Count It All Joy...

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

This evening I was blessed with crossing paths with someone that I haven't seen for going on two years now. We work in the same place and yet I sadly didn't  know if she was still working or even if she was still alive or not. As is typical, we both went our separate ways in life and lost track of one another. With Thanksgiving being tomorrow and after seeing and enjoying her wonderful company tonight, I feel I must share her story here on this diverse, complicated blog site. So without further ado:

The last time I had seen her, she had been wearing a bandana on her head to hide her baldness, her voice was almost gone, and she had to whisper for me to come into the office. This woman who was a kick butt security officer, she now struggled to walk the mere five steps to the door. But this is all jumping ahead, it all starts as most stories do, not when I last saw her, but I when I first saw her...

I had been working the night shift in the coffee shop, finishing up all the last minute things, cleaning the coffee pots and scrubbing the floors, etc... you know, all those thrilling things we do to make up for the job title of Barista that we get stuck with. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this security officer I hadn't met walked in and had the boldness to say to me "Do you need to use the restroom?" My jaw dropped I'm sure. I looked at her dumbfounded and knew immediately that she must have been an angel who was heaven sent.  Anyone willing to come in and give the girl who had already worked 16 hours straight, a chance to run to the restroom was a hero in my book.

   

Long story shortened, we ended up talking that night in the shop for a good hour. It started out with conversation about work, it soon changed to the Lord and how He had worked in both of our lives over the years. A friendship among sisters was born that night and continued to grow that winter. Each weekend I could count on her being there at the coffee shop in the evening as I finished the tasks needing done, helping me to close up and seeing that I made it down to dispatch safely. 

   I learned about how she used to be a police officer and what avenues she pursued through her criminal justice career. She would share stories of the people she dealt with at our workplace; the drunks on the weekends at the bars, the thieves at the stores and the immature boys who shot the animals on property with BB guns. One important thing I learned about Jo was that she wasn't exaggerating when she talked about the role she played, I knew this was a heck of security officer who meant business and kicked butt when she needed to. 

  

Yet, with all of this character in this feisty woman, it's not that that makes her shine. It's her love for the Lord that always astounds me. It's her love for Jesus that literally brightens a room and has you standing there begging her to share more about what He's done in her life. 

  

When I first met her she was the epitome of health. Mere months later she was diagnosed with cancer. The last time I saw her was to give her a few gifts to help her through  long treatments. We spoke very briefly, we hugged and cried. I left after praying for her and then moved to a different department a few months later. She's continued to work through it all, only taking time away when absolutely necessary. Over the time we knew each other she had shared with me her struggles and the trials she's experienced throughout her life and now I've seen  how the Lord used those things to make her the woman she is today.

   Tonight, it was a blessing to see how the Lord's matured her these past months. She told me that she's so excited to be going home soon.She knows that her time here on earth is dwindling. She is now battling several cancers, MS and various other illnesses. Her body is starting to shut down. After multiple surgeries, the last thing she wants to deal with again is bone marrow testing and other painful procedures.

Yet, through it all. She shined brighter and sang God's praises louder than ever before. She told me that the Lord commands us to praise Him in good times and in bad. She has been through both and mentioned how easy  it is to grow complacent while things are going well. She is thankful that He's given her joy in the midst of all the pain she's been enduring, that He's used these things to keep her eyes on Him.

   Her goal now is to be done with work soon and to start working soup kitchens and help centers by Christmas time. She has her will written, her funeral arrangements made and is anxiously awaiting her Lord calling her home where she will be worshiping her beloved Jesus forevermore. She told me with a huge, beautiful grin that she knows Heaven absolutely rocks and nothing will ever compare. Until then, she can be found walking slowly yet joyfully, through the halls at work. Sharing Jesus with everyone she comes in contact with. The fellow employees in the staffeteria, the nurses at the hospital and the walmartians in town.

   I praise God, and am thankful this day for wonderful saints who bear the testimony of His grace and love and broadcast it in season and out of season to all around. This Thanksgiving, Jo is thankful that she has been placed where she is to share the Gospel message with the people at work and she is thankful that she'll soon be going home to see her King.

   It makes me reevaluate what will be on my thankful list this Thanksgiving.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 107:1
  
  

Righteousness or Arrogance?

 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 

   Baby steps. I'm told that's the way to start things. So, as I come back to the blogging world after a busy and chaotic year, I start out with a small post. It was written quickly, posted on the social networking sites, and marks the beginning to a hopefully continuing series of blog posts.

  

  If you read between the lines, (a practice I normally frown upon) you will most likely pick up some the red herrings thrown about that point to how and where the Lord was leading me in this past year while I was absent from the blogging world. So, in effort to be short and to the point, without a lot of expounding on points, I leave you with a simple Facebook post:

  " A sick thought seen displayed on the web is that people who are homeschooled, churched, courted, drug free, drink free and "blemish" free are righteous on their own. 
Let me tell you, coming from a girl who has experienced both private, home, and unschooling, church and no church, courtship and yes dating, drinking, falling short repeatedly and bearing many scars. 
No one thing made me more righteous than the 

other. It was in Christ and Christ alone that I was justified. To Him goes ALL credit. Not my rearing, my circumstances nor my choices. 

'There is never a day when you are so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace, and there is never a day when you are so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace.' R.W. Glenn."

                                                                                                

Surrender All

Take all I am, Lord and all that I cling to
You are my Savior I owe everything to
Take all the treasures that lie in my storehouse
They cannot follow when I enter Your house

So I...surrender all to You
I...surrender all

Take all my cravings for vain recognition
fleshly indulgence and worldly ambition
I want so much Lord, to make you my focus
To serve You in secret, and never be noticed

So I...surrender all to You
I...surrender all

Take all my hunger, for all that's forbidden
Every desire, and sin I keep hidden
Search me and know me, I want to bring to You
a life that is holy, and sanctified thru You...

*Rich Dalmas, Sovereign Grace Music*

Testimony

"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." -1 Peter 3:15

I've read, seen and heard of many people who have had what we call, "amazing testimonies". The ones where the people were living their lives for the enjoyment of the flesh and for the moment, and while doing so, they also would be openly rebellious towards God and His Word; scorning the Cross and all it stood for. Yet, the Lord in His wonderful, un-explainable grace, chose to look on them with mercy and moved their hearts to repent of their sins, put their faith in Christ and become new creatures in Him.

Amazing is a wonderful way to describe their testimonies of God's grace and loving-kindness in saving them from their sins. It never fails to make me rejoice when I hear such wonderful testimonies.

All this to say, those aforementioned testimonies are of no greater importance than any other testimonies of God's saving grace.

