I am preparing my lesson for youth group tomorrow night, in my preparation I have have been studying Gal 2:17.  I have not “found” anything “new”, but I have been greatly impressed by what Paul is saying!

Gal 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Paul is addressing the issue of Peter moving away from the Gentiles because they were not following the Mosaic Law. Paul speaks this verse as a great challenge and accusation against Peter! He is saying: If while you are saying you are justified by grace, yet you are still seeking to be justified by the Law, you are saying that the grace of God was not good enough to justify you. In fact you are saying that even after the grace of God you are still a sinner! This is not true because Christ is NOT the minster of sin! If you are looking to the Law to justify you, you are saying Christ what you did wasn’t good enough!!!!

What a strong accusation!

There are two applications from this verse:

One, if you are unsaved, Christ’s grace is more than you need to be justified, there is NOTHING you can do! Following the Law will not justify you. Christ is not the minister of sin, but if justification and if you are seeking to be justified any other way you will not be justified!

Two, if you are saved, you are already justified! And as Paul says in verse 18, if you seek to go back to works to justify yourself you are make yourself a transgressor and not justifying yourself. The Law was NEVER meant to justify, but to show that one was a sinner and needed a savior!

I hope that you have been challenged as I have been! Not to look to the Law to make me a better person, but to look towards Christ! The Law is there to help teach us what is wrong so that we look to Christ for what if right!

~ Nate

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

I have been in a class the last week or so, dealing with the Divided monarchy of Israel (Israel and Judah). It is interesting to look at the prophets ministry during that time period. They were continually warning the kingdoms of their impending doom if they did not get right with God. For the most part the kings didn’t heed their warnings and there were many judgments because of that. The times when the kings did listen to God, when they trusted and obeyed him there was miraculous provision and protection. Yet, even after they had seen the hand of God working for them, they would still turn back to their idols and forsake God.

(There is MUCH more that can be studied with Israel and the prophets, but this is enough for what we are considering today.)

I want to ask you a simple question: Are you heeding the prophets in your life? By this I mean, when you read the Bible and it tells you that you need to stop doing something in your life, or you need to start doing something, do you do it? When your teacher, pastor, parents, Bible study leader, points something out from the Bible and you see that you need to change, do you do it? Looking at our verse in James, are you a “hearer” or “a hearer and a doer”? Do you do it?

~ Nate

Galatians 6:2,5 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ…For every man shall bear his own burdens.”

Those who would criticize the Bible and who try to find fault with it might see a contradiction in these two verses. This is not the case though, and with just a little study one can see the great truth that God has written here for us.

First, so that we can fully understand what Paul is say, we must take a closer look at the word burden in both verses. It will be noticed that the word in the original language for the word burden is different in both verses. In the first verse the word for burden carries with it the idea of “oppressive suffering” or “great weight” this is something that is too much for one person to bear. In the second verse the word for burden is a diminutive form of another word meaning “cargo” or burden”. Since it is the diminutive form, it carries the idea of a “small burden” or a “small cargo”.

Now that we have a better understanding of these two words what can we learn from these two verses, and how can we apply it to our lives?

There are burdens and pressures that come into a Christian’s life that are too much for one person to bear. These can come in all shapes and sizes and can range from financial to persecution to the death of a loved one. This would be a great weight to them, and might even be a weight that would “crush” them emotionally or spiritually. It is the duty of fellow Christians to come along side this burdened Christian during this time in their life and to bear their burden with them so that it is not too much for them.

There are burdens that come into a Christian’s life that are just the normal day to day things of life. These can be things like chores, work, fulfilling one’s responsibilities, and other things of this manner. It is the individual responsibility of the Christian to attend to their own tasks, and the normal issues of life, and to not try to get others to carry his work for him.

Let’s apply this to our lives starting today. If you see someone who is going through a hard time, and dealing with some big issues, come along side them and help them carry this heavy weight. Take responsibility for the tasks of your life and the day to day responsibilities you must fulfill.

~ Nate

1 Cor 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

In this passage, Paul has just finished listing many of the sins of the Children of Israel while they wandered in the wilderness. He rehearses not only their sins, but also the consequences of their sin! These judgments of their sins were meant to be an “ensample” to their fellow Israelites. (Note: difference between “example” and “ensample”: These words are built by adding either the prefix “ex-” or “en-” to the root word of “sample”. The word “sample” has the idea of something that is representative. If you look at that idea, combined with these prefixes, you get the ideas of: something that is representative outward; and, something that is representative inward.) God executed these judgments upon the Israelites that sinned, so that they would be an “ensample” to those that weren’t judged to show them what happens when you sin against God. This was to instruct them not to disobey God.

