tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-134902302024-02-19T18:13:04.547-06:00Reflectionsupon the precious book divineReflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-42326141906583393642015-07-08T17:07:00.000-05:002015-07-08T17:07:02.680-05:00I Pledge Allegiance to God "Only"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the last couple of years I have been making the point
from time to time during sermons, that I no longer say the pledge of
allegiance. I know this might sound strange to some but I cannot bring myself
to swear allegiance to any body of people (government or nation) that is
totally against the God of the Bible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yes, we are to submit to those in power (Rom. 13); but we
are never called upon to ally our selves with them. In fact we are commanded to
have no fellowship with darkness but to reprove such (Eph. 5:11). As a faithful
Christian we should be praying for the defeat of all wicked governments, world
over, including ours, as it currently is. A slave was/is to submit to his/her
master; but they are not spiritually bound to be “allied” to a wicked master. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Can I pledge (take a vow; give my word to support) to those
who murder babies under their perverted view of “freedom” and “law?” God hates
those who shed innocent blood; it is an abomination before Him (Pro. 6:16). How
can I pledge allegiance to that which He calls an abomination?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Can I pledge allegiance to those who just these week; not
only legalized but glamorized sodomy? God’s entire teaching on marriage; the
home; men and women as God designed them; has been spat upon “legally” and
“officially” by this godless, corrupt, morally bankrupt cesspool, called the
American Governmental system. And I will not “pledge allegiance” to that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I will not put hand to heart and pledge my allegiance to a
nation that belittles, contradicts, despises and at every turn tries to silence
the word of God. I will not pledge allegiance to those who put God’s will
beneath their base emotional; physical and sexual desires (Rom. 1: 18-32). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I rather pledge undying and total allegiance to God and Him
ONLY (Mat. 4:10). I like Paul am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, which is
the power of God unto salvation, for all men (Rom. 1:16).</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I like Paul pledge to recognize and shout from the roof tops
that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).
This verse fits our country perfectly.</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge, like Jesus, to not care one whit if what we preach
offends every citizen of this vile land (Mat. 15:12-20). Wicked men have always
opposed the truth—and faithful men have always ignored them and pressed on
toward the mark of our HIGH CALLING (Phi. 3:14).</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge to teach the truth; the whole truth and only the
truth (Acts 20:27). Regardless of the consequences and in direct purposeful
opposition to any and all POWERS that raise the voice against the Pure,
Perfect, Inspired, Saving Word of our Almighty God.</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge my allegiance to stand for the Bride of Christ, the
church of Christ (Rev. 21:2). In Matthew 16:13-18 Christ spoke of this one church
that He would build. In Acts 2:47, we find that God places all the saved within
it. All of the saved of all the earth make up its population.</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge allegiance to stress to the lost that THE ONLY WAY
TO BE SAVED IS BY JESUS</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Acts 4:12).
That God is the only divine being and that all must submit to His word or face
destruction (John 12:48).</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge to continue teach THE TRUTH concerning MARRIAGE AND
THE HOME, no matter what men may do to us (Mat. 10:28). Including, but not
limited to; the abominable sin of homosexuality (Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26-32; 1
Cor. 6:9-11). All fornication (unauthorized sexual activity—ONLY GOD can
dictate what is proper sexual behavior); heterosexual, homosexual; bestiality;
also includes adultery; is sin and will cause men to be lost (1 Cor. 6:9-11).</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pledge to never join those who do not have a DIVINE RIGHT
to marry in a marriage ceremony. I have on several occasions told couples who
have asked me to perform their marriage services “no.” And I will continue to
do so. I will never attempt to join a homosexual couple either. ONLY GOD CAN
JOIN PEOPLE IN MARRIAGE (Mat. 19:6). And all the judges; and politicians, and
people of this country– or the world combined; cannot FORCE GOD; to “marry”
those who have no right to be married.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yes, I pledge my allegiance to God and Him ONLY. Much like
our political forefathers of a few centuries ago we too are going to have to
face the hard questions. And while the Declaration of Independence Does
Recognize God as our Creator and the One Who Bestows Rights and Value; our
current government has turned its back on these truths, and seeks to take them
from us. Forfeiting their right to govern, as set forth in the Declaration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let me modify the last couple of sentences of Patrick
Henry’s speech just prior to the
delegates vote on March 23, 1775.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Men may say peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war has
actually begun…. Why stand we here idle? What is it that Christians (he used
the word Gentlemen) wish? What would we have? Is life so dear, or peace so
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God! I know not what course others may take. But as for me, give me
liberty, or give me death.</span></blockquote>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brethren, I pledge allegiance to God only. And will live
with the consequences of standing by the side of Jesus no matter the cost. For
