Forgiving Grace Ministries

Biblical Illiteracy, its Results and its Cure

2009-09-20T15:34:00.002-05:00

Brothers and sisters this is a very disturbing topic, Biblical Illiteracy is a huge cancer not only in our world, it is also very prevalent in our churches. There are a lot of churches that are dying, homes that are wrecked, lives that are faltering, and the reality is that this very problem “Biblical Illiteracy” is likely the major contributor to the all the rampant immorality in our midst.
Well, I guess I need to ask the question; Are you Biblically Illiterate?
I want to encourage you to take to heart the reality of this message; your eternity will depend on your answers to some very powerful questions that will be asked of you.

Who is Jesus?

2009-09-13T15:13:00.001-05:00

The whole of the Bible is the revelation of the story of God’s love for the human race. It is amazing when you study the scriptures and discover that from before the foundation of the world Jesus has been working, either in the creation of all that is, or He has been being revealed in and through various Old Testament figures, such as Job, or Moses. In the New Testament you have men life Simeon who longed for the revelation of Jesus and was promised that he would not see death until as he put it “the Salvation of God is revealed” and it was in Jesus.

Beyond the question of Who Jesus is, lies two more prevalent question that are birthed from knowing who Jesus is and they are; What does know who Jesus is mean to me? And What do I do whit Jesus now that I know who He is?

I guess for me the most important realization of who Jesus is manifests itself in these two statements.

Jesus is the Love of God

And

Jesus is the Heart of God

Well you can check out the message here

Dying Without Regret

2009-09-06T18:46:00.001-05:00

I am just in awe at the wonder working power of God, maybe I am just easy to amaze but God is just doing some amazing work in our midst. I want to just share this, it is just so amazing, but several weeks ago, I got some visitor information cards for the church and began to pray over them and distribute them in the pews, that same day we had two visitors that have been pretty regular attendees since, and today we five more visitors, God is so faithful and so good, and I am so thankful for all He is doing in our midst.

This week we looked at 2 Timothy chapter 4, and this was a very different sermon for me and while I normally flesh out a fair amount of my sermon here, instead I want to ask you the reader the same questions I asked of my congregation and then encourage you to go and listen to the sermon for yourself.
Do you have any regrets about the way you have lived your life?
What about the things you have done or have not done?
How about this are there any regrets in any of your relationships, ones you have currently or ones that are strained or broken?
How about any regrets with the way you have raised your children?
Within your marriage, have you done things, said things that you regret?

If you answered yes to any of these then I would encourage you check out this weeks message

Ladies & Gentlemen Please Welcome...

2009-08-29T13:04:00.004-05:00

Ladies & Gentlemen Please Welcome, Tobias Samson Zeubie II, about a month ago our dog Jasper died suddenly, he was sick on Monday and the doctor could not see him until Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday morning while we were out he passed away.
At this point we decided that we would not seek to get another dog right now, but did purpose in our heart a prayer that if God wanted us to have another animal, He would provide. Well, within a few weeks my former boss at the college library contacted us about a young lady who was moving into the dorms at our college, and how she could not keep her dog, we contacted her and took the dog for the weekend and fell in love with him. He is a Great Pyrenees mix, much like my dog Zeus who died at the ripe old age of 13, just before Christmas last year. In looking at Tobias and in getting to know him he reminds us so much, not only of Zeus but of my wife's dog Willy who also died at age 13. It is so neat how God has allowed this animal to come into our lives and how a little piece of each of the three dogs we have lost in the last three years is present in Tobias.
Tobias welcome to the family and we pray that you have a long and happy life with us.

