Just Another Wretch, Slave of Christ

Bear Fruit to Stand at the Last Day

2011-03-28T15:28:00.000-06:00

Let us always remember, that baptism, church-membership, reception of the Lord’s Supper, and a diligent use of the outward forms of Christianity, are not sufficient to save our souls. They are leaves, nothing but leaves, and without fruit will add to our condemnation. Like the fig leaves of which Adam and Eve made themselves garments, they will not hide the nakedness of our souls from the eye of an all-seeing God, or give us boldness when we stand before Him at the last day. No! we must bear fruit, or be lost forever. There must be fruit in our hearts and fruit in our lives, the fruit of repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and true holiness in our conversation. Without such fruits as these a profession of Christianity will only sink us lower into hell.
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 234. {Mark 11:12-21}
source: http://jcrylequotes.com/2011/03/28/bear-fruit-to-stand-at-the-last-day/

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)
-The Wretch, Slave of Christ

Excellent Quote on Glenn Beck

2010-08-29T08:30:00.001-06:00

From Mormonism Research Ministry's Facebook wall:

If a Muslim told an audience of thousands to "Look to God," most Christians would dismiss his plea knowing he is not speaking of the God of Christianity. Why then do Christians see no problem when Glenn Beck makes such a plea? Do Christians really think the god of Mormonism is the same as the God of the Bible?
Scource: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Mormonism-Research-Ministry/132614173847

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

-The Wretch, Slave of Christ

Over-due Update / New Project- Body of Death

2010-08-23T22:59:00.001-06:00

It has been MONTHS since I have posted anything of significant substance, for that I am sorry, I really have missed blogging. Since our youngest was born at the end of March, life has been...difficult. We welcomed our youngest Andrew Ezekiel into the world on March 30. For those of you who know us, you know the issues we have had with both the boys, especially Drew (stomach issues and colic). I have hardly been able to go out and witness due to busier work schedule (10 to12 hr days + working outside + heat = exhaustion). I would like to come up excuses on why I have not been out there, but it boils down to nothing more then sinful selfishness.

In the past I have made some pictures that were on the subject of sin and they were dark in nature ("Crucify!" and "Mirror of the Ten Commandments"). My latest project follows along the same lines. I know that there are some out there who have asked why my pictures are so dark, even borderline creepy. I make these pictures based off what has been reveled to me from God and His Word. Every time God shines His light to revel an area of sin in my life what I see is dark, dirty, and revolting. When I get a glimpse of myself in comparison to my Maker I shutter.

Before Drew was born I was going through a time in my spiritual life of coasting and relative ease. It is easy to allow yourself to forget just how sinful your flesh is and how monstrous it can be without God's restraining hand. But when Drew was born all of that changed. God used a little baby and an almost-two-year-old to show me this. And though I am struggling every day, with varying degrees of success, I see God's gracious hand helping me through it. Many times I have read and pondered the passage in Romans 7 where Paul, an apostle of Christ, relays his own struggle with sin.

Romans 7:15-25
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

As I pondered this passage I was drawn to the phrase "body of death." I sometime ago heard a message by Pastor Jack Hughes in which he explained what the "body of death" was. I had always assumed that it was just a metaphor for our flesh as something that is dying and sinful. Pastor Hughes explained that it was actually in fact a reference to first century death sentence. Below is a description of said punishment:

"Roman society knew a gruesome form of capital punishment (practiced primarily by Etruscan pirates in Northern Italy) in which the body of the murdered person would be chained to the murderer (hand to hand, face to face, etc.) In the hot Mediterranean sun, the body would quickly decay, spreading not only rancid odor but also deadly infection to the murderer. The doomed criminal would carry this awful burden until the decay and infection from the corpse finally ended his own miserable existence. It was only possible to be freed from the horrors of this punishment if someone else chose to carry the body in the place of the murderer, carrying it to his death."
Source: http://eternityimpact.blogspot.com/2010/06/body-of-death-february-24th-2009.html

What a vivid description Paul uses to relate our sin to us. Although we are a new creation, while we are here on the earth we will always have our sinful flesh bound to us, infecting us, killing us, and, if the Lord should tarry, will be what brings us to the grave. But thanks be to God for the hope of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ! When we die or the Lord comes back we will not have to be bound to our bodies of death for eternity!

I have smelled the rotting corpse of my flesh and have allowed it to infect me to behave in a manner contrary to what I have been called to. This is the background to my latest project "Body of Death." I will warn you it is rather dark. Jenn has a hard time looking at it and while I was making it she started to cry, but I think it is a powerful visual reminder what what our sin is and who we are before salvation.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)
--The Wretch

JC Ryle Quote

2010-08-17T05:23:00.000-06:00

Let us carefully remember that our blessed Lord suffered and died of His own free will. He did not die because He could not help it; He did not suffer because He could not escape. All the soldiers of Pilate’s army could not have taken Him, if He had not been willing to be taken. They could not have hurt a hair of His head, if He had not given them permission. But here, as in all His earthly ministry, Jesus was a willing sufferer. He had set His heart on accomplishing our redemption. He loved us, and gave Himself for us, cheerfully, willingly, gladly, in order to make atonement for our sins. It was “the joy set before Him” which made Him endure the cross, and despise the shame, and yield Himself up without reluctance into the bands of His enemies. Let this thought abide in our hearts, and refresh our souls. We have a Savior who was far more willing to save us than we are willing to be saved. If we are not saved, the fault is all our own. Christ is just as willing to receive and pardon, as He was willing to be taken prisoner, to bleed, and to die.
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 3, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 236.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)
--The Wretch

Evangelism Opportunity

2010-05-01T13:04:00.002-06:00

I know that evangelism can seem to be intimidating, especially if you have never done it. But I ask you, if you are a Christian, and someone who had only three minutes to live came up to you and ask, "What must I do to be saved" or "I am scared to die what can you tell me?" Would you be able to help them? I think being able to give a response to this is very important. If we truly have been born-again, we know enough of the Gospel to share with someone how to receive salvation. (Romans 10:17)

We (Magic Valley Bible Church) have a great opportunity at the fair this year. We are gong to have a table/booth. It will be a great way to tell people about our church and what activities we have going on, but more importantly, it will be a great way to share the Gospel, people come up to you! Russ Buffalo and I are trying to put together a group of people who want to share their faith, so that we can man the fair table and have people walking the fairgrounds witnessing. I know there are people out there who want to share their faith but are unsure how to do it or even scared. Do not worry, we have a solution. There are going to be plenty of events coming up that will be great for training and practice. Russ and I would like to incorporate some book training, role-playing, and some "in the field" training. Please contact either one of us if you are interested. We have a couple of months before the fair gets here, let's get equipped and trained and share he Good News of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins! Remember, experience is not required nor is actually witnessing at first. If you want to come along just to see what is like that is fine, you can be a shadow.

We have one such event coming up on Friday, May 7th at 6pm. One of the local churches is putting on a Battle of the Bands in the City Park. I have read up on this event, and it looks like a great opportunity. according to the event organizers they are hoping for about 2,000 people in the park. Also according to the organizer, it appears that the Gospel being proclaimed to the people is not a priority:

“It is an outreach program; in our minds we are trying to gain exposure to let kids know that there is a safe place for them to hang out. We are not pushing God or religion. We just want to give the youth an option of a safe environment to hang out and ask questions."

"We tell the bands that they don’t have to play Christian music, but we want them to have music with positive lyrics that inspire and encourage. We are looking for a diverse group of bands with all types of music with a diverse, positive sound.”

-Youth pastor Josh Jensen
Source: http://www.magicvalley.com/entertainment/article_3ae9e916-3740-5e13-9b94-b52712340d5e.html

We ask that you come along with us. There is going to be a diverse group of people attending this from true Christians, to lukewarm self-proclaimed followers, to the admittedly lost. Please come along with us, you do not even have to say anything or pass out any tracts. Just come along and see what it is all about! Email me at: three_min_to_live@hotmail.com

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)
--The Wretch

"Crucify!"

2010-04-02T11:09:00.002-06:00

Click the picture to see larger

Although I am now saved by the Grace of God, I was in the crowd yelling "Crucify!" at The Son of God's trial. From a human standpoint it seems as though God was not in control, but according to Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him..."

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Welcome to the World!

2010-03-30T20:39:00.000-06:00

I would love to introduce Andrew Ezekiel Marshall!

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Special Audio for Easter

2010-03-28T15:17:00.000-06:00

As anyone who has read my blog or knows me knows, I kind of like Wretched Radio and Wretched TV. When it used to be called Way of the Master Radio, they put together a poignant show about Good Friday and Easter. I know last year I posted it, but I though it would be beneficial to post it yet again please enjoy!

