STRUGGLING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

By Bob Chandler

Psalm 85: 10-13 "Loving kindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth and righteousness looks down from heaven. Indeed, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its produce. Righteousness will go before Him, and will make His footsteps into a way."

In regards to each and every believer, I believe that through "election," heralded by God's grace and design, lays the predetermined path by which God's given faith, righteousness and salvation are delivered. Therefore, through election, God's righteousness is both imparted and measured out to us according to his sovereign design in order to establish an order of purpose in our lives, designed by Him to bring all glory and honor to himself.

Through His infinite knowledge concerning the hearts of all mankind, (a) election allows the gift of salvation, through grace and accompanied by faith to establish his holy righteousness within each one of us. This gift of righteousness by God produces peace and effects quietness and confidence forever. (b) I believe that by and through faith, God's righteousness wins out over our own sinful self righteousness which continually provides pridefully induced stumbling blocks that bring about confusion and doubt during our feeble attempts to please God through works.

Today, as I look to some marital relationships within the church, I see a great deal of frustration between couples that may be borne out of self righteousness. Consequently, as a result of such self indulgent and worldly behavior, we are are blindly led to ignore God's holy righteousness that has been granted to us by faith.

Within all of us, there's a constant battle between our sinful desire to embrace our own self righteousness, that promises worldly answers and pleasures, but in reality only produces wrath. (c) While being driven by self righteousness, we remain intent on conducting our lives in "our way," through pride, rather that serving our Lord and Savior in "His way" by faith through grace. (Romans 9.)

All of God's blessings are prayed for, but never fully understood. Therefore, because we are trapped within our earthly shells, our abilities to understand such spiritual gifts from God, such as grace, faith and righteousness are severely limited. When we study God's word and read about these spiritual gifts given to us by God, our anticipation to understand their meanings is genuine, but for the most part it is quickly passed over, due to our limited ability to grasp the full measure of our salvation and the soul reaching changes that are related to it.

During our time in prayer with God, I believe that we should spend more time beseeching Him to clearly manifest His divine gifts within our lives. For too long, Satan has succeeded in dividing churches, marriages and families, by continually manipulating all of them into acts of self righteousness. Sadly, through his insidious manipulations, our enemy has been all too successful in spurring on our sinful natures that produce pride, intimidation, selfishness, fear and uncertainty. We should all remember that God's gift of righteousness is far greater than our own and that each and every day, through our faith in His son Jesus Christ, we are able to cast aside the filthiness found in our self righteousness and instead demonstrate the values found within the gift of God's holy righteousness.

In our attempts to understand and live out God's gift of righteousness, it's important that we remember that the enemy is always on the prowl to deceive us at every turn. While God's version of righteousness carries with it "humility", Satan's version cites within it the act of "pride." During our individual growth in the Lord, we are to humbly remember that we all develop within God's gift of righteousness at different rates and that our walks with Him are determined by Him and Him alone. Therefore, out of our own self righteousness, we should never attempt to judge anyone, or demean any brother or sister in any way if their walk with the Lord doesn't match our own or doesn't measure up to our own selfish expectations or requirements. Any such personal judgment, especially in a marriage, is not only wrong and harmful, but it also demonstrates a lack of faith and a fundamental lack of understanding related to God's grace.

In Ephesians 6:14-16, Paul describes to us the "full armor of God." With the dawning of each day, both Christian husbands and wives are to dutifully put on all of these articles described as God's holy armor in order for them both to remain victorious over any of Satan's attempts to discourage or even defeat them in their commitments to serve God. Along with helping each other to thoughtfully prepare for spiritual battle, I would also remind them both to wisely rest in the knowledge that the perfect fit of God's armor can only come from Him and not by any other measure or intent. While one size of armor may "fit all," both the "all" and the "fit" are both of God's design and therefore they should never be disputed through thoughtless acts of self righteousness. Of course, it goes without saying, that during all of these spiritual preparations and beyond, both husbands and wives should always keep each other in fervent prayer. (d)

We all intend to lead righteous lives that are pleasing to God, but during the time between Monday mornings and Saturday evenings, once again, our tendencies seem to lean more towards doing things "our way," rather than "God's way." On Sunday mornings, our faith is rekindled through hearing the word of God and our spiritual fervor is once again restored. I believe that it's during the time when we're neglecting the word of God, that the enemy can strikes us the hardest through his manipulation of our sinful natures manifested by self righteousness. The ways in which to fend off Satan's attacks are by making concerted efforts to love one another, staying in the word and by remaining committed to a prayer life.

