Six Papers on Christian Counseling and Psychology

Soul Origins: How do the Creationist and Traducianist perspectives hold-up to current trends in developmental psychology?

Is Psychology Americas "Other Religion"?

Running head: Is Psychology an "Other Religion"?

Complementary & Alternative Medicine: Practical & Spiritual Considerations

Biblical Theology of Chronic Illness: Why do sick people cling to the Bible?

Does Christian Counseling Promote Privatized Religion?

from your freinds at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries

twitter by David

I don't twitter.. i don't think every bowel movement needs to be a of notice for everyone. some people go to far. some people do a great job. but some people share o mushc personal infomation. for now i will not twitter, but i might some day.

Perry Noble posted this. It is great. i though i would share.

What If David Would Have Twittered?

By Perry Noble

Continuing my thoughts about twittering…I think it would have been interesting if David would have had access to this…we might have seen something like this…

• Got a visit from Samuel today, he poured some oil on my head and called me a king! Really?
• Going to visit my brothers tomorrow–they are fighting on the front lines.
• Uh…my brothers are actually not fighting…they’re messing their drawers!
• Going to fight Goliath!
• Killed him, going to carry around his head for awhile.
• Wow…love my new role as a general…the people are making up cool songs about me.
• Uh…thinking that maybe Saul isn’t liking my role so much…and the songs people are singing seem to make him angry. Saul just threw a spear at me - he’s definitely angry
  Hiding out in a cave, around 400 people showed up when they found out I was here–looks like I have a church!
• Saul won’t quite chasing me! I wish someone would do something about this.
• God killed him–Saul won’t be chasing me anymore.
• Looks like the people want me to be king.
• Going to take Jerusalem…the enemy said it could not be done. Glad my life is not controlled by what the enemy says.
• Took my clothes off and danced today…what fun!
• Loving life in the palace!
• Bathsheba is looking hot today…might give her a call.
• Bathsheba is going to come by tonight so we can chat.
• Uh oh–we did more than chat…hopefully that’s the end of that though.
• Just got a text from Bathsheba–she’s pregnant–not good.
• Going to ask Uriah to come home…he will go sleep with her…problem solved.
• Dang it–he’s godly…going to have to kill him.
• Nathan is coming by to see me today–I love that guy.
• Not liking Nathan so much right now! But…he’s right.
  I understand God’s grace right now!
• Going to build a temple for God–woo hoo!
• Strike that–God doesn’t want me to build the temple–just raise the money for it.
• Going to announce that Solomon is to be the next King…I sure hope he is wise!Those are probably just a few of the things he might have said. :-)

Precious Memories Isaiah 43:23-28

• Memorial Day is a very special holiday. It is striking different than most holidays because it is not about celebrating with family as much it is about remembering those who have sacrificed themselves for us.
• I am not aware of a single giddy song that has been penned like Frosty the Snowman was for Christmas. I am not aware of any special chocolates candies being sold or gifts being exchanged.. No Memorial Day is more about deep thoughts about those who have laid down their lives for us and remembering exactly what is that we have forgotten.
• In truth, it is sad that we have to take the time, set aside a day and have it preprinted on a calendar. We should have the presence of mind to hold these brave and valiant servants in a higher regard and not let their courageous service slip away.
• That is why I think what we say and do hear today is gravely important. What we remember here today is of astounding importance because it points others as well as our own hearts to what is most important.
• As we look at this mornings text I pray if will be painfully clear what it most important what or who should be remembered most of all. Who is it that gave their live in service for us and our countrymen in such a way that they should be remembered above all others?

Isaiah 43:22-28 "But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 25 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches.