After pointing out the “ensample” of the sinful Israelites to their fellow Israelites, Paul tells us that their record was written to admonish us, Christians. Merriam-Webster defines “admonish” as “counsel or warning against fault or oversight”. We don’t have to make the same mistakes, and sin the same sins as others to know they are wrong, to realize that there are consequences for them. God has providentially written down the experiences of those that have gone before us, so that we can be warned by them.

This leads to a question of application. Are you learning for the experiences of others in your Bible? This can only happen if you are spending time reading and studying your Bible. How are your devotions? Are you spending time in your Bible, so that God can admonish/counsel you from the experiences of others?

~ Nate

Jeremiah 18:4 “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

When we receive Christ as Savior we become a new person. 2 Cor 5:17 ”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Our sins are washed away, our mistakes are forgotten, we are a clean, fresh newborn in Christ.

After being a Christian for only a short period of time, the new Christian will realize that just because they got saved, doesn’t mean they are perfect. Though we endeavor to be holy, we still have the flesh. If we do not avoid temptation, if we do not have self-control we will fall into sin. Often when someone falls into sin, small or big, they think, or are told, that they can no longer be used of God. This is not true!

When you fall into sin, it does not mean that you are no longer useful to God. Though there are consequences for sin, and sometimes because of sin there are limitations to your future ministry, you are never useless to God. “So he made it again another vessel,” after we sin and get right with God, he can take your life and re-form your life into a model Christian life, and make you useful to his ministry. “As seemed good to the potter to make it,” God is not just making you a generic vessel, God has a specific design for your life, and though sin can limit what we can be used for sometimes, he still has a specific plan for you. He has a specific plan for you and he will form our life to work for that plan.

Whether or not you have fallen into “major” sin, you have sinned, and you need to allow God to re-form those mars, allow God to remake you. You are never useless before God if you get your life right with God and allow him to make you as it “seems good” to him to make you!

~ Nate

I am reading a book for a class that I am currently taking call “How To be a Team Player and Enjoy It!” by Dr. Matt Williams. The book is an excellent book on being a team player. In one paragraph he discusses where our standards should find their source. I liked the way that he put it so well I wanted to quote that paragraph here:

“For every rule there must be a Biblical reason. If we cannot express a Biblical principle and show a convincing correlation between it and the rule, we need to reconsider. Our standards should not be a cloak for our personal preferences. We are called to lead our people to Christlikeness, not to make them clones of ourselves. This is most important in our ministry to young people. We can require whatever conformity we desire, but the only standards that they will keep for a lifetime are those for which they understand the reasons. This understanding should come from the Bible. If we do not teach the Biblical reasons for what we consider important standards, our young people will not make them a part of their lives. When they leave home, they will leave their standards, too, and will be left to form new ones at a time when they have little of no encouragement to do right.” (Italics are mine)

So whether you are a pastor, teacher, parent, or youth who is setting up standards, remember make sure they are based in the Bible. This is the only way to foster true godly character.

~ Nate

Matt Williams, How to me a Team Player and Enjoy It! (Independence, MO: American Association of Christian Schools, 1992), p. 51

Luke 12:6-7  “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

Sometimes life seems to be so overwhelming and so much seems to be happening to us that doesn’t make sense to us, that we can begin to wonder if God is even paying any attention to what is happening in our life. Yet, from these verses in Luke we can be reassured that God pays great attention to our lives.

The farthing that is mentioned here in our money today would be worth less than a cent. That is a pretty small and insignificant amount! Not only is that a small amount, but two of them was worth five sparrows. A sparrow was not of great value, yet God does not forget one of them. He pays attention to even a bird that we would subscribe very little monetary value.

God pays attention to every detail. Every hair on your and my head is numbered by God! That is how well God knows us and pays attention to us! Can you imagine if you loved one of your relatives so much that you knew everything about them even the number of hairs on their head? That would mean devoting a great deal of time and care to know that much about them, and this is who well God knows and pays attention to you.

