Eternal Life

I was reading this morning in 1 John 2. Verse 25 talks about the promise of eternal life to those of us who trust in the Lord Jesus and the work He did on the Cross.

Eternal life. What a blessed future we have to look forward too! It is so much more then a quantity thing. It is a quality thing! We will be living with the King of Kings! Father God! Lord of Lords! The Lamb Who Was Slain! We will be spending eternity with no sin, no pain, beautiful worship, and perfect communion with our Heavenly Father who created us.

Do you really believe that? Do you also believe in eternal damnation? Eternal torment for those who do not trust in Jesus to save them? Scripture says very clearly that there is a lake of fire reserved for those who did not believe. Hell. Do you believe that?

It seems that many of us do not believe that. At least we do not believe it enough. God has been working pretty hard on me as of late. I believe that there is a real Heaven where God's people will spend eternal life. I also believe that there is a hell where all the rest will suffer eternal death. I have so many friends and even family that are looking at eternal death. Do I love them enough to tell them about Jesus? There is a heaven and a hell, to not tell them is hating them. Is there acceptance of me more important then eternity? Is my pride, my selfish heart in the way?

Everywhere I look it seems that God is telling me to get out of the way and let Me do it. There are many areas in my life that I have surrendered. There are more, many more. I need to get out of the way. I can't do life better then God. Help me father to get out of your way. Help me to surrneder all. Take this foolish pride and fill it with your grace. Help me to love as you love. Help me to love others so much that each and every conversation I have is based on that love. Give me the blodness to proclaim your word no matter where I am.

Please pray with me that we will all love others enough to tell them about Jesus. Let us speak boldly about what it is that Jesus did for us!

Contemplating Christmas

Last night I attended the Christmas Eve service at our church. What a time to think about or meditate on what it is that Jesus came to earth to do. I had the privilege of holding my little niece during the service, let me tell you, she has her Uncle Rob's heart wrapped around her little finger! What a delightful little blessing she is! Her name is Sophia and she is somewhat less then a year old. Not too long ago she learned to clap her hands and wave and she can do a pretty impressive army crawl too. I love her to pieces! (I need to state here for all of my siblings that I love all of your children equally! This post just happens to be about Phia.). Sophia was so cute! Every now and again she would turn and wave and smile at the folks sitting behind me. She would clap at the end of some of the songs and made these little sounds. Adorable! While holding this little baby last night it really struck me that Almighty God was once a small and helpless infant! Can you imagine Baby Jesus in his mothers arms, looking at the people behind him, waving and smiling? Cooing? Baby Jesus learning to crawl? Needing to be fed? This is the same Jesus spoken of in the first chapter of John. The eternal creator of the universe! Merciful and Mighty God! How could this be! Born a helpless babe. Needing to be cared for by humans. What a humbling experience! I understand that God is sovereign (as best as my mind can fathom). Jesus was safe. God was and is in control! Even so. Stop to think about baby Jesus today. Think about who He is. God. Savior. Redeemer. Friend. He now sits at God's right hand and intercedes for His people. A people washed in the blood of this little babe that was born so long ago. This little babe that was born to die. Little hands and little feet made to be pierced. Little head made for a crown of thorns. Little back made to be scourged. Little shoulders made to carry a wooden cross. Little baby made to die for the sins of the world. Your sins. My sins. So, Happy Birthday Jesus. My king. My Savior. My God. Thank you for humbling yourself even to the point of death.

The following is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus as recorded in the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 15:33-39 then chapter 16:1-8.



33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”



1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.



Let us not forget as we look at the birth of Jesus what He came to earth to do. He is The Word That Became Flesh, He is the Lamb That Was Slain. He was forsaken so that we can be forgiven. Through Jesus, we who know Him are justified. We are being sanctified. One day we will be glorified! The first time the King of kings dwelt on earth in flesh His kingdom was broken. It remains broken today. Let us look forward to the day He returns to rule His perfect kingdom! As the Centurion said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" Better still, Truly this man IS and forever will be the Son of God! Because of that sacrifice we can be too! We, as Christians who He called are co-heirs of Christ! We are adopted children of the Most High God! Let us live to Glorify the God who saves us!

Joyfully Joyful

We have been studying through 1 John at our Sunday morning services. What a great, encouraging, and convicting little epistle this is! I was just doing a little reading on my own and I wanted to share with you some of what God has put on my heart.

Chapter one verse four talks about making our joy complete. Who wants complete joy? I DO! I hope that you do too! John also talks about joy in his gospel account (15:11 and 16:24). All of scripture is filled with believers being joyful. Why do you suppose that is. It is Gods will that we are joyful! Frequently in scripture joy and the Holy Spirit are connected (Acts 13:52, Rom 14:17, 1 Thes. 1:6). Joy is also tied directly to obedience to the Word of God. How can we have that supernatural joy if we are quenching the Spirit or living in disobedience? What are the fruits of the spirit? Love, JOY, peace, patience.... John says he is writing these things to you so that your (our) joy may be complete. Are you joyful? It is Gods will that you are! Be Joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

The first part of 1 John chapter 2 talks about how we can know if we are saved (2:3). How do we know if we truly know the Father? We keep his commands. All of them. Not just the ones we like. Not just the ones that are politically correct, ALL OF THEM! Our society today tends to shy away from scripture that talks about marriage, or submission, or finances, or Jesus being the only way to heaven, or creation, abortion, the list goes on and on. Our joy may be complete! How? Keep His commands! This is not rocket science here. This is simple obedience to a God that wants what is best for us! Chapter 2 verses 5b and 6 says that we can know that we are in Him (God) if we walk in the same way in which he (Jesus) walked. Again, obedience. We can have assurance of our salvation, simply look at your life. If you are living an obedient life you are saved, if you are not, it may be time to reexamine your life and make some changes! Why is it so difficult to be obedient to an all powerful God who truly wants what is best for us?!!

It is important for me to say here that I do believe that scripture teaches eternal security (Rom 10:30,1 Pet 1:5, Jn 10:28,Phil. 1:6) That is, once saved, always saved. I also believe that there are lots of people out there who think they are saved who aren't. Look at the wheat and the tares that Jesus teaches about. They all look the same (to the human eye) but they aren't. Jesus' parable of the seeds is another example, some of those seeds may spring up but they soon die if they are not planted in the fertile soil. Judas is another fine example, only he (and Jesus) knew the condition of his heart. I guess this post is more of a warning. It is important to look at our lives and examine who we are, what we do and why we do it. Are we keeping His commands? Are we living for the King? Are we His adopted children? Keep His commands and you will be joyful!

Bigger Badder Better

Last night we had a family movie night and watched "Prince Caspian". If you are not familiar with the film, it is based on the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I loved reading the books as a kid and I continue to read them as an adult. There was a part of this movie that really caught my attention and I want to share it with you! Lewis intended the character of Aslan (a lion) to be a picture of Jesus. He is the creator, sustainer and savior of Narnia. Viewed in this light it can be a very touching and sometimes emotional tale. The character Lucy seeks out and finds Aslan near the end of film. She is awstruck at the sheer size of the lion and tells him that he has grown since the last time she had seen him. Aslan says to her with a tender voice "each year you grow, I grow." I think that is a beautiful picture of our relationship of our God. When we grow in Him, he looks bigger to us. Not that He is actually bigger, but our view of Him is! It is so important for us as Christians to grow in the Lord! We are not to be the same! For the Word of God is living and active! It will change us and our view of Him! We are being made into His image! Sanctified!