We Have Forgotten God
But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities
• The first portion of our text can be summed us as “We Have Forgotten God.” Listen to the words of God as He directly speaks to our shame. Not only does God address the shameful lack of attention, but his neatly lists them for us.
o First the Great Adonai reminds us that we have forgotten God as we have forgotten our relationship with Him. It is brought to our attention that we pay little attention to our relationship with God as we do not call upon the name God.
o But this portion of Word does not address just the fact that we are indifferent towards God, but that we are worship something else other that Him. Our actions of piety are really about ourselves. We are living religion and not faith.
o As the Lords address our lack of desire, “Nor wearied you with incense,” He does not beat around the bush. He openly and honestly tells that we have not worn Him out. He is not bone weary from being overcome with so many requests. We have not worn out our welcome because we have spent too much time with Him. Yahweh’s ears do not ache because we have prayed too much.
• Quite the contrary has happened. Verse 24 call us out. Isaiah 43:24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities.
o We have not brought our Redeemer God the sweetness of our sacrifices, but we have devoured sin like candy. We have weighed Him down with our sins and burdened Him with our faults. We kept bringing Him our sin and piling up the trophies our offences, indiscretions and purposed transgressions
o Instead of carrying to God the offering of our sins in which we admit We Have Forgotten God, we need to confess our failure and take purposeful steps to live for Him.


God Has Not Forgotten Us
God shifts out attention in this next verse as He directs us to how He is still fulfilling His side of the relationship. And even though we have forgotten God we need to understand that God has not forgotten us.

25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
• Like unfolding the flaps of a gift box to see what is inside, El Shaddi, the Almighty, opens up for us how He has not forgotten us.
o God pulls away the tissue paper to reveal to us the excellency of God's gift of salvation. Look at the focus of who does the salvation work for us.
o I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. It can unmistakably be seen God is the One who cleans the sin in our life. He and only He as the Almighty have the capabilities to remove the stain and the stench of sin that is ground in to our souls like grass on the knees of a 5th grader after recess.
o What is even more important and drastically more impressive is His faithfulness found the second half of this verse - I will not remember your sins. Not only does God not forget us but he purposely forgets our sins.
o This is where God’s remembrance of us comes into play. It His remembrance to continually forget the sins we have committed against When we yield ourselves to Him and with a penitent heart ask for forgiveness He no longer remembers
o Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
o We should find great satisfaction and have supreme gratification in these words as we find that we can feel confident that our Savior will not leave and will not fail.
o And if we do have fleeting moments of faith … if we do find ourselves feeling as sure let us be reminded these words in Isaiah 44:21 “Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! It is true that God Has Not Forgotten Us.




Remember Our Situation
There is still a point that must be addressed. This point deals with us. We must Remember our Situation. Let us look at the Text again to see what we are talking about.

• 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches
• Here we find ourselves with the imperative to remember God. This is a command that is to start now and keep going coupled with the design of never stopping.
• This command leaps from the pages at the Bible. Yet, it is not the situation that we are in. Not we find out grim situation in the rest of this text.
• We are told that we need to be acquitted. That our sins need to be canceled out. We need exoneration from our sins. The reason that we need this pardon is that we have a long line of sin in our lives. It started with Adam has never stopped. For our personal sins we are inform that we are cursed and will be castigated. Reproach stands waiting for us. Rebuke is ahead.
• What we really need as we Remember Our Situation is that we are in need of God’s everlasting grace. We are in need of His beautiful mercy. We are not in need being embraced by Him, but crashing head first into His Love. We desperately must barrel into His benevolence, into his fellowship and in to his compassion. As we Remember Our Situation as sinners we must also know that we need Christ from on high to save us as lowly sinner. We need His goodness to drench us are entrust ourselves to Him and handover our determination to be our own. For years we have walked apart from Him. We have chosen to do things by our own feeble power. We have disgraced and shamed ourselves. In the process We Have Forgotten God and we have forgotten our first love. We walked way from God, but God Has Not Forgotten Us. As much as we may try to forget our sins, time will come when we have to Remember Our Situation. For you and me, today, right here, now in fact, we can instead commit ourselves to Christ and walk not only in freedom from our sin, but in full fellowship with God.
.

i like'm big baby

ESV STUDY BIBLE NOW AVAILIBLE

http://www.esvstudybible.org/

and i want one... maybe two

But Most Importantly

In Christianity Today, Barack Obama is quotes as saying

I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and esurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful.

