031 OUR FATHER

Having been raised to atheism in a catholic church, where everyone monotonously mumbled the Lord's prayer as if it were a punishment in itself, for many years, even since becoming a Christian, I didn't feel comfortable praying the Lord's prayer. For one thing, I didn't dig it or understand what it was supposed to be all about.

Although there are many mystic and esoteric attempts to de-mystify this actually rather simple prayer (after all, it's the only piece of liturgy - apart from the last supper - the Lord ever asked us, His disciples, to observe, so there had to be some deeper meaning to it), I couldn't quite find one I was able to happily live with myself, until last night, when the last holes in the puzzle were filled in for me (amazingly, after watching an issue of Star Trek's "Deep Space9"), and I'm finally ready to let the world in on my own interpretation of the Lord's prayer - for whatever it's worth (if you've got a better one, feel free to let me know.)


Our Father, Who art in Heaven

- God is our Father, our Creator, and although, like some say, and in a way it is right, that He is everywhere, His abode - the place where He primarily resides, is not right here with us, on earth, but a better place: heaven. (A circumstance which, according to Revelations 21 will change someday.)

Hallowed be Thy name

"There is no other name under heaven given by which we can be saved. I and the Father are one. Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name will be done... (Acts 4:12, Matth.10:30, John 14:13,14). As far as we'rec oncerned, the name of our Father, is Jesus (s.a. Isa.9:6, Phil.2:9-11). (Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus said, "Father, glorify Thy name." And an audible voice from heaven answered "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again," as if to say, "in You - Jesus - it is glorified" - see John 12:27-31. "Jehovah" or "Jah" means "Iam" or "I am that I am." In John 8:58 Jesus makes it clear that He was - and is that "I am." See also John 1:1-14.)

Thy Kingdom come

The Kingdom of Heaven isn't here yet, we've got to ask for it to come, invite it, prepare for it & make room for it. We must allow Him and ask Him to introduce His program to replace the "matrix" of the Devil.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

It's already being done in heaven, but not yet down here on earth. We've got to pray for that - and put feet to those prayers by being the first to obey Him and implement His will.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our tresspasses

While most of us are very concerned with the first half of that phrase (and our God is not too busy, too great or too important to take care of our physical needs), it's interesting to note that Jesus seems to be putting the second half on the same level of importance. In other words, we need forgiveness of our sins as badly as we need our daily food.

... as we forgive those who trespass against us

...and in order to obtain that vital forgiveness, we must forgive others also.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

For many of us, the temptation that the evil one is trying to bring into our lives daily is to give ourselves the glory for whatever we have done, and we should not yield to that evil temptation, but give the glory & credit to Whom it is due, Whose accomplishments are not temporal, like ours, but eternal. Our world may crumble and fade, as does our strength, but His stands forever, and only in Him can we live forever, too. Sometimes we act as if this present world were "the Kingdom"around which everything revolves. After all, we've built it in our own strength (or so we think), and we indulge in our own power and glory. True believers recognize that our own power is futile, even non-existent, that in truth, all power - everything - comes from God, and He's the One Who deserves the glory for it.

Amen

That's the way it's got to be. And it shall.

Summary:
1.) Our big heavenly "Daddy" - although He lives in Heaven - can hear us, otherwise there'd be not point in this prayer. He has chosen a name, a code word or key by which we can approach and reach Him anytime: Jesus (s.a. 1Tim2:5).
2.) We must make room & prepare for His program to be happening in our lives. It's already running successfully in the 5th dimension.
3.) He supplies our needs, both spiritual & physical (and they're equally important) and one of the major pointers for staying healthy is: forgiveness.
4.) Let's stay on guard not to fall into the temptation of giving ourselves the credit for anything, but always give honor to Whom it is due: He's the Eternal One, and we can only partake in His divinity by accepting that.
You better believe it.