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Our God is in Control

2010-03-21T21:55:00.002-06:00

As I sit here trying not to read or hear anything about what is going on in Washington, I could not help come across this picture. It sure does say a lot about how I feel, in fact I kind of feel the same way I did in November of 2008. I can feel myself staring to get apprehensive, and freaked-out. But, by God's grace, I also feel the Holy Spirit convicting me of my sin. Did God not know that our current President would get elected? Did He not know that he would then reverse and enact measures that would cause abortions to be more readily available? Was our God asleep, away, or maybe He is not powerful enough to stop it? I think not! To think so would strip Him of some of His attributes, which is idolatry. We may not know what our future holds or how our God is orchestrating events, but I do believe that what ever happens, God will receive glory and honor from it. This glory He gets could come from Christians crying out to Him in prayer: lamenting, interceding, praying for the lost, praying for those who are going to be effected by this, etc. Glory can be given to Him by people being more motivated to hit the streets seeing the signs that changes are on the way (check out this post from Tony "The Lawman" Miano.)

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I immediately thought of this hymn. This where I hope, this is where I cast all my concerns and worry. May God be glorified!

My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Apologetics , Topic 1 - God Is Not Real

2010-03-20T15:16:00.001-06:00

I was recently asked to teach the junior and senior high school kids for a few Sundays to cover for the current teacher. I was surprised and humbled by the request. It is a daunting task. I would not consider myself a teaching kind of person, but I was told I would be teaching on basic apologetics and tie it in to witnessing. I was given the added help of teaching through a book called The Ten Most Common Objections to Christianity by Alex McFarland. Although I have not read the entire book as of yet, I have found the book to be a good resource thus far. After going through the first chapter; I came to the conclusion that this is an important area to learn and was very glad I agreed to do it. I think this can be beneficial for everyone who shares their faith. You are bound to run into one the these questions at some point, which is why I decided to post the notes/handouts that I make based off the book for all to read and learn from.

1 Peter 3:15
...Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you...

Please note, unless otherwise expressed all of my notes are either directly taken from the book or my paraphrase from the book.

Ok, to start off we should probably define what apologetics is and define some terms:

Apologetics - Definition- speaking in defense of what you believe.
Atheist - Someone who completely rules out the existence of God.
Agnostic - Someone who says that you can’t know for sure about the existence of God.

Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”...

Does God exist? Let’s look at some of the following “proofs” and see what conclusions we can come to.

Every Effect Has a Cause
The universe had to have a cause; the atheist will say that it was the Big Bang; Christians believe that the cause is Almighty God. For something to be or an action to happen there has to be and outside force that is larger, stronger, and more powerful to cause it – God.
Every Creation Has a Creator
Based on the previous point, life could not have just appeared out of nowhere. We have a universe that was caused, it is a creation, and therefore their must be a Creator of it. Of course the Bible states who the Creator is and how He did it.
Every Design has a Designer
The complexity of design displays the intelligence of the designer. Look at a cell phone. It is incredibly complex. When you look at it you wonder who made it, you never think that it just designed itself. Now look at a single cell. It is an extremely complex organism; more complex than a cell phone. So, if things have been designed, they must have an intelligent designer.
Communication Requires a Communicator
Communication is going on all around - in humans, animals, even our cells. DNA is a complex coded system of instructions for our cells. This complex coded system revels that it was created by an intelligent Communicator. There cannot be communicated information without a Communicator.
Evey Law Has a Lawgiver
Every society and culture has a set of moral rules or laws that are used to keep the peace. These may not necessarily been written down, but they are known by all. When we study these societies, we find that though isolated from each other by time, location, and culture, all of the moral laws are almost identical at their core. All humans (in general) are against injustices like rape, murder, theft, etc., but are also in favor for those who exhibit heroism, altruism (selfless concern for the welfare of others), and self-sacrifice for others. Is it coincidence that all societies and cultures, even those isolated from each other, would develop almost identical moral laws? Or have these moral laws that we all have been preprogrammed into us from an outside source? How could we all have developed the same moral laws if it had not been intentionally put there (conscience – “with knowledge”)? If we have moral laws, there must be a moral Lawgiver outside of us. If there are moral laws and a moral Lawgiver, we must now ask what the repercussions of breaking that moral Lawgiver’s laws are.

So, do these “proofs” prove God exists? Not entirely. These only prove that there is something lager, more powerful and more intelligent than us out there that is the cause of all there is. So, what conclusions can we then come to? This Causer must be a personal being because we are personal beings. The One who causes must be at least as personal as us (the effect) or we would be more advanced than the One who created us. Nothing that is made can be more advanced than the one who made it. This all essentially boils down to this: If God is the Causer/Creator/Intelligent Designer/Communicator/Lawgiver, He would have to be over and above the effect/creation/design/communication/law, and be at least as personal as us. We have discovered that God has revealed Himself as a personal being, and as such we discover that God is also a revelatory being. How does He choose to reveal Himself?

General

Creation – The universe is not only proof of His existence, but it also gives us a small glimpse of who He is.
Conscience – The basic moral laws that we all have shows us God’s standards, which in turn shows us His character.

Specific

Scripture – The entire Bible shows us who God is and what He expects of us.
Savior –Jesus came to Earth to show us, in the flesh, who God is in a way that no one (or thing) ever could.

Conclusion

We know that God exists and that He is not a distant, unknowable, vague Supreme Being. But that He is a personal and knowable God who allows us to have knowledge of and learn about Him and wants us to know Him!

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Puritans Book Giveaway...

2010-03-07T16:25:00.002-07:00

Here is a giveaway from JCRylequotes.com! It is for the book "Meet the Puritans." Go check it out!

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

"I Love My Glory!"

2010-02-25T22:20:00.004-07:00

Listen starting at 41:40 through 47:42

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

Prayers For a Co-Worker

2010-02-21T15:52:00.005-07:00

Dylan is one of my co-workers at Pepsi. He is one of the nicest guys I have worked with. He his polite to customers and fellow workers, he does his job with little to no complaint, and, unlike most of my fellow workers, he has a clean mouth. Dylan also within the last year got married and is now helping his wife raise her son. On the surface he is a "good" guy. When it comes to politics he and I differ on virtually everything, but I have to say I like Dylan a lot and we get along fairly well (at least according to my estimation). Dylan is a trainee, so he rides along with other drivers to help them out until a route opens up for him. He has rode along with me many times and, ashamedly, I almost always avoided religion.

About four or five months ago he was riding along with me and the subject matter somehow (had to have been God) turned to religion and I was able to present the Gospel to him. He did not really react to it other than look and sound uncomfortable. He seemed to agree with some point and disagree with others, but in the end he said that he grew up Catholic and he saw is "belief" in God as a personal thing. I remember asking him what his wife's beliefs were and he said he did not know and had never asked. He then quickly changed the subject to something else and I left it at that.

Last month he was riding with me and we came across one of the "Jesus asked, 'Who do you say that I am?'" billboards and I asked him if he had seen them and how he would answer the question. He promptly stated that he did not want to talk about "theological things" with me. A few days later I asked him about it and he said he was just tired at the time and was not in the mood, so I left it at that.

On Wednesday morning driving into work I saw him ahead of me so I started to pray for him. I asked that the Lord open his eyes to his sin and that God, if it was His will, would draw Dylan to Himself. I also prayed that I would be bold in my witness to him and would change my fear of men to fear for men. It turns out that Dylan was to ride along with me that day. (Isn't it amazing how God answers our prayers and sets things in motion before we even pray?!) Later that day, I told Dylan that I knew it made him uncomfortable when I talked about religious things. I explained that I was not trying to intentionally make him uneasy or shove anything down his throat, but explained that is was out of concern. I told him that if what I believe is true, why wouldn't I want to tell other people. I told him that I liked him a lot and was concerned for him and that I waned him to know that has been and still is my motive. He expressed that he was grateful, but I could tell he did not want to talk anymore about it, or so I thought. So I said I that I would not bring up the subject anymore, but that if he had questions, wanted to go to Bible study, or wanted to go to church to let me know.
A few minutes after I said this he asked church was "so important." So I took this as an open invitation to, while answering his question, to use my testimony to share the Gospel with him again. In the end he said that he did not feel as though going to church was important, his beliefs were private and he did not want to share them with others. Unfortunately, we arrived at our last stop and I was not able to continue the conversation. The next day I gave him a "STOP, Who Do You Think I Am?" tract and asked him to read it when he had a chance.

I have decided to let things simmer with Dylan, I have presented the Gospel to him several times and have given him several tracts. I do not know how long I will let it simmer with him, but I know that if God is working in his heart, Dylan will come to faith. So at this point I ask you to pray that God brings Dylan to a saving faith in Him, that his eyes are opened to see his hear the way God sees it. Also I ask that you pray for me to as I struggle to fight my fears and boldly proclaim Christ to those around me.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

How Often Am I Guilty ?

2010-02-20T11:07:00.069-07:00

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."

Exodus 20:7 

blas·phe·my

/blas-fuh-mee/

–noun,plural-mies.
1. impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.
2. Judaism.
a. an act of cursing or reviling God.
3. Theology. the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God.
4. irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com

A recent post by Tony Miano at "The Lawman Chronicles" has caused me to be a bit introspective about how I may be guilty of blasphemy. In the post Tony tells about a church sign with a message that was supposed to be funny that used Christ's death on the cross as a play on words. It got me thinking, do I ever joke around about the things of God? Of course I would never intentionally use the Lord's Name in vain, but do I always use His Name or other things related to Him with reverence?
.....

