Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Human Intellect or God's Grace
I have been sitting at my house all day long and pondering on alot of things today. So I am going to put this topic out there to try and reason the scriptures together as we are called to do. Salvation... Is it scripturally based that both God and man are present in the process of regeneration, new birth, being born again, however you want to word it, to the point that without the other, God's grace and human intellect, that there can be no salvation? And please I do not want any opinions, I want scripture! This is not a minut topic! This is the foundation on which you base your interpretation of all scripture and how your doctrine is compared with the Word of God, as false or truth. There is absolute truth in the Word! So the answer has to be one or the other...either God gets all the glory or man shares the glory, in the process of salvation? Which one is it? In The Love of Christ and Truth!
who i am - a Christian's languish in todays world
there are those who , will read this and dismiss it -
i post this to give some idea of who i am , and what i believe
1. i was born again , in a methodist church at the age of 12, in hilham, tn
i was baptized in a local river by immersion and have tried to serve
the Lord ever since; its been an interesting walk - i have let God down
numerous times , for this i am sorrowful -
2. i prefer to hear expository preaching of God's Word, the Holy Bible, 1611
king james version. as opposed to feel good, how can i be a better person or live a better life ;
the Bible is what men need and to be born again in Christ . period .
3. i study as much as i can , i place a priority on the Word first. then church history, then greek language, then books by godly christian men , like spurgeon, owens, packer, piper, sproul, macarthur, calvin, luther, hodge, pink, walvoord, augustine, vos, watson, etc.,
4. i believe what the Word says , is truth . and its my responsiblity to conform to it, not conform it to me .
5. i believe that its equally important to walk a christian life - and conduct myself as a christian according to the Word .
6. i think preachers should be men; that deacons should be men, that women should keep silent in church and learn at home. all of this done according to scripture
7. i think its improper and unwise for men to have 'friends' who are women; its improper for me to call another mans wife or a single woman , even if they are christians, or to meet with them alone, or be in an compromising position with them if it can be helped .
for a woman who is married to approach me , ALONE , no matter the reason i s , biblically wrong; i take this from Aquila and Priscilla, approaching the apostle Paul to correct him.
8. i think christians are called to witness to their co-workers and friends; not invite them to church, but to share the Gospel with them .
9. i think the local church is for the christian; non-believers should be VERY uncomfortable in a godly Bible believing church. if they do attend , they should have already HEARD the Gospel from whoever invited them. and they should continue to hear it , until they leave or are converted. if they just walk off the street , they should have the Gospel shared with them after the service, immediately . that is a christians priority
10. i believe that most modern churches are too focused on feel good, fluff that detracts from the Gospel being preached;
11. i am for cutting out WHATEVER COMES in between the Gospel being preached . even if thats songs, trips, meals, special events, youth church, whatever. if it delays, prevents, waters down, thwarts, or inhibits the Word of God being preached , stop it
12. i am not for separate youth churches or youth leaving the main body of believers and doing their own thing ; this is unbiblical and not necessary ;
13. i believe in hard , determined study of God's Word; to no end - and personally cutting out whatever i need to , to get that done; if it means no TV then so be it.
14. i detest all sin but these specifically attack the family - the foundation of the Church and a sacrament that God himself setup ; i hate divorce; i hate adultery; i hate homosexual sin.
15. i believe that there is SOLID DOCTRINE in the Bible and it CAN be learned and understood. 16. i believe in erring on the side of God; being conservative
17. i believe in the doctrines of grace; and the apostle Paul's doctrine, well really, Christ's doctrine. total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. all for God's glory alone.
18. i believe that the Law, in the Bible, is used to show our condition before God and the Gospel is used to show the good news that God has provided for those that will believe.
19. i believe in witnessing to ALL who will listen;
20 i believe in evangelizing to ALL who will stand still
21. however, i will not cast my pearls before swine; i will not lie , nor coerce, nor NOT PREACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD.