030 Advantages Of Being Nobody

The advantages of being a nobody are - from a believer's point of view - not to be underestimated, although they don't make any sense, nor do they present any value to the agnostic mind or merely logical thinker.

The rewards of becoming "somebody" are obvious: fame, money, "success," the ability to pat yourself on the back & say, "yeah, I've made it!" The rewards of remaining a nobody are much more subtle instead, yet not any less real to the one who is able to recognize and perceive them at all: Lack of fame keeps you humble and able to keep the Lord in the No.1 position, instead of yourself. Lack of money keeps you dependent on Him, trusting in Him, instead of your wealth. Success becomes something else to you than as what it is commonly conceived: instead of being synonymous with acquiring the preceding commodities, success instead can be measured by the way you managed to love someone today or the way you made it through the day without worrying, fussing or cussing, and appreciated the little things and people around you instead... And as far as not being able to pat yourself on the back for your own accomplishment goes, you're clearly able to give honor to Whom it is due for whatever did get accomplished.

Being a musician, it can be even tougher to observe others ascend to fame and fortune while you yourself seem to be passed and ignored by "Lady Luck," but then... Did you ever notice how a lot of bands or songwriters seem to lose that magic about their songs as soon as they made it to the top? The examples I could list of this phenomenon in secular music that come to my mind are more than I could number here. You're a fan of a certain singer or songwriter and think "they're the greatest," but along comes album no. 7 or 5, 3, or even 2, and you're disappointed. It's gone. The stress of fame has choked out the magic that got them there in the first place...

When it comes to Christian artists, they sometimes seem to be able to preserve that spark of genuine inspiration a bit longer than their secular counterparts, depending on the "realness" of their faith & relationship with Jesus, I guess.

My absolute heroes for a long time were Shane (Barnard) & Shane (Everett), and their earlier albums have certainly been a great enrichment & obviously an influence on my own songwriting since... ("Breath Of God" or "May The Words" are classics that really lit up our musical landscape!) I'm really happy for the guys being so busy and booked out, but sometimes that "busy-ness" comes through in the music one creates & replaces that sweet humble touch of the Holy Ghost that was there originally.

Caedmon's Call were the next candidates to make my day, musically speaking, and songs like "Walk With Me" or "Shifting Sand" have a magic to them that doesn't seem to cease. As far as their later productions are concerned, one can also tell that fame and popularity have claimed their dues in that original simplicity and inspiration, although I take my hat off to the guts ... had in singing "I Repent." (Thank you for saying what you did in that song! Where's the studio version?)

Next came Watermark with that voice that puts mega stars like Shania Twain to shame, and the live (?) version of "Knees To The Earth" is a classic that I can imagine still being sung years from now... More of that simplicity would have done it for me!

Jeremy Camp is definitely one of my musical heroes, and I loved his Unplugged DVD/CD with the sweet & simple performance of his wife, coming on stage barefoot... One could definitely tell that those guys' faith is real on that show. There probably is a way to "walk by faith" even when you're incredibly talented and blessed with goods, & I congratulate anyone who gets there. I only wish there would be a little more focus on the lost sheep out there, some of that "missionary" approach, not just singing over and over again to the 99 who are already safely in the fold, but follow the Master out into the dark & cold wilderness to find that one lost sheep...

Finally, Bethany Dillon, aka "Da Fu-chah," or at least a big hope of the future for some, including myself. She has touched my heart more than any of the above with her songs, & it must be that conviction that comes from the heart of such a young person, truly dedicated to God... What I like about her is that she even talks about Bible passages she reads on her Web Journal, and to me that shows that she really lives in the Word, which is the secret of faith. I only pray that she stays true to that devotion & won't allow the cares of this life to choke that seed.