I have to say that I do not, I am guilty of not giving full reverence to my Lord and Savior. After some pondering, I have determined to be more serious about the things of God. I think it would be good for all Christians to look at their lives and see if they may have some room for improvement in this area. I am not trying to be a wet blanket, I just think their are certain subjects that we just may need see differently.

Jesus Christ died a horrific death for our sins. Jesus, sweating great drops of blood, did not take his impending death lightly. The Apostles, of whom all but one died martyrs, did not take the things of God lightly. Neither should we.

O Merciful Lord,

I confess all of my sins. Sins of this day, week, year, all the sins of my life, sins of early, middle, and advanced years, sins of omission and commission, of my angry tempers, of lip, life and walk, of hard‐heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride, of unfaithfulness to the souls of men, of lack of bold decision in the cause of Christ, of deficiency in outspoken zeal for His glory, of bringing dishonor upon Your great name, of deception, injustice, untruthfulness, in my dealings with others and you of impurity in thought, word and deed, of covetousness, which is idolatry, of substance unduly hoarded, improvidently squandered, not consecrated to the glory of You, the Great Giver; sins in private and in the family, in study and recreation, in the busy activities of men, in the study of Your Word and in the neglect of it, in prayer irreverently offered and coldly withheld, in time misspent, in yielding to Satan’s wiles in opening my heart to his temptations, in being unwatchful when I know him near, in quenching the Holy Spirit; sins against light and knowledge, against conscience and restraints of Your
Spirit, against the law of eternal love.

O God Pardon all my sins, known and unknown, felt and unfelt, confessed and not confessed, remembered or forgotten. Merciful Lord, hear my cry; and hearing, have mercy on me.

(Confession of Sin, The Valley of Vision)

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)

--The Wretch

"It is not good that the man should be alone..."

2010-02-14T17:25:00.011-07:00

"... I will make him a helper fit for him." (Genesis 2:18)

Today marks seven years that Jenn and I have been married. Every year I appreciate more and more this verse from Genesis. I sadly admit that that in the years before God saved me I had a very selfish view of our marriage. But since then my love for my wife has been changing from a selfish "love" to what love really is, a self-sacrificing-life-long-dedication to the woman I made a pledge and covenant with on February 14, 2003. I am still in the early stages of being and am imperfectly able to portray that kind of love to my wife, but, by God's Grace, she has abundantly patient with me!

Ephesians 5:25-33

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way m husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Jenn--
As is my charge from Scripture, you have my promise and solemn vow that I will exhibit this kind of love and devotion to you the best I can with the help of our Lord God.

Men--
I challenge you to love your wives in this way. Paul reveals to us here that our marriages represent our (those who are saved) relationship to Christ! Let us love our wives and show the world what true love is, self-sacrificing.

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Exalted Worship - So Great a Salvation

2010-02-13T22:27:00.005-07:00

The Impossible Gospel

2010-01-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

A Question and Evangelism Opportunity

2010-01-18T13:44:00.008-07:00

I just found out on Sunday that my pastor has nominated me head the outreach for a billboard campaign. The billboards have the above image on it. This is a daunting task for me, I can't help but say that I am nervous. Not only do I have to swallow my own fear, but I need to try and organize some people to go out with me, and if need be give some training! I would certainly not consider myself a teacher, much less an organizer. Please pray that I cast my cares upon the Lord and trust in Him fully. Also pray that God moves in the hearts of those around me to join with me and go out to share the Gospel with those who are perishing!

Thank you for your prayers!

I believe that the above question is an important question. This question I think separates people. A lot of people know the basics of Jesus, but just who do they believe He is? Is YOUR understanding correct and just what would your understanding of who Jesus is be? Consider these verses:

John 8:58-59 (English Standard Version)

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

John 10:30-33 (English Standard Version)

"I and the Father are one."
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."

1 John 5:9-12 (English Standard Version)

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

2 John 1:9 (English Standard Version)

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

A Great Privilege

2010-01-01T13:32:00.003-07:00

This morning as Jenn was taking down the Christmas stuff, I had Robby on my lap and we were watching a YouTube Video. The video was of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" with scenes from "The Passion." I had the a great privilege, I had the chance to explain what we were seeing and hearing to my son. Don't think that I have never talked about these kinds of things before with him; he is starting to get to an age where I can see that he is understanding and comprehending his little world.

As we sat there I explained the images of Jesus being beaten, being sure to explain that we were watching an actor and not really Jesus. I explained how he was nailed to the cross for our sins and how Jesus was the willing and perfect sacrifice for our sins. The video showed scenes from the Last Supper and I got to explain how Jesus instituted the New Covenant and we no longer had to make a sacrifice for our sins, we only need to come to him with a repentant heart and put our full faith and trust in his work on the cross.

As I was telling him these things, of which I don't know how much he was able to comprehend, tears came to my eyes as it hit me; I not only have the profound privilege to teach my children these truths, but the huge responsibility as well. It is a task that I will not take lightly (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2,) but will thank my God everyday for.

Below is another video that we watched, the quality is not very good, but the content of the song and the accompaniment (sorry if not the correct usage of this word) of the images is powerful.

The Fair and Witnessing

2009-09-21T16:02:00.010-06:00

Sorry about the timeliness of this post, things have been hectic for me these past few weeks. But about the fair. It seemed that we were not going to have a booth at the fair this year for various reasons, so Jenn and I and some others from church were going to hand out tracts on our own independently from each other.

Someone from church (Paul) did have a booth at the fair for his home business and the spot next to him was vacant. When one of the people in charge at the fair noticed the spot next to him empty the guy told him that if he wanted he could expand his booth. The man said that it looked bad to have empty booths. Well, when Paul's wife Vicki heard this she asked if she could set up a table for our church, and the man said that is was ok.

We now had a booth at the fair. This was encouraging, I had wanted to do some evangelism at fair and was kind of disappointed that we did not have a booth, but God had provided a booth for us. Since the church was not expecting to have a booth, the church did not have many tracts on hand. Providentially, someone had ordered some tracts through the church and did not want them any more, the problem, there were only a few packs. Jenn and I, not knowing we had a booth or that there was a need for tracts, decided to go back to the fair and I happened to grab the two packs I had. We decided to go back and see Paul and Vicki, they told us the situation and we happily handed over the tracts. Because God had providentially set this all up, the tract table had plenty of tracts for the fair.

Like I said before, I had the desire to witness at the fair and we now had a booth. (I know I could have still witnessed, but due to my sinful fear I was going to just hand out tracts.) I had rolled the idea around for months in my head (witnessing at a fair booth), but as soon as the opportunity presented its self, I got sick to my stomach and fear entered my heart! Vicki told us that she needed help to man the booth, so I volunteered to help, my stomach dropped even more. How hypocritical of me, here was the opportunity I was hoping for and once it presented its self I wanted nothing to do with it!

Despite my fear, I helped out at the table. Let me make this clear, it was only by the undeserved Grace of God was I able to overcome my fear and anxiety. I have witnessed one on one in the past, but I have never been able to find a consistent, clear, and concise way of sharing the Gospel. I submitted myself to God in prayer before showing up and in spite if my flesh God used me to clearly proclaim His word.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not searching for any accolades, pats on the back, or atta-boys. I am not trying to draw attention to myself. I am merely showing what God do even through a sinful excuse-filled vessel. I am boasting only in my weakness, that God may be glorified in my weakness. (2 Cor 11:30, 12:8-10)

God gave me the opportunity to share one-on-one, with two to three and once with a small group. Over all, I directly shared the Gospel with about twenty different people. God gave me a clarity that I have not had before. I was able to finally put into better words and analogies that made sense. God opened the recesses of my mind where I had stored all of the witnessing encounters that I have heard and He helped me assemble it together to form a clear Gospel message. at one point there were six or seven people all gathered around wanting to know the Million Dollar Question. It turned into a mini open-air (preaching.) I had to lift my voice so they could all hear, and as a result people walking by stopped (thankfully God caused me not notice them, I would have been thrown off.) After I was done a kind lady encouraged me with a quick "good job," which was very kind.

One more experience I will share was what I call a drive-by. I asked an older lady if she could answer the Million Dollar Question. Paul egged her on and suggested that she could not. So, she asked what it was.

"If you were to die right now would you go to heaven or to hell?"

She leaned over the table and gently touch my hand and said, "I know where I am going, too bad you don't." And she started to walk away!

I replied, "How do you know that I don't?"

"Because of the way you are preaching this!" And she took off!

Needless to say I was flabbergasted. I sat there trying to find words to say. But God knows what He is doing. Sin entered my heart and I wanted to have a "discussion" with her. But God knowing my heart caused her to walk away. Thank you Lord for saving me from soiling Your name!