Christmas Time Troubles

Christmas is broken. The more I grow in my Savior the more I am convinced and convicted that there is something dreadfully wrong with how we treat the birth of Jesus. A while back I posted a Pink quote about Christmas and ever since then I have been trying to wrap my mind around the proper way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Nowhere in scripture does it tell us to celebrate Christs birth, only to remember Him in his death. Let me share a verse with you- "and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents". To me, that sounds like what Christmas is about today. Making merry and presents presents and more presents! This is the only place in scripture that I am familiar with where it talks about being merry and exchanging presents. Do you know where it's found? In Revelation (11:10). Do you know why they are celebrating? Because the beast had killed God's two prophets. Just some food for thought.

Here in America we are so spoiled. So used to getting what we want. We have the riches to get almost any material possession. It has been my experience that the more I get, the more I want! Moremoremore! The way we celebrate Christmas today just feeds that desire. Materialism. Idols. Self gratification. Those are terms I would use to describe today's Christmas. Sacred. Holy. God Glorifying. Selfless. Terms I think should be used to describe our Lord becoming flesh.

Let us remember this Christmas season not only the birth of our Lord, but also his life, death, and resurrection as well.

I apologize if this is a little scrambled. Welcome to my mind!

Blessings!

Christmas

This was posted on the Truth Matters blog.

"Christmas is coming! Quite so; but what is "Christmas"?Does not the very term itself denote its source-- "Christ-mass."Thus it is of Romish origin, brought over from Paganism.But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemoratethe Savior's birth. It is? And who authorized such commemoration?Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples "remember"Him in His death, but there is not a word in Scripture, fromGenesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth." - Arthur Pink

What would you do for a friend?

What would you do for a friend? Not too long ago I posted on the topic of love. I talked about how difficult it can be for me to love others. I talked a little about dying for a friend and maybe even going to hell for a friend.

I have been reading "All of Grace" by Spurgeon. It is a neat little book written in easy language with the intent of reaching the lost. It so good to see the heart of such a man as he! At one point in the book he is talking about the person who "can't" live a christian life because of the influence his friends have on him. Listen to what Mr. Spurgeon has to say.

"I would do many things to please my friends, but to go to hell to please them is more then I would venture It may be very well to do this or that for good fellowship, but it will never do to lose the friendship of God in order to keep on good terms with men."

This quote, though aimed more towards the unbeliever can still be relevant to the Christian today. How many times have I caught myself doing something stupid just because of the company I was in! Christ had to suffer and Die because of those stupid things! I praise God for all of His grace!

The Amusement Park Church

Just think of all the people we could attract to our church if we had an amusement park associated with it! Maybe we could even name some rides after popular stories from the Old Testament. We could even have people dress up in costumes that resemble some of the heroes of the faith! We could have rides and shows and animals, and games. Don't forget about the light show and fireworks followed by a brief message about a loving God. Add some rockin' music with a kickin' beat and our church would grow by leaps and bounds!

All that may be true. The church might grow. But why? Amusement? Entertainment? Lights? The show? I found this Spurgeon quote today on the Truth Matters blog. I think Mr Spurgeon hits the nail on the head. He says:

“The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them...providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church...the need is for Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men aflame.”

I know that what I have written above is a little extreme. It is true though. More and more in churches today the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is softened. People are brought in because the music is more contemporary, the speaker more flamboyant, the church more accepting, the people more "loving". In many cases we are missing the point! Jesus did not come to be entertaining! He came to save sinners! Jesus did not come to be amusing! He came to die! We so often forget that God is just. He hates sin. Many times in the Old Testament we see the destruction of kings and nations. Why are they destroyed? SIN! SIN! SIN! God hates sin! He hates sin so much that He cannot even tolerate to be in the presence of it! Yet he loves us so much that He gave his Son to die for us! We must preach the Gospel, the power of God above all things! That is what saves people not entertainment! The Gospel will change lives! I know that it has changed mine! Entertainment does not. Folks may get excited and enjoy entertainment, but it is empty. There is no meat. We need a Savior not a comedian. We are lost in our sin, worthless, empty. Entertainment will not change that! Jesus can and will! Look to the Cross of Christ, it does have the power to change your life. That is what we must preach in our churches! Look to the Cross!

Romans

Ty and are are reading through the book of Romans. Each night before bed we will take a section section, read it, and then discuss it. We started on this journey together last night. I was challenged at the Men's Conference to memorize certain books in Romans in an effort to try to live more fully with the gospel in front of my face. Thus, I wanted to similarly challenge my son. Romans 1:16 really stood out to me because it is a verse that Milton Vincent spoke about during one of the conference sessions. It says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." What a great verse! Vincent went on to talk about the universe and the sun and comets and how God's power that is so evident in all of his creation. All of these things took unimaginable power to create and awesome power to maintain yet these are not the power God. The power of God is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:18 also talks about the power of God, it says "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." It is amazing to think that we as Christians have access to the power of God through the Gospel! This gives new meaning to Phillipians 4:13! It says "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Let me paraphrase, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me through the power of the gospel! Exciting stuff. Let's get out there!

The Gospel

This past weekend was the 5th annual ABC men's conference at Camp of the Woods. It was truly an awesome experience to worship with almost 200 other men, all of which are dedicated to the same gospel. The one and only Gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ our Lord. The guest speaker is a man I have really learned to admire. A man who loves the Lord. A man who does his all to live his life inside the Gospel. This man's name is Milton Vincent. He wrote the book "The Gospel Primer for Christians". I would highly recommend this book to all Christians! Please read it!

I have had some time to try and digest some of the truths that were brought forth during this conference. I would like to share with you, what was for me, the most life changing. It's the idea of living your life with the Gospel in front of you face. It is looking at life not with "rose colored lenses", but using the Cross of Christ as a lense to view all things. I know that at different seasons in my life, I have lived with many different things in front of my face. Self has always been a big one. I am selfish. Fear is another. The fear of man and what they will think of me. How shallow of me! Who cares! If we, as Christians who love the Lord can live our lives with the Gospel in front of our faces and nothing else, the Lord will use that to change the world! If we interpret all things through the Gospel we will be changed. We will see our God in a new light. We will see others in a new light. We will see trials in a new light. Do you want to change the world for Jesus? I believe that this is the first step! God's word, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is eternal, we will be in eternity with them! Let us, you and me keep the Gospel in front of our faces, conquer our sins, and take this world for our God. We deserve wrath! God has given us grace.

A Christian Nation

It is becoming more and more apparent to me that this nation, founded on Christian values and morals; this nation that was once called a Christian nation, can no longer be referred to as such. I have been watching and listening for some time now the different movements in our culture. These movements are political, cultural, even theological, and they can be a little startling! My first response is to get angry! How in the world can these people be so naive, so ignorant as to what is right and what is wrong. I don't think that I am the only person that has these feelings! I praise God the he is sovereign! The correct way for me to feel about these movements and changes in the way our society thinks is to respond with love. I know that my flesh is not able to love them. This love has to be supernatural! It has to be a love that my Heavenly Father instills in me. I will do my best, by God's grace, to love them and I pray that you will too.

