The Preeimence of the Gospel (part 3)

Yesterday's post was going to be really long but I shortened it down by splitting the message down into four parts instead of three. If you have not read the earlier posts, I encourage you to go back and read those first. Today's post won't be too long. Here is Paul Washer:

"He says the Gospel which you "received." It means, "to take in the Christ." Christ becomes the very sustenance of your LIFE! HE BECOMES ABSOLUTLY EVERYTHING!! Your whole life is now lived out in a different context, and that context is in CHRIST! He's not some little accessory that you tie on to your LIFE!! He's not something that you do on Sundays. He's not something that you ' Oh I've got that done already, don't worry about me preacher.' You received him! You take him in! He is your life, and you must take him wholelisticly. These silly little arguments about, lordship of Jesus Christ. Well is it lordship's salvation when you get saved. Do you get saved by believing he's the savior, without accepting him as lord? What do you think, the lord Jesus Christ is schizophrenic. HE IS LORD, CHIRST, MESSIAH, SAVIOR!! And when he is taken in he is taken in wholelisticly. He is taken in completely AS LORD AS SAVIOR AS GOD!!! Again you say I'm asking too much. No I'm asking too much from men who have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, but when the power of God is working I’m not asking too much.

PW: "Which you received in which you also stand. That word, "stand", what is it dealing with? A conviction of the Gospel. It becomes the very foundation of your life! I meet so many Good people, and yet I can take note quickly that Christ is not the source of their sustenance. Christ is not the source of their life. He is not the foundation upon which they build. He is an accessory to add to their life. But Paul says no. You received him, you received this Gospel, you stand upon this Gospel, and you stay there.

Paul Washer: "Now we go on. "By which also you are saved." Now this is the part that burns. This is a part that I have to be careful of not getting in the flesh. This is a part that makes me fierce, angry, and warrior-like in my preaching. I am sick and tired of all these Gospel preachers promising things God never promised, because the promise of salvation is no longer good enough for carnal men. WE'RE PROMISING THEM "OH IF YOU ACCEPT CHIRST JESUS YOU'LL HAVE A WHOLELISTIC LIFE! IF YOU ACCEPT JESUS HE'LL BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK! IF YOU ACCEPT JESUS HE WILL DO THIS AND THIS AND THIS AND THIS! When did salvation not become enough? THAT HE HAS SHEED HIS OWN BLOOD FOR MY SOUL! THAT I' M SAVED I'M SAVED PRAISE GOD I'M SAVED, THAT I WAS A WRETCH BOUND FOR HELL!! COULD NOT ESCAPE, COULD NOT EVEN WANT TO ESCAPE; AND YET HE HAS SAVED ME!!! Why is that no longer good enough? I'll tell you why, because we're not preaching on sin, and men are not afraid of sin, and men are not afraid of judgement.

To be continued.

To My Brothers in Christ,
-Kole

P.S. Nick has informed me that he will not be able to post for a little while. Also be looking for me tomorrow with part 4.

Ordo Solutis

What is the Ordo Solutus? E.C.J.A.S.G.
You can break it all up into six points:
(1). Effectual calling, is an Irresistible grace, because to produces regeneration.
(2). Conversion, faith and repentance (I prefer believe and repent).
(3). Justification, is the work of God declaring us NOT GUILTY, and RIGHTEOUS!
(4). Adoption, is God declaring and making us His sons (or daughters), and co-heirs with Christ, in everything!
(5). Sanctification, is the process of God making us more like Him, in our inner man.
(6). Glorification is God giving us glorified bodies.

What's effectual calling?:
It's God, in His loving kindness, calling his elect, by His Spirit, and producing in our hearts, a new principle of life toward Him (sway from evil to God).

What is Irresistible Grace?:
A Grace that cannot be resisted, Duh.

What is Conversion?:
God saving us through His Spirit, through faith and repentance.

What is Faith?:
(1). Having a knowledge of Christ and His work.
(2). Believeing it's true.
(3). Trusting and Delighting in God for our salvation.

What is Repentence?:
(1). Change of our thinking.
(2). Change of our feeling.
(3). Change of our sway from self to God.

This is all from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.

Do all for the glory of God!

~Kade

p.s. It might be good to memorize this:)

Do or Do Not...

The Christian life is an all or nothing deal. There are no half-hearted Christians. I recall a part in a movie that I saw, when somebody told somebody else, "Do or do not... there is no try." We live it all for the glory of God, for our souls.