22. i believe in raising my children in a Godly home - under Bible precepts; in prayer hoping the come to the Lord , being given the gift of repentance .
23. i believe that God is sovereign and provident , still today , right now as i type this
24. i believe His ways are higher than mine(praise God) - and for His glory alone and NOT due to something i did , or something He saw in me, and a beyond any reason why known to me , He chose to grant me repentance and the ability to believe His Word , some 25 years ago. i love Him for it and will try my best to serve Him ;
25. i believe sin is still sin; and this is the great death of the world- no amount of psycho bable or drugs, or music, or any other thing will remedy that - men and women are continously and exceedingly sinful and that is THEIR NATURE . until God changes it , they will continue in sin.for they can do nothing else. and this should be our focus - preaching and witnessing
so there you go .
i post this to give some idea of who i am , and what i believe
1. i was born again , in a methodist church at the age of 12, in hilham, tn
i was baptized in a local river by immersion and have tried to serve
the Lord ever since; its been an interesting walk - i have let God down
numerous times , for this i am sorrowful -
2. i prefer to hear expository preaching of God's Word, the Holy Bible, 1611
king james version. as opposed to feel good, how can i be a better person or live a better life ;
the Bible is what men need and to be born again in Christ . period .
3. i study as much as i can , i place a priority on the Word first. then church history, then greek language, then books by godly christian men , like spurgeon, owens, packer, piper, sproul, macarthur, calvin, luther, hodge, pink, walvoord, augustine, vos, watson, etc.,
4. i believe what the Word says , is truth . and its my responsiblity to conform to it, not conform it to me .
5. i believe that its equally important to walk a christian life - and conduct myself as a christian according to the Word .
6. i think preachers should be men; that deacons should be men, that women should keep silent in church and learn at home. all of this done according to scripture
7. i think its improper and unwise for men to have 'friends' who are women; its improper for me to call another mans wife or a single woman , even if they are christians, or to meet with them alone, or be in an compromising position with them if it can be helped .
for a woman who is married to approach me , ALONE , no matter the reason i s , biblically wrong; i take this from Aquila and Priscilla, approaching the apostle Paul to correct him.
8. i think christians are called to witness to their co-workers and friends; not invite them to church, but to share the Gospel with them .
9. i think the local church is for the christian; non-believers should be VERY uncomfortable in a godly Bible believing church. if they do attend , they should have already HEARD the Gospel from whoever invited them. and they should continue to hear it , until they leave or are converted. if they just walk off the street , they should have the Gospel shared with them after the service, immediately . that is a christians priority
10. i believe that most modern churches are too focused on feel good, fluff that detracts from the Gospel being preached;
11. i am for cutting out WHATEVER COMES in between the Gospel being preached . even if thats songs, trips, meals, special events, youth church, whatever. if it delays, prevents, waters down, thwarts, or inhibits the Word of God being preached , stop it
12. i am not for separate youth churches or youth leaving the main body of believers and doing their own thing ; this is unbiblical and not necessary ;
13. i believe in hard , determined study of God's Word; to no end - and personally cutting out whatever i need to , to get that done; if it means no TV then so be it.
14. i detest all sin but these specifically attack the family - the foundation of the Church and a sacrament that God himself setup ; i hate divorce; i hate adultery; i hate homosexual sin.
15. i believe that there is SOLID DOCTRINE in the Bible and it CAN be learned and understood. 16. i believe in erring on the side of God; being conservative
17. i believe in the doctrines of grace; and the apostle Paul's doctrine, well really, Christ's doctrine. total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. all for God's glory alone.
18. i believe that the Law, in the Bible, is used to show our condition before God and the Gospel is used to show the good news that God has provided for those that will believe.
19. i believe in witnessing to ALL who will listen;
20 i believe in evangelizing to ALL who will stand still
21. however, i will not cast my pearls before swine; i will not lie , nor coerce, nor NOT PREACH THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD.
