One Vote

When I started this blog I told myself I was not going to do anything Political on it. In 7 days America will be making a choice in one of the most important presidential elections of my lifetime. Not because of either candidate, but because of who they may appoint to the Supreme Court. I am not going to endorse either candidate because everyone needs to pray about it and make that decision on their own.

Romans 13:1 KJV Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Paul is telling us to submit to authority because it is God who appoints that authority. In America God has blessed us even more. He allows us to vote for a leader. In my opinion He puts a great responsibility on us as Christians. We are that city on a hill. (Matthew 5:14) and our vote tells the rest of America and the world how we feel about God’s commandments.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: Psalm 33:12

AFA Voter Guide

The Fall & Sacrifice

The Fall

Adam and Eve were in paradise. They had everything they could want. God provided for their every need. The only thing he asked for in return was obedience. All they had to do was to avoid one tree. (Genesis 3:3) The bible mentions two specific trees in the middle of Eden. (Genesis 2:9) The tree of life led to salvation. The tree of knowledge of good and evil led to damnation. We have this same choice today! We can follow Christ to salvation or the world and Satan to damnation. Just as God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge, we are instructed by the bible to avoid the sin of the world. (Genesis 3:1-5) Satan tempted Eve the same way he tempts us. He uses pride, doubt, confusion and self satisfaction to deceive us. Instead of doing what God wanted Eve did what satisfied her. Genesis 3:6 says “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was…pleasing to the eye.” Sin is often pleasing to the eye and makes us desire it. The Devil has many ways of making sin look appealing. Many times when we plan to do evil we will try and talk others into sinning with us like Eve carried Adam into sin with her. (Genesis 3:7) “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked” When we sin we realize we have failed God and feel shame. (Genesis 3:8) “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God…, and they hid from the LORD God.” We should be happy that God seeks us out, but when we are in sin we are terrified and hide from His presence. (Genesis 3:9) “But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"” God knows when we sin yet He still seeks us out and while He knows what we have done He wants us to confess to Him. (Genesis 3:12-13) When Adam was confronted with his sin he blamed Eve who turned and blamed the serpent. When we are confronted we often try to blame our sin on others and if all else fails, “The Devil made me do it!” In Genesis 3:16-19 God tells them what there punishment will be. When we sin and dishonor God we will be punished.

The Sacrifice

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21
This verse points us to our salvation. We can’t cover our sins with something we do anymore than Adam and Eve could cover their’s with fig leaves. The leaves did not hide their sin from God’s eyes and neither did the garments he made them. It was the sacrifice of the animal that atoned and brought forgiveness for their sin. The Old Testament repeatedly mentions a sin offering. In the New Testament we receive the perfect offering that ended the need for sacrifice. Jesus’ blood is our sin offering, all we do is accept it. Just as Adam and Eve needed the sacrifice to remove their sin, we couldn’t be forgiven without the crucifixion of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
MSW

Thank You

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who comes to this blog regularly. I pray that something I write may be a blessing to you. This blog has been a blessing for me and knowing that there are several people who read it regular gives me encouragement to keep on. Posting this month will probably be slim as work has picked up and I'm looking in to some side projects. I have two essays I'm working on that are requiring a lot of study. Hopefully I'll get them up soon. Again thank you and may God Bless you.
MSW

Fireproof

I finally got to take my wife to see fireproof. If you haven't seen it I recommend it.
It is an awesome movie with Christian values and many ideas that can help even a strong marriage. In this day when Hollywood rarely has a movie that strengthens Christian viewpoints instead of tearing them down we should throw all our support behind this company
Go to Sherwood Pictures for more information about this movie and their others.

Britney by Bebo Norman

A few months ago I started to write about how it annoyed me some of the stupid stuff celbrities do. Children look up to them and want to be like them and they lead them down a hard road. I didn't feel like God wanted me to write it so I didn't. I heard this song a few weeks later and realized why. Many of our young celebrities do not know Jesus and they have no one who will show them Jesus. Many people want to see the bad things that happen to these celebrities and the media won't show the positive things. When all you ever hear people say about you is bad, it tears you down. So as you listen to this song think about the celebrities our children look up to and pray for them. If their is anyone you know who has been torn down by gossip pray for them also.

Noah's Ark

I received an email the other day with pictures of a biblical sized replica of Noah's Ark. Its located in Schagen Netherlands and was built by a dutch contractor. I thought I'd put a few pictures up. I'm going to include the text from the Email since it appears to be accurate.

Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opened In SCHAGEN, Netherlands . The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was opened the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.

Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening - will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats, and one camel.

Visitors on the first day were stunned. 'It's past comprehension', said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.

'I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.' There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark. Huibers, a Christian man, said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands.

The Gift

Many new and some longtime Christians have a hard time grasping the fact that all God asks us to do to gain eternal salvation is confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts. (Romans 10:9) When you look back at all the sins you’ve committed, it’s hard to believe that you don’t have to do anything, but accept Jesus into your heart to be saved. God came down from Heaven in the form of a man to be beaten and crucified just so you can live eternally in heaven with Him. Many Christians feel there has to be something else you have to do. This causes them to doubt whether they were ever saved. They start to ask questions like: “Am I truly Saved?” “How can I know?” These doubts build frustration and the frustration can lead us away from our savior.

How can you know yes I am truly saved? Look at Romans 10:9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Okay, you say I did confess and I do believe Jesus died and arose on the third day. But He has to expect something out of me and I try to be perfect but I Can’t. God realizes we can’t be perfect Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one; What you must realize is your salvation is a gift from God. Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! If you’re a Christian you should know that your fleshly body is evil. Now let’s apply this verse to the gift of salvation. You give a gift to your child, not for any reason other than you love them. What do you expect in return? Think about it for a minute. A thank you is nice, but you aren’t going to take the gift back because you don’t get one. An “I Love you!” is nice, but again you aren’t going to take it back if you don’t get one. Your Child cleaning their room without being told as a thank you is nice, but you didn’t’ feel they owed it to you. We are evil and this is how we feel about giving a gift. Think about how much more our Heavenly Father loves us.

To me the greatest joy in giving a gift is in seeing the joy of the one who receives it. This is the reason God gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins. (John 3:16) He gave us a gift! He expects nothing in return. It was a gift to show that He loves us. God loves it when we worship and praise Him, but salvation is a gift with no strings attached. Realizing this, it is easy to be sure of your salvation and start showing God you love Him.

MSW