"Keep in view morning, noon, and night, the interests of our souls... Rise up each day desiring that it may prosper,-lie down in the evening inquiring of yourself whether it has really got on. When people ask you why you live like you do, answer "I live for my soul."
-J.C. Ryle

~Salvation is all about God, and when we give our life to Him, we try to live a goldy life. (In that saying at the top of this post... we do try to live godly lives, but there are only full-hearted Christians) And God rewards those who are trying.
Because we live in sinful fallen bodies.

~Kade

The Preeimence of the Gospel (part 2)

I hope you guys liked the first part of the sermon that I posted yesterday. Part 2 is a little longer. But I hope everyone can find the time to read this. This is Paul Washer:

"Turn back with me to Romans 1:16. The next part of the verse says, "for it is the power of god." The word power is the same word in the Greek as the word dynamite. And what we are going to study in the next session will seem quite unusual to you because we are going to study the radical depravity of man. Because we've got a PROBLEM today in that we believe men are SICK!! MEN are not sick, MEN ARE DEAD!! Men do not cooperate, men cannot help themselves, they cannot adjust the rout or route, or their power or even the fixture of their eyes. If men are to be saved they are to be saved by the power of an ALMIGHTY GOD, and again that power is manifested through the preaching of the GOSPEL!! not gimmicks. not props. not pillars made of dough. Men are saved by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If man cannot bring down the walls of Jericho, they cannot bring down the depravity of their own heart. It must be the power of God.

PW: "When I went to preaching class when I was younger, our assignment was to write a sermon, and I did a presentation of the Gospel. They asked me afterward, "Why did you preach the Gospel in a preaching class? The Gospel is for lost people. Did you pull this from a sermon you had already wrote, so you need not write a new one?"

PW: "How far have we fallen to believe the Gospel is only for lost people. Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Now I make known to you the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received." Paul had preached the Gospel to these people. THESE people had received the Gospel of JESUS CHIRST! He is preaching it to them again. WHY? People always ask me, from where does the passion come from? From where does the zeal come from? From where does the desire come from? It comes from an ever increasing, deeper, and deeper understanding of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The more you understand the beauty and the glory and the power of God reveled in the cross of JESUS CHRIST, the more your heart will be surrendered unto him. Such a glory you heart cannot deny. This is what we NEED, and this is what we have LOST!!! THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL!!! NOT A TRACK!! NOT FOUR LITTLE WORDS!! NOT FIVE STEPS!!! NOT TEN WAYS!!! THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHIRST!!!"

Paul Washer: "I've gotten to the point now where if I walk into a congregation, and the preacher comes forward and says he wants to share from his heart I get up and leave, Because I could really careless what's in his heart. The Bible tells me his heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it. I don't want to hear what's in a mans heart. When someone stands before me I WANT TO HEAR "THUS SAYTH THE LORD." TELL ME THE WORDS OF GOD! I NEED POWERFUL WORDS FOR THIS WEAK HEART OF MINE! I NEED POWERFUL WORDS TO DIRECT THIS DULL MIND OF MINE. Give me the word of God."

PW: "Look what we have done to this word. We have turned this word "receive" the Gospel down to the most pitiful, impudent, superstition. I have heard of evangelist who someone will come forward without any sign of repentance or brokenness, and tell them, "do you want to go to Heaven?" How many people do you know who would raise their hand and say, "No, I'd rather go to Hell?" Do you want to go to Heaven? 'Well yes I do.' Then pray this prayer. 'Well praying makes me uncomfortable.' Ok, well than repeat this prayer after me. 'Well that makes me uncomfortable too.' Than, I pray the prayer and if it what you want to say, squEEZE my HAND!! That's what we have done with the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST TODAY!!! The salvation of a man is a supernatural work of GOD, where I believe in my own heart that more power is manifested in the regeneration of one man of a wicked heart, than the power that was manifested in the creation of the UNIVERSE!!! IT IS THE LITTERAL RAISING IF THE DEAD!!! AND WE"VE REDUCED IT DOWN TO squeeze my hand. WHY? We don't trust in the power of the Gospel, so we use gimmicks."

To be continued.
-Kole

P.S. I am going to split it down into four days, so be looking Saturday.

Pride... Simple... (Ahh... No)

Pride is the oldest sin in the world, well actually, before the world. By pride the angels turned against God.

What causes pride, you ask?
(1) Having a better view of yourself then you should.
(2) Ignorance (other words: dumbness, stupidity, unconsciousness)
(3) Inexperience. It's very rare that people will see youth, our age, that are humble, because we haven't been around much, and we think that we know everything. I've heard that a lot of adults, when they were younger, thought that they were so smart, but when the grew up, they didn't know as much. Now, it wasn't that they know less now, it was that they realized that they don't know everything, and that they have so much more to learn.

