was past the age of 100, God tested his faith. He told Abraham to go to an appointed place and offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. What made this so challenging is the story behind the birth of Isaac. He was a miracle baby because his mother Sarah was born barren. God opened her womb to conceive Isaac when she was eighty-nine.
Isaac was Abraham’s only son. He was God’s answer to Abraham’s complaint that he had no seed.  But now God was telling Abraham to offer up his only son by fire. With child-like faith, Abraham proceeded to obey the Lord.
The angel of the Lord intervened to prevent Abraham form killing his son to offer him up. But God blessed Abraham for his obedience. He became the father of many nations.
I believe we would all agree that Abraham passed the testing of his faith.  A point we can draw from this account is that, sometimes, before God elevates us, He will test us. And for us to get through that test, we must be willing to make the associated faith journey.
The Metric for Our Success
It’s important to note that our success as Christians is not measured by how things turn out when we obey God. Rather, by whether we obeyed Him to walk by faith. Sometimes, when we are convinced God has called us to do something, we don’t do it. Instead, we agonize over whether or not it will succeed. But the metric for our success is our obedience to God and not the outcome.
Accordingly, consider the great men and women of faith mentioned in the book of Hebrews. “These having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39, NASB).
Leaving Your Comfort Zone
Abraham’s faith journey really began when God told him to leave home. He said, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to a land which I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1, NASB).
Similarly, if you want to be relevant for God, you must be willing to abandon your comfort zone. If not, you will limit what God wants to do through you. In fact, the moment you reach a place that’s comfortable for you, and you decide to stay there, you will cease to grow.
That’s not true in Christianity only. That’s how it works in the world as well. The movers and shakers in our world are those who move beyond comfortable boundaries to explore greater opportunities. And by the same token, God wants us to be movers and shakers in the Kingdom.
Everybody who commits to following the Lord is on a faith journey. Why? Because that’s the only kind of journey the Lord leads us on. How far we will go on that journey is determined by how much we are willing to walk by faith and trust God for the outcome.
 
 
 
 
 

Christianity is based upon a personal relationship with God. That relationship is made possible only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sad but true, many churchgoers fail to ever move from the point of mere religion to relationship. In this episode, Frank King explains that mere religion is not enough.
The story of Judas the disciple should serve as a warning that mere religion is not enough.  Think about it. Judas had the greatest Preacher and Teacher in the world as his minister. He heard perhaps every message Jesus delivered. He saw the miracles Jesus performed. But in the end, Judas died apart from God.
It appears that Judas was just, as we say, playing church. Even near the end of Jesus’ public ministry, the Bible reveals some troubling things about Judas. For one, he went to the religious leaders and promised to betray the Lord for money (Matthew 26:15). From that point on, he sought the opportunity to betray the Lord.
Then at another place, the Bible referred to Jesus as a thief (John 12:6). This man was hand-picked by Jesus. He left the affairs of his life to follow Jesus. For three years he came to every service Jesus held. He heard every sermon Jesus preached—or at least he was present. He witnessed all the miracles Jesus did.
But for Judas, all of the above amounted to nothing but religious activity. And that will get you know where with God. Judas’ demise is a tragic reminder of the futility of mere religion.
Religion versus Relationship
Ask those whom you meet and who claim to know the Lord to tell you the basis of their claim to salvation. Perhaps some would mention when they got baptized, or how long they have been a member of a local church. But many who attend church faithfully and have been baptized still don’t know the Lord as their Savior.
Church leaders sometimes send the wrong message. They like to emphasize head count and faithful church attendance. They stress getting involved in so-called church work and faithfully giving tithes and offerings.
But the ultimate goal for each congregant should be to realize a personal relationship with the Lord. You get there by trusting in what Jesus did on the cross, and not upon what you do in church. You get there by allowing Christ to be the Lord of our life, and spending time with Him daily.
According to the Bible, the devil put it in Judas’ heart to betray the Lord (John 13:2). But that wasn’t the only voice speaking to Judas. The Lord was speaking to him. He heard Jesus preach about hell and how terrible it was. He heard Jesus preach about the need to repent, and how to be saved. Judas saw Jesus rebuke and cast out devils, etc. Yes, Judas had many opportunities to be saved.
The same is true for the lost today. Several voices are speaking to them. They include the voice of this world, the voice of the devil, the voice of our flesh, and the voice of the Lord. They are all trying to get our attention. One must choose to obey the voice of the Lord.