My evangelism flame before this, was flickering and on it's last bit of fuel. I had let sin overtake my heart and allowed myself to slip into complacency. God used the fair to reignite my flame and passion for the preaching of the Gospel. "Do you see, do you see, all the people sinking down? Do you care, do you care, are you going to let them drown?" Do we really belive that if poeple do not come to a saving repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone, that they are going to hell? Do we REALLY believe it? If we do how can we stay silent? Why do I care If I look like a fool if it is to be a fool for Christ who is the only one who can save them from their sins and Hell? Where is my urgency, my compassion? People are dying everyday! I am preaching to myself as well as all you fellow Christians. We are all called to evangelize (Matt 28:19-20.) We may not all have the gift of being a full time evangelist, but are our lives marked with going out of our comfort-zone to share the Word of Truth? Remember, we are no better than the lost, just better-off. We are just fellow beggars trying to show other beggars where to find the Bread of Life!

Please pray for all of those who heard the Gospel! Pray that God may save some!

Update Coming Soon!

2009-09-07T22:52:00.002-06:00

Once I rest up and spend some well needed time with my family, I will post an update about the Gospel sharing at the fair. Please pray for the souls that hear the Law and the Gospel and for those who left with the Spirit convicting them of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Conviction...From a Sunrise?!

2009-08-17T20:48:00.003-06:00

Well as the title says, I was deeply convicted by the sunrise this morning. I will explain my thought process that I had this morning and it will weave in to my conviction.

As I was driving to my first stop this morning I was preparing myself to start my time of prayer (I have about a forty-minute drive.) One thing I really enjoy, is seeing God's handiwork in each of His sunrises. Today's was magnificent, as usual. The clouds looked like they were drawn across the sky by a wide brush. The color of the sky near the horizon was a fiery orange, with reddish hues being cast on the clouds. When the sun broke over the horizon it came with blazing glory.

I started to think about power of God and how creation unfalteringly obeys His commands to create such a masterpiece. God commanded the earth to be tilted at the perfect amount for their to be different seasons. God commands the earth to be at a perfect distance in orbit around the sun to allow for life to thrive on the earth. God commands the sun's explosions to produce life sustaining energy and light. He commands all this and the creation obeys. He commands the earth to rotate, which produces the sunrise. The atmosphere refracts light just as commanded to shine through the dust that has perfectly obeyed to give the sky its fiery color. God gave wisdom and knowledge to the person who made my glasses that allow my eye to clearly see all that I saw. This is where I paused and came to see my sin, weak and feeble faith in God's faithfulness.

I was planning on confessing my lack of faith, but God brought it to the forefront of my mind right there and then. A little background, I have been starting to stress a little about some changes coming up. We have another little one on the way, we will soon need to find a better and or bigger place to live and to top it all off, my work is reorganizing everyone's jobs and I have to interview for some positions this week. Their is a lot of uncertainty coming up, one thing I do not like. I already knew that God has always provided for my little family. We may not have an abundance but we have always had enough and have not lacked. I had no reason to worry and I was going to confess and repent, until the Holy Spirit wanted to give me a better perspective.

At this point I was crushed and tears came to my eyes. God saw this vile, small, God-hating, blasphemous rebel and instead of snuffing out my little meaningless and God-opposing life, He caused me to be regenerated and born again! And yet He still puts up with my sin as I struggle with my flesh everyday, oh wretched man that I am! But I know their is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, He sees us as perfect even though we are not yet perfect. What right do I have to worry?! How arrogant of an attitude. Look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field are they not clothed and fed? Will God not take care of those that He has adopted as sons?

Father, forgive me for my lack of faith!

Does This Offend You? It's Truth...

2009-08-16T07:51:00.000-06:00

God's Loving and Sovereign Hand

2009-08-15T21:23:00.002-06:00

Well I thought I would start off with the highlight of the summer for our little family. About a week ago we found out that God has blessed us with another little life! We are so very happy and surprised about this.

Jenn and I have been incredibly blessed. For those of you who do not know our story, I will give you a brief overview. We tried for four and a half years to conceive our son. We went from one heartbreaking month to another. Every time Jenn was late, our hopes soared only to have them come crashing back down shortly afterward. We scrounged up money when we could and went to the doctor to try to figure out what the issue was. The doctors were never able to give us a definite answer about what was causing us not to conceive. (We were not saved at this point.) We thought we were never going to be able to have a child, so we tried putting it out of our minds as best we could

In the fall of 2007, God caused Jenn and I to be born again. In November we found out that God blessed us with a child! Please note, I am not a proponent of "Come to Jesus, and life will be better." We were, and still are, convinced that God had kept Jenn's womb closed until the preordained time, namely our salvation. Looking back, we are convinced that that we were in no position to have a child. We struggled to stay married, to eat, and pay bills.

So, now coming back to the present. God has again shown us his sovereignty in our lives. It took us four and a half years to conceive, we always thought that to have another child might take just as long, or never happen. We sure were wrong. I have come to see that this can not be anything but God's hand at work in our lives presently and in the past.

Will Be Back Soon!

2009-08-11T18:41:00.002-06:00

I am very sorry to all of you who follow my blog! I have had an quite an eventful summer. Virtually every night I am exhausted, my job gets very busy in the summer (and hot.) I have many things that I have been wanted to blog about but have been too tired (mentally and physically.) I have some big news that some of you already know. I will try to get a new postout by Sunday!

Thank you for your patience!

Give Us Some Men...

2009-06-20T20:46:00.000-06:00

Effects of Sin

2009-06-08T21:18:00.001-06:00

To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:16-19 (ESV)

These verses from Genesis poetically describe when our Lord God pronounced judgment upon the whole of creation (for the purposes of this post, I chose only the verses in which the Lord speaks directly to Adam and Eve.) I am sure most of us are familiar with these verses. Chapter three of Genesis is a very important chapter, it is here we get an explanation for all the decay, pain, turmoil and ultimately death that we see in the world. Adam and Eve did not guard themselves from the temptation of the serpent, which then became desire and their desire then brought forth sin and sin then lead to death (James 1:14,15.)

We are all well aware of the curse. For women, pain in childbirth and rearing and conflict with her husband (her wanting to usurp his authority and him ruling over her.) For men, hard work to provide food for our family. Not only do we have hard work, but the very ground is going to fight back with thorns and thistles. Our lives are now to work the dirt we came from to live until the day that we return to the dust from whence we came. Now, according to Dr. John MacArthur, these were special curses (on top the the general curse that fell upon all of creation) that are to remind us constantly of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and how God hates it so.

As of lately my eye has been drawn to another effect sin. I was recently flipping though a magazine and I suddenly stopped and could not pull my eyes from what I saw, a picture of a little girl with a cleft pallet. Sorrow filled my heart. As of recently, that has been happening more and more. I see mentally handicap children, children with deformities, babies dying in the womb and my heart breaks. I shake my head at how sin has permeated even our DNA! I also see the mentally challenged adults and my heart breaks for them as well. When I see these effects on the "innocent" it actually causes a tear in my eye, and I am not one who crys. Maybe having a child myself has caused me to be more sensitive to such things.

I have also been sensitive to people who are suffering from degenerative diseases. I was talking with a manager at one of my stores today who has rheumatoid arthritis, she is only 45 and was diagnosed 20 years ago. She is currently almost completely crippled in her hands and has virtually no wrist joints. Her knuckles are very inflamed and she says she is in almost constant pain. She has been offered wrist replacement surgery, but she has opted out for now (they would have to remove her hands!) When she walked way to help a customer, I could not help but fight back a tear! This is just one example of physical disease in our world not even counting sicknesses. Oh how sin has buried its tentacles in everything!

I recently watched Visual Bible: Matthew in which Bruce Marchiano portrays Jesus in fashion that I have not seen in any movie made about Him. Most movies of Jesus we see him as stern and fairly unemotional except for anger. This movie portrays Jesus' softer and compassionate side with out compromising His hard and stern language and emotion. In the scenes when Jesus is healing people you can see the pain in His eyes. Who could see the incredibly disastrous effects of sin? Mr. Marchiano does an amazing job conveying the sorrow and compassion that Jesus must have felt toward his fallen creation. How merciful of a God it is we serve! Not only do we have God's common grace all around us (the mere fact that we are all still alive,) not only did he heal people (when He was here on earth,) He also willingly died on a cross to atone for the elect's sins for complete spiritual and eventual physical healing!

I really had a lot more to say but that would have gotten me WAY off topic. Listening to John MacArthur's sermons on chapter three of Genesis has given me grat insight into those verses that i will explore in another post!