I (like Paul) know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Tim. 1:12).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Michael Light</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-14356816381247420382015-02-25T09:03:00.000-06:002015-02-25T09:03:44.395-06:00Ittai: Leadership In Integrity<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 30pt; line-height: 114%;">T</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">hough relatively unknown, some Old Testament characters have quite a story to tell. You may have never heard of Ittai, but take a few moments to learn from the life of this man who lived during the days of David, King of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">People of character, who are totally trustworthy, and have our best interests at heart, are few and far between. Contrariwise, some whom we may have deemed to be trustworthy have “stabbed us in the back.” It was no different with King David. His own son, Absalom, rebelled against his father, while an unknown man, Ittai, showed unusual loyalty to David. Ittai the Gittite was a native of Gath who appeared before David during this revolt about 1023 B.C. It is possible that Ittai was a Philistine and that the Philistines may have made life difficult due to the attachment he felt toward David, and that this is what occasioned his defection to David (2 Sam. 15:20).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Were Absalom, David’s son, still with us today, he would have made a powerful politician. He was a handsome fellow with “personality and charm” (2 Sam. 14:25), had a glib tongue, and was adept at making promises (2 Sam. 15:4). Evidently he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including treachery, deceit, and a total lack of integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">David’s trusted friend and advisor, Ahithophel, turned traitor and joined Absalom in his effort to wrest the throne from his father, David. One wonders if Ahithophel, Bathsheba’s grandfather, still was upset at David for his actions with his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. Ahithophel thought it was time for a new king, and that Absalom could well fit that role.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">These were dark days for David. With his own son leading the rebellion, and desiring to wrest the kingship from his father, David warned his men to flee, for “we shall not escape from Absalom” (2 Sam. 15:14); and that he (Absalom) would use the sword against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. David’s aides pledged loyalty to him, and said they would do whatever David thought was best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">As David prepared to flee, he watched as his army and other loyal followers filed past him, including the 600 men in his band who had been with him during his wanderings in Judah as he fled from Saul, the first King of Israel. Ittai, though not an Israelite (2 Sam. 15:19), was now the leader of these brave 600 men. Later we learn that he is listed as one of three of David’s generals (2 Sam. 18:2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">During this procession before David, Ittai makes his appearance, accompanied by his family. David urged Ittai to forget about joining up with him for a couple of reasons: (1) Ittai had only recently come to David, and (2) David, a fugitive from his own son, had no desire to make this “foreigner and exile” suffer from his (David’s) problems. David was asking why would you even think about participating in my cause which has such a doubtful outcome at the present time? But the answer given to David tells us volumes about the character of this man: “…as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” (cf. Ruth 1:16). Regardless of the hardships involved, Ittai was going to cast his lot with David, and he would not be persuaded by David’s urgings to escape while he could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Ittai was not deceived by Absalom’s persuasive speech (2 Sam. 15:13), a refreshing thought indeed. There are always those in every generation who are easily influenced, going in whatever direction the wind blows. This is the very reason why the term “spin” has taken on a bad connotation; politicians know that the world has many shallow people, and they will try to get their votes by putting their “spin” on the real facts in order to make themselves more attractive to voters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify; text-align: justify; text-justify: newspaper; text-justify: newspaper; text-kashida-space: 50%; text-kashida-space: 50%;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">After Absalom’s death, Ittai vanishes from the historical record, and we are made to forever wonder what happened in the life of this loyal servant of David. Ittai should ever be remembered for his devotion and fidelity to King David for whom he had the utmost respect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Wayne Price</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-92157793076189059912015-02-17T14:32:00.000-06:002015-02-17T14:32:26.441-06:00Islam’s Depravity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcyPfnsK1zBeza_f-ICHqCSbvkxc59rdJ8z5uJqBIjfmFDwRbnHcwmBetoWi7Yy_RhIhBvCPYTIUygrAmuex_vdTCXCIrhl6Z2YzxXO8qIObTHcJT8vwAcISJDQv9mJtTqcc2/s1600/Wedding+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcyPfnsK1zBeza_f-ICHqCSbvkxc59rdJ8z5uJqBIjfmFDwRbnHcwmBetoWi7Yy_RhIhBvCPYTIUygrAmuex_vdTCXCIrhl6Z2YzxXO8qIObTHcJT8vwAcISJDQv9mJtTqcc2/s1600/Wedding+girl.jpg" height="419" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">An eight year old
died of sexual injuries on her wedding night with her 40 year old husband in
Yemen. [Photo for illustrative purposes courtesy of delhi4cats]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">An eight year-old
child bride died in Yemen on her wedding night after suffering internal
injuries due to sexual trauma. Human rights organizations are calling for the
arrest of her husband, who was five times her age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Al Nahar,
Lebanon, reported that the death occurred in the tribal area of Hardh in
northwestern Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia. This brings even more attention
to the already existing issue of forced child marriages in the Middle East.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">"According
to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), between 2011 and 2020, more than
140 million girls will become child brides. Furthermore, of the 140 million
girls who will marry before the age of 18, 50 million will be under the age of
15."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">It is reported
that over a quarter of Yemen's young girls are married before the age of 15.
Not only do they lose access to health and education, these child brides are
commonly subjected to physical, emotional and sexual violence in their forced
marriages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">One of the main
issues is that there is currently no consistent established definition of a
"child" that has been agreed upon worldwide. This leaves various interpretations within
countries and little protection for those who are affected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Establishing this
age limit is among the top priorities of groups like HRC which was responsible
for publishing the 54-page report “How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get
Married?”, documenting the lifelong damage to girls who are forced to marry at
young ages. Most pro age-limit
organizations agree that 18 should be the legal age for marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">In February 2009,
a law was created in Yemen that set the minimum age for marriage at 17.
