I am writing again tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.
Just wanted to share a link where a friend has been adding my sermon videos. A few are on there and we will be adding more later. http://onewaytoheaven.ning.com/page/william-earnhardt-sermons Enjoy!
I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.
I have a friend who is involved in a prison ministry that visits a juvenile detention center. My friend was telling me that they had recently shared the truth about hell with the young men there. My friend said the Chaplin at the jail got very upset with him for letting the young men know that the punishment of the wicked is not an eternity spent in hell but rather death just like the Bible says in John 3:16 and Romans 6:23. The reason the Chaplin did not want them to know the truth about the punishment of the wicked was because he wanted the fear of being tormented for all eternity to motivate them to behave.
The teaching of people being tortured throughout all eternity is to me the most satanic doctrine of all! It totally misrepresents the love and character of God making it impossible to love and know Him the way He loves and knows us. It dawned on me that many churches use hell and fear as a motivation for doing good because they do not properly understand the love motivation. They do not understand the depths of Christ’s sacrifice in dying the second death. They make the Cross out to be a mere pain endurance marathon instead of seeing a Savior who was actually willing to say goodbye to life forever in order to save the world. When the early church saw the depths of Jesus’ love and sacrifice it turned the whole world upside down! Meaning it changed everything! It was God’s love that constrained, empowered and motivated them. This love is the only motivation that will actually work. Galatians 6 talks of a faith that works by love, not a fear of punishment. In John 14 Jesus says, “If you love Me keep My commandments”, not if you don’t want to go to hell you better keep my commandments.
Those who have “the everlasting gospel” have their work cut out for them. We must uplift the Cross and the truth about the Cross like never before. Young men in juvenile centers and people everywhere else need to know that there is a God who did way more than suffer for six hours on a Cross. He faced the second death for them. He loved them more than He loved his own life. He loved them so much that when tempted to come down from the Cross and go back to heaven He chose to die instead. Simply put, Jesus stayed on that Cross for the young men in the juvenile detention center because the thought of heaven without them was hell to Jesus!
When the love motivation receives its due power it will accomplish so much more than the fear motivation invented by men.
PS it is funny how some people quote John 3:16 all the time while preaching of an eternal torment of sinners while that verse clearly says those who do not believe will “perish” instead of being tortured throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.
I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.
Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:2-5
I think at one time or another we all have felt like Elijah. Here are some good things to remember and cheer us on from the Spirit of Prophecy:
As in the days of Elijah, God had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, so today He has in the world many who are walking in all the light they have received. A whole firmament of chosen ones has He in reserve, that will yet shine forth amidst the darkness. In places where there might be expected only briars and thorns, fruit-bearing trees of righteousness will appear. In such places as these there are those who will bloom more sweetly for the Lord than many who live in more favored places. All around them they will shed the fragrance of His grace as they bloom in most unpromising places.–Letter 39, Feb. 28, 1903, to J. Wessells. {TDG 67.4}
The world is preparing for the last great conflict, nation rising against nation. The vast majority of human beings are taking their stand against God. But in every age the Lord Jesus has had His witnesses,–a remnant who trusted in the Word of God. And today, in every place, there are those who hold communion with God. A vital undercurrent of influence is leading them to the light, and when the question comes to them. “Who is on the Lord’s side?” they will take their position for Him. Their characters have been moulded after the divine similitude, because they have read and practised the teachings of His Word. {ST, November 23, 1904 par. 1}
Many in retired homes are God’s hidden ones, serving Him according to the light they have received. These hidden ones greatly delight in the Word of God. His precepts are appreciated and treasured by them, and many are the works of love that they do for Christ’s sake. {ST, November 23, 1904 par. 2}
When Elijah complained that he stood alone in his service for God, the answer that came from heaven was, “I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Men are at best poor judges of the advancement made by the Gospel, of the influence that it has on souls who, perhaps, have never heard the preaching of an ordained minister. All through the world the Lord has His chosen ones. We can see plainly the prevailing degeneracy. Profligacy and infidelity are increasing to alarming proportions. Yet in the most wicked communities there are homes from which sincere, earnest prayers ascend to Christ. {ST, November 23, 1904 par. 3}
In the judgment many secret things will be revealed. Then we shall see what a belief in God’s Word has done for men and women. It will be seen how small companies, sometimes not more than three or four, have gathered together in secret places to seek the Lord, and how they received light and grace, and rich gems of thought. The Holy Spirit was their teacher, and their lives revealed the blessings that come from a possession of the oracles of God. When Christ shall separate the tares from the wheat, it will be seen that God recognizes and honors these lowly followers. In the world they may not have been thought worthy of recognition, but in the heavenly courts they are registered as true and faithful. Through trial and opposition they kept their faith untainted. They gathered strength from the Word of God, which told them of the hope of immortal life in the kingdom of God. Of “them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name,” it is written, “They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”
I am writing today from the Beautiful Tampa Bay area.
