I will return

Russ's Random Bible Thoughts For God So Loved The World

Russ's Random Bible Thoughts Salvation

Russ's Random Bible Thoughts A pharisee Attitude part 2

Russ's Random Bible Thoughts A day in the word

Russ's Random Bible Thoughts A Pharisee Attitude part 1

Excert From my study on baptism

1.       Digging Deeper:

Mar 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Belief and Baptism =Salvation right? NO! Let’s look at the word “believes” in the Greek 

The Greek word is pisteuō

·         Part of Speech verb

·         Biblical usage: to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith . There are other biblical usages . This is the one this  applies notice it’s SAVING FAITH. Its belief

 Jhn 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Notice this verse and there are many like this that state that salvation , eternal life come thru believing that is having saving faith. Baptism is not mentioned .Why? because it’s not a requirement for salvation. Once you make it a salvation issue then it becomes a works issue, and that dangerous. One more random thought here notice in Mark 16:16b it say’s” whoever does not believe will be condemned.” This is pretty clear nonbelief is condemnation not non baptism. 

Courage to Stay on Mission

Sowing The Scriptures

From Pastor Don

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.

There three important take aways that I have been learning in my walk with Christ since my study of "headship". In the kingdom of God a leader is one who learns from their "head" (Christ), and who can model how to:

1. serve their King/Lord with joy.

2. suffer hardship, rejection and betrayal with courage while continuing on mission with faithfulness.

3. show compassion to the hurting, broken and disenfranchised with power.

Concerning suffering, each of us must ask ourselves this question: Do I believe that God is sovereign? If the answer is "No", then when hard or troubled times come you will find someone to blame, and you will live a negative, victim focused life.

When you experience rejection your confidence will be shaken and you will question your identity trying to fix yourself and protect yourself from future rejection. You will live a defensive, cautious life.

When you are betrayed, you will look for some way to expose the betrayer and attack back.

Ultimately, even though you don't believe God is sovereign, you will blame God. Even if you won't say it, you will act as if God is powerless for not stopping all, or any, of this; and as Sonny and Cher sang, "...and the beat goes on."

The truth is God is sovereign. Therefore all things and people (responsible as they are) are under his control. The question immediately pops into many heads and someone will say, "Then why doesn't God stop all these things?" It is not his purpose to stop the sin-induced pain of this world. But it is his purpose to work in the midst of the pain to accomplish three things.

1. God's purpose is for the transformation of the saints (those who have put faith in Jesus).

Romans 8:28, 29 tells us And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.... The rest of the Romans 8 passage can be summed up this way, "Who can stop this transformation into Christ-likeness of those who have trusted him? No one and nothing!"

Recently God revealed this truth to me: Don't defend yourself. Trust who God says you are. Trust what God is teaching you in the moment, and what he is doing and teaching others. If you speak, only speak truth.

The sovereignty of God works by his Holy Spirit, his word and all that I experience to mold me into the image of Christ.

2. It is God's purpose to convict the world of sin. In John 16:8, Jesus said that he would send the Spirit for this very purpose. If there is no conviction, there is no repentance. If there is no repentance, there is no salvation. God's desire is that all would be convicted, repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

3. The third purpose of God is the glory of his name to be revealed in heaven and on the earth (Habakkuk 2:14; John 17:1-5). There are many ways that God glorifies his name on the earth, but the primary way is through us. He works through the transformed lives of his blessed children who live to model God's ways to others. When you do this, you are modeling (revealing) the life of Christ.

In the John 16:8-11 passage, Jesus also said the Spirit of Truth would "...convict the world...of righteousness." How does he do this? Look a verse 10, "...concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you (his disciples) will see me no longer...." When we (his disciples) seek him by faith, believe and obey his word by faith and live over coming lives in the Holy Spirit by faith, the world will be convicted that there is a God in heaven!

As far as stopping the pain of this sin-infested, destructive world, Jesus said in the same passage that the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would "...convict the world... of judgment." Then in verse 11, he added, "...concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." We can live confidently with courage in the hardest situations because eternal life is ours in Christ, and Satan, and all who chose to follow evil, will be dealt with by the justice of God, and sin and evil will find no place in the eternal kingdom of God.

Read Romans 8:23-25.

I am committing myself continuously to the Almighty, sovereign God and to Jesus Christ, my Lord to walk in his way, to thank him always for his work of salvation in me and to wait before him patiently as he fulfills his purpose in me, in the world and in his kingdom.

Will you join me?