I was reading in Romans 1 the other day and it struck me that this section of scripture describes America. I realize that Paul is speaking to the Romans here but I cannot help but see some similarities! I will share it with you. It is Romans 1:18-32-

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Our nation seems to be falling apart. Our world too for that matter. Yet here I sit. I am convicted. The Lord says "Go and make disciples of all nations." The Lord asks "Who can I send?" Like Isaiah, I will say "Here I am send me." Help me Father to have a heart for the lost, help me to love them as you do. Help me to go to them and share your beautiful gospel. Help me to keep the cross ever in front of my face. You and You alone. Please help me to be faithful. Help me to understand your gospel better. Make me more like your Blessed Son every day. Now to him who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. (1 Tim 6:15b & 16)

Biblical

I have a friend who likes to share his biblical opinion on some topics that can be very controversial. This friend is well educated and would probably consider himself something of an intellectual. His arguments are touching and sometimes very persuasive. However, most of his opinions I very much disagree with. I have yet to see any scripture to back up this "biblical opinion", in most cases because I don't think there is any. I think I have somewhat of a grasp on the major doctrines of scripture and I am enjoying digging deeper into God's word and learning about the not so major doctrines. If I do state my opinion, especially if it's an opinion on something scripture has to say, such as creation or marriage, I want to do my best to understand what God is saying in that scripture. I truly believe that God's word is sufficient for all things through our knowledge of Him. (2 Peter 1:3). We have no need to look to the Discovery Channel or the Science Channel, we have God's eternal word (Isa 40:8), which is written by God (2 Tim 3:16) Why would we look to man for his wisdom? God's word says repeatedly that the heart of man is wicked or evil (Matt 15:8, Rom 3:11 to name a few) I guess that my point is that if you are a Christian and you want to give your biblical opinion on issues that scripture talks about, use the scripture. It carries much more weight then "I think" or "I believe" or even "I saw it on the Internet so it has to be true". I guess there is a second point too. Christian please don't believe everything you hear or read from other Christians. Open up that bible of yours and test it! I apologize for this tirade. Thanks for listening, or reading, which is a type of listening. Blessings!

Perfect fellowship

I had a great conversation the other night with my friend Al. I don't remember all of what we talked about but I would like to share just a brief thought with you! I don't know where this thought came from but I said to Al "It will be great to get to heaven and have perfect fellowship with you". Normally when I talk about perfect fellowship it is in relationship to Jesus or God the Father. This thought was more along the lines of perfect fellowship with my friends too! I don't know about you but my mind sometimes wanders when I am talking to my friends. Sometimes those wanderings are tainted with sin. More often for sure then I would like to admit! So, on top of rejoicing for eternity with our God we will have fellowship with each other that is not tainted with sin! I would imagine that this would take all of our relationships to a much deeper level. Love without sin. Friendship without sin. Think without sin. Exist without sin! Heaven is going to be so much better then I can fathom! I can't wait to get there!

But Have Not Love

Today at church Pastor Ed talked about the newly elected Barack Obama. I know that there are many Evangelical Christians that have some very negative feelings about Mr. Obama. While I do not agree with some of the policies that he has, he is our leader and God's Holy Word has some very important things to say about how we should treat our leaders. Titus 3:1-3 says "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. " As many of you know I enjoy Facebook, it has been a great tool for me to get in touch with old friends. It has been a blessing! Lately many of my friends have been bickering and fighting, name calling and bashing each other over this whole president thing. This should not be! Fast friends now are disgusted with each other. Is that love? I don't think so. I think many of us "Evangelicals" have forgotten what it means to love. I include myself in the above statement. Who remembers what the greatest commandment is? Love the Lord you God. The second is like it Love your neighbor as yourself (my paraphrase). Where does love fit into all of this anger and fighting? I think it fits in very well where Satan is concerned. Get them fighting and they will be useless. The world will see all the fighting and have no desire to follow Christ! We are commanded to love! Yet we fight. My heart is broken. If we can't love each other because of who our new president is how are we going to love others? How are we going to bring revival to this land? How are we going to bring glory to God. That is why we are here!

Christians are known for what they don't agree with. We are known as anti-gay and anti-abortion. We are looked at as judgemental and arrogant! We should be know by our love! It is possible to love others and yet hate sin. I want to be known as a Christian. A follower of Christ. A lover of others. Not as someone who just condemns others that are not the same as I am. But for the grace of God that saved me! Romans 13:8-10 says "8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. The whole world is my neighbor. I need to love them more. I would be willing to bet that you do too!

I think it is important for us to love Barack Obama weather we agree with him or not. We need to pray for the leader that God has ordained. We need to pray for each other. Lift each other up. We may have different views of what is right and what is wrong, that does not change what scripture says about how we are to deal with each other and our leaders! Love! I am going to spend some time in the word this week studying more on how to love others and how to treat those who I don't agree with. I will be praying for Barack Obama and his family. I will be praying for this nation. I will be praying that we remember how to love our neighbors! Please join me in this and maybe we will see God do some great things! Thanks to my Pastor for his God given words this morning. God bless you all!

Friendly Fellowship

As a rule I am not a conversationalist. I do not like being with large groups of people, I guess I feel out of place, awkward. Unless forced, I have a hard time meeting new people and making new friends. I dread reunions. Class reunions, family reunions, way out of my comfort zone! Avoid at all costs! Danger!

Well, last night I had the opportunity to catch up with some folks that I have not seen or heard from in 15 years! I was nervous! I was really not looking forward to the forced conversation or the consuming silence that accompanies me in times like theses!

I had an awesome evening! The fellowship was sweet. We were able to share some testimonies, talk some theology, and share some of what had happened the last 15 years. I can truly see us becoming fast friends. I praise God that He overcame my fears. If it were not for our shared faith in the Lord Jesus I believe that last night would have turned out much different! I would have been uncomfortable, out of my comfort zone.

I know that through my relationship with the Lord that I am a new creature! The old is passed away, new is come! (2 Cor 5:17).

Sparkling clean

This morning I was reading in John 13 about Jesus washing His disciples feet to show them how important it is for Christians to be servants, no matter their station in life. If Jesus the Lord of the universe is washing feet, how much more should I be doing! I wanted to share this passage with you starting at verse 6 and going through 11, it is beautiful.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Clean or not clean, that is the question that we all have to answer. What a beautiful picture John paints for us. I long for my Savior. Oh to hear Him say "because of Me you are clean! " A sinner like me clean, as white as snow, because He who was from the beginning cared enough to die. I stand in awe. Thank you Jesus. Help me to serve you better and therefore serve those around me better too.

Election

I bet you thought by the title that I was going to talk about voting and who I was going to vote and why you should vote for that person too. Well, you are wrong! Ha!

All of this talk about the presidential election has made me appreciate the fact that God elected (or called) me to Himself for salvation! Last Sunday night at church we talked about predestination. Romans 8:30 says, And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. This is such a great verse! I am so thankful that I am on the Romans 8:30 road! I was predestined! I was called! I am justified! I will be glorified! It had absolutely nothing to do with me or who I am, It was and is all God. What a great God we have! What a great Savior we have! Were it not for the love of the Father and His perfect plan for salvation I would die a wretched sinner. We as Christians have such hope! We are His people! His chosen. His elect! I praise you Father!

Spurgeon

More from Spurgeon. Try to say this from a pulpit today!