Nothing should be more important to us than to be sure that we are right with God before Jesus returns.  If we fail on that point, nothing else matters in the end. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King presents and explains God’s simple plan for salvation.
This subject is important because we can be wrong on many things in life that won’t be a big deal.  But the subject of salvation is the real deal. If we are wrong about that, it will have eternal consequences.
In his letter to the church at Rome, chapter 10, Paul reveals God’s plan for salvation. He introduces the subject by expressing his concern for the eternal fate of Israel. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved,” he writes (Romans 10:1, KJV). The fact that he prayed to God that Israel might be saved suggests that, to him, their salvation was not secure.
The problem was not that the Israelites had no interest in their God. Rather, they had “a zeal of God but not according to knowledge” (verse 3).
Being religiously zealous does not make one saved. Having a religious zeal does not even make you a nice person to be around. You can be one of the most deeply religious people in the world, and at the same time be among the meanest. As for the Israelites, they were zealous toward God but ignorant of the truth about Him. Hence, they had zeal void of knowledge.
Simple but Life-Changing
Verse 9 of the chapter brings us to the climax of Paul’s discourse. He writes, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (NASB). And by the way, God who looks on the heart knows whether or not one truly believes in his or her heart.
Wow! That’s about as simple as it can get. So, why do so many people reject God’s simple plan for salvation? For one thing, unbelief is a powerful thing. In the Bible and in the church, we often talk about the power of faith. In fact, Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23, NASB). But to those who are bound by it, unbelief is a powerful thing as well.
Also, people tend to associate value with cost. In other words, if something is of high value, it must cost a lot. So, the thinking of many unbelievers is that because they are in a terrible spiritual condition, it must take something radical and extreme to save them. In other words, how can such a simple plan of salvation save a wretch like me?
That is the mystery of salvation. The truth is that we are radically changed by the power of God through our simple and genuine act of faith. It’s called the born-again experience. Through it, God changes us on the inside, making us a new creation.

We don’t have to have all the answers to life’s challenges. But our faith must be in the one who does, and that is God and His Son Jesus Christ. In this episode, Frank King wants you to know that whatever your problem or challenge is in life, God has the answer.
At times, we may find ourselves lacking what we need in life. But it is amazing what the Lord can do with the little we have when we trust Him with it. For instance, in John’s record of the gospel, he writes about a time when Jesus took a little boy’s food, blessed it, and fed an army of people. The group included almost 5000 men (John 6:10). Everyone ate as much as he wanted, and the leftovers greatly exceeded what Jesus began with.
This miraculous event occurred in the wilderness. Three important points about that: One, they were in the wilderness because the people had followed Jesus from the city. Two, the people were hungry.  Three, because they were in the wilderness, no place existed for buying food even if they had the money.
Initially, Jesus asked Philip what they were going to do to feed the people. “This He was saying to test him, for He himself knew what He was intending to do” (John 6:6, NASB). Similarly, whatever problem you have, the Lord always know what to do about it.
The Object of Your Faith
Understand that your faith is no better than the object of your faith. Some people have faith in their money, but money has its limits. Some place their faith in themselves or in other people. But people have limits also. That’s why it behooves us to place our faith in God. In Mark 9:23, Jesus says, all things are possible to him who believes.
In effect, Jesus is saying that we are limited only by our faith in God. You are not limited by the color of your skin. Nor by what side of the track you live on. Your educational background is not the deciding factor. All things are possible for you if you believe.
That does not mean those things mentioned above don’t offer challenges. Of course, they do. But when your faith is in God, you are not limited by those things. Faith does not ignore reality. But placing your faith in God means you are more moved by what you believe than by what you see—or by where you came from.
That brings us to the practical side of the gospel. It only adds value to those who come to hear it, if it is practical. That is, it must have some take away value so the people can plug it into their lives and benefit from it.
So, what are we trying to do to people who come and hear the gospel? One of our ultimate goals should be to bring people to the point of believing that whatever their problem is, God has the answer.
 