How often do we as Christians tend to compare and contrast such things as testimonies? Oh, how wrong we are for doing so. It's as if to say that God only chooses those most vile in the world's eyes to save, as if to assume at times, that He will be more glorified in saving a drug addicted, drunken prostitute, and turning her life around, than in saving a seemingly perfect church-going (yet still unregenerate) girl.

The root of that thought I believe would be pride. A pride that invokes self-righteousness, a self righteousness that leads one to think that the prostitute, in her sin, is more vile than the church-going girl in her sin. Sin is sin! It is not the amount of times we've sinned, nor the degree of those sins, that condemns each and every one of us; for James 2:10 says;

"For whoever keeps the entire law, yet falls in one point, is guilty of breaking it all."

It also is not about how few times we've sinned or how small the sin seemed to us, for our righteousness is like filthy rags ( Isaiah 64:6).

"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, no not one.'" -Romans 3:10

The factor that makes our sins so serious, is not "which sins were committed", but rather "to Whom those sins were committed against". God is our Creator and Sustainer, we've sinned in stealing the very breath we breathe from Him, we've sinned in not thanking Him continually for every breath, and every blessing He's bestowed on us. He is completely just, completely righteous and holy. He Himself cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot even look on sin. For this very reason we all fall short and are in need of a Savior. That is what is amazing about our God. Though He cannot look on sin, cannot accept us in our fallen state, He loved us, sent His Son to live the perfect life, die to take our sins that separated us from Him, and rise again, conquering death, that we might live in Him!

Because of this, we must always remember that in Christ and Christ alone are we found worthy in God's eyes. Not by works lest any man should boast, but by grace alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Therefore, put aside all thought that we, with our sins in our pasts, our conversion , our present lives, that we can somehow lend to make our testimony of salvation a wondrous, amazing thing. It is God and His beautiful act of love that makes the testimony what it is. It is a testimony of God, not of us!

Wield your swords for the glory of God! "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."- 2 Timothy 2:15

When asked of the hope that is in you, proclaim the testimony of God's grace that was so amazingly shown to you, proclaim day in and day out, "Christ and Christ alone".

~My Personal Testimony of God's Grace~

Having been saved at a very young age, I am blessed to say that I cannot recall too much of my life without Christ as my Savior. Looking back, there are a few things that I remember about my early childhood that show how completely depraved I really was. Some might say that "children are innocent", yet while recalling the state of my own heart while still a child, I can attest otherwise to that common myth. Though quite young, my heart was indeed sinful, the sinfulness was evident in my attitude, my desires and my means of fulfilling those desires. Most of my life revolved around my selfishness, there were things I wanted for myself and I would do all I could to get them, more often than not, at the expense of other people's own wants or needs. Life in my small eyes was about me and me alone. God's Word supports the doctrine of natural sin, even in children; "Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me." -Psalm 51:5 "Therefore, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned." -Romans 5:12

For me, the Lord revealed that sin nature in me when I began reading the Bible for the first time, after having received it for my seventh birthday. The Lord began a work in my heart even then. I had a strong desire to read as much as I possibly could and learn everything there was to know about Jesus, my young mind thought that I could within that first year, obviously not knowing the journey that was ahead.

As I read, naturally I started to have many questions about what the Bible said, mainly in regards to salvation. I was under the impression that all I had to do was 'believe' in Jesus and I would then go to Heaven. After repeatedly professing that I 'believed' in Jesus, I grew fed up, for it didn't seem like 'simply believing' was enough. Reading through the Bible I came to the book of James and saw that even the demons believe in God. That fact alone blew the theory of 'simply believe in Jesus', out of the ring. My little mind knew that the demons were not entering Heaven with Jesus, so my 'simply believing', was futile. It seemed hopeless at that point.

The Lord then used my parents as the strongest influence on my life, in leading me to the Truth of the Gospel. Every question I had about the Bible, Salvation and Jesus; they answered patiently and thoroughly, always pointing back to my need of a Savior from my sins, my need to repent and put my faith and trust in Christ to be saved.

Almost two years exactly from when I received my Bible, by God's good and amazing grace, I repented of my sins and was saved by Christ and His atoning power on the Cross!

Undeniably, I was saved at a young age. At the time, I knew only the very basics of the Gospel, but it was enough to know that I had sinned against God and could never atone for that sin on my own and needed a substitute who was perfect. All I needed was met in Christ and in Him alone. His work on the cross, His rising from the dead, His sitting at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us, and the Holy Spirit indwelling in me, is what saved me, kept me, grows me and reassures me. To God be the glory!

To God Be The Glory.

You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him,and stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel! -Psalm 22:23

Our Lord is great! I can't think of any other way of starting out this blog post than saying so. He is great not only for what He has done, but for who He is. What a huge blessing it is to be able to write this post after having been shown God's glory displayed in thousands of ways.

I've been taught, rightfully so, that my Salvation is not of myself, not of any works I have done, but it is completely of God, a gift undeserving.(Ephesians 2:8-9) A gift so precious, that He would send His Son to live among His creation to bear their sins and to give Himself up for them, they who tortured, mocked, and rejected Him. What absolute amazing love our Lord displays there for us. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13


The last sentence in that verse humbles me greatly, "lay down his life for his friends." Christ is called the friend of sinners, He calls us friend, and died for us. I can testify, in my sin, I did not want a friend called Christ, in my sin I had no desire to be His friend, nor He mine. Yet, He wanted to save me and came and died for me, and by His Holy Spirit saved me and made Himself known to me, because He loved me and desired me to love Him in return. Oh, how great a Savior, Christ the Lord is to me.

I was so glad when the Lord made known to me the power of His grace, the greatness of His mercy, that He would save me not on my works but completely by His own free will and grace. I was so amazed to learn of His determining to save me and work out His plans for me, from beginning to end; And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.-Romans 8:30

In all of this, I've come to realize how much I still mess up, how often I still tend to have the wrong mindset and approach to issues. Take for instance, witnessing/evangelizing. It's such a glorious thing, a thing we Christians are commanded to do, proclaiming the Gospel. The pit that is so easy to fall into, is misplacing the glory part. Why do we witness? Why do we share the Gospel? I once would have said, to see souls get saved. Not any longer. Do I want to see souls saved? Yes, absolutely! Yet, that's not why I go out and share the Gospel. Indeed the Lord uses the sharing of His Word to bring souls to Him, "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." -Romans 10:17 He uses us as His workers for the harvest, how glad I am for it. But, I must never forget why I serve my Lord, why I share His Word. I MUST serve Him, pray to Him, love Him, talk of Him, share His message, for His glory and His glory alone. I must seek always to offer my life up for His glory. All I do should be centered around bringing Him glory forever and ever.

