All Creatures of Our God and King - Brent Milligan, David Crowder, St. Francis of Assisi, William Henry Draper - 2002 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Moon & Musky Music iTunes Amazon Spotify

O Help My Unbelief – Issac Watts, Music by Justin Smith – © 2007 Justin Smith Music iTunes Amazon Spotify

Constant - Charlie Hall - 2010 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Complete In Thee – Aaron Wolfe, 1851, Music: Ben Nyce – copyright 2003 Bible Revival Ministries iTunes Amazon Spotify

Just As I Am – Words: Charlotte Elliott Music: Bobby Guy and Craig Brown – 1998 Nomella Music (ASCAP) / Bobby Guy Music (ASCAP)

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2005 Worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music/ASCA Admin. CMG Publishing iTunes Amazon Spotify

Mighty To Save - Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan - 2006 Hillsong Publishing (Admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

You Bled – Rend Collective Experiment - 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

All I Have is Christ - Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. iTunes Amazon Spotify

All We Need – Charlie Hall – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs/sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)n iTunes Amazon Spotify

Better Is One Day – Matt Redman – Copyright 2005 Survivor Records iTunes Amazon Spotify

You Are God – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2008 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords iTunes Amazon Spotify

Fairest Lord Jesus – Carrie B. Adams – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone – Chris Tomlin, John Newton, Louie Giglio – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Awesome Is The Lord Most High – Jon Abel, Cary Pierce, Chris Tomlin, and Jesse Reeves – © 2006 Bridge Building (BMI) / 45 Degrees Music (BMI) / foreverything music (BMI).  All rights for the world on behalf of 45 Degrees Music and foreverything music administered by Bridge Building.  Sixsteps Music (Admin by EMI CMG Publishing) / worshiptogether.com Songs (admin by EMI CMG Publishing) (ASCAP) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life thou givest—to both great and small;
In all life thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render: O help us to see
’Tis only the splendour of light hideth thee.

This hymn was written by Walter Chalmers Smith.  The last stanza of this hymn is actually a combination of the original last 2 stanzas.  Here is the original text of the last 2 stanzas.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

I appreciate the original authors understanding and inclusion of the fact that apart from His sovereign grace we are unable to praise Him in all of His magnificence but we need His grace that only comes through Jesus to unveil our faces and remove the vile from our hearts.

Here is also a modern rendition of this hymn that I personally enjoyed.  You can listen to it for free on spotify.

Link to song.

Link to spotify if you do not have it.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing – Charles Wesley – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder -John Newton – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Overcome - Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Nothing But the Blood – Matt Redman – Copyright © 2004 Thankyou Music/PRS (adm. worldwide by worshiptogether.com Songs except for the UK and Europe which is adm. by Kingsway Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

How Great is Your Faithfulness – Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman – 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) SHOUT! Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.) iTunes Amazon Spotify

I’ll Fly Away – Albert E. Brumley – 1932 Hartford Music Company. Renewed 1960 Albert E. Brumley And Sons (Admin. by ClearBox Rights, LLC) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Depth of Mercy – Words: Charles Wesley, 1940 Music: Jeff Koonce, Brian T. Murphy, Clint Wells 2003 – Copyright 2003 Red Mountain Church iTunes Amazon Spotify

Cling to the Crucified – Kevin Twit – Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Lord I Need You - Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher - 2011 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Sweater Weather Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Valley Of Songs Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us – Stuart Townsend – 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Many times I wonder what I can really do to change things that are so big.  I am just one person, what can I do?  The first thing I can do is to appeal to the righteous judge who is seated on the throne by praying for our country, leaders, and women who may be considering an abortion.  In our country we also have a say in the policies that are put into place and also a say in who is going to be drawing up these policies and putting them in place.  Another thing we can do is vote.  As a christian I believe that it is wrong to vote or support for any candidate who supports abortion.  Given the sheer magnitude of the issue abortion is one thing that should disqualify a candidate.  There are many issues that qualify a candidate but there are also some issues that should disqualify a candidate no matter what else he supports, abortion is one of them.   One other thing that we can do is sign the Life at Conception Act.  You can find more information of this proposal here and also if you Senator or Congressman co sponsors this Act.

God of Wonders – Marc Byrd, Steve Hindalong – 2000 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) Storm Boy Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Meaux Mercy (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

I Stand Amazed – Charles Hutchison Gabriel – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Center – Charlie Hall, Matt Redman – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Jesus Paid It All – Alex Nifong, Elvina M. Hall, John Thomas Grape – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

The Stand – Joel Houston – 2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

What A Savior – Devon Kauflin, Philip Bliss – 2007 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.) iTunes Amazon

The Glories of Calvary – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

I Will Glory in My Redeemer – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2001 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Give Us Clean Hands – Charlie Hall – Recorded by Chris Tomlin – Copyright 2003 Worship Together iTunes Amazon Spotify

Glory, Hallelujah – Samuel Medley [1738-1799] – Tune: American Folk Hymn , 19th cent.

You Bled – Rend Collective Experiment - 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

By This We Know Love – Judah Groveman - 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries iTunes Amazon Spotify

Were You There? - Frederick J. Work, John Wesley, Jr. Work – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Once Again – Matt Redman – 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Let Your Kingdom Come – Copyright 2007 Sovereign Grace Music iTunes Amazon

If you find something on this list that you would like to purchase you can call the church office and let us know or email me at pastor.kipp@gmail.com so that we can keep the list updated.

List updated on 12.09.2011

This Is Our God w/ What Child Is This? – David Moffitt, Sue Smith, Travis Cottrell – greatworshipsongs.com iTunes Amazon Spotify

You Are God – Charlie Hall – worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Joyous Light – Lyrics: Unknown Arrangement and Chorus: Chris Tomlin and David Crowder – Copyright 2004 worsthiptogether.com Songs/sixstep Music/ASCAP Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing iTunes Amazon Spotify

Be Thou My Vision – Ancient Irish Poem, Trans. by Mary Byrne, Versified by Eleanor Hull, Traditional Irish melody – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

No Other Gospel – Seth Mitchell – Copyright 2009 One Tree Ministries

Wonderful Maker – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

You Bled – Rend Collective Experiment - 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2005 Worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music/ASCA Admin. CMG Publishing iTunes Amazon Spotify

The First Place – Matthew Westerholm - 1999 Matthew Westerholm

How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.) iTunes Amazon Spotify

All Creatures of Our God and King - Brent Milligan, David Crowder, St. Francis of Assisi, William Henry Draper - 2002 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Moon & Musky Music iTunes Amazon Spotify

Mighty To Save - Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan - 2006 Hillsong Publishing (Admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Open Your Eyes – Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Lord I Need You - Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher - 2011 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Sweater Weather Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Valley Of Songs Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Constant - Charlie Hall - 2010 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Lord Most High – Don Harris, Gary Sadler – 1996 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music iTunes Amazon Spotify

Jesus, Thank You - Pat Sczebel - 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Integrity’s Hosanna! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon

Lord I Need You - Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher - 2011 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Sweater Weather Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Valley Of Songs Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Center – Charlie Hall, Matt Redman – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Doxology – David Crowder, Thomas Ken – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing), sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

All I Have is Christ - Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. iTunes Amazon Spotify

Fairest Lord Jesus – Carrie B. Adams – Public Domain iTunes Amazon Spotify

Take My Life – Chris Tomlin, Frances Ridley Havergal, Henri Abraham, Cesar Malan, Louie Giglio – 2003 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

Shadows – David Crowder – 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
David Crowder Designee (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon Spotify

The Glories of Calvary – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon Spotify

How Can I Keep From Singing – Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Matt Redman – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.) Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon

Here Is Love – Steve Cook, Vikki Cook, William Reese – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) iTunes Amazon

The Stand – Joel Houston – 2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon

Blessed Be Your Name – Matt and Beth Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon

Change My Heart, Oh God – Eddie Espinosa – 1982 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services) iTunes Amazon

Forever – Chris Tomlin – 2001 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) iTunes Amazon

O Come and Mourn – Eric Ashley, Frederick Faber – © 1999 Eric Ashley Music

Overcome - Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

We Fall Down – Chris Tomlin - 1998 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Nails in Your Hands – Richard Cimino – 1995 Richard Cimino (Admin. by Worshipsong.com)

God Over All – Devon Kauflin - 2005 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)

Sing, Sing, Sing – Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Matt Gilder, Travis Nunn – 2008 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Ryan House Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Wonderful Maker – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

You Are God – Charlie Hall – worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

You Bled – Rend Collective Experiment - 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Lord Most High – Don Harris, Gary Sadler – 1996 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music

People have been trying to recreate those feeling of acceptance, value, and importance ever since. The attempts take various forms and sometimes look totally different. Some will attempt to take control of their own life by doing whatever they want to do and taking advantage of people to get what they want in an attempt to fill that void that they have. Others will attempt to follow all of God’s rules so that they will be able to stand before God and say “I have kept all of your rules now you have to accept me.” Either path that a person takes is an attempt gain control over their life and their destiny, this is the same ugly path that we have been on since Adam ate the fruit in the garden.

The problem is that the only thing we know how to do is continue on this path of self-esteem, self-help, self-justification, and self-exaltation leaving us empty and feeling totally inadequate because the truth is we are. We are totally inadequate and never able to fix this on our own. Every religion in the world is based on a man-centered power from within. No one possesses this and no one is able to fix this from within themselves because the thing that is missing is not from within. The thing that is wrong, the thing that our sin has destroyed, and the thing that we need most of all is a relationship with God. This is what is missing and the very thing that we were created for.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Jesus took our sin and gave us his righteousness. This is nothing that we have done but it is based on what Jesus has done. Anytime that we are looking to our own strength to save us we can never have the confidence that our standing before God is secure because it is not. It is only through Jesus that we have confidence that our standing before God is right because He gave us His righteousness. The perfect Son of God took our sin and gave us His righteousness and in that alone is where we can find confidence.

This gives us confidence that we have been accepted, that we are loved, and that we have been justified. From this comes the confidence that we have the truth and that we can speak the truth. From this comes the confidence that we have value and worth and frees us from attempting to gain this one our own. From this comes the confidence to stop trying to gain favor from men because we have the favor of God. From this comes the confidence and the freedom that we have been liberated from slavery to sin and we don’t have to sin anymore. This results in the seemingly paradoxical person who is both humble and confident.

Rock Of Ages – Doc Harris – 2006 One Tree Ministries

You Bled – Rend Collective Experiment - 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

I Stand Amazed – Charles Hutchison Gabriel – Public Domain

O Help My Unbelief – Issac Watts, Music by Justin Smith – © 2007 Justin Smith Music

I Love You Lord – Laurie Klein - 1978, 1980 House Of Mercy Music (Admin. by Maranatha! Music)

I’ll Fly Away – Albert E. Brumley – 1932 Hartford Music Company. Renewed 1960 Albert E. Brumley And Sons (Admin. by ClearBox Rights, LLC)

What A Savior – Devon Kauflin, Philip Bliss – 2007 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)

The Glories of Calvary – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

The First Place – Matthew Westerholm – 1999 Matthew Westerholm

You Alone Can Rescue -Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman – 2008 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) SHOUT! Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

So what does Jesus mean by these words? In Luke 9 Jesus takes a little child and says that if anyone receives this little child then he receives Jesus himself. In Matthew 18 he says that if we don’t become like little children we will never inherit eternal life. So what is Jesus telling us? Little children depend on their fathers for everything, for their daily bread, clothes, and direction in life. They depend on their fathers to tell them what they should and should not be doing. They depend on their fathers for their basic needs for survival. They depend on their fathers for protection. They depend on their fathers for everything.

Jesus is telling us that we need to trust the Father for everything. We need to know and trust that He is good and that He cares for us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden they made a decision that they were not going to trust in the Father anymore but they were going to trust in their own abilities. They made the decision that they would be in control of their own destiny. This has been the overarching problem with all humanity since that time, we want to be in control and we want to do things our way.

This desire for control has manifested itself in two completely opposite ways but at the core is the same underlying motivation. People try to gain control over their lives by either breaking God’s rules or by keeping them. The person who breaks all of God’s commandments is making the statement that he doesn’t need God and all of his rules and that he can do it on his own. This one is obvious and we can easily spot it. We look at him and say, “Yep there is a sinner look at want he did”. Then there is the person that keeps all of God rules to be able to control God himself. We have this idea that if we keep his rules then he has to be good to us. This type of person believes that God actually has to accept him because of how good he has been. This mind set is much harder to identify both within others and within ourselves, especially within ourselves. This person appears to know Jesus because they tend to look like a good Christian when in fact their heart is in total rebellion to God.

If we look back to the Old Testament one thing that we see is God always takes the initiative.  In 2 Samuel 7 David decides that he is going to do God a favor.  He thinks that God’s living conditions are pretty pathetic while his are pretty good so he decides that he must be the guy to build God a temple.  God speaks through the prophet Nathan and tells David that he isn’t going to build a house for him and in fact it is God who was going to build a house for David, and it was God that had done and initiated everything on David’s behalf up until this point.

When we see Jesus on the cross we need to understand that He died for our sins. For us to be saved it took God himself to leave Heaven, come to earth, and die the death that we should have died, he took the initiative and we aren’t the ones who can. No other sacrifice would do. This is how bad we are. To think that we could actually do something to merit the favor of God and gain eternal life is anti-gospel thinking. Yet we do it a lot. Have you ever looked at another person and thought “Well I would never do that”. Essentially what we are saying is that I am good enough because I would never commit a sin bad enough that God would reject me. In reality we have all committed sin and as a result we all deserve to live for all eternity apart from God in everlasting torment, Hell.

What the gospel does is tell us that we are a sinner and it points to how bad we really are. I love the hymn text,

Ye who think of sin but likely.
Nor suppose the evil great.
Here may view it’s nature rightly.
Here it’s guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed.
See who bears the awful.
Tis the one the Lord anointed.
Son of Man and Son of God.

When we are able to fully understand the nature of the gospel and see how bad our sin truly is it is a very humbling experience. No longer can we look at people and think I am better then they are. No longer can we think that if we could just be good enough then we can demand that God look at us and listen to our demands. No longer can we think that I deserve anything. We then at that point become like little children, depending on the Father for everything and understanding that it is only by His goodness that we are even allowed to breath. Until we come to that point we have no hope of eternal life.

Humility is not something we can achieve on our own, if we do then we will be proud of the fact that we are humble and that is not humility. Humility is something that God grants to us through Jesus and His death on the cross. Jesus is the true humble servant that not only gave up His position as King but gave up His very life so that a retched sinner like me may be saved.

We Fall Down – Chris Tomlin – 1998 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

O For a Thousand Tongues – Charles Wesley – Public Domain

Completely Done – Jonathan Baird, Rich Gunderlock, Ryan Baird – 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder -John Newton – Public Domain

Just As I Am – Words: Charlotte Elliott Music: Bobby Guy and Craig Brown – 1998 Nomella Music (ASCAP) / Bobby Guy Music (ASCAP)

Famous One – Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves – 2002 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

It Is Well – There is not a recorded copy of the version we did on Sunday but here is a good one from Kutless.  Copyright 2009 BEC Recordings

Blesssed Be Your Name – Matt and Beth Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Once Again – Matt Redman – 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Let Your Kingdom Come – Copyright 2007 Sovereign Grace Music

By This We Know Love – Judah Groveman - 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries

Hallelujah, What a Savior – Bob Kauflin, Philip Paul Bliss – 1998 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)

Cling to the Crucified – Kevin Twit – Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP)

All I Have is Christ – Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Thank You Jesus For The Cross – Andi Rozier and Matthew Westerholm – Copyright 2008 Harvestsongs

Give Us Clean Hands – Charlie Hall – Recorded by Chris Tomlin – Copyright 2003 Worship Together

O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus – Samuel Trevor Francis and Thomas J. Williams – Public Domain

Nothing But the Blood – Matt Redman – Copyright © 2004 Thankyou Music/PRS (adm. worldwide by worshiptogether.com Songs except for the UK and Europe which is adm. by Kingsway Music)

Open Your Eyes – Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

I Stand Amazed – Charles Hutchison Gabriel – Public Domain

Hunger and Thirst – David Moffitt and Sue C. Smith – 2004 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)CCTB Music (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin TN 37067)

Joyous Light – Lyrics: Unknown Arrangement and Chorus: Chris Tomlin and David Crowder – Copyright 2004 worsthiptogether.com Songs/sixstep Music/ASCAP Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing

Nails in Your Hands – Richard Cimino – 1995 Richard Cimino (Admin. by Worshipsong.com)

O Come and Mourn – Eric Ashley, Frederick Faber – © 1999 Eric Ashley Music

Lord Most High – Don Harris, Gary Sadler – 1996 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us – Stuart Townsend – 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

The Solid Rock – Charlie Hall, Edward Mote, Kendall Combs, Trent Austin, William B. Bradbury – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Jesus Paid It All – Alex Nifong, Elvina M. Hall, John Thomas Grape – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Center – Charlie Hall, Matt Redman – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

How Great is Your Faithfulness – Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman – 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) SHOUT! Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

I Will Glory in My Redeemer – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2001 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

Wonderful Maker – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

You Are My King – Passion – Copyright 1999 Star Song

Grace Flows Down – Passion – Copyright 2000 Sparrow Records

God of Wonders – Marc Byrd, Steve Hindalong – 2000 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) Storm Boy Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Meaux Mercy (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

All I Have is Christ – Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Overcome - Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

Fairest Lord Jesus – Carrie B. Adams – Public Domain

Forever – Chris Tomlin – 2001 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)



Marc Byrd

First we need to nail down exactly what I mean by the Gospel. Simply stated it’s Jesus. He is the gospel. The Word gospel means “good news” so what we are talking about here is the goods news about Jesus. The Angels proclaimed the good news about Jesus’ birth. Paul repeatedly proclaimed the good news about forgiveness of sin through his death and the good news of a new life through his resurrection. When we get to revelation it is the good news that Jesus is coming again to once and for all destroy sin and reign as the perfect benevolant King. Again, simply put, the Gospel is Jesus, he and he along is the good news. Not me, not you, and certainly not the human race.

Over the course of the next few weeks I am going to attempt to write a post each week that explains how the Gospel changes us and what those changes are. Hopefully by looking into the Gospel a little deeper we will be changed. My reasoning for this is that I believe we believe the Gospel but have difficulty actually applying the Gospel into our daily lives, actually living out the new creation.

How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Here Is Love – Steve Cook, Vikki Cook, William Reese – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

Shadows – David Crowder – 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) David Crowder Designee (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Were You There? – Public Domain

Happy Day – Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon – 2006 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

The Heart of Worship – Matt Redman – 1999 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

In Christ Alone – Keith Getty Stuart Townend – 2001 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Complete In Thee – Aaron Wolfe, 1851, Music: Ben Nyce – copyright 2003 Bible Revival Ministries

The Glories of Calvary – Steve and Vikki Cook – 2003 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

Doxology – David Crowder, Thomas Ken – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Everlasting God – Brenton Brown, Ken Riley – 2005 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

O Help My Unbelief – Issac Watts, Music by Justin Smith – © 2007 Justin Smith Music

All I Have is Christ – Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

By This We Know Love – Judah Groveman - 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee – Edward Hodges, Henry Van Dyke, Ludwig van Beethoven – Public Domain

Due to the fact that we increased the number of families 14 times we asked for help from the rest of the congregation.  Basically I don’t think there is anyway that we could have done it without you.  We were able to help meet the needs of 14 families in Kalamazoo because of your generosity.  One way that this happened was in my community group.  Each group was challenged to come up with an outreach activity, we decided to make 8 blankets to give to the children and parents of 2 of these families.

Just the other day Adam Snider suggested that each year we double the number of families that we do this for.  That means that this coming Christmas we would help 28 families with food, clothes, and presents for Christmas.  Wow, 28 families that we would have the privilege of helping!!!  I think it would be great to give each child in each family a coat, an outfit, and a toy.  Along with those items for each child a generous food basket for each family. This means that we need to plan on being able to come up with enough items for between 75 and 100 children and teenagers, so I started early.  Michael Norton informed me that winter coats were on sale at Wal-Mart on 9th st. so I went and and bought a few coats to get started, 22 to be exact.

Being generous isn’t something that is reserved just for Christmas.  Being generous is a result of being redeemed by Jesus.  God, through Jesus, has been generous to us.  As a result of experiencing that generosity we become generous people.  There are both sins of commission and omission.  A sin of commission is doing something that you ought not to be doing.  A sin of omission is not doing something that you should be doing.  You may say that you didn’t steal anything in 2010 but did you give?  Were you generous?  We have an opportunity to be generous this year even when the rest of the world is stingy because they are unsure of the economy and their security.  Whether the economy tanks or not, we find our hope and salvation in Jesus.  So my request is that each of you reading this would go and hit the seasonal clothing sales and stretch our resources to be able to help more families this coming year than we did last year.  I am no financial adviser but I am pretty sure that you couldn’t invest that and get a better return, so help us invest in the people of Kalamazoo because they are part of God’s creation, the creation that He called good and came to redeem.  They have value, so lets invest.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Catherine Winkworth, Christy Nockels, Joachim Neander, Nathan Nockels – 2004 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.) Rocketown Music, LLC. (Admin. by Word Music Group, Inc.) Sweater Weather Music (Admin. by Word Music Group, Inc.)

All I Have is Christ – Jordan Kauflin – 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

No Other Gospel – Seth Mitchell – Copyright 2009 One Tree Ministries

You Are God – Charlie Hall – worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Glory, Hallelujah – Samuel Medley [1738-1799] – Tune: American Folk Hymn , 19th cent.

Sing His Love – performed by Caedman’s Call – could not locate copyright info.