Let's think about Jesus:
Phil 2:7,8 "He made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of men; and being found in a fashion as a man, He humbled Himself."-He also was born in a stable, washed the disciples feet, was whipped and beaten by earthy men that He created,! died on a cross,! etc.
Just think about when Jesus was before Pilate and the Jews, and the Jews were accusing Him of things that He didn't even do! Jesus could have said "Pilate, you might think that you are the king here, but..." and then threw them all in Hell. But instead He was humble, and let an earthy king and people put Him on the cross.
~We should be like this.

~Kade

The Preeimence of the Gospel

Hey guys. Sorry I've been so late in posting today. We're expecting company this afternoon so we've been cleaning the house a lot. Anyway, yesterday I listened to a sermon by a man by the name of Paul Washer called the "Preeminence of the Gospel." It was AWESOME. I knew I had to post about it afterward, but I hadn't taken any notes on it for you guys. Well, I decided that I would listen to it again, and I tried to shorten it but it was just too GOOD! It's one of the best sermons I've ever heard before! It's going to take me a while to write it out so it will be broken up into probably three days. I'm about two-thirds done and I have nine pages of notes! So lets get started.

Paul Washer: "Romans 1:16 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.' Why would Paul be ashamed? Lets talk about it. People believe today that the gospel is a baby step, and then you go onto greater truth. Let me tell you something. There is no greater truth than the Gospel of our lord and savior Jesus Christ! There is no greater truth and you will not, you WILL NOT spend the rest of eternity trying to discover all the hidden meanings in the book of Revelation; but you will spend all of eternity trying to discover and ever failing, to know the glories of God revealed in the cross of JESUS CHRIST!!! So if you want to do something, learn to preach the Gospel and learn to preach it well."

PW:"Turn to 1 Corinthians1: 18,26. People believe today that the Gospel has to be contemporary. We believe we must not only prop up the Gospel, but we have to make it beautiful as well. The Gospel cannot be embellished to an unregenerate world without changing it. When worldly, carnal men think the Gospel is a wonderful thing, you are not preaching the GOSPEL!! The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been, is, and always will be offensive to arrogant fleshly men!! And when you take the offense out of it you will destroy the power of it!!"

PW:"Today our Churches our seminaries are filled with the ideas of being seeker-friendly, of changing the Gospel, of taking the edge off of the blade; so it is more supseptible and acceptable to carnal men!! But I want to tell you something here tonight. We ought to be seeker-friendly. But we ought to realize that there is only one seeker and his name is GOD, and if you want to be friendly to someone be friendly to GOD!! And if you were to build a ministry or a church or any other thing, build it upon a passion and desire not to offend but to Glorify GOD ALMIGHTY!!!

PW:I have come to believe that for the most part even conservitive evangelical Christianity is ashamed of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST! If not ashamed, they do not believe the Gospel has the power to save. And you say how can you say that, Look at all the props that are being used!! Look at all the gemics, circus, it's a Six Flags over JESUS!! in America today!! We need the Gospel. We are poor, blind, naked, and beggarly. We HAVE NO reputation except that JESUS CHIRST has become for us: wisdom, redemption, justification, sanctification, HE is EVERYTHING TO US!!! As we proclaim this, contemporary world says Jesus is all you need, and we holler back NO!! JESUS IS ALL WE HAVE!!! And apart from him we have NOTHING!

To be continued

-Kole

Fear of Man

A big danger to youth these days, is the fear of man...

~Prov. 29:25"The fear of man brings a snare."
~Matt. 10:28(words of our Lord)"Fear not them that can kill the body; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul, in hell."
~Prov. 16:7"When a man's ways please the Lord, even his enemies become at peace with him"

We need to try to please the Lord and man, if (if, if, if ,if) they are in the same catagory, but if not, we need to go against the flow, and please our God. Never be ashamed, of letting people see that you want to go to heaven. Do not think that it is a disgrace to show yourself a servant of God. Never be afraid of doing what is right. Can man save your soul?-No. Will man be our judge on the last day?-No. Can man give you a concience in life, a good hope in death, a good answer in the day of resurrection?-No! No! No! No!

Most people are like sheep, they follow a leader. "Like dead fish, they go with the stream and the tide, what others think is right; they think is right." -J.C. Ryle
On an interveiw with John MacAurther a man asked,"Aren't you afraid to speak the gospel?" MacAurther replied, " No, I'm afraid not to."
"I fear the Lord, and therefore I have none else to fear" -Colonel Gardiner

Now, is the answer to stop fearing man? No. The answer is to fear the Lord more.