Recently I came across some stuff by Natasha Bedingfield, who apparently has a Christian background, but doesn't allow all too much of those (former?) convictions to shine through in her present stuff, like "Single." I don't want to misjudge the lady, nor begrudge her her fame, (even if it may come across like that), but to me it looks like a typical example of someone for whom fame and popularity have become more important than their faith. According to secular reasoning that may make perfect sense, but who was it that said that faith isn't what it should be unless it's all you've got, or something to that extent? Anyways, that's the kind of faith I'm seeking, and I'm grateful that I haven't been "blessed" with too many distractions on my way there...

It's good to be a nobody. It's almost a bit like being invisible. While all the somebodies are trying so hard to look good for all the people staring at them, nobodies have time to look and see and observe for themselves... and see things many others cannot ... and hear things, too!

God’s mind on the matter

029 Let's Try This One More Time...

Yes, it's actually Thursday, October 12 - or at least, it was...

Well, so, Eponym - my former Blog host or service announced today that they were going to discontinue their free service. For poor musicians like me, this meaneth: MOVE IT!
And that's precisely what I've done...
Guess it's my own fault or ignorance for not having chosen a better service sooner, but I was never one of the quick ones.

You'll also find here, in addition to the blogs I had posted on eponym, some old web articles from before the time the word "blog" ever reached my ears... Just for completeness' sake...

News is: it has come to that: we're just going to have to trust the Lord to get us through another winter...

The lean months are ahead, but they're what keep us humble, desperate & close to Him. Besides that, lots more music a-cookin'... and, oh yes: the unbelievable has happened: McDozer's got himself a keyboard! Check out the first results!

028 Nationalism Vs. Christianity! - Who do you serve, your country or your Savior?

Sept.27, 2006

Who do you serve, your country or your Savior?

Most American Christians I have known are primarily Americans, and secondarily Christians. Their foremost loyalty and allegiance is to the American flag, their nation, that "great country" that they seem to believe has given them everything they have and has given them the opportunity to enjoy all they've got, and their "freedom."

When Jesus preached to the Jews about freedom (see John 8), they said, "we've never been anyone's servant...." They didn't see the need for any liberation, because they thought they were already free. But Jesus said, "I am telling you the truth: whoever commits a sin is a servant of sin."

The sad thing is that a lot of Christians merely use their religion as a cloak for their sin; a cloak to hide it, especially from themselves. The rest of the world isn't that easily fooled, because most of us can tell real righteousness from hypocrisy, true faith and saintliness from mere disguised selfishness and self-adulation.

It's what C.S. Lewis called the universal moral law, which Paul also described in his epistles, as doing those things which are lawful, even when we don't know the law, while others, claiming to keep the "law" are often its greatest violators.

Now let's expose that sin of nationalism. What's so bad about being a patriot and at the same time claiming to be a true Christian? If Christians would read their Bibles a little more, instead of just listen to the pre-chewed versions of what the Bible supposedly says, from their TV-evangelists and preachers, they would know. First of all, Jesus said to His disciples, His followers, those who adhere to His teachings: "You are not from this world." (John 15:19). John takes this further in his epistles and says, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1Jn 2:17), and James even says, "friendship with the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4).

So, since your country is evidently a very visible and tangible part of the world (and not only that, but in most patriot's mind, also the best in the world, and "champion of the world,") you're going to have to make a decision whom you're going to serve, and who is your master, since Jesus said you can't serve both.

Most American Christians justify any criminal action of their nation against another by the mere fact that if they're a Christian nation, so that whatever they do, whichever nation they fall into and breathe slaughter against, it can't be wrong. But that attitude is in itself very wrong and is based on the grossest of collective self-deception that human history has probably ever seen.

A true Christian and a true believer is one of those described in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, where we find a list of all those great pilgrims & strangers who refused to call this world (and any nation in it) their home, because they were seeking for a better Place, Whose Builder and Maker is God.

So, when it comes down to it, I strongly disagree with anyone who says that they can be a devout patriot and a true believer, a real Christian, at the same time, but I will even call every flag-waving patriot pretending to be a Christian a hypocrite and a traitor.