So is he saying that feeding the poor and healing is more important that the Redemption provided by the rich red blood of Jesus. in referring to this he just said that salvific act of grace bestowed upon a devious and spiritually derelict mankind is great, But Most importantly, are these other social actions of compassion and ministry.

By the Power of Greyskull???

1 Chronicles 6:33 Here are the men who served, together with their sons: From the Kohathites: Heman, the musician, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

The Condition of My Heart

Jeremiah 17:9 Esv

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Theo-rap

Voice makes Theological History by being the first to ever rap at John Piper's church.

Not only cat he spit, but this cat is flowing some serious doctrine. Forget gangster rap, Doctrinally sound, Theological rap is on the scene. I can't wait to have a big trunk Lincoln roll up on me at the street light bumping and thumping about Justification, Kenosis or propitiation

Nice ...

Temperature Rising


from Jumaine Jones at Limeade…quenching the leadership thirst

I’m in the middle of preparing for Sunday’s message. We will be looking at Ephesians 5:21-33. I was truly awestruck as I read of how Christ sanctifies and cleanses her bride by the Word. As husbands, we owe it to our wives to wash them with God’s Word. We can’t prepare a great meal on Sundays, and leave our homes famished. As the head, the husband establishes the spiritual temperature in the home. Where lives are hurt, the water is too hot. Where there’s distance and lack of intiamcy, the water is too cold. Where there’s unconditional love and true devotion, the water is warm. There’s nothing like having a warm, loving atmosphere!

why the Gospel is important

nuff said

bible fight club

in the dank basement of a tattoo parlor believers of a multitude of faiths or the lack thier of gather to duke it out about the Bible and other matters from a Christian view. ink is not require but expect nothing but bare knuckle Bible thumpin'.

http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_lifestyles/podcasts/0913asap_BFC.mp3

a multitude of toppings for your worship

Ben is planting a Church in Reston, Georgia and boy is he having fun. NOt only is one of those guys you need to keep up with, but he is definitely in the mix - not hiding from culture behind a cardboard church wall as you will read

Pizza Apologetics


href="http://www.benarment.com/history_in_the_making/2007/09/pizza-apologeti.html">

• Yesterday, I met a fitness trainer who looked like he could bench press my car. He asked about my iPhone, but then noticed my Bible and started talking about his Muslim father and Catholic mother. Said he was neither. He used pizza to describe his religious views...
  "Your god may be pepperoni; mine might be sausage; someone else's, the tomatoes. But we're all mixed together on the same pizza and baked together. We're all eating the same pie."
  Besides getting a little hungry, I was scrambling mentally to keep up with all the inconsistencies. People are so quick to philosophize about spirituality because it keeps God away from our hearts where he can convict us. So we reduce him to a pizza.

I wonder what the diffrent kinds of crust mean to him in regards to spirituality? hand tossed, deep dish, craker crustm, stuffed crust, thin crust ... and the list goes on

Psalm 78:70-73 Greatness starts in the Pasture

Note: as always this is what i started with , but what happens in the pulpit is not ways waht is written down. for some reason i used the words "deep doo doo" and wmy wife and daughter feel that is not very pastoral. oh well. here is the "doo doo" free version.

When you woke up this morning, did you have a sense of awe? A feeling that God was going to something awesome n your life? Did you feel that sense of purpose ready to burst forward in your life.

Well, most of us feel that are lives are boring. Hum-drum. Nothing special about them. We get up brush out teeth, get dressed, have a little breakfast and drive to work. We toil at work, have some lunch, go back to laboring, and drive back home. Nothing special about it. Nothing to write home about. Nothing newsworthy.