The Mirror of the Ten Commandments

2009-05-30T15:54:00.004-06:00

Normally I would not post pictures here that I take for another website (Digital Photography School,) but the latest assignment made we think of a spiritual concept: abandonment of sin. The theme for this week was Abandoned, here is the description that I posted along with the photo:

I had to sit for a while and think about this assignment. Of course the idea of an abandoned building came to mind, but I wanted to go for a more abstract idea of abandonment. I started thinking about my life as a Christian and the things that I have abandoned. I came up with this composite photo. The mirror represents the mirror of the Ten Commandments (here are just four: lying, stealing, taking God's name in vain and adultery.) By looking through this mirror we see ourselves God sees us as lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterers at heart and that is only four! The reflection in the mirror is what I am in light of the Commandments a filthy, wretched, God-hating sinner. The close up portion represents how though Christ's death on the cross I can turn my back on, forsake, ABANDON my sin.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T10:05:00.002-06:00

With today being Memorial Day, I thought I would get back to writing some blogs. I know as of late my posts have been few and far between, for that I am sorry. Life has a way of getting in the way of things, as well areas of sin that need to be dealt with.

Traditionally, today is the day we remember our service men and women who have died in service to their country. It has also, over time, been a time we memorialize loved ones who have gone into eternity before us. Today is one of those days where we confront the fact that we are all going to die and their is nothing that can stop the flow of time. For some of us that end comes sooner than others; for some, the thought of what happens after we die terrifies them. If everyone is honest with themselves, it is plain to see why most people are terrified to die.

According the the Bible (Romans 1:19-31) all men know that God exists, and not just a god but the true God. And all men know that they have transgression against God. All men know that God is Good and Just. So Good and Just that He will not only punish murderers and rapists, but liars, thieves, adulterers (mental fantasies and physical,) the covetous, and those who dishonor their parents. God will not only judge them, but will also judge those who pay homage to other gods, who have fashioned and worship idols both physical an in their minds (by having an false view of God,) and those who blaspheme the name of God (with their mouth or by they way they live their life.) I think it is easy to see why most all people are terrified to die, they know that when they die they will face the Just Judge of all the earth and will have to answer to Him for what they have done. Most people will be found wanting that day, they will not have a payment for their crimes and will be punished.

However, their are some of us who may be frightened of the dying process,it be painful or slow, but not afraid of death. We are still just as guilty of everything that the first group is, but we have one more thing than they do: payment for our sin though the atoning work of Christ's (the Just Judge) death on a cross. We have responded (only by God's immeasurable Grace) to our sin and the cross in repentance (a contrite apology and turning from all sin) and faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you are one of those people that are afraid of death, you do not have to be. Look at God's Law the ten commandments, you have violated every single one in spirit if not in action. Let those commandments crush you, see yourself though God's Holy eyes. you know God should crush you but he is willing to forgive. God is also Loving, he Sent Jesus, who is fully God, to pay the penalty for sin for all those who respond in repentance and faith.

As I said before, Memorial Day has become more than just remembering our fallen soldiers. So I propose to all Christians today, let us remember those who have fallen to give us freedom to worship our God, but let us also remember the ones who have preceded us into Glory. The great Heroes of the Faith. Those great men who dedicated their whole being to the Gospel, some died of old age, and most died for the faith. Let us also remember the persecuted Church. Our brothers ans sisters who daily are being beaten, tortured, and martyred for the name of Christ.

I humbly ask you all today, first if you are afraid if death, please follow what I said above and ask God for forgiveness, secondly I ask you all to pray and thank our God for all of those who have preceded us in death and for those who suffering great torment because they are faithful witnesses to Christ's Name.

Story Time...Again!

2009-04-18T11:04:00.004-06:00

The basic structure of this story I heard an old Way of the Master Radio phone fisher, Aaron the Actor. He use a very basic version of this in a witnessing / open-air-preaching encounter. I have thought a while how to convert this to a story. I thought the basic concept of this was powerful, I hope you feel the same way. I have also loaded a new song in my music player that might help add to the story, if you have the time please listen to it after reading, it is called "Were You There?"

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I would like you to imagine something for me, you have a six year-old son; he is your only son and you are unable to have anymore children. He is the center of your life, you love him virtually more than anything. You two go almost everywhere together: museums, the city park, swimming, putt-putt golf, and even errands.

Today is not unlike any other, he joins you on your daily errands to pay bills, deposit money, get gas, and pick up dinner. So far you have gone to the post office and dropped off your bills and are now walking into the bank. The bank is awfully full today with fairly long lines, of which you join. The man in front of you is spewing obscenities like a fire hydrant, the people in the line next to you are talking about the immoral things they did the night before. Your son asks the man in front of you,"Excuse me sir, could you please not say those bad words?"

The man turns around laughing and says, "Shove-off kid, I will say what ever I want, whenever I want!"

Shocked you ask the man again to refrain from his foul and disrespectful language. The man responds with a string of curse words that you have not heard since high school. He starts to mock you calling you uptight and prudish. He calls attention to you and your son calling your son a brainwashed, snot-nosed, little brat. Gradually, more and more people join in the mocking. everyone is hurling insults at you and your son. You try to speak but the crowd is too loud. You try to leave, but as you head to the door you see something that makes you stop in your tracks. You see about five men run into the bank with masks and guns, the bank is about to be robbed.

Gunfire rings out and debris falls from the ceiling and everyone drops to the floor screaming. Your son, absolutely traumatized from the prior situation and now this, is next to you sobbing and shaking. He is inconsolable. The masked men eventually get everyone to quiet down. except your son. The man in charge yells at you to quiet your child, or he would do it. The men go from person to person taking all they have.

The masked-man in charged says, "Unless you choose someone to die, we are going to kill every single one of you. CHOOSE NOW!"

Almost instantly someone cries out,"That man and his son! Why not, he has brain-washed his son and they are in here trying to get us to stop acting like we want to! What right does he have to tell us to stop doing what we want?" Soon everyone is shouting in agreement.

You and your son are drug to the masked-man. As you stand in front of the man you can smell his stench. His odor reminds you of the rotting carcass of an animal on the side of the road. The man is filthy, everything about the man is absolutely repulsive. Laughing, he bends down and hugs your son ans wraps his jacket around him. He stands up and says to you, "Shoot your son and I will let everyone go, including yourself. If you do not, then everyone dies!" He then hands you a loaded pistol. The gun is heavy, you briefly contemplate shooting the masked-men, but that quickly goes away when you see the assault rifles pointed in your direction.

The crowd starts to shout, "KILL HIM, KILL HIM! SHOOT HIM!"

The masked-man says, "Do it NOW!"

Now, if you were this man would you kill your son to save the people who have mocked you and your son? Imagine that you are willing to do it. As you hold the gun and your son who is covered in filth, you hear your son's sobs. He is shaking as he clings to you leg.

You grab the slide of the gun and pull it back, chambering a round and cocking the hammer, then you turn the safety-off; the gun is now ready to fire. You kneel down next to your son and hug him and tell him how much you love him as people shout to just do it. Slowly you place the barrel of the gun against you son's head. "DADDY!" BANG!

The next thing you feel is the warm sticky blood of your son on your hands and soaking though your clothes. You hold your son close as he bleeds out on to the floor. The masked-man tells everyone to leave and as they all leave they trample on your son's blood, still jeering at you and your son. How do you think this man feels. Those that he sacrificed his son for not only still mocking him, but treading on the very blood at set them free. Would you do that, of course not. I wanted you to see this from this man's perspective, when in reality, you are a person in the crowd who, along with everyone else, shouted for the man to kill is son and disrespectfully walked on the son's blood as you left.

There are two ways one could respond to this. The hostages could just continue on with their lives and not ever think twice about it, or could apologize and thank the man for his sacrifice.

Though all analogies limp and cannot convey perfectly all theologies, this is a rough analogy of the cross and the response of men to that sacrifice. If you have rejected and not have responded to the cross in repentance and faith, you are just like those people who continued to mock the father while treading on the son's blood. Even those who have repented are still guilty until they repented, all humanity was in that crowd shouting "Kill Him!" or "Crucify!"