There were a lot of Christians in the 3rd Reich under Hitler, who swallowed the baloney that Adolf was supposed to have been a Christian & this figured that God was on their side and whatever Hitler did couldn't be wrong. Some people have pointed out the striking similarity between Germany toward the beginning stages of the 3rd Reich and the Bush administration, and I think they're right, though Bush wasn't the first American president whom some compared to Hitler (- a little insider quiz on the side: Who was "Nitler?").

But only few Christians in Hitlers Germany, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, did not betray their genuine Christian convictions for the sake of the collective fake religion that was handed them, and thus it is again today. Those flagwaving collaborators with the injustices committed against the poor in the world of today will be found just as guilty in the history books of the future as the cowards & hypocrites of yesterday. There will be no claims of "but we didn't know" that will evoke anyone's sympathies. If you're calling yourself a true Christian, then follow your Master's teachings and not the lies of the gods of this world!

027 Changing The World?

Wed 20 Sep 2006 05:00 PM

Trying to change the world has alway been a tough a job. Unfortunately, sometimes not so much because of the usual difficulties with the folks you’re trying to change, but sometimes, also due to those the great world changers have been trying to do it with…those friends and colleagues, “brothers in arms” who unfortunately don’t always come across as very supportive at times, and make one wonder at times whose side they’re really on.

They may be sitting at the very top of the Committee for World Improvement, but they only wound up there due to some more or less fortunate circumstance (depending on whose view), and can often be quite jealous of the little folks at the grass roots who are really ‘doin’ it,’ and they’ll try all in their power to make sure that whatever is going to happen is going to happen over them, and not without their permission and approval, or they might even make it mighty difficult for you.

They don’t care so much about the common cause or the job getting done as they do that it’s done their way, and that they get a big share of the glory in the accomplishment. “Remember, you couldn’t have done it without me!” Whereas the true believers don’t care who gets the glory, as long as the job gets done, the help arrives where and when it should, and the world is being changed – save the credits for later.

A classic example of this perpetual dilemma is seen in the movie “Molokai,” which tells the sad story of the catholic church’s betrayal of one of their own saints, “leper priest” Father Damien, whose greatest cross on earth to carry was not the burden of the leprosy around him he was trying to alleviate, nor even the leprosy in his own body he contracted consequently, but the lack of love, honor and true righteousness among his own brethren and superiors.

But it happens in nearly every group, no matter how “different” they were when they started out. Even the formerly persecuted, being so assured of the exclusive rightness of their cause can become blind to the possibility that they may actually become guilty of the same sin that was once committed against them, and so we see before us a history unfold of martyrs moving to the grandstands making new martyrs over and over and over again.

Yesterday’s Davids are today’s Sauls and may even become tomorrow’s Goliaths, waiting to collapse under their own weight, slain by an insignificant lad they would have never stopped to give the time of day.

What’s the only thing we learn from history? That we never learn anything from history. And never before has there been such a large amount of ignorant people thinking they knew so much as today.

What can one do about it? Give up? Fold in? Surrender to the Enemy? “Let the Devil take tomorrow,” as Kris Kristofferson sang? No way! Sometimes one is tempted to feel like that, but as for me, I feel rather inclined to agree with John Paul Jones’ famous statement, “Surrender? Hell, no! We haven’t even yet begun to fight!”

026 Behind The Scenes

Sun 17 Sep 2006

I'm convinced that we'll find out someday that God was a whole lot more involved in our lives - in history per se - than we imagined or noticed. Just because we don't see His interventions, simply because He might prefer to have them remain unseen, doesn't mean they're not there. On the other hand, they are perceivable to the eyes of faith, just as His sign language is all throughout creation, everywhere and every second of the day.

Sometimes we might not intervene because of our lack of faith, or simply because what we would like Him to do is not according to His will. we may think that He's on our side (as both parties in a war usually are), but then the question is: are we on His side?