God does not forget even one sparrow that is worth nothing by our standards, and Gods says that you and I are worth MANY sparrows! So, when life seems to have you down, and you are feeling insignificant, remember the sparrow! Remember that you are worth more to God than MANY sparrows that he does not forget!!!

~ Nate

I once read a quote that really made me think, pretty sure I know who wrote it, but for the sake of not making a mistake I will only say here that it is not my own.

“We are slowed more by a grain of sand in our shoe, than by the mountain we climb.”

What a thought provoking statement. It is so true of many of our lives, I know for sure that I let this happen to me all the time! There are many things in life that happen to us day to day, some things are big, and some things are small.

What slows you down?
- Someone does something different than you would do it?
- Someone is annoying?
- You spilt the milk?
- You are out of your favorite cereal?
- Maybe it is finances?
- You mean I actually have to work at memorizing scripture?
- Maybe you don’t like the color?
- They didn’t use your idea?
- You mean I might have to give up something I really like so that I can become more like Christ?
- People might make fun of me?
- They might call me a goody-two-shoes?
- Ten Percent?!?!?
- You want me to give up my Saturday to help a fellow Christian?
- If I read my Bible I will have to get up 30 minutes earlier!
- and the list goes on and on and on….

What is slowing you down in life? What is slowing down your spiritual life? I will be the first to admit that there are grains of sand in my shoe: I like things to be done my way, everyone knows that being in Seminary is not a get rich quick scheme, and there are others, but I have to work on a daily basis to get those grains of sand out of my shoe, and focus on the bigger picture. I want to live a life that serves and magnifies God, and there are other things that are far more important for me to be worrying about, like living a holy life, than the sand in my shoe.

God takes care of everything, so don’t let the little things slow you down!

~ Nate

Acts 17:6 “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”

The goal of this post it to cause me and you to evaluate our lives, and challenge us to do more! When you read about the lives of first century Christians this verse would be a great summary verse. They were spreading Christianity to everyone and every nation. Not only that they were changing their world!!!

Today, I want to focus more on ourselves, than on the world. So often we evaluate the need of the world to the neglect of evaluating ourselves!

I have a question that we need to ask ourselves, then evaluate ourselves based on what we find: Are you turning your world upside down?

Our goal is to win the lost to Christ, and this is a great goal, but often we forget that there is so much more that we are to be doing! Think of the example of Christ, and answer me this: Did Christ only provide help to Christians? When Christ saw someone in need did he condemn them to hell on the spot, or did he first meet their need then tell them to follow him?

I am not downplaying evangelism, not at all, I am trying to show us that evangelism is more than just telling someone that there is a heaven and a hell, and that they need to get saved! Evangelism is living a life that shows them there is a reason to trust Christ, and that Christ does care about them!

It is easy not to help people by making excuses; “They are probably faking being homeless.” “They are not fellow Christians.” “They will probably use my help for/to facilitate more sin.” “They don’t need help, they need salvation!”

It is not our job to evaluate the heart and motives of others! It is not our job to regulate the morality of this world! How will they see Christ unless they see him through you? If you think that changing your world, your community, is not evangelism, then think again. Jesus won the lost by showing them he cared for them!

Having trouble evangelizing? Maybe it is because you only ask people if they are going to heaven or hell, and forget to show them that you care about them, and where they are going!

How will they see Christ unless they see him through you?

~ Nate

So in the last post I talked about the importance of Scripture memory. I hope you have started working on your memorization. Sometimes the task or memorization can be daunting, especially if you are at a loss as how and where to start. In this post I hope to give a few tips on Scripture memory.

~ One of the most important parts of Scripture memory is review! Part of your goal when memorizing scripture is to memorize for the long term. If you spend five minutes memorizing a verse, then never look at it again, you are not truly accomplishing Scripture memory. You must come up with a method of review. Keep track of the verses that you have memorized so that you can go back over them weekly. Once you build up a large inventory of verse you may have to come up with a monthly review system. Whatever system you find for review, do it, just make sure you do not stop reviewing!

~ Meditating on God’s Word is another great way to aid memorization. Sometimes sitting down and memorizing a verse or few is not always the best idea. There will be times that you just sit down and read over a passage a few times, then think about it throughout the day. The next day you do the same thing again. After a time of doing this you will find that you begin to know what is coming next when you are reading, and that you are memorizing it. Right now my goal is to memorize James, I do this on a regular basis. At the same time I spend some time meditating on 1 Thessalonians. I have printed it off and keep it with me so that when I have five or so minutes here and there I can read through it. This way I am actively memorizing James, and through meditation memorizing 1 Thessalonians at the same time.