For David his days were pretty much like this too. He got up, washed up at the brook, had a little something for breakfast and watched the sheep. Sometime in the day he would find a shade tree and eat some leftovers for lunch. Afterward he would go back to watch the flock. Talk about unexciting, dull, lack luster, dreary task.

Occasionally he would chase off a predator or have to track down a way ward sheep. But that is about it. For David this was about dull as a job on the manufacturing line. Over and over it was pen the sheep, chase the sheep, herd the sheep, protect the sheep, water the sheep, feed the sheep, and do it all over again. But this servant sheep herder had a future that was beyond his belief and a destiny to fulfill.

I bet some of you feel taken for granted. You feel that what you are doing does not matter. And maybe your not even sure that God is on your side because you have no clue what you are suppose to be doing let alone how he is working in your live. The Bible tells us that if our victorious God is for us then who can be against us. The problem seems to be that we will not release ourselves to him and allow him to work. We tend to want to fight Him instead. We try to do own, we say we that we can do it, but we really can’t

Listen to a simple sheep herder turned king as he write a quick summary of his life and how God worked in it.



Psa 78:70-72 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; (71) From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. (72) So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

So do you know where you are going in life, what your destiny or God’s plan is. Probably not, most of us are just floating along. But I feel that we can learn from David that we need to take the time to prepare for the greatness God has for us even when we don’t know what it is. Through faithfulness and obedience we will be prepared for the opportunities that God ushers us forward into. If we rush, and hurry, and push when it is not there then we will miss out on the little things that count as well as the important opportunities that we desperately need

But, we won’t be able to make the most of them and enjoy the blessing if we rush by. We will miss the little things and we will lose out on the important ones too. It’s like the song that the music group Alabama sings “I hear a voice It says I'm running behind I better pick up my pace It’s a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place I'm in a hurry to get things done Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun All I really gotta do is live and die But, I'm in a hurry and don't know why”

You might not be sure of what you are doing with your life, where you are going or what your purpose is. I ask you, be patient. Be patient and don’t force the issue.

Moses was a man who forced the issue. Go had a plan for Moses life, but Moses just could not wait. He was in a hurry and tried to push God’s time line ahead. In the process he ended up killing an Egyptian man had to flee for his life and his freedom. By the time he was able to fulfill God’s will for his life he was now 80 years old. Don’t be in such a hurry that you take short cuts that will cost half your life and make you wait 40 years before you can do what you need to. Just because everything is not popping and zooming and happening just like you think it should, does not mean that God has lost sight of you. God know where you are at and what is going on. You are not insignificant or meaningless; you are his creation that he bought back with the blood of His only Child, Jesus. You matter and everything you do matters

We must realize that nothing God has you do is inconsequential, it all matters. Who you date, what you do, where you work, how you life, who you marry, how you treat others, where go, what you buy and most importantly, what or should I say, who come first in you life.

David’s skills were learned in a season when did not have the most glamorous of jobs. Every talent and ability that David needed for his future kingship he honed in the meadows and pastures. In those fields of green filled with grazing and bleating sheep he was not only learning to be the Shepard of the flock but the Shepard of a nation.

So do you know where God is taking you? Probably not, but if we don’t take the time to prepare and make the most of the opportunities to we won’t be ready for the big break in life that God provides. We will not be able to enjoy and make the most of the blessing that God presents us with.

Let me share Psa 32:8 with you,”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”

We need to understand that our vision is limited, but our Eternal God is able to see all space and time. God knows where the pitfalls of life are and he can guide us through life if we are will trust Him and not fight Him to have our way. God, as a loving heavenly father will direct us, he will instructing us and show us our life’s path.

But in the process of waiting to see God’s plan revealed and the details come forth, we must all so be very care full that we don’t develop and attitude that we are owed something by God. That we have something due to us from Our Creator, the one who gives us each breath and gives us faith. I want to share with you a lesson that a gentlemen, Mr. Patterson ad retired military trainer, taught me while I worked with juveniles. His wisdom to me was that there were only two things I had to do in life. Stay Black and die. All we have to do is be ourselves and die. Just be you, and I’ll be and live to the end. I don’t have to be popular, successful, fruitful, famous, or glamorous. God owes us nothing, but he gave us everything in Jesus and his death you us. God’s treatment of you and me is way better that we honestly deserve.