 

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, NASB). Jesus responded to the devil this way in the wilderness when the devil tempted Him to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger. Jesus’ words underscore the importance of the Word of God in the life of a Christian. In this episode, Evangelist Frank King addresses the indispensability of the Word of God in our life.
You and I are not only a physical being but also we are a spiritual being. Accordingly, no matter how good and wholesome the foods that we eat are, they can do nothing to help us become spiritually strong or healthy. That’s why we can’t live on bread alone. And that’s why we have the Word of God.
To become the spiritually strong and vibrant Christian God wants us to be, we must develop a healthy appetite for God’s Word. Any believer who does not build himself up with the Word of God will be anemic and spiritually malnourished. This is the reason for many of the weak Christians in the truth today.
The premise of what Jesus told the devil in the wilderness is that we must heed the Word of God. In other words, the value of the Bible does not come through merely reading and hearing it, but through practicing it’s teachings.
God and His Word Are One
The fascinating thing about the Bible is that it is the record of words that came straight from the mouth of God. Or words that have been inspired by God for holy men to write.
Suppose somebody says, “I just need God to come and audibly speak to me about this serious problem.” If that were to happen, God would speak consistently with the Scriptures pertaining to the matter at hand. He and His Word are one.
In a nutshell, when we read the Bible, God is speaking to us. That precious time alone with Him deserves our undivided attention as He speaks to us.  Similarly, when a preacher preaches the Word of God, it is God speaking to His people through His servant. That’s why everyone present should pay total and reverential attention.
Because we don’t live by bread alone, it behooves us to become serious students of the Bible. Only a daily and generous diet of God’s Word can make and keep us spiritually strong. Admittedly, getting serious about studying the Bible can be intimidating for new believers.  That’s due to the mere size of the Bible. It has 1189 chapters. But many free Bible-reading plans exist that one can use.
Jesus says we live by every word from the mouth of God. Sad but true, some preachers today choose to be selective about what they will preach and teach from the Bible.
The bottom line is that you cannot be strong in the Lord if you don’t feed your inner man with the Word of God ideally daily.

Unless you live with your head buried in the sand, you know that there are vicious assaults going on against the Christian faith these days. Not everybody agrees with, or wants to submit to, God’s plan for their lives and for this world. The opposition is passionate about getting their message out. In this episode, Frank King argues that the church must be just as or even more passionate to contend for the faith.
Based on the words of Jude’s epistle, this assault against the Christian faith is not unique to our day. It existed during the days of the apostles as well. Jude expresses the urgency of his appeal to the believers:
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3, KJV).
According to Jude, his initial intent was to write to them about salvation, which is extremely important. But that initial intent was overcome by the need to address this more urgent issue. There exists two key terms or phrases in the verse above: “earnestly contend” and “the faith which was once delivered to the saints.”
To earnestly contend for the faith means we must not be passive or noncommittal but diligent to do so. The faith that was delivered to the saints refers to the undiluted gospel that has been given to us by the Lord Jesus and His apostles.
What was the occasion for Jude’s urgent appeal? It was ungodly men who had crept in among the believers unawares. These men denied God and the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 4).
The State of the Church Today
We have the same kind of evil men among us today that existed in Jude’s day.  Some are preachers who have gained access to pulpits in our churches. They are preaching another gospel. Some downplay or outright the deny the need to repent. They turn the message of grace into a message of go to heaven your way. Some don’t even believe in the virgin birth of Christ or the deity of Christ.
Accordingly, the state of today's church continues to decline. It used to be that if you were an American, the default assumption was that you identified with Christianity as your faith. That’s certainly not true anymore.
It used to be that if you said you were a Christian, we had a pretty good idea of what you meant by that. And that there were some core beliefs that you adhered to. But that’s becoming less and less true today.
We can’t reverse what has happened in the church. But we must not ignore the danger either. God is calling the church to go against the grain of society. To earnestly contend for the faith that was given to us by the Lord and His apostle. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