~ Memorize in complete thoughts. Often we tend to memorize one word at a time, or one phrase at a time. This is often a bad idea. The result of memorizing in this manor is stumbling through a verse as during recall as you try to remember the next part. If you memorize as complete thoughts you will be recalling a complete thought and not just the next part. At a minimum memorize one verse at a time. Read the verse over and over, then try to say it without looking, if you get stuck look at the verse to get through, but finish the verse before starting again. I prefer to memorize in paragraphs. You can find out paragraph divisions in some Bibles, and through some Bible software. If you need help determining a paragraph, talk to your pastor, or email me though the contact page.

~ Use memorization software. There was one mentioned in one of the comments on the last post, but there are many other programs as well. Sometimes they are free, sometimes they are not.

~ Writing out the verse, or verses, is another great way to aid memorization. If you don’t what to do a lot of writing sometimes I will just write the first letter of each word. So John 3:16 would look like: fgsltwthghobstwsbihsnpbhel. This is a great way to see if you have memorized correctly without sacrificing a lot of writing and paper.

~ One more thought on memorization. Do a little bit every day. If you spend two days and memorize the verses, then 363 days and do not memorize anything, you are not reaching your goal. It is better to read over a verse in the morning and at night and only memorize a verse ever few days, than to memorize none at all.

Once you get a system down, memorization becomes a lot easier. You may not be able to memorize the whole Bible in a year, but you should be able to put a way a large amount of verses.

~ Nate

Scripture memory is important in the life of every believer. Recently, in the youth group that I work in we have been studying the book of James and I have challenged the teens to memorize the entire book of James. I truly love the book of James, and my love for this book started back in Junior High. It was our summer VBS, and we were given a challenge tom memorize the entire book of James in 4 four days! Yup, four days! My friend and I both succeeded in doing so. That is 27 verses a day. I spent probably nine to ten hours a day memorizing. The only downside was that I did not keep up with the memorization, and it quickly slipped away. Over the years since then I have memorized portions of it again, trying to get back to the place where I have the whole book memorized. Now that I have challenged the Youth Group, I myself have undertaken again to memorize James completely.

The Bibles says that we are to hide God’s word in our heart, so that we don’t sin against God. The benefits of memorization are endless. Many of the Old Testament scribes had much, if not all, of the Old Testament memorized. Memorization is a great fortification to the believer’s life.

There are many different memorization plans, a couple that I like are: The Two-Edged Sword, by Evangelist Jerry Sivnksty, and The Word of Life memory program. The best program by far though is the one that has you hiding God’s word in your heart.

I hope this has encouraged you to memorize. I know the teens in our Youth Group have taken to it wholeheartedly. It had been a blessing to see them enjoy memorization.

I will flow this post with a post on some methods and good habits to have in scripture memory!

~ Nate

It has been almost three months since the last time I posted. Things have been really busy as this is my last semester of school! I have four classes this summer, and then I graduate! I am truly excited, and thankful to the Lord for his help!

With graduation coming, Cindy and I have been looking for a church that God would lead us to. There are many churches that needing help, and there are always our own desires, so how do we know where God is leading us? Finding God’s will sometimes seems like an allusive ghost, we are often taught that God’s will is hard to find. Well, I do not think it is as hard as we make it sound sometimes, it is just as hard as we make it, that is all. I believe there are four easy steps to finding God’s will.

1). Pray. Prayer is our way of communicating with God. Have you ever know somebody wanted something, but you waited until they asked for it before you gave it to them, just because you wanted them to ask first? We as humans my do this for many different reasons, but God only does it for one, he wants us to demonstrate that we need him.

2). Read the Bible. This is one of God’s ways of communicating with us. If you do not listen to someone, how do you know what they want you to do? The same applies to God, if you are not reading his Word to you, how can you know what he wants you to do!

3). Follow where he leads. Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” We often want to see the big picture, we want the “10 year plan”. This is not the way that God leads, God leads step-by-step. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, had to follow the pillar, so we must daily follow God. This point and the next tie together.