As David was stepping in sheep manure, he was earning lessons not just it sheep care, but lessons that taught him to be as strong and compassionate leader.

For me I didn’t learn lessons in the pasture, I learned them in prison. I would have never believed you if you would have told me that I would be training to be a pastor when I enrolled to correctional officers academy for TDCJ. But it was there that I learned lessons that molded me as a pastor and improved my shepherding skills. God used some of the worst people in the state of Texas to teach me life lessons about people that come in really handy. Oh, and the inmates were not that nice either.
I would have never thought welding would teach me about marriage of that, sacking groceries would help me as a father, but God did. He knew.

Look at the last verse - So he shepherd them - He performed toward them the office of a shepherd.
According to the integrity of his heart - literally, “According to the perfection of his heart.” That is, he was upright and pure in the administration of his government. Deal fairly, and rightly. Treat people right
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands - literally, “by the understanding of his hands” - as if the hand had been endued with intelligence. The skill he needed to be king, he learned in the field.

While you may realize it, God is preparing you through various life experiences to be victorious in life and to minister to others. He is preparing you to lead others through seemingly normal situations. In the every day life scenario of wake up, brush teeth, got work, eat lunch come home, eat dinner, wash clothes, go to bed and get up and do it all over again – in the middle of what you think is a boring, tired routine – God is fashioning you for greatness and service.

Focus - Psalm 119:1-3

When I was a kid, I used to love to watch wild like shows like Lorene Green’s Wild Kingdom and Marty Stouffer’s Wilds America. I was hooked on that stuff way before there was ever a Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. They would film all of the wild animals in God’s creation. African lions, Mountain Lions, River Otters, Big Horn Sheep, little birds, you name it. They would get you as close as possible and when the wild life went crazy, you were right there with them.

One of the hardest things I think for the camera operator to do is to keep their subject in view when all the craziness was taking place. Think about it. You trying to focus in on a lion as he is victorious over his prey, but you have to be wary of the lion’s pride or some other creature sneaking up on you. But life is a lot like that too. In our fast paced lives if can be easy to get distracted and lose sight. We try to keep everything sighted in but then something moves, we hear a noise and we lose what was in our view.

This happens in the spiritual aspect of our life just like it does in any a part. We have God in center view of our lives and something comes into out lives and we lose contact with God. He was there but now He is out of our eyesight. And often we don’t notice right away that we are losing sight of God. That He is not in the middle of our view finder.

It is so easy for this to happen. King David was a man who truly loved God and found himself in difficult positions because he lost sight of God. He got involved in an affair. He had a man murdered. He was lax as a leader. . He was prevented by God from building the temple because he messed up. He was rebuked by Nathan, God prophet for wanting to do things David’s way. He spent time on the run, as he found himself on the wrong side of the law as a fugitive. Yet he was always trying to pursue God. Time and time again he found Jehovah was in the review mirror and not out in front of him.



Listen to David as he talks to us about this about what he has learned from his mistakes - Psa 119:1-3 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! (2) Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! (3) They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.