There isn't a day that passes by that we don't all fall short of the Glory of God. Let's all strive to love one another through acts of compassion, patience, humility and forgiveness. (e)

1 Peter 2: 24-25 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

in Christ, Bob

a. 1Kings 8: 39 "Then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou alone dost know the hearts of all the sons of men."

b. Isaiah 32: 16-17 "And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever."

c. Romans 4:13-15 "For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation.".

d. 1Thes. 5:16-18 "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

e. 1 John 4: 7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

A Matter of Heart

By Pastor Steve

This will be a quick blog. Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve God and money. We cannot have two masters. It is either one or the other. Which do you serve? There is a reason I bring this question up. I remember when Pastor Chris finished up 1 Corinthians, the issue of tithing came up. When it was finished, some people from the congregation (or maybe visitors -- I'm not sure) told him that his presentation of the subject was the first time it was done to where they were not offended. I never gave this statement another thought until a couple of days ago.

Think about the implications of the statement. "You covered the subject of Biblical giving in a way that did not offend me." Why would talking about something as silly as money offend any Christian in the first place? In other words, a pastor can tell you not to have sex outside of marriage, steal from work, gossip, lie, get drunk, or any other matter as it relates to holiness and purity and you wont get offended, but if he brings up Biblical giving he needs to walk on egg shells or you'll get offended. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Holiness and purity is far more important than money. Why is a pastor getting into the business of our lives acceptable, but for some reason we think it is unacceptable for him to tell us what the Bible tells us to do with our money? I'm sorry if you are detecting my anger over this, but it just dawned on me how stupid this is.

Here is the conclusion. If you get offended because a pastor talks about tithes and offerings, but you do not get offended when he talks about sexual purity and tells you how to live, then I dare say you serve money more than God. Paper in your bank account should not be more guarded by your heart than personal holiness. Put God first. Realize that if you are really a Christian, then at the moment of salvation 100% of you belonged to God (not 10%). If so, then don't you dare get mad when somebody points out what God tells you to do with the money He blessed you with in the first place. If you are not willing to part with money when the Lord commands, do not fool yourself into thinking you will part with your life for the Lord. People always rush to say that if the gun were put to their head, they would not deny the Lord. Yet, when the Bible is put to their head and it tells them to tithe, they find it difficult to do. I can promise you that when the bullet is inches from the skull, your life will become 1000 times more precious to you than your wallet. If you struggle with giving from the wallet now, then why do you think you would give your life later?

If this was offensive to any reader, rather than asking me questions, I exhort you to ask yourself why you are offended. I then exhort you to go and find something in Scripture that tells me I am wrong in what I said here and tells you why you are right to be offended. When you are done, I am convinced you'll be on my side of the issue. The Word of God is quite clear. Thanks for taking the time to read this. God bless.

Why Learn History

By Pastor Mo

There is something about reading of true events gone by that can stir the heart like no other. I have always had a love of history and fondly remember it as my favorite subject in school. I see now the importance of it, not just as a pastor, but as a Christian. I feel I have learned just as much doctrine and theology when studying history, as I do when I tackle these subjects head on.

Some of you may be wondering “why are you wasting time learning about other men, and not just studying Jesus and the Scriptures?” and you are correct, there is no greater area of study than Christ and the Scriptures. These should hold such a foundational position on our lives as to never run the risk of being moved for anything. Knowing that the Scriptures are what we base all our belief from and never deviating from them, should free us to study other facets of life in this light.