Why, there are those who pretend to save souls by curious tricks, intricate manoeuvres, and dexterous posture-making! A basin of water, half-a-dozen drops, certain syllables—heigh, presto—the infant is made a child of God, a member of Christ, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven! This aqueous regeneration surpasses my belief; it is a trick which I do not understand: the initiated only can perform the beautiful piece of magic, which excels anything ever attempted by the Wizard of the North. There is a way, too, of winning souls by laying hands upon heads, only the elbows of the aforesaid hands must be encased in lawn, and then the machinery acts, and there is grace conferred by blessed fingers! I must confess I do not understand the occult science, but at this I need not wonder, for the profession of saving souls by such juggling can only be carried out by certain favoured persons who have received apostolical succession direct from Judas Iscariot. This episcopal confirmation, when men pretend that it confers grace, is an infamous piece of juggling. The whole thing is an abomination. Only to think that, in this nineteenth century, there should be men who preach lip salvation by sacraments, and salvation by themselves, forsooth!Why, sirs, it is surely too late in the day to come to us with this drivel! Priestcraft, let us hope, is an anachronism, and the sacramental theory out of date. These things might have done for those who could not read, and in the days when books were scarce; but ever since the day when the glorious Luther was helped by God to proclaim with thunder-claps the emancipating truth, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God," there has been too much light for these Popish owls. Let them go back to their ivy-mantled towers, and complain to the moon of those who spoiled of old their kingdom of darkness. Let shaven crowns go to Bedlam, and scarlet hats to the scarlet harlot, but let not Englishmen yield them respect. Modern Tractarianism is a bastard Popery, too mean, too shifty, too double-dealing to delude men of honest minds.If we win souls, it shall be by other arts than Jesuits and shavelings can teach us. Trust not in any man who pretends to priesthood. Priests are liars by trade, and deceivers by profession. We cannot save souls in their theatrical way, and do not want to do so, for we know that with such jugglery as that, Satan will hold the best hand, and laugh at priests as he turns the cards against them at the last.

The Saviors Promise

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

I read this during my time with the Lord this morning and wanted to share it. I hope that it will bless you!

Ecumenical?

The following is a quote from Spurgeon.

To pursue union at the expense of truth is treason to the Lord Jesus. If we are prepared to enter into solemn league and covenant for the defense of the crown-rights of King Jesus, we cannot give up the crown-jewels of his gospel for the sake of a larger charity. He is our Master and Lord, and we will keep his words: to tamper with his doctrine would be to be traitors to himself.

Todays Church is striving for unity with others. I say amen to Mr Spurgeon!

ESV Study Bible

I was waiting anxiously the other day for a package to arrive in the mail. I'm not very good at waiting sometimes! I just get so excited! You should see me on Christmas eve, just like a little kid. I am always the first one up. Well, this particular package was important to me because it contained 2 ESV study bibles. One for me and the other for my son Tyler. Upon receiving the above mentioned treasures I realized that they were the largest study bibles I had ever encountered in all of my 34 years. Something akin to the family bible that has been passed down from generation to generation. Secretly, I was happy to see the mass of this bible! Now when I walk into church I can hold my head high because I know that a big bible means big spirituality! Admit it! You have thought it too!

Seriously though. I love this study bible! Admittedly I have very little experience reading ESV, but so far it is a joy to read. The commentary is outstanding, the layout is nice, plenty of room for notes, there are even blank pages in the back for additional notes! There is also a ton of other info spread out in the different sections of scripture and a large section in the rear that talks about systematic theology! Another feature that I am really enjoying is the online version. A very useful tool! The Reformed and Calvinist leaning is also very appreciated!

It has been a blessing working with this bible with my son. This is his first study bible and I am enjoying the process of teaching him how to use this powerful tool! I pray that we would both grow closer to our God as we spend time in His eternal Word together!

All this for under 45 bucks! I would highly recommend this bible to anyone in the market!

Sinner to sinner

How terrible is my sin? How awful is your sin? How sinful was the sin of Adam? How wretched is original sin? What about a white lie? What about the "little" sins that we may commit every day? Any ONE of those sins put Christ, God's son, the creator of all, eternal, son of the Most High Sovereign God, on the cross.

How Great is God? How great is His Son?

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to heaven. Jesus Christ had to be sacrificed in order for our sin to be forgiven!

How terrible is my sin? So terrible that the Son of God HAD to be sacrificed in order that my sin can be forgiven. So awful that a Just God allowed his Son to be killed so that we can be justified.

How awful my sin!!!!
How great is the love of our God!
Praise be to God!!!!

Thankful

I just recently finished reading a book called the Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. It's a book that talks about how important it is for all Christians to live in the Gospel. We can never know it too well! It is awesome to think that our just God looks as us as Christians as righteous through the blood of His perfect Son. I rejoice in the fact that it is not by my works that I am saved but because of Him who came to save me. There is nothing I can do to better my position with God. When I sin, I know that I am being disobedient to my Heavenly Father but He continues to love me and look at me through His Son because I am washed in the blood.

This morning at church we looked at scripture from 1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus is sufficient. God is sufficient. Gods word is sufficient.

Believe it of not I still sin! I am so thankful that my God does not hold that against me! Thank you for defending me Jesus Christ, the Righteous One!

Sight seeing

This morning I was reading in The Gospel According to John chapter 9. It is the story of the man blind from birth who receives his sight from Christ of the Sabbath.

While reading this it still amazes me that the Pharisees are so stubborn and skeptical of Jesus. They are so prideful and arrogent, refusing to believe in Christ because of there own self righteousness. I need to be careful here because I know that were it not for God's grace in my life, for Jesus calling me to himself, for my election to be a son of God, if I were not adopted (we as Christians are adopted! What a great truth!) there is a very good chance that I would not be any different then the Pharisees. Praise God for His calling!

Simple faith and obedience is all it takes! Jesus spit in the sand, made mud, put it on the mans eyes, and told him to go wash. He did. He was healed.

Verse 25 says, He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

Thank you Father for my vision that you have given me! Thank you for my salvation. Please help me never to forget or soften your Gospel.

Soft Gospel

It is a sad thing today that we soften the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ just to get more people in the door! We don't want to offend anyone! Pastor Ed talked some about that this past Sunday. I came across another scripture this morning in John that lets us know what Christ thinks about a "soft gospel". It is when Jesus is talking about how He is the Bread of Life. John 6:25-66.

Jesus the Bread of Life
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus 60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Jesus himself taught boldly, spoke hard words, and offended people! He was not afraid to turn people away because of truth. We need to speak that truth too. That truth is that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Don't soften it! Speak truth!

Lost Love

I have a problem. I have a hard time loving those who may benefit the most from my love. More importantly, the love that my God has supernaturally instilled in me. Without the love of my Heavenly Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit living within me I know that I would be much worse off. I would be bitter and angry. I am sure that I would (more) in my anger too. I have blogged about this frustration in my life before. I hate so much that I am a sinner. I hate that I am unable to live my life the way that my God wants me to. I hate that I am unable to glorify God in all of my life. I can not wait until He returns. I yearn for a sinless world. A world where I can live my life for my God 100 percent. Where sin will not impede and destroy. I world where Satan and sin do not reign. How awesome will that be!