David certainly knows what it is means to be obedient and blessed as he has walked on both sides of that street. David understands that if we are faithful to God there is a rich life store for us. He begins the first two verses begin with the word “Blessed.” David tells us to be blessed, to be made happy, we need to do this. Our happiness as well as our joy is dependant up this our focus upon God and His ways.
• So, our goal David tells us is to be undefiled in our ways. To have integrity to our actions, the ways of our daily life.
• In the next verse he adds to it by saying if we live our lives so the not only are full of integrity but they honor the Testimony of who God is.
• Simply enough. Right? Well it might sound simple but if we have a life that is cluttered and you are distracted then you might have a hard time seeing God and seeing what David is talking about.
• But the back halves of these verses are what we need to look at if we find our lives are not where they should be.
• The “Blessed, David says, are those who keep who walk in the law of the Lord. Those that live in the truth of His teachings. Those who not only know but carry out his, but are immersed in it. Those who are not just swimming in God’s words, but they are deep sea diving in. David is referencing those who live in the word.
o You might not see it this way but this has a lot to do with the car you road or drove in today. Cars are better engineered to day. They are stronger and impact resistant. Several years ago Denise was parked in a mini-van and another car backed into her. When she got out of the car and looked to see the damage, but none could be found. But the other car had a huge dent in their chrome bumper. The car maker had manufactured our car in such a way that there was not any damage. The plastic had bounced back and the car was still road worthy
o The same goes with God. If we seek Him and let Him engineer us thought His Word, when Satan backs into us, their will be no impact in our lives. No damage will take place. We will bounce back like the bumper and we will keep on trucking.

• Furthermore David declares that if we keep God’s testimonies – keep His statues, follow His directions in this Life Guide, or as we know it the Bible and completely pursue Him with our heart … Then you will be blessed.
• with the whole heart, that is passionately pursue him like a boxer after the Belt and the Title, like the hunter trailing after a trophy buck, go all out, spare no expense, and all or nothing, go for broke in your Chase for God and His blessing on your life. Don’t stop, Don’t give up, Don’t give in, don’t quit, chase Him, Hunt, stalk, hound, shadow
• So what are you chasing instead of God that is so important? Listen to Solomon, David’s son, a guy who has seen it all, had it all, done it all and left hollow because of it.
• Ecc 1:1-9 - These are the words of the Teacher, [1] King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. (2) "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" (3) What do people get for all their hard work? (4) Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. (5) The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. (6) The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. (7) The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. (8) Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (9) History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

• Solomon is a guy who got caught up in all the trappings of the world and had completely lost sight of God. He was so deep in sin and was so out of focus that he had to get a periscope just to peek up a Jehovah. And when He tried to do it his way, and tried every luxury and tasted every sin. He found that it was all a waste of time and it meant nothing.

They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
• You can’t two-time God. You can’t be dating evil and try to kiss God good night. I’ just can’t work out.
• Look at it this way. You are crossing over an icy lake. With every step you take you can hear the ice grown and creek. The ice underneath you is cracking. Suddenly right a long crack separates the ice into two halves. But you don’t know which side to go jump over to. You just stand there with one foot on each half as they began to separate. You could go to the left, where the ice not as strong looking, but your not sure. You could step to the right, but it might not be a strong as it looks. And while you wait inch by inch the toe pieces of ice float apart. If you don’t make a decision you will go into the freezing water and possible die.
• That is our dilemma. Trust God and what seems too good to be true. Or keep on doing what we always have and that has never worked. But you can’t both.
• Matthew says is this way - Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
• You can’t serve both God and this world; you can’t split time with God and yourself. You can’t be the person that says I don’t believe in abortion, but work at the abortion clinic. If you believe in God then pursue him, chase him, run after Him. Get Him in you sights and scurry after Him. Get Close to him, Get him in your view, adjust the focus of your life on him and find the blessings you desire and he has planned for your life.

So where are you? Are you trying to straddle the fence. Are you pushing you luck hoping you can keep standing on both pieces of ice. If continue like you are you will end up falling in, getting all wet, getting hurt, embarrassed, and in difficult and compromising situations.

pastoral theology

a pastor will do well to live this....

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Last Weekend

Last Saturday I graduated from The Baptist Missionary Assocation Theological Seminary with a Master Of Arts in Religion. Whew! Am I glad it is over with, yet i wil miss it. One of my professors told me I will be overwelmed with depression in a few weeks because I will not be around anyone who will beable to discuss theology with me at the level I am used to. I pray not.

I will post a photo or two soon.

So much has happened since and I have been worn out by all the stuff since. Boy, am I tired.

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM???