22. i believe in raising my children in a Godly home - under Bible precepts; in prayer hoping the come to the Lord , being given the gift of repentance .
23. i believe that God is sovereign and provident , still today , right now as i type this
24. i believe His ways are higher than mine(praise God) - and for His glory alone and NOT due to something i did , or something He saw in me, and a beyond any reason why known to me , He chose to grant me repentance and the ability to believe His Word , some 25 years ago. i love Him for it and will try my best to serve Him ;
25. i believe sin is still sin; and this is the great death of the world- no amount of psycho bable or drugs, or music, or any other thing will remedy that - men and women are continously and exceedingly sinful and that is THEIR NATURE . until God changes it , they will continue in sin.for they can do nothing else. and this should be our focus - preaching and witnessing
so there you go .
response to B. E.
my original entry was deleted B.E. , so bear with me here ;
if you would prefer to talk via email, i would enjoy that - since we are on opposite shifts it may be easier
in all the years we have known each other , i think that you and i can talk as Christian brothers firstly and friends secondly;
so since all i have is your response to my thread , that is deleted now , i will answer what you posted ;
Hello George. B.E. here. Just wanted to set the record straight on the inconsistencies in your blog posting.
First, the item of turmoil. Our church is not in turmoil. It is the doctrinal position you are attempting to bring into our church that is causing you to feel "turmoil" inside our church. We don't believe the doctrines you guys believe, because we as a church believe that we have rightly divided and studied to show ourselves approved unto God. Our church (including me) will continue to stand firm in the defense of ANY major doctrinal differences that are attempted to be brought into our church.
(the church, both your local congregation , and the CHURCH is in turmoil . there is no disputing that. with over 150 different denominations worldwide , that is turmoil and NOT unity for sure ;
with your local congregation , when you and other members of your congregation marginalize and look down on a fellow brother, when you ask him to 'find another church' , when a member unwittingly tells us that this member, Rich, is a NUT watch out for him... if thats not turmoil , i don't know what is ....)
Secondly, I find it strange for a person who says that I do "not to show himself approved" to not properly quote the context of my statement. When I said that "world means world" I was referring to John 3:16. Anyone who studies scripture should know that kosmos in Greek means "world" (it doesn't say elect or an area of the world). This is in direct conflict with your doctrinal position; therefore, it's meaning has to be either changed (world doesn't really mean world) or it is just outranked with other scriptures and forgotten. Our church takes a balanced approach when defending our beliefs. We take scripture as what it says and apply it. Choosing to side with one scripture above the other in importance is not "studying yourself approved".
( i believe that we all need to pray more for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the Word, and to read more Bible , taking it for what it is , face value. we all have preconceived notions from prior study, or church as a youngster , etc., that influence our beliefs towards the Word. World means World, i know that. its the usage grammatically that i am talking about.
in short, being saved IS NOT the conversion experience, being born again is conversion; greek for saved is sozo , along with a few others but its the MAIN usage, it means to be saved from event like the ark saved Noah's family ; Paul tells Timothy , in 1tim4:16 "take heed unto theyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both SAVE thyself, and them that hear thee " emphasis added by me does this mean that we can be saved by taking heed of doctrine and when we talk doctrine those who HEAR us will be saved too !! surely not ) there is only one way to be born again - right ?
so when the Bible says that Christ came to SAVE the world , this is , in simplistic terms , the vehicle , the Noah's ark , that saves us from God's wrath , God's judgement (we call this atonement and redemption) ; however, each man must be born again to access that
Thirdly, the quote itself about having a certain flavor was directed more toward our pastor than to our guests.
fair enough , i was not there ; and God knows what He is doing , i do not think , after 2.5 hours of discussion, i could have stood to hear that "we will still have to prove ourselves to you and Ron Rhoady "
Fourth, when my family finally joined, we had meetings with the former pastor on several occasions as well as some church members. Yes, it is true that we were not "scrutinized under a microscope" when we joined. But our potential church members made sure that we were not bringing any doctrinal inconsistencies along with us. Get your facts straight before posting comments about something you know little about.