4). Take the Open Door. I have found the easiest way to follow God’s will in my life is to take the open door. Now there is a few things you must be doing in order to know that an open door is the will of God, and not a trap by Satan: You must be doing the first three steps, and you must evaluate the open door to see if it is in line with scripture, or contradictory to it! If you feel that God is leading you in a direction, then begin to head that direction, with prayer and seeking his will. If the door stays open, then go through, if the door closes, then God must have a different door that he wants you to go through. The key is to just go/live one step at a time!

I hope this is an encouragement to you, it is to me I know. When I begin to get stressed about what I need to do next, this is what I focus on, God leading me step-by-step, and I know if I approach life this way I cannot go wrong!

~ Nate

Have you ever considered the way in which you celebrate Christmas? Think of it like this: It’s your birthday, and you’re excited! You find out that the party is at someone else’s house. When you get there the door is locked and you can’t get in. This is weird, so you go to the window an look in, and this is what you see! Everyone you know is there, their singing birthday songs, eating birthday cake. They all have gifts, even though it is not their birthday. They are exchanging gifts, and opening them having a grand ole time. They don’t even notice that you are not there, come to find out they didn’t even invite you!!!

It is sad to say that this is how many of us treat Christ on the day that we celebrate his birthday, Christmas! We have forgotten that Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s coming to earth to die for us! To us it is just a day to get that item that you have been wanting for a whole year, and won’t want any more tomorrow.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t exchange gifts, but we need to remember that that is not the focal point of Christmas, it is only a remembrance of the greatest gift that was given to us!

One of the greatest things you can do to help keep the focus of your Christmas on Christ is to begin the day with the story of Christ. Read Luke 2, maybe even have a family devotional in Luke 2. Don’t rush through it, take your time, enjoy remembering what Christ did for us! Then when it comes time open gifts, don’t let it be a free-for-all. Sit around as a family, have one person open a gift, everybody oohhh and aaahhh, thank the person who gave it, then move to the next person. Repeat this process over and over until all the gifts are give. This will make everyone appreciate the gifts so much more, and in so doing help them to appreciate the GIFT that was given them, as they may actually take some time to consider that gift as they have considered everyone else’s.

Remember, Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

~ Nate

The last few weeks have been busy, projects to write, crazy work schedule, and life in general! Yet, it is always good to look back and see how God has worked in your life and things he has taught!

Though the classes that I had this semester were not my favorite over all, there were great things to be gleaned from them. One class that I had was a class studying the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. I think one of the greatest things I learned this semester was from Joshua. We must obey God in everything he tells us to the fullest extent. Can you imagine when God came to Joshua and gave him the battle plan for Jericho? “March around the city and do not make any noise. To me that sounds like a pretty silly plan. This leads me to a question, if it had been me there and not Joshua, would I have followed God’s plan? What about you, would you have followed God’s plan???

Another thing that I learned was the consequences of not completely obeying God’s commands! The Israelites were told that the land was theirs and all they had to do was go take it and there would be rest and no trouble! Yet look at Israel in the Old Testament and even today. It does not look like they found this rest! What happened? They did not COMPLETELY follow God’s plan. God said to completely wipe out all the Canaanites, and this is something that Israel did not do. Because of this we find them in idolatry, we find them oppressed, and we find them away from God! It is important when God tells us to do something, that we do it completely! Have you ever started to work on an area in your life that you know needs work, then when you have almost got everything in order you stop! “Oh, it’s good enough,” we say, or “look how much I’ve improved.” Yet, even with this progress we have missed the goal, because we have given up before achieving the end!

So, two important lessons! Always obey God! There may be times when we feel that what he is asking does not make sense, that is okay. God does not ask us to understand everything that he wants us to do, he just wants us to do it! Also, when God tells us to do something, when there is something that we are doing, we need to make sure that we complete that task, that undertaking. Failing to complete, is failing to succeed!

~ Nate

Heb 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

There are times in life when it seems that everything and everyone is against you! It is in these times that we must lean on the everlasting arms of Christ! When I think of the promise that Christ will always be with us, I think of the Israelites when they left Egypt.