Yet at the same time, I don't think He's just watching as the Devil plays one foul after another. He just gives him enough leeway to let him dwell in the illusion that he actually stands the slightest chance of winning. Unfortunately, people are very gullible to Satan’s premature rants of victory, and are siding with him or surrendering to him all too quickly. Which, again, is in God's interest, because He doesn't need fair-weather friends, those who'll side with the one who promises to be the winner or greater advantage for themselves.

In order to truly be on God's side, one must be willing to temporarily look like the loser, since that's what God has obviously chosen to do Himself, and Jesus is the best example of that.

025 WHY?

Why I deliberately choose to remain a member of an ill-reputed religious group.

It's nice to have friends. One of the the biggest pains in life is connected with losing friends. While some of the friends I've lost in my life were probably shooed away by my quirks, temper or some other sin or fault I committed, there have also been those who simply chose not to associate with us anymore because we're part of the Family Intl.

Of course, it hurts, when someone chooses not to be acquainted with you anymore because of your religion, faith or belief, or group you belong to, and the question might arise, "how many more friendships are you willing to risk over your religion?" Or, "why can't you join a proper church or something?"

Or, once the decision has been made to remain in the group, one wonders whether it wouldn't be smarter to hide our association with such a highly controversial outfit, take the link off the website & lay low for a while...

So, what is it that makes me seemingly defy reason, or at least ignore the opinion of reasonable people who ought to have some good reasons for choosing not to associate with me anymore because of my membership of The Family?

The history of this stubbornness, as some would probably call it, goes back to when I was 13, or even a little earlier. I had declared war on God around the age of 10 due to the absence & total lack of love in the catholic church I had thus far attended, and henceforth became a stout atheist. Well, not all too stout, since the Jehovah's Witnesses managed to convince me of the existence of God about 2 years later, and I started becoming familiar with the Bible.

When I met the Family, I was directly introduced to the Author of that Book, and the New Testament I was given became my constant companion anywhere I went. I read it. I probably read it a few times. And what I read there, prepared me for what was going to happen later on in my life. I learned there that Jesus also lost friends. Not only that, but He taught His disciples that in His eyes, it was more fortunate to be persecuted, maligned and lied about than to be popular. Not only did He prepare them for the event of future persecution by letting them know the obvious, that if the religious establishment persecuted Him, they would also persecute His followers, but He even went on to say that people would think they were doing service to God by doing so.

Paul even went as far as to say that no one could live piously as a Christian, if they didn't ever suffer persecution... (2Tim.3:12)

I knew that everybody else believed that that was valid 2000 years ago, but didn't apply today. Everybody else, except the Family.

That's why, when I came home one afternoon and my stepmother waved a whole bunch of glossy magazines in my face, full of articles about the in-flagranti exposure of Moses David and his sex cult, the Children of God, and when the Police raided the local residence of the Family in my home town, detaining me for questioning, I wasn't all too shocked, really. It fit the picture of what I had been reading in the Gospels all along, perfectly.

I don't believe that Moses David, as he was called during the 70s, was perfect or infallible. I know he made mistakes. So do I. But the good he did, and the fruit of it that resulted in my life and the lives of others I have known excedes the bad he might have caused by his mistakes. Even though he was wrong about a few things, I still believe he was a genuine prophet of God. I understand there are folks who strongly differ with me on this point.

To most church Christians it's just about as presumptuous to call someone a prophet as it was for the Pharisees that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. And to most church Christians it was just as atrocious to hear about our sexual freedom as it was for the Pharisees to deal with the liberty Jesus and His disciples had...

If you have an unbiased look at where all that doctrine came from that gave sex, or even extra-marital sex the image of being something sinful ("fornication," "adultery," etc.), you might eventually grant me the right to my own belief concerning these matters, because you might be just as wrong about yours as you think that I am, if you weigh the Scriptures against each other.

The reason I prefer to believe the Family what they've got to say on these matters is because they also obey all the other parts of the Bible, that church Christians say don't apply anymore. And besides, I've always liked sex, and have always been comfortable with the idea of having sex with more than one single person in your life.