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2005 Worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music/ASCA Admin. CMG Publishing

By This We Know Love – Judah Groveman - 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries

Mighty To Save - Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan - 2006 Hillsong Publishing (Admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

All We Need – Charlie Hall – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs/sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Be Thou My Vision - Ancient Irish poem, Trans. by Mary Byrne, Versified by Eleanor Hull, Traditional Irish melody

I’ll Fly Away – Albert E. Brumley – 1932 Hartford Music Company. Renewed 1960 Albert E. Brumley And Sons (Admin. by ClearBox Rights, LLC)

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus – Charles Wesley and William W. Walker – Public Domain

This Is Our God w/ What Child Is This? – David Moffitt, Sue Smith, Travis Cottrell – greatworshipsongs.com

Jesus Draw Me Close – Rick Founds – 1990 Maranatha Praise, Inc. (Admin. by Maranatha! Music)

Jesus Paid It All – Alex Nifong, Elvina M. Hall, John Thomas Grape – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder -John Newton – Public Domain

Give Us Clean Hands – Charlie Hall – Recorded by Chris Tomlin – Copyright 2003 Worship Together

Nothing But the Blood – Matt Redman – Copyright © 2004 Thankyou Music/PRS (adm. worldwide by worshiptogether.com Songs except for the UK and Europe which is adm. by Kingsway Music)

Awesome God – Rich Mullins – 1988 BMG Songs, Inc. (Admin. by BMG Music Publishing)

Hallelujah, What a Savior – Bob Kauflin, Philip Paul Bliss – 1998 Sovereign Grace Praise (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)

Completely Done – Jonathan Baird, Rich Gunderlock, Ryan Baird – 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

All We Need – Charlie Hall – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs/sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

It Is Well – There is not a recorded copy of the version we did on Sunday but here is a good one from Kutless.  Copyright 2009 BEC Recordings

Cling to the Crucified – Kevin Twit – Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP)

Nothing But the Blood – Matt Redman – Copyright © 2004 Thankyou Music/PRS (adm. worldwide by worshiptogether.com Songs except for the UK and Europe which is adm. by Kingsway Music)

Glory Hallelujah – Samuel Medley [1738-1799] – Tune: American Folk Hymn , 19th cent.

You Are God – Charlie Hall – 2007 Sixsteps Records

Thank You Jesus For The Cross – Andi Rozier and Matthew Westerholm – Copyright 2008 Harvestsongs

O Help My Unbelief – Issac Watts, Music by Justin Smith – © 2007 Justin Smith Music

Open Your Eyes – Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

Just As I Am – Words: Charlotte Elliott Music: Bobby Guy and Craig Brown – 1998 Nomella Music (ASCAP) / Bobby Guy Music (ASCAP)

Once Again – Matt Redman – 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

O Help My Unbelief – Issac Watts, Music by Justin Smith – © 2007 Justin Smith Music

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted – Words: Thomas Kelly. Music: based on 17th century German tune (arr. Phillip Palmertree) – © Philip Palmertree

Be Thou My Vision – Ancient Irish Poem, Trans. by Mary Byrne, Versified by Eleanor Hull, Traditional Irish melody – Public Domain

In Christ Alone – Keith Getty Stuart Townend – 2001 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Change My Heart, Oh God – Eddie Espinosa – 1982 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services)

Raise Up the Crown – Chris Tomlin, Edward Perronet, Oliver Holden – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Rock Of Ages – Doc Harris – 2006 One Tree Ministries (I think this is accurate)

O Come and Mourn – Eric Ashley, Frederick Faber – © 1999 Eric Ashley Music

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder -John Newton – Public Domain

Glorify Thy Name – Donna Atkins – 1976, 1981 Maranatha! Music (Admin. by Maranatha! Music)
CCCM Music (Admin. by Maranatha! Music

Overcome - Jon Egan – 2007 Vertical Worship Songs (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

I Stand Amazed – Charles Hutchison Gabriel – Public Domain

And Can It Be? – Charles Wesley, Thomas Campbell – Public Domain

Doxology – David Crowder, Thomas Ken – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Jesus Paid It All – Kristian Stanfill – © 2006 worshiptogether.com songs | sixsteps Music (EMI)

Center – Charlie Hall – © 2005 Words and Music By Charlie Hall and Matt Redman

Completely Done – Jonathan Baird, Ryan Baird, and Rich Gunderlock – © 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)

Depth of Mercy – Charles Wesley | Mark Chambers – © 2005 Grady Dodd Music (Admin. by Mark Chambers)

Sing, Sing, Sing – Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Matt Gilder, Travis Nunn – 2008 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Ryan House Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Wonderful Maker – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman – 2002 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

How Great is Your Faithfulness – Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman – 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
SHOUT! Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

You Alone Can Rescue -Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman – 2008 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Said And Done Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
SHOUT! Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music, Inc.)

Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone – Chris Tomlin, John Newton, Louie Giglio – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

No Other Gospel – Seth Mitchell – Copyright 2009 One Tree Ministries

Completely Done – Jonathan Baird, Rich Gunderlock, Ryan Baird – 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)

Majesty – Charlie Hall

May Jesus Christ Be Praised – Abe and Liza Philip – Copyright 2007-2010. Abe and Liza Philip.

Everlasting God – Brenton Brown, Ken Riley – 2005 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

No Other Gospel – Seth Mitchell

Shadows – David Crowder – 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
David Crowder Designee (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

How Great Thou Art – Stuart Wesley, Keene Hine – 1949. 1953 Stuart Hine Trust. Administration: U.S.A. All rights by EMI CMG, except print rights administered by Hope Publishing. North, Central And South America by Manna Music. Rest of world – Kingsway Communications.

How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves – 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Alletrop Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

You Are God – Charlie Hall – worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Cling to the Crucified – Kevin Twit – Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP)

All We Need – Charlie Hall – 2006 worshiptogether.com songs/sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

O How I Love Jesus – Fred­er­ick Whit­field, 1855 – 19th Cen­tu­ry Amer­i­can mel­o­dy

No Other Gospel – Seth Mitchell

O God Our Help in Ages Past – No Recorded Version

Let Your Kingdom Come – Copyright 2007 Sovereign Grace Music

You Alone Can Rescue – Matt Redman – Copyright 2009 Sparrow Records/sixsteprecords.com

Give Us Clean Hands – Charlie Hall – Recorded by Chris Tomlin – Copyright 2003 Worship Together

FREE

June 28th-July 1st

6:00pm-8:00pm

Grades 1-6

Learn basketball skills.  Hear a Bible story.  Have a Snack.

Questions?  269-381-2080

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Photo Album

The Link

The Link

Beautiful One – Tim Hughes – Copyright 2002 Thank You Music

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2005 Worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps Music/ASCA Admin. CMG Publishing

You Are God – Charlie Hall, Brian Bergman, Dustin Ragland, Kendall Combes – Copyright worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Thank You Jesus For The Cross – Andi Rozier and Matthew Westerholm – Copyright 2008 Harvestsongs

Joyous Light – Lyrics: Unknown Arrangement and Chorus: Chris Tomlin and David Crowder – Copyright 2004 worsthiptogether.com Songs/sixstep Music/ASCAP Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing

Pastor Dana Arledge

Mother’s Day is just around the corner so I was thinking about you. I started thinking, I love you but why? So I began pondering over the course of my life and the things that you have done. There are so many things that I can point to. For example, now that I have my own children I realize what you did before I can even remember, the countless nights awake feeding me and cleaning up from my various messes. And then I was able to walk and run, you were always there tending to my wounds and watching out for the dangers that I didn’t even know existed. Next I went off to school, everyday making me a lunch, giving me what I needed to grow physically. Every night reading to me from the “Keys for Kids” book and the Bible, giving me what I needed to grow Spiritually. You would pray for me, that I would love Jesus. And then came puberty, oh the dreaded and never forgotten years of puberty. What I wouldn’t give to erase that from my brain. Yet you were there, loving me with an endless and unconditional love that I had no understanding of. Thank you, Mom.

I appreciate all of these things for they have shaped me and molded me more that anything else in my life. But I began to realize the thing that I received from you that I didn’t even know was there. You shared the love of Jesus. You gave up your time, your resources, and your energy for me because you love me. Just as Jesus gave up His time, His resources, and His energy, even His very life for me because He loves me. Just as Jesus poured His life out on the cross for me you have poured out your life too, for me, because you love me. This love comes from you, not because of anything that I have done but because I am your son. In fact this love that you have for me didn’t cease even when my words and actions said that “I hate you and want you out of my life”. Jesus’ love comes to me not because of anything that I have done to deserve it but because I am His creation. In fact this love that He has for me didn’t cease even when my words and actions said that “I hate you and want you out of my life”. I realized now that I love you only because you have loved me.

You have shown me a divine love that only comes from Jesus. Without you I don’t think that I could understand the love of Jesus and what He did that day on the cross. You have given me a personal experience of the love that Jesus has for each one of us. This is the greatest thing that you have done for me and I hope that I can give this love to my children too.

I Love You Mom.

Shadows – David Crowder – Copyright 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
David Crowder Designee (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

You Are God – Charlie Hall, Brian Bergman, Dustin Ragland, Kendall Combes – Copyright worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

O Come and Mourn – Words: Frederick Faber Music : Eric Ashley – Copyright 1999 Eric Ashley Music

Depth of Mercy – Words: Charles Wesley, 1940 Music: Jeff Koonce, Brian T. Murphy, Clint Wells 2003 – Copyright 2003 Red Mountain Church

Lesson: Understanding God: Love and Justice

Lesson 4-25-2010

Another reminder – do the sheets and learn the verses.

You Are God – Charlie Hall – Copyright 2008 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

It Is Well – There is not a recorded copy of the version we did on Sunday but here is a good one form Kutless.  Copyright 2009 BEC Recordings

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder – Jars of Clay – Copyright 2005 Provident Label Group, LLC

Grace Flows Down – Passion – Copyright 2000 Sparrow Records

You Are My King – Passion – Copyright 1999 Star Song

Shadows The David Crowder Band – Copyright 2009 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

Jesus Messiah Chris Tomlin – Copyright 2008 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

The First Place – Did not locate a recorded copy of this song.

Center Charlie Hall – Copyright 2006 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

The Glories of Calvary Sovereign Grace Ministries – Copyright 2004 Sovereign Grace Music

O Worship the King Lyrics: Robert Grant Arranger: Chris Tomlin Composer: William Gardiner – Copyright: worshiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps music (Admin by: EMI Christian Music Publishing)

All We Need Charlie Hall – Copyright 2006 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

Shadows The David Crowder Band – Copyright 2009 Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords

Blessed Be Your Name Matt Redman – Copyright 2005 Survivor Records

Glorify Thy Name – Could not locate a recorded version of this song

His Name is Wonderful Compilation (P) (C) 1993 StraightWay Music

Everyone is familiar with the earthquake that occurred in Haiti. It has dominated conversations, the news, and our thoughts. Very few of us have probably not really done anything to help; or we have done something to help, like giving a little money, and now we think that we can wipe our hands of it and feel ok. This is something that is going to take years to recover from and we should want the church to be a part of that recovery process. The world is not going to rebuild the church in Haiti, so who will??? Please go and check out Churches helping Churches.

Good morning and greetings from Costa Rica!

This morning is a gorgeous, sunny 80 degree blast of God’s goodness. J

We just wanted to invite you to rejoice with our family.

After four days of Melissa’s visits made up of long conversations, opening God’s Word and a box of Kleenex, she poured her heart out to the Lord last night.

We have a new sister in Christ and she is A NEW CREATION! She is marveling in His love, her adoption as a Child of God, the miracle of redemption and is still trying to wrap her mind around how He has given her a “clean slate.”  It is a joy to hold her hand through this!

Please continue to pray for these following areas:

· Discipleship – goal is to begin immediately

· the salvation of the father of her baby

· the birth of her baby girl (due in 4 weeks)

· Melissa wants to go to church with us on Sunday and bring her two children – pray that the church would embrace her (so many families are new themselves) and for Melissa to sense God’s leading as to where she may worship and grow in Christ

Thank you for your prayers.  Please know this is such a beautiful example of how He responds to our prayers and such an amazing representation on His Sovereignty…His time, His conditions and the Work of His Holy Spirit to bring conviction and a sense of need for Christ’s cleansing blood. We are so grateful for your encouraging emails, shared excitement and powerful prayer support.

Que Dios les bendiga,

Ryan and Gretchen Rought

Ephesians 1:1-15

Dearest TACTICA 10-19 Partners,

We are wrapping up our time in Michigan quickly this afternoon as we zip closed the last three carry-on pieces and weigh … repack … and re-weigh the check-ins…ah, the joys of furlough traveling J . But all joking aside, this summer has been overwhelmingly full of blessings and joy. We return to the field with a renewed sense of the calling on our lives and a very clear vision for where the Lord is leading our family as well as TACTICA Ministries.

We were able to spend the much desired quality time with both of our fathers, and praise God that He has blessed them both with stable health conditions. The girls made numerous unforgettable memories with both of their grandpas and grandmas, and we cherished every one of those moments all the more.

We have much on our plates in the coming 8 weeks. We desperately need you to be praying for several things. We strongly believe that only through your prayers and God’s provision will the next two to three months see TACTICA Ministries serving the King of kings with excellence, let alone in a fashion that encourages a balanced life, humility and purpose in our service.

• We fly out of Detroit tomorrow morning, August 21^st.

Pray for their financial needs, that they may have a solid walk with Christ, disciplined time in God’s Word, and that God would bless us with a unique sense of team unity which communicates the love of Christ to the Costa Ricans.

Here is the video that we played in church with pictures from our Serve Des Moines missions trip.

Pastor Dana’s message translated into Spanish.

Pastor Dana Arledge

Greetings from Michigan,

I have just returned from Chad Africa after 12 days of experiences that are difficult to convey. However let me say that this trip helped me see the importance of literacy training in conjunction with Bible translation.

Three of us went to Chad via Paris. Once in Chad we caught a ride with MAF to Sahr. After 2 1/2 hours in a small mission airplane we arrived at our translation center for Chad. Two of my colleagues taught a literacy class for five days with the intention of establishing a national literacy coordinator. Meanwhile I interviewed two of our office workers who are manually inputting,digitally, on a computer all of our 8 language translation projects.

I was able to visit and encourage Mrs. Ouya Bongo the wife of the national translator and language consultant who drowned early this year. She still has her children even though the culture allows the husband’s family the right to remove the children. Her needs are simple yet profound if you do not have an income source. After visiting we went to a Francophone church and enjoyed a sweet African worship service.

Chad will be a model for our other countries and translation works once we complete the translation center. Good progress is being made on the center, however with staff furloughs and medical needs these things are causing setbacks. So our goal is to have the facility workable in 18 months. With this center it will bring all our office work and consulting efforts for Chad into one location. We will have better and more reliable power then we are experiencing in Sahr.

Thank you for praying and caring. I spoke to Mrs. Ouya Bongo and told her that many in America are praying for her. She expressed her sincere appreciation. Enclosed is an attachment with a picture of Mrs. Ouya and 6 of her 7 children. There is also a picture of the graduation class and the goat roast of which we were invited guests.

Lastly for those who have followed the Waalii translation effort we can now say praise the Lord! We have successfully finished the translation and checking. It is off to the printer with plans for a presentation ceremony in Ghana that is scheduled for November of 2009. Thank you for praying for us and for this Bible. Praise God this language has a Bible for the masses.

We will be leaving tomorrow, July 15th for a trip into Canada and then returning through Wyoming and back to Michigan. It will be a time to visit some supporters and also spend a day in LaRonge Saskatchewan where we began our first ministry. Hopefully we can look up some of the people who were saved when we were there if they are still in the area. Our children want us to take lots of pictures as they have many fond memories of LaRonge and the friends they had and years they spent in the Canadian North.

As always we are humbled by the goodness of the Lord as he continues to supply our needs day by day. His mercy and love is never ending. Your prayers and gifts are so appreciated. We thank you for being a part of our lives and ministries these many years that we have served with BMM.

Serving with you for Christ’s Glory,

Gordon and Cindy Wyant                                                      Bibles International

8144 W. 112^th St.                                                                  Baptist Mid Missions

Grant, Michigan 49327

231-924-3126

I am sure that there are many people back home who are praying for us as we are in Des Moines, IA on our “Serve Des Moines” trip.  We left this last Saturday and started working at different ministries in the city so here are some pictures of what we have been doing and we are only half done.  We have really had a very enjoyable time thus far, we have made new friends, heard amazing stories about what Jesus is doing in people’s lives, and had the opportunity to give a little of ourselves so that Jesus may be exalted.

July 5th – No Youth Group, Church Picnic

July 12th – Youth Group at the Park,
Meet at church – 6pm – 9pm

July 19th – At the Church

July 26 – No Youth Group, TLC

Aug. 2nd – No Youth Group, Church Picnic

Aug. 9th – Youth Group at the Park,
Meet at church – 6pm – 9pm

Aug. 16th – At the Church

Aug. 23rd – At the Church

Aug. 30th – At the Church

Lesson 03-28-2010

Make sure that if you are thinking about going to TLC that you start doing these and learning the verses.

Guitar Chord Sheet

Bass Chord Sheet

The popular view that heaven’s entrance is a pearly gate where Saint Peter grants admission to that lush filled land of golden streets comes from both popular imagination and Scripture. Nowhere do we read that Peter stands at a pearly gate. However, Revelation 21:21 says the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are made of a single pearl and the “street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.”

But there is more to heaven than gates and gold. For example, the Bible teaches us that heaven will not be a land far away in another place and time; instead, it will be localized on the new earth. Revelation is clear that we do not go to live in some celestial enclave; rather, God brings heaven with him to the earth. God makes heaven, heaven.

Certainly heaven will be a place where there will be no more death, no more sin, no more suffering, and it will be filled with light, angels, rejoicing, and pleasures. Revelation 7:9 states that people from every corner of the earth will stand before the Lord, giving us the hope that we will see those loved ones who died in the Lord, and we will meet men and women whom we’ve grown up longing to meet for their exploits of faithfulness, along with those of whose faith we have never heard. But all of this will take a back seat to the fact that we will see Jesus face to face.

Volumes have been written on the splendors of heaven, and this article could have been written from a purely theoretical standpoint. But what each of us ought to keep clear in our understanding is that heaven is a real place, and our only access to it is through Jesus Christ, for at the end of the day, wherever Jesus is, that’s where heaven will be.

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

Hell is a reality that the world ignores It is the butt of jokes and a swear word that to most has lost any since of meaning. What does the Scripture teach about the final place of punishment?

Hell, the Lake of fire, the final judgment that was made for the Satan and his followers is a place of rejection. Matthew 7 describes people being sent away from the presence of the Master, “depart from me, I never knew you”. This image of being in the presence of God and being sent away is a startling one. It shows not only are they sent away and not allowed to enjoy the presence of God, but that for a moment they new the presence of God and will have that knowledge for eternity.

The Lake of fire is pain. Its name befits the type of punishment that will be executed there. Mathew 13:40-43, along with other passages uses the imagery of a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a pain that is worse then we can understand here on earth. Christ warns us not to fear those who can hurt the body, but He who can destroy it in hell.

Hell is a place of loneliness and darkness. Mathew 22:13 says, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness, in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” This is in contrast to the presence of God who is the light of New Jerusalem. Away from God man is in utter darkness without hope and alone.

The most sobering thought about the doctrine of Hell is that it is the eternal judgment. This will not just be for a moment but forever: “everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46), “everlasting fire” (Matt. 18:8), “the fire that will never be quenched” (Mark 9:45) and “the worm that never dies” (Mark 9:46). There is no easy way out, only the grace of God. And so as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:11, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade

I have heard it said that Hell is the least preached doctrine of our time. If asked what would we say about it? “It’s a bad place and you don’t want to go there.” We as believers look forward to the completion of God’s grace in an eternity of peace and joy, but what has the grace keep us from?

There are multiple words that scripture uses to refer to hell. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word sheol is used which could literally be translated as the place of the dead. The Greek term for this was Hades. The concepts of Sheol and Hades are different then the common understanding of hell because it contained both punishment and paradise, a holding place for those who had passed on. A good description of this is the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-30. There is a place of torment for those who are without grace where they receive what is due their works and there is a place of joy for those who have been given grace. But the concept of Sheol seems to be a temporary one. That it is a holding place until final judgment.

Christ talks about hell in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. He uses a world for hell, “Gahanna”, which means “the valley of the sons of Hinnom.”  In this valley, human sacrifices were offered to the Ammonite god, Molech, during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3, 21:6).  It had an evil reputation as a place of filth that continued on to Christ’s own day where it had become a garbage dump. In Christ references to hell there is only the view of judgment. In Matthew 5 Jesus discusses the reality of hell as a result of an unrepentant life.

Christ’s discussion of hell and latter that of the apostles carries with it an eternal sense of punishment. Revelations 20 says that Hell and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The intermediate holding place, with its painful torment described by the rich man in Luke 16 is only a preview of what is to come. In our next article we will discuss the nature of the eternal judgment.

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade

That said, however, there is truth concerning a future resurrection that we need to consider.  At least for believers the resurrection of Jesus stands as the prototype and the guarantee of our own.  From the nature of Christ’s resurrection body, we can deduce some things regarding the future resurrection.  First, the resurrection body is not only spiritual, but also physical, much ancient and modern theology notwithstanding.  Christ’s body could be touched, it could eat, it bore the marks of the crucifixion.  Certainly it had some qualities, such as passing through material objects, that a “normal” body doesn’t have, but it was nevertheless physical.  Second, the resurrection body maintains continuity with the present body.  Jesus’ resurrection body could be recognized as Jesus, though sometimes in the resurrection appearances it was not.  One difference is that our resurrection is yet future.  Even in the NT there were some who equated it with regeneration, essentially denying both its physicality and its futurity.  They were in error.  The new age dawned with the coming of Christ, but its full expression has not yet come.

Orthodoxy insists on a real resurrection of both Christ in history and humanity in the future.  “I believe . . . in Jesus Christ our Lord who . . . on the third day rose again from the dead . . . and in the resurrection of the body. . . .”  No amount of mental gymnastics or wishful thinking can change the hopelessness of any alternative into hope.

Beyond the central reality, theologies begin to diverge, especially concerning the number and the timing of the resurrection(s).  Those differences are at least partly driven by differences over other eschatological ideas, especially the millennium, and seem to be somewhat parallel to one’s understanding of the judgments.  Reformed theologians usually hold for one general resurrection, of the saved and unsaved together, just before the one final judgment.  Those of a more dispensational bent usually see at least two resurrections-sometimes more-the saved when Jesus returns to earth, and the unsaved after the millennium and before the white throne judgment.