There is so much to gain from Christian history. It would be rare to have a thought or belief in Scripture that has never come up before, and dealt with by the church. If, somehow, we have stumbled upon an original belief we should tread even slower and many red flags should be popping up. Why has no one else seen this in the Scriptures, in the past?

Our church has a great resource entitled “Ekklesia” which is a 25 class lecture series on Church History, taught by pastor Steve Feinstein. I have taken Church History courses in the past and read many books on the topic, and I found this class to be excellent. There is lots of theology taught, mostly when studying the early Church Fathers.

As of late, one of my favorite ways to study, is to learn about someone else’s life. This is studying through biographies. There are many great books as well as amazing sessions and sermons taught by great men of God. The Bible teaches the importance of holy emulation. We are to emulate men of God, and the only way to do this is to learn about them. What shaped their lives? What they taught on certain Scriptures? What beliefs were they killed for? Along with many other questions. We need to be grounded in what the Bible says about man, and realize they are men just like us, having failed at times.

Desiring God ministries has many of the best biographies I have ever heard. Pastor John Piper delivers these memoirs and biographies with unparalleled enthusiasm and detail. He will make you feel like you actually met the person talked about, while learning about their heartaches and victories. I would really encourage our church body to look into these free resources we have available. I will end with some verses on emulation to draw us closer to God, but never interfere or become the focus of our adoration:

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Philippians 3:17).

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

“[Do] not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12).

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness” (2 Timothy 3:10).

“Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it” (2 Timothy 3:14).

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity” (Titus 2:7).

The old Puritan Thomas Brooks comments on holy emulation in The Secret Key to Heaven:

Bad men are wonderfully in love with bad examples.... Oh, that we were as much in love with the examples of good men as others are in love with the examples of bad men.

Shall we love to look upon the pictures of our friends; and shall we not love to look upon the pious examples of those that are the lively and lovely picture of Christ? The pious examples of others should be the mirrors by which we should dress ourselves.

He is the best and wisest Christian...that imitates those Christians that are most imminent in grace.... It is noble to live by the examples of the most eminent saints. (12-13)

A Few Thoughts On Pluralism

By Chaplain (First Lieutenant) Stephen Feinstein

As most of you know, I just recently spent 6 weeks at Ft. Jackson, SC going through the first half of the Chaplain Officer Basic Leadership Course (CHBOLC) for the U.S. Army. I must say that it was a great experience and I learned a lot of things and got to do a lot of things that my civilian counterparts most likely will never get to do. There are definitely some perks to the military.

However, one thing that many may not know is that the Army is probably the most pluralistic subgroup in the United States. Over 40% of its members are minorities, which means a large number of cultures and religions are represented. It is not the same Army of 100 years ago. As a result, chaplains have to provide religious support to a large variety of people. With that stated, I bet those who know me most are scratching their heads right about now. After all, I’m the guy who seems to always be looking for a debate with people of false faiths to set them on the right path and also to protect the flock from their teachings. How could a guy like me ever survive in the Army chaplaincy? This is a good question because the Army chaplaincy holds the official position of pluralism.

Two or three months ago, I would have probably said that I couldn’t handle it and I would have quit the Army. However, I will admit a few of my thoughts have changed on the subject. I think the big mistake comes in definitions. People often see pluralism as being ecumenism, but they are not the same thing. Ecumenism is the idea of all religions (or a particular set of religions) setting aside their differences and affirming the similarities so that they may become one body either in name or generally in practice. Pluralism, in contrast, is the idea of various religious groups working together within a society in peace, maintaining their uniqueness or differences, but showing mutual respect understanding that legally each faith group has the right to exist. I do understand that it is possible to find other definitions for these words, but spending the last six weeks in a fully religiously pluralistic environment and seeing its operations on a day-to-day basis in a totally real operational environment is enough for me to disregard theory and call things as they are in practice. So unless you believe in taking up the sword to purge all non-Christians from America, you are a pluralist to some extent.