Recently I got in touch with a former member of the Family, who wants to get back in touch with us, because although he had his doubts about the Family, what he found out there in the great big world didn't seem to be all that hot, either. He argued, "somebody must have done something to all those people and angry ex-members (like Ricky Rodrigues, who killed another former member and committed suicide in order to draw attention to the alleged atrocities committed in the Family), to make them so mad, and to react so violently..." Something to that extent.

My reply to this reasoning was that they probably could have said the same thing about Jesus, too: What Jesus was doing wasn't exactly the "family-friendly" thing to do: he ripped at least 12 young men we know of from their families and jobs in order to pursue a highly questionable career as some kind of "Gospel bums," except that the word "Gospel" hadn't even been yet invented. They must have looked and sounded just as weird back then as we do nowadays. Someone could argue, "What made Judas react so vehemently, and caused him to betray Jesus and commit suicide? Someone must have done something to him in order for him to react that way..."

Personally, I believe that the Family cannot be blamed for Ricky Rodriguez' actions any more than Jesus could be blamed for Judas Iscariot's actions. What most people don't realize - because they refuse to & are often too scared to do so - is that there is a spiritual factor they overlook: that there is an evil force working quite feverishly against the forces of good, and in fact, according to Jesus, Paul and John, that force is the ruling force of the world right now, and it reacts in an extremely hostile manner to any attempts of good to infiltrate the kingdom it is usurping.

Those who choose to ignore that spiritual factor will never understand folks like me. They will always come up with legitimate reasons and excuses why it's better not to be associated with lunatics like us, because they purposely blind themselves to the fact that there is a spiritual force at work trying to make cowards out of a lot of people. They will refuse to ever try to see us objectively because they don't want to believe that they're being lied to as extensively as they are. What matters to them is not whether something is true or false, but whether it's what the majority believes. However, Jesus was and is the Leader of a minority (on Earth, that is).

I don't blame anyone for not having the guts to be associated with us. I know, I have chosen a path that's pretty hard to swallow, to cope with, and to understand. I'm only thankful for those who somehow seem to sense that if they will even just give us a cup of cold water because we're Jesus' disciples, that they will somehow, somewhere be richly rewarded for it. I'm looking forward to the day when those who may be ashamed of us right now, will be proud to have known us, when the truth will be revealed & the cards will all be laid on the table, and everything and everyone will be clearly seen for what it is and what they are and have been.

There'll be surprises. Probably for everyone.

024 Simply Ask For It!

Sat 26 Aug 2006

There is an entire category & field of teachings on which the average Christian ignores most of what the Bible truly has to say, and that's the very fundamental topic of Salvation. Most Christians only know a single verse about Salvation, and that's the one where Paul says, "Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling" (Phil.2:12). They interpret it to mean, "You see? You can lose your salvation if you don't watch out, if you don't stop sinning, and if you don't come to our church regularly."
But is that really what it means? Does Salvation only work - in other words, did Jesus' death on the cross only do the trick for you if you successfully manage to stop sinning during your life-time and you faithfully go to mass? Doubtlessly, many people attend church regularly in hopes that the latter is true; that they will escape hellfire by their weekly one-hour sacrifice, but how many people would actually be in heaven, if the former were true - if only those are saved who have stopped sinning?
Some folks seem to be scared that there's not room enough in heaven, if they "allowed" too many people in, and that their churches would be too empty if it were too easy to get saved. Now, while the latter would obviously be a tragedy, let's have a closer look at what else the Bible has to say on Salvation and what one has to do to be saved, to have eternal life, as Jesus said, and in other words, to go to heaven:

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, the apostle John describes how Jesus was more than an ordinary man, namely that He was actually the "Logos," the very Word of God, the One through Whom and by Whom the World was made, and that actually He was God. Not God the Father, but God the Son, Whom the Father had sent to become flesh for us and to die for our sins (see Jn.3:16). John also describes how the majority of the people back in those days did not receive Him, but that they rejected Him as the darkness rejects the light, but in verse 12 he says, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God."
Now, a lot of people don't take the Bible literally, since that would mean that the earth had been created within 6 days, a little more than 6000 years ago, which totally contradicts what they have been brainwashed with all their lives (which I have expounded on in greater detail in former blogs, as have others). Let me suffice it to say that those, whose God is not great enough to have made the world in 6 days, obviously won't have the faith that He could have saved you from your sins without your feverishly striving to become perfect on your own.
But for the rest of us, let's have a look at that verse: "As many as received Him (Jesus), to them gave He power to become the sons of God." That seems to indicate that all you have to do in order to become one of God's children (and we're not all God's children from birth, as most would claim: we're all God's creatures, but obviously not all of the same Father spiritually, see John 8:44), is to receive Jesus and His coming, the purpose of which was to pay the price for your sins on the cross, as predicted in Jewish and pre-Jewish symbolisms throughout millennia beforehand, from Abel's first sacrifice (of a lamb) to the Passover.
Now, once you are a child of God, can you lose your status as "child of God" again, let's say, by doubting or by sinning? Can one "un-become" a child of God again, according to behavior? In other words, "yesterday I was a child of God, because I was behaving well, but today I'm not, because I happened to come across the image of a scarcely clad woman on a billboard sign, and it made me have unclean thoughts"? Well, if God made physical families to illustrate His spiritual Family, then let's use our brains: you may have a son or daughter who may have strayed from the straight & narrow, who may have become a thief, a prostitue or even a murderer, but by law, they're still your child, right? Even though some may say, "you're not my son or daughter anymore," the law says something different. Likewise, God is bound by His law, which is His Word, and that seems to say: once His child, forever His child, no matter what you do! We become and remain God's children not because of what we do (except the act of receiving and accepting Christ), but in order to learn and become able to act the way God would like us to. He gives us the power to not only be, but also behave like His children, eventually, simply by the act of receiving Him. Of course, in order to learn to act like a child of God, and to become a fully mature son or daughter, we must continue receiving Him (through His Word and Spirit) every day. But even if we don't, and don't ever behave like one (as unfortunate as that may be), we still remain His children. There can be no uncertainty about that (although there is, sadly, among the majority of people).