The importance of the resurrection is grounded in creation.  God made us to function in a physical universe requiring a physical body.  The death that destroys it is an unnatural, judgmental event.  While it is possible to have a disembodied personal existence, it is not normative (2 Cor. 5).  Though there is some exegetical wiggle room, the fires of hell, if literal, would require an embodied existence to have their effect.  Likewise, the eternal state for believers is sometimes expressed in physical terms that would require a body to enjoy.

Phil Meade, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer

Daniel wrote about an abomination that causes desolation in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11 as referring to a particular individual(s) who causes terrible things to happen to Israel at a specific time(s) in history. Picking up on this idea, Jesus said that when this comes to pass, the people in Judea should flee to the mountains. But from this point forward, we can only speculate as to the identity of this particular abomination.

Though many believe this abomination is a person, others view it as an event(s), such as when Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtered many Jews around 165 B.C. and caused a pig to be slaughtered on the altar; or when Emperor Caligula, who in 40 A.D. demanded that his statue be erected and worshipped inside the Jewish temple, at the threat of slaughtering thousands of Jews. Still others see him as Titus, who in 70 A.D. destroyed the temple and Jerusalem, and finally some see him as the antichrist, or “beast” mentioned in Revelation 13.

Space does not allow going into this further, except to say that before the end of human history on earth is consummated, there will be such an evil visited upon God’s people, primarily the Jews, that it would destroy the planet if God did not intervene. The man responsible for this evil will set himself up as God, and demand many to worship him, but will in the end be destroyed. History suggests this has already happened many times over, yet may have at least one more significant occurrence before the end of the world is completed.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer

The issues dividing these two views are vast and cumbersome, as they often spill into various views of covenant and dispensational theology.  Yet, a basic core issue at the center of this debate is the issue of the tribulation and the “rapture.”  Premillenialism teaches that in the end times, following our current church age, there will be a seven year tribulation period where in the Anti-Christ will be made known and come to power (cf. Dan 9:24-27; Rev 11:3; 12:6; 13:5), followed by the second coming (advent) of Christ when in He will establish His earthly kingdom and reign for a thousand years.  The pretribulational view teaches not only that Christ will do all those things “after” the tribulation (Matt 24:21) but that He will also have a “secret coming” just prior to the seven-year tribulation where He will rapture all the believers (drawing from: 1 Thess. 4:17).   One of the pillar texts that “pretribulationers” use is Rev 3:10 where Jesus states that He “…will keep [them] from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world.”  They take the “hour of trial” to be in reference to the tribulation, which does seem to have good support, and that that to be “kept” from that hour must then necessarily involve being taken out of the world via the rapture.

There is a vast number of arguments that each side could present, however the historical view (post-trib) seems to carry with it, in my opinion, more textual weight in terms of biblical evidence.  In response to the argument from Rev 3:10, a post-tribulationist would see no reason to stretch the concept of being “kept from” the hour of trial to involve a physical removal; rather, it could be understood as being kept from the evil and demoralizing influences that will overtake the entire world.  Inference could be drawn from Gal 1:4 where it is said that Christ gave Himself to keep us from this “present evil world,” where the same word is used and certainly doesn’t imply being “removed” from the evil world, but to be spiritually preserved from its evil corrupting power while in it.  Yet, quite frankly, any direct evidence that would suggest a pre-tribulational rapture is lacking, and the majority of the arguments are drawn by inference that believers are preserved from the wrath of God, and thus that must mean they can’t go through the tribulation period.

When Paul speaks of the revelation of Jesus Christ (the second coming), in 2 Thess 1:5-7, he suggests that it is at this same time that he himself will receive rest from earthly sufferings (assuming he was alive for the second coming).  Since the revelation of Jesus Christ he is speaking of is talking about the actual second coming to earth, to punish the wicked and set up His kingdom, Paul is not expecting some “secrete coming” prior to the tribulation.  Finally, it seems quite plain in 2 Thess 2:1-2 when Paul discusses our “assembling to meet Him” (rapture) and the “day of the Lord” (second coming) that he refers to them as happening in one event (on the same day).

Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Our word for millennium comes directly from the Latin term “millennium,” and literally means “one thousand years.”  Its theological significance comes from Revelation 20:4-5 where it speaks about a people who “came to life, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Just prior to this thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, recorded in Revelation 20, it is said that an angel from heaven came and bound the devil throwing him into a pit, which was sealed for a thousand years.  These events and this time period is the basis of discussion, or debate, for the varying millennial positions.

The first view of the millennium is the amillennial view, which is often held by those belonging to the Reformed camp.  Within the chronology of eschatology this position essentially says that the age we are now in (often referred to as the church age) is in fact the millennial time period spoken of in Revelation 20.  The prefix “A” essentially negates the millennium (i.e., “no-millennium”); however, the negation is in the context of denying a future literal and physical 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth, not denying Revelation 20.  This position maintains that the church age will continue until Christ returns; after which, there will still be the resurrection of the dead, with believers going to their place in heaven and unbelievers to their place of judgment and eternal condemnation.  Thus, many of the theological issues such as judgment and future resurrection are not denied, rather they are not understood to be preceded by a yet future literal millennial reign of Christ on earth.

Secondly, postmillennialism means that Christ will return after the millennium (the prefix post meaning “after”).  Under this view the church age will over time turn into the millennial age, as more and more of the world’s population is converted to Christianity.  When the world has reached a point where Christian influence on society has become prominent enough, it could be said to have reached the “millennial age” of peace and righteousness.  Further, the millennial age within postmillennialism says that it will be a “long time” and not necessarily a literal thousand-year time period.  After the end of this millennial age, Christ will return, believers and unbelievers resurrected to heaven or judgment, and the new heaven and new earth will come into being.

Finally, premillennialism states that Christ will return before the millennium (the prefix pre meaning “before”).  This view holds that after the time of the tribulation Christ will return to set up his earthly kingdom and reign with the resurrected believers for 1,000 years.  Prior to and during the 1,000-year reign Satan will be bound, but released at the end of the millennium to deceive the nations.  After a final battle, where Satan and his human rebel army are defeated, all of the dead unbelievers will be resurrected to face eternal judgment.  This is simply the basic premillennial view, yet there are two other branches: Historic Premillennialism and Pretribulational premillennialism, both of which are beyond the present scope and will be examined in another article.

Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

The Kingdoms of God and Heaven are synonymous terms pointing to that spiritual rule over which God presides. Jesus once said in Luke 17:20-21, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” The Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. Though debated, many believe the kingdom of God began at some point in eternity past and will continue forever. Christ is the rightful King, and every human being is, in one sense or another, a subject of his Kingdom, for in Matthew 9:11-12 Jesus said, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness…”

Today the kingdom is partially present to the extent Christ rules the human heart. Yet, one day his rule over our hearts will be as complete as his rule over the earth when he takes his place on his throne in the New Jerusalem.  At that point, he will be the undisputed ruler of the universe, and the promise of Philippians 2:11, which says, “every tongue (will) confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” will be realized.

Though the church is closely aligned with the kingdom, it is not equivalent to the kingdom, for God’s kingdom controls every aspect of our lives.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer

At least from the prophets on, the Bible indicates that there will be eventually a final or last judgment.  This judgment is one aspect of all that God will do to set right all that went wrong because of sin.  It is the final aspect of human accountability to Him.  Jesus clearly affirmed it in many places, as did most of the NT writers.  2 Peter and Jude are devoted to the theme and Revelation presents it as a stark, fearsome, future reality.  Most of the creeds of the church affirm it.  The Apostles’ Creed has of the ascended Christ, “thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.”

Beyond the bare fact of such a judgment, its outworking is variously understood, depending on how one understands some of the major themes in eschatology that we will consider in the future.

The pieces that are not in doubt include the fact that it is Jesus who acts as the judge, that it affects all people, believers and unbelievers, and that it is based on carefully kept records, so its justice is both unquestionable and final.  While some affirm that there is only one final judgment, in the sense of one stage and one event, it is more likely that there are at least two phases or aspects since believers are said to be both judged and judges.  Most premillennialists affirm four:  of believers, of Israel, of the nations, and the great white throne.

While many unbelievers are repulsed by a divine final judgment, there is really a great deal of comfort in it and much to be learned from it.  First, on a personal level, all those historical victims of injustice that human systems have failed will eventually get their due.  As someone once remarked, the wheels of God grind exceedingly slow, but they grind exceedingly fine.  There is ultimate justice.  Second, we do not live in a world of moral indifference, but a world of moral accountability.  History is a moral category, moving toward a goal, not merely a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, as Shakespeare put it.  Third, there is motivation to do good and not evil, to work as wise builders and not foolish, because there will be a final accounting.  Fourth, there is a reason to hope and not despair.  God’s will is final and his justice will prevail.

Phil Meade, Kevin, Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

One might ask, “Last compared to what?”  Or perhaps, “How much is included in ‘last’”?  To answer, it might be helpful to think about the theological connection between creation and redemption.  These two ideas were connected very early in the history of theology, and we could argue, in the Bible itself.  The familiar story is that God created the universe “in the beginning,” but sin entered due to the moral rebellion of the people God created.  He immediately began a process of restoration, culminating in the incarnation of His Son and His work on the cross to destroy the works of evil.  The redemption He brought was the inauguration of the eschaton, so that we now live in one sense in the “last.”

But the present age is in another sense only the “last” in anticipation.  The children of God live in the glorious liberty of their freedom from sin, but the creation still groans under the weight of the curse and God’s children still have an appointment with death.  The Jesus who finished His work did not restore the kingdom of Israel; rather, he left with a promise of return.  When He returns, with all the surrounding events, the “last” will be completed and that original, spoiled creation will be remade.  There will be a new heavens and a new earth.  The righteous will enter into the joy of their Lord, and the wicked will endure an eternal punishment.  The “last” is not exactly parallel to “in the beginning” because creation will not be ended in a metaphysical sense so that only God will continue to be as He was prior to the creation.  But the change will be radical; history as we think of it will come to an end.

That second coming of Jesus is what is usually thought of as the content of eschatology.  What will happen and, as it is usually debated, in what order?  The “second coming” may be thought of in the narrow sense of Jesus’ return to earth, or in the wider sense of all the events surrounding his return, including the consequences.  Eschatology as a theological topic is the second coming in the wider sense.

Paul refers to Christ’s return as a “blessed hope,” but unfortunately it has often become, especially in the modern age, a cause cèlébre for strife, bickering, and division.  How ironic!  It has also become an occasion for theological crystal-ball-gazing.  The Jews came to understand the promise of a Messiah in such as a way as to miss him when he came.  God help us not to do the same the second time.  As we work through the terms and differences, please remember that some degree of humility is appropriate, even though we as a church profess a rather definite position on eschatology.

Phil Meade, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, and Kevin Farmer

There are essentially three opinions that have developed over time with regard to the origin of the soul.  The first is known as pre-existence and is associated most closely with the ancient theologian Origen from Alexandria in Egypt.  Origen taught that all human souls were divinely created at some point in the past and are held in storage, sort of, until a new body is propagated, when God then places one of them into it.  This opinion owes a good deal more to Greek philosophy than to the Bible-though it was known among some ancient Jewish groups-and has never had much support in the Christian church.  Not so with the other two positions, though there is no explicit biblical support for either.  Both are deductions from biblical teaching.

Some have held that as the parents create the body of a child, so they also create the soul.  This position is known as traducianism.  One of the ancient proponents of this view, Tertullian, held that the soul, and indeed all non-material things, have substance, hence it can be propagated just like the body.  Not all who advocate this view hold that position, however.  This has been criticized by some because it makes parents creators, a role belonging only to God.

The third option, creationism, holds that God creates each individual soul and unites it with the developing body.  This view has been criticized because it means that God is still creating, although he is said to have rested from that after six days in Genesis.

Traducianism by definition holds that the soul and body are joined together at conception.  Neither is ever independent of the other.  Creationism, on the other hand is indefinite as to the time of ensoulment.  It could be at conception or as late as the first breath, (arguing from Genesis that man became a living soul only when God breathed into him the breath of life), or at some time between.  Those who argue, for example, that the life of the flesh is in the blood, would see ensoulment happening when the blood system develops in the fetus.

Where one lands on this question can affect what one thinks or how one argues about abortion.  If traducianism is true, then all abortions kill unborn babies, who are personally complete.  On the other hand, if ensoulment is the result of an unknown and undefined act of God, then it would be possible to argue that at least some early abortions do not take life and are legitimate.

There have also been interesting questions raised about the incarnation of Jesus relative to this point, though we cannot pursue them here.

Those who believe in dichotomy declare the words “soul” and “spirit” are often used interchangeably in the Scripture. For example, when speaking of the dead 1 Peter 3:19 says Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison”, whereas Rev. 6:9 has John saying, “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain.” Mary said in Luke 1:46-47 “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Trichotomists make the most of this division. They point to I Thessalonians 5:23 which says, “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and Hebrews 4:12 which says that the Bible “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.”

Historically most Christians have believed man has two instead of three parts.  They understand that when God commands us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, he is not as much designating specific parts of man’s nature as he is saying “love me with everything you are.”

While the importance of these two opinions are debated by theologians, their value to us declares God created us as a unified whole.  When God created man the Scriptures tell us in Genesis 2:7 that when God breathed air into Adam’s nostrils “the man became a living being.” While theologians and philosophers divide the nature of man into a variety of parts, God unifies man into a material part (body), and an immaterial part (soul/spirit).  Separate one from the other and what it means for man to be “man” suffers.

We have a body and a soul, which were made by God and for God. This unity is also what separates us from the animals and is one way we are said to have been created in the image of God.

The arguments surrounding dichotomy and trichotomy focus on the immaterial, whereas the body emphasizes the material.  The Bible says God “formed the man from the dust of the ground” (material stuff), and then “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” When finished, God called all his creation, including man, “very good.” In doing this God blessed the human body.

Over the years various individuals and groups felt the body was evil. Plotinus (A.D. 204-270) sometimes called matter evil. He believed, like Plato, that the body was to be suppressed, so the soul could obtain its unity with God.  The Gnostics also believed the body was evil. Several ascetics went so far in this belief they would damage their health by performing weird and eccentric acts. The apostle Paul warned of people who passed hardship rules on the body while forgetting all of God’s creation was good (cf. 1 Timothy 4:3-4).

Man’s material part, his body, is no less spiritual than his immaterial part. That’s why God said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”  To be human is to possess a soul and a body, which are united into one person. The Scriptures do indicate that at death the soul is separated from the body; but this was imposed as something unnatural, a dreadful punishment because of sin.  The promise of the resurrection is that all believers’ bodies will be transformed so that they might bear the mark of eternity (1 Corinthians 15:49) with Christ, but it’s still a body, not something else.

First, man was separated from God.  Where once he enjoyed the purest relationship in the most uninhibited way, he came to be afraid of God and hide in shame.  That separation also had an eternal dimension that we know as hell.  This was the death of spiritual life.

Second, man was separated from nature.  No longer yielding its fruit virtually without effort, the earth began to produce thorns and thistles and man began to eat only by the sweat of his brow.  (And having worked on a farm, I can add blisters and a few other things.)  Even the original pristine environment was placed off limits.  His body became subject to disease and pain and the agony of dissolution that we know as death.  This was the physical death that we most commonly connect with sin.

Third, man as a race was separated from each other.  The harmony of the original marriage was broken.  All kinds of finger pointing ensued-it was the woman you gave me; it was the serpent that beguiled me; at least it isn’t my fault-and the marriage counseling industry was born.  The equality of relationship and the love and respect that were present turned into a power relationship along with imposed pain and suffering.  Sibling rivalry and murder were not far behind, along with polygamy and unjustified vengefulness.   This was social and cultural death.

Fourth, man was separated from himself.  He became psychologically divided and lost the wholeness that had characterized him from his creation.  He was subject now to shame, fear, tension, doubt, anger, jealousy, and all those things that torture us and tend to make our lives sometimes a living hell.  There is an emotional or psychological aspect of the death sin brought.

Sin brought brokenness to all of reality.  It is all fractured and out of joint.  The world as we experience it is not the world as it was intended to be in any fashion or in any of its aspects.

We will pursue the restoration of sin’s devastation in more detail in the future, but here it should be noted that the grace of God in the face of sin is as wide as sin’s effects.  Grace makes us children of God, it restores broken relationships (with the church being a paradigm), it will ultimately bring a new heaven and earth, and it brings us psychological renewal.  All of these are provisional for now, but it is important to see that all of creation was ruined by sin; yet in the mercy of God the circle of redemption is the circle of creation.

At first the simple answer “Satan” seems to suffice. Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 speak of Lucifer’s desire to usurp the worship of God for himself and supplant the glory of God for his own. But simply ascribing the origin of sin to Lucifer leaves unanswered questions. Is sin something that was created? If it was created, does that mean something other than God created it? Is sin a thing that needed required creation or is it a by-product of the existence of God? When the Scripture refers to all things created by Him and for Him, does it include sin?

I think it should be stated that as I understand Scripture, it is not exactly stated where sin originated. There are some things within the counsel of God that are mysterious, and this appears to be one of them. However, seeking God and His truth is always beneficial for our finite minds as we acknowledge our limitations and extol His greatness. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Rom. 11:33) An examination of the origin of sin is useful because it points us to His holiness and our need for rescue.

The Augustinian viewpoint that sin began as an act of the will has generally not been questioned in orthodox Christianity. If we examine Lucifer’s attitudes and actions involved in his fall we see that he longed to be worshiped. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Is. 14:14)  Ultimately that desire to be worshiped, to be the center of all things, is central to all sin. It is the lie he told man in the garden, you will be like God (Gen. 3:5).

Sin being an act of the will to usurp the glory and authority that is God’s, must have its origin after God created beings capable of will. Yet even if the origin of sin itself is a mystery held within the counsel of God, it can be clearly understood that it did not occur as a surprise to God. As the Westminster Confession of Faith (VI:I) asserts: This their [Adam and Eve's] sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory. God created a universe in which sin could exist, yet it is clear that God did not sin nor can He sin since His nature is to love His Glory above all things.

This leaves us in a place were we must cherish the greatness of our God and His grace to us.  For He knew us before the foundations of the world and so that His purpose in election might stand, predestined us to the adoption of sons. Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…. (Romans 7:25a and 8:1)

The “flesh” has sometimes mistakenly been equated with the physical body. People used to believe the physical body was sinful and it needed to be conquered. This often produced weird results like sleeping on a bed of nails, sitting on a pole for a lengthy period of time, or some other extreme behavior.  Children can confuse the part of the body that pumps blood as the “heart” of the Bible, and the “mind” as the brain.  But if the “flesh” encompasses the body, and the flesh is bad, then how can someone love God with their heart and mind if both are part of the body?

The word “flesh” can be bad, as the above reference indicates, but it can also be good, as when Hebrews states in Hebrews 2:14  “the children have flesh and blood” or it can be neutral, as when Jesus said “flesh gives birth to flesh” (John 3:6). The context of the verse gives us the key to its proper understanding.  In reference to the heart and mind, the “heart” in Scripture can refer to our emotions, but it also includes the mind, which houses our intellect, and/or will. All three refer to aspects of the immaterial makeup of man.

The entire makeup of man, both his physical and immaterial parts were touched by sin when man fell. The apostle wrote, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Romans 7:18). However, when a person comes to faith the Bible says our “flesh” (the NIV uses the words ‘sinful nature’) dies (cf. Romans 7:5-6) allowing us to learn how to love the Lord with our intellect, will, and emotions.  To turn away from the flesh is to say “no” to everything that leads us to sin with our body, while saying “yes” to that which leads us to use our intellect, will, and emotions to love, obey, serve, and enjoy God and others. So true worship touches not only our physical bodies but also the immaterial parts of our beings.

An image is a more or less exact replica of some original thing.  In a mirror it tends to be exact, unless you’re at the funhouse; in artistic expression, somewhat less so, but still discernible.  Scripture says that God made man is his own image and likeness.  What does that mean exactly, especially since God doesn’t have a body as we do?  In what does the image consist if it can’t be seen in a mirror?

We shall take the terms image and likeness as synonymous; the question of the exact nature of the image is more difficult and more controversial.  There are many things that have been alleged, but basically the question divides along two lines.  Is the image structural, referring to something we are, or is it functional, referring to something we do?  Functional definitions tend to be more modern, perhaps in line with the shift in philosophy away from essences.  Structural definitions dominated theology until the modern era.

The primary understanding of this term has been rational/moral.  Holiness is often listed as one of the preeminent attributes of God, having to do in part with his aversion to sin.  He knows good from evil and his character is good, providing an ultimate definition of that term for us.  We need such a definition because we also are moral beings.  We constantly make moral judgments and they are made of us.  Why do we do that?  Why do little kids learn to say, “But it’s not fair!” without us having to teach it to them?  The theological answer is because we are made moral in the image of a moral God.

Likewise with rationality.  One way to understand God is as an infinite mind, a mind that works using the laws of logic.  (A thing cannot both be and not be in the same sense at the same time even for God!)  We also have this capacity, warped as it is by sin, but still present.  We are capable of making rational decisions and rational judgments.  Truth and error are meaningful categories both to God and to us.

These aspects of our nature make us creatures capable of relating to God in a meaningful and personal way, unlike all the rest of creation.  They also provide the basis for human governance over creation, and things like artistic expression.  Because we are rational, God can speak to us and we to him.  Because we are moral, we can obey and do so in a way that is meaningful.  It also means that when we disobey, judgment can be legitimately imposed, both by God and by parents.

It is this doctrine of the imago Dei, the image of God, that makes man so special in biblical thinking and has driven the value of the person in Western thought, unfortunately now under severe attack.

The Bible is clear on the origin of man. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  (Gen 1:26-27).

There are two important concepts that should be examined in the creation of man. First, we are God’s workmanship. God the Creator and Supreme Being has the right to do as He pleases. He is the only true morally free agent acting in creation because He is the only Being in creation that is not dependent on another for existence. This places us with only one response to such a Being; we must recognize that God is God and we are not. He alone may command worship. He is the Potter and is able to do with the clay as He chooses. This theological concept is central to our belief in the sovereignty of God and to our understanding of grace.

