THE DARK SIDE OF GRACE

Does Grace have a dark side? I have been pondering this question for the past few months. I believe that it does. When I say, "dark side" I do not mean that it is bad, but that it is sufficient in the dark seasons of life. I have been in my most profound season of depression ever. I'm to the point where if I never heard a person say to me that it is going to be ok, it wouldn't be too soon. I hear things like, "God has a special plan for your life." I believe that God has a sovereign plan for my life, but it isn't some quick easy statement that I can easily behold in my heart. I have struggled more with my spiritual walk this past year than ever before. I don't take statements when I hear them for granted, and I'm wiser to not say those things to people who are going through immense pain in their lives. Words can be cheep, but Grace isn't.

What about this dark side to grace. Christians tend to think that they are under the blessing of God when things are going well in their lives. I think about the multitude of characters in the Bible who endured dark times. Most importantly, Jesus Christ who endured many dark seasons in life. I think of Hebrews 12:2a, "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross," Jesus endured for joy. James puts it this way, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" (James 1:2-3). One of the various trials is dark. The word "various" translated from the Greek means multi-colored. The word was used to refer to Joseph's multi-colored coat that he received from his father Jacob. I believe one of the colors would be a dark color. What are the dark colors of life that you have faced? Trials are a times where Grace and Pain intersect. They are not easy, and can be deeply depressing and cause severe anguish in our lives. Grace and Trials are inevitable in our lives! Count on them, and expect to meet God through the darkness!

Update on the "Interview Series"

All,

We are in the process of converting our "Interview Files" and They should be up soon! We just got the go-ahead with Pastor Mark Driscoll on July 22. We will be having the interview with Pastor Mark Barlow, Pastor Andy Huette and myself. Later!

Jesus Wins! A short Poem!

This world has been bitten by the consequences of sin.

It is the state that we are all in!

God had one way to pardon us all from our sin.

God sent Jesus Christ to Win!

"On the Old Testament" Book Review

I just got back from vacation and I read Mark Driscoll's new book, A book that you'll actually read, On the Old Testament. It was a great concise overview book on the Old Testament. What I enjoyed most about it was his emphasis connecting our understanding of the Old Testament to the Person and Work of Jesus. It is a must read for any Christian! Pick it up! It is like 90 pages.

The Prayer of the Passionate Preacher

Dear Sovereign Father,

I long to be a man of the Book

To unpack its profound meaning

My prayer is to get lost in Your richness

To fill the hole that is in my soul

To read Your Words and let them linger

To see Your Holiness in each passage

To stop and be struck by Your unfailing Truth

To have my heart be Gripped by your Grace

To prepare each thought under the Holy Spirit's illumination

To make sure that I am percise all my preparation 

To cogitate over the meaning of the passage 

Never to miss the context, the text and the application

To preach each week with boldness, graciousness and truthfulness

To realize that the Words in the text set people free from bondage

The Words in the text open their eyes to their true state

To show them in the text Your unmeasurable grace

To show Jesus in the text and that He is the meaning of the text

To show them that Jesus is more than enough for this life and the next

Keep Believing

I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Ray Pritchard this last week and he was such a humble man. He gave me a nugget that I so appreciated. He really encouraged me in my preaching in adapting to my audience without watering down the message! 

Thanks Ray!

*Go to his site: www.keepbelieving.com

**Read his book Credo 

Interviews Went Well! MORE TO COME...

Dear All,

We did three interviews this last week and our program is called, "Christ-Centered-Theology" we also call it C.C.T. We interviewed Dr. Philip G. Ryken, Dr. Tom Schreiner and Dr. Ray Pritchard. We moved Bruce Ware back for a few weeks, and next week we are interviewing Dr Brian Vickers he recently wrote the book, Jesus' Blood and Righteousness by Crossway Publishers. It deals with the doctrine of imputation. We are looking foward to interviewing him as well. We also have Pastor Mark Driscoll, Dr. Sam Storms (Both in July) and Pastor James MacDonald (In August) coming up as well. We will keep you posted and when we are ready we will link you to these audio series.