regarding this , i believe you misunderstood my intent ; i am talking about us, not you joining ;
while i am glad to hear that you met with the pastor, i am refering to what is happening with our group ; and our group only - why would i post something about what happened with you and your family , when like you said, i know NOTHING about it ?
if you took offense to what i said (even though it was not about you) i apologize
Fifth, am I correct that you think that I or our church does "not know the TRUTH of His Word"? If this is true, you have a very high opinion of yourself. If you did not mean to intend that meaning, disregard the Fifth comment.
this is a tough one. i believe that obviously as we walk with God and learn His ways, we have a life time of learning His Word. I HAVE NOT EVEN SCRATCHED THE SURFACE, IN MY ATTEMPT TO LEARN AND STUDY THERE IS SO MUCH TO READ AND LEARN AT TIME I FEEL OVERWHELMED BY IT
.
nor do i think have most christians. does your congregation 'know the truth of His Word?" i believe you do - is there room for more learning and more study and more prayer and more effort and more love and more time spent together and more time evangelizing and more time witnessing , etc,. ? YES i do but i would say that about EVERY church in town.
for me , i too am a studier; and stagnation is death for me ; i HAVE TO be reading and i commend you for that also. in fact, i told Bro. Josh that i long to meet with you and study together , in love, over our Lord's Word; i genuinely do - God has you and i on opposite shifts , so we must take what He gives us. but i consider you a brother and always have .
honestly, i would like to hear from you , personally , what you think of me . do you consider me a brother in Christ ?
We do agree on one point: To God alone be the Glory, forever and ever, amen
its always good to talk of God's Word and His ways - i hope that we can move forward and begin serving Him together .
B.E.
if you would prefer to talk via email, i would enjoy that - since we are on opposite shifts it may be easier
in all the years we have known each other , i think that you and i can talk as Christian brothers firstly and friends secondly;
so since all i have is your response to my thread , that is deleted now , i will answer what you posted ;
Hello George. B.E. here. Just wanted to set the record straight on the inconsistencies in your blog posting.
First, the item of turmoil. Our church is not in turmoil. It is the doctrinal position you are attempting to bring into our church that is causing you to feel "turmoil" inside our church. We don't believe the doctrines you guys believe, because we as a church believe that we have rightly divided and studied to show ourselves approved unto God. Our church (including me) will continue to stand firm in the defense of ANY major doctrinal differences that are attempted to be brought into our church.
(the church, both your local congregation , and the CHURCH is in turmoil . there is no disputing that. with over 150 different denominations worldwide , that is turmoil and NOT unity for sure ;
with your local congregation , when you and other members of your congregation marginalize and look down on a fellow brother, when you ask him to 'find another church' , when a member unwittingly tells us that this member, Rich, is a NUT watch out for him... if thats not turmoil , i don't know what is ....)
Secondly, I find it strange for a person who says that I do "not to show himself approved" to not properly quote the context of my statement. When I said that "world means world" I was referring to John 3:16. Anyone who studies scripture should know that kosmos in Greek means "world" (it doesn't say elect or an area of the world). This is in direct conflict with your doctrinal position; therefore, it's meaning has to be either changed (world doesn't really mean world) or it is just outranked with other scriptures and forgotten. Our church takes a balanced approach when defending our beliefs. We take scripture as what it says and apply it. Choosing to side with one scripture above the other in importance is not "studying yourself approved".
