Terrell’s Miracle and the Miracle of His Mom’s Surrender

Terrell was being considered for discharge today but they changed it to sometime over the weekend. He is still doing great! His WBC has come up enough that he is getting his chemo as we speak. His lungs are clearing nicely and he has been taken off of a few antibiotics. They said his lungs won’t be ‘normal’ for about 6 weeks but he is breathing completely normal and you would not even know he was sick at all except for his cough. He is quite frail after 2 weeks of next to nothing to eat but he is slowly picking up. I am so thankful…abundantly thankful!
The biggest miracle to me thru this time has been facing Terrell’s death…we honestly didn’t know if he would make it….and knowing that God is trustworthy and that He would do right. Not right according to me but according to His perfect will. He would help me get thru whatever we faced…I could totally have peace there. He is the source of my joy and if He took Terrell from my arms, He would supply my every need as He always has. This has truly changed me. He never left my side thru all of this…what an amazing God we serve!! All that being said, he IS still in my arms and I will enjoy him there:) ♥

Culture, Media & Compromise (via 5 Pt. Salt, via Modesty: The Forgotten Virtue)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.-Romans 12:2
I’ve been preaching this for years now, and quite frankly, it’s good to know someone out there is in agreement. – JT
Paul Washer:
You must be renewing your mind.
If someone tells me I have to have media in my church because culture needs media, it still will not be in my church, I am not called to conform to culture. If you can’t read then when you get saved I will teach you to read, if you can’t sit for 25, 35, 40, an hour and a half to hear a good sermon, I will teach you how to do it...to read more, click HERE

God Hates the Sin But Loves the Sinner? Really?

While looking at the expression “God loves you, but hates your sin”, we’ve seen that it isn’t a quote from the Bible and also that God Himself says He hates sinners  and not just the sin. So where does the idea of “God loves you, but hates your sin” originate? For something that is quoted so often you would think people would know where it originated. But most don’t. Does it matter who said it? Even whether or not it is true? I think it does. See if I found that Charles Spurgeon was to be credited with saying it then I would lend it more credence than if say Benny Hinn was quoted as having first said it. Not that Spurgeon is always right, but He does get more benefit of the doubt than a false teacher would. But then I would even check up on Spurgeon and see if it could be backed by Scripture. I know it is a radical concept but I would throw out even a Spurgeon quote if it didn’t stand up to Scripture.
The earliest person to be attributed with saying something similar to “God loves you, but hates your sin” is St. Augustine of Hippo.  St. Augustine was Bishop of Hippo from 395 – 430 A.D. In a letter (Opera Omnia, vol II. col. 962, letter 211 ) St. Augustine wrote, he is reported to have said “With love for mankind and hatred of sins.” That is a similar statement but it isn’t in context. Is it attributed to God saying it or is Augustine himself saying it? That I couldn’t find out. And it matters greatly!
Another quote from Augustine:

“It is clear, then, that the man who does not live according to man but according to God must be a lover of the good and therefore a hater of evil; since no man is wicked by nature but is wicked only by some defect, a man who lives according to God owes it to the wicked men that his hatred be perfect, so that, neither hating the man because of his corruption nor loving the corruption because of the man, he should hate the sin but love the sinner. For, once the corruption has been cured, then all that is left should be loved and nothing remains to be hated.”
-Augustine, City of God, p. 304

This appears to be saying that a “man” should love the sinner and hate the sin. That is a big difference than God saying He loves the sinner but hates the sin. But notice also Augustine says “no man is wicked by nature but is wicked only by some defect”. I would say Scripture teaches that our nature is wicked from conception. We are sinners from the beginning, not just because we sin.
The next person who is attributed as saying something similar to “God loves you, but hates your sin” is Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi from his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth:

To read more, click HERE

Blind, Lost and Without Hope

‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ –Genesis 3:4-5

The devil will promise you one thing, but always deliver something opposite. Take the promise he gave Eve that her eyes would be opened. Inferring that she was somehow blind to really great spiritual things, the devil promised he could open her eyes. He promised she would become spiritually wise, knowing the secrets of heaven, and even the loftiest thoughts of God himself. That was the promise. But it was a lie.

The exact opposite happened when Eve believed the devil. Second Corinthians 4:4-5 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” People who do not know Christ cannot see his light. The adversary has blinded them.