Salvation, God's Plan Not Man's Part 2

2009-08-23T16:09:00.002-05:00

What another phenomenal day! We awoke this morning to cooler temperatures and clear blue skies, the kind that says fall is in the air, ahh, I love this time of the year. Anyway, I need to get on with it, last week we left off with these three “Hearing, Belief, Repentance” as things that are in the scriptures when it comes to a plan of salvation, now as I told the congregation this morning do not get too hung up on order, as we go through this it appears the only things that require order is the first two, hearing and believing anyway, we looked at confession and how Jesus says we must confess Him before others and how He will do the same before His Father.
Next we looked at Baptism, which is probably the most argued point in all of Christianity. The scriptural teaching is reasonably clear, the scriptures command that we submit to baptism; it is a part of the salvation process and as much so as any other piece. Now, I am not arguing in favor of Baptismal regeneration, I am not arguing at all, I am simply stating the facts from scripture, for example, that word “for” is said to mean because so in other words, you are baptized because your sins are forgiven, (Acts 2:38) how ever if you were to turn your Bible to Matthew 26:28, you will find another “for” where Jesus said His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sin, when you look to the original Greek text what you will find is this, εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. The words are pronounced Ace, Aphesin, Hamartion, which in the English is for forgiveness “of” sins. OK, I know that is a lot to swallow, so I will refer you to the phrase study sheet which I have prepared. Anyway, the first word is the preposition “for” according to Thayer it means “to obtain” the second word Aph-es-in is a Singular Feminine Noun in the accusative case, the accusative case is the case of the direct object and it means “forgiveness” and finally Hamartion, which is a Feminine Plural Noun in the Genitive case, this case roughly corresponds to our English possessive case. The genitive expresses possession, and it means sins.
OK, Greek class is over, hang in there you are doing well, the only difference between the Acts passage and the Matthew passage is these two things which are both found in the Acts passage. In the Matthew passage, Jesus is referring to sin in general and at large, you know your sin, my sin, his sin, her sin and so on, while in the Acts passage, Peter uses the article “the” and the personal pronoun, “your” both in reference to a particular persons sin, yours, in other words “the sin of yours” Bottom, line is that there are five places where that phrase “for forgiveness of sin” occurs and in each and every case it is the same, so if we are to understand the Acts passage to read, the we are baptized “because” our sins have been forgiven then we must conclude that Jesus’ blood likewise was poured out “because” sin was forgiven. I simply can not do that because that really goes against everything the whole Bible teaches.
Next we moved to the last thing the scriptures say that lead to life and being saved and this my dear friends is perseverance, Jesus said just as He overcame we should also, for all practical purposes it works like this if Jesus can persevere against all He did surely we can manage in this life being faithful to the call and being faithful means, living our lives trusting that Jesus is who He said He is, that He will deliver on the promises He gave, and Obeying, this is lived out by following the commands of the scriptures and living life in a such a way as to say, no matter what because I love Jesus, I am going to do and teach what His word says.
Well, if you want to get a deeper understanding listen to both of the messages and look a the phrase study sheet, it is an excellent resource designed to strengthen and encourage you in your walk and growth in Christ Jesus. May the Lord Bless you in direct proportion to your study of His Word.

Salvation, God's Plan Not Man's Part 1

2009-08-16T14:58:00.003-05:00

Have you ever looked at all the "Plans of Salvation" that permeate the internet? Well, when redesigning the Forgiving Grace Ministry website, I was torn about putting one on the site. It is not because I do not want to share with people how to be saved, because I desperately want everyone to know the joy and peace contained in a relationship with Jesus, a relationship that brings salvation can not be beat. I was reluctant because scripture in every case of salvation that it tells us about involves the telling (verbally) of the Gospel and then there is immediate action. So, my issue is that Salvation at least as presented in the Gospel is not a thing done in private, it is done in relationship. Now that is not to say that God can not move an individual to Salvation without the aid of another human, because He is sovereign, and He can do all things, Amen.
What really got me though was that I really felt that God wanted me to search out all the plans I could find, and when I did I came away astounded, and in some cases absolutely appalled, about what I was reading. One plan said that the whole idea of the Gospel teaching a need for repentance was absurd, yet Jesus said in Luke 13:3, 5 repent or perish, loose translation but you get the point. In Luke 15:7, 10 Jesus has told two parables one about the lost sheep and one about a lost coin, and He ends both with the idea that there is a party going on in Heaven when just one sinner repents. Now I do not know about you but how am I supposed to process these verses if we can be in our sin yet believe and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the one that really got me; another site said that just by acknowledging your sin and your need of a Savior you were repenting, now the last time I checked that was not good hermeneutics. In fact that would or should qualify as heresy, and that brings me here to that page and this 2 week sermon series.
Friends we need to mine the whole of the scriptures and if they say something leads to salvation we might just want to check ourselves and see if that is what we are teaching, it should not matter if we personally agree with it or not. Are you teaching what you are teaching because the Scriptures teach it or because your denomination teaches it? Read the Scripture for all they say and ask yourself, am I teaching what it says or what I want it to say or what I have been told it says. You know many times when I read the Word of God, I come face to face with His perfection, His Holiness and it shines a light on my imperfections and that usually causes shame, especially if I am not doing or living the way I ought to be living, and many people want you and I to think that, that shame is wrong and God does not want us to feel bad, Yet Paul, God's chosen vessel said that Godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to Salvation. Go figure, huh!
Well, we covered three things in this week’s message that the scriptures say lead to or bring one into a place of accepting salvation or being saved. So, check out the message and mine some of that Gospel treasure.

The Unconventional Faithfulness of God

2009-08-11T16:15:00.004-05:00

It is not an ironic thing, just another testimony of the unconventional faithfulness of God. A week ago today our three year old American Eskimo, Jasper died unexpectedly, Thursday my wife had a cartilage graft done on her knee. So, I am having to be dad, nurse, cook, maid, driver and all the other duties that go into raising a family of four, when one spouse is down.
Sunday was a long day I left the house at 7:40 and got home about 5:40. I got to the church about 45 minutes before Sunday school so I could spend some time in prayer over the visitor cards as I placed them into the pews. I want to be the kind of minister that practices what he preaches, over the last month I have been preaching that as a people of God when we are faithful, obedient, and humble, that is when we could and really should expect God to work miracles in our midst. Well, as I was saying I was praying over the visitor cards and placing the in the pews, I finished with the cards that I had about 10 minutes before anyone arrived at the church, one of the elders was the first to arrive and I told him what I had been doing, we talked for a few minuted and then, I went on and finished preparing my material for the Sunday school lesson. Wouldn't you know it, just as we were getting ready to begin the song service, I turned and in walked two visitors. God is so Awesome, and He made a certain impression on the people, after the service I herd them telling each other about what had went on earlier that morning. I can take no credit, but I can say Thank You God for being so faithful. Even when it seems the whole world is falling in around me, God is there in our midst, faithful as ever and usually working miracles.
Well, during the message we were looking at the 1st and 2nd chapter of Hosea, we spent some time looking at the meaning of the names of Hosea's children. We looked at how God used the marriage between Hosea and Gomer, to give a reflective view of the marriage relationship between God and His people, see Gomer had gone astray and played the harlot and so too had the people of Israel, and when we look at the condition of the church at large today, so have we, in many aspects. Twisting the word, allowing openly sinful people into positions of authority in the church. Let's be honest it is spiritual harlotry and the church needs to turn form its many lovers and return before it is too late.
If you like to listen to the sermon in its entirety you may do so by either visiting our ministry web site or by clicking on the title of this post.
I pray that you have a blessed week and I can not wait to see what God has in store for us this week.

