So this is more of a personal info post, just wanted to keep everyone up on what was going on in my and my wife’s life.

First, we have some great news! My wife is expecting and we are looking forward our first child. He is a boy, Jackson Carter Kinsey.

Second, we are moving the end of this week to Estill Springs Tennessee. I will be filling the position of Youth Pastor and working with a great group of teens. We will be at Faith Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor Randy Jackson.

I am my last class for my Master of Divinity, which is extremely exciting! Graduation is this Thursday, and we leave Friday morning for Tennessee.

So this is just a brief post, and update! I hope to be posting semi-regularly in the near future.

~ 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

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

This is the time of year that we all decide to turn over a new leaf and start different aspects of our lives again. There are many good things to start in a new year: diet, Bible reading plan, working on a relationship, and many other things. One aspect I do want to emphasize, our spiritual life!

Now, I’m not saying that you need to begin your spiritual life, hopefully you already have (if you haven’t you need to trust Christ as Savior, and start your new life today). What I am saying, is actually two fold: one, we need to understand what spiritual life is, and two, some of us have it, but we need to start living it.

Eph 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”

First, we need to realize that before salvation, we were dead! Salvation, didn’t just make us “good” people, but rather it took us from death to life! Before salvation we couldn’t have a relationship with God, because we were dead. Now that we have life, we can have a relationship with God! What a difference that is!

Second, we must live like we now have life!  We were dead in sin, we had no life, but once we received Jesus, we received life. Eph 4:22-24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true.” Even though we have this life, many choose to go on living as though there was no change to them. They choose to stay the old man, and not become the new man. They choose to live life as a dead person and not as a living person!

It’s a new year, a new beginning, realize that God has given you life, and live life in light of your relationship with God, not in spite of it!

~ Nate

John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

I think that often times we have a wrong focus when it comes to the purpose of salvation. Quite often people get saved and think the reason they got saved was so that they did not have to go to Hell, but rather that they could go to Heaven. Though this is a true result, going to Heaven and not to Hell, this is not the primary purpose of salvation. At the fall when Adam sinned, death was the punishment for his sin, and what is death? Death is separation, separation of the soul from the physical body, and separation of the spirit from God. Even more than the eventual loss of life, was the loss of communication/fellowship with God.

Focusing on the soul’s eternal destination may convince someone to receive Jesus as Savior, but often it causes them to miss the point of being saved. When one views salvation only in light of eternal destination, they only view salvation as a “fire escape.” They are not receiving Christ for any more reason than to not have to spend an eternity in Hell! As I said above, though this is a positive product of salvation, it is not the primary goal. By focusing on eternal destination, instead of the true purpose of salvation, we are raising generations of weak and unprofitable Christians.

Instead of focusing on the eternal destination we should be focusing on the purpose of salvation, which is Life! Now some may say, “Is not going to heaven, life?” It is, but life is so much more than that. Paul says in Eph 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” he is not saying that we were physically dead, as it is clear that salvation does not raise the physical body from the dead, instead he is talking about the spirit of man. At the fall our souls died and lost all fellowship with God, and as John 17:3 states the purpose of eternal life, which comes from salvation, is to know God and Jesus Christ, it is to have fellowship again. Salvation is not supposed to only be a “fire escape,” but more rather it is to change the life of the one receiving life! It is to restore us to fellowship with God!

If we really saw the importance of this in the Christian life, we would see many more Christians acting like Christians should act. The meaning of the word “Christian” is to be “Christ like”. This would mean a change in all Christian’s lives from following the world and doing as the world does, to doing the works of Christ and doing as He does! Salvation is to change our lives. Has it changed yours?

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly“

~ Nate

(There is much more that could be covered about the subject of salvation. Hopefully we will get the chance to cover more in the future, but I think this is a vital part that must be understood in order to start a journey toward practical Christian living!)

Hello, my name is Nate Kinsey and my wife’s name is Cindy.

A little about myself: I was born and lived about the first 10 years of my life in upstate New York. I love the mountains and still think that that is the most beautiful country in the world. After that my family moved around for a few years, living in a few different states (Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia) and ending up in Northern Indiana. I lived in South Bend, Indiana from around the age of 14 through college. After college and getting married I lived, with my wife, in Florida while I completed the first leg of my post-grad education. We now live in Winchester Tennessee, and I am the Youth Pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Estill Springs, TN.

My education is pretty straight forward, I was home-schooled  1st through 12th. Because of being home-schooled I graduated high school top of my class! (for those who didn’t get that, I was home-schooled, I was the only one in my class.) After graduating high-school I waited a year before going to college. I attended Pensacola Christian College where I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Pastoral Ministries with a minor in Greek(2008). I continued my education at Pensacola Theological Seminary, where I studied for my Master of Divinity, which I graduated with in July of 2011. I would like to pursue  a doctoral degree sometime in the future.

A little about my wife: My wife was born in South Carolina, and has lived mainly in Arkansas and Oklahoma. She graduated her undergraduate studies with a degree in Missions with a broad field in Elementary Education from Pensacola Christian College(2008). She has since earned a Master of Biblical Exposition from Pensacola Theological Seminary(2010). She is currently selling Mary Kay products as an Independent Beauty Consultant, she loves her job.

A little about my religious outlook: (This is not my statement of beliefs, that will be in another section, but rather the way in which I approach theology)  I believe that God gave us the Bible, and that it is perfect and without error, giving instruction to the believer. I believe that there are absolute truths that can and should be held dogmatically. Yet, at the same time I realize that there are somethings that the Bible may not come right our and say, “this is the correct view.” It is up to the believer to study the whole counsel of God, to form beliefs and check them against the whole of scripture. I believe tradition can be a good thing, but tradition should never be why you believe something. I do not want to tear down what our forefathers have built, but I will tell the truth even if it means not always following tradition. I stand on the Bible.

Our family: Our first son, Jackson Carter Kinsey, was born December 18th, weighing 8lbs 15.6oz and 21in long!

I hope this helps you to know me a little better, you will get to know me best by reading my blog, and seeing my heart.

~ Nate