Unfortunately, it was repealed after more conservative lawmakers called it
un-Islamic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">SOURCE:
http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/yemen-child-marriage-human-rights-519066<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Published September 9th, 2013 -
09:01 GMT via SyndiGate.info<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-11668881105538173802015-02-12T15:38:00.000-06:002015-02-12T15:38:28.797-06:00Worship<div>
Worship is fundamental to New Testament Christianity. Since worship in any religion directs attention toward the deity (or other object) revered and since those actions demonstrate the depth of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual devotion, then worship itself demonstrates our understanding of the character of deity. Worship is a statement about who God is. As Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24 NKJV).</div>
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Worship is the boldest expression of our faith. It is through worship that we acknowledge the basis for our reverence and adoration. It is through worship that we openly declare how seriously we take divine authority. What happens in worship and as worship reveals what motivates and unifies people. Therefore, worship also tells others much about who we are as a people. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (Jn. 4:23).</div>
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Most Christians take it for granted that there are five acts of worship that should be fulfilled on a specific day. They assemble on the first day of the week: they partake of the Lord’s Supper, they give, they pray, they sing, and they listen to a sermon. We can readily concede that the New Testament gives an example of Christians assembling to partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). In this same text Luke mentions that Paul preached. But was Paul’s preaching required by God on that day or just expedient? The apostle also told the Corinthians to give on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2). While not specific to a particular day, the New Testament mentions prayer and singing as acceptable and required spiritual actions (Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:16). But what makes all of this worship? This is not an incidental matter, nor is it a question of semantics. If these actions are worship, are they worship only when we gather together in an assembly or is it worship at any time? What makes something worship?</div>
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Worshipping our God should mean much to us considering all that He has done on our behalf. It should never become meaningless or boring. Indeed, it should become a major part of our lives, a reflection of our greatest aspirations. Our worship either acknowledges the existence of a unique, perfect God or reflects a casual, imperfect god that is a sad imitation.We should contemplate God’s majesty regularly and be eager to acknowledge His grandeur in our worship to Him. Sadly, some use worship as an attempt to make up for the rest of their lives; however, this hypocrisy is not what God intended nor something He accepts. Worship should express sincerity and submission, devotion and direction. “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 29:2).</div>
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Kevin Rhodes</div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-49498123897527601252015-02-04T14:06:00.000-06:002015-02-04T14:06:14.083-06:00The Presence of Problems and the Source of Solutions<div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">he church is made up of two sides: the
Divine side and the human side. While
the Divine side is perfect, the human side is far from it. Accordingly, the church that originated in
the mind of God (cf. Eph. 3:10-11) and was brought into being just as He
purposed and planned (cf. Mat. 16:18; Acts 2), is not absent of obstacles. After all, it’s made up of imperfect
people—many desiring to be better individuals, but some seeking their own selfish
interests. A mere cursory glance at the
New Testament proves that the church has had to deal with difficulties since
almost its very beginning (such a glance also shows that dealing with such
problems does not necessarily make individuals or congregations “issue
oriented;” practically every New Testament book was written to confront
doctrinal and/or moral issues). To prove
this proposition, consider some of the contents of several New Testament books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Acts
5:1-11 records the sin and punishment of two early members of the church,
Ananias and Sapphira.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Romans
16:17-18 speaks of promoters of error who cause divisions contrary to the
doctrine. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">1
Corinthians 15 deals with a denial of the resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">2
Corinthians 2:6-8 implies that forgiveness was being withheld from a
penitent brother. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Galatians
defends the truth against Judaizing teachers.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Ephesians
4:17-32 indicates that some Christians had not completely put off their
pre-conversion, sinful activities.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Philippians
4:2 reveals that strife might have existed between two sisters in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Colossians
condemns what is often referred to as “the Colossian heresy.” <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">1 and 2
Thessalonians correct misunderstandings about the Second Coming. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">1 Timothy
4 predicts the development of certain errors that would plague the church.
<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">2 Timothy
2:17-18 calls the names of Hymeneus and Philetus who overthrew the faith
of some with their doctrinal error. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Titus 1:11
mentions stopping the mouths of false teachers. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Hebrews
shows the error of going back under the Old Law. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">James
3:1ff warns teachers to watch what they say. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">2 Peter
predicts the entrance of teachers who would bring in “damnable heresies.” <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">1 John
deals with those who were denying the humanity of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">2 John
speaks of “deceivers” and warns against bidding such “God speed.” <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Jude
exhorts his readers to “earnestly contend for the faith” because of the
creeping in of false teachers.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">Revelation
is written to congregations that had to deal with false apostles and also
those who held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">In
making known and preserving the record of these and other problems, God has not
demonstrated approval of sin and strife in the body of Christ. To the contrary, He has displayed His
displeasure with such and revealed that solutions are available and must be
applied. Though the temptation is
strong, we must not give in to the all-too-common practice of ignoring the
issues that creep into the church. Paul
chastised the Corinthian brethren for attempting this maneuver (1 Cor.
5:1-2). Instead, we must face the
obstacles that confront us, and meet them with the divinely inscribed source of
solutions—the Word of God that is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). The presence of problems is quite inevitable,
but the source of solutions is readily available—let’s use it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt";">- Preston Silcox</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-39329189257216473172014-10-23T14:15:00.000-05:002014-11-04T19:24:04.128-06:00The Futility of Opposing God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">—2:1-3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 114%;">T</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">he Second Psalm deals with conflict: Messianic power and sinner’s rebellion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">In the rebels’ rebellion they rage, imagine, set themselves, take counsel against the Lord and say what they shouldn’t. Evil men have always felt that God’s rule is too restrictive; so as these sinners chafe and gall in their ill-fated desire for uninhibited living, they say, “Let us break their [God and His Anointed] bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (ver. 3). No bands. No cords. No controls. What a terrible picture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">However, their evil imaginations are vain, to no avail. They are left defeated and crushed. The Lord shall laugh at their foolishness. Hold them in derision. “Vex them in his sore displeasure.” And “break them with a rod of iron.” God is merciful but firm. How silly for man to think he can win in opposing God. God’s rule cannot be overthrown. Every attack against Him rebounds against the attacker. Against Him, you face defeat. With Him you are a sure winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Fredrick William Faber</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">He always wins who sides with God,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">To him no chance is lost;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">God’s will is sweetest to him when<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-10879175027429948012014-10-23T14:11:00.004-05:002014-10-23T14:11:53.277-05:00The Pathway to Mercy<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 33pt; line-height: 114%;">P</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">salm 24 is a short, but powerful psalm. The setting surrounding this inspired work seems to involve the historical event of the Ark of the Covenant’s procession into Jerusalem. The broader application of this Psalm, being the prophetic imagery of Christ ascending into glory not long after His triumphant resurrection from the dead. With this background in mind, the reader should approach this Psalm from both an immediate context and a prophetic context.