Sin; Reality, Results, Cure

2009-08-02T17:05:00.002-05:00

I hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but, WOW another great Sunday! The first Sunday of every month we have a potluck and this Sunday we also had a business meeting following, so this has been an extremely long day.
The lesson today dealt with how in our society today and in the past 20-50 years there has been a societal push away from personal responsibility. People sin and in our day they are told "Oh,t it is not your fault," that you are this way or did this or that. Instead they are told to blame issues to their genetics, the upbringing everything but being told that they need to take responsibility for their own actions. Scripture is very clear we will have to account for our own actions, for the believer they will give an account for what they have done with their new life in Christ. For the unbeliever they will give an account of their sin. One thing is for sure this world wants you and I to believe that sin is just some outdated, antiquated idea, but the truth is that Sin is a reality, and it has most dire results, it will cost everything eventually, including the very souls of those who reject the free gift offered by God, which takes me to the cure. In short Jesus is the cure to the sin problem.
Well, like I said it has been an extremely long day so I am going to end this post this way. John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse in all of Scripture, but most people do not know the following verse which has the power of verse 16, so I will leave you with John 3:17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."

(As always the you can click on the title to this post to be take to the sermon) If you want to hear more sermons please visit Forgiving Grace Ministries and click on the Audio Sermons link on the home page!t

The Master's Miracles (Message 3)

2009-07-26T14:55:00.004-05:00

Well, this was the last message in our three week series on the Miracles of Jesus. I thought what I would do is incorporate the last sermon sheet into this post. We have seen many great applications in this series and we look forward to applying these to our lives and teaching others the great magnitude of God's enduring love!

Previous Lessons
Lesson 1: Life in the will of God only gets better and better and the best is yet to come.
Lesson 2: When it comes to God and miracles many times we just have to accept by faith that which we can not understand.
Lesson3: Many times we must get out of the boat, or move out of our comfy place to a place that is not comfortable if we are to expect a miracle in our life.
Lesson 4: Just because we are experiencing troubles does not necessarily mean we have done wrong
Lesson 5: Jesus knows where we are even when we do not know where He is
Lesson 6: Weak faith creates troubles
Lesson 7: Obedient people walk on top of their troubles
Lesson 8: Faith + Obedience = Miracle
Lesson 9: When God deals with people and performs miracles there is an expectation of Obedience
Today’s Lessons

Lesson 1: Everyone Is Important in the Kingdom of God.

Lesson 2: There Are No Impossibilities with Jesus!

Deeper Meaning
Jesus expects us to have nothing of greater importance than He, (Jn 21:15-17) there should be nothing in our life of more importance. We should willingly sacrifice everything we have and all of our desires and dreams to that of the will and direction of God. As we walk in these truths and apply God’s word and commands to our lives we will begin to experience a whole new level of joy in our life and triumph over life’s circumstances.

The Master's Miracles (Message 2)

2009-07-19T15:03:00.004-05:00

The weather is absolutely beautiful, we have had a Canadian cold mass blow in and we have had days in the 70's and nights in the 50's. The sun has been shining, you know those partly cloutdy days, where you have blue skies and white fluffy clouds, well if you can pitcure that ou know the wonder of the days we have had this week.
We looked at Matthew 14, this week where the disciples are sent out to sea by Jesus and they being obedient go and they find that the weather has gotten rough, a strong head wind, these guys were working it hard just to keep from getting blow backwards, well here comes Jesus walking on the water and now they are really afraid. They cry out it is a ghost but to their surprise Jesus calls out "Fear Not, It is I." Now you have Peter and he says Lord if it is You command me to come to You on the water. Notice Peter did not say in the water, He said on the water. Peter acted in faithful obedience to the command of Jesus and the result was a miracle. Faith + Obedience = Miracle. We can not expect a miracle if we do not have those two ingredients front and center in our walk. I related a story about how I had a meeting in Macon, MO this week and how God had laid it on my heart to come to the church and fix our basketball goal, well I dropped the kids off for VBS and ran a couple of other errands and when I was set to leave for church and my meeting it was pouring the rain. Well I knew God had placed it on my heart to fix the thing, so I went on in spite of the rain but the further I drove the harder the rain fell, and it was raining so hard by the time I reached Macon, you could hardly see it was raining so hard. Well I had prayed on the way "God I know that You have done a lot for me, and I should not ask but could you stop the rain long enough for me to fix the basketball goal" Well I got about two miles form the church and it was still pouring, and I drove to the church and when I turned into the driveway it went to a sprinkle and by the time I got to the basketball goal it had stopped completely. Well I got the goal fixed without a drop of rain and after I fixed it I shot three shots and no sooner than the last went through the hoop and hit the ground it began to pour again. Well the moral of the story is that sometimes, many times we need to act in faith and obedience expecting that God is going to work that miracle. Now I know there are those who would say preacher what if it had not quit raining, well I would not have had a story to tell, but I still would have fix that goal. And that is where the test of our faith and obedience are checked. Will we still be faithful and obedient even in the face of our storms and trials, will we still go where God wants us to go, we will still say what he wants us to say?
Well I have had a full day and I am ready to spend some time with the wife and kids just relaxing watching some old TV shows.