Tonight I was reminded greatly of this truth in another way. I desire to see my siblings saved, see the Lord change their hearts, I desire to see my children and grandchildren saved, made into new creatures by the Almighty God. The Lord has shown me ways in which I can share the Gospel with them, show them how dreadfully wicked and depraved their hearts are, how in need of a Savior they are. As I prayed for them, I was reminded who the One is who softens the hearts, who the One is who changes them. Most importantly I was reminded why I want to see them saved, for the glory of my Lord! I want to see Him glorified, in His Word getting preached, His justice made known, and in His grace and mercy testified of.

Oh, that we would keep our eyes focused on our Lord and not the blessings we receive from Him. We can focus on souls being saved when witnessing, rather than God being glorified in His Word being preached. We can focus on lives, attitudes and behaviors being completely changed for the better, rather than God's glorious work in peoples lives that grows, sanctifies and transforms them.

I ask you only to think or what purpose our we here on this Earth. For what purpose did the Lord save us and call us His own? I'm not trying at all to sound like Rick Warren in saying you need to find your purpose and live it. I'm saying you do have a purpose, and the Westminster Confession of Faith said it well in question one; "What is the chief end of man?", "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever"!

Wield your swords for the glory of our God and King!

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:17

"Help us, O God of our salvation,for the glory of your name;deliver us, and atone for our sins,for your name’s sake!" - Psalm 79:9

Call To Arms!

To whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.-Galations 2:5

HIGH PRIORITY
FEBRUARY 13, 2011 0130 HOURS

Sgt., it is with great urgency and warning that this message is getting passed along, it is requested that you pay close attention and heed the warnings. If this gets into certain people's hands, it could be a huge change in this war.
I would enjoy being able to rejoice in the rank you have now obtained by the Commander's work in your career, sadly time does not afford me to do so, for the enemies have infiltrated the base.

ENEMIES!
Terrorists, long ago marked out and warned of by the Commander and His high ranking officers, have made their way into our lines. They have crept in unnoticed. Sadly, many of the inexperienced soldiers are blind to them, and have allowed them to lead entire units towards enemy lines. Fatalities are increasing daily, and the impostors continue to have places of rank. We have failed to defend our ground.

These men are experts at what they do, the Commander has informed and warned us that they are like "savage wolves in sheep clothing", hard to find amidst the group, yet their works are quite deadly. Take heed!

CALL TO ARMS!
It is vital that the men are made aware of the conflict and armed for battle, for the war has come. We have been given strict orders to hold firm to, defend and proclaim the Truth of the message we've been given.
The very heart of our mission, is being attacked, we must stand up and fight with the Sword we've been issued. We are not alone in this though, for our Commander has given us all we need to fight this war, and is with us, deeply involved in the battle, strengthening us the entire way.
Remember, as a soldier, chosen personally by the King Himself, long before the War began, you are duty bound to stand firm and fight for the Truth. This battle is not like any you have fought before, it is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. And we have but one weapon and one weapon only; the Sword of the Spirit!
Though at times it feels overwhelming, I have obtained the news that in the end, our Commander will most assuredly be victorious! Fight the good fight for His glory!

FELLOW SOLDIERS!
Please note, as we fight against the enemies, there are civilians who are caught in the crossfire, some believing they are soldiers in the Commander's army, yet are still enemies. Show great mercy to those who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the uniforms polluted by the enemy.

ENDING NOTE!
Not all of the soldiers are aware of the battle that needs to be fought, they are being passive and falling prey. They are not even armed, I've seen many who only have their Helmets on, they have failed to carry their Swords with them always, failing to be ready at a moments notice to use them. See to it that ALL SOLDIERS are armed and ready for the fight.

Fight the good fight! May the Message we've been entrusted with be fought for, may it not be defiled any longer by the enemies! Soli Deo Gloria


Ok, so yes, this approach has been used before. I was not very original in my writing ideas here. If you were to read the book of Jude, you will find that I took all ideas directly from there, you will find quite a few similarities, mine just has a modern, combat twist to it with a few extra Scripture references thrown in.

As Jude wrote to the Church in his day, warning them of Apostates who had crept in unawares and were as savaging wolves, so the warning is being proclaimed today also of the Apostates who are gallivanting around under the cloak of "Evangelical Christianity". Men like Brian McLaren and Joel Olsteen, as well as many others, women as well, are watering down the Gospel message, they are enemies to the Cross, "ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 4)

Post-modernism is one weapon that is being used, many people are falling prey to it. To any sensible person, it's a ridiculas idea, it makes no sense. We need to remember though, it was never meant to make sense, it doesn't need to, irrational, illogical ideas that are neither true nor false (according to post-modernism) are easier to handle than a message that says a person is sinful, yet the Creator of that person loves them enough to die for them and asks only for them to repent of their sins and trust Him. "Post modernism's one goal and singular activity is the systematic destruction of every other truth claim...it is the rejection of every expression of certainty..certainty is regarded as inherently arrogant, elitist, intolerant, oppressive and therefore always wrong...For obvious reasons, and authoritative 'thus saith the Lord' is not welcome in such a setting.'" -John MacArthur in The Truth War

We must remember though brethren that our mission is to preach the Gospel, to defend and preach the Truth to the lost world, so that our Lord might be glorified, and if He wills, souls be saved. For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16)

Please, dear soldiers, defend the Truth, don't let the Apostates, the false teachers continue to preach a false Gospel while we sit back and watch them mislead people down a damning road. Preach the Gospel truth to the uttermost ends of the world. Do not compromise ever! It's too imporant too compromise on! Wield your swords, they are two-edged and sharp, know them, know how to handle them, due so for the glory of our King!

"Notice carefully: our task as ambassadors is to bring good news to people. Our mission as soldiers is to overthrow false ideas. We must keep those objectives straight; we are not entitled to wage warfare against people or to enter into diplomatic relations with anti Christian ideas. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) ; and our duty as ambassadors does not permit us to compromise or align ourselves with any kind of human philosophies, religious deceit, or any other kind of falsehood. ...So we are ambassadors-soldiers, reaching out to sinners with the truth even as we make every effort to destroy the lies and other forms of evil that hold them in a deadly bondage." -John MacArthur

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience...Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead EXPOSE THEM." -Ephesians 5:6,11

Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “The Valley of Vision”

Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “The Valley of Vision”

Words and Music by Bob Kauflin

Verse 1
♫ When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Chorus
♪Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

Verse 2
♫ In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed ♫

Thoughts For New Year.

"Great God! before thy throne
We joyfully appear,
In songs to make thy glories known,
And thus begin the new year.

What favours all divine;
What mercies shall we share;
What blessings all around us shine
To open this new year!

Indulgent goodness spares
And still preserves us here,
And bounty all divine prepares
Supplies for this new year.

Our follies past forgive;
Our souls divinely cheer:
And help us more to thee to live,
Dear Lord, in this new year.