Something I need to work on.

~Kade and J.C. Ryle

(Please comment)

Sin is Contageous

This morning, my family listened to a sermon from the Shepherds Conference, 2007. It was on Numbers 5. I found that interesting, because we don't normally hear sermons on Numbers (well, I don't).

Oh, and also, Numbers 5 is what the OT Church reading is going to be tomorrow, so that's why we listened to it--preparation for the reading.

The first part of the chapter talks about keeping people with leprosy or bodily discharges or who have been defiled by touching a dead person "outside the camp." This was to prevent these sicknesses (or potential sicknesses) from spreading in the camp (as you know, they didn't just whip out the antibiotics in that time period).

The second part of the chapter is all about a test for a suspected adultrous woman.

The sermon I listened to said that it wasn't just coincidence that God allowed these two laws to be placed together.

Just as God wanted to protect His people from the contageous outward diseases, God wanted to keep the deadly, intensely infectious and agressive "sin disease" from spreading in the camp of Israel.

For application, we should treat sin as God treats it--as a contageous disease. Just as I avoid touching people or things that I think could be or that I know is infected with a sickness (eg. dirty public bathroom surfaces, used tissues, the nursing home with a "stomach virus," etc)--in this very way I should avoid sin. God wants His people to avoid sin, because it is contageous.

We don't have the option of quaranteening all the sin, so we have to avoid it to the best of our abilities and pray that we would not be tempted beyond our limits (see I Corinthians 10:13).

Luke

"The Sinner"

A few nights ago my family was watching a movie by Francis Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live, and we learned about the Renaissance; and the next night, about the Reformation. It was talking about the humanistic view during the Renaissance, and how it can be seen in the paintings of the time, with the self-portraits and pieta's of art. It is seen in Michalangelo's pieta in Florence, of him carving his own face in the carving of Nicodemus, bringing Christ down from the cross. Below is a picture of the pieta. The Reformation, however, showed a change, from the humanistic way of life, to a biblical view of salvation by grace. Again, the views of the time can be seen in the paintings or pieta by the people of that time. Below is a painting by a man by the name of Rembrandt.

Rembrandt, is the man highlighted (bringing himself out) in the middle with his painters hat on, holding up the cross of Christ. Rembrandt understood that it was his sins that had sent Christ to the cross (among other things), and he knew that he had put Christ upon the cross. Rembrandt was "THE SINNER" in his own eyes, even as the publican called himself the same name. And I thought this morning, "I don't consider myself "THE SINNER" enough." If ever I do. It was I who was an enemy (or the enemy) of Christ. There is always someone else worse than us to compare ourselves too. I need to understand that I was the man in the middle of this painting holding up the cross of Christ.

-Kole

Idols

What is an idol? An idol is something or someone in your life that becomes more important to you than Christ.

We need to make sure that the things that we have... don't have us.

In the bible when Jesus was on the earth, He talked more about money than heaven and hell... put together! That's how important it is that money does not become an idol to us. (Even though I hardly ever have any money, it can still beome a big idol).

Being discontent is a big way to have an idol. Most of the time when we are discontent, the thing that we want is an idol.

So what do we do with our idols? Try to get rid of them ourselves?
No!

First we pray...
Then we work on puting our focus on God.
When we are not saved, the problem is not that we need to get rid of idols (which, by the way we can't) What we need to do is turn all of our focus onto God so that we will "see everything else as garbage (or rubbish)." (That's somewhere in the bible, I just don't know where:)). Because when we were in our dead bodies, we couldn't do anything! What can a dead man do?... nothing.

It's all God.

-Kade

To live and die

We need to help people see that Christianity is not just a list of do's and don't's, it's a way of showing the glory of God. We need to show them that it is built on the gospel; on the beauty of Christ, risen and reigning.

The question is not "What's wrong with this music or movie or this party or these friends?" The question is "How can I act and speak and feel so that I can help my friends see the worth of Jesus above music and parties and movies and friends?"

-And- "How can I live my life to glorify God in my body?"

-And- "How can I live to show that Jesus didn't come into the world to help us party better, But that He came to help us live and die better?"

John Piper/Kade

Question #31 WSC

Lately we (my family) have been going through a book that goes through all of the Catechism questions, and explains each question, using scripture. Tonight we did question #31, "What is effectual calling?" And the answer to the question states that, "Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our MINDS in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth pursuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel." Wow.