The second concept that is inherent in our creation is that we are made in His image. The exact nature of what this means can be discussed at a later date, but no matter what, this truth significantly affects the way we relate to others. If mankind is made in His image, we are reminded of God when we see each other. We must therefore have a respect for life and treat one another accordingly. If we worship God because of who He is, should we not also have respect and admiration for His image-bearers and thus honor Him by loving one another? With this foundation in mind we are reminded of the words of Christ, “…what you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.” In C.S. Lewis’ essay, “The Weight of Glory,” he reminds us, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal….[It] is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit….[Y]our neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

So the concept of the origin of man reaches beyond the simple argument of creation vs. evolution to encompass our worship of God and our treatment of others. May God bless us by enlightening us further as we contemplate His greatness.

This particular prayer is very humbling.  Recognizing that we are sinful and helpless apart from God and it is He and He along that can regenerate us and give us new life.  This idea recognizes Him as being great. Just the fact that He can save a sinner as myself speaks of His greatness and that He is the only one that can rescue me points to His greatness and glorifies Him even more. Read through the text and meditate on this, it is very humbling and encouraging.  We serve a Great God.  At the bottom you will find the guitar and bass chord sheets.  I will be posting an mp3 later.

The Great God

O Fountain of All Good,
Destroy in me every lofty thought,
Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds,
Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness,
Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,
Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up;
Thus will my heart be a prepare dwelling for my God;
Then can the Father take up his abode in me,
Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch,
Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,
Inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory.
When thou art present, evil cannot abide;
In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,
By thy side no fears disturb,
No apprehensions banish rest of mind,
With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make me meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling.
Nothing exceeds thy power,
Nothing too good for thee to give.
Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,
Limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.
Let angels sing for sinners repenting, prodigals restored,
backsliders reclaimed, Satan’s captives released,
blind eyes opened, broken hearts bound up,
the despondent cheered, the self-righteous stripped,
the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,
the ignorant enlightened,
and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.

Guitar Chord Sheet

Bass Chord Sheet

Secondly, teaching is tied very closely to preaching.  In fact, it is hard to make a distinction between the two, other than to say that preaching usually at some points seeks to answer the question of application, while teaching is portrayed a little more academically and doesn’t necessarily ask that question (although it could).  Teaching is spoken of as a gift in Ephesians 4:11, and like preaching or the other gifts, it is needed for bringing the church to maturity.  Further, John seems to shed a different light on the need of teachers (1 John 2:27) when saying that believers have no need of anyone to teach them because they have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  However, the concept is not to reject teachers, but that the Spirit aids the believer in discerning true gospel from that which is false; moreover, the Spirit illumines the mind so that we may truly apprehend what is being taught.

Worship is one of the more elusive areas of theology to put into writing.  Yet, all have experienced it in one way or another.  At the heart, it has to do with connecting to something greater than oneself; it is the ascribing of worth to God.  Worship is even seen at rock concerts when fans hold cigarette lighters in the air signifying that something transcending their own sense of reality is being experienced.  In whatever fashion you may deem it, they worship what the music creates.  Believers, however, in a much greater way, connect to the eternal and infinite God. Yet, the manner of doing so, as John writes, is in Spirit and truth.  Thus, emotion and truth together constitute worship.  When one “worships” God without doctrinal substantiation, it lacks the heart and foundation of what the act stands for.  Further, when the mind is only full of knowledge, and no outpouring of the Spirit, it lacks its breath and life.

Will Uminn , Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit played a major role in the writing of the Bible. He worked with the human authors so that what they wrote was actually the words of God, and not men.  For example, in the Old Testament the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came on various prophets so they would know what to say or write. Ezekiel 11:5 says, “then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say: “This is what the Lord says…” Zechariah 7:12 tells us, “They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.” Sometimes God even spoke to pagan prophets as Numbers 24:2 says, “when Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him.”

Consider the book of Acts. Luke, the human author, researched the events immediately following the ascension of Jesus Christ and wrote them down on paper. As we read the book, we find that it follows a logical sequence, but the book also presents God as its central figure. Throughout history the church has recognized the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit throughout the events and the words which went into what Luke wrote. As such, conservative believers have said that the book of Acts was breathed into existence by God’s Spirit through the penmanship of the human author, Luke. Such a realization gives us encouragement that what we read in the Bible really is the Word of God.

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

Within the New Testament prayer and the Holy Spirit are connected in two aspects.  One is that we are commanded to pray in the Spirit, and secondly, we are told that the Spirit of God that is within us prays for us.  The former teaching leaves one asking the question: how do I pray in the Holy Spirit, or is it possible to pray to God yet not in the Holy Spirit?  The latter teaching on prayer leaves one pondering at the mystery that the Spirit within us, knowing what’s really important (no, we don’t always know), prays for us with “groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

In Ephesians 6:18 Paul commands believers to “pray at all times in the Spirit.”  Ok, pray at all times.  Now that I know that, problem solved, right?  No!  Seemingly, it is not enough just to lift our voice to God and say _______.  We must do it in a certain way, and the way prescribed is in the Spirit.  Does this mean we need to go into some delusional trance or speak in tongues in order to pray?  Moreover, note the quantity of prayer that should be “in the Spirit.”  Paul says pray at “all times” this way, which would leave one properly to conclude that Paul does not envision any form of true prayer that could be not in the Spirit.  It is not pray some times in the Spirit and other times just normally, it is pray “all times” this way (which would quickly dismiss the idea of tongues in this passage).

Putting theology in a “how to” form is highly inadequate, because there is so much at work apart from what we do.  Yet, in summary, we are two pray in two ways: we are to pray that the Spirit is the power of our prayer; and secondly, that the Spirit is the One who guides our prayer.  But again, that only presses the question because both of those elements are works of the Spirit!  How do we work the works of the Spirit?  Romans 8:26 sheds some light.  The Spirit is said to help us in our weaknesses, praying for us.  Prayer must be understood as an act of faith relying on the Spirit to empower us to pray as we should (see Philippians 3:3, where worshiping in the Spirit is contrasted with trusting in the flesh).  Secondly, how does the Spirit guide our prayers?  Our prayers are guided by the Spirit when we pray, essentially, what the Spirit would pray; and what the Spirit would pray is revealed in the God breathed Word.  We are to be so engulfed, saturated, and overflowing with the word of God that our prayers are naturally biblical Spirit prayers.

The concept of the Spirit praying for us is intriguing (Romans 8:26).  We, being finite and weak, do not always know how to pray (i.e., to God’s glory), and thus the Spirit prays on our behalf knowing the perfect will of God.  Yet, how do we know if our own prayers are in the Spirit?  To answer, one must consider what the role of the Spirit is.  John tells us that the Spirit will glorify Christ (16:14).  Thus, when one considers the content of their prayers, the extent to which they concern the glory of Christ and Him being magnified is the measure, I would say, of those prayers being empowered and guided by the Spirit, thus in the Spirit.  Trust the Spirit to empower and be filled with the Word to be guided.

Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Each of the gifts are given for a specific purpose “the common good” and are not for the private benefit of any individual but for the glory of God through the maturation of the church. In addition, there have been volumes written on the need for believers to find their spiritual gifts, whereas the New Testament does not encourage any such search. Admittedly, one verse (1 Corinthians 12:31) has been construed to encourage believers to seek the “higher gifts”, however the words “earnestly desire” in the original language can be understood either in the present tense or as a command.  If Paul was speaking in a command form then we should indeed seek our particular gifts; but if he used the present tense (as is suggested by the context) then he was most likely rebuking them for seeking the greater gifts – and that would be why the chapter on love would need to be written.

The Holy Spirit gifts or enables people for service, and as such those gifts become known by the believers and the church, as we walk in the Spirit. For example, a person who has been gifted with the gifts of helps need not take a spiritual gift inventory to determine whether or not they have the gift of helps.  All they need to do is walk with the Lord and “helps” will ooze out of them in all sorts of ways. Those with the gift of wisdom, knowledge, or healing do not need to “find” their gift before they can use it. They simply need to be filled with the Spirit, and he will manifest that gift in his own way.  This does not mean an individual would not benefit from being trained in their area of giftedness.  Those who are gifted administrators can learn how to be better administrators, but the key point to understand is that spiritual gifts are gifts. They’re already present, not earned or determined. They are given by the Holy Spirit in the process of redemption, and are useful only when empowered by that same Spirit.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer

When it seems as if everyone, including God, hates you, that you are less than worthless as a human being, and you have not a clue as to what to believe or do, the Holy Spirit opens the believer’s mind so you may understand how God sees you as opposed to how you feel. He then gives you the next step to know how to respond by faith without necessarily taking away the confusion.  Because the Holy Spirit is God, and also lives within us, he intimately knows everything God desires as well as everything we face.  He is our eternal instructor and encourager.

Sometimes he tells us to do things that simply do not make sense, like “forgive one another.” Unbelievers scoff at such a notion; whereas those who follow the Holy Spirit’s leading find that when they forgive others, they really are gaining forgiveness, healing, and peace for themselves. Similarly, the non-Christian can understand that Christians believe that Jesus’ death can take away their sins, but it makes no sense and therefore they reject that truth. However, in the cross of Christ the Christian finds more than he or she could ever fathom because the Holy Spirit is making it known to them.

Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Phil Meade

First, let us look at the one with which we are most comfortable. Romans 8:9 speaks of the indwelling of the Spirit, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” This indwelling is a seal that occurs at the time of conversion. It is related to regeneration and provides for our sanctification. It is a permanent arrangement as I Corinthians 3:16 points out that we are the temple of God in which the Spirit abides. These truths are bringing us comfort as we face the world.

The other words associated with the Spirit can also bring us both comfort as well as joy. Both words are used often in the scriptures. The concept of baptism of the Holy Spirit is used in all four Gospels and by both Paul and Luke, but not always in the same vain. For Paul, baptism of the Spirit is connected with regeneration. In I Corinthinas 12:12 and 13 Paul speaks of being baptized into the body of Christ, which is a clear reference to regeneration. Paul would see this as a one-time event that occurs at the point of salvation. But Luke uses the phrase differently. It is related to the experience of Pentecost and is more related to filling of the spirit. In Acts 11 Luke talks about gentiles having had the Spirit move upon them, being baptized by the Holy Spirit, were like the believers at Pentecost. And in his description of that experience in the upper room in Acts 2 he uses the word “filling”.

Filling of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing and repeated experience. It is used in scripture many times and is often followed by an act of power. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones discussed this topic in his book Joy Unspeakable. For him, filling of the Spirit could be described as situations where the Spirit comes upon people and enables them to act. The words they use, the actions they take are beyond what they normally would experience. It is a ministry of the Spirit in both the lives of the listener and the speaker. Dr. Jones says that the filling of the spirit is “to enable God’s people to witness in such a manner that it becomes a phenomenon and people are arrested and are attracted.” (Joy Unspeakable, p. 84) This experience brings us joy in seeing the Glory of God worked out in a transforming way. The joy is not because of our efforts but because it is obviously of God and for His glory.

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

How one understands the extent and nature of that work depends at least partly on how much of a Calvinist one is or isn’t.  The stronger one’s theology of sin, the more essential and extensive the work of the Spirit is understood to be.  Verses like John 1:12 and 6:44 and the work of the Spirit throughout the Acts narratives make clear that at least some supernatural work is involved in coming to Christ.

The more intriguing question in this activity is how the Spirit works.  How does he engender conviction in a sinner?  There is very little in the New Testament to suggest that he works apart from some human action.  In Acts 13 the Spirit sets apart missionaries and works through them to bring people to faith.  The focus is usually on the proclamation of the gospel.  Following such usage, the Reformation insisted that there is an intrinsic connection between the Spirit and the Word.  Its doctrine was developed in distinction to both Roman Catholic rationalism and the more fanatical subjective elements that developed in the wake of Luther’s break with Rome (known collectively sometimes as enthusiasts).

In the modern church the Reformation view has sometimes been taken in an almost magical sense, as if there is some inherent power in the text of the Bible that the Spirit puts to use with sinners.  Thus, all one has to do is quote the Bible to sinners and let the Spirit work.  Conversion is certain to result.  But perhaps it isn’t out of line to point out that the Bible is not magical.  The New Testament was not written in a special Holy Ghost Greek, as was once thought, but in the language of the marketplace.  What the Spirit uses in his work is truth, whether expressed in biblical language or not.  Paul did not quote the Old Testament when evangelizing people who did not know it or accept its authority, though he did present Old Testament concepts (see Acts 17).  The Bible gives us truth that we could not otherwise know and truth that is more important than any other we might know.  The job of the evangelist is to present that truth in language and a conceptual framework that the sinner can grasp.  The Holy Spirit uses that to bring conviction.

It is important to note that bringing about conviction is finally the Spirit’s work, not the evangelist’s.  Evangelists are witnesses, but bear no guilt in relation to those who do not respond.  On the other hand, there can be a firm confidence that the Spirit is at work when biblical truth is presented.  We do not speak in vain.

Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer

The idea of the Spirit’s relation to Christ is introduced specifically in the prophetical writings of Isaiah, where it is written that the Spirit would rest upon the Messiah.  The result of this Spirit resting is that the Messiah would receive wisdom, strength, and knowledge for the ministry in which He would partake on earth (Isaiah 42:1-3).  In light of this, the most obvious place to start in understanding the relation of the Spirit to Christ is to first note that it is the Spirit that generated Christ in the incarnation.  Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary causing her to be with child (Matthew 1:20).  This act of the Spirit initiated the physical life of Christ and also secured the sinless human nature that the Son would receive.

The next major act of the Spirit resting on Christ is the anointing that Jesus received at His baptism (Luke 4:18).  The Spirit coming upon Jesus, as portrayed as a dove, was the fulfilling of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61:1.  The concept of anointing relates historically in the Old Testament to an act performed upon Kings and Priests (both of which Christ was) to initiate and grant right to their duties; and thus, it is in this act that the Spirit conferred upon Christ power for the ministry.  This act of anointing by the Spirit was meant to signify that the Messiah had come (John 1:31).

Thirdly, the idea of the Spirit filling Christ is taught in Luke 4:1.  This     passage says that Jesus was “…full of the Holy Spirit…[and]…was led about by the Spirit.”  The idea of the verb “led” is that of continuous action.  It was not that Jesus was led once in one act, but that continually throughout His ministry He was guided by the Spirit.

From the birth, anointing, and the continuous filling of the Spirit, Christ met the climax of His earthly role in His death.  Yet this act was not His alone, but as  Hebrews 9:14 tells us, Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God.”  The Spirit that comes upon the Servant in Isaiah 42:1 is the same Spirit who leads the Servant to bear the sins of many in Isaiah 53:1-12.  Furthermore, the death of Christ is not the end of the ministry of the Spirit to Christ.  There are several passages that teach that Christ not only offered Himself through the Spirit but was also raised from the dead “…according to the Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:4; c.f. 8:11).

Despite the fact that this article did not take into account the role of the    Father, it may be inferred that there is not “any great work of God revealed in the Word of God in which all of the members of the Godhead do not work together to accomplish God’s purpose” (Pentecost, Divine Comforter).

Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer Dana Arledge

Last Saturday several of us had the opportunity to participate in downtown Kalamazoo’s Safe Halloween.  We had a table where kids could stop and make a bookmark using foam stickers.  Several of the stickers declared “Shine with the Light of Jesus.”  It was a reminder that like the jack-o-lanterns show their faces when the light is placed inside that we should be showing the “face” (character) of Jesus when his light is placed inside of us.  After making a bookmark we handed out a great piece of candy, and fliers inviting them to the country fair on Halloween night, church, and Olympians.  We made contact with over 500 kids and parents.  Please pray that we would have a chance at the Country Fair to connect with these families again!

As a Christian I have to decide who I am going to vote for, and here in Michigan the other big thing on the ballet is proposal 2.  Proposal 2 would expand the use of human embryos for any research permitted under federal law subject to a few limitations.  There seems to be so many different issues and all of them appear to be of the utmost importance, how do we determine which ones we can sacrifice on when we vote and which ones we can’t?  I have done some reading and found a few articles and links that have been very helpful to me in thinking through these issues.  Please read these before voting next Tuesday.

Piper Article

Randy Alcorn’s Blog

Proposal 2

Blog addressing Proposal 2

In Deuteronomy 34:9 we read that Joshua was filled with the Holy Spirit to lead Israel into the Promised Land and to deliver her from her enemies. Judges 3:10 reveals how the Holy Spirit came upon Othniel, Caleb’s nephew to deliver Israel from an oppressor, as 1 Samuel 11:6 shows he also did through Saul. The Holy Spirit was Israel’s protector (Isaiah 63:11-12), and through him prophets spoke (Daniel 4:8-9).  The Spirit was equally present in the movement of the wheels of Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1:12, 20).  The Old Testament also predicts the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 42:1-2).

Jesus once said in John 7:39, “…Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified;” and speaking further of the H.S. Jesus says in John 14:17 “…but you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”  But how could the Holy Spirit not be given if he had been so busy in the Old Testament, and how could they already know him?  The answer is most probably one of “degrees.”

The Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament for specific purposes and events. He empowered people, and performed God’s will, but was never as close as promised in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the Spirit came and went according to his sovereign will, whereas in the New Testament he is the final and permanent manifestation of the Trinity throughout the world. Grudem states, “The Holy Spirit had not come within them in the way in which God had promised to put the Holy Spirit within his people when the new covenant would come, nor had the Holy Spirit been poured out in the great abundance and fullness that would characterize the new covenant age (Joel 2:28-29).” Therefore, as important as the Holy Spirit’s presence was in the Old Testament, his presence today only enhances the presence of God among us.

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

B.B. Warfield wrote that the Holy Spirit is “the source of all order, life and light in the universe.  He is the divine principle of all movement, of all life and of all thought in the world.” If we could travel back into the void which existed just prior to God saying, “let there be light”, we would find the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters.  His presence guaranteed that when God spoke obedience occurred.  Warfield states, “as God said, Let there be light; Let there be a firmament; Let the waters be gathered together; Let the waters and the earth bring forth – depended upon the fact that the Spirit of God was already brooding upon the formless void. To the voice of God in heaven saying, Let there be light! The energy of the Spirit of God brooding upon the face of the waters responded, and lo! There was light.”  In short, the Holy Spirit was what empowered creation to happen.

In the KJV, Job 26:13 says, “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens…” Warfield states, “The Spirit of God thus appears from the outset of the Old Testament as the principle of the very existence and persistence of all things, and as the source and originating cause of all movement and order and life.”  In the Spirit’s presence in creation he demonstrates his closeness to everything that was created. Normally we think of God’s transcendence, or his majesty when we think of his role in creation. But the Holy Spirit was present with creation.  For while God the Father was over creation speaking it into existence, and God the Son was the one who was actually performing the task of creating, God the Holy Spirit was present before creation began, and empowered every molecule which was coming into existence to exist according to the command of God.

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade

There was a small group, the Macedonians, that argued against the deity of the Spirit just prior to 381, but as heresies go, it was rather insignificant and generated nowhere near the controversy that Arianism had over Christ.  A full Trinitarianism was incorporated into the creed issuing from the second ecumenical council at Constantinople in 381.  As Christ was held to be begotten of the Father, begottenness defining his personal distinction within the one God, so the Spirit was said to proceed from the Father (Jn 15:26), procession being his personal distinction.

Unlike Christ, the Spirit has had a rather more controversial history in theology regarding his personality.  He has often been thought of as a force or an influence, not as a person.  That may be due at least in part to the fact that both the Hebrew and Greek words for “spirit” also mean “breath” or “wind,” both of which are impersonal.  The Greek word is also grammatically neuter in gender, so the pronoun would be “it,” not “he.”  The difficulties of translating Ezekiel’s passage on the valley of dry bones are legendary because the word “ruach” carries all three meanings there.  How does one decide exactly when “breath” is meant and when “spirit”?  One could also think of the parallelism between “wind” and “spirit” in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in Jn. 3.

But there are many places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit acts or is acted upon in ways that show him to be personal.  For example, he can be grieved (Eph 4:30), but obviously that is not true of the wind or breath.  The decision of the Jerusalem council in Ac 15:28 is said to seem good to the Holy Spirit, implying that he makes intellectual or moral judgments as do persons, but not influences.

We may be exceedingly glad that the Spirit is both fully God and personal.  His ministry to us- as comforter (Ac 9:31) and intercessor (Rom 8:26), for example-would be fatally compromised if both were not true.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge

The Holy Spirit is often the least studied and thus the least understood member of the Trinity. A. W. Pink in his book entitled The Holy Spirit says this concerning our study of the matter,
“The great importance of a reverent and prayerful study of this subject should be apparent to every real child of God. The repeated references made to the Spirit by Christ in His final discourse (John 14 to16) at once intimates this. The particular work which has been committed to Him furnishes clear proof of it. There is no spiritual good communicated to anyone but by the Spirit; whatever God in His grace works in us, it is by the Spirit. The only sin for which there is no forgiveness is one committed against the Spirit. How necessary is it then that we should be well instructed in the Scripture doctrine concerning Him! The great abuse there has been in all ages under the pretense of His holy name, should prompt us to diligent study. Finally, the awful ignorance which now so widely prevails upon the Spirit’s office and operations, urges us to put forth our best efforts.”

Why do we shy away from this subject? After all, the Great Commission tells us to baptize in the name of the Holy Spirit. Christ promises a Counselor who will live in us and teach us. Yet we as Baptists shy away from the subject. Perhaps it is a fearful reaction to the charismatic view of Spirit. A view, which like Simon the Magician, has a misunderstanding concerning the power and role of the Spirit. As with everything we as man touch, the focus of our theology often is turned inward. We look to answer the questions, “what do I get out of this?” or “what power do I gain through this?”

As we look at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit through the next section of articles we should consider carefully this Third Person of the Trinity.  What things are we lacking in our understanding of God because of our poor understanding of the role of the Spirit? What beauty of glory do we miss because of our fear of how the world views Him? In what ways are we not properly giving glory to God because of our lack of knowledge in this area? As C. H. Spurgeon said, “There never yet was a heavenly thought, a hallowed deed, or a consecrated act, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, which was not worked in us by the Holy Spirit.”

Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn

Many of our ladies attended the Gun Powder ‘n’ Lace event where they had the opportunity to shoot a variety of guns.  From the pictures it looks as though they had a great time.  Enjoy the slideshow or click HERE to go to the web album.