Grace and Peace to you all and again there will be a link to the sermon if you just click the title.

The Master's Miracles (Message 1)

2009-07-12T15:59:00.006-05:00

Wow, another great Sunday and a great service, wish you all could have been there!
I just began a three week series on the Miracles of Jesus, we spent our time today looking at the first of Jesus' miracles recorded in scripture.
Jesus, His mother and disciples were are all at a wedding in Canaan, and they ran out of wine, and Jesus tells the waiters to fill the stone pots and then dip their pitchers in and draw out some water and take it to the head waiter, and to their surprise the head waiter exclaims that "everyone brings out the good wine and then when people have had plenty to drink, then he switches to the poorer wine, but you, you saved the best wine for last" (loose paraphrase)
We will be focusing on several aspects involved with this and other miracles, this week we focused on the faith and obedience of the event. If the waiters, had not dipped out the wine and had not taken it to the head waiter, then what would have happened? Would there have even been a miracle? What about the miracle involving, the raising of Lazarus, or the lame man at the pool at Bethesda?
In each of these as will all miracles involving people there is an expectation of faith and obedience. When we examine these miracles though what we see are people who hesitantly act, not instinctively move expecting God to work wonders beyond their imagination. But is that not true for the majority of the Christians, we have this tendency for sight walking, even being short sighted when it comes to God and His ability to work miracles. We may even have a tendency to be corrupted in our thinking and believe like the world, as so many do not even believe that miracles even happen.
As we worked through this we examined the simplicity of the faith in each of these examples and how, oh what was it Jesus said, yeah, "if you had faith like a mustard seed you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea': and it would obey you," so I pulled out a single mustard seed and stood at the edge of the riser and asked can you see, the size of faith it takes?
Anyway there were three main lessons today;
Lesson 1: Jesus enjoyed life, Jesus loved life and so can we and we should
Lesson 2: Life in the will of God gets better and better
Lesson 3: When it come to God and miracles, many times we just have to accept that which we do not understand

Bottom line believers must exercise their faith if we expect to grow and mature, we must get out of the boat and often, it is OK to expect a Big God to do Big things in our lives and in the world.

Here is another truth, you need to understand that the only way to enjoy the hugeness of God's grace, the Hugeness of God's peace and the Hugeness of God's miracles, then you must first give ourselves over fully to Him, accept Jesus as Lord of your life, accept His will for your life and stop the sight walking and walk in faith and by faith.

See the One True God will always keep you safe when you are wholly committed to being His and walking where He desires you to walk in obedient faith, then you can being to experience the hugeness of His peace, His grace, His love, and His miracles.

Well, until next week, be safe, be strong in your faith, in your walk, and always live a life that Lifts Him up!

FYI: if you want to hear the sermon, just click the title of this post!

Solemn Assembly

2009-07-06T15:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday as my first official act as the minister at Graves Chapel, we participated in the "Family Research Council's, Call2Fall." I felt that it important to join with the 5,000 plus other churches and pray for our country, repenting for the past and present, and praying for a time of renewal. The other reason I felt it important was the fact that yesterday was my first official Sunday as their new minister, and honestly I just felt that it was prudent to spend our first hour together in prayer. We prayed for our country of course,but we prayed for the church at large and for our own congregation. We prayed that God would forgive us for turning away from Him as a nation, we prayed that God would move our leaders to repentance and they would repent and fall to their knees and turn or return to Him and His ways. We prayed to seek forgiveness and healing, we prayed that God would move within our communities and bring a revival. In praying for the church at large, we asked that God would forgive preachers and congregants for not being diligent in handling His Word. We prayed that we would return to the Bible as our only source of authority and our only guide for growth and missions. That we would teach the Bible to people where they are and that God would again be honored not only in the church, but in our homes, communities, states and our country. That both the churches (corporate) and the individuals would train up their families, would make disciples and live lives that are Holy and Blameless before God and men.
The major difference in our gathering from the majority if not all the other churches around the country participating Sunday, was that instead of fasting, I felt it prudent that we celebrate this new beginning. We celebrated in anticipation of what the Lord is going to do, not only in our country,communities and lives, but in our congregation as well.
I shared this from the pulpit, "We need to act in anticipation of our prayer. We need to celebrate this new beginning, and celebrate in anticipation of what God is going to do among His people."
We will work toward a time of regular personal and corporate fasting, but yesterday we needed to praise God for the blessings He has already provided but for the blessings to come!
All in all it was a great Sunday and an even greater beginning, and I look forward to all that the Lord is going to do in our lives, our congregation, our community, our country and our world!