In the first century, the Roman Empire was perhaps as religiously diverse (if not more) than the United States is today. Yet, there are many exhortations to be at peace with all men, to work diligently for your earthly masters, and to pray for and obey earthly rulers who were not Christians. The reason being is that our faith is spread by the gospel, not by the sword. The Lord calls His sheep through regeneration, not through forced conversions by men. As a result, the exhortation was to work hard in society, have a good reputation, make few enemies, and to pay your taxes to the pagan empire. The reason for this is clear. It facilitates the preaching of the gospel when people of every faith respect your faith because of the honesty and diligence of its adherents. American pluralism, then, is nothing new for the Christian. Act and live like a Christian, and work in peace with other people and create a good reputation for the church. Preach the gospel in season and out of season. I think the problem today is the church has lost so much credibility because people do not live to Biblical standards. There is nothing more that I hate than seeing a non-believer live a moral life and then look to my right and see a Christian enslaved to sin.

When I was at CHBOLC I was assigned to a Roman Catholic (working to be a priest) as my Battle Buddy (we have to watch out for each other). In my platoon there were Baptists, Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Unitarian Universalists, and other smaller Christian groups. It was always interesting when I tried to describe my faith tradition to them. The best I could say was, “I’m a nondenominational Calvinist Dispensationalist.” Fortunately, these people all had masters degrees in their particular faith group and so most of them knew exactly what that meant. Given this environment I enjoyed the most fruitful conversations in religion that I have had in a long time. I tried to get along with most people as I realized fighting them would have made a difficult 6 weeks. I quickly befriended the Baptists and conservative Lutherans and Presbyterians. They became my core group in the first week since we all held to the same essentials.

Yet, as time progressed I befriended some of these other folks who do not hold to my views. The Army environment made it impossible to do otherwise. The Army showed me where pluralism works and where it doesn’t. For example, in the Army we have what is called the Army mission, and successfully accomplishing it takes full teamwork. In those situations, you don’t really care what religion the guy to your left and right are. When I repelled down a 50 foot wall, I did not care if the person holding my rope on the ground for leverage was an imam. When we were doing nighttime land navigation, I did not care if the person doing the pace count was a Lutheran, the compass holder a liberal, the radio man a Pentecostal, and the map reader a Catholic. I simply cared that each person did their part right so we would not get lost in the middle of a forest with dangerous animals living in it. I did not care what religion the person was who had to stick my arm with a needle as we learned to set up IVs in each other, and they did not care that I was a nondenominational Calvinist Dispensationalist. The Russian Orthodox fellow did not worry that I the Calvinist was wrapping his arm in a tourniquet during the testing on Combat Life Saving Skills. Examples of this can go on an on.

My point is simple. In an environment like the Army when your goal is to survive a battle, kill your enemy, and take, secure, and control an area of land, pluralism has to work. You have no choice for it not to work. If there is even one shred of disunity, the entire mission will fall apart. This level of pluralism, in my opinion, can only exist and work in an environment like the Army. One reason for this is the Army specifically defines both the ends and the means to any given situation and you simply have to perform it to their standard. During the missions, we were a united team. During downtime, however, I debated a lot of people. The Greek Orthodox guy gave me the most trouble since he had the entire New Testament memorized in Greek. Of course, I was still victorious. LOL. Also, I was afforded the opportunity to be the first real Calvinist representative that the Catholic and Russian Orthodox guys ever met. I cleared up a lot of issues for them that they were ignorant on, and when it was all said and done they actually respected the theology and practice of the Reformers (to a limited extent of course). At the same time, some of my misconceptions were cleared up. In terms of Roman Catholicism, I only learned a little because I had studied it thoroughly. That showed me that I did a decent job in those studies. However, I was wrong on a whole bunch of things concerning Russian Orthodox. After talking with the farting and cussing Orthodox Army Ranger (hence the constant farting and cussing), I came to the conclusion that Russian Orthodox folks possess salvific faith. I would not say such of the Catholics, although I wish I could. I found it sad that I agreed far more with Catholic and Orthodox positions than I would with Pentecostal ones. It is sad because where the Catholics are in error puts them outside of grace. Perhaps the same could be said of some Pentecostals. I found it kind of interesting though that two men of the schism of 1054 (Orthodox and Catholic) and one man of the schism of 1517 (me as a Calvinist) could be in the same room discussing theology and not want to ring each others’ necks. Only in the Army!