God is the only one who can spiritually open our eyes. Acts 9:17-18 records the amazing story of Saul’s spiritual eye surgery: “…Placing his hands on Saul, [Ananias] said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.”


What promise has the devil whispered to you? How has he enticed you to compromise what you believe about God? What command from the Bible has the adversary told you is not necessary? Don’t listen to him. “I pray … that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…” (Ephesians 1:18-19).


Lord God, I choose to listen to you, not the devil. The devil is a liar, but your promises are true. Thank you that Jesus is “the Truth and the Life.”

Blessings,

 

Joni and Friends

www.joniandfriends.org

Pray for Grace to Assist you that you may be Universally Conscientious

That we may be universally conscientious.

O that we may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Colossians 4:12(KJV)
O that our ways were directed to keep thy commandments! And then shall we not be ashamed, when we have respect to them all. Psalm 119:5-6(KJV)
Teach us, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and we shall keep it unto the end. Give us understanding, and we shall keep thy law; yea, we shall observe it with our whole heart. Make us to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do we delight. Incline our hearts unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Psalm 119:33-36(KJV)
Grant us, we pray thee, according to the riches of thy glory, that we may be strengthened with all might by the Spirit in the inward man: That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith, and that we being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and may know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and be filled with a divine fulness, Ephesians 3:16-20(KJV) and may partake of a divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4(KJV)
And let the love of Christ constrain us to live not to ourselves, but to him that died for us and rose again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15(KJV)

Matthew Henry

A Friend in Need...Please Pray

I have become good friends with some brothers and sisters in Christ over in India. We have written each other for a number of months now and always they have written back with kind words and pictures showing their tireless work spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now they have decided to build a church to reach out to the outcasts and lost in their area with Christ and the truth of God's judgment upon them. They truly are a testament to a spirit of love and dedication. They have very little money and are pressing forward the best they can, trusting in God to supply. Will you pray for them and stand in prayer for them? They are a wonderful people who need to know that us over here in the "Land of Milk and Honey" stand with them in their endeavor.

The "Therefores..."

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. --Philippians 2:5-9

Notice the "therefore" in today's reading. Jesus was on a journey of humility - he was God, but he made himself nothing. He was a servant, but he was utterly obedient, even unto death. And not only an average death, but death on the cross. At each level, Jesus humbles himself more. And the point? "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." You may be a "somebody," but God would have you make yourself a "nobody" in the world's eyes. But does it end there?

No! Therefore God exalted Jesus... and God will exalt you to be a co-heir with Christ. "We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Romans 8:17). It's like a math formula or an inverse proportion. The more we humble ourselves, the more God will raise us up not to just any old high place, but as a co-heir seated alongside our Savior. Astounding! We suffer with Christ - that we may share in Christ's highest glory. Believers who face the greatest conflict yet hold onto God with all their hearts - these are the ones who have the greatest confidence in sharing Christ's glory.

In what way can you humble yourself today? Is an apology owed to a friend or a family member? Is there an elderly person in your apartment unit you can help with a chore? Volunteer as a teacher's aid in the special needs class at church?

I humble myself today in the sight of you, oh Lord.

Blessings,

 

Joni and Friends

www.joniandfriends.org

 

Taken from Pearls of Great Price.  Copyright © 2006 by Joni Eareckson Tada.  Used by permission.  Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

MAGNETS TO MEN’S EYES (VIA ADULT SS SERMON FROM TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH, WWW.TRINITYMONTVILLE.ORG)

Number one. Dresses or skirts with lengthy slits. When a man’s eye sees a slit that comes up to the knee or above, he thinks, “Oh, a few more inches and what would I see?” That is the way a man’s mind works. If your fathers have not told you this, daughters, it is true. If you husbands have not told your wives this, shame on you. This is a magnet to men’s eyes, dresses or skirts with lengthy slits.

Secondly. Dresses or skirts which hug the buttocks. I don’t know a better word to use. What do I mean? My shirt is not hugging any part of my body except, perhaps, my wrist. A skirt that hugs the buttocks is a skirt that not only comes down over the buttocks, but back in to the back of the thighs.

When you see pictures of prostitutes one of the marks of a prostitute is this: She always has her buttocks hugged, whether it is a mini skirt, whether it is jeans, whether it is tight slacks, her butt is always hugged because that is what she is selling. And that is what she wants you to buy. It is a magnet to men’s eyes.