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">The Glorious Kingdom of God (24:1-6) as used in this article has a two-fold meaning. First, we are referring to the fact that “everything” belongs to God. Second, we are referring to God’s People (i.e., the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New Testament).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT"; font-size: 16.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">The Greatest King<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">In this section, the Psalmist is describing the Greatest King—God (24:7-10). In one sense, the Psalmist is likely describing the fact that God alone is worthy of man’s adoration and worship, especially in the context of the Ark approaching Jerusalem (Psa. 113:1, Mat. 4:10). Yet, is this the “only” sense in which the Psalmist is speaking? We think not. Again, the text should be considered with both the historic and prophetic view in mind. The immediate context does not need to be ignored, but then again, the prophecy pertaining to the Christ is also to obvious to ignore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">The last term in this psalm is the word “Selah.” This term likely carries with it the idea of pausing, particularly as it relates to meditation and reflection upon that which was just stated. Without question, the reader should pause and meditate on the inspired depths of this psalm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">There are perhaps countless lessons that could be derived from the powerful and wonderful Psalm 24. However, the following lessons are points of emphasis that are given as a matter of summary as well as for use in teaching and practical application:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">1.</span><span style="width: 10.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Everything belongs to God (24:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">2.</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Man is God’s special creation and he is on earth for a purpose (24:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">3.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">God used creation not evolution as His means of bringing things into existence (24:2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">4.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Christ truly is the only One Who is worthy to enter God’s Holy Place (24:3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">5.</span><span style="width: 10.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Man, through Christ and because of Christ, is able to also enter God’s fellowship and presence through faith and obedience to God (24:3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">6.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Christ lived a sinless and perfect life (24:4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">7.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Christ was found faithful in His obedience to the Father. He fulfilled all righteousness through perfect obedience and sinless perfection. Christ is our perfect example (24:5).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">8.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Through Christ’s sacrifice, obedient believers are counted as righteous (or right) before God. God’s grace is extended to all, but only those who obey the stipulations of that grace will procure it (24:5). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">9.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Christ freely submitted to the will of the Father while on earth. He forever showed what “seeking first” means (24:6).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">10.</span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Men, who will be found faithful, must seek God. God desires to be found and God can be found. God desires all men to be saved. However, only those who “seek” God first in their lives will please Him (24:6).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">11.</span><span style="width: 8.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">God is the “King of glory.” Men should worship God for Who He is - they should praise, honor and glorify His majestic name forevermore (24:7, 9).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-29386709303714863842014-10-03T18:47:00.001-05:002014-10-03T18:48:14.781-05:00The Pathway to Happiness<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBbxeFNxOIWqnd56wSWanxEgrhkA7W-NAOfmpPXIV7g0k2VfJzHeGw_JMBk6Pe0A-ePwRqhX5W0yjF8QSsRAstSPTEvCG4BOcQxG702lSSa2UkILO1Pr0BWy9lE3OIj9oRgpE/s1600/The+Pathway+to+Happiness1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBbxeFNxOIWqnd56wSWanxEgrhkA7W-NAOfmpPXIV7g0k2VfJzHeGw_JMBk6Pe0A-ePwRqhX5W0yjF8QSsRAstSPTEvCG4BOcQxG702lSSa2UkILO1Pr0BWy9lE3OIj9oRgpE/s1600/The+Pathway+to+Happiness1.png" height="390" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 33pt; line-height: 114%;">P</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">eople are not happy today. Despite the fact that we are richer, with a higher standard of living, than any other people in history, suicide is a very real problem in society, especially among teenagers. Alcohol continues to serve as the numbing agent of choice for people trying to escape reality. The number of people suffering from depression continues to escalate. Many are unhappy with themselves and unhappy with the world. Nevertheless, they keep trying to discover the way to happiness but inevitably choose the same worn path of failure they have trodden many times before. People are unhappy for many reasons, but they usually occur because they have taken bad advice and refused good advice, because they are not getting everything they think they deserve, or because they believe people treat them unfairly. They then attempt to remedy these problems through an artificial happiness, which treats the symptoms rather than the disease. They tend to turn to friends who know little, the advice of secular humanists received in college or in literature, or to “self-reliance” (Jer. 10:23). They complain and begin an endless search for someone to “value” (by which we should understand “validate”) their abilities. Finally, they feel sorry for themselves and seek the sympathy of others. These people fail in their quest because they are searching for happiness in all the wrong places. God has provided the pathway to happiness in life within the treasure trove of scripture and has given the basic principles within the opening psalm.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 114%;">First</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">, the psalmist notes that happiness depends on accepting the right counsel. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psa. 1:1-2). The first lesson that people often need to learn is whose advice to ignore, and at the top of that list should be those who disregard God. You should not listen to a thief’s view on getting money, a philanderer’s advice on marriage, or a liar’s recommendations for filling out a job application. The moment you get comfortable with them and their way of life, you have stepped away from the best advice available. Rather than listening to those who are part of the problem in life, open yourself up to God’s counsel (1 Pet. 2:2). When we make spiritual wisdom and knowledge a priority and meditate upon God’s Word, we find the best advice for every aspect of life and avoid numerous problems that beset the stubborn sinner. So long as you are making the wrong kind of decisions, happiness will elude you, and to make the right decisions requires heeding God’s Word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 114%;">Second</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">, the psalmist tells us that happiness depends on trusting God completely. “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psa. 1:3). When we know God, we will trust Him to bless us (Mat. 6:33). Therefore, we will cease turning to the things of the world for happiness and instead turn to the Creator of all things. Only by doing this, will we be able to enjoy God’s blessings as God’s blessings. Instead, we often treat blessings as the way things are supposed to be and fail to appreciate them, which in turn