Have you repented and put your trust in Jesus Christ yet? If not why, why would you reject the offer of forgiveness of sins? Why would you increase the Wrath of God and you will experience in Hell? Please, repent (turn away from your sin and apologize) and then put your trust in the Savior, "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2)
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Please listen to the first song in my music player I have included the lyrics of the song below:

Were You There?

written by shai linne

Verse 1

This story starts at the climax, we find that time’s lapsed- don’t mind that
It’s kind of like a night cap filled with divine acts
We zoom in the lens on Christ's agony on the garden
Doomed for His friends- His tragedy for our pardon
Foreseeing the Father’s cup of wrath has Him stifled and weak
He’s sweating blood with His disciples asleep
The Prince of Peace knows the beef shall increase
Since the thief approaches with the soldiers and the chief priests
His arrest is not just- neither is the trial
While Jesus is being treated foul, He sees Peter’s denial
He’s sent to Pilate, to Herod, back to Pilate
The violence of humanity at its finest
So now He stands before the crowd doomed to die
An angry mob who’s yelling out “crucify”
The way they treat the Lord of glory is debased and it’s foul
But you miss the point if you don’t see your face in the crowd

Chorus

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there? Were you there? (4x)
Man, sometimes it causes me to tremble
Yo, sometimes it causes me to tremble

Verse 2

This story starts at the climax, we find that time’s lapsed- don’t mind that
It’s kind of like a night cap filled with divine acts
We zoom in the lens on Christ's agony in the garden
Doomed for His friends- it had to be for the pardon
And delivery from misery of kids who speak wickedly
Sinfully, inwardly slick with the iniquity
We see disciples sleep and mock today with a lot to say
But we do the same thing when we don’t watch and pray
Like Judas, we sell Christ out to get the treasure
Whether it’s the cheddar or forbidden pleasure
Like the chief priests, we want Christ to surrender
But we want Him out the way when He doesn’t fit our agenda
Like Peter, we have misplaced, fleshly confidence
But we’ll deny the Lord when faced with deadly consequence
Like Herod, we’re curious about Christ because He’s famous
But we quickly get bored with Him when He doesn’t entertain us
Like Pilate, we see Christ and find nothing wrong with Him
But when the world chooses the wicked, we go right along with them
Despite His kindness, we seek to do our Maker violence
The fallenness of humanity at its finest
So now He stands before the crowd doomed to die
An angry mob who’s yelling out “crucify”
The way they treat the Lord of glory is debased and it’s foul
But you miss the point if you don’t see your face in the crowd

Chorus

Verse 3

This story starts at the climax, we find that time’s lapsed- don’t mind that
It’s kind of like a night cap filled with divine acts
We zoom in the lens on Christ's agony on the garden
Doomed for His friends- His tragedy for our pardon
Foreseeing the Father’s cup of wrath- it has Him stifled and weak
He’s sweating blood with His disciples asleep
The Prince of Peace knows the beef shall increase
Since the thief approaches with the soldiers and the chief priests
His arrest is not just- neither is the trial
While Jesus is being treated foul, he sees Peter’s denial
He’s sent to Pilate, to Herod, back to Pilate
The violence of humanity at its finest
So now He stands before the crowd doomed to die
An angry mob who’s yelling out “crucify”
The way we treat the Lord of glory is debased and it’s foul
Ashamed, I bow because I see my face in the crowd

Chorus

Esater Special Update!

2009-04-07T16:43:00.005-06:00

Oh and on a side note: My son and I made it on the front page of WretchedRadio.com!! Thanks Mike for letting me know about this!

Just Another Wretch Jr.

2009-04-01T19:28:00.007-06:00

Wretched TV's Good Friday/Easter Special!

2009-03-31T20:29:00.007-06:00

I just wanted to let you all know that On Good Friday, April 10th, Todd Friel and the gang are putting on a hour-long, uninterrupted, Good Friday / Easter Special. I am not sure at what time it is going to air, I will keep you updated, but it will not be at Wretched's normal time. FamilyNet is going to run it eight times that weekend at different times. It will air on FamilyNet stations. I know locally it is on channel 45 (analog, not digital.)

If this special is going to be anything like what Todd has put together in the past on the old Way of the Master Radio program, it is going to be eye-opening. I truly suggest you not miss it. I will embed a mp3 player below with the audio of one of their Good Friday / Easter Specials.

For those that are unable to get a FamilyNet TV station, or think that they will miss it, I am going to try and record it and if requested I will try and make DVD copies.

Fishing Update: Inoculated or True Believer?

2009-03-15T20:01:00.006-06:00

I have a confession to make, and I ask that you pray for me and my obedience. Last week while at my fishing hole their were a lot of people and I was disobedient; I made excuses not to share the Gospel with anyone. I have been doing this lately at work and while out and about. I pass up perfect opportunities to at least hand out a tract. This morning was Communion, and before taking it I was convicted of this unconfessed sin. I ask for your prayers in this area, thank you.

Well, today I was back at my fishing hole, and it was pretty empty. I saw an older woman sitting by herself, so being obedient I went over and talked to her, her name was Sandy. It turns out she has see lots of different kinds if money tracts before, but not in the million dollar denomination. She seemed to be familiar with Christianity. She told me that she was raised as LDS and then went to Baptist and Pentecostal churches after her parents divorced.

I was naturally concerned, so I wanted to quiz her and see if she had a correct view of man, God, Jesus, salvation, and Mormonism. I asked her to pretend that I was not a Christian and had a knife in my back and only had three minutes to live, and I came up to her, dying, asking what I needed to do to be saved. She said, "I would simply tell you that you need to ask for it (salvation/forgiveness.)" I asked her what she meant by that and explained to her that we need to use more clear language. I told her that "Repentance" and "Faith/Trust" would be closer to what the Bible says (Mark 1:14,15.) I believe that is along the same lines that she was meaning. From a lot of witness encounters/testimonies I have heard, people use Christian lingo, which to the Christian is clear but to the unchurched can be confusing.

I then went though who God is (i.e. the Trinity, eternal, never created, never was a man) and she confirmed that she thought the same way. We talked about God's Sovereignty and many other subjects that I thought I should cover to be sure she had a clear Biblical view of things (at least to the best of MY knowledge.) She agreed with me on all points, which I have to say surprised me with her background.

We somehow got in the subject of creation and atheism. She told me her grandson claimed to be an atheist since his father died (suicide or murder, he was found at the base of the canyon two years ago) and thinks that there can't be a God. Sandy believes that he is just angry at God for allowing it to happen and he is just acting out rebelliously. She told her grandson that their was a chance that he had repented moments before his death. I told her she should share Luke 13:1-5 with him and to use his father's death to get his attention about his own eternity. In that passage, Jesus tells a group after a disaster to repent or they too would perish. She told me that she would do that.

When I fist talked to her I asked if she went to church, and she said she "had been going to a LDS church." This concerned me and also confused me. She said that she has been to many different "Christian" churches, including Catholic. The answers she gave me did not seem to match her buffet of church going. I asked her again if she went to church currently, and she said no. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was concernded about her going to a mormon church, plus it did not make sense with her answers. I invited her to our church on sunday and she said she may check it out.

So, I ask, if you think about it, to pray for Sandy. I am not sure if she is a true believer or if she is inoculated to the truth. Also, please pray for her grandson, that he sees God and all His might and that his grandmother is able to be used by God. And again, I ask that you pray for me to be obedaint to God's commands, thank you.

Story Time!

2009-03-05T21:50:00.024-07:00

I am not a writer by any means, but I have had this idea for a story for a while. Please read and enjoy.

----------------

Suddenly aware, I notice that it is pitch black and I cannot open my eyes, where am I? I suddenly hear sounds, faint at first but steadily growing louder. BEEP...BEEP............BEEP..........BEEEEEEP! My body is suddenly seized with excruciating pain and all sounds fade away.

I become aware, but this time it is different. I look around and see that I am heading down a hall. On either side of me are two beings, beautiful yet stoic. I look down, my hands and feet are bound in chains. "What is going on? Where am I going?" I ask the beings. No answer. I ask again. The one on my right says, "You are headed to see the Judge. Now be silent, we are here."

Suddenly alone, I stand in a room filled with a brilliant light emanating from directly in front of me. From what I can make out, there is someone, of massive size, sitting on an enormous throne. I cannot make out who this person is because the light is too brilliant. This must be the Judge I was told about, but why am I here? I am a good person! I haven't done anything!

Suddenly, a voice thunders and shakes the room's very foundation, "What is your plea?"

Defiantly I ask, "To what charge?"

"You have been charged with violating God's Law, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty! I am a good person. I may not be perfect, but I do good," I reply contemptuously. Who was this person to accuse me of such a crime? I ask, "What 'Law' are you talking about? I don't believe in God, so how can I be held accountable to Him?"

"For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse," (Romans 1:20) the voice replied, "They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Romans 2:15, 16) After a pause, the voice continued, "The Law is the Ten Commandments. No matter whether you believe there is a God or not, you are without excuse!"

I suddenly become very sober-minded. I realize that I shut up and ignored my conscience a long time ago. "Surely my crimes have not been that bad," I say, regaining my defiant attitude.

"Let's see the evidence of your guilt."

I become painfully aware of my guilt. In front of me I see my life and every violation of the Law. The Judge went thought the Commandments:

"You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4)
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8)
"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
"You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13)
"You shall not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14)
"You shall nit steal." (Exodus 20:15)
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16)
"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s." (Exodus 20:17)

As the Judge goes though all of the Law, I see all of my violations. I did not break these just once, but countless times. It seems like an eternity, but finally He finishes and asks, "Defend your actions, give Me an account of all your deeds. As you saw, I have not only seen the deeds done in the light, but your secret sins done in darkness. How can you defend yourself?"

Like a rebellious child I reply, "Come on! I am but man! My violations have not been that bad. I may have broken all your Laws, but my sins are not spectacular! Do I really deserve punishment?"

The thundering voice says,"You are correct. Your sins are not spectacular, but it is against whom you have committed the crimes. You have offended Me, the Just Judge of all the world. Your offenses have been against an infinite and Holy God! You are deserving, therefore, of infinite punishment in the Lake of Fire and Burning Sulfur!"