When and where did Baptists originate. Where did they come from and are the so gosh-golly-gee great anyway. Well the last part will not be answered but I would like to turn your attention to part of Dr. Phillip R. Bryan’s thesis from 1966. He later did his Ph.D. work at Baylor under. Dr. Ray Summers.

Dr. Bryan is currently the President Emeritus at BMA Theological Seminary and teaches Theology. He will was part of the planning committee for Baptist History Celebration that will take place in Charleston, S.C. and was invited to lecture at this meeting

Successionist Theories

The oldest and most generally accepted theory of Baptist origins has been the successionist theory. Essentially the view is that Baptists have had a continuity of existence since the days of Jesus' ministry. William Wright Barnes has differentiated four variations of tho theory: (1) church succession, (2) apostolic succession, (3) baptismal succession, and (4) spiritual succession. He has maintained that one extreme form of church succession is the same as the Roman Catholic theory of church succession. Although four types are delineated, "the first three theories or emphases are logically related and historically associated." All three maintain that "a valid church must validly authorize a minister in order that a baptism may be valid." Representative Baptist historians who have advocated succession are:(1)Thomas Crosby, (2) G. H, Orchard, (3) J. M. Cramp, (4) William Cathcart, and (5) John T. Christian.
Professor William Morgan Patterson of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was apparently the author of the only extensive critique and analysis of the successionist theories, although other less extensive studies have been made. He has concluded that successionist writers wrote from an apologetical and polemical approach and that their conclusions were based upon a priori reasoning and not scientific methodology.

Anabaptist Spiritual Kinship Theory

A theory "held by those who trace a spiritual relationship of Baptists through the long line of Anabaptist sects, such as German, Dutch and Swiss Anabaptists, the Waldensians and Petrobrusians, the Henricians, the Novatians, and the Donatists," is the Anabaptist spiritual kinship theory. While no direct organic continuity between these various sects is verifiable, the adherents of this interpretation have asserted that throughout history such minority groups have practiced believer's baptism and therefore, have a "spiritual kinship." As related to Baptist practice, such a view precludes the necessity of organic continuity in either baptisms or ordinations for baptism to be valid. Representative historians maintaining the Anabaptist spiritual kinship view have been: (1) David Benedict, (2) Richard B. Cook, (3) Thomas Armitage, (4) Albert H. Newman, and (5) Walter Rauschenbusch. Apparently no critical analysis has been devoted per se to the spiritual kinship theory except for the points questioned by the historians who have advocated the English Separatist descent theory.

English Separatist Descent Theory

Briefly, the chief affirmation of the English Separatist descent theory is that only those to whom the name Baptist was actually applied should be so considered and that "the Baptists originated with certain English Separatists who were congregational in polity and who had come to consider believers' baptism alone as valid according to the Scriptures." This interpretation is compatible with the view that only the proper candidate (professed believer) and proper purpose (public testimony) are necessary for valid baptism. Although numerous articles covering various aspects of this theory have appeared in scholarly journals, apparently no single monograph has been devoted exclusively to a critical analysis of the theory. The present investigation, therefore, is an effort to provide such an analysis. Several variations of the Separatist descent theory have emerged since the 1880's.

hand it to them

We have been talking about bulletins at Church recently. Some would like to have custom printed ones, but the price is just to much for our small Church. I personaly think we should go with one design for a quarter and then switch to another. Or go with a dynamic looking monthly service. below I have listed a couple of links for advertising and better bulletins.


Branding through the church bulletin

A Better Bulletin

How to Create Buzz

Church Bulletins That Don't Suck

Bringing sexy back to the Church

The week @ Church, we talked about sex. You should have seen the faces. Some people decided to not come even because of the topic. Thisis the overview of what I said. I know I said more, but I don't have those notes.

• We removed the kids this morning for a children’s worship experience, not because we are going to be graphic, but so they don’t ask you questions when you look so nervous and so you can give full attention to Scripture.