Audio Interview Series

All,

I am embarking on building a website that would be beneficial for Pastors. My aim is to have good links, online books, audio resources and conference video and audio for our upcoming conference late in the fall. For more information about our conference with Dr. Bruce Ware, please visit www.1stu.org and you will find more information about registering for this conference.

One of the neat things that I will be doing is audio interviews. We will be interviewing popular pastors, theologians and ministry leaders. We currently are going to have Philip G. Ryken, Thomas Schreiner, Bruce Ware and several others on the docket. The interview team is Pastor Mark Barlow, Pastor Andy Huette (Moderator) and myself. Our aim as young pastors is to glean of the wealth of knowledge and expertise these men have.

I will keep you posted as we get this website together and these things fall into place!!!

Why I hate Religion!

This is a YouTube link to Mark Driscoll on Why I hate Religion.

watch

Get It Right! The Book of Philemon (Part 1).

The Book of Philemon is a radical book that the Holy Spirit inspired to be in the Bible. The reason is that the book of Philemon has one main idea... Forgiveness! Forgiveness is easy to talk about, but difficult to implement into the life of a believer. However, the Holy Spirit must have thought that this is an important issue or He would not have had an entire book of the Bible devoted to forgiveness. Let's talk define forgiveness and its usage in the Bible, we will have a Christo-logical understanding of forgiveness, and then we will walk through the book of Philemon.

The word forgave (5 times) in the Bible, forgive (48 times), forgiven (45 times), forgiveness (18 times), forgive (2 times) and forgiving (6 times). This is used with 126 direct references and many more indirect references to forgiveness and forgiving in the Bible (358-359)1. 

The Old Testament had a few common Hebrew words for forgiveness:

1. Hanan=To Show Mercy.

2. Kasa= To cover, conceal, hide and protect.

3. Nasa=To lift, to bear and to help carry.

4. Salah= To pardon or release.

The New Testament also had a few common Greek words for forgiveness:

1. Aphiemi=To leave, to allow, to divorce and to abandon.

2. Charizomai= (From the word Charis=Grace) To forgive graciously.

3. Aphesis (noun form of Aphiemi)= Idea is forgiveness of all sin in one occurrence.

4. Apolyo= To let go, release or to send out.

In the book of Philemon, this word is not used at all. Forgiveness is the the thread that weaves in and out of the entire book! Forgiveness is a Gospel term. It finds its root in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ! It is flat out impossible to understand what forgiveness is without understanding the profundity of the forgiveness given at the Cross!

Forgiveness is closely related to the grace of the gospel. For this setting, let's define grace as the "heartbeat" of the gospel. Without grace the gospel would be heartless and lifeless. The same is with forgiveness. Without grace forgiveness would be heartless and lifeless.

Forgiveness is rooted in grace! Grace is the a gift from God almighty (Ephesians 2:8-10).  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus slams the Jewish culture with the Beatitudes and in Matthew 5:2-12 with a picture of Vertical (God and Man) and Horizontal (Man to Man) forgiveness. Jewish culture is rooted in pride. It is like, I have it all together and I would never stoop to give or receive forgiveness. Jesus confronts the culture by giving the Jewish people the Kingdom message of forgiveness.

The truth is that we are just like the early Jewish culture. We do not spread the Kingdom message of forgiveness to a lost and dieing world. Even worse than that, we do not spread the Kingdom message of forgiveness in the Church of Jesus Christ. R. Albert Mohler states, Civilizations thrives when individuals and groups seek to minimize unnecessary offendedness, while recognizing that some degree of real or perceived offendedness is the cost the society must pay for the right to enjoy the fee exchange of ideas and the freedom to speak one's mind (32)2. His point is that we are too easily offended and it is stunting our growth as a society. This is certainly true when it comes to the Christian society. Francis Schaeffer was right when he said, The spirit of the age is the spirit of the church.3 When it comes to forgiveness, the church should be all over that. However, churches are splitting left and right over just about anything. I once served at a church where a family left the church due to the color that the kitchen was painted. This kind of thinking has pervaded the doctrine of forgiveness and has made the church of Jesus Christ out on the whole forgiveness thing. That is why under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote Philemon. So, let's get the background of the text, literary value of the text and then exegete the text.