affects our attitude toward life. Try for a moment to comprehend the full extent of God’s blessings both physically (Jas. 1:17) and spiritually (Eph. 1:3). Perhaps then, you will realize how much having the proper perspective toward life and toward God contributes to your happiness in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Albertus Medium'; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 114%;">Third</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">, the psalmist says that happiness depends upon committing yourself to God’s judgment. “The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psa. 1:4-6). My friends, as long as you are looking for the approval of men, you will not find happiness. However, when you become Christ’s bondservant and seek to please Him, you will find not only happiness but a contentment that transcends circumstance (Gal. 1:10). When you turn to God, you have a Judge whose standard never wavers (Jho. 12:48), who judges according to truth rather than appearance and with complete fairness in every way (Jho. 17:17; Acts 10:34-35). He will reward righteous behavior regardless of what others might do. Moreover, He will judge others’ actions, including those against us, and punish them accordingly (2 The. 1:7-9). Therefore, when we have the right priorities; spiritual priorities; we can be happy in this life as we look with hope to the promise of eternal life (Tit. 1:2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">True happiness lies within your reach. Happiness comes from trusting God’s counsel, trusting His provision, and trusting His judgment. Therefore, you can be truly happy if you really want to do so. Unfortunately, we do not tend to heed the psalmist’s inspired point of view, we settle for an artificial happiness based in materialism. However, imagine approaching every day as a blessing from God, not worrying about what others might do or whether food will be there. Imagine having confidence through a study of God’s Word that He will care for you beyond measure. For by doing so, you can live each day dedicated to Him and place yourself, your life, your family, and all that you have in His hands for safe keeping. This is the pathway to happiness, and this is the message of Psalm 1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-33288845699655011722014-09-17T15:20:00.001-05:002014-09-17T15:20:32.393-05:00The Hard Sayings of Jesus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10.6pt; line-height: 114%;">"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it” (Jho. 6:60)? Within the Bible, Jesus, the son of God, is portrayed as the Master Teacher. His powerful demonstration of logic (Mark 2:17), God-given authority (Mat. 28:18), unending compassion (2 Cor. 13:11; 1 Jho. 4:8), and ability to preach the gospel in a simple and forthright manner caused many people to be “astonished” (Mat. 7:28-29) at His teachings! It is no wonder then that John declared, “The officers answered, Never man spake like this man” (Jho. 7:46). With the deepest of respect towards He who died for us (Rom. 5:8-9), may we dig deep into the Sacred Writing, that we might delight ourselves as students of the hard sayings of Jesus!</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 10.6pt; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, may I point out that the hard sayings of Jesus, in no way casts any type of negative reflection upon Deity. Rather, to the contrary, a loving earthly father, as well as, a loving God, chastises His children (Heb. 12:6-8), and warns those outside the kingdom (Jho. 3:1-8). May we never underscore the love Jesus Christ displayed to the entire world, in hanging on a tree (Gal. 3:13). Nevertheless, as faithful members of His church, we must learn not only to appreciate the hard sayings of Jesus, but to allow these principles of truth to guide us along the “strait and narrow path” (Mat. 7:13-14), that leads to eternal life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 10.6pt; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let us turn our attention to many of the hard sayings that came from the lips of our Lord while He graced this earth with His steps. In Matthew 7:21-24 the Bible reads, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Friends, is this not a hard saying for many people to receive? Within the foregoing passage of Scripture, Jesus declares the absolute necessity of obedience to the Father’s will! As we turn over to Matthew 10:34-38, Jesus continues with His hard sayings! “Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followed after me, is not worthy of me.” Wow, this is definitely a hard saying! I suppose there is no greater recognized relationship on earth than the parent/child relationship. Therefore, if our love for Christ and His kingdom must surpass our love for our earthly parents, He will be the utmost priority in life. Last but not least, how could anyone overlook the hard sayings that our Lord gave concerning marriage, divorce and remarriage? “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:9).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 10.6pt; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friends, Jesus speaks highly of the institution of marriage. In Matthew 19:3, “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” After a brief controversy, He concluded His divine thoughts on this subject when He gave one of the hardest sayings the world has ever heard. “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth which is put away doth commit adultery” (Mat. 19:9). Notice, “But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. .. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it” (vv. 11-12). He who would give His life a ransom for the many (Mat. 20:28), never turned away from hard sayings, even when it would cost Him disciples (Jho. 6:66). Its not about how many disciples but about truth (Jho. 8:32).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-28872106957977099912014-09-08T14:31:00.003-05:002014-09-08T14:31:50.414-05:00The Population of Hell<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 2; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N</span></span><span lang="en-US" style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">umerous are those who have pondered the question throughout history, “How far from Paradise to Hell?” Ancient volumes such as Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost demonstrate how attractive this topic has been over the years. Due to today’s technology we know that it is exactly 342.41 miles according to MapQuest and I-75 is the road to Hell. Hell claims a population of 266 souls and a zip code of 48169. I speak of Hell, Michigan, of course, and not the place populated by the Devil and his angels (Mat. 25:41). Nevertheless, what of the population of the biblical hell?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T</span></span><span lang="en-US" style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he Bible tells us exactly who will be in hell. This is not an exhaustive list, but it's a good start: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). “For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev. 22:15). “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat. 7:21-23). “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness... Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:18, 29-32). “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment...” (Mat. 25:41, 46).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S</span></span><span lang="en-US" style="line-height: 114%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">o, inspiration, offers this insight into the character of our Lord: He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4; cf. Jho. 8:32; 17:17); He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9; cf. Acts 2:38); and finally, "the goodness of God" is designed to lead me "to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). His Son suffered in my stead so that I would not add to the population of Hell (Rom. 3:24-25; 5:6-10; 6:3-7). His gospel was completely revealed to men so that I would not spend eternity with the devil and his angels (Rom. 1:16-17; Jude 3). As the sweet singer of Israel, let us cry out, "I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God" (Psa. 40:17).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Rick Popejoy</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-41206925150147110252014-08-28T08:54:00.002-05:002014-08-28T08:54:40.383-05:00Report: Portage, Michigan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A team of twenty-five devoted men and women from Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri joined their brethren in Portage, Michigan for an old fashion tent meeting and campaign. We sent out two fifteen passenger vans completely full each day for five days and knocked just under 5000 doors. We talked with hundreds of the residents of the Portage/Kalamazoo area. It was certainly our privilege to converse with atheist, Hindus, to fallen members of the churches of Christ. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We experienced the joy of five baptisms wherein souls had their sins washed away and were added to the Lord's church. Thirteen individuals were restored back in fellowship with the Lord God Almighty and if my conversations with the brethren in Portage was any indication, the brethren were enlightened, encouraged and edified. I know that the brethren who came to help in the campaign were blessed beyond measure for having participated. The work was hard but fulfilling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We continue to offer up our prayers before the throne of God for the continued work and spiritual success of the brethren in Portage, Michigan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We now have five areas that are interested in campaigns at this time, if you would like to talk to someone about a campaign in your area, please email divinereflections@hotmail.com</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-68416463670697099582014-06-12T10:49:00.000-05:002014-06-12T10:49:08.486-05:00The One Baptism #6<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">The one baptism of Ephesians 4:4 is </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">a burial, an immersion in water (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:12), in the name of Christ (Acts 19:5; Mat. 28:19), in order to receive the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) administered only to a penitent believer (Acts 2:38; 8:37; Mark 16:16). When one of theses element is lacking, a “re-baptism” is commanded (cf. Acts 19:1-5).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The importance of this one baptism cannot be biblical denied due to the fact that is has several significant attachments. Baptism is attached one to the blood of Jesus (Rom. 6:3; Jho. 19:34), the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:25; cf. 1:22-23), all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3; Gal. 3:27), the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 3:21; Col. 2:12), the forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38) and becoming an heirs of God (Gal. 3:26-29; 1 Jho. 3:1). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Herein are five positive principles involved in this one baptism, without which, baptism </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">is of little or no value to the one who has become a child of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 12.75pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Baptism demands a new life (Rom. 6:4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 12.75pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Baptism demands new affections and interest (Rom. 13:14; Col. 3:1-2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 12.75pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Baptism demands a new spirit (Jho. 3:3, 5; 2 Tim. 1:7; Gal. 5:22-23).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 12.75pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Baptism demands a new perspective (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7; 1 Jho. 1:7; Phi. 2:5).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 12.75pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Baptism demands a new God (1 The. 1:3, 8-9).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">For far too long men have overlooked the most significant thing regarding baptism, which is a yielded spirit (Rom. 6:16-17). This is the initiatory and primary step regarding any God-given command. God is not looking for a set of mindless, heartless drones. He is looking for men who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jho. 4:23-24).</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-34357190582498801562014-06-01T21:21:00.000-05:002014-06-01T21:21:00.956-05:00Listen Live!<br />
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<br />Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-82574799234557609702014-06-01T20:28:00.000-05:002014-06-01T20:28:40.873-05:00The One Baptism #5<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; color: blue; float: left; font-family: 'French Script MT'; font-size: 33pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 114%;">M</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">ost people do not pause to consider the spiritual significance of baptism in the plan of salvation. Often, in our own eagerness to defend the truth, we fail to teach and to preach on baptism’s spiritual importance. It is the perfect spiritual representation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-5). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Many years ago, brother Perry B. Cotham rightly identified three spiritual imperatives with regards to salvation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"></span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">There must be a </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">change of heart</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"> (i.e., the intellect and emotions) by faith. This is the accepted element of salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"></span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">There must be a </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">change of mind</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"> (i.e., the will) by repentance. This is the most difficult and often lost element of salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"></span><span style="width: 11.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">There must be a </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">change of state/relationship</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"> by baptism. This is the rejected element of salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">There are many religious people in this world, good people, who have altered their hearts by faith; they have altered their minds by repentance; but they have been deceived into thinking that they are already in a right relationship with God, either without or before baptism. This is not just a lie - it is a false lie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">The authority of men should be set aside and the authority of Jesus (Mat. 28:18; Col. 3:17) should be restored to the people. The doctrines of men must go - and the apostolic doctrine must remain (Acts 2:42). “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation… so why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:2; Acts 22:16).</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-armenian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-asciisym-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bengali-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-bopomofo-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-braille-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-canadianabor-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cherokee-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-currency-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-devanagari-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ethiopic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-eudc-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-georgian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-greek-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-gurmukhi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-halfwidthkana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-han-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hangul-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-hebrew-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-kannada-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-khmer-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-lao-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-malayalam-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-mongolian-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-myanmar-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-nonhansurrogate-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-ogham-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-oriya-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-runic-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-sinhala-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-syriac-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tamil-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-telugu-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thaana-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-thai-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-tibetan-font-family: Helvetica-Bold; mso-yi-font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">Rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-6333322474642377562014-05-19T17:00:00.000-05:002014-05-19T17:00:47.537-05:00The One Baptism #4<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; color: blue; float: left; font-family: 'French Script MT'; font-size: 33pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 114%;">S</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">ome may be asking, “Why is all this discussion about the one baptism so important, anyway?” This is a very good question and one that deserves an equally good answer. First, let me suggest that it is a biblical topic and therefore it is important. God does not concern Himself with how you brew your tea or weather you drink sweet or unsweet but He is concerned and therefore has revealed to us the process of obeying the gospel (Rom. 10:13, 16-17).