A few nights ago we watched a movie, and it talked about the Renaissance, and the turn to Aristotle's teachings. A man by the name of Tomas Aquinas, brought back Aristotle's teachings, of the corrupted will, but non-corrupted mind. The problem with this, is that we made the individual things (man, creation) independent and autonomous. We then lost the meaning of man, morals, values, and law.

Man has thought of many ways to be right with God, but because man's mind is corrupt he will never understand how to be saved. It is because man's mind is sinful and he cannot understand spiritual things. Read 1 Corinthians 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 2:14. Verse 12 says that we can understand now because we have the Spirit. Verse 14 says that it is foolishness to the natural man (unsaved sinners). Read 2 Corinthians 4:4. It says that the god of this age, Satan, blinds unbelievers; so they might not see the light of the Gospel, and the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. But read 2 Corinthians 4:6. Last verse guys. In effectual calling the Spirit shows us our need for a savior. He enlightens our MINDS!! He shows us that there is a way for salvation, through JESUS CHRIST!!!! YEA!!!!!! I am EXCITED!!!!!!

-Kole

Sufficient Grace

2 Cor. 12:9 "My Grace is sufficient for you."

This verse, even when we are feeling down, gives believers reason to rejoice.
(A while back I posted something along those lines, click the link at the bottom).

You can picture us, always breathing, you'd think that the Earth would run out of air, but it never does. It's the same way with God, He never gives us to little of Himself. He can, and will always forgive us. God has given us a beautiful world to live in, we don't even know everything there is to know about it. That's gracious. And He gives us so much more.

"O people of God, be great believers!
Little faith will bring your souls to heaven,
but great faith will bring heaven to your souls."
-Charles H. Spurgeon

-Kade

Stolen Glory

Sometimes when we give advise, or do something good, people don't notice or think about the person who did it, and then we get ticked off. But we shouldn't be like that, we shouldn't try to boast to get people to notice (that's one of my favorites), we should just wait and see if God is going to give us praise (were human you know, we like praise) and then if we do get it, we need to point it all to God (we can do that, even though were human). And most of all, we need not to hold a grudge or be angery against anybody who doesn't notice us.

-Kade

Ed W.

Verses one through three in my Proverbs reading for the day talk about being careful of what is put before you when you dine with a ruler. Verse three talks about deceptive food. Which reminded me of a story that my dad told me of a salesman man named Ed W. Now Ed W. got my dad and his co-worker to go out to lunch with him by offering to take them to a really nice "FREE" lunch. About halfway through the lunch, Ed W. got out his things and started giving a presentation. For the next SIX MONTHS my dad's co-worker was getting phone calls from Ed W!!!! So much for "FREE". My dad's Co-worker now says, that that lunch was the most expensive meal he has ever had! Just a little story for you.

-Kole

P.S. Here's a word for you: T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L. Which stands for "There ain't No such thing as a FReE lunch!

Humble in Spirit

One thing I wanted to post real quick was verse 13 of Proverbs 20. It says "Do not love sleep, lest you become poor; open your eyes and you will be Satisfied with food." This morning I slept till 9:30. My dad came into my room and woke me up this morning. I would have stayed in bed untill 10:30 had he not got me up. When I read this verse this morning I felt that this was the verse that I neaded to hear today.

Also, in Bible time tonight we read 1 Peter 3:8; and in it Peter gives a list of what we need to be like. One thing he mentions is being "humble in spirit" or in other words puting others above ourself. It doesn't matter if your wants are more important than your siblings wants. When Jesus came down from heaven He was thinking of His Father and us, not Himself. He was putting His Father's will and us as more important than Himself.

-Kole

Consider the Lily...

Tonight I was playing my guitar, and I was playing "Consider the Lily." It was saying that we do not need to worry about what we will wear or eat, because God will take care of our needs. Now, I don't really struggle with worrying about if we will have food or not, it's just if I will like the food, and I don't even need to like the food!

Our Lord said that he would take care of our needs, thats kind of funny because we don't even have to live! But I think the Lord meant that He would provide us with shelter, food, and clothing. I'm not really ever conserned if I don't have clothes, it's just if it's cool enougf, or if it's dirty or not (just like the food).

The Lord has taken care of me, but I need to work on not worrying over stuff, especially if it's not important.

And you know what? Not only has the Lord provided for my needs, He's also provided for a lot of my wants! Which is a blessing!

We have a great God!

-Kade

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the devil's day. He does not care how spiritual your plans are, as long as they are just always "tomorrow." We always put things off until tomorrow, but tomorrow will never come. We can also make non-spiritual plans that are tomorrw, forget it. We need to do things today!
-Kade

I'll get to that... one of these days!!

