I saw it happen on his face...

I saw it happen on his face...

I saw it happen. I was sitting beside the guy and I saw on his face when it happened...

It was ‘eureka’ moment for him...

On Thursday nights we have been going over to a friend’s bible study. Last Thursday there was a new family there that they had invited. As we walked through Mark chapter 2 it became apparent that the night was not about Mark chapter 2. It was about this man that the Lord had brought here so that someone could explain to him the Gospel.

I saw it happen on his face, the moment he realized the full implications (if anyone really could) of Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

It was truly a glorious moment. I wished I could hear the angels rejoicing in Heaven at that moment.

That is what all this life is about. That is why we are still here on this earth. To reach into the gates of Hell and pull out sinners destined for eternal damnation. All else is just hay, wood, and stubble…

Good job to my friend for being bold and inviting a perfect stranger to his Bible study.

Thank you Lord for loving us even when we didn’t want anything to do with You.

For everyone else, there's Mastercard...

For everyone else, there's Mastercard...
Read that slogan again. It says a lot. A whole lot. Those five words strip away a lot of fluff. They speak to the heart of a debt-reliant culture. How reliant? Wrap your brain around these figures:

http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/brokethink.shtml

This is a real good article. It is kind of off the regular topic here but then again not really. The lust of the eyes and the pride of life are certainly a contributor to this. Anyway this is a good website if you are looking at getting a handle on the finances...

Serious about really getting your finances in shape? Ready to begin relying on a financial plan, rather than blind luck or a momentary whim? Are you dedicated to dumping all debt?If so, then put your mental body armor on, because you're about to be an outcast.

http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/brokethink.shtml

BECAUSE I AM A CHRISTIAN...

Someting I found...

I am the salt of the earth (Mat_5:13)
I am the light of the world (Mat_5:14)
I am a child of God (Joh_1:12)
I am Christ's friend (Joh_15:15)
I am chosen by Christ (Joh_15:16)
I am God's gift to Christ (Joh_17:24)
I am made right in God's sight by faith (Rom_5:1)
I am at peace with God (Rom_5:1)
I am in the place of highest privilege (Rom_5:2)
I am confidently and joyfully looking forward to becoming all God has in mind for me (Rom_5:2)
I am rejoicing in troubles, for through them God is building me up and making me strong (Rom_5:3-5)
I am reconciled to God (Rom_5:10)
I am a receiver of God's grace that far supersedes my worst sin (Rom_5:20)
I am dead to sin and alive to God (Rom_6:11)
I am a recipient of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Rom_6:23)
I am free of condemnation (Rom_8:1)
I am free from the vicious cycle of sin and death (Rom_8:2)
I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father (Rom_8:14-15; Gal_3:26; Gal_4:6)
I share in Christ's inheritance (Rom_8:17)
I am protected. Who can ever be against me? (Rom_8:31)
I am inseparable from God's love (Rom_8:35)
I am more than a conqueror through Christ (Rom_8:37)
I am God's dwelling place. His Spirit and life dwells in me (1Co_3:16;1Co_6:19)
I am united to the Lord (1Co_6:17)
I am a member of Christ's Body - the church (1Co_12:27; Eph_5:30)
I am adequate for anything because my adequacy comes from God (2Co_3:5)
I am a saint (Eph_1:1)
I am blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph_1:3)
I am forgiven of all my sins (Eph_1:7)
I am God's workmanship - His handiwork (Eph_2:10)
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God's family (Eph_2:19)
I am righteous and holy (Eph_4:24)
I am a citizen of heaven (Eph_2:6)
I am strong in the Lord to fight off all of Satan's attacks (Eph_6:10-17)
I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phi_4:13)
I am filled with God's power that works mightily in me (Col_1:29)
I am complete in Christ, filled with God, possessor of everything (Col_2:10)
I am chosen by God, holy and dearly loved (Col_3:12;1Th_1:4)
I am a son/daughter of light and not of darkness (1Th_5:5)
I am adequate, complete, equipped for every good work (2Ti_3:17)
I am able to come boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace (Heb_4:16)
I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He returns (1Jo_3:1-2)
I am loved (Rev_1:5 ; Rom_5:8)
I am victorious (Rev_21:7)

Lord of the Rings Character Test

Ok, TNT had the first two
Lord of the Rings movies on Sunday after noon and evenings. So I have found this. Take the test, who are you? Post your results!

Eomer If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Eomer, Man of Rohan, heir to the throne, nephew of Theoden and brother of Eowyn. In the movie, I am played by Karl Urban. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

Men Who Do Not Pray

Another Tozer devotional...
http://lmi.gospelcom.net/tozer.php3?date=04-09-06
Prayer: Men Who Do Not Pray

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. --Acts 6:3

Let us watch that we do not slide imperceptibly to a state where the women do the praying and the men run the churches. Men who do not pray have no right to direct church affairs. We believe in the leadership of men within the spiritual community of the saints, but that leadership should be won by spiritual worth.

Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer? All things else being equal, a praying woman will know the will of God for the church far better than a prayerless man.

We do not here advocate the turning of the churches over to the women, but we do advocate a recognition of proper spiritual qualifications for leadership among the men if they are to continue to decide the direction the churches shall take. The accident of being a man is not enough. Spiritual manhood alone qualifies. We Travel an Appointed Way, 16.

"Lord, don't ever let me have leadership that I don't deserve. Don't ever let me become careless in prayer. Don't ever let me rely on the women to pray while I lead. Amen."

Theory without practice is sterile

"Practice without Theory is blind, Theory without practice is sterile"
-- Karl Marx

I think the quote describes most of the Christians today. There are mainly 2 types.