Prepare us for thy will,
Whatever may appear;
And let thy loving-kindness still
Preserve us through the year.

Confirm our souls in thee,
In faith and holy fear;
And let a precious Jesus be
Our song through all the year. "
499 -Samuel Medley

Food, Beauty And Control! Women's Desires Becoming Their Enemy.

This one hurts, big time. It goes past all my confidences, it opens up the sores I try to hide. All three of the points Bob Lepine makes here (article below), are ones I sadly see take part in my life the majority of the time. My close friends even call me a "control freak", though we joke of it, sadly I think it's something that we should by the strength of God, strive to rid ourselves of. Let's not stop fighting! We end the fight often, with the excuse of every woman battles it, if that were so, I dare to say that many women would be conquering it through Christ. No, every woman has the tendencies, not every woman battles it. Ladies, Sisters in Christ, FIGHT THIS, it's something that can bog us down, tear our time and affections and confidence in Christ away. Fight this battle and never give up, fight this battle, always knowing who you are in Christ. Seek to be serving Him and glorifying Him, not your own self-esteem. Let's wield our Swords and take every thought captive.


In a breakout session Friday afternoon, Bob Lepine of the daily radio program FamilyLife Today unpacked from Genesis 3:6 three areas that tend to trap and even enslave women: food, beauty and control.

Here are some of Bob’s insights:

· Food. Women are more likely than men to suffer from eating disorders, to do emotional “binge” eating and to be obsessed with healthy eating. Even an obsession with healthy eating can become an idol in their lives when it takes on proportions it was never meant to have in their lives.

· Beauty. Many women struggle with the cultural notion that beauty is primarily an external reality, while Scripture views a woman’s true beauty as lying in the heart. The culture presses on women an external view of beauty and idolizes outer beauty and leads women to live sad, broken lives in pursuit of temporal beauty. “No amount of physical attractiveness can compensate for a lack of godly character,” Lepine said. “A beautiful shrew is still a shrew. A plain-looking woman who radiates the goodness of God from her face is beautiful.”

· Control. This was the great enticement for Eve in the Garden of Eden, an enticement that led her to throw off God’s Word and God’s control of her life. Women desire safety and security, Lepine said, so a woman often desires control of the things in her life, including her husband, to gain safety and security. Eve replaced God’s definition of what is good with her own view of it.

So, how can a woman tell if she is being controlled by one or more of these tendencies? Using a set of questions proposed by biblical counselor David Powlison, Lepine exhorted women to ask themselves what they organize their lives around and what they automatically drift toward. “What is the one thing, if you lost it, would cause you to lose the desire to live?” he said. “What things give you pleasure or delight?” If the answer is food, physical beauty or control, then these things have taken the heart captive, he said. “What influences your thinking on these three issues?” he asked. “Is it TV, the media, your own desires or what others think about you? Are you thinking culturally, carnally or biblically about these issues?”

The blogger team from Revive Our Hearts ministries are live blogging the conference. Their posts may be accessed here: http://www.truewoman.com/?id=15

King of Kings

This video gives a wonderful presentation of the King I serve, and why I sing His praises, why I write of Him, and why I desire to be transformed and growing in Him! THIS IS MY KING, THIS IS MY SAVIOR, THIS IS THE GOD WHO GREATLY LOVES ME!

What Is My Foundation?

When I first heard this, it was so tempting to say, 'what is my foundation? Are you kidding? That's easy, my faith!' Yet, this question was not posed to me, I thankfully didn't have to come up with an answer, I sat back for two days and thought on it. My job was to then assist in teaching what our foundation is to little kids! Never expecting a large amount of soul-searching to go on in my life at the time.

My pastor's wife had asked me to get some material ready for the lesson, I needed to type out What Is My Foundation? on some strips of paper and print them out for the kids to glue to their workbooks. As well as cut up some magazine clippings, with pictures of un-stable foundations people will often build their lives upon; money, fame, etc..; these were getting glued in the workbooks as well.

So the day arrived when I needed these done,(of course I didn't have them done, where's the fun in being prepared beforehand?), as I typed the question out twenty times over, ( I wanted as many different font colors as possible, so I did things the long way); the question began to become ingrained in my mind. What is my foundation? What is my foundation? What is MY foundation? Suddenly, this seemed like an in-depth question to be asking elementary kids, it felt deeper than the average feel good Sunday School question. I started to think on it as I prepared to go to town, I knew the kids would all have an area in the workbooks to print "JESUS" underneath the question, I thought on both the question and the answer and how it all applies in my life.

My biggest thought at the time was, "do I live a life that shows that Jesus is my foundation? Do I base everything on the fact that Jesus is my foundation? Do all my decisions include Him in them? Do I seek His will in Scripture and in prayer before moving ahead?" I knew the answer, didn't dwell on it though, I mean why ruin a good day by being convicted?

I don't subscribe to any magazines, so off to the store I went, in search of some worldly reading/advertisement material. Once at the store, I picked up a few trashy magazines, one on success with money, the other, a teeny-bopper magazine, I looked for Star, People, and US Weekly, with no success, knowing they would have individuals in them who build their lives on un-stable foundations. Sadly, while buying the magazines, I wanted to yell out to everyone, " I DON'T READ THIS TRASH, I'M ONLY BUYING IT TO CUT UP!" I was prideful and very self-righteous, thinking "I'm a good Christian girl (and home schooled at that), I'm not like those other people who read this stuff, I'm better than they are". I know, wretched of me, right?

So, I tote my proud self off to Panera, where I promptly started cutting up the magazines. The money magazine was easy, I found alot of pictures of un-stable foundations, and I myself was not affected at all by it. The Teeny-Bopper magazine is where I was brought to my knees. While going through it, I shook my head in disgust over the gross, openly-evil things, things that used to be reserved for the adult magazines and now proudly displayed in a teenager magazine. Yet, every other page caught my attention, I started looking at the make-up advertisements, wondering if I could some how master the look that the model displayed, if only I could be as pretty as she. Then there were the clothing adds, "oh, so that's the style now?, I wonder if that will flatter my body type?" I got sucked in amazingly fast, looking at the advertisements I started to focus on how best I can look, how I could get the perfect body or apply the perfect makeup. And why? Nothing wrong with looking nice right? Well no, not always, it has it's place in life. Yet, that place better be ultra small though, and it can never be our foundation.

Too often I build my entire day around my clothes, my make-up and the way I carry myself. Seeking the approval of men and not my Lord. I build a life for myself out of sand, which collapses at the very slightest bit of wind. Thankfully, this did collapse, and I was brought back to my Rock Foundation, Jesus Christ!