Philemon was written around A.D. 60-62, about thirty years past the death of Jesus Christ. It has one chapter and 25 verses, it only has 334 words in the Greek text thus to note that it is the Apostle Paul's most brief letter. The Author was the Apostle Paul. The recipient of the letter was Philemon a leader of the church in Colassae (Colossians 4:9). He had a church which met in his house (2). Philemon had been saved under Paul's ministry (19), he was most likely doing OK in the Benjamin Department, do to the fact that he had a home large enough to have a church and slaves.

There are three key people in the letter to Philemon:

1. Onesimus=Someone who needs forgiveness.

2. Philemon= Someone who needs to forgive.

3. Paul= Someone needing to encourage forgiveness

There are three key doctrines and themes in the letter to Philemon:

1. Forgiveness

2. Equality in the Person of Jesus Christ

3. Biblical Community

God in the letter to Philemon:

1. God is a forgiving God (16-17).

2. God is not a God of partiality (16).

Christ in the letter to Philemon:

1. Paul is a picture of Christ, in that he acts as a mediator (II Corinthians 5:17-21).

The Holy Spirit in the letter to Philemon:

1. The aim of the letter is trying to picture a Triune relationship as in relating to one another (Philippians 2:1-11, Ephesians 5:21).

Outline of the letter:

1. Hey what's up? (1-3)

a. Hello (1).

b. Brother in Christ (2).

c. The Heartbeat of the Gospel (3).

2. The application of the Gospel. (4-7)

a. Biblical Community of the Gospel (4-6).

b. Refreshment from the Gospel (7).

3. Here is the point. Get it right!!! (8-25)

a. Getting it right by an appeal through love (8-12).

b. Getting it right by an appeal of equality (13-20).

c. Getting it right by an appeal of confident obedience (21-25).

Literary value of the book of Philemon is called a return story. A return story in which individuals or groups return to a place from which they have been absent. The return is so often accompanied with a sense of restoration of what had been lost.

Literary Intentions:

1. Enables us to see what the Christian Gospel and the Christian Morality looks like in a real-life difficult situation.

2. Displays the rhetorical persuasive skill of the Apostle Paul. 

3. Gripped with a dramatic force of the situation.

__________

1.William D. Mounce, "The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance of the Holy Bible English Standard Version," Copyright @ 2002 by Crossway Books, a Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187.

2. R. Albert Mohler Jr., "Culture Shift" Copyright @ 2008 by Multnomah Books, 12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200 Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80921.

3. Francis Schaeffer, Heard quoted at Straight Up Pastor's conference in 2004.

__________

Other sources consulted:

1. Leland Ryken, Philip Graham Ryken and James Wilhoit, "Ryken's Bible Handbook," Copyright @ 2005 by Tyndale House Publishers, INC. 351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188.

2. John MacArthur, "The MacArthur Bible Handbook," Copyright @ 2003 at Thomas Nelson, Inc, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee, 37214 

3. Stephen D. Renn, "Expository Dictionary of Bible Words," Copyright @  2005 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 3473 Peabody, Massachusetts, 01961-3473.3. 

4. William D. Mounce, "Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words," Copyright @ 2006 by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49530.

Roads and Recipes

Have you ever heard the  popular notion that all roads lead to same place? This presupposition is used for people getting to God. You take your way and I will take my way and we will both end up getting to God. There is problem with this line of thinking is that it is not logical. If I were to drive from Milwaukee to Chicago and I took HWY 43 north to Green Bay would I ever get to Chicago? No! I could drive till I am blue in the face and I will never get to Chicago. HWY 43 north was never built to take people to Chicago. From a logical (seeing life through human perspective) perspective, all roads do not lead to the same place and from a theological (seeing life through Jesus' perspective) there is one way. Jesus said it this way, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). The definite article the is showing exclusiveness as in He is the only way. All roads do not lead to God and only through Jesus do we get to God.