Thirdly. Any upper garment that hugs the breast. And I don’t know a better way to describe it. It is one thing for your garment to come down over and hang loosely upon the breast, but to hug the breast, to shape and isolate your breasts becomes a magnet to men’s eyes. People should not receive an anatomy lesson in mammary glands when they look at you women. It is a magnet to men’s eyes.

Fourthly. Unbuttoned blouses, low neck lines or cleavage on any upper body garment. You know what I mean by the buttons. You have got a blouse that buttons up to the top. But you unbutton it down to one button away from bearing your bra. And when a man sees only one button to go his mind goes, I wonder what is under that one more button.

John Piper, is burdened about this issue and he has posted an article on the internet, “Is Modesty an Issue in the Church Today?” Listen to Mr. Piper.

“Necklines are an issue these days. Everywhere I turn, at the airport, at the church the necklines are plunging. Some fashion designers in the world are communicating to women today that the thing to do is to have your neckline split extend too low. Unbuttoned blouses, low neck lines on the shirts that may be under your jacket, cleavage of any kind on any upper body garment. And also, women, remember. In the church setting you are found at times bending over, picking up a child. Bend over and look at yourself in the mirror before you leave your home. What may seem to cover you well standing, bending over does not cover you sufficiently to be dressed modestly.”

To read more of this excellent article, click HERE

The New Barbie...It Had to Come to This, Eh?

The newest Barbie doll to hit store shelves is sparking controversy.The doll sports several tattoos, and some parents say it’s sending the wrong message to their kids, reports CBS 2’s Kathryn Brown. Meet “Tokidoki Barbie,” the newest addition to the iconic doll collection. She’s edgy — with pink hair, sky-high stilettos and a cactus-covered pet named “Bastardino.” But it’s her body art that has some parents on edge.
For years, Barbie has done its job of making little girls unhappy with their God-given beauty and now this…
You know, I have always wondered at why over the course of a few years, tattoos have suddenly become cool and common place in society with every day Joes. It used to be that only biker-dudes, sailors and the odd cook at a greasy spoon diner somewhere had tattoos, but now the most ordinary guy and the most plain Jane woman are getting them. What’s changed? Where was the psychological barrier broken?
Anyway, now we have this to contend with. Not only will the girls of tomorrow be facing the daunting task of achieving the “perfect body, but now it will be coming with a bunch of ugly tattoos as well. God help the women of tomorrow…will any of these who bought this Barbie be able to be a real mom? Only time will tell.
SermonAudio

Update on Terrell

Today has been an interesting day. Terrell has now been put on blow-by O2 as his Sats drop into the high 80s at times. His cough has grown worse over the last couple days and after a fit of coughing he has quite labored breathing. He is retaining water and it’s causing his heart rate to be high along with his temp which continues to linger around 40C. He had his first (and hopefully the last) dose of lasix. His IVAD is now giving us grief so they are trying to clear the line but if it doesn’t work they will have to re-access which is not Terrell’s favorite thing, especially when he is not feeling good. Despite all this, Terrell has been in a great mood today. He was being silly, playing his games and we read a couple chapters of a Narnia book together.
I found encouragement in Psalm 119 tonight.
Psalm 119
65 Lord, You have treated Your servant well, just as You promised. 66 Teach me good judgment and discernment, for I rely on Your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. 68 You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes. 69 The arrogant have smeared me with lies, but I obey Your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in Your instruction. 71 IT WAS GOOD FOR ME TO BE AFFLICTED SO THAT I COULD LEARN YOUR STATUTES. 72 Instruction from Your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn Your commands. 74 Those who fear You will see me and rejoice, for I put my hope in Your word. 75 I KNOW, Lord, that Your judgments are just and THAT YOU HAVE AFFLICTED ME FAIRLY. 76 May Your faithful love comfort me, as You promised Your servant. 77 May Your compassion come to me so that I may live, for Your instruction is my delight. 78 Let the arrogant be put to shame for slandering me with lies; I will meditate on Your precepts. 79 Let those who fear You, those who know Your decrees, turn to me. 80 May my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes so that I will not be put to shame.
**trying to sleep. O how I love him and I know that our Father loves him much more than I. ♥

The Ten Commandments...Vital to Biblical Salvation

The schoolmaster that brings the lost to the reality of a Saviour. The burning sun that drives the wanderer to the shadow of the Most High. The burning knowledge of condemnation that opens the eyes of the sinner to the stark reality of hell.
1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (lie).
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The Old Cross and the New

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam’s proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually...to read more, click HERE

C. H. Spurgeon: False Professors Solemnly Warned

Delivered on Sabbath Evening, August 24, 1856, by the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon At Exeter Hall, Strand

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”—Philippians 3:18-19.