Please pray for me as I struggle with this. Pray that I will be able to love as Christ loves. Pray that I will not keep track of wrongs. That I will look at the wrong in my own life and compare that to the perfect Jesus who is my Lord. I do want to bring Him glory with my life. Please, let that be my only desire.

Lordship Salvation

I just finished reading MacArthurs "The Gospel According to Jesus" I will say again that this is an incredible book that helped me out with my theology. Read it if you have not already! I want to share with you a quote from Tozer.

"To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching for no one can receive half of Christ, or a third of Christ, or a quarter of the Person of Christ! We are not saved by believing in an office nor in a work."

His point is that when you genuinely receive Christ as your Savior, you are also accepting the fact that He is also Lord. You can't have one without the other! When you are indeed saved you are saved by the Whole Christ. Not just a part of Him. He is Lord and Savior. He demands obedience. Take up your cross. Die to this world. Live for Christ.

It was Jesus

John chapter 5 talks about Jesus healing an invalid at a pool called Bathesda. The man had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus heals this man instantly. The healing is perfect (as perfect as it could be in this fallen world). The man obeys Christ, gets up, takes his mat and leaves. At this point the man does not know who it was that healed him. A little later in the story he see Jesus again and Jesus warns him to stop sinning or something worse may happen. The man goes to the Jews and tells the that is was Jesus that made him well. I want to share that verse with you. It is verse 15. It is beautiful. "The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well." It was Jesus that made him well. How simple. Has Jesus made you well too? I praise God that He has made me well!

Follow Me

I have been spending some time in The Gospel of John. Have you ever noticed how easily Christ calls his disciples? In most instances he simply says "Follow Me". That short invitation is sometimes followed by a couple of other words like "and I will make you fishers of men", or "and you will see". There is no coercion, no lengthy conversation, just simple obedience! Christ lived his life in such a way that it was attractive to those who would follow Him. He didn't need special music in the background playing "I surrender all", or the convincing words of an evangelist, no stories of near death experiences or old men receiving Christ on their death bed. "Follow Me". So simple, not polluted by man. I believe with all of my heart that when Christ says "Follow Me" and we truly make that decision to follow Him, it is a life changing decision. It is a decision not to make Christ lord of your life, we can't make Christ anything! It is agreeing with Christ that He is Lord of our lives, Lord over everything! Lead me as you see fit. I do absolutely agree with Christ! He is Lord of all. Father, please help me to live my life in such a way that I am proof of that fact.

Isaiah

I was studying John 1:1 this morning and this is were I ended up. It's beautiful. This section of scripture is familiar to most of you, but it is still worth some meditation! I hope that it blesses you.

Isaiah 55:6-13
6 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 "For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

A lesson from History

All this talk about easy believeism made me think this morning about "back then". Back in Lathers day. Back in the day when the faithful Luther nailed the 95 thesis to the door at Castle Church in 1517. Now you will have to remember here that I am no historian. I do enjoy church history but at this point I only know (or think I know) bits and pieces. So if this is incorrect let me know! I believe that back in those days folks could "buy" salvation for themselves, their loved ones, even for people already deceased, all they had to do was give money to the Roman Catholic Church. Once salvation was "paid for" not by the blood of Christ but with money you could go on living however you pleased! Does that sound familiar? The only difference is that today it is offered as a free gift! Walk the isle, sign on the line, say the prayer, kneel at the alter. There is no need to change the way you live. Just believe. You can continue as you are, no need to be a holy roller. Scripture says that there will be many on that day who say, "Lord, Lord did we not do all of these things in your name! "Depart from me for I never new you!" Those are words I never want to hear from my God! I want to be sure that He says to me "Well done my good and faithful servant!"

John MacArthur

I have been wading my way through MacArthurs "The Gospel According To Jesus" for quite a while now. It is indeed a book that I would recommend if you have not yet read it! There is a part in this book that talks about the "two gates", the "narrow road", the "wide road" that are spoken of in the Gospels. Jesus says in Matthew 22:14, that "Many are called, but few are chosen." That really caught my attention. With the easy believeism that is taught today it is easy to see the many who are called. It is easy to see those who call themselves "Christians" and then go on to live their lives however they want. All you have to do is say a prayer "accept Christ" and you are saved, go ahead, live however you want. It doesn't matter, you said your prayer. You are heaven bound no matter what you do. The Gospels talk about the narrow road that is hard to find and has few people on it. I believe that the "wide road" is full of folks who have paid their "fire insurance" with a prayer and really believe that they are going to heaven. That is, after all, what they have been taught. If they would only pick up their bibles and read for themselves! Look at the gospel that Jesus proclaimed! They would see that Jesus actually turned people away! He did not tolerate the self righteous! He was very critical of the Pharisees. If you were not willing to give Christ you all He did not want you. He wants complete denial of self! "Take up you cross and follow Me" no matter what is the devotion that Christ requires. I know that I examine my life often. I want you all to know that in my righting I am speaking to myself more then anyone else. I want to make sure that I am living my life the way my Savior and Lord would want me too. There are areas in my life that I am having a hard time giving up. I also know that with the assistance of the Holy Spirit I am able to concur those problem areas! I know that I am washed in the blood of the Lamb. I know that Jesus is Lord of my life and I know that He is working in my life to make me more like Him. I also know that I have a very long way to go!

When I say I'm a Christian

I came across these this morning and wanted to share them with you and hope that they bless you like the blessed me!

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'' I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.

'When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Creation

I realize that this is not the best picture in the world. It is cloudy and raining, not the best picture taking weather to be sure. I just wanted to share some thoughts. The fall colors here are arguably the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is a very easy time to look up and praise God for His creation. No matter how beautiful this is though, it is important to remember that we are His masterpiece. We are the reason all of this is here. We are the reason He sacrificed His Son. We are made in His image. Not the trees, animals, not even angels! I praise you Father for you creation! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the new earth! These colors are nothing compared to that!

Ask it correctly

Has anyone ever asked you the question "How can a loving God allow bad things to happen"? That seems to be a very common position/excuse for many people who want nothing to do with God. That question can be a challenging one to answer for some of us too! I am reading a book by Piper and Taylor called "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World". I am only about half way through it so I can't recommend it yet, but so far it has been a real blessing! There is a quote in this book that I just have to share with you! It tackles the above question in a very outstanding way!

The narration starts by asking the person who asks the above question to ask the qusstion properly. They obviously don't have a clue what you just said, and then you answer their question this way:

"Look me in the eyes and ask me this: "How on earth can a holy and righteous God know what I did and thought and said yesterday and not kill me in my sleep last night?" Ask it that way, and we can talk. But until you ask it like that, you do not understand the issue. Until you ask the question that way, you believe the problem is out there somewhere. Until you ask the question that way, you believe that there are some individuals who, in and of themselves, deserves something other then the wrath of Almighty God. When you ask the question that way-when you say, "Why is it that we are here today? Why has He not consumed and devoured each and everyone of us? Why? Why O God, does your judgment and wrath tarry?" -Then you truly understand the issue"

That answer to that question is the most complete and well thought out answer I have ever heard or read. Once you understand where you are positionally with Almighty God, you are better able to understand who that Almighty God is.

What hat do you wear?