In the New Testament we find that Christ was the fulfillment of all those predictions.  (See Mt. 21:11 and Jn. 4:19 for prophet; Hebrews 2:7; 3:1; and 5:6 for priest; and Mt. 21:5; Jn. 1:49; 1 Tim. 6:15; and Rev. 19:16 for king.)  During his earthly life, Jesus taught the Word of God and predicted the future just as the OT prophets had done.  In offering himself for sin, he fulfilled the OT priesthood in a very striking way, by being both the priest and the lamb.  He offered himself to the Jews as their Messianic king, but was rejected, until a future time.

That rather brief survey suggests that two of the offices are past and the other is yet future.  In one sense that is true, but in another it is not.  At the center of every colonial New England town stood three white, clapboard buildings-a school, a church, and a town hall.  The Puritans who established and built those towns believed strongly in a communal life revolving around education, faith, and government.  Education had something to do with that ultimate prophet, who was made for us Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30).  Religious life for them was bound up with a continuing mediatorial work of the great high priest, our righteousness and sanctification, and the proper ordering of society was involved with a king whose law held sway.  In none of these areas was there any uncertainty; the tyranny of the majority was unthinkable.  These offices that Christ held were not merely theological truths or intellectual abstractions; they cut down into the practical aspects of life giving final, absolute answers.

Baptists generally do not have a great deal of use for these offices of Christ, sometimes not even theologically, certainly not sociologically.  But while we may disagree with the way they were applied by the Puritans, their impulse would seem to be sound.  Christ really does fulfill these offices and exercises them on a present, continuing basis.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge

Though every true Christian wants the Lord to quickly return, his ascension provided several benefits for us. First, he was able to enter into the presence of God with his own blood for our redemption (Hebrews 9:12), second he sat down at the right hand of God to symbolize his work for our redemption was complete (Hebrews 8:1), and third he now serves on our behalf in God’s presence (Hebrews 8:2). In 1697, Samuel Willard, a pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, encouraged his congregation with these words regarding the Ascension of Christ. He wrote:

Let Christ’s Ascension comfort every true believer in the assurance that he will one day go to heaven also. Indeed, may contemplation of this point cause you to consider yourselves to be there already. Remember: Christ, who is there, is your Head, and you are the parts of His body. If the Head is there, the body is sure to follow. He will never be at rest until He has got every one of His body to be there where He is. Think of this: He has gone to take possession for you in your name. He has gone as the Mediator to receive the kingdom of which you are heirs together with Him. His ascension is your guarantee; the kingdom is delivered to Him, for you. Therefore look at heaven as your very own, and let this cause you to bear all afflictions patiently. Encounter all the conflicts on your path courageously and finish your course with undaunted resolution. That man is out of reach of harm in this life, who is sure of possessing heaven in the next. This is the portion of every believer.

(Cited Jan 2, 2006 http://www.puritansermons.com/willard/willard2.htm)

Just before he went to the cross, our Lord told his disciples about preparing places for us in his Father’s house, and that once those places were complete he would return to take us to himself (John 14). It was through his Ascension that he entered God’s presence, to make certain that the preparation for our arrival would be complete.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hope of Christianity. Without the literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, our faith is nothing more then a philosophical and moral construct in which we comfort ourselves by assigning eternal meaning to our existence.  In which case as scripture says we should be pitied. Thus we should love and cherish this cardinal doctrine.

There are multiple reasons the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection is important to Christianity. First of all, it confirms the faithfulness of God and the integrity of the whole of Scripture. In John 2:19 Christ declared that He would rise from the dead. The Old Testament also foretells of his death and resurrection as in Isaiah 53:11 for example. If he did not rise then scripture is untrustworthy. Secondly, as Romans 4:25 says, it secures for us our justification provided by the shedding of Christ’s blood. Thirdly, it shows the power of sin, that is death, is now powerless. If Christ is not raised then death still has its power. As Paul says in I Corinthians 15, if Jesus is not raised from the dead then no one is. Christ showed that he was more then a mere man by His resurrection. The required payment was made through the death, yet He does not continue to pay the penalty of sin by remaining in the grave but as Romans says His death is once for all time. We died with Christ and his is our propitiation so also we are raised with Christ to newness of life. Fourthly, His resurrection is a promise and a deposit for our resurrection. As Romans 8:11 says we will be raised by the same power that raised Christ. By His death we are justified and by His resurrection we walk in newness of life. If Jesus did not literally rise from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is false and ineffective. Preaching is without value. We are liars concerning God and no sins have been forgiven, thus believers have no hope. But praise be to God our Father who raised Jesus from the dead and has extended that power and grace to us who believe.

May we echo the earnest desires of Paul in Philippians 3:10-11, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

First, there is the question of impeccability or the ability of Christ to sin.  God, of course, cannot sin, nor can he be tempted with evil.  Jesus was God.  Yet Jesus was tempted, and though victorious, the picture given to us in the Gospels is that there was a real struggle.  There are four alternatives:  1)  He was not able not to sin, 2) He was able to sin (usually with the implication that he didn’t), 3) He was able not to sin (usually with the implication that he did), and 4) He was not able to sin.  How you decide rests largely on how you conceive of the relation of the deity to the humanity of Christ.  The first option is not acceptable, nor is the third as usually understood, but how do you decide between the other two?

There are some parallel issues.  One of them is death.  God is immortal and cannot die; He is in fact the source of life.  Yet the Scripture is emphatic that Jesus did die; there is no atonement without that.  Another is Luke’s statement that the boy Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge.  God is not subject to learning (He knows all things immediately), and Jesus was God, so how can this be true?  How is it possible for Him not to know the time of His return?  Yet, He explicitly said He didn’t (Mark 13:32).

Theologically, this problem is known as the communicatio idiomatum, or the communication of attributes or properties.  Because of the personal union of natures, orthodoxy affirms that what is properly true of only one or the other nature can be predicated of the whole person.  Thus, although God cannot die, he can experience death in the person of Jesus because he is united to a true human nature that can die.  The same applies to temptation.  (But not to the necessity of sinning because sin is not necessary to true humanity.)

An interesting historical example of this problem is the different conceptions of Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper.  Luther argued that he can be physically present because since God is omnipresent, the flesh of Christ is therefore everywhere.  The Reformed, on the other hand, argued that the flesh of Christ is locally present in heaven and Christ is present in the supper only spiritually.  If Luther’s position is correct, how could Jesus be spatially limited to a manger or a cross?  Was it just an illusion?  (See the earlier article on “Docetism.”)

Phil Meade, Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer

Suppose someone asked you whether Mary bore God or Christ.  What would you say?  How you answer would give some indication of how you conceive of the relationship of the divine and human in Christ. If you say “Christ,” then you would imply that what Mary conceived was only human.  The deity would have to be added or joined subsequently.  There would be only a conjunction of natures.  If you say “God,” then you imply that there is some kind of personal union between the divine and human that exists from conception.

In the fifth century a bishop (Nestorius) was asked exactly this question.  His answer was “Christ.”  This created an enormous controversy with the upshot being that Christ was held to be of two natures in a personal union.  Hence Mary was properly called the God-bearer.

About twenty years later a monk (Eutyches) argued that after the incarnation Christ had but one divinized nature, sort of like homogenized milk.  This also produced a controversy with the upshot being that Christ was held to be both of and in two distinct natures in a personal union.

Chalcedon, A.D. 451, was the creed that finalized all this development over Christ, although the controversy raged on for another two hundred years under some other permutations until finally it split Christendom irreconcilably.  Chalcedon affirms a two-natured, or dyophysite, Christology, and has been the standard for an orthodox understanding ever since, although moderns have bitterly criticized it as being too committed to Greek metaphysics.  Chalcedon does not give an explanation of the person of Christ as much as it provides a set of limits.  The incarnation is not finally comprehensible to us.  Still, we must affirm that certain things are true (and false) if we are to avoid serious theological error.

One of the problems with which orthodoxy struggles is the reality of the human person in Christ.  It holds that the second person of the Trinity became incarnate in Jesus.  But if that is so, what room is left for a human person unless Christ is multi-personal?  The creed affirms two natures united in one person, but the divine nature is already personal.  Does that leave us with only an impersonal human nature?  And is that adequate?

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge

A second heresy, which precedes Apollinarianism but was not condemned until after, was Docetism. This heresy taught that Jesus only appeared to have a human body, and that he was not really God in the flesh. Thus he was not truly human. This heresy caught on because of its belief that matter was inherently evil, which is what the Greek idea of dualism taught, and that God could not be connected to anything truly material. As such Jesus did not really suffer on the cross, nor die. It only looked like he did. The apostle John wrote against this teaching in such places as 2 John 1:7 which says, “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Docetism was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

At first, these ancient heresies might not seem relevant to us today, but modern cults such as Jehovah Witnesses, who deny the deity of Christ, and Christian Scientists who deny his humanity, are nothing more than variations of these false beliefs.

The two natures of Christ, Divine and human, are important because only in him could the righteous judgment of God towards man’s sinfulness be paid (Hebrews 2:17). Today the defense of the two natures of Jesus is just as relevant a topic for us as it was for the ancient church. As Christians we believe Jesus is both God and man, without confusion or blending of those natures, and that he alone is able to satisfy God’s justice, and by that bring us into the presence of God.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

The nature of Christ is at the center of Christianity. This may seem to be an obvious statement. It should not be surprising then that the enemy often attacks this topic. In fact, Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God are what caused the most controversy. The Jewish leadership could not accept this son of a carpenter as deity. The debate over the Deity of Christ has never really disappeared, but for orthodox Christianity it came to a pinnacle at Nicea.  A church council was convened in A.D. 325 to discuss the teaching of Arius. Namely, his teaching that God had created Jesus and thus Christ was not deity. He reasoned that belief in Christ as God would mean that one would no longer be monotheistic. The council concluded the matter with what we refer to as the Nicene Creed.

We believe…in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance (homoousios) with the Father, through Whom all things were made…

They used the word homoousios, which we translate as of one substance. This was the key language in the creed. The strong meaning of this word echoes clearly what scripture says in Philippians 2:6 “Who being in very nature God…”

The debate did not end at the council. The two sides continued to argue for six decades. The Arians were aided by the political power of Constantine’s son Constantius. The Council of Nicea and its creed was championed by Athanasius the Bishop of Alexandria, who like the Protestant reformers who would follow 1200 years later relied on the Scripture as completely sufficient for doctrine. The Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381 confirmed the earlier creed, not based on the authority of the Council of Nicea, but on the creed’s correspondence with the truth of Scripture.

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

The virgin birth of Christ is a central truth in Christology. Often in evangelical circles it is a neglected doctrine that is assumed to be understood. Its biblical roots go back to the prophet Isaiah who foretold of the virgin giving birth to the savior of the world. It stands out on the biblical landscape as an affirmation of a divine event in human history. Isaiah says, “the Lord himself will give you a sign….” The doctrine itself, simply put, is that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin mother, Mary, without the involvement of a human father. It is referred to as the miraculous conception. Not be confused with the erroneous Roman Catholic belief in the Immaculate Conception in which Mary herself was born without a sin nature even though she had human parents. Christ was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit thus taking flesh through Mary. This is understood to be a miracle and therefore an impossibility without the direct intervention of God.
The theological importance of the virgin birth has many dimensions. First, the event substantiates the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. This confirms the consistency of Scripture. Secondly it speaks to the divinity of Christ. In and of itself it does not prove Christ’s divinity, but the event itself speaks of divine intervention in the course of human events. Thirdly, it supports the humanity of Christ. Jesus was born of a human mother and experienced the trauma of childbirth, the education of a growing child and is thus able to identify with our weaknesses as spoken of in the book of Hebrews. The virgin birth also helps substantiate the sinlessness of Christ. If Christ was born from two human parents it would be more difficult to understand his lack of a sin nature.
The virgin birth speaks to the reliability of Scripture, the divine intervention in human experience, and the love and mercy of God in sending his Son. The doctrine of the virgin birth is sometimes used as a litmus test for evangelical Christians. Does it warrant such consideration? Do we understand enough of scripture to interact with those who hold divergent views? We should meditate on these ideas today and consider more closely the virgin birth of Christ.

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself….  Philippians 2:6-8

The Incarnation of the Son is the phrase used to describe the second person of the Trinity when he leaves heaven and “becomes flesh” as stated by John the Beloved. This takes place in the miraculous virgin birth, where the Holy Spirit moves upon Mary and she bears a son.  The Incarnation of the Son is at the heart of Christianity. He who created the world became part of that creation.

The Incarnation would become a foundational doctrine to the church and lead to many other debated doctrines over the history of the church. The idea that the Creator would dwell among us as one of us is one of the most gripping mysteries of Scripture.

Hebrews tells of how the Incarnation helps us because our Great High Priest understands us and can deal gently with us.  Philippians and I Peter teach us that the Incarnation is an example of how we ought to live. These are part of the complex importance of the Incarnation. But to speak of the Incarnation is to speak of the work or “point” of the Incarnation, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”-Matthew 1:21. We who were fallen and enemies of God had no eternal destiny other than destruction. But God in his infinite wisdom sent his Son to provide a glorious grace for his elect. The Incarnation is the condition for that provision.  Atoning death is possible only if there is an Incarnation.

“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”-Romans3:25-26

The Incarnation is the vehicle God used for the atonement, which provides for our salvation through God’s glorious grace and thus fulfilling its ultimate purpose-the glory of God the Father.

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Originally, the idea seems to have been used by liberal thinkers to assert in effect that Jesus emptied himself of the essential attributes of deity and thus, was not truly God while he was on earth. It was a way to maintain a semblance of theological correctness, while denying an essential truth of orthodoxy.  They could make an appeal to the Bible while having only a human Jesus.

The text of Philippians will not support the liberal contention, and in fact, probably militates against any metaphysical conception at all.  If the Philippians were to emulate Jesus, of what were they supposed to empty themselves?

Yet, the question doesn’t go away easily just because the original text used to define the problem was wrongly used.  To have a Jesus who is locally present in a human body and shows all the qualities of a genuine humanity, including learning and suffering, begs us in some way to speak of some limitation of his divine nature, whether we use the word kenosis for it, or find that word objectionable because of its connection to liberalism.

Conservatives are divided over the use of the word and the concept.  Some find in it merely another example of trying to assert a true humanity for Christ; others find in it only a defection from orthodoxy.

A mediating position would argue along the following lines:  The Jesus of the Gospels is presented to us as at least a man, but more than a man.  We find him performing miracles, dealing authoritatively with demons, exercising divine prerogatives, but also sometimes not doing those things, as when he experienced the reality of temptation and sweat drops of blood as he faced a horrid death.  Remember his plea of ignorance regarding the time of the second coming.  The discourses in John particularly show us a man who is intimately in touch with a divine father, doing his will on a continuous basis.  As Paul writes elsewhere, he was the second Adam, succeeding as a human person in a total, continuous relationship with God where the first Adam failed.

Thus the emptying of Philippians 2 is understood as Christ laying aside the free exercise of his divine attributes.  He still possessed them, he just did not exercise them except as he was lead by the Spirit in obedience to the Father.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge

A primary purpose of Advent (which means “arrival”) has been to anticipate and long for the coming of Christ for man’s deliverance. The idea of deliverance reaches as far back as the Jew’s longing for deliverance from Egypt, and is as pertinent as our longing to be free from the effects of continued living in this fallen world. There is even an aspect in Advent for the longing for ultimate justice to be administered to this world. As such, there has always been a connection between Christ’s coming as a baby, and his cross.

It’s unfortunate many neither understand nor appreciate the significance of this yearly event. In fact, many of us grew up without observing these particular holy days. Historically the primary color used in Advent was purple, a symbol of Christ’s kingly reign, though other colors have also been used. The candles, and the wreath, signify the period of waiting for the Lord’s arrival as well as expectation, hope, and joy. As these candles are lit, and the various readings read, those in attendance are reminded of the importance of Christ’s coming.

Though the celebration of advent has changed throughout space and time, its purpose remains largely unchanged. Every year the church collectively looks back to the time when the Messiah was born of the virgin, and laid in a manger. We are reminded of when he came to set his people free as he announced the coming kingdom of God. Yet, we are also reminded of how much we long for him to come again so that his kingdom might be eternally established on the earth. Advent is perhaps the one time of the year when the collective body of Christ says with one voice, “Amen, Come Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22: 20).

Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade

The Word was God.  The Greek word used here by John is the word logos. It has been simply translated as “word”, “reason,” or “argument” along with a many other terms. But the translation of language often is inadequate to convey the full significance of what is being said by an author.

Greek philosophers had used this term for hundreds of years in relation to a divine force governing nature. Later the idea had progressed in Greek society to a concept of rational power that is associated with divinity, nature, and fate. Stoic ethics that incorporate an anthem of “follow where reason [logos] leads” implies that one should resist passion and emotions in order to live a quality life.  In the first century the Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus incorporated the logos in his attempt to combine Jewish tradition with Platonic philosophy. The use of the word logos in metaphysical terms had been well established in the Greek and first-century Jewish cultures.  There is a correlation in Jewish theology to creation. God created through spoken word and it is God’s word that accomplishes his will.
Against this backdrop John uses the word logos to describe Christ. He asserts that Christ as the word, or reason of God was God from the beginning. He contends that the Logos of God is God, has a relationship with the Father, and was the one through whom all things were made. This use of the word by John gave early church fathers a philosophical bridge in which to communicate the Gospel into the Greek culture.

Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade

A few weeks ago, you read an article on “Begotten” that highlighted the fact that Jesus is not a creature, but the eternal Son of God.  The Creed of Nicea expressly distinguishes the begottenness of the Son from any idea of createdness-”begotten not made.”

But having a Son who is fully God, just like the Father is, pushed the ancient church to define more carefully how there can be only one God if He is multiple.  Their answer was the doctrine of the Trinity, one God in essence, but three in person.  Scripture is relatively silent about the exact nature of God on this point, but it does give some clues.  In attempting to explain how the persons are distinct within the Trinity, the church adopted part of the word “begotten” and filled it with a new meaning.  It became a word describing the personal relationship of the Father and the Son.

This is a rather simple idea in one sense, but very complex in another.  To maintain the oneness of God, there can be no essential difference between the persons.  Each must possess the entire essence of what God is in the same measure and to the same extent as the other persons.  God has only one nature, one will, etc.  How then should we distinguish the persons?  What is it that makes them distinct from each other?  Orthodoxy says that the persons are defined relationally.  The fact that the Son is begotten or generated is what makes Him the Son.  If we were to say that the Spirit is also begotten, we would be saying that the Father has twin Sons.  The church took a different word from the Gospel of John (15:26) to define the Spirit’s person; He is the one who proceeds from the Father.  Hence the relationship of Procession is what defines the Spirit as the Spirit; Generation is what defines the Son as the Son.  Because God is eternal, these personal relationships are also held to be eternal, hence “Eternal Generation” is often the way it is expressed.

The Greek and Latin churches came to have slightly different conceptions in some of the details, but they are agreed at least on the basic terms and concepts.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge

In the Old Testament this word is used more than thirty times to describe kings and priests. It was applied to King David as a model for the final Messiah who would come at the end of the age. Psalm 2:2 says, “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his ‘Anointed One’ (Messiah).” David was the king in view when this was written, but it ultimately pointed to Jesus.

The common expectation of the Jews was God’s Messiah would be a political, military ruler who would throw off all foreign oppressors. Jesus, however, never aligned his Messiahship with common thought. He knew God’s desire was for him to be a spiritual, not a political, deliverer. At his arrest he said in John 19:36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

That kingdom was a kingdom born from suffering. In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus applied Isaiah 61:1-2 to himself when he said the Spirit of the LORD was upon him and had anointed (Messiah) him to preach, heal, and deliver. This he accomplished first because of who he was, and secondly by what he did. As both God and man Jesus was the only person in history who could ever fully be God’s Messiah. As the one whose life was lived in perfect conformation with God’s will, and who subsequently was sacrificed as God’s lamb on Calvary’s cross, he was able to permanently take away our sin.

While the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, Luke 4:41 tells us that demons knew he was the “Christ” (Messiah) of God. The idea of Jesus being God’s Messiah has always divided people. For some he is a “stumbling block” while to others he is the “power and wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).  The Bible testifies clearly that Jesus is God’s one and only Messiah.

Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade

The word itself is used nine times in the New Testament and can refer to the idea of birth. For example, Luke 7:12 tells us a certain widow lost her “only son” (our word “begotten”), and that Jesus brought him back to life. The word is also used to talk about an only daughter (Luke 8:42), and an only child (Luke 9:38, Hebrews 11:17). But when it’s used of Jesus, the emphasis is not on his physical birth but his position in God. He is uniquely God’s Son, being God himself (cf. John 1:1-18, 1 John 4:19).  The ancient Nicene Creed was written to defend his unique status as when it said regarding Jesus, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.”

One reason this is important is because of those who believe Jesus was a son of God without being divine (e.g., Islam, cults, and liberal Christians). However, when we remember that Hebrews 11:17 says Isaac was Abraham’s “one and only Son,” even though Ishmael was also alive, then we realize the word “begotten” can also be connected to the idea of “uniqueness.” Though God has other sons (e.g., angels [Job 1:6], peacemakers [Matthew 5:9], Christians [John 1:12-13]) only Christ is uniquely God’s Son. He stands above and apart from everyone else.

If we do not hold to Christ’s uniqueness as being God’s “only begotten” Son, then we forfeit the Christian faith, for that term connects us to his deity, and his ability to totally take care of our sins.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer

“. . . a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.”  Most of us recognize that piece of the Christmas story.  We can locate Augustus historically as the ruler of imperial Rome and we all know about taxation and governmental decrees.

We may not think very much about the decree behind the decree.  God had told the prophets that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  But Mary, God’s choice for the Messiah’s mother, did not live in Bethlehem and had no reason to go there, especially not being pregnant.  Obviously, in order to predict the future, God must know ahead of time what will happen.  There must have been something in the plan that would put Mary in Bethlehem when the time came for the Messiah to be born.  Caesar’s decree was in fact preceded by another decree, an overarching plan for history designed by God himself.

