How To Get To Heaven

This afternoon, on the way home from school, I was practicing my FAITH outline with Tyler. I asked him the Key Question: In your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes to get to heaven?

Tyler's answer: Well first you have to die.

Chuckling to myself, I thought, "His answer is partly true". I am praying for both of my children - that God would save them at an early age, that they would be passionate about God, know Him, and love Him and serve Him with all of their heart!

So, in your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes to get to heaven and have eternal life?

Let me share with you how the bible answers this question. FAITH

F - FORGIVENESS

We all have sinned and need God's forgiveness. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

God's forgiveness is in Jesus only. "In him we have redemption, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God's grace." Ephesians 1:7

A - AVAILABLE

God's forgiveness is available for all. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever would believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

God's forgiveness is available for all but it is not automatic. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 7:21

I - IMPOSSIBLE

It is impossible for us to get to heaven on our own. "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourself, it is a gift from God, not of works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

So how can a sinful person have eternal life and enter heaven?

T - TURN

We must change direction; turn means repent. We must turn from something to someone.

We must turn from our sin and ourself. Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3

We must turn to Jesus alone as Savior and Lord. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Here is the greatest news of all!

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes resulting in righteousness. With the mouth one confesses resulting in salvation." Romans 10:9-10

So what happens if a person is willing to repent of their sins and confess Jesus?

H - HEAVEN

Heaven is a place where we will get to live with God forever. Jesus said, "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also." John 14:3

Eternal life begins now with Jesus. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." John 10:10

How can a person have God's forgiveness, heaven, and eternal life? By trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Hayden's Prayer

Last night, Hayden was saying his bed time prayer. Here's how it went.

"Dear Jesus, I love you with all of my heart. Thank you for Super Mario Brothers and rabbit hunting, and I love going fishing. Amen"

Well . . . Hayden has never been rabbit hunting. He's only heard his Daddy talk about it. But, he does love Jesus!

Playing in the SNOW!

Winter weather made it's way to Jackson, MS. And boy did it snow! It didn't just snow, I mean it snowed! It snowed for 12 hours straight. We got over 6 inches of snow at our house, a record I hear. School was canceled so we got to enjoy fun in the snow.

Tyler tasting the snow

Hayden making a snow angel

It snowed so hard at times that you couldn't see more than 100 yards in front of you.

We have a pretty big slope on the other side of the dam. We thought we would give our try at some sliding on rubbermaid tops. This is Mommy.

This is Mommy at the bottom after I slid off and crashed.

When Daddy got home, the boys decided to build a snowman.

Here's our snowman - in honor of our Bulldogs!

Daddy had rolled up this huge snowball. Tyler posing on top.

Valentines Party

I picked up Tyler from school Thursday and this is what he looked like.  He had a big green ring around his mouth from a Fun Dippers he ate.  His teacher Ms. Ross just thought it was too cute to wash off.

Tyler's loot from the Valentine's Party and Valentines from classmates

Hayden's party was canceled due to bad weather coming on Friday :)

Who Dat

The Wolfes did Superbowl 44  with our church family.  We had a good time with good food and good friends.  We even had our own rendition of American Idol during the commercial and halftime breaks.

Corey and I in our Saints attire about to head to the church.

The boys in their Saints attire doing the Fleur de Lis.

Country Woods version of American Idol

The judges

The Doowop Allstars - I don't remember what we were "trying" to sing.  All I know is that no one could really understand us.  They just like our moves.

Our pastor Jon Daniels

Where did Alyssa's face go?

Our friends Kevin and Melissa King

Our Student Minister Gerald Young and his wife Tia

Sweet Friends - Racheal Rice and Shelley Townsend

So this was the final score.  GEAUX SAINTS!

Brownies

Everyone in our family loves chocolate . . . and what is better than chocolate fudge brownies and a tall glass of milk?

The boys making brownies.

I guess Tyler thinks he can mix with his eyes closed.  Hayden is all smiles:)

Chores - Feed the Dog

One of the boys' responsibilities is to feed our dog Cutter . . . rain or shine.

Tyler wearing Mommy's rain boots.

Super Mario Brothers

Tyler and Hayden love to play Super Mario Brothers on the Wii.  We have to limit their playing time because they would play for hours if they could.  Tyler can play this game really well.  Hayden, surprisingly, is able to get through many of the boards on level one.  Hayden's favorite thing to do is to get as many powers as he can.  He'd rather have the powers than play the game.  I must say that Daddy and Mommy enjoy playing the game, too.

DN10 - House Full of Boys

I always live with a house full of boys.  This past weekend, however, Corey and I opened our home to a different group of boys . . . the 9th and 10th grade boys of our church youth group.  It was Disciple Now 2010, and we hosted 15 boys including small group leaders for 2 nights!  Yikes!

I'm not sure what Corey and I were thinking when we volunteered to be a host home.  15 boys?????  It was an interesting weekend.  Let me say that we did not get very much sleep.  Even though it was an exhausting weekend, it was really fun getting to know some of the boys.

As soon as the boys arrived, they immediately plugged up their XBox and began playing!

Britt Nicole was the worship leader for the weekend.

Corey and our good friends, Fred and Stacey Newell

The boys certainly made themselves at home.   What a mess - candy wrappers were everywhere!  This was just the first night!

This is how I found Corey Saturday morning - asleep in the closet.

Our small group leader - Soul Train!

Saturday breakfast

Tired boys

The Group

Some of the host home folks