Crushed under the weight of my guilt and impending punishment, I cry out,"Who are you? Who have I offended?"

He leans forward and I can now make out the face of my Judge. I gasp as I realize what I am looking at. His face was hardly recognizable as a man's, yet I know who this this. As I study His face I see the bruises, lacerations, blood, and missing bits of His beard. I see that His wrists still bear the nail holes. This is Jesus the Christ, God the Son, who was crucified on the cross. While on the cross He suffered the full Wrath of God the Father for the sins of all who repent and trust Him. He died, was buried, and rose on the third day.

I recall that God is supposed to be an "all-forgiving" God. Hopefully and with tears I say,"I know who you are. You are Jesus, the Son of God. You died for my sins on the cross." I then start to beg for forgiveness. "Please, forgive me. I am sorry that I violated your Law. I know that you will forgive me and let me go. You have to, I apologized and believe in you."

"You fool! The demons believe and tremble!" He thunders, "You think that you can just say that you 'believe' in Me? You think just because you apologize now that you will be forgiven? You foolish man! It is too late to beg for forgiveness!"

Startled, I reply, "What do you mean it is too late? I can't be held accountable for what I did not know! You never showed Yourself to me! How was I supposed to know that You were real?"

"You have no excuse. I gave you all of My Creation - the stars, moon, and planets; the changing seasons, extravagant sea creatures, and a wide variety of plant life. You have suppressed the Truth in your unrighteousness and have silenced your conscience." I can feel the heat emanating from Him, getting more intense with every word. He continues, "I had mercy on you by ordaining you run into My servants. Just recently you heard one of them preaching out in the open at the beach."

Before me appears a man on a soapbox. He is not a large man, but his voice is powerful and carries without amplification. I remember the scene. He was proclaiming that people were not good and were going to hell. I see myself step up and take his test. I did not take it seriously and mocked him the entire time. After he was done, he came up to me and explained where I would go if I died in my sins - Hell. I scoffed, so he handed me a Million Dollar bill and told me to at least ponder what I had been told and he walked off. I see myself crumple up the tract and shove it into my pocket.

The images disappear and He says, "I sent my servant, Ray, to you just today and you ridiculed him. But he was faithful. You are without excuse. You are guilty!"

I am defeated. I know that my next destination is eternal torment in Hell. If I had only listened! My chains fall off and He reaches out grabbing me. I see a Lake of Fire and I am cast into it. I start screaming....

BUZZ...BUZZ...BUZZ...

My eyes open as I scream at the top of my lungs. I look around. I am in my room! The buzzing is my alarm clock, which I promptly shut off. I finally catch my breath. "It was just a dream. Just a dream," I say to myself. I am not comforted. That was too real. I still feel the weight of my sins on my shoulders. What did that preacher say? I know that I am a sinner, I know that God is real, and I know that if that was real and I had died in my sins, I would be going to hell. But what did he say I needed to do to be saved? I am such a fool! Why did I not take him seriously?

I fumble around looking for the pants I was wearing yesterday. I dig in the pocket and uncrumple the Million Dollar tract and read the back:

The million dollar question: Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. That's not God's will. He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for you. You broke God's Law, but Jesus paid your fine. That means He can legally dismiss your case. He can commute your death sentence: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and trust in Jesus alone, and God will grant you the gift of everlasting life. Then read your Bible daily and obey it.

I fall to my knees, tears pouring down my face as I sob uncontrollably. I am undone, crushed by my guilt. With a contrite heart, I cry out to The Lord. I confess all my known sins. I forsake my sinful life. I also trust in Jesus to save me from my sin and for having paid my fine!

---------------

Well, I hope you enjoyed my tale. If you have any feedback please let me know. I have tried to be as theologically correct as possible, but if I have erred please let me know!

Fishing Update: Tom Clancy is More Interesting Than The Gospel

2009-03-02T20:20:00.009-07:00

I think I have found a fishing hole, the laundromat. While I am not the point I want to be, I am getting more bold and confidant about witnessing. On Sunday, I was washing my cloths reading the Word and my hermeneutics book (I am WAY behind,) and gentleman joined me at my table and saw that I was reading the Bible. He ask what I was reading and told him that I was in the Gospel of Luke. He asked what church i want to and told me that he was an Episcopal priest. I know the Episcopal church has strayed from orthodox Christianity, but I do know that there are a few rouge churches out there that are trying to bring their denomination back to Biblical Christianity. After we talked briefly we both went back to our books. While I was reading I saw a man I have seen several times at the laundromat, I prayed a quick prayer for this man's soul and then approached him.

Let's just say I was shot down pretty quick. I waled up and asked if he had received a Million Dollar Bill (I told him it was part of the stimulus package.) He gave me a chuckle, and I preceded to tell him it was a Gospel tract that asked the Million Dollar Question, if you were to die would you go to Heaven? He responded quickly with "If I am lucky," and he quickly handed back the tract. I said that he could keep it and he made it clear he did not want it. He then acted like I was not even there anymore and continued to stare blankly at the TV. I respected his nonverbal request and went back to the table.

When I sat down I asked the priest if he had see the tracts before. He said that he had not, and I tried to talk to what I was hoping was a fellow believer (I am not saying that he was not.) I tried telling him about the nice and concise message on the back and he handed it back to me and went right back to his book, End War by Tom Clancy.

I was a little disheartened, but I will not let this deter me. I know that not all conversations are going to go well, I may even get people who get really mad at me, but I is not me who converts the soul, it is God and His Spirit alone. I was obedient, and that is what God wants.

I ask that when you remember, please pray for my boldness and obedience. I want desperately to have a passion for spreading God's Good News!

Am I Really a Christian?

2009-02-14T17:26:00.007-07:00

I know this question haunted me at one point. The problem is it only haunted me AFTER I was saved (I lived most of my life as a false convert, for my testimony visit this post.) No one ever openly questioned me or told me that I should examine myself to see if I am in the Faith or not (2 Corinthians 13:5.) The next logical question them becomes, how can I know if I am in the faith or not? This post is for all you readers who profess being a Christian. You need examine yourself to make sure that you yourself are not a false convert. I took this list from The Lawman Chronicles blog on what warning signs will be present in a false convert. Below this list is a Sermon Jam that my fellow blogger Wretched Sinner put together. It is from a sermon that Todd Friel, host of Wretched Radio, did about how you can know that you are a Christian. PLEASE listen to it it is only about four and half minutes long. [EDIT] Also if you want to hear more information about this subject please listen to two messages by Ray Comfort called Hell's Best Kept Secret and True and False Conversion, you can listen to these for free at the Living Waters' website (on the right-hand side.)

Ten Marks of a False Convert:

You believe that you are inherently a good person, thus denying the doctrine of Original Sin.
You commit idolatry of the mind and blaspheme the very character of God by denying essential doctrines such as judgment, hell, regeneration, and justification by faith alone; and you replace the truth with lies such as sinless perfection and open theism.
You think that only the red-lettered words in your Bible are the words of Jesus and, therefore, the rest of the Bible can be interpreted and applied to your liking.
You believe that a person can be a Christian while wantonly engaging in habitual sin; such as homosexuality, fornication, adultery in mind or body, the support in any way whatsoever of the murder of the unborn, or any other sin.
You believe that because a person has prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into their heart, then they are saved.
You believe a person can be a Christian, even if they bear no fruit after making a profession of faith in Christ. You treat the grace of God as a license to sin. You like the word “backslider.”
You struggle with the thought of missing a meal; but going days, weeks, even months without reading your Bible doesn’t faze you.
You pray when you want something from God; but beyond that you have very little time for conversation with Him.
You believe that Darwinian, macro-evolution is a scientific fact and compatible with belief in the God of the Bible.
You see evangelism as a gift other people have; and you have no real concern about the fact that 150,000 people die every day, with the vast majority of them bound for hell. You soothe your conscience by convincing yourself that “friendship evangelism,” as it is most commonly practiced among American Christians, is actually in the Bible. You think that if you “let your little light shine,” you don’t have to verbally proclaim the gospel.

I pray that you read through this and listened to the audio, please consider these things. If your pride is saying that you are ok and this is just one person's opinion, please put that away and truly examine yourself. You do not what to be one of those who on the Day of Judgment says, "Lord, Lord..." and Jesus in turn says, "Depart from me you worker of inequity, I never knew you!" I know how you feel, you think that you are a Christian that this offends you, ask yourself why.

Arguments for Why Abortion Needs to Stay Legal

2009-02-12T18:34:00.002-07:00

I have listed here four arguments FOR abortion that most supporters use to advocate keeping abortion legal.

Arguments For Abortion

If illegal, abortions would be forced into back alleys and would not be safe for the women.
Women have the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies.
This is a private and personal issue between a woman and her God.
No one agrees on when person-hood begins.

Below, I have included a video that takes these points and see how valid they really are by applying them to other social issues. This video was created by the team at WretchedTv.