The Scripture for the lesson was Matthew 7:24-27; Christ tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The wise man building his house on the rock, the foolish man building his on the sand. The pastor's wife had some great illustrations for the kids, and did a wonderful job explaining that, we are all born with a "sandy, un-stable" foundation (Romans 5:12), through Jesus we can be saved and have a solid, stable foundation on Him, the Rock of our Salvation!
We had a memory verse, which I was blessed with the opportunity to go over with the children and try to teach them; "For no man can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 3:11

I am so thankful, beyond words, that my Lord saw fit to save me and give me a firm foundation on which I am to build my life, Jesus! I know that my life cannot consist of anything durable enough to stand the storms of life, outside of Jesus. And oh yeah, that self-righteous attitude I had about the people in the magazines and the people who read them? Well that was crushed when thinking about Jesus, for I am no better or different than they. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector; what was the sin of the Pharisee for saying he was better than the tax collector? That he thought he was better than the tax collector!!! (Thanks to R.W. Glen for bringing this up) I was like that self-righteous Pharisee, thinking I was better or any different than any other sinner, I'm not, Christ is! I am the chief of sinners, as Paul says. I am no better than the vilest of sinners, for I am the vilest of sinners, but for the grace of my Lord and Savior, I am now saved from the hold of sin, and cleansed from it, given His righteousness!

"But 'he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.' For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends." - 2 Corinthians 10:17-18

I am so blessed to be able to, when asked what my foundation is, answer the wonderful, simple, in-depth, Sunday school answer of: JESUS! ☺
By His strength and His grace will I be able to build up godly stones on that foundation, stones that will mold me into the woman He desires me to be. May He always be exalted and praised, may my life reflect the great Cornerstone, the very foundation on which my new life is built.

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." -Ephesians 5:15-17

Been There, Done That, Got The T-shirt.

I'm one of those people who always likes to have the proof that I was at a certain place at a certain time. I was there, I did it, I have the t-shirt to prove it. Lately, I prefer the mugs, magnets, and keychains over the t-shirts. The principle is the same though, I like the proof and souvenir of having been somewhere noteworthy. To prove my point; last weekend I attended the Deeper '10 conference in Covington, KY. I came home with the Wretchedradio.com hoodie, (that I've wanted since becoming a wretch) a Creation Museum keychain, mug, t-shirt and cookies and a mousepad for the family. Ok, I admit, I got carried away :/
These items were bought as a memory and testimony of that weekend, and this whole concept has been practiced by tourists for years, it's not new. What is new though, and I think a bit weird, is that stores have popularized "tourist" type shirts quite a bit lately. You can go to Walmart and buy a "Grand Canyon", "Bahamas", or "Alaskan Guided Tours" shirt, without ever going to the place. Many designer clothes also have the false impression of tourist clothing. I find it bizarre, just my opinion.

What does this have to do with doctrine? With God's Word? Well, to some it would mean very little, and in that case, bear with me. If you think quirky as I do, you should be at home reading this blog.

Well, the "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" idea has made it's way into the Christian circle. It seems to me, that you hear that Jesus loves you, respond with "Oh, I dig that, sure I'll believe it" and then go out and buy the shirt to testify of it.
Now, I'm not bashing Christian t-shirts (for the most part), as long as they are Christ magnifying, Christ glorifying, then I do not have an issue with them, in fact, they more often than not are a great conversation starter, a great ice-breaker for witnessing encounters.

The issue I have is the same as I have with "pretentious tourism" shirts sold at the stores. I see many, many people wearing the Christian shirts, testifying they are saved and yet, they haven't truly been down the road of salvation. They are just like the person who has never been to Alaska, wearing the "Alaskan Tour Guides" shirt.

I know, this sounds weird, picky, and condescending. I fear though for the people out there walking around with a false assurance of Salvation, and I fear for the people watching, seeing the shirt that testifies of their salvation, yet seeing no fruit of Godly repentance in the person's life, and then they themselves doubt in the reality of Christianity. Steven Curtis Chapman actually wrote a song on this topic years ago. It's titled "The Change" and talks of having the bumper sticker, fish emblem, t-shirt, etc.. and yet, not having a life that is changed.

We are warned in Scripture of both the false teachers that will come in and deceive many, leading them astray, and also of those people walking about with false conversions and because of it, false hope. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus speaks of the weeds and the wheat, both growing together in the same field, both being harvested on the same day, yet both with different endings; The wheat going to the storehouse, and the weeds being thrown in unquenchable fire. Though yes, we will be able to see wheat from weeds, at times we won't. I know I've seen some absolutely beautiful weeds in my day, weeds easily mistaken for flowers, or good seed. Yet, Christ will separate that seed and make the good to shine like the sun and the bad will be cast in the fire. (Matthew 13:37-42)

Sadly there is good seed that sprouts and appears to be doing fine, yet when trouble comes, when weeds start to choke it out, it succumbs and dies for it was not firmly rooted in good soil. (Matthew 13:18-23)

Jesus denounces the religious hypocrites, going around parading to be children of God (wearing the t-shirt), yet inside they are just as unchanged as when they were born, and they're making converts twice as fit for Hell as they are themselves. (They got the T-shirt, but were never there, and never repented)

Matthew 7:13-23 has Jesus telling us that the gate to Heaven is narrow and few find it, they instead travel on the wide path leading to Hell. He warns us boldly "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravaging wolves, you'll recognize them by their fruit...Every good tree produces good fruit, but every bad tree produces bad fruit." And then: "On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' And I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers.'" (2 Corthians 11:14-15 : "And no wonder! For Satan himself is disguised as an angel of light. So it is no great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their destiny will be according to their works."

It's so easy for us Christians, to see a fish on a car and get excited, to hear someone say they go to such and such a church, and then be all ears, hoping to talk to them of our shared faith. And the T-SHIRT! Well, that just clinches it, they must be a REAL Christian if they went and got the T-shirt.
We must be careful, we must be discerning, cunning as serpents, yet gentle as doves. We must be fruit inspectors. Not so we can ridicule and condemn the person who claims salvation and has never truly repented. But so we can share the TRUE Gospel message with them, tell them we are concerned for their soul. I'd rather share the Gospel twice with a false covert than to assume they're saved and leave them in their blind state. And the absolute most important reason for being discerning and proclaiming the Truth is for the Gospel's sake. We must defend Scripture, by preaching Scripture. Dividing it rightly, that the man of God may be adequate, ready for every good work in Christ. We must not let our Lord's Word be assaulted by being represented and preached wrongly.