We use the idea that in faith, sincerity is the most profound issue. Let's say that I want to make chocolate chip cookies and I sincerely want to make soft and chewy cookies. The ingredients that I am going to use is flour, onions, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cow manure. Are those the proper ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies? Stop just a second before you answer that question and remember that I am sincere. My hearts desire is to make chocolate chip cookies. You are thinking, "Dude, you are a moron! You cannot make chocolate chip cookies with those ingredients." Jesus when talking to the pharisees said this about their sincerity. You blind fools! (Matthew 23:17a). The Greek word for fools is moroi which we get the word "moron" from. When Jesus calls you a moron then you are a moron! Sincerity is moronic if it is not biblical. Sincerity will get you a free pass to hell. 

Don't be foolish! There is one road and one recipe to get you to have a relationship with God. That is His Son Jesus Christ! Amen?

Gripped By The Greatness of God by Grabbing Hold of Jesus Christ!

The best way to be Gripped by God's Greatness is to grab a hold of His Son Jesus Christ through the majesty of the Bible. Realize that the Holy Spirit is shining His flashlight on the Greatness of God by observing Jesus Christ in the pages of the Bible!

SELF AWARE?

Am I self aware? I have been pondering that question all last night. Recently some people who care about me brought up and issue that was very sensitive to me. It is something that I work very hard at to do well. I went through the whole gamut of emotions like they are wrong to they are so right. My hope is that even though they are probably right that my motives in what I do are right.

I have always been self aware when it comes to motives, but maybe not results of actions. Please pray for me that I would be more self aware how others would receive something than how I perceive people will receive what I am doing. Amen?

John MacDaddy

When I was a child, I would listen to Christian radio. There were several things that I would say impacted me for ministry. One of them is that I would listen to Grace to You radio program hosted by John MacArthur. He became a hero to me! I appreciated the fact that he would just stick to the Bible. I never really had a mentor that invested in me personally, but I remember when I was a child and in the evening I would listen to Grace To You. I thought when I grow up, I want to do what he does. He preaches the Bible.

That is what I now do. I preach the Bible. I love studying and preaching. This call was engendered by Jesus Christ, and by the Power of the Spirit, it was cultivated by the preaching of John MacArthur. He has become known to me as John MacDaddy. In many ways though I have never met him, he has fathered me in my desire to preach the Bible. So, John MacDaddy, "Thank you for your faithfulness to the text!" Amen?

The Regulative Principle vs. The Normative Principle in the local church

On a gathering of a Sunday Morning worship service there are certain things that churches do. Each church has its own way of doing certain things. The order of the service, as to when you sing, when you give offering, when you have the sermon and when you pray. These things we do are not based on what is called the Regulative Principle. The Regulative Principle means what is done must be warranted in the Bible. The second principle is the Normative Principle. The Normative Principle means that what is done is fine, as long as it is not forbidden in the Bible.
So what should be regulated and what should be normative? The Regulative Principle is important to what and why things are done in a Sunday morning service. I believe strongly that what is regulated must be regulated by the revelation of the Bible. For example, preach the word is regulated in the Bible (2 Timothy 4:2). Giving is regulated in the Bible (2 Corinthians 9:7). Singing is regulated ( Psalm 33:3, Colossians 3:16-17).
The Normative Principle is to when things are done during our Sunday services. When we do sing songs, give offerings and preach the sermons are not explicit in the Bible. The problem is that Christians are not sure what is Regulative and what is Normative. Where the principle is Regulated from the Bible. Conviction! Where the principle is Normative and not in the Bible. Compassion! Above all else, we need Charity!
Where does that leave us? A lot of room to grow in our preferences verses what is truly a Biblical mandate. It does remind us to make sure whatever we do the Gospel is central and the Person of Jesus Christ is our aim! Amen?

Jesus' Sovereign Way of Completing Me!

I love Amy with all my heart! She is such a completer! I would never be the man that I am without her! Jesus, thank you for such a wonderful wife! She is a picture of your Sovereign-Grace!

The Dude in Blue

I did it! At age 31, I bought a new blue sports jacket. I spent  a $140 on it. It is blue with snazzy gold buttons! I now look like a preacher! It really is not my thing, but hey if it is a tool to help people catch the message of the gospel. Then I am all for it. Paul says, "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings"(I Corinthians 9:22b-23). Then I will do it in blue. My blue jacket must be a Christo-Centric-Jacket! If blue helps people see the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, then hey, go Blue! Blue is the color of the gospel! AMEN?