What a great step of faith this was on their part. They leave Egypt with no military power, setting out for a land that they will have to conquer, while leaving a land that might try (and did try) to conquer them again. Yet, they had God with them. He was with them when they left, and He was with them the entire trip. I think it was interesting that He did not make them just have faith that he was there, but He made his presence known. Though they did not see God in a human form and He did not always speak and say “Go this way” and was never vary far ahead of them, He WAS always there and always leading. This is true for our lives as well. We cannot point to a visible object and say, “see there God is, I know he is with me,” but He is always there and he tells us this in MANY different ways, from promises in the Bible to little good things that happen during the day. Often times he may not be speaking to us in an audible voice, or even giving us direction far in advance, yet he is always there, leading, protecting, guiding, and loving.

Live in rest and share the Good News, because God is with you!

~ Nate

Last night Pastor Cooley at Burgess Road Baptist Church preached a sermon on being judgmental. It was very thought provoking, so I wanted to give some of his ideas and a few comments of my own!

James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

The issue of being judgmental is a hot topic. Most often people who are doing wrong like to quote the phrase “judge not that ye be not judged” thinking that that means Christian should not tell unbeliever or fellow Christians they are sinning. Yet, this is not what is being said. I want us to consider two things: When can we judge, and When can’t we judge!

1. When Can We Judge? The answer is simple, NEVER! I know I have most everyone’s attention now, either you’re saying “yeah, give it to them”, or you’re saying “you heretic, we don’t just over look sin!” Well sorry to both parties, but I doubt either of you will be completely happy with my answer. We are not to judge, that is not our responsibility, the Law is to judge, that is it’s responsibility! We are only to point out what the Bible has to say on issues and the Bible is our standard, not what we THINK/WANT the Bible to mean/say! The Bible is the authority on right and wrong, it decides we don’t!

2. When Can’t We Judge? Now you’re thinking this sounds a bit repetitive, but with this point my goal is to look at areas where we are often judgmental and should not be. We often find ourselves judging the spiritual level/condition of a person by the external: what they wear, what they listen to, where they go, etc. Though there are some guidelines in the Bible, often these areas are not spelled out, and guess what?!?! it is not our job to spell them out for everyone, we are not the lawgiver. Another area that we often judge is people’s intentions: “this is what they really meant,” “they only did that for attention, ” I know why they did that,” etc. Though at times we may be able to guess someone’s intentions, often we’re wrong, and it is not our responsibility to know if the intentions were right or not. To go along with the last point, sometime we judge people’s actions as wring when their intention might have been good (I’m not talking about sinning with a “good intention”). I think of times when I have tried to help someone, but in reality I only made it worse. When this happens we need to be careful on to judge. On a larger scale we need to be careful about judging other ministries! Often when a person does something new in a ministry, those that don’t agree label them as comprises. Now we must be careful not to compromise with the world, but there are many times where new things are not compromise just different. If we are going to “judge” them as compromised, we must make sure that what we think is wrong, is said to be wrong according to what the Bible says (not what we THINK/WANT it to mean/say).

I hope this gives you food for thought! Be careful about judging people by standards that are not Biblical, because if you do you will be judged by those same standards, “judge not, that ye be not judged.”

~ Nate

In class the other day we were going over the children of Israel crossing Jordan into the Promised Land. One of the items discussed was the cessation of the manna that God had been providing. Josh 5:12 “And the manna ceased on the morning after they had eaten the old corn on the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more;  but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” This caused me to think about the greatness of God.

When the children of Israel had needed food God provided it for them. Shortly thereafter they had the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. You remember the story, they sent in 12 spies and 10 were bad and 2 were good. Because of the Israelite listening to the 10 bad spies and their distrust in God, they were punished by having to spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness. This is where I saw the goodness of God, they were being punished for sin, and yet God was still providing for their daily needs. This applies far beyond the manna; the Bible also states that the clothes and shoes didn’t wear out. Deut 29:5 “And I have lad you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”

There are times in your life and my life that we have had to be punished, and there will probably be times when we have to be punished for sins that we commit. Yet, we can rest assured that even though God must chasten us for our sins, He does not stop loving us, and He does not stop caring for us! He is our heavenly Father who is always doing what is best to train us up toward spiritual maturity!

One of my most favorite poems of all time is the poem “Footprints in the Sand.”  The last post I made led to this one, for as I was writing it and thinking about the leading and help of Christ, this poem came to mind. There are times in our life when everything seem too much, and when we look back at those times it may seem that we were all along. We MUST remember though, that that even though it seemed we were along, if we had been along we would not have made it! God is Good All the Time!