25 Random Things About me
1. I am the same age as the Super bowl. I am 43 and it is super bowl 43 today. If I am alive to see Super bowl 100 I better get free tickets!
2. I am not named after my father, Bill. His name is Billy Leroy Earnhardt and my name is William DeWayne Earnhardt. I am named after my mother’s father, William and Uncle John DeWayne.
3. I remember sitting in church no older than 3 or 4 watching the preacher, not hoping or wanting, but knowing I would be a gospel worker one day.
4. I lived in Oklahoma and Texas for 38 years and never saw a tornado.
5. I have never touched alcohol or cigarettes or any illegal drugs.
6. I would rather listen to a sports game on radio than watch it on TV. Don’t ask me why.
7. In high school I wrote the lyrics to a prayer response song that was used in our church for several months.
8. I gave my first Bible study in a home in my neighborhood when I was 15. I was just going door to door. The couple visited our church later at my invitation.
9. I preached my first sermon when I was 15.
10. I have seen three presidents in person. Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. Interestingly I saw one before he was president. One while he was president and one after he was president. (Bush before, Nixon during, Carter after.)
11. When I was a child my next door neighbor wrote a puppet skit and he and I performed the skit on a local cable TV show.
12. When I was thirteen I was bragging in science class that I had never broken a bone in my body. In our next class, P.E., not forty minutes later, I broke my collar bone playing football. It was cool though, because Bob Griese, my favorite quarterback had also broken his collar bone.
13. I had seen the gulf or ocean several times on family vacations as a child. In my adult life I had never been to the ocean or gulf until in 2003 I took a trip to Galveston to see the gulf just in case I never got another chance. Should have saved the trip as the next year I moved to Tampa Bay.
14. When I was 12 and 13 years old my neighbor and I would walk down to Skelly Stadium where the Tulsa Roughnecks of the NASL would practice. We would kick the ball around with the players and I even got to interview one or two with my personal recorder. The soccer players were very real and personal. Now I shake my head at today’s stars wondering who do they think they are?
15. I was the first person to graduate in my school. I was there the first year it went to twelve grades and my name came first in alphabetical order.
16. There is an Adventist pastor who has been crossing my path all my life. His name is Jim Ferguson. When I was 7 we moved into a house down the street from his. When I was a teenager I preached at his church in Owasso, OK. Later I was a Bible Worker at another church he had just worked for in Claremore, OK. I then preached in Stillwater while he was there. In Texas he pastored the Breckenridge church right after I left being Bible Worker there. He then pastored the Weatherford, TX church right after I left being the lay pastor there. I also preached several times in the Chickasha and Southern Hills churches in Oklahoma right after he left those churches.
17. When I was a kid I had a nightmare that I fell down an elevator shaft. To this day I do not step onto an elevator until I have looked down and seen the elevator floor.
18. I have lived in all three states that have panhandles and only states that have panhandles. Oklahoma, Texas and Florida.
19. I have had both Jeb and George for governors.
20. I have been to every state West of the Mississippi except Alaska and Hawaii. I have been to every state east of the Mississippi except the extreme North east. I have also been to Canada, Mexico and Peru.
21. A couple of years ago, after buying a brand new car, I woke up at 3am. After realizing what time it was and that I was awake, I jumped in my new car and headed for the East Coast where I watched the sunrise, had breakfast at McDonalds and then drove back to Tampa to work. Later in the evening I drove to Clearwater where I watched the sunset on the west coast. That was one of the most spontaneous things I ever did until last December when on the spur of the moment I drove to Louisiana to golf the next day with a friend.
22. I love photography, golfing, kayaking and biking. Four things I never really did until I moved to Florida.
23. I love being single. I have several married friends and have never felt like a third wheel. I think the term third wheel was invented by a married person who did not like single people. I have friends from every marital or single status, race, gender, age and religion. I simply love people no matter who they are. If a Red Sox fan showed up at my door wanting water I would not turn him away.
24. Out of all the titles and positions I have had in life, being my nieces’ uncle is the one I am most proud of. I think they are proud of me too. J
25. In the 80s I loved the show Unsolved Mysteries. None of my friends really like it so every Wednesday night I would come home from prayer meeting, get a cherry coke and watch the show by myself. It may sound corny but it became what I called, “my special all by myself time.” To this day, while I love and treasure all of my friends and family I have always made sure I also have a “special all by myself time.”
In Light of The Cross 