At the father son retreat someone (either Pastor Brown or another guy called Marcus Serven) was saying not to procrastinate. Well, I procrastinate just about all day!! I find it hard to get out of bed and get my things done without sitting around! I use to watch a show called Ma and Pa Kettle and 'Pa' would always say, "I'll have to do that, one of these days." But that is what Satan wants! I geuss I can't laugh at that anymore!

-Nick

No Entering Zone

One thing I just wanted to mention from yesterday's reading was in verse 7 where the Holy Spirit does not permit them to enter Bithynia. It made me think that sometimes when I don't make it to things that I wanted to go to, it is because God has something else planned. It may be because I need to spend more time in His Word, or He will open up an opportunity to share the gospel with someone. So if I miss something I really wanted to go to, I just have to know that God is doing what He wants with me.

-Kole

Rejoice!

"Rejoice in the Lord, and I'll say it again: Rejoice." (Phil. 4:4)

Even when you don't feel like being joyful or happy, we are commanded to be happy and satisfied in the Lord. We are to "consider it pure joy" to face trials in our lives (even minor ones). And, as believers, we have the best reason in the world to rejoice! So why don't we do it more?

Do you think that God wants other people to see us carrying His victory banner into the thick of the battle, but then calmy we retreat because we were beaten back by the enemy? Never.

As Christians we are always representing Christ.

If we call ourselves Christians and are always discontent and angry, that's what people think of Christ. But we know that He is the opposite of that!

We need to be joyful in the Lord.

Luke 6:22 "Blessed are you when people hate you for my sake, and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on the account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold your reward in Heaven is great. . ."

Most of the time when we are sad, discontent, angry, or whatever it is, "not on the account of the Son of Man," it's because of our own selfish reasons. But I pray that I would be persecuted for His name.

-Kade

Father Son Retreat

Pastor Scott Brown was talking on Friday night at the father-son retreat that you are what you read, watch, and so on. I couldn't put that any better. I like to read books with elves and dwarves and men in conflict with each other or a common enemy. I like reading battles with swords and bow and arrows. And it affects what I am like. I bet I could quote more lines in The Lord of the Rings than I could in the Bible. Sad isn't it? That is probably the biggest area I have to work on... putting God before other things. I would rather pick up a book with no meaning at all than the Bible!

I like to ask myself this question when I am listening music, "What is the message in this?" It helps me choose the right music to listen to. I might give my sister a hard time in what music she listens to because I think it has a lot of screeming in it, but it is the point of the song that matters.

-Nick

What Are We Presenting Ourselves To?

Hey everyone, I haven't really been on top of bloging lately; and just so you don't feel like I’m getting lazy I tell you what's been going on. I left Thursday afternoon to go to St. Louis for a pastor’s conference on Friday, and a father-son retreat on Saturday. We got back Saturday night at ten fourteen; and I had discovered earlier in the car that I had strep. Sunday I spent in bed and that night my temperature rose to 103.2 and fell to 98.6. Monday I was feeling better but I still had a headache, and today I have a bad cough but I’m doing better. Kade, However, is upstairs in bed and I think he got sick from me.

One thing I wanted to mention from the father-son retreat was a sermon on Romans 12:1-2, where it talks about "not conforming to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." And he talked about making sure what we present our bodies to be not only lawful, but also profitable. Here are some questions to ask yourself: What is your mind on? What do your eyes see? What do you listen to? What do you say? I encourage you to check out Mat. 12:34, and read Romans 12:1-2.

-Kole

God with Us

There are simply two ways that we know that God is with us:

1.Becuse Jesus says* in the bible (I don't where) "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."
He also says* that he "works all things together for good, to those who love Him."
~That's very reasuring for the Christian.
~But for the non-christian, it has nothing to do with.
(In your comment, tell me some more promises in the bible where it says that God is with us)

2.Because if he was not with us, we would all be dead, In HELL!

~Men called deists believe that God did make the world, but than just left it to fend for itself.
~But we obviously no not believe this, because of these two reasons.

~Kade

*I put the word "says" in there, because His promises are still with us today. They will never go away, they are continual.

Thoughts?

Life Purpose

Every Christian's life goal is, or definitly should be, to glorify God in our lives.

In Acts 2o:24 it says "But I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

In a sermon that I listened to recently, said "Only what's done for Christ will last" So living a good life is ok, but only sharing the gospel, helping people, visiting the old and sick, will matter in eternity. Now, living a good life is good, don't get me wrong, but it is only a vapor, and it cannot save you.

Here are a couple of verses that go along with this:

Romans 12:1 ". . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. . ."

Philippians 1:20 ". . . that Christ will be honored in my life whether by life or
by death."