I love hats. I have more hats then I can count. I have wool cowboy type hats, canvas hats, mad bomber hats, straw hats, fleece hats, knit hats, and baseball caps. I have hats that tell you what teams I like, my favorite nascar driver, what types of outdoor gear I like, and camo hats. Hats to keep me warm, hats to keep me cool and everything in between. It is safe to say I have more hats then the average person. You could say I am addicted to hats! I am always wearing a hat. When I am wearing a hat I am proclaiming to the world that I am a Yankees fan or that Dale Jr. is my favorite driver. A hat can say a lot of things about a person. When I wear some of my hats I want to be known by the emblem on the hat. I want to be known as a Yankees fan, I want to be known as someone who loves to hunt and fish. That is one of the reasons that I wear some of the hats I have. The one thing though that I truely want to be known most as is a Christian. That is the one thing that none of my hats say. I should not have to wear that on my hat though! That should be something that is easily recognizable by my actions, by what I do and say. I know that sometimes in my life my "hat of Christianity" is much more visible then it is at other times. I need that "hat" to stay on always and forever! Lord help me to wear that hat every minute of every day until I am with you forever! I pray that the world will not have any sway over me because I am yours, bought by the redeeming blood of you Holy Son. I am an alien here on this earth, help me to live like one! Help me to love others the way that you do and hate the sin in my life like you do too!

To my enemies! Beware!

Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

These are a couple of verses found in the earlier chapters of Psalms. They are followed by many chapters and many more verses that say very similar things. Strike my enemies, banish my enemies, rise up in rage against my enemies, etc, etc. I have been taught from when I was a child to "Love your enemies, Bless those who persecute you, Turn the other cheek." That is after all what the New Testament teaches. My question is, where do the above verses fit in with what the NT teaches? Am I just to disregard these verses? Am I to choose when to love and when to wish destruction? I don't think so. I think that these verses are meant to teach us. I think they are there for a reason. I have been wrestling with these verses for some time now and I believe that one of the reasons these verses are in scripture are to teach us just how much our Holy God hates sin, to help us hate sin more. These verses are never aimed at Christians, but at pagans. People who reject God and love sin. I don't believe that we are to think this was in today's society. We are to have a NT love for our enemies. I would love some of your input on why you believe God put those verses in the Psalms! Let us grow together in the Lord!

Blasts from the past

It has recently come to my attention that there are quite a few "kids" that I worked with as youth that are now in full time ministry! That is so encouraging to me! It is awesome to see people that I knew when they were just teenagers now working in full time ministry. I had the opportunity this summer to spend time with some of them, what a blessing. There are many folks that I went to WOLBI and LU with that are now in ministry too. I am so excited for them! Some of these are people I partied with. Who knew! God is so good. I say that often, but it is always true! God is GOOD!

Christian Service Brigade

Tonight was awesome. For the first time in years I am working with the brigade unit in my church. The leadership team consists of some familiar faces, men that I love and respect, men who love the Lord Jesus. It as such a blessing to me to be working with these man in this capacity again! There are also some new face. Men that I know but have never had the opportunity to minister with. I look forward to getting to know these men better as we minister together! It is such a blessing to work with young men again! For a number of years I have been working with a youth group of boys and girls. I do enjoy working in this type of ministry, but I believe I am better suited to minister to young men. The Lord has given me gifts, I believe this is one of them. I thank God for the chance to work in this capacity once again!

Ty's gift

Ty could not sleep last night, he was too excited about his birthday (sounds more then a little like his father). That is a 20 ga shotgun. He was very happy indeed! Shortly after this we went out to shoot. He was not too excited about the kick but he is now getting used to it. I am so blessed to have a son who loves to hunt and fish as much as I do! Hunter safety course next week! Then we will be hunting small game! We can't wait!

Funny Stuff

This is a picture of me when I was at Word Of Life. Made me laugh. The guy next to me is Kevin Rands. Kind of makes me wish I could go back in time and do things a little different. I am so thankful that my God is sovereign!

Sinner to sinner

Life is really not all that complicated. If you want to be joyful, follow the rules, that is live by Gods word. If you want to be miserable, live life on your own terms. Simple, right? Well, not really. We are human. It is often tempting to try to live our lives the way we want too. This can be done in small ways too. The little decisions that we make that seem too small to give to the Lord are also choices we make to live for the Lord or ourselves. How many decisions would you say you make in a day? 10? 20? 100? Of those decisions, big or small, how many do you ask for the Lords leading? I admit, my percentage is often quite low!

I want to live a joyful life. I know that in order to do so I need to follow the rules. I often compare myself to others, not to my perfect Savior. I often get frustrated because I think people owe me something. I get angry because I am a failure on so many levels. I am a sinner who does not hate sin the way that I should. That means that I don't love my God the way that I should. I don't appreciate the Cross of Christ the way that I should. I don't love others the way I need to. I love me. I love the things of this world way too much. I love money. Making myself look better then the real thing. So often that "Rule Book" is just filed away.

It is often easy for me to look at others and their circumstances and say to myself, "That's the bed you made, sleep in it too". I have a hard time loving others the way Christ does. I have a hard time leaving the things of this world behind and clinging to the Cross.

To sum things up, I am a wretched sinner. Learning what it is to love my Lord and Savior.

I just don't like reading

That is what Tyler tells me every time I ask him to read. He has a book report due sometime within the next month. He does not see the importance of getting ahead of things. He has a tough time seeing that things will soon be busier then they are right now. He does not have the ability to look ahead. He does not like reading. I don't think that I did either at his age! I would not tell him this, but I think he reminds me a lot of myself! I am now starting to realize my parents frustration! Having been away from the school thing somewhat for the past few years this is a new challenge for me! Please be praying for me and Ty as we go through this school year as it has potential to be very challenging for both of us! I love that I have Ty living with me this year and I love my boy so much, I just want him to succeed! I know that I am too hard on him sometimes. I tend to err on that side of the fence. That can be a good thing for a young man, I just pray that he has the godly women in his life that are necessary to balance that out! This full time parent thing is kind of new to me in a very weird non-traditional way! I want to thank all of the godly women who are influencing my dear son! Thanks Mom, Amy, Tracy, Mom-in-law, Sister-in-law, Lisa, etc, etc. These women are so important to me and my boy! Thank you, Thank you! I praise God for each and every one of you!

My home page

My igoogle home page has been a real encouragement to me as of late! I get a daily verse from scripture. Today's verse is Revelation 21:3.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

How cool is that! I just can't imagine dwelling with God. He WILL live with us. It says it right there! It is so great to have hope. I feel so bad for the unsaved. Where is their hope?

Thank You Father for the hope that I have in You and Your Word!

Ministry

Today was a pretty cool day. My heavenly Father and I had an appointment at about 5 AM. He got me up early to pray. I just love that. I then had breakfast with a dear friend and his family at a local restaurant where my friend told me about a guy he met yesterday who was going through some tough times in his young marriage. They were even thinking about divorce. I told my friend that I would have liked to have been able to talk to him. Well, guess who sat next to me in church? You guessed it! My father God had another divine appointment for me. I was able to share with this young man how terrible divorce is. How I regret so many of the decisions I made in my own young marriage. I talked to him about love and forgiveness and not keeping track of wrongs, (I Cor. 13), spiritual leadership. I had a chance to share with him what I learned through my divorce. How awful bitterness is. How I cherish the godly men in my life and how important they are to me and my life as a christian. I was able to relate a lot to him from a different perspective then most christian men could. I praise God for using me in spite of my circumstances! It is indeed an honor. Please pray for my friend as he struggles in his marriage. We have a great God who can do all things!