( i believe that we all need to pray more for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the Word, and to read more Bible , taking it for what it is , face value. we all have preconceived notions from prior study, or church as a youngster , etc., that influence our beliefs towards the Word. World means World, i know that. its the usage grammatically that i am talking about.
in short, being saved IS NOT the conversion experience, being born again is conversion; greek for saved is sozo , along with a few others but its the MAIN usage, it means to be saved from event like the ark saved Noah's family ; Paul tells Timothy , in 1tim4:16 "take heed unto theyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both SAVE thyself, and them that hear thee " emphasis added by me does this mean that we can be saved by taking heed of doctrine and when we talk doctrine those who HEAR us will be saved too !! surely not ) there is only one way to be born again - right ?
so when the Bible says that Christ came to SAVE the world , this is , in simplistic terms , the vehicle , the Noah's ark , that saves us from God's wrath , God's judgement (we call this atonement and redemption) ; however, each man must be born again to access that
Thirdly, the quote itself about having a certain flavor was directed more toward our pastor than to our guests.
fair enough , i was not there ; and God knows what He is doing , i do not think , after 2.5 hours of discussion, i could have stood to hear that "we will still have to prove ourselves to you and Ron Rhoady "
Fourth, when my family finally joined, we had meetings with the former pastor on several occasions as well as some church members. Yes, it is true that we were not "scrutinized under a microscope" when we joined. But our potential church members made sure that we were not bringing any doctrinal inconsistencies along with us. Get your facts straight before posting comments about something you know little about.
regarding this , i believe you misunderstood my intent ; i am talking about us, not you joining ;
while i am glad to hear that you met with the pastor, i am refering to what is happening with our group ; and our group only - why would i post something about what happened with you and your family , when like you said, i know NOTHING about it ?
if you took offense to what i said (even though it was not about you) i apologize
Fifth, am I correct that you think that I or our church does "not know the TRUTH of His Word"? If this is true, you have a very high opinion of yourself. If you did not mean to intend that meaning, disregard the Fifth comment.
this is a tough one. i believe that obviously as we walk with God and learn His ways, we have a life time of learning His Word. I HAVE NOT EVEN SCRATCHED THE SURFACE, IN MY ATTEMPT TO LEARN AND STUDY THERE IS SO MUCH TO READ AND LEARN AT TIME I FEEL OVERWHELMED BY IT
.
nor do i think have most christians. does your congregation 'know the truth of His Word?" i believe you do - is there room for more learning and more study and more prayer and more effort and more love and more time spent together and more time evangelizing and more time witnessing , etc,. ? YES i do but i would say that about EVERY church in town.
for me , i too am a studier; and stagnation is death for me ; i HAVE TO be reading and i commend you for that also. in fact, i told Bro. Josh that i long to meet with you and study together , in love, over our Lord's Word; i genuinely do - God has you and i on opposite shifts , so we must take what He gives us. but i consider you a brother and always have .
honestly, i would like to hear from you , personally , what you think of me . do you consider me a brother in Christ ?
We do agree on one point: To God alone be the Glory, forever and ever, amen
its always good to talk of God's Word and His ways - i hope that we can move forward and begin serving Him together .
B.E.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Glory of Preaching the Bible.
John Calvin would've turn 499 yrs old today.
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1310_the_glory_of_preaching_the_bible/
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1310_the_glory_of_preaching_the_bible/
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Does God's Sovereignty mean he makes me evil?
I thought this post goes along with the topic we are covering now on the show. I hope this answers alot of questions that people may have about God's sovereignty and evil.
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/10/does-gods-sovereignty-mean-he-makes.html
For His Glory,
Bill
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2007/10/does-gods-sovereignty-mean-he-makes.html
For His Glory,
Bill
Friday, July 4, 2008
Founding Fathers and the Bible
Well I am new at this blog page stuff so I had typed an article but it took up half of our blog post section. So I am having to write the article in the comment section of this title/header. So please go to the comments to see the post, it will be well worth your time. And maybe next time my more experienced brothers can show me how to work this thing correctly.
In The Love Of Christ, Cooke!
In The Love Of Christ, Cooke!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our new blog that is still under contruction. Please favorite us and stay tuned for the official opening of our blog where we will talk about biblical doctrine, christian life and other topics for the church. God Bless to all.
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