Larry McCall says, "you are the only Bible some people will ever read." That's sad. But we as Christian are to live rightly, we bear Christ's name, not because we thought the name was cool and wanted it for ourselves; but because Christ has saved us, called us His own, Imputed us with His Righteousness. Now be ye holy for He is holy. By His grace we will be able to live a life worthy of His Gospel (Philippians 1:27)

Wield your swords, use them, pierce the world's views, the culture's views, the false teacher's false messages. Preach the Word of God in season and out of season, be ready at all times to give an answer for the joy that is in you. Wear those t-shirts, testify that you're saved now by God's grace, but make sure you went to the Cross and repented of your sins, before donning the shirt that states such. May you always examine your faith with fear and trembling. (2 Corinthians 13:5-6)

Time Is But Time. I'm Waiting For Eternity

Greetings! It has been quite awhile since I've posted on here. As anticipated, this summer has been very busy. As Charles Dickens said "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." There has been some wonderful joyous moments in which we were able to serve and praise our Lord. And there were some sad, mournful moments in which we were able to serve and praise our Lord admist tears. And through it all, the "normalness" of life kept going on, the sun rose and set the same as always. And thankfully my God who is immutable, never changing, was there in it all, growing and changing us all for His glory. Praise be to Him!

It cannot escape my notice, through all of life's ups and downs, joys and sorrows, that my Lord is always Sovereign, with a perfect plan for His children whom He loves. Of course when it comes to thinking on time, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is the first Scripture passage I think of. I for one am very thankful that "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under Heaven." For in those appointed times we have the opportunity to grow in our spiritual walks.

No one can live soley on "puppy love" through out an entire marriage, the hope is that that love will grow to a deeper, more meaningful love in the years to come. The same goes for our relationship with God, I pray that it never stays where it resides now, but grows deeper in the future. A deeper, closer relationship does not come easy. Deeper love requires more self sacrifice, more dying to self to live to Christ, less desire to be served, more service given always to Him, His glory always first in our thoughts. A deeper love requires not mere words, but actions. Anything worth having is worth working for, and with the grace of our Lord, we will be purged, tried, sanctified, and grown. By His grace will we love Him more.

"I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in it's time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts. Except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." -Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 The things of this earth, the times of mourning, the times of rejoicing, they are but "times". We who are saved have a wonderful hope inside of us, knowing that we have an eternity waiting for us. Not time, eterinty! An eternity where we will be completely rid of these sins that continue to make us stumble, make us aware of how un-righteous we are apart from Christ. An eternity where we won't be focused on ourselves, our sorrows, or even our joys in earthly pursuits. No, we will have an eternity to be COMPLETELY focused on our Lord, able to give Him the glory He deserves. Able to recieve our riches and then blessed with the opportunity to cast them back down at His feet, where they belong. Oh, what a blessed eternity that will be!

As for now, I will praise Him through all of these times. For He has EVERYTHING appropiate in it's time. And with the trials and sorrows we face I can praise Him through it all, praying always to grow and glorify Him in the midst of it. James 1:2-4

We dear brothers and sisters, are running a race towards the goal, in order to win the prize. The goal being to be conformed to the image of Christ, the prize being, that we will be conformed to the image of Christ. Philippians 3:14

We must count it all joy when these things arise in our walks that will strengthen us and get us all the closer to the goal of being like Christ. I praise the Lord that to everything there is a purpose, for without His sovereignty, I would have no hope. Because of it, I may count it all joy and praise and glorify Him for these trial that grow us and bring us closer to Him, strenghten us to serve Him better.

Wield your sword, preach the Gospel unadulterated, run the race to win the prize. Win those crowns in order to have them to cast back to Him. "Rejoice evermore! Pray constantly! In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"For It Is Written"

Do you have a favorite quote from a movie or a book? Maybe from one of our famous, dear to the heart heroes from the past? I have plenty I like to share on occasion, if I can recall the quote and do it justice. My favorite though is "for it is written" or or "thus says the Lord".

This phrase is always followed with either conviction or encouragement (when the Word is shared unadulterated). And it's a very key part I believe to a Christian's walk and gaining of maturity in the faith. It's important that we are hiding God's Word in our hearts so as not to sin against Him. (Psalm 119:11)
I looked up how many times "It is written" is found in the Bible. According to one resource it's in the KJV 80 times.
In the OT I found over and over the Israelites commanded to learn and obey the Word of the Lord. Joshua was very strict on this.
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." - Joshua 1:8
"And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law." - Joshua 8:34
I'd like to point out that he read ALL the words of the law. He didn't brush aside the curses and head straight to the blessings. Joshua knew that every word of God was "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, ready for every good work." (II Timothy 3:16) He used God's Word in instruction in rigtheousness; "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left..." -Joshua 23:6
I love reading through the book of Joshua and seeing the passion that Joshua and other leaders of the Israelites had for preserving, learning, and obeying God's Word. And no wonder, Joshua was close to Moses, can you imagine some of the conversations they must have had around the camp? Moses was God's instrument in writing the first 5 books of the Bible, Moses was given the ten commandments straight from God on Mount Sinai. Moses talked one-on-one with God, hearing His audible voice multiple times. It's understandable why Joshua then grew to love God's Word and defended it so mightily.

Later on we see the "man after God's own heart" on his death bed and giving last instructions to his son Solomon; "And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’" -I Kings 2:3-4 David knew from personal experience what happens when man seeks his own will and turns from God's commands. He sought to teach his son otherwise, he warned him to serve God fully, to not turn to the side, but to heed His commands. David knew the importance firsthand of God's Word. He loved His Lord and loved to obey Him, you see David's great remorse every time he sinned, not because of his own punishment, but because it hurt him to disobey his Lord.

In Jeremiah we see how people's lives turn when they seek their own will above God's, when they stop following His Word. Though they don't do "as it is written" our immutable God does; "So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations." -Jeremiah 25:13 In Daniel as well: "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him." -Daniel 9:11

One of the most beautiful things we see though, is what all of these previous sections are leading up to, the coming of our Messiah Jesus Christ! Reading through the gospels you'll see "it is written" quite often as Jesus fulfills prophecy after prophecy after prophecy. It's beautiful to see that happening. Interestingly enough, Christ attest to the importance of Scripture over and over. When He grew angry at the unrighteousness going on at the temple and threw the money changers out, He quotes His Father's Word; " Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” -Mark 11:17

And of course, likely the most famous passage of Scripture quoting is in Matthew 4 when Jesus was in the desert being tempted by Satan and He defends against him by quoting Scripture. "But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” and Satan even responds by quoting Scripture; "and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus then responds again, "Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” "Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Brethren, Satan knows Scripture and he'll use it wrongly to blindly lead people astray. He cunningly takes bits and pieces, he being the chief of liars will convince people that his and our words taken out of context are better than our Lord's pure, complete Word. Satan started practicing this back in Genesis when he told Eve "you will not surely die", yet we see God clearly saying a chapter earlier, "you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". He was bold enough to tempt the Lord Jesus and try to cause Him to stumble, and quote Scripture while doing so.
We must learn the Scriptures, hide them on our heart, be wise and gain wisdom and discernment, "Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments." -Psalm 119:66, "That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge." -Proverbs 5:2
Almost every one of the 31 Proverbs has something to say of gaining wisdom and discretion. We MUST be discerning, in order to defend God's Word against the false teachers out there preaching a false gosple and making souls twice as fit for Hell as they are.