Reflecting back on the six weeks, I must say that I am glad that I met these people. I am glad that I was exposed to the pluralism in the Army environment. I think I now see these other religious folks as real people now. Before, I saw their ideas and theological concepts more, and their existence as actual people less. As a result, I did not care too much for Catholics or liberals but instead had a callous attitude toward them. I still have a callous attitude toward their beliefs, but now I can at least say that I care about them as people. It took this experience for that to happen. I am now more concerned with winning them to Biblical Christianity than I am at winning an argument.

Do I like pluralism? Not really. Do I wish everyone was a Calvinist Dispensationalist? Yes. But am I now more prepared to work for the cause of the true Christ in a pluralistic country? Absolutely! Am I more prepared to become a Th.D scholar someday now that I actually know what the actual positions are of these various groups? I would say so. I am prepared to dialogue in a way that does not get heated, but stays on the point. The Lord certainly used this whole situation for good in my life.

It also made me even more convinced that the mega-church pastors that are teaming up with liberals and Muslims in the name of pluralism to tackle “world problems” are misguided fools. Pluralism will not work on such a macro-scale since Muslims, liberals, and Christians should (if they are sincere in their belief systems) have very different ideas and expectations as to how to solve these “world problems.” The liberals will think AIDS is defeated by condom distribution, the Christian will say by abstinence, and a committed Muslim would say the death penalty for fornication would solve the problem. The only way these groups could ever work together would be to downplay their differences, and focus on their similarities. Go back to the beginning of this blog and notice that doing such is much more in line with ecumenicalism, not pluralism! Furthermore, what kind of Christian can downplay the distinctive traits of Christianity just to have peace with pagans? A true Christian is inseparable from his beliefs, especially if the Holy Spirit is guiding him! I cannot make a decision concerning AIDS apart from what the Bible says. How can these mega-church pastors do such and still call themselves pastors? Finally, tackling world problems gains the church nothing if Muslims and liberals get just as much credit for it. However, if the church acts alone in taking care of systemic sin in the world, then who will the world give the credit to? They will give it to the city brightly lit on the top of the hill that made it happen in the name of Christ.

So in conclusion, I think what is often touted as pluralism today is really ecumenicalism. This is why Christians freak out when they hear the word pluralism. However, if you think logically about it, most of us are pluralistic in a limited manner (such as getting along with coworkers). It is right to be angry at mega-church pastors that sell Christ out for their ecumenicalism. If there was one set of points to all of this rambling that I want any reader to take, it is this: See adherents of other faith groups as real people, and engage in respectful dialogue. Show them why Christ is the only way. Live God-honoring, respectable, and reputable lives before the world. Pluralism is nothing more than God bringing the mission field to us right here at home. Let’s take advantage of this and win people for Christ. If we can win these people here, we will already be familiar with their beliefs as we go to their own countries to try to win more for the gospel. Thanks for taking the time to read this. God bless.

Pastor Stephen Feinstein

It Was the Only Way

By Pastor Mo

Last night at the Tuesday night study we started The Work of Christ. This was the first session of lesson 5 in the Fundamentals of the Faith class. The main topic of discussion was the condition of man following the fall of Adam and prior to God’s great work in regeneration. Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—We discussed many topics relating to this, but one I would like to share, is a view on our depravity based on the crucifixion.

I was driving to work a few weeks ago (I have a one and a half hour commute with plenty of time to think) when a notion struck me as I was thinking about the Cross. God came down in human flesh. The creator of heaven and earth and the entire galaxy came down and lived with us, taught us, healed us, ate with us, walked with us. You see, John 3:19 tells us And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. The light of the world came down and entered our domain. What did we do to that light? We murdered it. But didn’t just kill Him. No, we spit on Him, we humiliated Him, we tortured Him, then we killed Him. We scourged Him, then ridiculed Him with a crown of thorns and pushed it on His head, we made Him drag His own cross through and out of the city, we came up with a long torturous death that made sure He didn’t die too quick. It was such a despicable and excruciating death that the worst Roman citizen was not allowed to be put to death in this manner. We are used to thinking he was allowed a cloth for modesty because of artistic license used in many statues, but he was stripped completely naked. Our God was nailed to a cross completely naked! Ridiculed with a mocking sign over His head that read “King of the Jews”. This is what we did to the light of the world that committed no sin, only bearing the gift of Everlasting Life.