One need not think along these lines very far to arrive at some serious questions, and theologians have not been slow to ask them.  Preeminent among them is how our choices can have any meaning if the whole story is already written.  Could Caesar not have issued his decree?  Did God predict Bethlehem on the basis of knowing what Caesar was going to do or did He in some way arrange the events?  To use a different example, Christ was crucified according to the “predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).  How then were Judas and the Jewish leadership held guilty for what they did?  Is human life more than a stage play?  Are the choices we make more than illusion?

These questions admit of no easy answers.  As applied to the problem of evil, they challenge the very goodness of God.  They are the source of some significant divisions within the Christian church.  However one qualifies God’s decree or tries to relate it to meaningful human choice, the bottom line is that God does in fact have a plan that He is working out.  That fact ought to encourage us greatly.  The end of history is not in doubt.  The ultimate winner is already known.  A sovereign God is only a threat to those who will not obey Him.

This last weekend there were about 20 men and boys who attended the men and boys campout.  We had a wonderful time hanging out and getting to know one another.  We also enjoyed talking about worship, integrity, discipleship, and character.  Here are some pictures from the camping trip and would love if you were to join us next year.  Watch the website for details next summer.

Every person has a name, and every name describes a person. Our 16^th President’s name was Abraham Lincoln, however that same name today symbolizes character, perseverance, and resolve.  In like manner our Creator has a name; in fact He has several names.  Each name reflects a certain aspect of His character.

One of God’s names is Elohim, which means strong one. When connected to other names, various aspects of His strength are revealed.  For example El Shaddai means God Almighty (Genesis 17:1), and El Elyon is The Most High God (Psalm 9:2).

Another name for God is the word Yahweh that means to exist or be. Some combinations of this name include Yahweh Jireh or The Lord will provide (Genesis 22:14), and Yahweh Nissi that means The Lord is my Banner (Exodus 17:15).

One of the most common names for God in the New Testament is the name Father.  Jesus used this name several times to talk about God.  Immediately after His resurrection He told Mary Magdalene do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God (John 20:17). Though well acquainted with the Old Testament names for God, the disciples were brought into a completely new relationship with Him when they understood God was now their Father.

The Bible has several other names and titles for God, each describing His strength, wisdom, love, kindness, wrath, power, or some other divine characteristic.  Because God is beyond our comprehension, part of eternity will undoubtedly be spent learning more about each of His wonderful names and how each of them magnifies His glory.

Want to learn more about God’s names? Try checking some of the reference books in our church library, or typing the phrase the names of God into an internet search engine. Then be prepared to be amazed as you spend a few moments thinking about the various names of God.

If someone says “John is nice” or “Susan is good” they are communicating something more than the fact that John does nice things, or Susan performs good acts. To possess “niceness” and “goodness” is to be defined by those characteristics. They are part of who we are.

When thinking of the attributes of God, theologians compile lists such as God is holy, loving, good, wise, all knowing, etc. Each of these represents something about God’s character.  It is not enough to say “God is holy” or “God is loving”, for He does not just possess holiness or love. Holiness and love are essential aspects of His being. Take away any of His characteristics and God ceases to be God.

It’s dangerous to think of God in terms of His attributes, for to do so is to risk creating an idol. A.W. Tozer wrote “when we try to imagine what God is like we must of necessity use that which is not God as the raw material for our minds to work on; hence whatever we visualize God to be, He is not, for we have constructed our image out of that which He has made and what He has made is not God” (Knowledge of the Holy page 16).

How then should we think of God?  We must think of Him in terms with which we are familiar, but we must not limit Him by those terms. God is righteous, and all of us have an idea of what makes up “righteousness.” However, none of us adequately understand all the intricacies of that or any other attribute.  At best, we are men looking at a mountain range through a telescope.  We can see some of its splendor but we’re not close enough to it to really appreciate its majesty. Tozer also wrote “man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.  Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God” (page 9).

To know, and correctly appreciate the attributes of God is to better understand who and what God is like.  It is also an essential way for our worship of God to become purer.

A triangle has three angles; a tricycle has three cycles or wheels, and the Trinity has three . . . nities??

Well, not exactly.

The Trinity refers to a belief about God, expressing the fact that the unity of His being exists (or subsists, to use the theological word) as three persons-Father, Son, and Spirit.  It is one of the most fruitful conceptions of Christian theology.

Autobiographies were unknown in the Greco-Roman world.  A theologian who plumbed the depths of the trinitarian nature of God and the meaning of person wrote the first autobiography.  In considering the personal nature of God, Augustine essentially developed the understanding of personhood that was the Western tradition until modern times.  His discovery of personality was new and provided one of the distinguishing marks of the Christian civilization that replaced the Greco-Roman civilization.

The Trinity has often been distorted or misunderstood by Christians, and denied by rationalists and sometimes by biblicists across the centuries.  The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible and the doctrine was first formally expressed in the fourth century, but its content is biblical.  A triadic conception of God is visible in several places in Scripture, among them the statement of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and the baptism of Jesus in Luke 3.

From a practical point of view, something like the Trinity is necessary to explain how God is not a supreme egotist or a schizophrenic prior to the creation.  How was His love expressed when He was all there was?  With whom did He communicate?  A multiplicity within Himself-a divine society, so to speak-explains whom He loved and how communication could occur.  A solitary, undifferentiated monad does not.

From a philosophical point of view, Christians are not stuck with the classical problem of the one and the many (or unity and diversity).  God is both one (in essence) and multiple (in person).  There is unity and diversity as far back in the Christian system of thought as it is possible to go.

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are heading to Postrervalle and Vilcas as a family.  The last time we did this on our return trip the road fell out from under the jeep.  I am sure my wife is a little concerned.  However, they have recently graded the road.  Please remember us in your prayers as we travel.  We hope to spend some time visiting and encouraging  the believers especially in Vilcas.

Please pray for Brother Ruben Terrazas and his wife Dorilda.  She has been experiencing some health problems especially with one foot that swells and is very painful.  The last I knew she traveld to Santa Cruz to seek medical attention, however she told me once that whenever she goes to Santa Cruz she has blood pressure problems.

Continue to pray for Lorgio and Daiseys’ baby Consuelo.  She is doing well all things considered, but she continues to suffer with health problems and appears to be slow in developing. Also pray that they would desire to do what is right and get their paperwork in order so that they can be legally married. Continue to pray for Doña Jesus.  She is an elderly lady who is suffering heart problems and other medical issues.  She claims to have made a decision for Christ a long time ago, but has not been living for the Lord these past few years.  Her daughter Petronila is a faithful believer in the church in Vilcas.

Jhonny and Saida continue to be faithful even though they walk two hours to church.  Please pray that they will stay on the right track and that they too will get legally married.

Stephanie and I would appreciate your prayers as we both have been fighting a nasty cough that has held on for more than two weeks now.  Thankfully none of the girls have caught it.

Pray for Angela one of our deaf ladies.  She has not been in church as she has gone to Santa Cruz.  She does not know when she will be returning.  The family problems are too numerous to mention here but I fear we are loosing her to the world because of the influence of her family. Nancy is in the countryside helping her family but should return soon.  Lily is here but does not come to church when the others are not in town.

We greatly appreciate your prayers please know that we pray for you as well.

Saved to Serve,

Richard DeVall and family

I Thess. 5:24

Perhaps at the beginning of any theological study, there should be a course on knowing God.  What does it mean to “know” God?  Or what are the answers to the simple questions of, is God knowable, and if so, why should I worry about this knowledge?

Knowledge comes in many forms.  We can know about something’s existence, but is that adequate where God is concerned.  James Boice in his book The Foundations of Christian Faith describes another level of knowledge. He talks about the ability to know about a city…its streets, its neighborhoods, and its parks.  One could come to this knowledge by living there or by studying maps. This can be related to knowing God; we can know theology in many ways. It can be accomplished by knowing people who know God or by studying the intellectual concepts that the Bible entails. But is this truly knowing God?

In Romans 1, it says that God has made the knowledge of Himself plain to all and that man is without excuse.  So, where does that leave us because it is very obvious that much of mankind does not know God even though it ‘is plain to them’?

The “knowability” of God is something that is beyond the human intellect.  Knowing God involves ideas of faith and grace, ideas of a newness of life and being born again.  There is a knowledge that is not human by any means but is bestowed upon us by an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit that results in Him revealing Himself to us.

Knowing God is not like knowing an idea or philosophy and we should not expect it to be. Boice says that the knowledge of God is not so much that we search after him, because we won’t, but that He reveals Himself through Christ and the Scriptures; as well as through piety and worship.

There are many reasons to know God, our creator and the sustainer of life. But the greatest reason might simply be, what else is truly worth knowing?  Paul prayed that his loved ones would know God in a greater way, and encouraged them to grapple with the difficult concepts of our Savior. I would like to follow Paul’s example by encouraging us to drink deeply from scripture daily as well as from those like James Boice who have been enabled by the gift of a great mind and spiritual insight to stretch our thinking and expand our knowledge.

The team of Berean youth returned to Michigan this past week, and we are now preparing heavily for Team TACTICA September 2008!  It is always a joy to share how God is working, the fruit that He is bringing, and the ways that He is growing us along the journey.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.  Thank you for your prayers and for the sacrifices that so many of you make to allow this ministry to continue impacting Costa Rica for the glory of God.

Serving the King of kings in Costa Rica,

Ryan and Gretchen

Ryan and Gretchen Rought

Apartado 915-2350

San José, Costa Rica

USA # to reach us in Costa Rica: 269-978-7291

Knowledge comes in many forms. We can know facts, some thing’s existence, or even how to accomplish a task, but is that what it means to know God? In the Old Testament God was largely seen as “transcendent.” He was exalted, high, and beyond creation. In the New Testament Jesus called God “Father”, and by that brought him close or “imminent” to creation. For a long time the concept of God being “above” and yet “close” were balanced. Both his imminence and transcendence were “central” to Christian thinking. God was the hub from which all knowledge and truth proceeded. We knew we existed because God said, “let us make man in our own image.”

René Descartes (1596-1695) is considered to be the first of the rationalist philosophers. He believed nothing could be known unless its existence was proven rationally. He asked the question, “How do I know I exist?” His answer was, “I think, therefore I am.” Because he couldn’t doubt the fact he himself “thought”, he knew he existed. From man’s own existence Descartes believed all knowledge and truth could be understood. With him began the movement, which placed man at the center and God on the peripheral. Later, movements pushed God even further from the center until one day in the mid 1800’s Friedrich Nietzche said, “God is dead.” Long before, philosophers and theologians said we couldn’t know God, or that he had created the world but had left it to run on it’s own.

To such ignorance 1 John 4:7 says, “…love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” The world never has, nor ever will know God. However, those who are in Christ know him, and will know him even better throughout eternity. Their knowledge of God may begin with the words, “In the beginning God”, and will most definitely include the word, “Father”- but where will it end? By taking God at his word and eternally following him, we will undoubtedly look back at our present knowledge of God much as a grade school child recalls Kindergarten. It was a fun experience, which opened the doors to life.

Often we hear of stories about near misses or occasions that might be interpreted as coincidence and immediately we taut the Providence of God in gratitude of this brush with a miracle. Lost keys delay a trip and a person misses an accident or plane crash. Situations like car trouble occurring just as you pull into a gas station instead of on the interstate or finding out about a job opening, that you eventually get, as you casually surf the net are just a few examples people might give for proof that the hand of Providence is our ever present help.

But perhaps there is more to consider as we selectively praise God for things that seem to get us out of jams. God’s first and foremost purpose is to bring glory to Himself. There can be nothing He loves more then Himself, His purposes and His own plan. We say He is sovereign and that nothing escapes the understanding of our God. If this is true then it is also the hand of providence that leaves us with heartache. It is the hand of providence that takes a boy’s father before he is even old enough to know him. It causes or allows wars and rumors of wars. Sickness, death and tragedy are all parts of the hand of providence. It is a hard truth that is sometimes ignored in favor of shading the negative as an attack of the enemy. But even the demons are the unwitting servants of the Almighty.

“For all things work together for good….” Looking at things through an understanding that God does things for His best interest gives hope in all situations, and we know that hope does not disappoint. It is this trust in God’s understanding of what is best that allows the hymn writer to say ‘it is well with my soul.’

The term ex nihilo is not only a fifty-cent word, it is also Latin, which compounds the offense. However, it is a term used by theologians to carry a good deal of meaning regarding the doctrine of creation all by itself.

Its literal meaning is “out of nothing” and it tries to give substance to the biblical statement that God spoke the physical universe into existence. It was not made out of preexisting stuff (nothing is not nothingness, as if it were something), nor, more importantly, did God make the universe out of himself. Rather, there was nothing; and then at God’s command there was something.

In using the term ex nihilo, one intent seems to be to magnify the power of God. A kid who makes a castle out of sand on the beach is not the equal of the kid who first creates sand and then makes a castle. So a God who does not require preexisting stuff to make a universe must be a powerful God indeed.

A second intent is to maintain a separation between God and the creation. There is a relationship between God and his creation; but unlike in pantheistic systems, God is not identified with the creation. God is eternal; the creation is temporal. God is self-sufficient; the creation is dependent. God is a necessary being; the creation is contingent. If God had created out of himself, none of these things would be necessarily true.

Perhaps it is also correct to say that this term implies that creation is a free decision of God. There was no necessity, either internal or external, acting upon God to create. He was complete in himself and could have been so through all eternity without a creation. But he chose not to be. In a way that makes us small indeed. But it isn’t the end of the story. Stay tuned.

For in the garden man died. He died spiritually as well as physically. Through the redemptive work of Christ man is made spiritually alive in Christ. We enjoy the benefits of this spiritually quickening in our adoption as sons being joint heirs with Christ and our sanctification through by the Spirit as we grow in knowledge and depth of insight. Yet we are not completely restored.

While our standing spiritually has been declared so that we are no longer considered law-breakers, in our bodies we still carry the marks of our sin. As Paul says in Romans chapter seven while we delight in God’s law we have another law still at work in the flesh. Sin has brought us death and diseases and all kinds of physical discomfort. This restoration of our bodies is spoken of in Romans 8:23: “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

The believer will be changed as I Corinthians 15:53 says, “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,” This change will take place in one of two ways. Paul says that if we die we will enjoy being in the presence of God. But we are there in spirit while the body returns to the earth. When Christ returns, the saints that have died will be resurrected. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 speaks of this event: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” As for those who do remain alive to see his return we will be transformed, again from I Corinthians 15 verses 51-52 “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Due to the fullness of the work of Christ, for all is finished, our glorification is guaranteed in the atonement. It gives us hope for these tired bodies beat down by sin and life; we will fully enjoy our complete redemption. Thus, we are spurred on to finish the race and bring Glory to our Father.

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

UPDATE
(adam@parmenterclan.com)
In March, time seemed to stand still or perhaps evaporate, and suddenly it’s July. As I’ve written earlier, in February, Marge’s father, Henry Blunier, died and passed on to eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord. Marge has been healing emotionally as have the rest of the family.

Then mid March my father, Allen Parmenter, was getting treatment for a leg ulcer and leg pain. The pain medication made him dizzy and he fell and hit his head resulting in a head injury. I was there for two weeks at their winter Arizona home to help get him out of the nursing home and deal with some serious patient care issues. I’m happy to say that mom and dad are now in their summer home in LaGrange, IN and dad is receiving care in their home. It will take many months of recovery for both the leg wound and the head injury. It’s possible that he will lose one of his legs.
Please pray that my parents will not only be able to focus on dad’s recovery, but that they can enjoy their time with each other.

In May, Marge had outpatient surgery, an excisional biopsy of the breast. Praise God that it was all benign. She recovered well and meanwhile finished her first year of home-schooling with Michael.

In May and June, I’ve been making as many phone calls as I can to churches. I focused on Iowa for a while, but stopped when the area I was calling got flooded. Lately I’ve been making phone calls and sending information to Baptist, Bible and Community churches in central Illinois. People are friendly and I have plenty of follow up calls to make.

We are in the endurance part of our pre-field ministry. We have about 20% of our support, but don’t have many church meetings lined up. It takes making many phone calls and sending out information to locate the churches that feel like we are a good fit for their missions program.

On The Road
We had the opportunity to minister at East Arlington Baptist Church in Lawrence, MI and we enjoyed a day of presenting at Alaska Baptist Church in Caledonia, MI. We shared our testimonies, the spiritual condition of the Czech Republic and our desire to share the gospel in the Czech Republic.

At Home
We are enjoying a weekly bible study with a young couple using the Story of Hope and the Way to Joy materials from ABWE. Marge is also discipling a new believer.

ONLINE
New at www.sharethecrown.com is the “Meet the Parmenters” page. Now is your chance to find out who we really are!

Meanwhile Back on Bank Street:

Maryellen is enjoying our backyard habitat where she studies plants, bugs, fireflies, and other critters. She is also busily preparing for piano day camp. It’s an exciting opportunity for her.

Michael spent two weeks enjoying public service as part of the Serve Kalamazoo event. It was organized by a group of local churches. He’s also diligently keeping his trumpet skills sharp this summer and getting ready for his jazz band’s next concert. His band is called The Shades. You can learn more about them at www.shadestunes.com.

Marge is a wonderful wife and mother, and is busy getting ready for our trip to Pennsylvania for a week of classes at ABWE. We have studying to do on cross cultural church planting and on the Czech Republic in preparation for this training.

Adam is studying to prepare for the classes at ABWE headquarters as well as keeping up on pre-field ministry. My employer recently announced a 20% cut in work force. It is a sensible effort to get costs in line. I should know within a couple months if I’ll be terminated from the company. It wouldn’t be all bad as I might be able to use severance pay to support the family while spending full time raising support. We trust in God’s timing. I recently went for physical therapy to deal with some hip pain. The treatment is helping. I want to deal with it now while I still have health insurance from a large corporation.

PLEASE PRAY

* That I’ll be able to set up a full schedule of church visits so that we can share the exciting news that God is beginning to work in the hearts of Czech people.
* We still aren’t ready to put our house up for sale, but need to do it soon. We don’t expect to make much, because of the housing market. Pray that we will make enough to cover our financial obligations.
* Our weekly bible studies to raise up new disciples here in Kalamazoo.
*
As always, please pray that each day our focus will be on Christ and that we would each have a desire to know and please Him.

PRE-FIELD PREPARATIONS

Church Meetings:
10-August Devon Church 1630 West Devon, Chicago, IL 60660
26-August 58th Avenue Baptist Church 2228 58th Ave., Cicero, IL 60804
5-October Bethlehem Baptist 2031 East Cork Street, Kalamazoo, MI
19-October Bethel Baptist 402 S. Westnedge, Kalamazoo, MI 49001

MONTHLY SUPPORT
If you would like to help with our monthly financial support, send checks to:
ATTN: Parmenter Support #013408
ABWE, P.O. Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585

Remember to mark it as monthly support if you plan to give each month.

Thanks for taking the time to read and pray for us.

Kind regards,

Adam, Marge & the Kids
1512 Bank Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49001
Cell (269) 762-2202
Home (269) 373-5402
e-mail: parmenters@abwe.cc

Dear Prayer Warriors,

In a similar way God has preserved his word so the Scriptures we read are safe and enjoyable, whenever we read them. One difference between preserved vegetables and the preserved Word of God is that the vegetable undergoes a certain amount of change in texture and taste in the preserving process, whereas the books of the Bible are essentially the same sense they were originally written.

How can this be? Consider what holds the universe together. Hebrews 1:3 tells us Jesus sustains all things by his word. The word sustains means to carry or to bear. Colossians 1:17 says that in Jesus all things hold together. As Jesus carries the universe holding it all together, so God preserves the original books of the Bible making them available to us today.

One way God used to preserve his word was through the painstaking manner in which it was copied. Before the age of the printing press each copy was made by hand, checked, and double-checked by people trained to look for the smallest error. Since erasers had not yet been invented, whenever a mistake was found standard procedure was to throw out the entire copy. Today copies are printed on high-speed presses, whereas then the Scriptures were methodically copied and even translated from one language to another, word-by-word, and sometimes letter-by-letter just to protect its ancient sayings.

Such a preservation is important because it allows us to trust that the Bible we read is indeed God’s Word. When we read words such as believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, we can be confident that these words mean the same thing today as when they were first written.

]]> http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/preservation/feed/ 0 http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/illumination/ http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/illumination/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:21:46 +0000 Kipp Crigger http://bethelbaptistkalamazoo.com/?p=148 We’ve all stumbled our way through a dark room. We bump into the chair, the table, or step on a child’s toy while we desperately search for a light switch.  Once the light is on we are able to clearly see everything in the room.

The Bible can sometimes seem like a dark room.  We may read it, but we don’t understand what we read.  The light of understanding is still turned off in our mind, but once it is turned on then understanding comes. The process whereby God turns the light on in our minds is called illumination.  It is a specific act of God whereby we are able to understand the meaning of a particular passage in Scripture.

The apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church states what  comes from the Spirit of God is spiritually discerned, meaning that the light switch of our understanding must be turned on by the Holy Spirit.  After his resurrection Jesus walked along the Emmaus road with two of his disciples.  They did not recognize him and were mourning because they thought he was still dead, however the Bible says beginning with Moses and all the prophets he explained to them the Scriptures. He turned on the lights of Scripture for them to understand.

In a sense the Bible is like all other literature; nouns are nouns, verbs are verbs.  In another sense it is unique. It is a book whose spiritual message can only be understood by our spirits when God’s Spirit illumines our minds by turning on the light switch of understanding within us. Perhaps you’ve read a certain passage of Scripture repeatedly without being able to grasp it, then one day someone explains the meaning to you, or perhaps one day it just makes sense. The light gets turned on in our minds.

Once a light is turned on in a room it’s on.  You can’t turn it more on, however our understanding of Scripture can and should continue to get brighter as God’s Spirit does his work in our lives. The Bible is not just a book we read, it’s a book God teaches us by the Holy Spirit turning on our understanding.

But then the time arrives, and the curtain goes up.  All that was once hidden is now open to view.

That’s the idea of revelation; it’s an unveiling, a making known of what has been hidden.

Theologians usually divide revelation into two categories—general, sometimes called natural, and special.  General revelation is called such because it is generally available.  It is not restricted to any one person or group.  It is sometimes called natural because it is based in nature.  “The heavens declare the glory of God” as the Psalmist says.  Human conscience gives us information about morality, telling us that there is a right and a wrong and pointing us to a standard for morals.