2009-06-28T13:17:00.002-05:00

I am ever so amazed at the complexity of God, I have been preaching at this church for the last four weeks, and had applied at the church as their minister retired at the end of May, well they narrowed it down to two men, myself and a dear brother who I greatly admire. Well, today they had a congregational vote, and I am the new minister. It is so strange, that is what we came here for to become equipped to be ministers of the Gospel. So, today as I sit here and write I am amazed, amazed at a life transformed by the Power of God, amazed that while I once was so many horrid things, now I am a minister of the Gospel and am now responsible for a flock.

Lord, I said send me, and you did, Lord I said I am willing and You have given these people to me, Lord I said that I wanted You to use my life both old and new, to make a difference in this world and today we begin a new chapter of our life. Lord may I honor You above all and always use these opportunities to bring Glory to You, and may I be Salt and Light, and always yielded to Your will.

Lord Thank You and now that You have brought me here, I am looking forward to the work that You have prepared for us.

Who Really Killed Goliath?

2009-06-24T13:03:00.004-05:00

I subscribe to Bible Study Magazine and they have an interactive side as well. While you get the printed publication you also get the cool advantage that only Logos could offer, web content. This month, they have a very interesting article on who really killed Goliath. There seems to be a manuscript variance that can cause what seems to be a contradiction, equip yourself today and find out more by reading the whole article.

Phrase Study

2009-05-22T14:59:00.005-05:00

Wow, another semester gone! It is hard to believe that with the commencement of the 09-10 school year I will be a senior. I have been preaching more recently and have been doing some more personal study too, I much prefer to do study when it is for me rather than an assignment, though I do enjoy many of those also.
Recently, in doing a phrase study from the Greek text, I ran across some interesting similarities across some texts that many render into English different ways. My first reaction is to scratch my head in wonder. How can three to five words that are in the same context, the same case, gender, number etc mean two different things?
I have to come down on the side of order and put my presuppositions to bed and look intently at the meaning of each and in doing so I have come to a new conclusion. What is that conclusion you might be asking yourself or what in the world is this nut talking about. Well, I do not want to try and sway you by saying what I have concluded just yet. I will, in due time. I would really love to do this in a discussion format as it would be much more profitable to your own study. But since hardly anyone ever reads this blog, that would make discussion impossible. Since that is the case, I would ask that if you have any preconceived notions about works, or about the blood of Christ, John's Baptism or Christian Baptism, put them to bed and let them get a good rest while you wrap your mind around these facts. I have prepared a phrase study sheet that I made as I went through this it is a concise sheet, and I ask that you pray earnestly before you read beyond the solid line that separates this section and the phrase sheet. I would ask that you look at each of these in the Greek text, as I have given you the words and if you have a Bible software like Logos and have a language package use it, do not be afraid of the Greek, if you do not have a program go to this site from there you need only put in the text and click the Greek tab and you will go to that text and they use mouse over technology so it will show you the grammar. The idea is that if grammar rules apply then you can have one and only one way of understanding these texts, if the rules do not apply then scripture can be made to mean whatever we want it to be. Though some days that option would be nice, especially when I am running behind and the speed limit is not as fast as I would have it to be,you know what I am saying, but that is not God or His way. He is not a God of chaos, He is a God of order, or law and order. Which means that He has set rules that must be obeyed if we are to truely understand and enjoy the full richness of His word and His Kingdom. I pray that you will be strengthened, encourage, and blessed by this study, and further more I pray that you will consider that once I believed differently than I do now. And the change came because I have taken the time to learn the language and do dozens hours of tireless study all the while not favoring what I want to hear or favoring what is popular. Rather, I have desired to know God's truth no matter how hard it is to understand, no matter how much it flies in the face of man centered teaching, or no matter how unpopular it may be. I also ask that you remember God said He would use that which seems foolish to confound the wise, which my dear brother or sister I no longer consider myself wise but woe, according to the popular mindset I am a fool, and I am grateful to God for humbling me. The last thing I would ask is this, Pray, Pray that God would give you a real desire to know His truth, and that no matter what, you would come to Him in total submission and that if you find what you currently believe in contradiction to what you are about to study, that you would be honest with God and yourself and that before you close your heart and your mind that you would bow in prayer again and ask God to help you understand. Well, here you go, May the Lord richly bless your desire to know the truth and may the truth set you free and may you mine from the study the wealth of the Kingdom riches!_____________________________________________________
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(Mark 1:4, NASB95) "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

(Luke 3:3, NASB95) "And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;"

(Luke 24:47, NASB95) "and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

(Acts 2:38, NASB95)"Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

(Matthew 26:28, NASB95) "for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins."

εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. The words are pronounced Ace, Aphesin, Hamartion, which in the English is for forgiveness “of” sins.

