Is your Family Worship like that of old?

How is your family worship? Do you and your wife with children in lap, worship the one and true God? How much time do you invest, husband-father, in the affairs of this life and forget all together to instruct the ones in whom God has placed the most trust to you over? Do you have no conviction that you neither care nor toil over the soul of your wife and children? You say to me, but they go to church and worship with me there? Has God made your Pastor or elders husbands over your wife's and children? Will they stand before God on your behalf? Sir, the arrows of the evil one are aimed from birth at the ones you tend to. Even your wife from birth was a target. God has now intending to shield her from the darts of the evil one by the washing of the word and yet you stand aside and say she is fine on her own. Well that may be but she will be stronger because of you or she will be FORCED to be stronger without you. STAND FAST!!!!

Lets dive into this as we look into the old paths (This is for us to grow together and may God bless us in this study) .....

2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I want you to notice a few things in those verses. First lets of course consider context, context, context. Chapter 3 begins with Paul warning Timothy that the last days are coming and in those last days men will not only become lovers of themselves but also with resist the truth and they will lead many with them. Paul than switches back to Timothy after a descriptive prediction of the false teachers and says...

vs 14: But as for you, Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from who you learned it

Who are the "those from who you have learned it" referring too? Is it Paul and the other Christian leaders? No! I qualify that with vs 15 which says...

and how from infancy you have learned the Holy Scriptures

FROM INFANCY. So who are these that taught Timothy the scriptures from Infancy?

Well for that we have to go back to 2 Timothy chapter one and a very familar verse to most...

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also

So it was passed down from Timothy's faithful Mother and Grandmother and what was a great motivation???

Back to our home verse for this study....

2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

which are able to make you wise for salvation!
which are able to make you wise for salvation!
which are able to make you wise for salvation!


Folks, the Bible is what saves. It is by the preaching of the word that men get saved. Not by gimmicks, The gospel saves, the cross convicts. Teach these to your kids and bind them on your door post. Teach the scripture to your children so they are ready to receive when the word is preached to them.

Jonathan Edwards said,

Family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffectual.



Christian Homelife Exemplified, 300 Years Ago


During the era of the 18th century Great Awakening, George Whitefield had the opportunity to stay in the Edwards home. Afterwards, Whitefield wrote: "Felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a Son himself, and hath also a Daughter of Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their children were dressed not in silks and satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who, in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a help mate for her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for many months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife." The next year Whitefield married a widow whom John Wesley described as a "woman of candour and humanity."





A great book I suggest is Noel Piper's, Treasuring God in Our Traditions. You can read it for free at the Desiring God web site or you can just click on this link...
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/2438_Treasuring_God_in_Our_Traditions/

Randy Alcorn has a book we read over the summer called "Heaven" The children version, which went rather well. We also go verse by verse in the Bible and we are almost finished with Mark which has taken well over 2 months. We have some praise and worship and really try to limit all this to about 20 minutes although many nights have gone over. It is hard and we fail often and making it more constant but each failure I am hoping brings us closer to better structure and preparation.

Tune in again as we get into the subject a bit more and than touch on other subjects I have noted in previous post. May God Bless you as you grow in holiness and obedience to the word of God. Special thanks to oldtruth.com, Family Education Wordpress blog, Godtube and others.

In Christ,

Rounding the Corner

Continuing our seires from Challies dot com and info obtained from his wonderful blog as well as info obtained from GTY.org. This is part five of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further.

The terms Arminianism and Calvinism are, of course, absent from the Bible. For that reason I tend to avoid defining myself as either one. I would rather be defined as a follower of Christ than a follower of the teachings of Calvin or Arminius. However, having said that, I do believe that one of their teachings is correct and the other is not.