"The Dude in Blue"

AH!!! The Church Has An Identity Crisis

The main problem with Christians today is an identity crisis. The problem is that when Christ died for us, He did not just die to save our sorry butts. He died to give us a "New Identity" and that Identity needs to be found in Him.

Here are several Biblical Truths to crush your identity issues:

1. Totally accepted (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2. Total Peace (Romans 5:17).

3. Safe From the wrath of God (Romans 5:9).

4. Freed from all condemnation (Romans 8:1-2).

5. Made perfect forever (Hebrews 10:14).

6. Totally complete (Colossians 2:9-10, Philippians 1:6; 2:12- 13).

7. Total citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

8. Total power (Romans 1:16).

9. Totally chosen (Ephesians 1:4).

10. Totally clean (1 Corinthians 6:11).

11. Totally His child (John 1:12).

12. Totally alive (Colossians 2:13).

13. Total imputation (Romans 4:2-3; 8:3, Galatians 3:13).

14. Totally adopted (Romans 8:15).

15. Total substitution (Hebrews 9:14).

16. Total propitiation (Isaiah 53:4-5).

17. Total friendship (John 15:13-15).

18. Totally preserved (Jude 5).

19. Everything accomplished (Hebrews 10 :18).

20. Total resurrection power (Philippians 3:10).

21. Total redemption (1 Peter 1:18).

22. Seated with Him (Ephesians 2:6, Colossians 3:1).

23. Totally transformed (1 Corinthians 3:18).

24. Totally transferred into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

25. Total confidence (Hebrews 4:14-16).

In conclusion, our position in Jesus Christ can never be changed by our performance (2 Corinthians 5:17), and we cannot undo what God has done for us (John 19:30). Wow, that is transcendent and profound truth of what our "True Identity" is in Jesus Christ! AMEN?

Infant Baptism: What is up with that? Part A.

What is the significance of infant baptism? This topic is highly debated and I do not know why. The closest that I see infants and water in the Bible is Moses in the basket. The hermeneutic for infant baptism is based on inferences drawn from the narrative in the text. 

The New Testament never commands infants to be baptized nor does it forbid infants to be baptized. Nowhere in Scripture is there any instance of an infant being baptized. Acts 16:15, 29-33 and 1 Corinthians 1:12-17 uses the term "household baptism" are the only exceptions. Assuming that "household" including infants. 

The problem is the context in Acts 16:29-34:

29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all were in his house. 33 And he took them the  same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Notice five observations from the Text:

1. The pressing question on the jailer's mind is how do I get saved? Paul and Silas are like believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (30). 

2. The same is true for his household or family. They all must believe in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ (31-32).   

3. They heard the message (32-33).

4. They understood the message (33-34). 

5. They rejoiced in the message (34).

Luke uses clear terms in his letter. (In fact Luke is a Doctor and he uses very explicit terms to convey his message).  There is nothing in the context of this passage to indicate that "household refers to infants. However, if "household" infers that there were infants then they were pretty intelligent infants. They heard the message, they could understand the message, they rejoiced in the message and they believed the message. That would make the jailer's infants the smartest infants ever recorded in history. Or the "all" refers to those who had the ability to understand the message. 

The second passage, I Corinthians 1:12-17:

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and there by no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement.  11  For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no none may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

Notice the use of "households" in this text:

1. Paul is downgrading the significance of baptism.

2. Paul is making a running commentary of who he did and did not baptize.

3. Paul is comparing the importance of baptism with the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

4. Paul assumes that his audience is old enough to understand why he was sent.

There is no indication that "household" is referring to infants. It would be a huge stretch to think otherwise. Lets dive into the term "household" and see if we can get some significance to the term. 