The first word εἰς “Ace” The preposition “for” (Greek, eis) means “to obtain” (Thayer, 94). The phrase may be rendered: “so that sins might be forgiven” (Arndt, 228)

The second word, ἄφεσιν “Aphesin” is a Singular Feminine Noun in the accusative case, the accusative case is the case of the direct object

The third word, ἁμαρτιῶν “Hamartion” is a Feminine Plural Noun in the Genitive case, this case roughly corresponds to our English possessive case. Hence, the genitive expresses possession.

Some believe that this phrase in Acts 2:38 means that we are baptized because our sins are already forgiven, and if this is true then we must by the rules of grammar, hold that grammatically in each of the examples the same construction must be true.

For example:

(Mk 1:4 & Lk 3:3) John was preaching a baptism because the sins had already been forgiven.

(Lk 24:47) And Jesus talking to His disciples would be saying that we repent because our sins have already been forgiven

(Act 2:38) would be baptism because sin has been forgiven, (please note the only grammatical difference in this text, is the article and the personal pronoun, denoting your personal sins)

(Mat 26:28) would have to read that Jesus’ blood was poured out because sin was already forgiven. (No body holds to this, though they should if they say Acts is to be rendered this way)

In each of these examples if we interpret them as I have described above, the Christ’s death was senseless, as would be repentance.

However the truth is, the rules of grammar, will not allow such a loose and inconsistent interpretation. We know Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin, not because sin had been forgiven, then by the rules of grammars we must conclude that Repentance and Baptism are for forgiveness. Christ’s shed blood makes it possible for all to receive forgiveness, and in order for us to receive it we must believe, confess (both our sins and Jesus’ name), repent, and be baptized. It is not salvation by works it is submitting to God’s will, and doing God’s will, God’s way, not ours.

This phrase study was inspired by Brother Alger Fitch, from a conference in which he spoke on Baptism, in 1998 which I purchased from our church library.

Excellent Post to Pass Along

2009-03-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs that I read frequently had a link to this article and I too am going to recommend this short reading. And like Brother John, I will be working on incorporating this within my family as well, it certainly sounds like a neat way to open up some excellent discussion and Bible study among the family. Please follow this link "Pray Through the Bible" and maybe you too can work this discipline into your daily routine.

May the God of Heaven reward your efforts to bring your family closer to Him through His Word!

Bring BSM into your New Year!

2009-01-01T12:33:00.001-06:00

By the title I am guessing you have at least two questions, what is BSM and why would you want to bring it into your New Year?
Well, first let me introduce you to Bible Study Magazine “BSM” is published by Logos Bible Software. My first thought when I heard about a paper magazine produced by a company who deals only with electronic resources, well let’s just say it was less than favorable, after all how good could a company who deals in e-publications do in a paper world.
Well, I got the inaugural issue and I flipped through it and noticed the quality of the production, so my first impression was good. I decided to jump right in and find an article, well being in college and just finishing my third and final semester of Greek, I naturally chose “Greek Word Study without Greek” which lay out in four easy steps to get at a realistic and usable definition of Greek words from scripture. I just finished Greek Exegesis and in four steps, they did an excellent job of conveying one portion of the exegete’s task. BSM’s explanation of the use of resources used in doing these studies was thoughtful, clear and backed-up by their own powerhouse of on line resources.
From there I decided to involve my whole family, so I made 6 copies of the Bible Word Find, from 2 Kings 18, and the race was on, unfortunately for me the wife won and finished the puzzle in a matter of a few minutes, followed by me and then each of the kids rolled in one by one. Fun was had by all and we spent sometime connecting in a different way and the kids can’t wait for the next issue and neither can I, I want a rematch.

Included in this magazine is a 8-week Bible Study, that will keep you engaged in each issue until the next one arrives at the door. This is a useful and encouraging resource for everyone, from an average Christian who just wants to learn more about the God who they serve or the Bible Professor who is looking for something different. Bottom line I liked the magazine so much that I am now a subscriber and am looking forward to the next issue.

Great Job Logos and Bible Study Magazine, I highly recommend this magazine as a resource no house should be without, so get yours today at www.BibleStudyMagazine.com

What is in your Bible?

2008-12-30T10:37:00.002-06:00

Have you ever wondered why some bibles have 66 books some have more some have less or maybe who has what books? well with this handy little chart by Logos Bible Study Magazine will be of great interest to you.

I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful and safe New Year and may 2009 be the year of The Lord in my life and yours life and in our World too.

I hated to say good-bye

2008-12-08T13:48:00.005-06:00

Well... I am not sure even where to begin. Almost 14 yrs ago we brought home a not so little fur ball and named him Zeus, we knew he was going to be big, after all what choice would a dog that was 50% Black Lab and 50% Great Pyrenees have but too be large. And he was not only large he was larger than life. Zeus had the best disposition of any animal I have ever known or seen, he was a lover of both animal and human.
With our kids he was the greatest, he was a friend and a protector, he loved and watched over each one of them. I generally am the last one to go to sleep in the house, I think it is the dad in me, I don't know. There where many of nights when Zeus would get up look over to me and the wife to make sure we where alright and he would make his rounds. He would check on each kid and make a trip or two around the house to make sure all was right and in order and then he would return and lay down and take his place by my side.
For the past few months he has been down with degenerative arthritis of the hips and in the past month he has not been able to get up on his own and has relied on us to help him up so he could go out or get some food and we were happy to oblige since he has always been there for us.