Psalms

At work when I get a chance I put on the ipod and listen to some good preaching and teaching. Lately that good teaching has come from Piper. He recently finished up a series on Psalms. What a blessing! I have been doing my best to spend a good deal of time strictly in this special book, I am convinced that these mostly shot pieces of literature are meant to help the church of God deal with many of the hardships and blessings that we face every day. That being said, none of spend enough time in Psalms!

When I was a kid at summer camp we used to sing a couple of the Psalms. Psalm 25 is one that comes back to me often! Let me share some of it with you.

Psalm 25:4-21

4 Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.

14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.

18 Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.

19 See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!

20 Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.

21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.

How cool is that! Lord help me to meditate on your word day and night! Fill my mind with your word.

Heaven

Heaven. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word heaven. Do you think about being in Gods presence? Streets of gold? A mansion built just for you? Praising Christ for His sacrifice? A glorified body? Reunions with loved ones? I have heard quite a bit about how when we get to heaven there will be no more sin. No more temptation. That is one of the things I look forward to the most. I just can't imagine that! What will it be like to have no more sin. What will it be like to to have no sin to tarnish our fellowship with our Holy Father. We will have communion with God unlike anything we will ever experience here on earth. I so look forward to that!

Steve Miller

This is just a short devo from Steve Millers book One Minute Promises. First John 5:14 says, "This is the confidence we have in Him, that is we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Steve Millers says:
Keep in mind that we pray not to inform God's mind, for He already knows all things even before we ask. We pray not to change His mind, for He already has a plan in place and knows what is best. Rather, we pray to receive His mind-to ask Him to place His desires in our hearts so we can become cooperative instruments of the work He desires to do on the earth.

What a privilege to be a part of His work! Father please help me know your will and not my own.

Me me meme

Why do I blog? That is a question that I have given a lot of thought to. There are a number of reasons. Writing often makes it easier for me to understand my thoughts and emotions. If I write something down, it forces me to actually think about what I am writing. It is easy for me to just file stuff away in the back of my mind and then just forget about it. Another reason I blog is to be as transparent to others as I can. I want the real me to be known. I try to be honest with everything I post. I pray that God will use the things I write here to work in the lives of those who read it. Who knows, maybe someone will even get saved by what is published. Pride, I know that there is a part of me that wants to impress those who read what I write. I have been thinking a lot about pride as of late. It seems the more I look at me life the more I see it. The more I look at me the uglier I am. I just pray that when people look at me they will see less and less of who Rob Peck is and more and more of my Savior. I know that pride will always be something I struggle with. I am starting to believe that pride and pride alone is responsible for most if not all of the sins I commit. I can't wait for glory. I can't wait to be glorified. To never even be tempted to sin. Come Lord Jesus Come!

ABC

There are quite a few people in and around the town I live it that call my church "Adirondack Bible Cult". I guess that folks think we do whatever Ed Hart (our pastor) says without any thought of our own. What people fail to see is that what is taught comes straight from Gods Word. Some of what is taught is calling sin sin. There is no beating around the bushes here. I know that my church is not perfect, I also know that Ed Hart is not perfect. He has said things to me that I don't agree with, he has said things from the pulpit that I don't agree with or have a hard time with. That is OK. He is human. I know he has offended some folks too. Again, he is human. Just ask him, he will tell you that. Most of the men I know, myself included are know to put their foot in their mouth from time to time. My point is that people are going to talk. Most of that talk comes from the people who have been hurt. Some of that talk comes from pride, which by the way is sin. Most of that talk is harmful to the body of Christ. I am guilty of it. I have been both hurt and offended by ABC, or any other church I have attended. I have said things that were better left unsaid. I know that all people are sinners, myself included. We are all a work in progress.

Something was said in church yesterday that really got my attention. My pastor said, If you are offended of hurt, maybe you are thinking about yourself too much. 1 Corinthians 13 is a very familiar passage. It talks about love and what it means to love, how to love. The end of verse 5 says that love keeps no records of wrongs. Has someone wronged you? Do you still get mad about it? Are you bitter? It has been recommended to me by more then one person that I write down everything wrong that my x does, that I keep a record of her wrongs so that if it ever comes to court I have that "stuff" written down. I have tried it. I used to write everything down. I would write down things she said, things she did or didn't do. If I didn't agree with it I wrote it down. I had quite a list! Do you know how hard it is to love someone when you are keeping track of all the ways they wrong you? It's impossible. I was angry with her, I was hurt by her, I was bitter. I couldn't even talk to her without getting mad. I don't keep that list any more. Luke 6:27 says to love your enemies. I don't look at Nancy as an enemy, but if scripture says that I should love my enemies I know that I need to love Nancy too. I often have a very hard time doing that!

My point is that in this little town of ours there are quite a few different churches. There is a lot of talk. Many people are "keeping lists" of all of the ways they have been hurt. We need to get rid of those lists. Matthew 22:37-38 says "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Who is your neighbor? In this case, its the person who hurt of offended you. If we are Christians, even if we are offended, we should not be talking about it. Those outside the church hear it. They want nothing to do with it. We give our Savior a black eye. I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. I know that God will work in spite of us bickering. I for one don't want that. I want Him to work through me not in spite of me! Let us all get our minds off of ourselves and on Him who saved us.

Galations 2:17-21

This was part of my QT this morning. I know that it is a familiar passage but it is still refreshing!

17But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law then Christ died for no purpose.

I have been crucified with Christ and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me! Loved me! I praise you Jesus! Help me to live for you more and more! I am so undeserving of your love. I deserve hell. I prove that every day. I praise you for giving your life for mine. Help me love you more every day.

Discernment

I have been enjoying the Desiring God blog for sometime now. Today's post was, for me, something to get excited about. If the "church" today could grasp this truth there would be true revival. True repentance. True fellowship. The following is from John Piper.

Discernment is not created in God's people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

We see so many "churches" today base their entire belief system on emotions, feelings and works. This just should not be! Pick up those Bibles people! Get into God's word, put Christ first, apply biblical truth by the power of the Holy Spirit! That is what being a Christian is all about! He is the Way the Truth and the Life!

If you get a chance check out today's post at Desiring God. There is a lot of good stuff there! http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1348_test_revival_with_doctrine/. I'm not all that savvy with computers so you will have to either cut and paste the link or just go there yourself! The title of the blog is "Test revival with doctrine".

Lost loved ones

As my friends and family know, I have been divorced for about 6 years now. This is something I often struggle with. From what I have seen in scripture I feel that I did have biblical grounds for the divorce so that I am comfortable with, though I do often second guess that decision. I struggle with knowing that I am a failure. I was the spiritual leader of my family, I let my family slip away. I feel that if I had loved the Lord as I do now things could have been different. If I had loved Nancy the way that I know I should have, maybe she would not have looked for happiness elsewhere. I pray for Nancy all the time. I pray that she will return to Jesus, that she will see that the world has nothing to offer. I pray that she will see that true happiness is only from the Lord. I know that many of you reading this pray the same for her and I thank you. I sometimes pray that the Lord will bring her back to me so that we could be a family again. That would indeed be a miracle. Our relationship is often stressed and I know that my testimony has been tarnished a number of times because I let my feelings get in the way. I know that God can and does use me in spite of my short comings and I praise Him for that as I am often a bumbling idiot! I pray also that Nancy will someday be able to forgive me for not being the man that she deserved. I praise God that He loves me even though I fail. I know that He is control and I praise Him for that too.