Special revelation is restricted in some way.  It may be a dream or vision given to only one person.  It may also be communicated by a secondary agent, as when Moses passed on to Israel what God had shown him on the mountain.  The preeminent form of special revelation is the personal revelation of God in Christ.  Special revelation is also the propositional communication of God to us in the Bible.

Revelation is the basis for all the theological enterprise.  Without revelation we have only religion; never theology.  Revelation is also the most hotly contested area of Christian theology.  Kill that and the rest withers away.

We use the words “inspiration” and “inspired” to discuss great performances by athletes, actors, or musicians. Is this what is meant by inspiration of Scripture, that the writers of Scripture were moved with great intellect and emotion to write the words of God? The NIV translation of 2 Tim. 3:16 uses the phrase “God breathed.” This is a great translation because it gives a word picture of the concept, one where God is actively involved in the work. The phrase “God breathed” implies more than just emotional or intellectual influence; it implies purposeful direction. As 2 Tim. 3:16 says, God inspires all of Scripture. This view of the Scriptures is often referred to as verbal-plenary inspiration. Verbal inspiration means the inspiration extends to the words themselves, not just concepts or ideas. Plenary inspiration is the idea that the whole of Scripture is inspired, that it is complete.

Painters can be inspired by the beauty of a woman or a sunset when painting a masterpiece. But neither the sunset nor the woman have the painter’s painting in mind when displaying their beauty. God did have a purpose in mind when inspiring the writers. “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”–2 Peter 1:21 This verse uses the phrase “carried along.” Other translation use the word “moved.” This gives the picture of direction with a purpose. In Acts 25:15-17 we find the same word being used to describe Paul’s ship being driven by the wind. The ship is still a ship but was at the mercy of the wind. As you apply this to the inspiration of Scripture, God used men to write His words. They, like the ship had all their faculties and resources, yet God directed them. He used their personalities and writing styles, but within His sovereign purpose and plan. God moved men purposely to create a written revelation of His glory.

Although we have just scratched the surface in this short note, I would encourage you to dig deeper into this topic and see how important is was to our fathers in the faith.

If you don’t verify your ruler against the official one—wherever it is kept—or at least compare the ones you’re using to make sure they match, you could be headed for a lot of wasted time, frustration, and expense.

Islam looks different than Christianity because it uses a different standard—the Koran and not the Bible. Judaism is not Christianity because its standard of belief includes only books prior to Christ. Roman Catholicism looks a little different from Protestantism because it uses a Bible with different contents.

The word “canon” comes from an ancient word meaning “reed,” the measuring stick of the ancient workman. It is used theologically to mean the authoritative collection of books that governs faith and practice.

Theology depends not only upon the fact of revelation, and its nature (expressed in the word “inspiration”), but also in its extent. If our canon is wrong, then we may disregard some revealed truth we didn’t include or take as truth something that really isn’t.

In a theological sense the canon is driven by inspiration. Inspired writings imply a collection of some kind with continuing authority. In a practical sense, the canon involves an historical process of discernment. How this works exactly is one of the great bones of contention between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

From Beth Arledge

A fun time was had by those who braved the Bethel olympic games at this year’s June picnic. Matthew Norton and Ruth Mejia claimed victory over their contenders in the highly competitive bean bag toss. Not to be outdone, Abby Salinas and Daniela Sebastiani took very quick coordinated steps toward the finish line to win the three-legged race. “It was great to see fathers [participating] with their children,” stated Cecilia Sebastiani.

From Jake Seigwart

I’ll tell you, I was amazed at the turnout. It was relaxing and fun. Kids and people were everywhere. The playground area was overrun with little ones. It will be interesting to see how full the playground is in years to come when many of the babies are running around. Bocce ball was a lot of fun and it is a game that easily breaks barriers as seen on Sunday. Some of us will have to get a couple more sets to start an annual tournament. Hispanic, English, young, and old; all played together in many of the different sports. In soccer, I watched a little guy score a goal on a bunch of big guys; and I watched a couple of old guys outrun some of the younger guys. This last Sunday was a day that needs to take place more often. It was good to enjoy each other. It was good to be together as one church.

Ever wonder whether you were really saved? Ever wonder whether you sinned once too often and lost your salvation? For too long well meaning Counselors have taken their own doubting Christians to such passages as 1 John 5:11-13 where it says that if someone has the Son he/she has life, and whoever does not have the Son does not have life. Then follows the encouragement that since God cannot lie, the doubting Christian must be on his/her way to heaven. Yet, far too often such counsel fails to quiet the inward storm of insecurity, because such assurance is based on a weak premise.

A Christian’s assurance of salvation is never determined by whether or not he/she has sincerely asked Jesus into his/her heart. The real question is, “have they been born again?” Fortunately 1 John gives us several helpful ‘born again’ markers. For example 1:7 says, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 2:1 says that we, “have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one” who is the propitiation for our sins. 2:10 reminds us that, “whoever loves his brother abides in the light”, while 2:17 says the one who, “does the will of God abides forever.” 3:3 tells us that the true Christian, “purifies himself as he is pure”, 3:7 says, “whoever practices righteousness is righteous”, 4:7 says, “whoever loves has been born of God”, 4:13 says God has, “given us of his Spirit,” while 5:1 reminds us that, “whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”

God never bases doubting Christian’s assurance on an act he or she accomplished in the past. It is based on the veracity of God’s word lived out in the daily life of the individual whose every breath evidences that he/she is born again and as such believes in the name of the Son of God ; and because they have Christ they “have eternal life” (5:13).

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade

The less well known polar opposite of legalism is antinomianism, the idea that no rules whatsoever apply and we may do whatever we please. After all we live by grace, not by law (Romans 6:14), so we can even do evil that good may come, right? Some who knew Paul’s teaching accused him of exactly that, so, like legalism, antinomianism is also of New Testament vintage.

Does biblical moral law have any relationship to sanctification? If so, what? This question was debated during the Reformation between Lutherans and the Reformed. They agreed that the law has a condemning function and that it serves to point us to Christ, but they differed over what was called the third use, its application to the Christian life after justification. Lutherans generally said it doesn’t apply; Calvinists generally held that it does.

St. Augustine gave a rather famous summary of Christian ethics: Love God and do as you please. Some have heard echoes of that in modern situational ethics, which focuses on always doing the loving thing. Modern ethicists, however, empty “love” of all meaning and usually apply it only horizontally, not as a response to God. But even in Augustine’s sense, how would I know whether I am really loving God? Calvinists would assert that law functions to give a structure to sanctification, keeping me from self-deception at exactly this point. If I live in violation of the law of God, then I have no justification for saying that I love him and that doing what I please pleases him.

Law is not ignored in sanctification, as in antinomianism, but it also is not the sum and substance of sanctification as in legalism. Think of it in relation to civil law today. Such law is prohibitive or negative in nature; it forbids me to kill, maim, defraud, libel, etc., other people. If I love my neighbor, I will obviously fulfill those requirements and I don’t have to fear the cops or the judge, but my focus is much higher than just the minimal negative requirements law imposes on me. I will act for their positive good. However, if I say that I love my neighbors while I’m beating up or cheating everyone in sight, the law gives the lie to my claim. In sanctification, biblical moral law functions in much the same way.
Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

The Reformation, beginning with the monk Martin Luther, revolted against the ascetic tradition. A clear distinction between justification and sanctification and the realization that such self-abnegation does nothing relative to one’s standing with God sucked the life out of the ascetic tradition within Protestantism.

In the modern church, influenced as it has been by the self-indulgent culture in which it lives, asceticism is an exceedingly foreign concept, so much so that many do not even know the word and would be uncomprehending of its practice in the history of the church. If we reject the medieval view, do we necessarily reject asceticism? Given the significant number of examples in the Bible, e.g., abstaining from sex at the giving of the law (Ex. 19:15), various fastings (Est 4:3; Ps 35:13; Joel 1:14; 2:12; Mt 4:2; 9:14, 15; Lk 2:37); the Nazarite vow (Num 6:1-21), and celibacy (Mt 19:12, 1 Cor 7:25-35), we shouldn’t, but it is exceedingly important to be clear about the reasons one might engage in it. First, we must be clear that there is nothing intrinsically evil in what is given up, nor for that matter in the physical nature of human existence. “Flesh” in the New Testament is more properly understood as a moral term, or sometimes our physical existence as the theater of operation for our sinful nature. Second, unlike the Roman Catholic position, ascetic practice is generally not universal or permanent, but voluntary and temporary. Third, giving up something is not an end, but a means. Fasting is often a means of increasing spiritual sensitivity. Marriage may be forgone, for example, by a missionary, as a means of more effective service. But asceticism must never become, as it tended to do in the medieval period, a source of pride for one’s supposed spiritual superiority.

There is a place for self-denial in our understanding of sanctification, but only when understood and practiced in the right way and for the right reasons. It does not make us holy in itself (Is 58:3-7), but it can demonstrate to God our desire for him (Mt 6:16-18) or our commitment to ministry (Ac 13:2, 3).

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

The doctrine of sanctification has been defined by the Westminster Catechism as “…the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” Sanctification is both being eternally sanctified (positional, never changing) by Christ’s perfect and complete work; and secondly, it is what is called “progressive sanctification,” which is the process of being made more and more holy (conformed to the image of Christ), enabling one to come into more conformity and obedience to God’s will over time. This, being the work of God, is the very thing that encompasses our daily lives. We have times of obedience and times of failure; growth in Christ, yet often only after months of spiritual dryness. The central element within this process is that, by the grace and working of God, the seasons of dryness will become shorter lived and consumed by the years of the flooding spring of God’s Spirit and grace.

One will also find that this “work of God’s free grace” is something in which we partake of in many facets of our heart and will. The idea of working out “your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) and denying oneself of sin and submitting to God is very real; yet, the basis or foundation for these acts, is that God is the one who is working and willing in us to do these very things (Philippians 2:13).

When speaking of perseverance, or more completely, perseverance of the saints, the closest parallel to this doctrine is what we Baptists call “eternal security.” However, the latter title can be misleading and deceptive. We are not secure eternally because of some act of profession, faith, or card signing. Rather, believers born of God will never completely and finally fall away from God so as to perish forever, because they will persevere to the end in matters of faith towards God; all of which is based on the grace of God keeping them from stumbling (Jude 24) (although many will have seasons of faithlessness and sin).

The overarching theme of perseverance shouldn’t be the believer persevering, but the believer’s preservation by God. The concept of being eternally saved is grounded not on a one time act you have done (faith), but on the covenant faithfulness of God to Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Paul writes, “…may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame…Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). In seasons of struggle and seemingly unconquerable sin, turn not to yourself but to God’s faithfulness to sanctify and preserve you complete.

Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Unfortunately the image of an adopted child in today’s society is not the one pictured in the paragraph above. Now we have open adoptions and adoptive parents sometimes are only seen as caretakers. Adoptive children are seen as incomplete without the knowledge of who their biological parents are. This is a sad fact of modern life. Sad, not only because there are many people who are hurt through this modern form of adoption, but sad because we might miss out on a beautiful picture of what God has done for us.

We are chosen and adopted into His family. We are made co-heirs with Christ and enjoy all the benefits of one naturally born. We are children of the King. There is great power and peace in that thought. Just as the little girl was safe in the arms of her parents that day when she was delivered by the social worker, we too are safe in the sovereign hands of our Heavenly Father who has not only provided us with salvation but with sonship. We are not just hired hands who enjoy the safety of the master, but sons who are welcomed home with love and honor. He rejoices over us and gives us gifts that are beyond our imagination.

We are children of God. We are not illegitimate. We have the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of an heir. We are to be about our Father’s business. We are able to approach the throne boldly. We are allowed to cry Abba, Father, and are heard. For our father, like that young couple long ago, waited for us and ran down the driveway to meet us, regardless of where we came from, and said, “My child is home, he who was lost is found.” He not only was willing to die for us, but did die in our place so that we might fully enjoy our adoption as sons.

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge

God reconnects people to himself through the doctrine of reconciliation. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” Sin separated man from God, just as Eagle was separated from Columbia. But what brought man back to God was not the power of rockets. It was the power of God accomplished through Christ Jesus.

As the Apollo astronauts were safely brought back home via their “reconciled” spacecrafts, so those in Christ are brought safely to God through Jesus. The Bible teaches us in Colossians 1:22-23 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation– if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” The effects of sin are nullified through God’s reconciliation of man to himself.

But the doctrine of reconciliation not only reconnects man to God, it also is the avenue through which man reconnects to man. It is because we have been forgiven by God that we are to forgive others; as Ephesians 4:32 tells us to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” As God holds nothing against those who have been reconciled to him through Christ, we are to do everything we can to be reconcile to others because of that same Christ.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer

To begin, I will deal with the first form of imputation I listed above, which lays a good foundation of understanding: the sin of Adam is imputed on all humanity. Remembering that the word “impute” means to credit to one’s account, this simply, yet mysteriously and profoundly, means that God views the sin (and guilt thereof) of Adam in the garden as belonging to us. Literally, we are held accountable in relation to the guilt of Adam’s sin as if we were physically the one who sinned in the garden. One of the strongest examples if this form of imputation is seen in Romans 5:12: “…just as through one man sin entered into the world…and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Taking note of the key elements within this passage one would see: sin came by one man; this one sin had the consequence of death imposed on “all men;” and finally, the question “why are all given the punishment of Adam’s one sin” is answered, namely, “because all sinned.” Contextual interpretation (c.f. Romans 5:12-19) results in the teaching that Paul is not saying we are guilty of sin and thus die because of a “personal sin,” but because we sinned in Adam when he sinned – the sin of Adam was considered as belonging to us (imputation) by union with him.

Secondly, the idea of imputation carries to the cross of Christ. In His death Christ bore the sins of all those for whom He died in such a way that they were “imputed” to Him – meaning, our sins were viewed by God as belonging to Christ. Thus, when Christ gives himself in sacrifice for sins paying the penalty for them, He can rightly cancel the debt of death against us because our sins have been counted as His – and he satisfied their debt! In its purest form this idea is seen in the familiar passage of 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

Finally, in viewing the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, the glory of this doctrine shines most brightly for the lost sinner in Adam. This particular element of imputation means that God views the Righteousness of Christ as belonging to those in union with Him; and He treats them as such (they are co-heirs with Christ)! Paul tells us that this righteousness of Christ is given as a gift by grace (Romans 5:17); and further, it is given by means of being “in Christ,” which is also a work of God’s grace as He is the Agent who puts us there – 1 Corinthians 1:30: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus…who became to us…righteousness…” The way in which our condemnation from the imputation of Adam’s sin is broken is by being in union with the second Adam, the Christ – who has both paid the penalty for Adam’s sin and lived a life fulfilling the law of God. This has the result that all Christ did and is becomes ours by imputation based on our oneness with Christ.

Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

When God saves sinners, he begins by declaring their guilt, only to end by declaring them righteous. To have God assert a person’s “righteousness” is a theological act called “justification.” It is not that God makes us righteous through justification, but rather that he declares us righteous. However there are those who confuse the issue. For example, the official “Catechism of the Catholic Church” states justification is “conferred in baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.” Such a declaration does not fully agree with Scripture. Romans 3:28, 30 says, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith…since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”

The Reformation was in part a battle over this key concept. Martin Luther, for example, insisted that justification did not change anyone internally, nor was it based on anything an individual had done. Rather it is a declaration of God based solely upon the person and work of Christ. Many children have been taught that to be justified is to be “just as if I had never sinned.” Such a description may be helpful, but it is terribly incomplete.

Justification does not ignore sin. In fact it begins by declaring our guilt. However, because of who Christ is, God laid our sin on him at the cross while imputing his righteousness to us through faith. This allows God to declare us –righteous- in his sight because he has already laid our -guilt- on Jesus. Thus, God views those in Christ just as righteous as he himself is righteous.

Dana Arledge, Will Uminn, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade

Regeneration is to be reborn or to be formed again. This definition is very appropriate as we consider the word in its theological setting. Scripture is very clear that man is spiritually dead unable to do anything that could please God. In fact the soul does not even seek after God but, just like the object of Isaiah14, it desires to be worshiped.

When talking to Nicodemus, Jesus refers to a new birth. He expected that Nicodemus would understand this concept. Jesus was building on Old Testament ideas like Ezekiel 11:19 where God says he will change the hearts of the people of Israel. Or the vision of dry bones that later have flesh on them, yet they do not move. A“divine wind” restores their life. Or the book or Gospel of John chapter three where Christ speaks of how the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

But what is this new creation? To answer these questions it is important to remind ourselves that the heart of man set on selfish desires. Romans says the sinful heart cannot obey, follow, or please God. The contrast between the believer and the non-believer is in the ability to obey and please God. The foundation of our soul is set on ourselves when we are in our natural condition. But when the Spirit of God changes us through regeneration, that foundation of our soul is changed. As the writer of Romans says in chapter seven, verse twenty-two, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.” This is not possible before regeneration. We do not naturally even seek God let alone desire to follow and obey him. But scripture is clear that when we are in Christ, that new creature is able not to sin. Now we are free from the bondage of sin and are able to know God. We are able to obey and worship Him.

What causes this change? Regeneration is monergistic, that is it is the act of God. It is often linked to effectual call. That internal call that moves us to faith would be part of regeneration. As Christ says to Nicodemus, “the wind blows where ever it pleases.” It is the Spirit that gives us this new life in Christ through God’s sovereign grace. It is the grace that gives us faith to follow Christ. It is what St. Augustine and J. I Packard call, “prevenient grace—that is grace that precedes our outgoings of heart toward God.”

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge

As opposed to the medieval understanding, the Reformation insisted that salvation is by faith alone, not faith plus works of any kind. But what is it? Really? Perhaps one of the most helpful ways to think of it is as an instrument. If someone offers you a gift for your birthday or Christmas, you haven’t done anything to deserve it, but you do have to accept it. Your hand would be the instrument that you use to obtain what the other person offers you. It is similar in theology. God offers us salvation as a free gift, but it must be accepted. Faith is the instrument by which we do that. To accept something is not a work; nor does it carry with it any merit. But without accepting the proffered gift, you don’t have it.

One of the perennial questions concerns the relationship between faith and reason. Is there a relationship? Yes, there certainly is, for faith is not irrational. But what is it? Do I believe in order that I may know? Do I know in order that I may believe? Or is faith formally separate from reason, so that I know some things, and I believe others. They are simply different modes of knowledge. If we think of it in the sense of a worldview or philosophy of life, then we should probably say that faith is prior. Worldviews are assumed, not proved. A fundamental rule of logic is that if nothing is assumed, nothing can be proved. But the Reformation’s understanding of saving faith is that three elements are involved. All must be present, and all three must be in order. Those elements are knowledge, assent, and trust. In order to believe the Gospel, one must first know what the gospel is. Christianity is not a contentless mysticism, but the truth that God in Christ paid the penalty for our sin and opened the way for us to come to him. Second, one must agree that the gospel is true. There are many atheists who know the facts of the gospel, but they do not believe it is true. Then one must commit oneself to that truth. Without commitment there is no salvation. So we may agree with many a preacher who has thundered about missing heaven by 18 inches (the approximate distance from the brain to the heart). Intellectual knowledge is not enough. But commitment without knowledge is no better. Linus’s sincere belief in the Great Pumpkin won’t do him any good because there is no such thing as the Great Pumpkin. All the commitment in the world won’t make it exist.

Biblical saving faith is not an irrational leap in the dark, but a confident commitment to what one knows to be true.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

Its most basic meaning is to turn or to turn around. It occurs in both the Old and New Testaments, and is used with both physical and spiritual meanings. In a spiritual sense it usually applies it to the nation (Israel) in a context of returning to the terms of the covenant after falling away, but it is also used of a pagan nation once, and the prophets often use it of individuals. It usually means turning from evil and to God. Doing so leads to forgiveness, prosperity, and life. Failure to do so means captivity, destruction, and death. NT usage is similar, although in two cases it involves turning from God to evil (Gal 4:9 and 2 Pe 2:21). It is also noteworthy that while conversion is usually the original turning to God that an individual does, it may also be subsequent, following moral failure (Lk 22:32) or doctrinal error (Jas 5:19, 20), though “repent” is the more usual word in those cases.

Theologically it means a turning of the human will to God; a decisive turning that secures entry into the kingdom and the salvation that Christ has brought. It is a change of lords, involving a fundamental change of outlook, objectives, and service. It is a once-for-all, unrepeatable event that is self-contained (Ac 9:35; 11:21), and seems to have become a rather technical term very early (see Ac 15:3). The NT writers have no interest in the psychology of it; merely describing some as quite dramatic (Paul) and others as very pedestrian (Lydia).

The two primary aspects of conversion are repentance and faith, which are discussed in other articles. One need not read very far (it took me less than 10 minutes) to find that one’s understanding of this word’s theological meaning depends on how much of a Calvinist one is or is not. There is general agreement that conversion is a human act (the verb is active), and not just something passively experienced, but also that it is not independent of the work of the Holy Spirit. How the two relate is a matter of sometimes intense debate, although many places in both the OT and NT imply that an act of God precedes the human act (Jer 31:18f; Lam 5:21; Ph 2:12f; Eph 2:1ff; Jn 3:1ff; 16:8; Ac 16:14; 1 Cor 2:4f; 2 Cor 4:4-6; 1 Th 1:5; 1 Jn 5:20).

Perhaps it is worth noting one of the places where this word does not occur in the NT—Mt 28:19, 20. Christ’s command to the first Christians was not to make converts, but to make disciples. The NT never envisions a convert who is not a disciple, but to have used the word in this case might have implied that being a convert is enough; it isn’t. To be born is necessary to life, but it’s not the whole story. Similarly to be converted is necessary, but it only sets one on the path toward spiritual maturity. Thus our call is not to make converts, those who turn from sin to God at a point in time, but disciples, those who follow Christ, learn from him, and walk with him across time.