It should come as no surprise that I adhere to Calvinist theology. I believe that Calvinism is little more than a correct interpretation of the Bible. It is not a radical theology; it is correct, Biblical theology! From what the Bible teaches and from what I have seen of human nature, I simply cannot believe that man can play any part in his salvation. A former pastor of mine used to say it like this: “Imagine you are in a river, the water is flowing quickly and you are sinking. You struggle, fight and thrash about but are unable to save yourself. As you are going down for the last time, you manage to extend your hand just a bit. As you extend your hand, someone grabs it and pulls you from the torent. That is Arminian theology. Calvinism says that you are a corpse - a dead, rotting corpse unable to even extend your pinky finger. But God brings that corpse to life.” The Irvins recently posted about light and asked how much light is enough to make a blind man see. The point is the same – a blind man can see no light just as a dead man cannot extend his hand. Until God brings us to life we are dead. Soli Deo Gloria.

My final word on the topic is this. To be a Christian I need only believe that Christ paid the penalty for my sins and to ask Him for forgiveness. Both Calvinists and Arminians agree on this. Therefore, whether I am Calvinist or Arminian in theology, I can and must have fellowship with those who adhere to the other viewpoint. Christian fellowship must extend to the whole body of true believers, regardless of theology

If you are interested in studying this topic further, I would suggest the following resources:

John Piper, John MacArthur, James Boice and R.C. Sproul are all prolific authors who have written books about Calvinism or from a Calvinist perspective. Calvin’s Institutes are widely available in print or online.

The 5 part video series below is a very compressive study of Romans 9. I think it will prove to open up Romans in a way that forces the exegetical study and exposition of the text.

God Bless,

Explain yourself Mr.

Thanks everyone for your feed back as we continue in this study and clarification of Biblical Theology and the heated debate between Arminianism and Calvinism in this new age of Church History. I found a great break down of the differences at challies.com. So below is the basic break down....

I present this as a “quick and dirty” summary of the opposing views. Remember that not all Calvinists hold to all of the points I have listed below. Similarly, not all Arminians believe all of the points below.

Free Will (Arminians)

• The fall has seriously affected humans but has not left them completely spiritually helpless.
• Man is not enslaved to his nature
• Man has the ability to choose for or against God. Man can choose either good or evil as his will dictates.
• The Spirit assists man as he develops faith.
• Faith is man’s act and a gift to God

Total Depravity (Calvin)

• The fall has left man completely unable to respond to God in any way. Man is spiritually dead.
• Man is enslaved to his nature
• Man has free will within the bounds of his nature. Since man is in a fallen state, he can never choose for God unless the Spirit has first regenerated him.
• The Spirit regenerates man and then gives him the faith Christ secured.
• Faith is God’s act and a gift to man

Conditional Election (Arminians)

• God chose certain people before the foundation of the world based on seeing that in the future they would respond to His call.
• Election is conditional on God seeing who would choose Him.
• The final cause of salvation is man choosing God.

Unconditional Election (Calvin)

• God chose certain people before the foundation of the world for His own reasons and not based on seeing who would respond to His call.
• Election is unconditional. God simply chose some and not others.
• The final cause of salvation is God choosing man.

Unlimited Atonement (Arminians)

• Christ’s death achieved the potential for man to be saved.
• Christ died for every person who ever lived, but only saves those who believe.
• Christ’s death secured the potential for salvation and did not secure faith (which is man’s work)

Limited Atonement (Calvin)

• Christ’s death effectually saved the elect.
• Christ’s death was only for the elect and not for the entire human race.
• Christ’s death secured salvation and faith

Obstructable Grace (Arminians)

• God never forces salvation upon anyone.
• The Spirit woos people but they are free to accept or reject Him.
• Faith allows the Spirit to do His work in man

Irresistible Grace (Calvin)

• God gives the gift of salvation to His elect and they have no choice but to respond.
• The Spirit regenerates people who are then given faith and must repent.
• The Spirit does His work based on who God has predestined to eternal life

Falling From Grace (Arminians)

• Because salvation is ultimately dependent on man, he can reject his salvation.

Perseverance of the Saints (Calvin)

• Because salvation is ultimately dependent on God, man can never lose salvation

As you see, the process of a person becoming saved is vastly different in each of the views. I have created a chart for each of the views to try to simplify the differences between them.

Please tune in next week as I turn the corner in this debate and open up my email box or this blog for any of your questions, statements or disagreements. Three has been great responses and I just thank you all for taking the time to hammer this out as you seek your own understanding of who God is.