Romans 8:18 "For I consider all of the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us."

In the Bible it gives us laws to abide by, but we cannot be pure! So why would God tell us to do those? Because it glorifies God! Duh! I'm pretty dumb. Thoughts?
Christians today live just like the world, it' hard to tell the difference. We should be living a life for God, not us, and that does mean trying to obey his laws. And we can do this because God promises " I will never, no never,no never leave you nor forsake you."

Again, "Only what is done for Christ will last."

-Kade

Pleasures Forever

I’m going to tell you a story. Some of you know the story, some of you don’t. And while reading, keep in mind that I will have a spiritual application at the end, so bear with me.

This is a story about the Nintendo Wii. As some of you know, I’ve wanted one since they came out nearly two years ago. At first, I was waiting for a price drop. About November, I realized that there would not be one for a long time, so since November I’ve been looking to buy one.

They are sold out everywhere.

I read on the internet, and not a single place carries the Nintendo Wii in stock. Every once in a while, a store might get five or so, but they sell out in no time at all.

So, I’ve been calling stores every day, looking on the internet, and watching, searching, and waiting for the Wii to be available.

Yesterday, I went to Fayetteville. I went to Target, and they didn’t have any. I went to Gamestop, and they didn’t either. We (my grandparents, Loyd and Sue) went to dinner, and then I called Best Buy. They were supposed to get a truckload of electronics in within 15 minutes—maybe they would have the Wii, maybe not.

Well, we drove to Best Buy, and there sat five Wii systems. Everything seemed unreal—I could feel my heartbeat, my face went pale, and my hands started shaking. I grabbed one, and was incredibly happy.

After months of searching, I had found a Nintendo Wii. I was ecstatic (who uses that? I don’t know, it sounds good here).

This morning, when reading Psalm 16 for the church Bible Reading Plan, I came across a verse—the last verse. Psalm 16:11b: “in your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

It hit me—God has not only granted me eternal life, but abundant, joyful eternal life. The feeling I had when I bought the Wii should be how I feel every time I feel God’s Spirit inside me, teaching me and training me. And more than that—I will feel like that (and EVEN MORE) in heaven for eternity—always happy, always excited about God, always eager to learn more about God and see what’s around the next corner.

So, I challenge you with that—be happy (joyful), and know that you’re going to be “ecstatic” for eternity!

Oh, and I’d like to announce that I bought a Nintendo Wii yesterday!

In Christ,

Luke

Purity

As I have often struggled to keep my mind pure from ungodly emotions and thoughts, I realized that sin is a three-step process. It begins with the desire, in the heart. That desire, however small, eventually forms thoughts in the mind. If those thoughts are entertained, the sin in the mind will break out in a physical action. This can be with any sin—anger, for example.

I realize this, as I constantly have to fight immoral thoughts. I cannot entertain these ungodly thoughts, for that would not only be a sin in itself, but it would also lead to an outward action. My problem lies in my heart. When, by God’s grace, I can suppress these evil thoughts, I often have the desire in the heart that lingers. It is not enough to shove the thoughts out of your mind—you must destroy the desire that is in the heart, or it will come back.

Yes, you must fight the action of sin. But you must also fight the thought of the action of sin. And, most importantly, you must fight the desire for the thought of the action of sin.

So, again, I challenge you, as I work on this myself, to fight sin with God’s help, all the way to the root—the desire in our hearts.

Luke

Idolatry Today?

Hey, this is Luke!

On Sunday, my dad talked about Christians and contentment. He spoke about how pride goes hand-in-hand with covetousness, which is also idolatry. Wednesday, Chris spoke about I Samuel 8, and how the nation of Israel demanded a king. They wanted to be like the other nations. They were wrong not only in the desire to be like the surrounding nations, but they also committed the sin of covetousness and idolatry. They wanted to replace God, their true King, with a man-king.

The main thing that comes to mind when I think of idolatry is “bowing before a statue.” As you already know, idolatry can take many forms—any time you put something before God, replacing God, as He should be first in your life, is also idolatry. Idolatry is nearly the same thing as covetousness, also—desiring something other than God, in an inappropriate way (desiring something more than you desire God).

With this definition, I am sure all of us, especially myself, can be found guilty of the sin of idolatry, just like the nation of Israel. We all can find ourselves desiring something more than we desire God.

But God has given us a very simple solution.

Count your blessings.

When you recognize the gifts God has given you, especially His salvation if you are a believer, you will be completely satisfied in Him. By definition, when you are satisfied, you will desire nothing else—God will be first in your life, and you will cease to covet and cease to commit idolatry. So, that’s my challenge to you this week—count your blessings, and have self-control over your sinful, covetous flesh.

