How to Be a Saint

This is NOT one of my football devotions. To be a football saint you have to live in New Orleans - or at least play for their team. That is not what this post is referring to.

It was announced yesterday that on April 27th of next year Pope Francis will declare Popes John Paul II and John XXIII to be saints.

Fox news reported these miracles of John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II

"A first miracle was attributed to John Paul in 2011, in which the Vatican said a French nun that was dying of Parkinson’s disease was cured after she and other nuns prayed for the intercession of John Paul.
John Paul’s second miracle was approved by Francis three months ago. A 50-year-old Costa Rican woman said she was cured of a brain aneurysm after a photo of John Paul appeared to talk to her, The Guardian reports." 

They've only found one miracle attributed to John XXIII, but if the Pope wants to make someone a saint he can "bend" the rules if he wants to. Really. Who's going to argue with the Pope?

So I googled "How to become a saint" and found that it can take years and even decades to "become a saint."

If I understand correctly how becoming a saint is supposed to go, you have to be a really good, holy person while you are alive and there has to be a couple of verified miracles that you've done and a Pope has to decide that you should be a saint and I've probably left a lot out of the process, but I think you get the idea.

As much as we can admire these men for the good things they did during their lives (in addition to having their pictures talk to someone to heal a brain aneurism) I have to take issue with our Catholic friend's teaching of how a person becomes a saint.

As you read the teachings of the Apostle Paul you'll see that he applied the term "saints" to all believers in Jesus Christ.

For example:

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

"Saint" is taken from the Latin word "sanctus" which means "holy" or "set apart." If you are a follower of Jesus Christ you a saint. It doesn't mean you no longer sin. It doesn't mean you are suddenly perfect and can do miracles. Being a saint means Christ has set you apart as His own. It's not a special place in the hierarchy of Christendom.

In Vacation Bible School we explain it with the ABC's of salvation.

A - Admit to God that you are a sinner.
B - Believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again to pay for your sin.
C - Confess that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord.

If you have given your life to Christ and you are following Him day by day you may not do any big miracles, but others will know that you are a Christian - a Saint - because they see Him in you. They will see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Go live your life as a saint. Don't make people wonder for years or decades whether you are a saint or not.

If you'd like to see more of my postings about saints, click on these links.

When the Saints Go Marching In
Today Is Your Day
Saint Update

All Saints Day

Today is "All Saints Day". (This is a repost from 2007.) (But it's All Saints Day again today. Well, actually it's always on November 1.)



It's a day to remember the Saints who have gone before us. (Hebrews 11 is a great place to start.) And I like to think of it as a day to remember that we are all Saints. Some of our friends in other faiths believe you have to be nominated by a really important person and then a group of folks check to see if you've had any miracles attributed to you or to your likeness (or something like that) and then somehow you get bumped up from regular heaven attendee to Saint and you get to put St. in front of your name.

Then , if people like you, they'll paint pictures of you like these and they might even pray to you.

However, if you check scripture (always the best place to go for such matters) you'll find that those of us who know Jesus as Lord are ALL saints! Yes - even you!

And there's some cool stuff about being a saint.

You are called as a saint Ro 1:7

Jesus intercedes for you Ro 8:27

You've got an inheritance Eph 1:18

There's also some responsibility with being a saint!

You need to fight (contend earnestly) for the faith Jude 1:3

Love the saints Col 1:4

Support the saints 2Co 8:4

Live without immorality, greed and other bad stuff Eph 5:3

Hebrews 12:1 (HCSB)
Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Oh, and if you want your "official saint" picture painted, you might want to work on the official saint hand signal all of these guys have.

Now... go live like a saint! You are one!

When the Saints Go Marching In

I'll have to admit that it was fun watching the Saints go marching (and passing) down the field. I don't really watch football much, but I was glad to see New Orleans have some good news. 

"When the Saints Go Marching In" was written and has been sung for decades as a celebration song for that day when God's Saints enter the promised land of heaven. The verses even point to the themes of revelation, with "when the sun refuse to shine" referencing the solar and lunar eclipses and other verses talking about "crowning Him Lord" and "gathering around the throne"... what? you don't know those verses?

OH, WHEN THE SAINTS, GO MARCHING IN,
OH, WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN,
OH, LORD, I WANT TO BE IN THAT NUMBER,
WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN.

OH, WHEN THE SUN, REFUSE TO SHINE,

OH, WHEN THE SUN REFUSE TO SHINE,
OH, LORD, I WANT TO BE IN THAT NUMBER,
WHEN THE SUN REFUSE TO SHINE.

OH, WHEN THEY CROWN, HIM LORD OF ALL,
OH, WHEN THEY CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL,
OH, LORD, I WANT TO BE IN THAT NUMBER,
WHEN THEY CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL.

OH, WHEN THEY GATHER AROUND THE THRONE,
OH, WHEN THEY GATHER AROUND THE THRONE,
OH, LORD I WANT TO BE IN THAT NUMBER,
WHEN THEY GATHER AROUND THE THRONE.


I've blogged before about how YOU can be a saint Is Today Your Day?  You really should read it and see how everyone of us can be a Saint. (You don't have to be another Mother Teresa.)

If you would like to know more about being a follower of Jesus Christ click here. Tell Me About Jesus

I'm going to cheer along with the football saints for a day or two, but in the end, I'm cheering for all of you out there in blog land to check your "saint" status and see if you will be in that number when the Saints go marching in.

Saint Update

I mentioned last night that I had searched all over the internet to find out why the saints in the pictures have the special "Saint" hand signal. But alas, I googled and googled and never found the answer. I was so excited Monday evening while at the Tennessee Baptist Convention that it dawned on me that a friend of mine, Dr. Jonathan Nelms, Minister of Music at FBC, Cookeville, would know the answer! In case you missed it last night, here's what happened.
(and here is the original post if you missed it http://hilldaleworship.blogspot.com/2007/11/today-is-your-day.html )

"Dr. Nelms", I said, "you have a nice degree from an ecumenical sort of place. You will know the answer to my great dilemma that Google could not answer" (or something like that). "Tell me the meaning of the special "Saint" hand signal."

Sure enough, Dr. Nelms knows such things. (someone last night said, "and it cost him how much to know that?")
And here it is.
The second and third fingers lifted up represent the duality of the nature of Christ - fully God and fully man. That's cool!
The three fingers together in the circle represent the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Also very cool!

So now we know. Who said you can't teach an old Baptist a thing or two?

Today Is Your Day!

Today is "All Saints Day".



It's a day to remember the Saints who have gone before us. (Hebrews 11 is a great place to start.) And I like to think of it as a day to remember that we are all Saints. Some of our friends in other faiths believe you have to be nominated by a really important person and then a group of folks check to see if you've had any miracles attributed to you or to your likeness (or something like that) and then somehow you get bumped up from regular heaven attendee to Saint and you get to put St. in front of your name.

Then , if people like you, they'll paint pictures of you like these and they might even pray to you.

However, if you check scripture (always the best place to go for such matters) you'll find that those of us who know Jesus as Lord are ALL saints! Yes - even you!

And there's some cool stuff about being a saint.

You are called as a saint Ro 1:7

Jesus intercedes for you Ro 8:27

You've got an inheritance Eph 1:18

There's also some responsibility with being a saint!

You need to fight (contend earnestly) for the faith Jude 1:3

Love the saints Col 1:4

Support the saints 2Co 8:4

Live without immorality, greed and other bad stuff Eph 5:3

Hebrews 12:1 (HCSB)
Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Oh, and if you want your "official saint" picture painted, you might want to work on the official saint hand signal all of these guys have.

Now... go live like a saint! You are one!