Matthew 22:34-40

Today in church we talked a little bit about love. The above passage, though not mentioned this morning, is Christ Himself talking about love. It says "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." All I could think today while I was listening to Pastor Ed was that I sometimes struggle with loving others. As pastor said this morning, many Christians would give their life up for another, but would they inconvenience themselves for that same person? I really think that I would lay my life down for another. The inconvenience is something different. I sometimes have a hard time bring myself to talk to someone different then me let alone love them! Why is it so hard for my flesh to love! Christ loved the unlovable, I have a hard time talking to them! I believe the answer to my condition lies within the greatest commandment. It says to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind. I know that when I am seeking God it is easier to walk in His commandments. I know also that when my walk is not so close I have a much more difficult time doing all of His commandments, not just loving. Father please help me to walk closer to you every day. As I seek to love you, instill your love in me so that I can love others better. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." I know that If I do seek Him first I don't have to worry about Him not answering my prayers, as long as they go along with His will! Psalm 51:10 says "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." That is my prayer.

Man to man

Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." I love that. The relationships that men can have with one other in Christ are an incredible blessing. I praise God for the godly men that He has put in my life! I praise him for the accountability, encouragement, trust, love, discipleship, friendship, and fellowship that He has given me in the form of men who love Him. I am so blessed. I have been praying for quite some time that Lord would provide me with godly friends. He has done so to a degree that I surely do not deserve! God is so good! I praise Him. Father please help me never to take these men for granted!

Before I sign off, I would like to share another cool verse that I was reacquainted with today. Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Sinner to sinner part 2

How much do you hate sin? I'll bet you all the money in the world that no matter who you are and where you are in life, you don't hate sin nearly enough. I know for sure that I don't. Why? Because I still sin! I can't imagine the pain that my Savior had to go through for my sin! God can't even tolerate to have sin in His holy presence. The same God that sacrificed His son as a payment for our sin so that someday we may able to stand in His presence. Yesterday I listened to a sermon by John Piper about sin. I can't remember the sermon title but he talked quite a bit about how much Christ suffered for you and me. The suffering on the cross, God turning His back on Him. In a nutshell Christ suffered an amount equivalent to what all of the human race would suffer in hell for eternity as payment for our sins. I'm not what you would call an expert on the effects of sin, but scripture is not silent when it comes to hell. Eternal torment, Luke 16:33, eternal separation from God, eternal fire, Matt 5:22, eternal condemnation Matt 23:33. Eternal is forever and ever, that is indeed a high price to pay. I can not even begin to fathom how much Christ suffered in those hours. I can't understand the magnitude of the love that He has for us. I don't think that we will ever understand how much He suffered for our sin, yet we continue to sin! I hate that! Can you see your face in the crowd screaming crucify Him!!!! I sure can see mine. We had communion this past Sunday. It really hit me hard that every time I sin is another blow with the hammer that nailed Christ to that cursed tree. I hate the sin I have in my life. I hate it more and more every day and I still don't hate it enough. Father help me to HATE the sin in my life! Help me to nail my sin on the cross and never look back. I praise You for your suffering. I praise You for the cross. I praise You for your love. I praise You for the gospel, for salvation, for your Son. Thank you.

Anonymous

I have a friend who has a blog that seems to get a lot of attention from anonymous people. These anonymous people rarely have anything nice to say, in fact the attack what we as conservative evangelicals hold most dear too, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These folks call themselves "Christians" and some of the may very well be born again, but actions do speak louder then words. If they are indeed members of Christs family, they are for sure on the left. I have heard mention of civil partners, universalism, feminism, and the list goes on. Posting an anonymous comment is a lot like taking a swing at someone behind their back. It's almost like they are ashamed of the comments they leave. If you can't own up to what you have to say then why say it at all! The more I study God's word the more I see that His church is very exclusive. Matthew 7:13-14 says "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. The liberal and emergent churches seem to think that no matter what you believe as long as you can make scripture say what you want it to say is enough for salvation. Can you bend scripture to say that homosexual relationships are of God? Anyone can take just one verse and make it seem true. Can you make scripture say that living a worldly life is what god wants for us? The true test though is to take scripture and use the rest of the bible to interpret that piece of scripture. Does it fit? Can you take that one verse that you cling to and then look at the rest of what God has to say and make it fit? Chances are that if you are sitting on the left, you can not. We have a God that does not change. He has been, is, and always will be the same. If He hated sin in the old testament, guess what, He hates sin now! Because of original sin, we are all guilty of sin. God hated sin then and he still hates it now. I thank God that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for my sin. My sin that separates me eternaly from Him. My sin, idoltry,adultry, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting, hating, anything that I have done in the past separates me from God. My only way to Him, to a pure relationship with Him is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for my sin. That is my only hope. Without that I am destined to an eternity in hell. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." I don't care what your denomination is, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the one and only way to heaven. I thank You Father for your sacrifice! I thank You for my salvation. I thank You Jesus that You are the Way the Truth and the Life, nobody comes to the Father but by You!

Dry Spells

Well, it has been about a week since my last post and at this point I just feel like I don't have too much to say. My Mom has always told me that "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all." I'm not so sure that this applies to blogging! I have found that it is much easier to write about the Lord and what He is doing in your life when you are either being tested or when you are being blessed or seeing answered prayer. I feel that I have spent the last 6 years of my life being tested or refined (for the most part). The blessings came when Ty moved up here. Please don't misunderstand me here. I know that every day is a blessing. I know that Jesus Christ is a blessing, I know that because He chose to call me to Himself is a blessing. I also know that testing in and of itself is a blessing. I guess that my point is that there seems to be a lot more testing in my life then there is blessing. Now, I am NOT complaining. I am just stating the obvious. I believe that this is true for most Christians. If I am off base let me know!

Now, an after thought. I was listening to Macarther the other day and he said that he was in a room with a bunch of other reputable well known theologians and he said that they could not agree on what was necessary for salvation. This really got me thinking. One very clear picture of salvation is the thief on the cross next to Jesus. First he defended Christ and then he asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Luke 23:40-43 follows. 40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[f]"
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." To me that is pretty clear. Faith alone. But, what is faith? Actions speak louder then words. Do you think that if this thief next to Christ were to somehow escape death after this brief interlude with Christ he would have have gone on to lead a luke warm christian life, or would he have been radical for Christ. He would have been radical. There would not have been any doubt that this man was a christian. He would have showed all that looked that he was a christian by what he did, by his works. I have become a very strong advocate of "Lordship Salvation" in the past couple of years. I believe that faith alone is all that is necessary but this faith is in the Lord of the universe and it is giving Him control, making Him Lord, not a bystander. There should be evidence in your life that Christ is your Savior. In the parable of the seeds I believe that the only saved seed is the one that fell on the fertile ground. The others not, seeds may have been planted, but there was never any fruit. If you think you are a christian and there has never been any fruit in your life, it is time to examine your life and figure out just who your lord is. Jesus is not just your ticket to heaven and then go on living however you want. Jesus is the son of the only God, sacrificed for our sin. Accept Him for what He is, Lord. Father help me to live my life in such a way that it is evident to all that You and You alone are Lord of my life.

So much for the dry spell!