In Christ,

Luke Godfrey

Lord of the Rings Quote

I am reading the Lord of the Rings series (not for the first time) and there is a a sentance that seems to me to have a very biblical meaning. Frodo was telling Gandalf that he wished he never lived through the time that he was alive. Gandalf says, "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." In another sense, we have to decide what to do with our time that was given to us by God here on earth. Every day, every minute, every breath we take is a gift from God. We must make the most of this gift. I don't mean go and take a nap and have fun, I mean when you see an oppertunity to share the Gospel, take it. I know I struggle with this GREATLY! I don't know how many times I have skipped a good chance to talk to someone about it.

-Nick

Prison Escapee

I have heard the story of Peter’s escape from prison in Acts 12 (this is the first time I've read it), but what I've never heard verse five. It says, "So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was made fervently by the church to God." When I read that verse, it made me think. What were they praying for? For God to give Peter strength, or for Peter to escape? What about James and John who were killed three verses earlier? Were they not prayed for as much as Peter? Would God have saved Peter if there hadn't been fervent prayer? Anyway leave a comment and tell us what you think.

-Kole

P.S. My brother (Kade) and I are leaving today to go to St. Louis for a father-son retreat, and Nick will be leaving tomorrow to join us so we won't be back until either Saturday night or Sunday morning. Until next time! Adios!

Serving two Masters

You cannot. First we must get rid of self, in order to see Christ as our "Number One." We must lay down all of self because Christ and self-service do not go together. We will not go to heaven on a feather bed. When Jesus said, "Take up your cross, and follow me." It meant, you will sweat, it will be hard, and you will be persecuted. But it is a reward to do it, for the reward in Heaven is great.

-Kade

Acts 11:21

This morning when I read Acts 11:21 it reminded me of The Second Great Awakening, in which Charles Finney tried to bring revival to our nation. Verse 21 reads "And the hand of the lord was with them," talking of thosse who went to Antioch,"and a large number who belived turned to the lord." Now the First Great Awakening I belive was a divine work of God by the Holy Spirit, through his people; but the Second Great Awakening was man made, and man was trying to control the Holy Spirit. John 3:8 says "The wind blows where it wishies and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the spirit. Just meaning that you can't control the Holy Spirit. I belive our country can use a revival, but we cannot control the Spirit. The way revival comes is by prayer and repentance. Revalation 19:1 says, "After I heard someting like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and Glory and power Belong to our God;"

-Kole

"Forgeting" God

In the bible, it says that when the Isrealites were crossing the Red Sea, they they were also prasing God And when Paul was in jail, and being tortured, he was singing praises to God. Sometimes in hard times we pray and read our bibles because we want something from God, but when life is going good, there "is no reason to pray." And we forget God. Somtimes we say, "Well God, life is good; I got this one, I'll do it on my own." But even In times when it's easy we need to pray and thank God, or pray for somebody else. There are thousands of things (or people) we can pray for, so it's good to set apart some of our day to pray and read the bible.

-Kade

Way of Life

The verse that I found hit home today,was verse 23 in which it says,"And reproofs for discipline are the way of life." And verse 24,"To keep you from the wicked woman..." When I read this I felt that I am not held acountable enough, and that I sometimes just don't guard my heart well enough. The answer for keeping your heart pure is at the beginging of verse 23. "For the Commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;" If I stay in the word and put God first and his word first, my heart will stay pure and I will stay away from the Wicked Woman. That way I keep myself acountable to God.

-Kole

Contentment

Last Sunday, Pastor was talking about being content (Hebrews 13:5-6). Since then, I have been seeing a TON of areas I need to work on. Being content doesn't mean having all the neatest and latest technology, or having a nice big house, it means to be glad with what you have, or don't have. Coveting others things is a big area I need to work on.

-Nick

Go to the Sluggard, O ant

Yeah Right! If the ants were like us, they would be extinct! I'm the guy this passage is talking about. In the mornings, when I know that I should get out of bed, to start my school or clean or, or. . . I don't, because of the "treachery of the sheets.":) It's not at all the sheets falt's, it's because I'm so lazy. There is a lot that we can learn from, "A little sleep, a little slumber."
I've missed out on a lot of fun and got in a lot of trouble because I slept in. I find that waking up early to read my bible, or "work-out," or to make my parents some coffee, hhmm?...:), etc. helps a lot. In a sermon I listened to recently, the pastor said that most of the times in the bible when it talks about lazyness, it involves sleep. (Something to think about).

-Kade