Yesterday, my friend began to passing blood in his urine and this morning we had to put him to sleep as he was now in pain and not even able to woof. And you have to know Zeus to appreciate the bark because it was not just a bark or a yap, it was a WOOF, one that would bring fear in your heat just when he wanted to say hello.

The lady where I work offered to allow us to bury him on her farm since we could not afford to have him cremated. Thanks to our neighbor for going with me and helping me dig the hole and place Zeus in and gently cover him up. Zeus now rests under a beautiful Oak tree, in a pasture where I am sure if he were still alive he would have loved to run and play.

I hated to say good-bye, I hated it when my wife's dog Willy passed away in 2007 and once again I hated to say good-bye. I hate it for my kids who have all grown up with Zeus, so please pray with me for them that they are able to share their pain, share their feelings, their grief and their sense of loss, and pray that they will be able to share the love and memories that they have a of the greatest friend (wife not included) and dog I have ever had or known. Lastly pray that in this they would find peace and comfort from their family and friends and that we would all enjoy and cherish our treasured memories of Zeus who was more than "just a dog" he was one of a kind and a member of the family who we will all miss greatly.

Coming home will never be the same again, Zeus we love you and we will always miss you!

Tagger

2008-11-30T14:30:00.006-06:00

Libronix (Logos) have created a neat script for your website/blog, called "RefTagger" it is a web based tool, when the script is installed on your site allows visitors to mouse over any scripture reference Eph 2:5 and the scripture will display in a pop-up window. If you are familiar with "InstaVerse" it works on the same principle except it is a web tool that you write into your site, not a program you download.

Another nice feature is the end user control panel that allows your visitors to set their version of scripture they prefer. You will find this tool just to the top left side of this blog.

When you install "RefTagger" you set your version, like mine is NASB, however as for me the coolest thing is, if you own any Libronix Bible Software, the "RefTagger" will actually launch the program, if you look at a scripture reference, like Jn 12:2 there is a lilttle "L" and when you click that it will launch your Libronix Bible Software. What is even cooler, and I have yet to use it or figure it out completely but it appears that if you do a study in Libronix you can also add an icon to any Libronix links that you create manually, that links to most resources and reports.

This is proving to be a very valuable tool for site users and for those who own the Logos software.

Well if you would like to get yours you can get it for free by following the link "Tagger" in the title of this post.

In His Service, For His Glory!

Steven

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T08:13:00.005-06:00

Well it has been a year since our disaster Thanksgiving and in one sense a ton of things have changed but unfortunately in other respects nothing has changed. So my wish for Thanksgiving is best communicated through prayer.

Father God, I come before You on this eve before Thanksgiving to pray that Your Spirit would be poured on Your church and that each an every person counted Yours would begin to live their lives as You will, forsaking all that is against You and counted evil by You, Lord that we would forsake even the appearance of wrong-doing for no other reason than for Your Glory. Lord help us all be ever aware of everything that we have to be thankful for. Lord I pray for those who do not know You, that those who know You would not waste another day in their comfy place and bring Your truth and Your witness to lost every opprotunity that You provide. Father I thank You so much for this life You have given, Lord I thank You for the blessings, I thank You for friends and family, I thank You for Your word, Lord I thank You for trials and hardships. Father most of all I thank You for Your Son, and for Your forgiveness. Jesus I thank You for Your sacrifice for me. Jesus help me this day and every day live my life aware of what You have done and may I motivated to live my life as a sacrifice to You for Your Glory. Jesus it is in Your name I pray Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving!
If you do not know the Lord of Glory may You turn and seek Him know!
If you do know Him, go and make sure everyone you know, understands how much God loves them and the sacrifice He made for them that while they were still sinners Jesus died for them!

God bless you all!

Steve

The 5 Steps!

2008-07-22T20:57:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been a long time since my last post and I thought that while I am taking a break from my sermon preparation for this Sunday's message, I would share with you a nice tool that I use for my personal studies, for Lesson planning and for my sermon prep.

We have all heard about 12 step programs for this and for that, and as long as Christ is the First Step, then I am OK with most plans of that sort. However, these 5 steps are not part of a recovery plan, or are they.

This is a tool to help you stay focused on God's Word, and to help you make sure that you are always letting scripture speak for its self and that you are not relying on someone else to give you the meaning of the text. Likewise, this is a great tool to check what you are being taught. Maybe there is just a point of contention; or someone is trying to persuade you to his or her belief and you are just not sure. Well, this tool with elbow grease applied can help.
As you go through each step, it is very important that you do not skip ahead, remember that when one mines for the purest ore or rarest diamonds, there is protocol, procedure, and it requires intentional hard work!

As you work each step in order, you will find yourself getting deeper into the text, in the genre, in the world and language of the Biblical writers. All the while you are getting such an awesome, inspiring, up close and personal view, that not only can, but will change your studies, understanding of the Word and with some time even your life.