The Greek word for "household" is Oikos. In Mounces Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament words, Mounces states, "Oikos is... used of the Christian Community as the "House of God."... It can refer to the "family" of God and is explicitly linked with the Church (345).  There is nothing in Mounces definition to indicate that there were infants. (There is great debate whether infants when baptized are apart of the Covenant Community. We will discuss that in my next article). Dr. Wayne Grudem in his masterful book Systematic Theology, points out from the Acts 16:34, "The entire household had individually come to faith in Christ"(978). In The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance of the Holy Bible, the author lists that "Household" is used 115 times, and "Households" is used 12 times (488). In many times in the Bible when the term "Household" is used it is either preceded by cognation/faith or followed by cognation/faith. The point is that nowhere in the context of the Bible is "Household" when it comes to baptism refers to infants. To stretch the context is to take the Bible out of context.

In Conclusion, why infant baptism? I do not know, and I am concerned with any doctrine that is drawn from inferences taken from the Holy Text. Nowhere in the Scripture is there any instance of an infant being baptized. Acts 2:38 says, "Repent and be baptized." I see no reason to reverse it, do you?

Papa!

One of the greatest privileges in the world is to be a dad. It is however a daunting challenge. My boys are like little tape recorders and the record everything I say and play me back at the most inopportune times. The most profound thing that I can ever give them is the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. To somehow get out of the way and pervade the majesty of Jesus in their impressionable hearts. My aim is that I mimic Jesus Christ. Paul says, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2).  Amen?

THE GOSPEL

What is the most important thing in your life? Is it your security? Your stuff? Your finances? Your family? My heart reaches to the "Gospel". It is by far the most important thing in my life! 

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand. and by which you are being saved, if  you hold fast to the word I preached to you -unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures"

 (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Amen?

Christian Celebrities!

What is up with all these Christian Celebrities? We make so much of these people. John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, Joseph Stowell, R.C. Sproul, James MacDonald, John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll, Alistair Begg and many more. I respect all these men and have read their books. My fear is that we have lost the ability to think without the contributions of Christian Celebrities. My hope is that God will raise up men and women that can think on their own. Refer to these books as they are helpful, but do not use their words as equal to the Holy Spirits Words! Amen?

Stop The Lameo-Labels!

What is up with all our "Christian Labels" like I am of Calvin or my seven dispensations. It is just lame. Man we haven't got the Bible down and your showing up with all this stuff... Get away! John Calvin is not as in not in the Bible. The doctrine is not the issue, it is the labels. I do not want to defend any other name then the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ!

Intoxication

Have you ever been intoxicated? To my shame I have been intoxicated. I remember that when I was intoxicated, I would say things that I would not normally say. The alcohol was the substance that would control my words! I so do not have a good singing voice, and when I was intoxicated, I would sing. I could draw a crowd at a karaoke bar, and people would applause not because of the fact that I was good. It was the fact that I was drunk and they encouraged me to continue in my stupid-fest. Then, God dropped a bolder in my life, and I gave my life to Christ. The new distinctive of my intoxication was not alcohol, but the Bible. Let me explain. I flat-out love the Bible. There is something about the Bible that I love. I love going into Christian book stores and smelling Bibles. I know I am weird, but so are you. There is just something about opening the Word of God! Does that ring in your soul that the Bible is the "Word of God"? It is the ordained message of God! 

The greatest benefit of the Bible is that it will intoxicate you! It will alter your thinking, mood, will, desires and inclinations. It makes me say thing that I would not normally say. (Oh, by the way, a couple of years ago... I went to this "Christian-Festival-Thing" and I went into this karaoke tent and sang "Jesus-Freaks" and "My Heart Will Go On" yes that lame song from the movie Titanic. Man, did I draw a crowd) I had to get that off my chest. OK, I am back now. The Bible is the only book that has the power to intoxicate your mind. Paul says that it is "Breathed out by God." It comes from the very breath of God. 

Allow me to give you some stats that will stagger your mind.

1. The Bible is composed of 66 books.

2. There is 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New     Testament

3. There is 1,189 Chapters

4. 41,173 Verses

5. 3,566,480 words

That took me like a month to count that! Paul says that all the Bible is "Breathed out by God" every last Word is the Word of God! Allow it to be the intoxicating substance in your life!