Starting Tuesday of next week we will be moving into the subject of the necessity of family worship. Where did it get its beginning and how much has western culture loss it's roots on such a necessary component of family spiritual growth. In the weeks to follow we will be looking at the seeker sensitive movement and why it is so anti biblical (Purpose Drivenisim, Willowcreek, Joel Osteen, etc). We will also be discussing the issues of Biblical Evagelsim and posting some video of myself and other fellow labor's Open air preaching, doing one to one witinessing, and how to break the ice. We will see how to confront JW, Mormons, Postmodernism and others. If you would like to join us for Open Air preaching we are scheduling some events in the next week or two.


May God Richly bless you,

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

Election is the act of God whereby in eternity past He chose those who will be saved. Election is unconditional, because it does not depend on anything outside of God, such as good works or foreseen faith (Romans 9:16). This doctrine is repeatedly taught in the Bible, and is also demanded by our knowledge of God. To begin with, let’s look at the biblical evidence.

The Bible says prior to salvation, all people are dead in sin — spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). In this state of death, the sinner is utterly unable to respond to any spiritual stimulus and therefore unable to love God, obey Him, or please Him in any way. Scripture says the mind of every unbeliever “is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8, emphasis added). That describes a state of total hopelessness: spiritual death.

The effect of all this is that no sinner can ever make the first move in the salvation process. This is what Jesus meant in John 6:44, when He said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

This is also why the Bible repeatedly stresses that salvation is wholly God’s work. In Acts 13:48 we read, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

Acts 16 tells us that Lydia was saved when, “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”

Romans 8:29-30 states, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

Ephesians 1:4-5,11 reads, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will . . . also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”

Ephesians 2:8 suggests that even our faith is a gift from God.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the apostle Paul tells his readers, “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation.”

Second Timothy 1:9 informs us that God “has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”

Occasionally someone will suggest that God’s election is based on His foreknowledge of certain events. This argument suggests that God simply looks into the future to see who will believe, and He chooses those whom He sees choosing Him. Notice that 1 Peter 1:2 says the elect are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” and Romans 8:29 says, “whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” And if divine foreknowledge simply means God’s knowledge of what will happen in advance, then these arguments may appear to have some weight behind them.

But that is not the biblical meaning of “foreknowledge.” When the Bible speaks of God’s foreknowledge, it refers to God’s establishment of a love relationship with that person. The word “know,” in both the Old and New Testament, refers to much more than mere cognitive knowledge of a person. Such passages as Hosea 13:4-5; Amos 3:2 (KJV); and Romans 11:2 clearly indicate this. For example, 1 Peter 1:20 says Christ was “foreknown before the foundation of the world.” Surely this means more than that God the Father looked into the future to behold Christ! It means He had an eternal, loving relationship with Him. The same is true of the elect, whom we are told God “foreknew” (Romans 8:29). That means He knew them — He loved them — before the foundation of the world.

If God’s choice of the elect is unconditional, does this rule out human responsibility? Paul asks and answers that very question in Romans 9:19-20. He says God’s choice of the elect is an act of mercy. Left to themselves, even the elect would persist in sin and be lost, because they are taken from the same fallen lump of clay as the rest of humanity. God alone is responsible for their salvation, but that does not eradicate the responsibility of those who persist in sin and are lost — because they do it willfully, and not under compulsion. They are responsible for their sin, not God.

The Bible affirms human responsibility right alongside the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Moreover, the offer of mercy in the gospel is extended to all alike. Isaiah 55:1 and Revelation 22:17 call “whosoever will” to be saved. Isaiah 45:22 and Acts 17:30 command all men to turn to God, repent and be saved. First Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 tell us that God is not willing that any should perish, but desires that all should be saved. Finally, the Lord Jesus said that, “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).

In summary, we can say that God has had a special love relationship with the elect from all eternity, and on the basis of that love relationship chosen them for salvation. The ultimate question of why God chose some for salvation and left others in their sinful state is one that we, with our finite knowledge, cannot answer. We do know that God’s attributes always are in perfect harmony with each other, so that God’s sovereignty will always operate in perfect harmony with His goodness, love, wisdom, and justice.