“Footprints”

~ Carolyn Carty

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

Heb 13:5 “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.“

ECCLESIOLOGY

Summary Statement: I believe that the Church is the body of Christ and a family. It is God’s instrument to accomplish His purpose on earth. Though God has set aside Israel He has not forgotten her, and has not replaced her with the church. The Church finds is beginning at Pentecost and it’s conclusion at the Rapture. There are two Biblical offices in the church, Pastor and Deacon, though this does not limit ministry to only these offices. There are also two ordinances for the church to continue in, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The churches primary function is the edification and training of the believer.

1. Body of Christ – One of the important aspects of the Church is that it is a body. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 we see this description give to the Church. This is important to understand. The Church is made up of many individuals that contribute to the ability of the Church to accomplish God’s work. Yet, though there are many individual part, they for one complete whole, whose head and purpose is singular.

2. Family – “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” In these verses from the writings of Paul was find another characteristic of the Church, it is a family. This has many implications in church practice. We need to treat one another like we our family, inside and outside the church. Christ says that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love for eachother.

3. Instrument to accomplish His purpose – When the Jews rejected Christ and crucified Him. God turned to the Church to be his light in the World. Israel had been the light for the world to see and come to. Now the church was God’s light to the world to show the world who God is, and they were to go out into the world.

4. Set aside Israel, but has not replaced her – In Chapter eleven of Romans Paul deals with Israel being broken and the church believer being grafted in. Paul makes is clear though that we are not to get high-minded because God can do the same to the Church. He also points out that Israel is only set aside and not disposed of. He reminds that in the end of days, there will be a deliverer come to redeem Israel and return her to her previous state.

5. Pentecost – The Church finds it’s beginning at the time of Pentecost. Jesus had instructed the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49). At Pentecost, after receiving the Holy Spirit, the church goes out into the entire world. This is the beginning of the Church.

6. Conclusion at the Rapture – At the Rapture God takes the church out of the world. When he does so we see the end of the church and the reinstating of Israel as His tool. It will take time, specifically through the Tribulation, for Israel to come back to Christ, but they will.

7. Pastor – The Pastor is the leader of the Church. He responsible for leading the Church in the direction that God would have them to go. In first Timothy chapter three Paul gives the qualifications of the Pastor. Though all these qualifications are important, they are all governed by the first, which should be considered the most important. To be blameless. If this characteristic is prominent in one’s life the rest of the qualifications will likely be met.  His main responsibility is to be in prayer and study of God’s Word so that he can train and lead the people of God (Acts 6:4)

8. Deacon – The Deacon is to assist the Pastor in the day to day needs of the Church. In Acts 6:1-3 we seen the need of the Deacon mentioned. The needs of the Church were multiplying as the number of the Church was growing. The Deacon is to have basically the same qualifications as the Pastor. The Deacons are to serve the Church, they are not to be lifted up but are to remain humble.

9. Does not limit ministry – To clarify, the Pastoral and Deacon roles are not the only possible ministries in the Church. There are many ministries that all can be active in, there will still be qualifications, but they will vary by position.

10. Baptism – Baptism is one of the ordinances of the Church. Baptism is for the purpose identifying with the church, which is important. This identifying is important, because it signifies a leaving of the world and coming to Christ. Baptism is also important because it is an illustration of what Christ has done for the believer. For this reason (as well as others), I believe that baptism is to be by emersion, as it seems to be the Biblical precedent is emersion, as well as the best way to illustrate what Christ has done for us.

11. Lord’s Supper – The Lord’s Supper is for the remembrance of what Christ has done for us. The Lord’s Supper is to give time to reflect on Christ, and to search our hearts to make sure that we are right with him. Christ commanded it to be done, and we see that it was being practiced in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Though Paul had to correct their practice, he did not tell them to cease. The Lord’s Supper is for the believer and not for the unsaved.

12. Primary function is the edification and training of the believer – I believe that Acts 2:42 gives the primary function of the church. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Though some might see the Church as an evangelization organization, this is not the primary function of the church. The Church is for the edification and training of the believer. The church is to train and build up the believer so that there is fellowship between believer so that they can function as a family, and most importantly the training of the believer so that THEY can evangelize. When this is accomplished the church will become an organization of evangelism.