 There are many now among us, as there were then, who walk in such a manner that we recognize them at once as the “enemies of the cross of Christ.” I do fear that the evil, instead of having decreased, has multiplied and grown in danger. We have more profession now than there was in the age of Paul, and consequently we have mere hypocrisy.

It is a crying sin with our churches that there are many in their midst who never ought to be there, who would be fit members of an ale-house or any favorite resort of the gay and frivolous, but who never ought to sip the sacramental wine or eat the holy bread, the emblems of the sufferings of our Lord. We have — O Paul, how wouldst thou have said it to night, and how wouldst thou have wept while saying it! — we have many in our midst who are the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” because “their God is their belly, they mind earthly things,” and their life is not consistent with the great things of God.

To read more, click HERE

Billy Talks to His Pastor about God

John Pedersen

from The Trinity Review, July 1997

---

Billy: “Pastor, does God love everybody?”
Pastor: “Yes, Billy” (smiles, pats him on the head).
Billy: “How come it says in Romans 9 that he hated Esau?”
Pastor: “Been reading your Bible, huh, Billy?” (still smiles). “Well, the Bible also says that God hates, but that only is talking about God’s secret decree, and as far as we are concerned, he loves everybody.”
Billy: “Pastor?”
Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”
Billy: “If God tells us about his secret decree, is it still a secret?”
Pastor: “Er, well, I guess . . . not, Billy, but I meant that we should realize that there is a way the Bible talks about God’s love for everybody, and that’s what we should think about, not the one or two places where it says God hates.”
Billy: “Oh. How is it that God loves everybody?”

Pastor: “Well, he gives everybody rain and sunshine, and he blesses the people of the Earth with a conscience so they know right from wrong, and he has given them many gifts which they use to make the world a better and safer place to live.”
Billy: “Then he sends most of them to Hell?”
Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”
Billy: “Pastor?”
Pastor: “Yes, Billy.”
Billy: “Is it love for God to give people good things for a few years to make them feel comfortable and worthwhile, and then send them to Hell?”
Pastor: “Well, I . . . yes, it . . . is, I think because it would have been worse if, I mean it would be, um, well, it is, I guess, because he did not send them directly to Hell, but he allowed them to experience his goodness and his provision for his creatures. . . .”
Billy: “Is it love to let someone experience something good they will remember forever and always hate God for, because that good thing they loved more than forgiveness?”
To read the rest of this article, click HERE

Update to Our Urgent Prayer Request

An update on Terrell's condition. God is answering our prayers!

 

Doc came in a bit ago and talked about how Terrell's doing. His blood is really a mess right now. His WBC (white blood cells) is critical. They need it to come up quite a bit before they will let him go. Usually they tell us what his neutrophils are (these are the immunity in our WBC) Terrell's WBC is too low--0.05---to even find what the neuts are. He is getting a second transfusion right now as he has a nap (this won't help his WBC but brings his RBC up) It will run over 4 hours. He is still not eating or drinking well but is doing considerably better than yesterday. I can't say enough how all your prayers, encouragement and support mean to me/us. Thank you!! ♥

The Prodigal Son by John Newton

Great poem by a great man...thanks Anna.

Afflictions, though they seem severe;
In mercy oft are sent;
They stopped the prodigal’s career,
And forced him to repent.

Although he no relentings felt
Till he had spent his store;
His stubborn heart began to melt
When famine pinched him sore.

What have I gained by sin, he said,
But hunger, shame, and fear;
My father’s house abounds with bread,
While I am starving here.

To read more, click HERE

Urgent Prayer Request

A dear friend who stood with us through our trial and troubles posted this on her Facebook page. Please dear friends, pray and fast for this little guy. He needs God's healing touch. May God's will be done, may He receive glory through this.