Article and info taken from GTY and Pulpit Magazine with quotes from the NASB.

He knows the End from the Beginning

Today, as we continue in the subject of election I want to start with the attribute of God that will be most beneficial to this subject, Omniscient or Gods Sovereignty. The Word Omniscient comes from the Latin word omniscient [omnis, all + sciens, from scire, to know] and is a reference to God's attribute of possessing all knowledge. So the question I think we need to ask ourself is, does God know everything before it happens? Does he know the beginning from the end? Lets launch into some text to prove that God in fact knows everything from the Beginning to the End of time. Hold tight because this subject will prove to be very valuable in this entire series....

Isaiah 46:10
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Revelation 21:6
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

1 Samuel 2:3
"Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed

Daniel 2:20-22

and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are His.

21 He changes times and seasons;
He sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.

22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.

Job 37:16

16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?

Psalm 147:4-5

4He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.
5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.

Isaiah 40:28

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.

Psalm 139:1-4

1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

So I think the Bible gives ample evidence that God is all knowing. God is in control and completely on His thrown. Nothing happens that he did not already know would happen. Nothing takes Him by surprise.

With that said let me ask this question and I will move into the subeject with full force tomorrow.... Did Jesus Die for those that God knew would reject Him? If so, why would he die for those that he already knew from the foundation of the earth would NOT be written in the lambs book of life?

Revelation 20:15
If anyone's name was not found written in the bookof life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 17:8
The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world

I want you to pay close attention to that last verse. There names were not written in the book of life from when? FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. If Jesus died for those who were not written in the book from the beginning He failed. He died for them but because they did not choose Him then He failed to save them. Sure we can say that they made the choice but he specifically died for them and there choice was Greater than Gods will.

Tune in Tomorrow.

God Bless

What is it you believe again?

I cannot tell you how many times over the past several weeks we have heard that question. We have family, friends, church members and Pastors asking my wife and I,  just what is it we believe. The question has a long list of criteria but when it comes to the Bible, many people do not know how big that can is they are opening. Asking us what we believe about the Bible is like asking the President of the United States of America, what is your view on America? But we do love the question and we are humbled just to get asked a question about God or the Bible. So for all you who have asked and many of you who have not, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain our view on Doctrine and Theology so that God can be magnified and give a overview on some important theological stances.

I want to start out with saying that regardless your stance on these issues we can call ourselves brothers and sisters. Respected men and women of the faith have debated this debate for almost 2000 years now and they have preached at each others churches and pulpits. So as long as we believe the essentials (Repentance and faith, Deity of Christ and justification by Faith alone NOT BY WORKS) than we can differ on these secondary issues and still love each other and go into the world sharing the Gospel.

With that said, please don't take the easy road and say that doctrine does not matter. It does, if you choose not to study your bible and you make your decision to just stand for one without looking into the issue you are not doing what the Bible says..

2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

1 Timothy 1:3
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer

1 Timothy 4:16
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers

2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Titus 1:9
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Titus 2:1
You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

Folks, I don't care if you are Armenians or Calvinist, Charismatic or Conservative, Evangelical or Presbyterian. You must, if you are good and faithful - discover more and more about your Heavenly Father. Who God is matters. What He does, who He is, all of it Matters. Doctrine and Theology is attempts of futile men trying to discover more of a Holy God and the more you discover the more you are humbled. Study, Study, Study. DOCTRINE MATTERS. Jesus is not an Angel, Jesus is not a "created" Being. Bad doctrine = wrong understanding of who God is. Essential difference matter and so do secondary. Study to show yourself approved.



Did you get it? Doctrine is important. You can have a WRONG understand of the Bible and how do you even know what is right or wrong if you don't even see the debate. Please understand this, bad theology on Jesus and Faith CAN and DOES send people to hell. If you have the essentials, great, now press on.



So in ending for today, If you love Jesus you must love doctrine. Men and women have died to bring you this trusted truth from men who have perverted the Word. So to say Doctrine does not mater is a gross misquote of what has taken place to bring you this living Word.

Tune in tomorrow for more.

God Bless,