To put this in perspective I want to ask you, what you would do a rattlesnake that you found in the yard. Now, a rattlesnake actually poses a real threat to your family. It could hurt and kill your kids playing in the backyard. You would kill it. Probably behead it and be done with it. What would people think if you did all these things, that were done to our Lord to it? That would be obviously wrong, and something would be wrong with you. What if someone broke into your house while your family was sleeping? Would it be ok to do a few of these things to the burglar? Absolutely not. You would be in prison longer than the burglar. What a about a convicted and known terrorist against our country, maybe someone involved with the 911 plot that killed over 3,000 people. What would we, the media, and the whole world think of us if we did even 3 of the actions committed against Christ, to them? And the snake, the burglar, and the terrorist actually are there to hurt you, maybe kill you, and your family. The light of the world came to bring eternal life! And what did we do to the light of the world?

I am being very deliberate in my use of words. I am saying “we” because if you are sitting there thinking “that is horrible what THEY did to my Lord.” Then you are not getting it. It is not something they did. It is something we did. This is the level of depravity we were prior to God’s work in us. We were no different than them. This is also the level of our depravity that it took the God of the universe to come in the flesh, enter our sinful world and die for us because we were so depraved, it was the only way we could ever be redeemed and stand before Him one day. It was the only way that the Just could also be the Justifier. The cross was the only way.

The cross is not something beautiful to gaze at, no. What Christ accomplished is and His victory over sin and death is. What occurred on the cross thousands of years ago is the most magnificent event throughout eternal history, and cannot be studied enough. But the cross, itself should shame us and remind us of the sacrifice. It should disgust us and remind us of how depraved we were that it was the only way. That the light had to come into the world and go through all this because this was the debt and punishment we had incurred. This was our balance and what we owed before a just and Holy God.

Then I realized something else. All the suffering that Christ went through and He never cried out. He didn’t cry out until He became curse on the cross. The Father had to abandon Him and the Father’s wrath was poured out on Him and crushed Him ( Isaiah 53:10). This was when He cried out. We have no idea what that was like. We can’t even try to imagine it. This was the only time in all of eternal history that there was separation in the Godhead. It was the only way.

Blogging!

By Pastor Mo

Our own blog. WOW! This is exciting. I’ve never blogged before, and up until a few months ago I wasn’t even sure what a blog was. Since then, however, I’ve become a bit of a blog junkie. There are about 6-7 blogs I subscribe to and really enjoy. I’ve started a sort of blog/plagiarism ministry in which I email out some of the ones I enjoy or feel are important. If you are interested in receiving these, please email me at coolhandmo@verizon.net. I am always telling people (mostly those of you that think I talk too much), that you are only getting approximately 10% of what goes on in my head. Now I have an avenue to get out some of the rest.

My hope is that through this blog myself and the rest of the pastors at Grace will be able to get some dialogue started on some of the topics we happen to be studying or learning from the Scriptures. My prayer is that through this medium and through this feeble human, the Lord and creator of the universe be somehow glorified.

I suspect that much of what I will be posting will have to do with what we are studying on Tuesday nights/ Sunday mornings in the Fundamentals of the Faith class (Shameless plug). This is for the simple reason that it happens to be the topic I am studying and immersing myself in the Scriptures about. My next posting will be about something we discussed last night, in which we used the Cross to illustrate one measure of our depravity.

Soli Deo Gloria! Pastor Mo

PS I am embarrassed to admit, that the longest portion of this blog was thinking of a title, and I am still not satisfied. It will have to do.