"Waiting for a chest x-ray. The mask is to protect him from everyone else. Temp is 39.4 and he only wants to sleep. Needs a blood transfusion...and has no immune system right now. Liver is not happy so he's really jaundiced too. I am praying that Christ will become so real to Terrell...his constant source for everything he needs right now."

 

Fretting or Cursing...What's the Difference?

I dare not fret any more than I dare curse and swear. ... John Wesley

The Dew of God's Blessing

"My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass."

 

Deuteronomy 32:2

 

We have in our text a regular scale: the dew, the small rain, the rain, and the showers. And this graduated scale of heavenly moisture shews that there are degrees of spiritual blessing. We must not expect all to be blessed to the same extent, nor all to receive the same measure. Yet all are of the same nature.
Examine "the dew," it is water; "the small rain," it is water; "the rain," it is water; "the showers," they are still water. You cannot find any difference between the water of the dew, of the small rain, of the rain, and of the showers: they are all alike pure water, distilled from the alembic of the sky. So it is with the blessing of God upon the soul. It may fall upon one as the dew, upon another as the small rain, upon a third as the rain, on a fourth as the showers; yet all are equally and alike spiritual and divine. It is the same God that gives; through the same Jesus it comes; by the same Spirit it is communicated. All produce more or less the same effect—to soften, to moisten, to fertilise, and to revive; and all descend from the heaven of Christ's gospel; all fall from the same firmament of grace, mercy, and truth, love, blood, and salvation. The doctrine, therefore, that testifies of Jesus, and the speech that proclaims him to be a Rock, and his work to be perfect, and no other teaching, "drops as the rain and distils as the dew." There is a power in truth, when God is pleased to apply it to the heart; and whether it comes in large or in small measure, whether it be in dew or shower, it is equally a proof of his mercy and love, and equally a proof that his power attends His own divine truth to our soul.

JC PHILPOT - 1802-1869

Thoroughly Acquainted With Hebrews

"Let us learn the high authority of the Bible, and the immense value of a knowledge of its contents. Let us read it, search into it, pray over it, diligently and with perseverance. Let us strive to be so thoroughly acquainted with its pages, that its text may abide in our memories, and stand ready at our right hand in the day of need."

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth (http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/about/about.html) , 1986], 111, 112.

What is the New Apostolic Reformation and Why Should We Be Concerned?

By Christine Pack

A Personal Note: Please-please-please send this article to your loved ones so that they can be on the look-out for this dangerous movement sweeping through Christianity. I consider this to be one of the most important articles I have ever written, and I regret not having written it sooner. And please understand that I have only scratched the surface in this article. Unfortunately, the NAR is such a massive movement, with so many tentacles, and so many people involved, that it was almost impossible to talk about it concisely. It is almost unfathomable to me how many people have been affected by this dangerous movement. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear from at least one person who has personally had to flee a once solid church because this teaching has suddenly swept in, or someone who has watched a loved one be seduced by it, or someone who has even been unwittingly swept up in this movement themselves.

We all know about pandemics, right? The World Health Organization will often track a virus that is in pigs or birds or some other known animal carrier. The virus being tracked could stay within its animal group for years, not causing problems for humans, but sometimes, for unknown reasons, the virus will unexpectedly “jump” from its animal group……to humans. That’s what the scientists are always concerned about, and when that happens, they sit up and take notice, and start churning out public service warnings, because they know this previously harmless virus could potentially turn into a very dangerous, and deadly, pandemic...to read more of this important article, click HERE

The Indwelling Trinity

The Indwelling Trinity October 12, 2011 "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19) This prayer of the apostle Paul applies to us as well as "to the saints which are at Ephesus" (Ephesians 1:1). Paul directs his prayer "unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (3:14), and he requests both that "Christ may dwell in your hearts" and also that the Holy Spirit would strengthen our "inner man." We know elsewhere that Christ is at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Ephesians 1:20), so that the Holy Spirit is the person who actually indwells our bodies as believers. And yet, because God is a tri-une God, if the Holy Spirit indwells us, so also must "the Spirit of Christ," or else "he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). But the prayer doesn't end with Christ dwelling in our hearts. He further prays that "ye might be filled with all the fulness of God," and thus the Father is there too! When we accept Christ, we accept also the Father and the Holy Spirit, for the three are one, and God in all His tri-une fullness thenceforth lives in our bodies. The Lord Jesus Himself had prayed essentially the same prayer. "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; . . . and my Father will love |you|, and we will . . . make our abode with |you|" (John 14:16-17, 23). What a priceless privilege and responsibility is ours as believers, that our triune God of creation and redemption and direction is with us always! HMM

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Institute for Creation Research | 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229

OUR Jesus...