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Second, as revealed in God’s inspired revelation, baptism stands between, as a doorway to some very important and necessary items for the lost sinner: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Baptism stands between the alien sinner and...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-level-font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-level-number-format: bullet; mso-level-size: 10.0pt; mso-level-text: ¶; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Salvation from his sins - Mark 16:16.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Having his sins washed away - Acts 22:16.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Being saved - 1 Peter 3:21.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Putting on Christ - Galatians 3:27.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Reaching Jesus’ death - Romans 6:3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Walking in newness of life - Romans 6:4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Belonging to Christ - 1 Corinthians 1:12-13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Wingdings 3'; font-size: 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">¶</span><span style="width: 13.5pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Being in the One Body - 1 Corinthians 12:13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">So, what would hinder a person from submitting to the one baptism? A lack of faith (Mark. 16:16; Acts 8:37); a lack of repentance (Acts 2:38); a lack of knowledge and understanding of divine revelation (Rom. 10:17); a rejection of the counsel of God (Luke 7:30); or maybe procrastination (Acts 24:25).</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-28559803112894919652014-05-15T10:43:00.000-05:002014-05-15T10:43:11.703-05:00Coming Soon "Reflections" Radio Program<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-92060840296641343182014-05-12T18:21:00.000-05:002014-05-12T18:21:05.440-05:00The One Baptism #3<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; color: blue; float: left; font-family: 'French Script MT'; font-size: 30pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 114%;">H</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">ow does one go about properly applying Scripture without offending someone? It is impossible to do so, by definition. Scripture is designed by God to change the heart of man so that he might follow the heart of God. The harder the heart of man - the greater the offense. On one occasion, Jesus asked His disciple, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">“Doth this offend you?”</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;"> (Jho. 6:61). That which offended them was His statement, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;"> (Jho. 6:51). At the end of that discourse, the text says, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him”</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;"> (v. 66). Nor can one properly apply the truth on the most distorted theological subject of our day, without offending someone - if something is important it is worth clarity, so here goes…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">If a person was baptized by sprinkling or pouring, as practiced by Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodist and others - they lack the proper mode in baptism and therefore, need “re-baptism” (Rom. 6:3f; Col. 2:12).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">If a person was baptized by the authority of anyone other than Jesus, such as Ellen G. White (7th Day Adventists), the Watch Tower Society (Jehovah Witnesses), Joseph Smith (Mormons), and others - they lack the proper authority (Jesus Christ) and therefore, need “re-baptism” (Acts 19:5; Mat. 28:19; cf. Jho. 14:6).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">If a person was baptized as a public confession of faith (thinking he was already saved), as practiced by Baptist, Assemblies of God and others - they lack the proper purpose (remission of sins) and therefore, need “re-baptism” (Acts 2:38; 22:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">If a person was baptized but was not a penitent believer, as is the case when people are baptized because their friends are doing it; because they desire to please their spouse, fiancé or parents, not God; or was baptized as infants incapable of faith and repentance - they are not the proper subjects (penitent believers) and therefore, need “re-baptism” (Acts 2:38; 8:37; Mark 16:16).</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;"><sup><span dir="ltr"></span>1</sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; line-height: 18.239999771118164px; text-indent: -24px;">Rick</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 5.3279pt; line-height: 8.098407745361328px;"><sup>1</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 12.160000801086426px;"> A special thanks to Mark Copeland of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 12.160000801086426px; text-decoration: underline;">Executable Outlines</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 12.160000801086426px;">; and Wayne Jackson of the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 12.160000801086426px; text-decoration: underline;">Christian Courier</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: 'Albertus MT Lt'; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 12.160000801086426px;">.</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-85319627538325715642014-05-07T12:40:00.000-05:002014-05-07T12:40:07.848-05:00The One baptism #2<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Matisse ITC'; font-size: 33pt; line-height: 114%;">R</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">ecently a Baptist preacher sent me an email regarding one of the YouTube videos we promote. In response to the video, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Why I Left the Baptist Church</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">, “Pastor Mike” wrote, “The word ‘for’ in for the remission of sins means because of, baptism is a testimony of your salvation, not the way for it to come to pass. ” What “Pastor Mike” has written is consistent with ever Baptist preacher I have corresponded with over the years. In fact, there is not a single “Baptist” preacher that would disagree with what “Pastor Mike” has written. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">I bring this up in our discussion because there are some, who, over the years have been misguided regarding what the Baptist church practices concerning the doctrine of baptism. In fact, this might be a good time for us to address the four necessary items of a proper, biblical baptism. A baptism is biblical when it has the proper...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">Mode</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">: a burial, an immersion (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:12).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">Authority</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">: in the name of Christ (Acts 19:5; Mat. 28:19).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">Purpose</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">: in order to receive the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">Subject</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">: a penitent believer (Acts 2:38; 8:37; Mark 16:16)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">When one element was lacking, “re-baptism” was commanded (cf. Acts 19:1-5). In this context the proper authority was lacking. These men, well after John’s baptism had ceased, had been baptized into John’s baptism and “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">There are many today, like those in Acts 19, thinking their baptism correct, who are still aliens, foreigners and strangers to the commonwealth of Christ. One must get into Christ (Gal. 3:27; Eph. 1:3), in order to posses the spiritual blessings of Christ, including redemption and forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-49859921724304373162014-04-30T15:28:00.000-05:002014-04-30T15:28:05.763-05:00The One Baptism #1<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 114%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-element-linespan: 3; mso-element-linesup: 0; mso-element: dropcap-dropped; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="en-US" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'Matisse ITC'; font-size: 33pt; line-height: 114%;">T</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">he hand-off is one of the most important exchanges between a quarterback and a running back. It is often fraught with fumbles and perilous miscues. Because of the critical nature of the hand-off and the numerous things that can go wrong, top athletes practice this over and over and over again. As Christian athletes the exchange of truth from one person to another; one generation to another is far more important and fraught with many more obstacles. Correctly handling the word of God is essential to being a profitable teacher of God’s word (2 Tim. 2:1-2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">One such truth, under constant bombardment from the denominational world is the biblical topic of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">baptism</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">. Satan’s swarming defense makes this exchange difficult at times. Baptism is the rejected command in the plan of salvation. Jesus commanded (Mark 16:16) and men reject it, either because of ignorance, prejudice or dishonesty. Pride often moves people from ignorance and prejudice to dishonesty once the truth of God’s word has been clearly handed off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The importance of baptism cannot be biblical denied due to the fact that is has several significant attachments. Baptism is attached to...