But we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what the Bible has to say on this topic. In Chapter 3:36 John writes: "He that believeth the Son hath everlasting life," and later, in his first epistle, again: "he that hath the Son hath life" (5:12). Note that it doesn't say, "providing he stops sinning forever and keeps going to church every Sunday."
The scripture that changed Martin Luther's life from one of a self-castigating monk, living in the usual, catholic eternal insecurity and into that of "the most important religious figure of the last thousand years" who brought to life the reformation and thus the protestant church, is another one which most "salvation by works" adherents simply choose to ignore (it's too easy for them that one should only have to receive the gift of salvation without having to do something to earn it): In Ehphesians 2 verse 8 & 9 Paul wrote, "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." What good work can you possibly do that would merit Christ's sacrifice for you on the cross? Isn't it a little preposterous to assume that anything you could do could ever live up to "deserve" that, no matter how hard you try?
It's understood that God would prefer that we should start behaving better. But He does not make His gift of salvation depend on anything we do (no, not even church attendance). Besides, He has His own little ways of making us behave. What does a human father do in order to teach his child how to behave (well, at least fathers used to): discipline or correct the child. If you're God's child, He won't let you get away with living the wrong way without allowing you to pay the consequences for it. God disciplines us, His children (see Hebrews 12:6). But He doesn't say: "for this you don't deserve to be My child any longer."
Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." Or in modern English: "If someone comes to Me, I won't kick him out!" (John 6:37).
So, what did Paul mean then, when he said, "Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling"? Especially if the very next verse says something to the opposite extent again: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." How can you "work out your own salvation" when it's a gift of God, and it's God Who performs both, the desire in us to do His will, as well as the enacting of it? Well, obviously, in the light of all the other Scritpures (and there are more, but this is only a blog, not a book), Pillipians 2:19 cannot be referring to our eternal salvation or that which we would be referring to as Heaven, since that is a gift, and that's settled. But as far as the physical manifestations of that salvation in this earthly life are concerned, we're going to have to work at it. And since we have a powerful spiritual adversary who tries his darndest to get us to forsake God's way, who tries to stop us from doing good, and tempts us to do evil instead, and commit any little sin he can think of, it requires some healthy fear of God and serious effort to win that fight.
In other words, if you don't only want to be a child of God, but also want to act and behave like one, you're going to have to do more than go to church and say "I'm a Christian." Church Christians are really making it easy on themselves when they say, "Well, I'm fulfilling my part of the deal: I counteract my eternal insecurity by faithfully attending church every Sunday. So, my salvation is a little bit more guaranteed than yours, if you don't go to church." In reality, to really act worthy of the gift of salvation, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for even thinking that one hour a week would make up for that. Jesus gave His all for us on the cross, and all we give Him in return is an hour a week? If that's what being saved or being a Christian means, then it's no wonder the churches are getting emptier and the world is becoming more and more appalled by "Christianity."
To wind up this discussion on eternal Salvation by grace, I want to quote another of my favorite scriptures on the subject from the Gospel of Mark: "Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein" (10:15). How can we receive the Kingdom of God in the same way a little child would receive anything? By working hard for it and feverishly striving to attain some state of sinless perfection in order to be found worthy and deserving? Having 6 children of my own, I would say that should be a rather exceptional child. And Jesus specifially mentioned a "little child." Now, I don't know about you, but the way most children I know get anything they want is to simply ask for it. Jesus is saying that there is no other way to enter the Kingdom of God, to be saved, to go to Heaven and receive His Salvation and gift of eternal life, than to simply ask for it. Which leads us to the conclusion that all we have to do in order to be saved is to pray (and it's a prayer we only need to pray once), to ask God for it: "Can I please go to heaven?" Or, if it's in receiving Jesus that we are saved, I can imagine a child asking, "Jesus, can I have You?" Or, as we've prayed ourselves, and have prayed with many others since: "Jesus, come into my heart!"
Too simple, you say? Well, obviously not for God. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21).

P.S.: One of the biggest struggles St.Paul had with a large part of the early church was with those who thought they had to "help" God to keep them saved by keeping parts of the old Jewish traditions, such as the circumcision, or sticking only to "clean" or "kosher" foods, etc. Galatians chapter 3 is one of those examples of writings he dediated to those who thought they had to complete God's spiritual work of salvation by their own carnal contributions.
Similarly, millions of Christians today believe they have to observe certain rituals (the most popular of which being the Sunday morning ritual) in order to "stay" saved or be saved at all. It's no wonder that Christians at large don't feel anywhere near capable of complying with Jesus' instruction to all of His disciples to "preach the gospel" and tell others about Him. If it's so difficult to be saved that most even don't know for sure themselves whether they are saved or not, then, what's the use in telling anyone else about it? Blessed are they of childlike faith, who have received the Kingdom as a child and have found out that it simply works, and that it must thus work for others, too.
It's not only easy to get saved yourself, but it's also easy to get others saved, too. It's called "winning souls." All you need to do is get someone to pray with you to receive Jesus. It's as simple as that. Let all the other "why-make-it-easy-whe-you-can-make-it-complicated" types struggle up their self-made "stairway to heaven," but "beware lest ye be led astray from the simplicity of Christ" (see Col.2:8, 2.Cor.11:3).
While not every aspect of the Christian faith is necessarily simple, this fundamental one of salvation is. So simple, in fact, that any little child could grasp or receive it.