We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are...to read more, click HERE

The Sin of Dominionists

Busy, Busy...

Just as Moses was delayed from coming back down the mountain, the people fell back into the idolatry they were just delivered from in Egypt (Exodus 32)…After all they did not know how long he would be on the mountain, 40 days seemed like an eternity and they lost patience.
Likewise in the last days the religious masses will tire of waiting for Jesus’ return and will take things into their own hands saying that this is what God has told us to do...to read more, click HERE

Hallowe'en, Women and My Boys

It's amazing how bad it's gotten for us who are sold out slaves of Christ. Let me ramble and speak my mind for a bit here. I haven't done this for awhile and I feel like getting some junk off of my heart.

I have four children. Two boys under seven, a girl of four years and a eight month old baby boy. We recently drove down a road of "San Francisco" style homes where we live and ran straight into two homes across the street from each other with the most disgusting, gory, horrible Hallowe'en decorations up that before we even had a chance to react our three older children saw them in their satanic glory. They all had bad dreams last night about them. This morning they were troubled at what they saw and made me promise that I would never take them down any more streets like that. There's no way I can keep that promise it seems for Hallowe'en decor is everywhere. Is it just me or has it gotten a lot worse this year? It seems the theme this year is dismembered body parts...try explaining that to a six year old.

Then there's the dress of every woman out there it seems from pre-teen to older woman who should know better. It's near impossible to shield them from these females who want to emulate a hooker in every way. My wife said that there was a story on the radio one time that the street workers in our city were upset because the "normal" women walking by were getting more attention than they were. What's next? How on earth can my boys ever find good, pure, godly women when they are grown up? It seems every female out there is pumped full of sensuality and sex. Even, I dare say, the "godly" women.

What does the future hold for these little men in training? I can only do so much and then they are out on their own. My one boy wants to be a veterinarian. Well he'll need to go to college for that and we all know what college is like.

My desire is to raise my children to be slaves of Christ, servants of the Most High. I want to instill within them a desire to pay back Christ for what He did. Not to buy His favour, but just to say thank You.

It boggles my mind to see how quickly society is going down hill. I laughed in horror one time when I heard that over in Europe, women (and men) walk the streets naked. Clothing is a matter of choice, not necessity. I say this is a direct result of Evolution being taught in schools. Coupled with humanism, man has been convinced that he is nothing more than an animal. Animals don't wear clothing, why should we?

Let's continue to strive ahead for Christ making disciples out of the nations. Yes, these same people who dress as sluts and prostitutes, homosexuals and the clothing optional types. The same people Christ came to earth for. The horrid, unlovable and the outcasts. As Charles Spurgeon said once (paraphrased), if someone has to go to hell, let him go to hell with our arms wrapped about their legs dragging us the whole way.

‘Chrislam’...the New Wave

Maybe we should not be too surprised. Maybe we should have seen it coming. Incredible as it seems, it is now a shocking reality. What people would have thought impossible not so long ago is now coming to pass. While not actually new on the scene, it is relatively new to America. What is it? The answer is Chrislam!

Christian and Muslim leaders have been meeting together for months to work on mixing together Christianity and Islam into one religion. They are trying to form an ecumenical merger of these two opposing creeds into a new and strange partnership. And they are giving it the combination name of “Chrislam.”

It is incredibly true that some well-known Christian leaders are encouraging Christian pastors across America to embrace this ecumenical concept of combining Christianity and Islam. The conservative Christian Coalition newsletter reports that already some 130 Christian leaders in 22 states have revealed their involvement. They are falsely declaring that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and they are ridiculously claiming that Christianity and Islam are both peaceful, monotheistic religions with similar beliefs and values. This is a lie straight from the great deceiver himself. Islam and Christianity are exact opposites. Just as water and oil do not mix, it is impossible for Christianity and Islam to mix. The Bible calls on Christians to seek peace and love their neighbor. Islam calls on its followers to kill all who will not convert to Allah’s teachings. In other words, fundamental, Koran believing Muslims believe everyone must convert to Islam or die.