Step 1, Survey the Background, this is where you find out, who is writing, where they wrote, to whom are they writing and the like. Here the only intention is to find out information about the players. You might find that Matthew wrote his Gospel before 70 AD and it was likely written in Antioch or Palestine, and that it s genre is a gospel, and that he wrote for primarily a Jewish audience. These are the types of thing your looking for in this step.

Step 2, Examine the Context, this is where you dig in a little more and begin to find out the setting of the passage you are looking at, from the previous step, you may have been looking in Matthew chapter 5, at the sermon on the mount, here you find out Jesus is teaching, He is message is oriented in instructing about life as a disciple, life as a believer in the World, and our personal relationships and how we are to live.

Step 3, Analyze the Grammar, simply put this is looking at the relationship between the words of the text. You are looking for the important key words/instructions, verbs, nouns, phrases, clauses etc.

Step 4, Define the Words, here you get back to the original language whether Greek or Hebrew and find the definitions. Here you will be so surprised how many teachers today will use today's definition, when more times than not, this just does not fly with the "AIM" Author's Intended Meaning.

And lastly;

Step 5, Consult the Commentaries, this is a way to make sure that you or the teaching you are checking on is not out in left field, peddling a message outside the intended message of scripture.

You see, many teachers out there today will try to sell you the easy-believism, the idea that we are just fine the way we are and that all we need to do is, “just believe” or that God only wants to bless you and increase your fortune, if you just sow a little seed of faith. BEFORE YOU BUY, SELL IT OR BELIEVE IT, DIG IT OUT FOR YOURSELF AND SEE IF YOU ARE HEARING THE TRUTH!

My task is not to beat you over the head, my task is to educate you and speak, teach, preach the truth, and that is it, (disclaimer... this is very over stated, my task is much greater but for my purpose here, and to keep this post manageable, this is a sufficient representation of my task.)

Well, time has come and I must return to my sermon, I pray that you will find this tool most useful in your day-to-day studies of the scriptures, and that it will likewise prove most useful in your ability to ward of the flaming arrows of the false teachers, who are already among us.

So, I guess this may just be a recovery program for those who have strayed from the path of diligent study of the scriptures, well may the Lord bless your studies and I will try to share more tools as time allows.

In His Service, For His Glory!

Steven

As I Contemplate…Goodbye.

2007-11-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving 2007 will not be one my family and I will soon forget. As we set out for our home in TN, we drove the 8 hours and 500 miles, to spend the holiday with our friends and family, but it would not turn out to be. On Thanksgiving day after taking one of our children to the emergency room for an asthma attack, we soon realized that we could not stay where we were any longer. With only enough money to get back home or stay in a hotel, the choice was obvious, we had to make it back home, in MO, so we spent Thanksgiving night in our van in a parking lot of the local Wal-Mart. We did not get to spend the holiday with many of the people we had hoped to, other plans prevented that, we did get to see a friend we have not seen in awhile and it was good seeing that his life is turning around in such positive ways. Dave, man, we love you and are praying for you!

We learned a lot this Holiday, about Life, God, Family and Friendships. While in some ways, this is not a huge revelation for our family, it was a tremendous demonstration of the total awesomeness of God, see the most important thing we learned, is that God, is Alive and on His Throne, while we spent Thanksgiving night both in the Hospital and later in a 7 passenger mini-van with six people and two dogs. We spent a total of 20 some hours in tight quarters, we learned, everyone can and probably will let you down or turn on you, but the Love God demonstrates in our lives is priceless and worth whatever sacrifice, that either comes or is required. We harbor no ill will or harsh feelings toward anyone, and just pray that the Lord will guide us all to the place of total surrender to His will.

Well, I guess with the title I have chosen it might be good, to get on with it.
This will be my last post for a long while, after all, no one really reads this anyway, and I have to get more focused on God and living His will for our lives. I have begun my calling as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Good News to people whom God loves and are without hope. With a wonderful and full family, going to school full-time, working, and ministry, I simply do not have the time right now to keep up four blogs and a website. One might say I am stretched a bit thin. So, as I contemplate, this Thanksgiving past, and Christmas to come, I say GOODBYE!

From Our Family....

2007-11-19T08:08:00.000-06:00

From Our Family to Yours!

May you have a Happy Thanksgiving! And May the Lord Bless you richly!

A Precursor!

2007-10-29T09:40:00.000-05:00

Joshua 24:15 says… "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

In John Chapter 6 verse 26… Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled

Jesus said in John 5:40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead and all that where there were pierced to the heart and behold, they asked Acts 2:37 "Brethren, what shall we do?"

In the Beginning…just before the fall the serpent posed a question to the woman… "Indeed, has God said, `You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
To which the woman replied… From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, `You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' "

Jesus taught many parables, many that contrasted between two,’s, the parable of the wise and foolish builders, is one.

2 Samuel 24:12 says…“Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the LORD says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.” ’ ”

I love these next two, Proverbs 3:31 Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways. And, Isaiah 56:4 For thus says the LORD, “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant,

What does all this mean…? Dig in and find out...! Let me know what you discover.