I pray that you read His Word daily, grow to love it ( "Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it." -Psalm 119:140), learn to heed it ( "How can a young man cleanse his way?By taking heed according to Your word." -Psalm 119:9), defend it ( "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." -Jude 1:3), and please preach it ( "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" )

Oh how I love to hear "it is written" I pray you do as well. Wield those swords brethren, fellow pilgrims, for the glory of our Most High God!

"We Cut The Board Three Times And It's Still Too Short!"

If you the reader have a little imagination, you can most likely envision a three stooges kind of scene by reading the title of this post. Sadly, I actually did see a board get cut several times and still measure up short, imagine that! What's even more sad though to me is that I've seen people go up the aisle and "get saved" multiple times and still doubt their salvation. My heart breaks to see this scenario.
In 2 Corinithians we are called to examine our faith, to make sure we are genuinely saved. "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you are disqualified. -2 Corinthians 5:13
What are we looking for when we examine ourselves? Well, it can't be just our good works or our walking uprightly for Christ said : "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also ouwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." -Matthew 23:27-28 OUCH!
Maybe our ivolvement in the church? Seriously if someone spends that much time ]in church they must be saved, right? Well Christ again said : “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" -Matthew 7:21-23
One more try, what if they claim to believe in God? James says: "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble!" Ok that won't work as a proof of salvation, for the demons are assuredly not saved.

Ok, wow...I see why people are going up and getting "saved" repeatedly, how can we know our conversion was genuine, this looks discouraging. Well..back to our Authority.

A true Christian has a real repentance from their sins; "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." -2 Corinithians 7:10
"If we say we say that we have no sin, we decieve ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." 1 John 1:8-10

They have a desire to see God glorified; "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." -1 Corinthians 10:31
Thus says the LORD:“ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,Let not the mighty man glory in his might,Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD. " -Jeremiah 9:23-24

They will experiance sanctification and seperation from the world; "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." -1 Corinthians 2:12
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." -1 John 2:15-17

These are but a few fruits of a genuine faith in the Lord, a saving faith through Christ Jesus. If there are any doubts of your salvation, please do examine yourself, compare yourself to Scripture, for it is what condemns us, not us it. It is sharper than a two edged sword. Examine yourself, see if you are indeed a new creature, see if the old has died, with the sinful habits and ungodliness. Look back and see "have I grown past certain things, am I growing even a little in godliness?"
Afterwards, if you need to repent of sins and turn to Christ, please do. Put on Christ, don't just claim Him, abide in Him. Don't tear yourself down constantly and worry about not growing enough, not doing enough. You never will do enough, EVER. So cling to the wonderful, amazing grace of our Lord.
Cutting a board three times will not help you if it's already too short, going down the aisle and getting saved three times doesn't work either. You were either saved the first time, or not saved at all yet. You need only to be saved once, for our salvation was bought with a price and once given is not taken away.

Weild your swords dear brothers and sisters, defend the Truth, live a Christ centered, set apart life for God's glory.

Evolution Is NOT Biblical!

I got a lot of heat from my last posting on Creation. I heard the arguments from other Christians that evolution does go alongside the Bible. Which of course is what I stated in the first post, that there are many professing Christians out there claiming both accounts of how the world began could be true. Well one cancels the other out, you either stand by what the Word of God says or what the world view is. Here is where and why I stand as I do.

OK! First off it is not what my parents tell me! (I got that accusation thrown at me.)It's what God's Word says. And that is why I'm proclaiming and defending it. Because we must NOT undermine the BIBLE.


1 The Bible clearly teaches that God created in six literal, 24-hour days a few thousand years ago. The Hebrew word for day in Genesis 1 is yom. In the vast majority of its uses in the Old Testament it means a literal day; and where it doesn’t, the context makes this clear.

2 The context of Genesis 1 clearly shows that the days of creation were literal days. First, yom is defined the first time it is used in the Bible (Genesis 1:4–5) in its two literal senses: the light portion of the light/dark cycle and the whole light/dark cycle. Second, yom is used with “evening” and “morning.” Everywhere these two words are used in the Old Testament, either together or separately and with or without yom in the context, they always mean a literal evening or morning of a literal day. Third, yom is modified with a number: one day, second day, third day, etc., which everywhere else in the Old Testament indicates literal days. Fourth, yom is defined literally in Genesis 1:14 in relation to the heavenly bodies.
When is a day a day?


3 The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 make it clear that the creation days happened only about 6,000 years ago. It is transparent from the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 (which give very detailed chronological information, unlike the clearly abbreviated genealogy in Matthew 1 and other chronological information in the Bible that the Creation Week took place only about 6,000 years ago.


Noah’s Flood washes away millions of years. The evidence in Genesis 6–9 for a global catastrophic flood is overwhelming. For example, the Flood was intended to destroy not only all sinful people but also all land animals and birds and the surface of the earth, which only a global flood could accomplish. The Ark’s purpose was to save two of every kind of land animal and bird (and seven of some) to repopulate the earth after the Flood. The Ark was totally unnecessary if the Flood was only local. People, animals, and birds could have migrated out of the flood zone before it occurred, or the zone could have been populated from creatures outside the area after the Flood. The catastrophic nature of the Flood is seen in the nonstop rain for at least 40 days, which would have produced massive erosion, mud slides, hurricanes, etc. The Hebrew words translated “the fountains of the great deep burst open” (Genesis 7:11) clearly point to tectonic rupturing of the earth’s surface in many places for 150 days, resulting in volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Noah’s Flood would produce exactly the kind of complex geological record we see worldwide today: thousands of feet of sediments clearly deposited by water and later hardened into rock and containing billions of fossils. If the year-long Flood is responsible for most of the rock layers and fossils, then those rocks and fossils cannot represent the history of the earth over millions of years, as evolutionists claim.