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The blood of Jesus (Rom. 6:3; Jho. 19:34). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:25; cf. 1:22-23).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">All spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3; Gal. 3:27). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 3:21; Col. 2:12).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">The forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">·</span><span style="width: 14.25pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Heirs of God (Gal. 3:26-29; 1 Jho. 3:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">So, what the Bible says about baptism - no matter how controversial - no matter how contrary to what we have been taught - we must be willing to accept biblical truth - the whole truth and nothing but the truth (Jho. 8:32).</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; font-size: 11.0pt; language: en-US; line-height: 114%; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-currency-font-family: Calibri; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Calibri; mso-default-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-greek-font-family: Calibri; mso-hebrew-font-family: Calibri; mso-latin-font-family: "Albertus MT Lt"; mso-latinext-font-family: Calibri;">Rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-27350009300406497182014-04-29T13:54:00.002-05:002014-04-29T13:54:29.465-05:00Campaign Portage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you went to Ludington, MI with us a couple of years ago, you know that we leave from the Lindsay, OK building Thursday night (AUG 14th) and drive all night long into the next day till we get to Portage on Friday. We will then spend the rest of Friday resting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday begins our efforts to reach out into the neighborhoods. We will door knock well into the next week. One day will be set aside for recuperation before we return home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beginning Sunday morning we will meet at the tent for worship. Start praying for the meeting and campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More to come,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">rick</span></div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-87752090688669090382014-04-28T14:23:00.002-05:002014-04-28T14:23:55.988-05:00Portage Michigan (August 2014)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Calling all campaigners to check in for the campaign. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(405) 428.2440</span></h2>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0Portage, MI, USA42.2011538 -85.58000219999996742.1070518 -85.741363699999965 42.2952558 -85.418640699999969tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-30191404917199057602014-04-16T13:09:00.000-05:002014-04-16T13:09:09.301-05:00Lessons in Lyrics at Lovelady<h2>
Friday, April 25th</h2>
6:00 pm – Food & Fellowship – Lovelady Old Gym<br />
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Saturday, April 26th</h2>
1:00 pm – Congregational Singing<br />
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1:30 pm – <b>“Our God, He Is Alive”</b> – Mike Bonner<br />
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2:30 pm – <b>“Do All In The Name”</b> – Richard Rutledge<br />
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3:30 pm – <b>“Where No One Stands Alone”</b> – Rick Popejoy<br />
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Dinner On The Grounds<br />
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6:00 pm – <b>“We Saw Thee Not”</b> – John Hall<br />
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7:00 pm – <b>“Just One Way”</b> – Kerry Clark<br />
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Sunday, April 27th</h2>
10:00 am – <b>“Sunshine In My Soul”</b> – Jacob Rutledge<br />
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11:00 am – <b>“Worthy Art Thou”</b> – Richard Massey<br />
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Lunch On The Grounds<br />
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1:30 pm – <b>“If We Never Meet Again”</b> – Foy Forehand<br />
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Lovelady, Texas<br />
Contact person is <a href="mailto:jeff@rolloinsurance.com">Jeff Rollo</a>Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-49536406157589494942013-08-09T09:45:00.001-05:002013-08-09T09:45:34.803-05:00Readiness <pre style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">A United States Army officer told of the contrast in his pupils during two different eras of teaching at the artillery training school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma (Home of the Field Artillery). In 1958-60 the attitude was so lax that the instructors had a problem getting the men to stay awake to hear the lectures. During the 1965-67 classes, however, the men, hearing the same basic lectures, were alert and took copious notes. What made the difference in the class of 65? They knew that in less than six weeks they would be facing the enemy in Vietnam.</pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">Friends, do we not realize that each of us are facing a power enemy today? This is why Peter declared, "Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). We are in a spiritual battle and Satan is doing all that he can to bring us down. The question that we must ask ourselves is are we lax in our preparation for the battle? Are we awake to the dangers that are ahead? Are we studying carefully our field manual, the Bible? Are we implementing these battle tested procedures in the heat of our daily skirmishes with temptation? Are we alert to and content against the enemies' deceptions, false doctrine? Beloved, "war the good warfare" (1 Tim. 1:18), "fight the good fight of the faith" (1 Tim. 6:12), "be watchful" (1 Pet. 5:8), and "be ready unto every good work" (Tit. 3:1).</pre>
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<pre style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><i>Tom Moore</i></pre>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-11331139955132814992013-08-05T22:53:00.000-05:002013-08-05T22:53:30.526-05:00Join Us in Worship & Study<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRN9BCJ6MdK-Ci_etIe0XvRkyGgFb8VjElWvRH26PMW4atA7a4saNZE8i_ZIO17jghGvVBzQqMPzyRRziD-2u1MhlCoM8tvnUYk9H6nAVJHGAJD5lfk4MgU_Ibu8LDDjhRCcf1/s1600/9th+and+Main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRN9BCJ6MdK-Ci_etIe0XvRkyGgFb8VjElWvRH26PMW4atA7a4saNZE8i_ZIO17jghGvVBzQqMPzyRRziD-2u1MhlCoM8tvnUYk9H6nAVJHGAJD5lfk4MgU_Ibu8LDDjhRCcf1/s640/9th+and+Main.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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901 North Main Street - San Angelo, Texas 76904</h2>
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<i>Classes for all ages</i></h3>
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<u>SUNDAY</u>:</div>
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Bible Study (9:45 AM)</div>
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Worship (10:45 AM)</div>
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Worship (5:00 PM)</div>
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<u>WEDNESDAY</u>:</div>
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Bible Study (7:00 PM)</div>
Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13490230.post-65507159795497691352012-12-19T11:22:00.000-06:002012-12-19T11:22:34.995-06:00It's God's Control not Gun Control!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">Your laws ignore our deepest needs,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">Your words are empty air.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">You've stripped away our heritage,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">You've outlawed simple prayer.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">Now gunshots fill our classrooms,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">And precious children die.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">You seek for answers everywhere,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">And ask the question "Why?"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">You regulate restrictive laws,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">Through legislative creed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">And yet you fail to understand,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;" /><span class="ecxtextexposedshow" style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">That God is what we need!</span></i></span>Reflectionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13780674982997601789noreply@blogger.com0