Practice without Theory:
There are the Christian's that are always doing for God. They follow all the rules that someone has set. It might be their church, their favorite Christian author or TBN TV program host. They have crosses, pictures of Jesus, and angel figurines everywhere. They usually sound good when they talk. Things they do are usually good but they really have no idea why they do the things they do. They know that Jesus is the one to follow but if someone asked them how they know Jesus is the one the best they can come up with is that "Jesus changed my life" or "the bible says so".
I have heard this described a "Foke Theology". They follow their beliefs but their beliefs have no firm base. The eliefs could be correct or not. The thing is that they can not tell you why they do or believe it. "That's just the why I was taught" or "that is the way my parents taught me."

I use to work for a company that sold medical software. I was in charge of converting the old system's data to our new system. In the process of learning how the old system worked so that I could better convert the data to our new system, I would sit down with the people and have them show me how they did things on the old system. I was always asking people why they did things the way they did. Most of the time the answer was 'this is how the person before me did it'. They knew the right thing to do but somewhere along the way the 'reason' was lost. This has happened in the life of many Christian’s.

Theory without practice:
Then there are the ones that know all there is to know about God, Jesus, and the Bible. They quote scripture, have all the answers in Bible study, if you have a problem they can quote 10 scriptures that explains what you need to do. They tell you how they can not get through one day without God but their life, attitude, and actions speak the opposite. They usually are the complainers, the ones who do not tithe, their spouse can not stand them and their children are rebellious and without Christ. They get road rage when driving to church and are rude to the waitress at lunch after church.
They are usually the ones that the non-believer won't come to your church because they know them and say something like 'if that is what it is to be a Christian I don't want any part of it.'

So what is the point to all this rambling?

Church, we got to get with it. We got to not only know what it is to be a Christian, but why those thing make Christianity different than other religions and spiritualities. We need to know the Bible and the doctrines that make Christianity what it is. We need to know them well enough to have confidence in them during our trials and be able to explain them to others when they have trials.

At the same time we got to walk the walk. The world, our children, families, and co-workers see Christianity and Jesus through us. When they picture a Christian in their mind they see us. Their idea of God comes from us. I think sometimes we are doing more harm for the cause of Christ than good.

Jesus Walked on Ice, Study Says

I am really speechless on this one. It amazes me what people will say and believe to explain away the miracles in the Bible.

Here is the latest...

A frozen patch floating on the surface of the small lake would have been difficult to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. The unfrozen water was comprised of the plumes resulting from salty springs situated along the lake's western shore in Tabgha -- an area where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been documented.

Here is a link to the article: Jesus Walked on Ice, Study Says

In the interest of objectivity, I have my own far-fetch idea of how Jesus actually walked on water. I think the picture on this post explains it.

So who do you think is right, them or me?

Here is the account of the incident in Matthew: Matthew 14:17-34

Humm, I think the guys that were there had it figured out:

Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. - Matthew 14:33

Resistance is Futile...

Yah know, I have never been a Apple/Mac fan but there are things that are just plain wrong.

First they put Intel chips in them, now this...
Apple unveils software to permit Windows use

Seems kind of sacreligious...

The only good thing about all this is that all those hard core Apple people are finally silenced!

George Washington - Praying Warror

Just one more about George...

If someone painted a picture of your prayer life what would it look like?

I am afraid mine would not even look as if I was praying. I think we have taken the verse 'pray without ceasing' as a license to not 'stop and pray'. We fire a few requests and maybe even a praise or two off in the shower or drive to work like we forward off a half read funny email.

We need to stop and travail before God in our prayers. If the subject of our prayers are not things we agonize over then we need to either get serious about them or find something worth praying about.

from below: “We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian”

Would someone be convinced that you are a true Christian by the fervency of your prayers? Something to think about.

Below is a excerpt from the diary of Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden that inspired this panting.

The Prayer at Valley Forge

"I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods. To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home & told my wife. We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington. We thought it was the cause of God & America could prevail."
- Source: Eyewitness testimony of Isaac Potts, a Valley Forge resident who shared the following story with the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who then recorded it in his "Diary and Remembrances."

George Washington's Inaugural Address of 1789

You all will have to thank my son for this post. We are working on a school project about George Washington.

These early Statesman humble me and make me fear for our nation. They were unashamed of their faith and aware that they were servants of the people and of God.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington delivered his famous Inaugural Address to both Houses of Congress. He had just taken the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, with his hand upon a Bible opened to Deuteronomy, Chapter 28:

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
(Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV)

Here is a exerp from his inaugural address:
"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aides can supply every human defect; that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes; and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow citizens at large, less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished, in the system of their United government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage ... We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps finally, staked on the experiment...

May God raise up some more God fearing Statesman. Not politicians, but statesman.


Full inaugural address: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/inaugtxt.html

The Reproach of Egypt

The Reproach of Egypt

(1) So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. {Joshua 5:1 NKJV}

So many of us in the Christian church have come out of Egypt, decided to quit wondering in the wilderness, we have let Jesus lead us across the Jordan, and here we are. We are on the edge of the Promise Land but something is just not right.

(2) At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time."
(3) So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. {Joshua 5:2-3 NKJV}

What is the problem? We have not let ourselves be consecrated by Jesus. There is that thing (or things) that we have brought with us from Egypt. "The Reproach of Egypt" is still with us. We all know what it is for us. That thing that we will not let go of from the world. Now before we can be used in battle for the promise land we let the Lord remove this 'reproach' from us.

(8) So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
(9) Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. {Joshua 5:8-9 NKJV}

So what will happen when you let the Lord remove 'The Reproach of Egypt' from you? First it will hurt. Second, it will take some time to heal the hurt. But then, guess what will happen?

(13) And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?"
(14) So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"
(15) Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. {Joshua 5:13-15 NKJV}

The Commander of the army of the LORD will show up Himself and fight the battles for you. Jericho’s wall will fall down at your shout!