Exodus 20:9–11 blocks all attempts to fit millions of years into Genesis 1. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy”


Belief in millions of years undermines the Bible’s teaching on death and on the character of God. Genesis 1 says six times that God called the creation “good,” and when He finished creation on Day 6, He called everything “very good.” Man and animals and birds were originally vegetarian (Gen. 1:29–30, plants are not “living creatures,” as people and animals are, according to Scripture). But Adam and Eve sinned, resulting in the judgment of God on the whole creation. Instantly Adam and Eve died spiritually, and after God’s curse they began to die physically. The serpent and Eve were changed physically and the ground itself was cursed (Genesis 3:14–19). The whole creation now groans in bondage to corruption, waiting for the final redemption of Christians (Romans 8:19–25) when we will see the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21, Colossians 1:20) to a state similar to the pre-Fall world, when there will be no more carnivorous behavior (Isaiah11:6–9) and no disease, suffering, or death (Revelation 21:3–5) because there will be no more Curse (Revelation 22:3). To accept millions of years of animal death before the creation and Fall of man contradicts and destroys the Bible’s teaching on death and the full redemptive work of Christ. It also makes God into a bumbling, cruel creator who uses (or can’t prevent) disease, natural disasters, and extinctions to mar His creative work, without any moral cause, but still calls it all “very

*Herein lies one of the biggest issues with having both views trying to coincide. They go against who GOD says HE is. It's blaspheme to say that God lies, doesn't do as He said He did or that there is some fault in the way He does things. And the reason the bible verses are all quoted in this article, is because the people from answers in genesis as well as I agree that the Word of God is COMPLETE, He left nothing out that wasn't needed, it's infallible, inerrant, inspired and authoritative.*

Conclusion

These are just some of the reasons why we believe that the Bible is giving us the true history of the world. God’s Word must be the final authority on all matters about which it speaks—not just the moral and spiritual matters, but also its teachings that bear on history, archaeology, and science.

What is at stake here is the authority of Scripture, the character of God, the doctrine of death, and the very foundation of the gospel. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true literal history, then faith in the rest of the Bible is undermined, including its teaching about salvation and morality. I urge you to carefully read the other chapters in this book. The health of the church, the effectiveness of her mission to a lost world, and the glory of God are at stake.


Taken from the article "Why shouldn't Christians Accept Millions of Years" from answersingenesis.org by Terry Mortenson



Wield those Swords for the Glory of God! Stand Firm! "Be steadfast and inmovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing that your work in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

Christian Evolutionists?

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1

I heard a statistic recently that one-third of so called "born again Christians" believe that the theory of evolution is true. These same people when surveyed stated they believed in God as well, they just believe both to be true. I am saddened and shocked that so many Christians could be so immature to believe such utter nonsense. The theory of the world evolving in a matter of millions and millions of year, and then the belief that the earth is relatively young and was created from nothing by an Intelligent Designer, these two are completely contradictory to each other. What kind of confused individual could possibly think they coincide? To be blunt, this is heretical! It goes against God's Word. We cannot sit back and let people teach that God didn't really create the world in 6 days like He says in Genesis 1, that He did. It's heretical to teach that God's Word is not true and is lacking.

I've also heard that it doesn't matter what we believe on the issue of creation, as long as we understand about Christ coming and dying and rising again. I disagree. Recently, I was blessed with the opportunity to sit in on a session given by Paul Taylor, who went on to explain the necessity of standing firm on the entire Word of God, starting with the first book, first chapter and very first verse, which clearly states that the earth was created by God, and in 6, 24 hour days, not millions of years.

If Genesis 1:1 is wrong, then how can we trust any part of the Scripture? If the creation story is false, the gospel message in the New Testament could very well be false as well. It is important we defend the gospel from the beginning to the end. How do we defend it? It is not a helpless, weak thing needing our making of excuses for it. It stands on it's own, we need only to preach it unadulterated. Charles Spurgeon stated it well; "The Word of God is like a lion, you don't have to defend a lion, all you have to do is let the lion loose and the lion will defend itself."
And in preaching it, we must preach it in it's entirety. And for those out there claiming that it's not relevant to the plan of salvation, well I beg to differ. All through the Old Testament you can see God working out His plan to save us fallen, sinful wretches. We see it starting in Genesis 3 when He gave Eve both a curse and a wonderful blessing. The blessing? It was found in the promise that through her, down the road a Son would be born to die and save her offspring from the eternal damnation they deserve. I believe that the Lord had it all worked out before Genesis 3 though.

I don't have space or time to go through all the passages in the Old Testament that proclaim the salvation that was to come in the New Testament through Christ Jesus, the prophecies fulfilled, the promises that the patriarchs held to, unseen by their eyes.
God cannot lie, it is against His very nature. (Titus 1) When He says He created the world in 6 days, He did. When He promised He'd supply a Savior for us, He did. When He promises us that we will one day dwell with Him for eternity we will.

Here is a table that Paul Taylor shares in his lectures as well as in his book "The Six Days Of Genesis". In the Bible names meant something, were given by God for a reason, He is demonstrating His perfect will for mankind and being glorified through people. Here is a list of the names of the first eight generations on earth.
NAME---------------- MEANING
Adam-------------------- Man
Seth ---------------------Appointed
Enosh--------------------Mortal
Kenan------------------- Sorrow
Mahalalel----------------The God who is to be praised
Jared---------------------Shall come down
Enoch--------------------Teaching
Methuselah--------------His death shall bring
Lamech------------------Despairing
Noah --------------------Rest or Comfort

Together : Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the God who is to be praised shall come down, teaching that His death shall bring the despairing rest.

"By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible." -Hebrews 11: 3

Open that cage, let the lion loose to defend itself. In Christ, brethren wield those swords for the glory of God! Stand firm on the Word of God, beginning to end, Genesis to Revelation!

Welcome! Herein is a brief introduction to this blog.

"Now faith is the reality of things hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For by it our ancestors were approved. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible." - Hebrews 11:1-3

Welcome to my newest blog "Hebrews 11 Legacies!" As always, I will try my best to be faithful in the writings hereof, yet please pardon any large gaps of time that occur in postings, for as with all families, life gets busy and time flies.

I chose the title "Hebrews 11 Legacies!" for Hebrews 11 surely is a wonderful chapter for any God fearing child to read. It speaks of the men and women of old who lived boldly for God, many not having seen the promises fulfilled yet, many without the Holy Scripture, the Authorized Word of God to live by. They followed their Lord faithfully, understood that this earth was just their temporary home, and though they could only see the promises from a distance, they took hold of these promises and lived for their God. They obeyed Him and clung to Him, forsaking this world and it's lust thereof.

We have Scripture, we have seen that our Lord has come down and as promised, saved His people through the Son Jesus Christ. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives now that we're saved by the blood of Christ. I encourage you therefore to take the firm stand on Scripture, to defend it with your very lives, for "It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes." -Romans 1:16
I encourage you to live as the Hebrews 11 men and women, forsaking the world, clinging to our Lord and following His decrees, knowing we are but pilgrims on this earth, yet pilgrims with a mighty calling, a mighty mission to spread and defend the Gospel. In Christ my Lord and Savior... Call to arms! Pick up your dusty swords and wield them for the glory of God!