Informed Christians and Jews know that Allah was an Arab moon god whose name Mohammed elevated to be the name of Islam’s highest power. That is why the crescent moon and a star are on the Islamic flag and on Islamic houses of worship. Informed people know that fundamentalist Muslim clerics have loudly and clearly declared jihad, or holy war, against all infidels ― that is, all non-Muslims of the world. And informed people know that the Koran says that by killing an infidel, a Muslim is assured of a place in heaven. We must stand against the evil spirit of Islam which says all who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must be eliminated. This is extremely problematic and a real stumbling block when it comes to forming friendships or cooperative relationships with those of the Islamic faith...to read more, click HERE

Real Dignity Means Life

Choose life and not death! --II Kings 18:32

His name was Nathan, he was severely brain-injured, and I couldn't help but notice the way his elderly parents doted over him. While Dad pushed him around the Joni and Friends' Family Retreat, Mom constantly had her hand on Nathan's arm. They were at his side, wiping his mouth, smoothing his hair, and taking him to every Bible study and snack-shop fellowship. Nathan couldn't speak, but that didn't stop his folks from introducing him to every attendee of the retreat.

As I watched this incredible threesome, I thought, Many people would think Nathan would be better off dead than so severely disabled. They'd pity him... his elderly parents, too. That's why the physician-assisted suicide laws which are cropping up in various states are so dangerous. It's bad enough that doctors can help people with terminal illnesses commit suicide. But now, the lines between a terminal illness and a disability like Nathan's are beginning to blur. That's bad news for people like him.

No one should feel they have to die to have dignity... or die to be relieved of pain or depression... or to stop being a burden to their family or society. This is why it's so important for Christians to work to promote the Gospel; it's a way of promoting a culture of life. Nathan's parents left our Family Retreat refreshed, believing God had a plan and purpose for their son's disability. This is what gives a person dignity!

Consider volunteering at a Joni and Friends' Family Retreat next year. You'll spread the love of Christ among people like Nathan, as well as lob a hand grenade into society's pity-the-poor-unfortunate mentality. You'll be obliterating fundamental fears about disability. You'll be reinforcing the God-honoring truth that people are not better off dead than disabled. Thank you for promoting a culture of life today. If he were able, Nathan would say the same.

Lord Jesus, thank you for being the Prince of Life, the Resurrection and the Life, and the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Blessings,

Joni and Friends

www.joniandfriends.org

Reasons to Love Predestination

If there was one doctrine you’d remove from the Bible, what would it be? For some it would be ‘predestination’. For many Christians today, this teaching is not only hard to understand, but even hard to accept. Most pentecostals and charismatics tend to avoid or work around this topic. I've written previously in depth about the problem that predestination poses to Pentecostalism generally. But what are the benefits of this doctrine for us?

Without denial the Bible again and again insists that God’s people were chosen by him to be saved; and chosen according to his sovereign pre-determining grace.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Rom 8:29-30)

“He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons.” (Ephesians 1:4)

Why has God told us about predestination? Does this bible word deserve the ‘dirty’ image it has among many today? I’ll never forget a sermon I heard by tape from a local Presbyterian, Rob White, who gave five reasons why God gave us the biblical doctrine of predestination:

To read more of this fine article, click HERE

The Diversity of God’s Dealings

The Lord is not tied to the use of any one means exclusively in conveying grace to the soul. Sometimes He is pleased to work by the word preached publicly, sometimes by the word read privately. Sometimes He awakens people by sickness and affliction, sometimes by the rebukes or counsel of friends. Sometimes He employs means of grace to turn people out of the way of sin. Sometimes He arrests their attention by some providence, without any means of grace at all. He will not have any means of grace made an idol and exalted, to the disparagement of other means. He will not have any means despised as useless, and neglected as of no value. All are good and valuable. All are in their turn employed for the same great end, the conversion of souls. All are in the hands of Him who "gives not account of His matters," and knows best which to use, in each separate case that He heals.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth (http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/about/about.html) , 1985], 150, 151. {Mark 7:31-37}

God Meant It For Good

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God... --Genesis 45:7-8

Whenever I become troubled by crazy things that happen to me, I turn to the story of Joseph in the Bible. There was somebody who really went through bizarre circumstances! But think about it...