• There will be very little application or how to, we will not be giving you a put tab “A” into slot “B” kind of sermon.


• I will not be sharing personal testimony or giving cute illustrations. We look at the Scripture and let it guide us now matter who scary it is.


• Take a trip down to the local grocery store and you will see magazine after magazine with articles about sex. Women’s magazines, Men’s magazines, automobile and even music magazines are filled with sex.


• Turn on the television and you will be bombarded with inappropriate ideas of sex.
  Flip the TV off and the radio on and you hear songs like Salt b’ Pepa singing “let’s talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me” Or how about Color me Badd with their song about song called I want to sex you Up. Those are some older ones an I understand that David Allen Coe had some that the Cowfolk like that are very raunchy in there lyrics. And Justin Timberlake had is song where say he is bring Sexy Back.


• They world is educating us and our young people on sex, but this is not right. This is not the way it should be.


• God created it but for the most part His Church is quit on it. It is time that the Church let God bring sexy back so we approach sex the right way, because if all the Church does is point their collective finger and tell you how not to have sex, then who will teach them what it the right way to have sex.


• So here is the deal - Singles people are having sex while Married couples are not. We pray teens are not having sex, but their grandparents are since the invention of the little blue pill. Viagra had changed the age range of sex lives


• In truth sexual transmitted disease statistic are rising the fastest in the senior population because they are having sex. So this message is for all of us.

Gen 2:21-5 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

• Gen 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. We see the Work of Creation being continued in God’s creation of a wife for Adam in from of Eve.


• Gen 2:22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. As Jehovah has removed the rib, He has created the most beautiful woman that Adam had ever seen. Then he brought this stunning creature to Adam. We see God playing suitor here.


• Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." This is now bone of my bones – Eve was something that Adam had longed for and God had provided.

• John Calvin put it this way, He said “Adam indicates that something had been wanting to him; as if he had said, now at length I have obtained a suitable companion, who is part of the substance of my flesh, and in whom I behold, as it were, another self.”


• Adam is in complete understanding that Eve is not only part of his body, but she is a part of his life.

Gen 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Leave and cleave is how we have traditionally talked about this.

• Be leaving they are making a public commitment of loyalty of their love.


• By leaving they are making a commitment to intimacy.


• For Real intimacy to happen there needs to be alone time if you know what I mean.


• Real Sex needs real privacy –away from family and work and kids and what have you.


• Become one flesh –they joining of two, the tender, God glorifying love between husband and wife.


• This is the union of two souls being knit together


• The Hebrew word behind this means to intertwine or to mingle together.


• This is intimacy, closeness and understanding


• Intimacy needs communication. When there is poor communication there is poor physical relations.


• Even the world know that sex is communication- they use the euphemism – that they “knew them Biblically”


• To know some one you have to have communicated with them


• Communication is talking and it being in contact, being in touch


• 1Co 7:3-5 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (4) The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (5) Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.


• We need to be wary of not having intimate relations between husband and wife because not only do you belong to your spouse, but we are warned that Satan will use it marital celibacy as a weapon of evil.


• Paul says this because, if natural lustful man is left alone he will defile the marriage bed some how some way.


• Pro 5:18-19 - Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.


• 1Co 6:18 - Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.


• When you flee, you need to run right it the arms of your spouse.


• Paul encourages sex between husband and wife because of the intimacy, because of the communication, because of the please and because of procreation.


• Gen 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.


• Read S.O.S. 7:1-10


• This is a wisdom book in the Bible, the guy who wrote proverbs, Solomon, wrote this to.


• Hebrew teenage boys were not allowed to read this. Some people wanted to remove it from the Bible, other people try to say that it is about Jesus and the Church


• Son 7:7-8 make this hard to believe, yet we always say we believe the Bible is literal
  
  Don’t forget the closeness and intimacy of our marriages is a representative of the deeply personal relationship we are to have with the Lord spiritually.
  
  Go and honeymoon again and return to an intimacy between husband and wife that honors Christ and His death.