With a view toward the holiday we call Thanksgiving Day, Frank King in this podcast episode shares three reasons for us to be thankful. Of course, thanksgiving for us is not merely a day of the year. Rather, it is a way of life. But the holiday serves as a good opportunity for us talk about the importance of thanksgiving and being thankful.
It’s highly possible that some who listen to this podcast episode may not be feeling as though they have much to be thankful for. Let’s face it; even Christians can experience times in life when things can look dark. God never promised us that every day in our life would be a great day.
But Frank says these are three reasons you should be thankful—even when your circumstances suggest otherwise. That’s because these three things are true about God even when you are unhappy about your current status in life. Remember, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18, KJV).
The focus of this podcast is not the giving of thanks but being thankful. Frank says these two are not necessarily the same. He says you can attend worship every week, offer thanksgiving to God, and still not be thankful. You can offer thanksgiving and not be thankful, but you can’t be thankful and not offer thanksgiving.
"Give Thanks to Him, Bless His Name"
In Psalm 100, the psalmist challenges the people of God to come to the house of God with thanksgiving and praise. He writes, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name” (Psalm 100:4, NASB).
To appreciate this verse, consider the physical setting of the house of God in the Old Testament. There were twelve gates to the city. As you approach the house of God, the outside area immediately adjacent to the house of God was called the courts. The psalmist challenged the people to enter this area with thanksgiving and praise.
How might the words of the psalmist speak to us today? Some people today attend the house of God expecting the choir or the praise team to get them in a spirit of worship. Or for the preacher to get to the climax of his message to get them excited. But the psalmist says we should enter the “gates” with thanksgiving and the “courts” with praise. For us today, that means we should enter the church property with thanksgiving and the entrance with praise—before we enter the house of God.
Why should we come to the house of God with this exuberance? In the next verse, the psalmist gives us three reasons: “For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations” (verse 4).

To properly relate to God, we must have some understanding of His ways. The more we understand them, the better we can relate to Him. In this episode, Frank King focuses on God’s way of doing things.
Some Christians are naïve in their approach to God because they are ignorant of His ways. The way they think is not compatible with how God operates. But one thing that is clear in the Scriptures is that God does not tailor His ways to accommodate our ignorance or misconceptions.
Are you currently waiting on the Lord to fulfill a promise to you? You pray and look and wait, but you don’t see anything happening. Well, perhaps; just perhaps; God is fulfilling His promise to you. But He is doing it in such a way you cannot even imagine.
Our ignorance of God’s way of doing things can breed frustration. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts,” He says (Isaiah 55:9, KJV). That’s why He has given us the Bible so we can learn His ways.
Nothing Is Too Hard for God
When the angel appeared to Abraham to announce that God would bless Sarah with a child, Sarah laughed. This was understandable. At this time, she was 89 years old and had been born barren.
The angel heard it when Sarah laughed. He asked Abraham why did Sarah laugh. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” the angel asked (Genesis 18:14). It was a rhetorical question. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
God is indescribably powerful and resourceful. To Him, no difference exists between what we see as simple and what we regard as complicated. For God, there is a blurring of the line between these two extremes.
If you were financially strapped, you would see a big difference between an item that costs $5 dollars and another brand of the same item for $20. But to a billionaire, there is virtually no difference between the two. That’s because a billionaire has so much money.
Similarly, at times, we may ask ourselves why does God seem to do things the complicated way? But in His eyes, there is absolutely no difference between what seems to be the easy route and what seems to be complicated or even impossible. It’s all the same to Him. This is the awesome God we serve. And our thinking and faith need to gravitate to that higher level.
Sometimes, God will tear down what we have built so He can do a new thing. Or suffer a phase of failure so that we might ultimately succeed. He may take us around the world to get us across the street. But in the end, God is faithful—always.
For just about anything in life, more than one way exists to do it. But our focus should always be upon God’s way of doing things.