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

There is a difference. There is an effectual internal call of God on his people that reveals the righteousness of Christ and brings them to salvation. This is the meaning behind the verse Matthew 22:14 that says, “Many are called, few are chosen.” In John 6:44-46 Christ says that no one comes to him unless the Father draws them. This is like water being drawn from a well. The Holy Spirit moves on man and changes him. It is overwhelming, irresistible. In his conversation with Nicodemus our Lord describes this when he says, “flesh gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives birth to spirit.” Later in the same conversation the sovereignty of God through the Holy Spirit is referenced in the statement, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” According to II Timothy 1:9 this calling is for the purposes of God and is not because of anything we have done.

The contrast of those who are effectually called and those who are only externally called can be clearly seen in John 6. After a difficult teaching many of those who had been following Jesus leave and say that the doctrines were too hard for them to accept. Christ responds to their leaving with the statement, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” (John 6:65) Christ then turns to the twelve and asks if they are leaving also. Peter’s answer contrasts with those who had just left because of the difficulty of Christ teachings; in fact, he calls the teachings the “words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Peter understands Christ because God has revealed Christ to him.

The calling of God on an individual is effectual and irresistible. It is because of Him that we are in Christ. (I Corinthians 1:26)

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

Once when I asked for a definition in 50 words or less, the answer was “Jesus.” True enough, but will it be the liberal Jesus or the conservative one? Something more is required.

As a working definition, let’s try this: the good news that in the man Jesus Christ God entered human history, lived a life of perfect obedience, died as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sin, and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God and at peace with him. As a basic statement of the heart of Christian truth, that will suffice for now, but even in the definition there are terms that require explanation as well as other important ones that do not appear. Over the next several weeks we will be giving consideration to a number of such terms that apply to the salvation event of an individual sinner.

Before we launch into those words, there is one rather technical term that requires a brief explanation—ordo salutis. That is a Latin phrase meaning order of salvation. When one lists out all the terms relevant to the salvation event, what is the right way to think about them? Where does one begin and where does one end? Does one begin with faith? Is the first thing that happens that I believe and then I am regenerated, reconciled, etc.? Or does God regenerate me and then I believe? Historically the discussion has tended to divide Lutherans and Calvinists, but it is more relevant to most of us as an issue dividing Calvinists from Arminians. Does the process of salvation begin with the person being saved or with the God doing the saving? In biblical terms, how far should one press the order Paul gives in Romans 8? The argument has been interminable and most likely cannot be resolved except in terms of one’s broader theological commitments.

The progression we have chosen in presenting terms over the next few weeks does not necessarily reflect any particular school of thought or individual theologian. We have arranged them in an order that is agreeable to all of us, though any one of us might vary it somewhat if left to ourselves. As mentioned in a previous article, all of us working on these articles are broadly Calvinistic, which is reflected in the order we will follow. But we invite you to think through the biblical evidence for yourself and come to your own conclusion. We do not believe that a reordering is heretical, though it can have theological consequences. It is tempting to say that the events in salvation are simultaneous, but while some may be, most likely all cannot be. No punting allowed!

Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer

Gordon returned safely from his trip to Europe. Thank you for praying for him during his time of travel. The journey to France and Luxembourg was completed by air and bullet trains. He met with many various peoples and dignitaries in Luxembourg. Glenn Kerr, our Bibles International colleague, was able to check and verify the first effort of the Luxembourgish translation for I Peter chapters 1, 2 and 3. It was humbling to meet with people who are spending so much time and effort in translating God’s Word. A man in France is working at least 8-10 hours a day on a translation work that will be going to a Muslim country. God’s Word in their own language is so precious to these people.

Pray as details are worked out to coordinate these efforts and provide them with the things they need to complete the task. Much can be done over the phone and the Internet now, making the process a bit more expedient.

We are certainly enjoying our home and have somewhat settled in. There is still much to do and we have lots of things to fix but it will be a process of a “little by little”. One project we would like to do is to install an outdoor wood burning furnace to reduce the heating cost during the winter. Propane has really increased in price and we have 8 acres of trees to use.

Pray for Leah as she travels to Israel this next week. She will be working on the film crew for Day of Discovery with Radio Bible Class. It is a wonderful opportunity for her; she will be seeing many Biblical places.

We do have a couple specific prayer requests.

1. Pray for Cindy’s mom, she fell and broke her rib. She is alone a few days a week, Cindy stays with her part of the week.
2. Pray as we continue to travel and visit our supporters. It has been a blessing to share the work of Bibles International.
3. Praise God for our supporters and prayer warriors that have been faithful for so many years.
4. Praise God for those who are committed to providing a Bible to believers who have none, a Bible in every tongue.
5. Cindy will begin helping at BI’s office, pray this will work out with the schedule of helping her mom.

In twenty seven years of ministry we have seldom written to indicate our financial status. However this past winter we have lost some churches that had a substantial part of our support, $675 per month. Pray that the remainder of our faithful supporters will continue so we can fulfill the roll of providing Bibles to those who do not have them in their own language.

We serve a risen Savior who never fails!

In His Service,

Gordon and Cindy Wyant
Bibles International
Baptist Mid Missions

This Spring the youth group took our semi-annual trip to Spring Hill to help them prepare for the summer. This year was a little different in the fact that there were two groups that arrive the weekends before us so the normal things that we have done in the past were already completed. The only thing that was left was raking grass. This is the first time that I have gone where all we did was rake grass but I was very encouraged by the young people in how they handled it. If you have ever raked grass for 7 hrs. you know what I am talking about. The young people did an excellent job of staying on task and not complaining. We were able to have an enjoyable time together in spite of the circumstances. Click HERE to view the photo slideshow for this event.

Imagine hating your little brother so much you arranged for him to be sold on the black market to some stranger in a foreign land thereby getting him out of your life forever. Fast forward your imagination several years where you find yourself arrested on some trumped up charges in some foreign country where you have no access to American jurisprudence. Your fate lies completely with the judge sitting on the bench, and from all appearances you fear he might order you executed. Finally, imagine the judge comes from behind his seat on the bench, calls you by name, takes your hand in his, and informs you that he is your little brother. Would all hope be lost? Would you know you were about to breathe your last?

The first time the English word “forgive” is used in either the NIV or the KJV of the Bible is in Genesis 50:17 when the brothers of Joseph plead that he would forgive them for the crimes they had done to him. Each of them knew they deserved death from the hands of their younger brother for their crimes, but instead they received both life and support.

In Luke 7 Jesus told a story of two men who were indebted to a certain man. One owed just a little, while the second owed more than he could ever repay. Instead of demanding payment he forgave the debts of both. Then Jesus asked, “which man would love their creditor more?” The correct answer given was, “the one who was forgiven the most.”

When God forgives our sins we deserve death, yet instead of issuing justice he grants both life and support. He calls us his children, his brothers. As such we are called not to continually try and pay back the forgiven debt, but to love God to the degree he has forgiven us.

When God saves people from their sin he does much more than just wipe away “all” their offenses. He eternally gives them everything they need for both life and godliness through their knowledge of their Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:3). When they realize all that he does then the only right response is love.

Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn

In 9^th grade Mr. Ramala had an unusual practice in his Algebra classes. He allowed boys to take the swats meant for girls. I admit I am dating myself with this story, but a few boys did take their turns in accepting the paddling meant for the girls who broke the rules in class. Joe Bowen was the # 1 swat taker. I think I was # 3.

To “take the place of” or “to take the punishment for” someone else is what the doctrine of the Vicarious Atonement of Christ means. He took our place, our punishment. In the Old Testament God used goats to teach this very important truth. In Leviticus 16 God instructed the Jews to choose two goats; one to die as a substitute for the sins of the people, the other to carry the sins away into the desert. In the New Testament Jesus took the place of both goats as John the Baptist said in John 1:29 “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Paul wrote in Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

But did Jesus really take our sins on himself? Over the centuries many erroneous views of the atonement have surfaced. One such view known as “the moral influence theory” stated Christ’s death was meant to impress men with a sense of God’s love and that sin needed no atonement since God would not hold man accountable for sin. Yet, 1 Peter 3:18 affirms the reality of Christ’s substitutionary death when it says, “for Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”

In the cross God declares his own glory and the uprightness of his law. He demonstrates his wrath against sin and sinners, and delivers everything needed for their salvation by causing Christ to die in our place. The idea of one person taking the place of another so sin might be paid for is not welcome news to everyone. Yet we can be encouraged by the words of Spurgeon who said, “in these days a direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth, will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and unceasingly. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the stead of men.”

Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Will Uminn

Please join us in prayer as we are in need of our 10-19 partners in a special way:

1. We discovered this morning that our credit card number was stolen. 15 airline tickets to Brazil, New York and Chicago have been fraudulently purchased. We use this card daily while the teams are here to cover all of the expenses. We have officially filed a dispute for the $4600 of charges, however we remain without means to pay for many items for the team (hotel, food, gas, etc.)

2. Ryan arrived with Team TACTICA today to the training site. He was promised the deserted building would be prepped and cleaned for this week’s training as it is an abandoned electrical plant. They had planned to train for responding to Columbine type situations, explosive recognition and hostage rescue.

They arrived to a site with many, many bee hives. Ryan had notified the national police commanders of the need to have all bees and nests removed two weeks ago. This is a problem because Ryan is deathly allergic to bee stings. Please pray for his safety from the bees. Many times the bees that live in these areas are the famous African bees. Apparently even when they are fumigating, hundreds more return. The commander told Ryan that the abandoned building had been their home for 25 years and it will be difficult to remove them from the premises. Please pray for God’s hand to protect the team from this danger.

We will update you soon on how the Lord is working through this amazing team of short-term missionaries… we’ve been blessed with 8 incredible police officers and are so excited to see what God has in store.

Thank you for joining us on our knees.

Trusting in Him,

Ryan and Gretchen and Team TACTICA May 2008

During those foundational learning experiences it was often explained to us that the Old Testament saints routinely had to offer sacrifice for sin. It is seen as early as Cain and Abel. But what was the role of these sacrifices? “The Old Testament sacrifices were expiatory of guilt. This is particularly true of the sin-offerings…. The idea of expiation is the removal of the liability accruing from sin.” (John Murray, The Atonement) Yet the Old Testament sacrifices did not truly satisfy the requirements of the law but simply alluded to the One who would truly fulfill the requirements of the Law. In the Levitical sacrificial system a priest would kill a lamb, bull or goat—something that was precious, the blood would be sprinkled on the Mercy seat and the sin of God’s people was covered but not resolved. These sacrifices were insufficient in that they were only animals without moral value. In order to satisfy the Law, a death was required that had moral value. We were already dead in our sins and could not pay the penalty, but Christ who was morally perfect was able to die and thus satisfy both death and holiness.

This concept of sacrifice points to Christ as both the Lamb of God and to his office as Priest. As John the Baptist says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29) On the day of Passover, at the usual time of sacrifice, on the same ridge where Abraham was willing to offer his son Isaac, Christ cries, “It is finished” and lays down his life. The images of the Old Testament are vividly fulfilled in Christ. Isaiah speaks of the sacrifice of Christ in chapters 52 and 53 where the servant of God willingly gives his life. As Christ says, “…I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17b and 18a) It should be noted that he is the Lamb of God, the servant of God, not the servant of man. As Philippians says “he was obedient to death,” meaning he was obedient to God to the point of death, not that he obeyed death. We do benefit from his service but the sacrifice is subject to the Father for the Glory of the Father. Hebrews extends this doctrine of sacrifice to include that fact that not only is it by his blood are we redeemed but that it is Christ who presents this blood in payment for sin to God the Father in the heavenly tabernacle. He is not only the sacrifice but also the Great High Priest who enters the Holy Place by his own blood. “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)

How great a God we have. Not only is he holy and worthy to demand holiness of his creation, but he also provides the means for his people to obtain the holiness required by his law. Praise God for through our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Will Uminn

Because God is holy, that disobedience produced in him a real anger or wrath, a concept mentioned over 500 times in the Old Testament, less frequently in the NT, although there is the well known verse in Romans 1, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness . . .” That wrath epitomizes the broken relationship that sin produced and could be only partially remediated by the pre-Christian sacrifices common to the ancient world, and prescribed in the OT, wherein sin was symbolically transferred to an animal.

The gathering body of Messianic promises in the OT culminated finally in the coming of Christ. The point of his life was to succeed in every facet where Adam failed, and then to die. In that death he suffered the complete penalty for our sin. The Father made him to be sin for us and in so doing allowed him to experience the desperate alienation of our condition as he forsook him there and death took him. The curse of sin on him was made plain as he hung on a tree fulfilling Deuteronomy 21:23.

There isn’t really any question when one looks fairly at the Bible that there is a penal aspect to the death of Christ. The penalty for our sin was imposed on him. There is no imputation, no justification without this. There is, however, some dispute over what actually happens relative to the Father. The controversy revolves around two words—expiation and propitiation. Expiation essentially refers to the death of Christ canceling sin. It certainly does that, but with this word it is understood to be an impersonal, sometimes mechanical process, based partly on old pagan attempts to bribe vindictive gods to get what was wanted. It seems to be almost like the idea of karma in Eastern thought. Propitiation, on the other hand, emphasizes the personal dimension of the work of Christ. The real wrath that God has toward sin must be averted or turned away or satisfied. The four major texts referring to propitiation in the NT (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; and 1 John 2:2; 4:10) all carry the idea that the death of Christ intervenes against that wrath and removes it from us. This is not mechanical, but personal. As death was personally imposed on Adam by God at the point of disobedience, so at the point of Christ’s obedience, the penalty is personally dealt with. It is personal at its imposition and personal at its removal. In that death righteousness and peace finally kiss (Psalm 85:10).

None of us fully understand what happened in the death of Christ. It’s not the way we would draw it up. The language of the NT seems to strain to carry the depth of meaning. But we may be glad for words like “propitiation”; they tell us that our impossible condition as the objects of God’s infinite, terrible wrath no longer obtains. Let the party begin!

Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer, Dana Arledge, Will Uminn

The flowers are blooming and we can watch the wildlife from our dining room window! It has been wonderful being back in Michigan and experiencing the beautiful Midwest spring weather this year. Though we do not have the majestic Alaskan mountain, the rolling hills, huge maple and oak trees, and beautiful Lake Michigan are all creations of our loving Lord God that we are enjoying immensely.

These past months have continued to be a time of learning and indoctrination for Gordon at Bibles International. That being said, he has taken on many tasks and is in the midst of numerous projects that need to be completed. To think that there are churches with believers worshiping around the world today who do not have Bibles in their own language. Not only that, they may not even know how to read, so in the process of translation, there are literacy classes to be held to teach the young and old how to read God’s Word! What a privilege it is to be a part of the process to bring the Truth to these people, not only through missionaries, but through His Written Word in their own tongue! Right now in the country of Chad there are 8 translation projects for which Gordon is responsible. They are the Day OT, The Dagba, The NGamh Ot, TheRito/Lutos, The Sara Kaba Dem Ot, The Sara Madjingaye Ot and The Tumag Ot. On the Ivory Coast there are two translation projects: The Kaowlu and The Neao. In Ghana we have received two nearly completed translations that are in the final stages, they are The Dagare and The Waali. The Sonhghai and The Zarma are still in translation stages. From Togo we have the Kabiye language and then there is a new possible translation effort with The Kabyle language to go into a closed country of Northern Africa.

Gordon will be making a trip this week, leaving on Thursday May 22nd, for Europe. He will be visiting a church in Luxemburg to discuss the possibility of starting work on the translation of the Bible in the Luxembourgish language. In all these centuries, there has never been a Bible in their language. These people have read God’s Word in German, French or another language. Now they are seeking our help for a translation in their own tongue. Then he will meet with a group of people in France concerning a translation in the Kabyle language. We appreciate your prayers for safety as he travels and for God’s wisdom and perfect will in these new translation efforts.

Thank you so much for your prayers these last two months. The adjustment time since the death of Cindy’s father has been hard at times but smooth. Your many cards and letters have been appreciated and read many times. It is humbling to know that so many thought of us and prayed. Thank you from our hearts.

We have moved from the little apartment on the back of Cindy’s parents’ house into a home that we purchase near Fremont Michigan. It is half way between Grand Rapids, where Bibles International is located, and Scottville, where Cindy’s mom is. At the present we do not have a telephone but we continue to have cell phone numbers, though the reception is very poor there. When we do have phone service our internet access will only be dial up so we can not receive photos or huge downloads. We will be living out in the “boonies” on the rural roads of Michigan.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to us as we continue on in this exciting avenue of missions work. We could not do this without you; it is God’s work, using you and us together.

Serving Him,
Gordon and Cindy Wyant
BMM Bibles International

Dear Friends and Family,

This time of the year always fills itself with the many graduations of family members whether from high school or college. After having our sons out of the house for this many years, we are now once again getting ready to have our daughter graduate from school! In the next few weeks we will be celebrating Nina?s graduation. So, she is busy finishing her school work and making preparations for her open house. We are praising the Lord for allowing us to see her accomplish this milestone in her life. Please pray for her as she plans to work for a year and then to attend Faith Baptist Bible College in Iowa. As her father it is hard to believe my baby is getting ready to leave the nest.

The Lord continues to provide as matters and needs present themselves. In talking to our field director, Tom Logsdone, he suggested that it would be helpful if I took a sabbatical for six weeks to get some rest. He put me in contact with a young couple with Baptist Church Planters. They were able to come and take over the ministry as I took some time to off. We were away from the ministry for about four weeks which was a real blessing. The transition was very good, and the Whitcher family did a fine job as we left for some needed R&R. The Lord, indeed, provided what we needed, a Spanish speaking individual. Once again we see the sovereignty of our Lord as He provided at the right time the right person to fill our need. The bonus is we have made friendship with another family member in the Lord.

Please continue to pray for us as we apply ourselves back into the ministry. Pray that the Lord is given all the glory for all that is accomplished. Once again, we have reached this time of the year where we say good-bye to missionaries that have been studying Spanish at RGBI. This Sunday we bid farewell to the Nordland family as they go to Ecuador, the Spink family as they go to Chile, Ruth going to Peru, and the Dominguez family going to intern in another church in the area. As a church we feel very privileged in having missionaries in our church while they study Spanish, and at times it is hard saying good-bye to them, knowing that we may not see them again on this earth.

Prayer Requests:
Pray for growth as a church spiritually and physical
Pray that the doors open to buy this building if it is God?s will
Pray as we make plans for our summer Bible School
Pray for Victor and Karina as they are not walking for the Lord
Pray for workers of our Sunday school
Pray for us as we confront situations each day
We thank you for all your prayers and support.

Los Garcia

Historically there are many theories of the atonement that have been rejected by orthodox Christianity but have shaped the course of the Church. One of the earliest views of atonement, held by many early church fathers including Origen, is the Ransom Theory in which Christ is a ransom paid to Satan to free the souls of man from his power. A second theory is St. Anselm’s Commercial Theory. In this theory sin is seen as an offense to God’s honor. Homage must be paid to satisfy that honor. Since Christ is sinless his death is seen as giving infinite honor to God and thus could be transferred to the believer who lives a devoted life. Later Thomas Aquinas developed this into the concept of the infinite merit of Christ that could be earned by man. The Moral-influence Theory developed by Peter Abelard (1079-1142) states that Christ died as an example of God’s love to soften the hearts of man causing them to repent. Sin did not need to be paid for but simply repented from. A similar theory is the Governmental Theory, where Christ’s death is an example of God’s justice and hatred for sin. It does not pay a penalty for sin but shows what sin deserves and allows God to then justify man based on his faith, works, love and devotion to the Father. All of these versions fail to satisfy the demands of scripture.

The doctrine of atonement has many beautiful facets of truth. One of these truths is the concept of redemption. To redeem is to purchase, to free from captivity by means of payment. We, who are captive to sin and death, bound to depravity through the curse of original sin need to be freed. In Romans, Paul argues that what the Law could not do, Christ does for us. This is a victorious act of Christ in which we like Hosea’s wife are destitute, ungrateful prostitutes unable to free ourselves from a lifestyle that is self-perpetuating. But Christ comes and secures for us a release from our old master and gives us freedom and life. This redemption is effectual and complete. It not only removes us from bondage but also transforms us into a beautiful bride. It is a demonstration of both God’s love for his people and his love for his own glory. What other God demands justice for the trespass as well as the provision for that payment? As Romans says, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26, NIV)

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge

In the wake of man’s fall into sin, resulting in his alienation from God, the Bible tells us that God came looking for him. This throws into sharp relief some of God’s attributes that we have looked at previously only in a general way. His holiness produces in him a genuine anger at what we have become. His love motivates him to act on our behalf; his mercy inclines him to take pity on our pathetic state; his grace makes him act without charging anything to our account, which we could not pay anyway. Thus far, most theologians would be in general agreement.

When it comes to how these things work out, some major and highly contentious divisions begin to appear. The easiest way to summarize them is to ask whether the adjective “sovereign” can be connected to grace. Those who make the connection generally have a strong theology of sin and hold that salvation is all of God. Man contributes nothing; he is passive. Even his ability to respond in faith is by grant from God. Hence election is understood as God’s choice of who will be saved apart from anything actual or potential in those he chooses to save—no goodness, no merit, no foreseen faith, nothing. Election as an idea is placed in the doctrine of God. Conversely, others find the connection of “sovereign” and “grace” unworthy of God, making him arbitrarily decide who is saved and who is lost, and unnecessary, since they hold that man is not a stick or a stone and so has a will that is determinative. He can decide whether to respond to God. Election in this scheme is usually placed in soteriology.

The other side of the coin in soteriology, already alluded to, is human ability. Can man commend himself to God and if so, to what extent? Put another way, how much, and what, was lost at the fall? This question is traceable back to the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius in the 5^th century; it was rehashed as a major bone of contention between Protestants and Roman Catholics during the Reformation in the 16^th.

In short, is salvation to be understood as divine monergism, God working alone, or synergism, God working with man to some degree, however small? All three authors of these articles assert a basically Reformation, Augustinian, Calvinistic, monergistic understanding of soteriology, though we differ on some questions.

The most famous verse in the Bible, often misunderstood, tells us that God loved the world in this way (“so” meaning manner, not extent), that he gave his only unique Son. Orthodoxy insists that the death of that Son reconciles those who are saved to God. But how exactly? We will divide the question into two parts, first what does the death of Christ do in itself? That is objective soteriology. Second, how is that death applied to individual sinners so as to save them and with what effects? That is subjective soteriology.

Phil Meade, Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer

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