If Joseph had not been sold to those caravan traders by his wicked brothers, he would not have been sold as a slave to Pharaoh. And if Joseph had not become Pharaoh's right-hand man, no one would have thought to build giant grain silos to ward off the seven-year famine. And if the famine hadn't happened, Jacob and his family would never have come to Egypt for food and safety. And if Jacob's family weren't in Egypt, there would have been no slave laborers. And if no slaves, no Exodus. And no Mt. Sinai and the giving of the law to Moses. And no Promise Land. And, finally, no line of Judah from which the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come.

It is enthralling to see how the troubles of one young man named Joseph could kick-start a whole chain of earth-shaking events which would ultimately lead to our salvation. Oh, the wisdom and knowledge of God!

Joseph's story could be yours. Only heaven will reveal the incredibly complex intertwining of events in which you have played a pivotal role. Like Joseph, you may not be able to discern it at the time, but God has it all in hand... he has it all in control... and you, dear friend, are needed in his marvelous plan to spread his kingdom in your corner of the world.

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thank you for the awe-inspiring lessons about your sovereignty which you teach us through the story of Joseph. Thank you for your dominion and rule, not only in his life, but mine.

Blessings,

 

Joni and Friends

www.joniandfriends.org

The HEIGHT of APOSTASY

Just when I thought I had seen enough to convince me that the church as a whole is a doomed and sick entity, this comes along...click HERE to watch

The Reality of Christ in Everything

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of
Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2

 

If we do not know Jesus for ourselves, by some spiritual discovery of his
Person and work, what testimony have we of an interest in his grace?
Because, there is no grace except that which flows through him, for "grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ." This is what we should ever labour after.
Our daily, hourly desire and prayer should be, to have spiritual discoveries
of Christ; to see him by the eye of faith; to enter into his glorious Person and
finished work; to realise his presence, taste his love, and know him and the
power of his resurrection. This is what Paul so earnestly laboured after (Phil.
3:10); and for the excellency of this knowledge he suffered the loss of all
things, and counted them but dung that he might win Christ. To know him as
our Surety and Sin-bearer, our Advocate and Intercessor, our Friend,
Husband, and Brother; to know our interest in him, and our union with him;
our place in his heart, our name on his breast, our memorial on the palms of
his hands—what can surpass the blessedness of such a knowledge as this?
Through this spiritual, experimental knowledge of him, grace flows. As a
watercourse opening upon a river brings down its irrigating stream into the
parched meadow, so a knowledge of Christ opens up a channel through
which the grace that is in him flows into the barren, parched soul. Thus, as
through grace alone we know him, so every fresh communication of grace
not only makes him better known, but flows in through that very knowledge.

 

The grace that comes through this knowledge of him brings also peace; for
he is "our peace." He has "broken down the middle wall of partition, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making
peace." He, therefore, came and preached peace "to those which were afar
off and to them that were nigh." His blood speaks peace to a guilty
conscience; his voice says peace to the winds and waves of the surging heart;
his last legacy was, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you;" his
dying promise was, "In me ye shall have peace;" and, as the Prince of peace
at God's right hand, he is able to fill us with "all joy and peace in believing,"
for his kingdom is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
And thus, through a knowledge of him as our Lord, "grace and peace" are
both "multiplied."

 

 

J.C. Philpot - 1802-1869

Minced Oaths (via Defending Contending)

Minced oaths are usually, although not exclusively, religious in nature, and date from the days when it was irreverent and unacceptable to use the name of God, Jesus, or other sacred words in everyday speech. To mince your words, means to choose words so as not to offend anyone–except for God, who sees them as sacrilege (the sin of profaning sacred things). Here are a few examples:
Bejabbers — By J*sus
By George — By G*d
By golly — By G*d
By gosh — By G*d
Chrissakes — For Christ’s sake
Christmas — Christ
Criminy — Christ
Cripes — Christ
Dad gum — G*d damn
Dagnabbit — G*d damn it
Dagnammit — G*d damn it
Dang — Damn
Darn — Damn
Darnation — Damnation
Doggone — G*d damn
Gee whizz — J*sus
Good grief — Good G*d
Goodness gracious — Good G*d
Gosh — G*d
Gosh darned — G*d damned
Heck — Hell
Jeepers Creepers — J*sus Christ
Jeez — Jesus
Jiminy Christmas — J*sus Christ
My goodness — My G*d
My gosh — My G*d
Tarnation — Damnation

To read the rest of this article, click HERE