God-Honoring Story

2009-02-09T21:34:00.002-07:00

As many of you know my wife and I recently (Sept. 08) started going to a new church, Magic Valley Bible Church. We love our new Church Family and have been growing so much and maturing in the Faith. Jenn and I have recently been able to see just how God-Honoring our body is; on December 10, 2008 one of the families was struck a tremendous blow. Their daughter was involved in a serious car accident resulting in her being in a coma. Last week the doctors officially changed her status from being in a coma! God has shown great mercy and grace throughout this ordeal, and as always it is to His Glory! God has given this family tremendous faith and strength. I am reposting one of Lynn Rivers' latest updates, you will see God glorifying Himself throughout it all!

Sat pm
Well, we are 1 day shy of 60 days since Ashley's accident. Take a look at the difference:
Machines breathing for her
At least 10 meds being administered by drip
no movement
no responses
Uncertain of her survival
Unknown of her recovery
TO-
Her breathing on her own and NO trache
Only a couple of medicines to help with her recovery
All kinds of movement, scratching her nose to rolling over , sleeping on her side, to standing with assistance.
Talking, expressing her opinion, reading, remembering her family, friends and other things.
Certain of her survival
And looking forward to her next BIG achievement.
And this isn't close to the end of this wonderful, miraculous, God-honoring story.
Please understand, I have done nothing in this venture. God-Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior has done EVERYTHING. He has brought a group of people together to encourage my family and I during this time, people who don't even know each other. In fact, people who didn't even know us until this time. He has brought Ashley from uncertainty to this very day and will carry her through to exactly where HE wants her. He has pulled, poked, stretched me and yet all the while encircling me in HIS loving arms (that would be all of you!) until only His glory shone.
I fully know that this trial isn't over. Our trials will never be done as long as we live on this earth in this flesh BUT GOD (you gotta love those words!) will always be with us.
Blessings to you all, for your love, prayers and ministering spirits. You have changed my life.
Lynn

As you can see from the post, they are giving God all the Glory. As I was working today, I was pondering the progress God has done in Ashley and was struck by a parallel. Granted this is not perfect, but Ashley's progress is similar to what it is like when God saves us from our sins. Ashley was, with out the saving help of machines and trained professionals, dead like we are in our sins before Gods saves us. She was unable to do anything, she could not breathe or do anything to sustain herself. The machines and the doctors and all who helped keep Ashley alive vaguely represent God resuscitating our dead-to-sin souls the moment we repent and put our trust in the Savior. Ashley's progress to this point has been nothing short of a miracle of God. Last I heard she was talking on the phone to our pastor, wanting an caramel frappachino, and today was checking her email and Facebook! Is this change not unlike the inner transformation that happens in a person after salvation?

Who can say that our God in not a Sovereign God? The world would say that this was a terrible thing to have happen to a young woman and her family, but they are wrong. Everything that happens in ordained by our God, good or bad. Just look at what this event has done to just our church body. It has caused us all to be more ernest in prayer, to be supportive to a family in need, but most importantly it has given us the opportunity to Glorify our King! God is using Ashley to Glorify Himself, just as he does with all of those that have been saved by His wondrous Grace. Christians remember this, we are a trophy of God's grace so that throughout all eternity we will be an example of how Good God is!

[edit] For updates on Ashley's progress here is the link http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ashleyrivers

"What You Trusting in, You Decide!"

2009-02-07T12:37:00.003-07:00

Before I was saved I used to like to listen to some rap music, not all of it but some. Since being saved, I have found an artist called Shai Linne. He has more correct theology in one VERSE of one of his songs than most "seeker-friendly" pastors have in an entire month's worth of sermons. On top of that he is easy to understand his lyrics. I have posted a video below that includes the words to his song. I hope you enjoy it!

He's Been Distorted by the People...

2009-02-06T20:05:00.005-07:00

...And it Just Ain't Right!

I had this video emailed to me from a fellow vendor and Christian brother, it is from the Passion for Christ Movement. I am curios what you all think of this video, please let me know.

President Obama, I Want to Respect You...

2009-02-03T20:09:00.002-07:00

Mr. President, as the Bible says in 1 Peter 2:17, "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." I want to be able to honor you, but you must be honorable. I want to mirror what Pastor John Piper has said, and ask you to honestly and honorably answer truly honest questions. I believe that a honorable man will answer these questions:

Are you willing to explain why a baby's right not to be killed is less important than a woman's right not to be pregnant?
Or are you willing to explain why most cities have laws forbidding cruelty to animals, but you oppose laws forbidding cruelty to human fetuses? Are they not at least living animals?
Or are you willing to explain why government is unwilling to take away the so-called right to abortion on demand even though it harms the unborn child; yet government is increasingly willing to take away the right to smoke, precisely because it harms innocent non-smokers, killing 3,000 non-smokers a year from cancer and as many as 40,000 non-smokers a year from other diseases?
And if you say that everything hangs on whether the fetus is a human child, are you willing to go before national television in the oval office and defend your support for the "Freedom of Choice Act" by holding in your hand a 21 week old fetus and explaining why this little one does not have the fundamental, moral, and constitutional right to life? Are you willing to say to parents in this church who lost a child at that age and held him in their hands, this being in your hands is not and was not a child with any rights of its own under God or under law?

[EDIT] (These questions were taken from John Piper's Blog at the Desiring God web site)
Maybe you have information that you can revel to us in response to these questions or can defend your position reasonably. You are the President of the United Sates, you have immense sway and power, please use your power to protect the least among us, the defenseless unborn!

Regardless of what you do, I am going to try and be respectful of you. I will do my best to respectfully disagree with you on matters that I feel are too important to keep quiet on. I will try my best not to teat you disrespectfully, the way opponents of our last President treated him. Above all, I am going to try and make a point everyday to pray for you and your decisions, that they are good and in line with Biblical principles.

President Obama, please, please, please, consider the responsibility that God has graciously ordained you to have.

Humbled Servant

2009-01-27T19:19:00.008-07:00

I am a little reluctant to share this for several reasons, mainly because it shows how I allow my sinful flesh to control me. I do not write this to lift myself up at all, I am not patting myself on the back, but rather I want this to give glory to the King.

On Sunday night I was at the laundromat doing...well laundry. For the first 45 min to an hour there was hardly anyone there and was able to read a good portion of God's Word. It started getting busier after I moved the laundry to the dryers. The thought of sharing the Gospel, or at least handing out some Million Dollar Bill tracts, entered my mind, but I allowed pride and shame to pushed the idea out of my mind. I thought that I really needed to read my hermeneutics book instead, after all I have been procrastinating and am behind. So, I started read the book and I kept noticing more people walk in, and the thought of sharing kept popping in my head, but I ignored it. I was having the hardest time concentrating on my book (I still have no idea what I read, I have to reread it) and then I noticed my palms started to feel clammy and my heart was pounding. I knew what I was about to do and it terrified me.

You might wonder why it terrified me, it was because I was about to something that my pride knew was going to make me look foolish and I had never done it to a complete stranger. I stood up, prayed, pulled two tracts from my wallet, and approached two Hispanic guys. Looking back, I now realize that my fear had temporarily dissipated as I walked over and handed the tracts to the guys. I explained what I handed to them was not real money but a Gospel tract and then ask what they thought happened to people when they die. One responded with very broken English about not being sure. This is where I became like Peter when he walked on water. When he was on the water he was fine until he saw the wind and the waves, then he started to sink. Well, when I heard his broken English my heart, unfaithfully, sank. I stumbled through asking him if he thought he was a good person and, of course, he thought he was. I tried asking him if he had ever told a lie and he gave me a shrug and a face that implied that he had NO idea what I was talking about. I tried a few more questions with the same result. Finally I asked him if he had a Bible at home and if so to read the Gospel of John. Almost seeming miraculous, the guy said that he did have a Bible and would read John at home that night. As I walked away I saw them both reading the tracts, so I now leave it in God's hands. As it says in Isaiah 50:11:

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

I know that I can trust God's Word in this matter. I know that I just did one of several things: (1) I just sowed a seed that will one day be watered and grow then be harvested, (2) I just helped water a seed someone had already sown, or the most terrifying of all (3) I just added to the cup of God's wrath that they will experience on the Day of Judgment. Let me explain what I mean on that third one. On the Day of Judgment, if these two men die in their sin, they will stand with out excuse in front of Almighty God and have to explain why they did not respond to His Grace in repentance and faith.

By man's standards, I was a complete failure, but I am not bound by man's standards, only God's. I am ashamed to say that I was so reluctant to be obedient. As my buddy, Wretched Sinner, said in his latest blog post, I needed and still need to "get out of my own way" when sharing the Gospel. There are lessons that I am going to take from this, one is not to ignore my conscience and be disobedient. I thank my God that this sin, along with all the rest, has already been forgiven. Another thing that I learned was how I am going to need to get direction and training to be more effective.

I have to say that my compassion for the lost has definitely increased since this encounter. I encourage you if you do not share your faith with strangers please consider it. I started out by dropping tracts on the ground in busy places, putting them in ATMs and handing them to cashiers. I know how terrifying it can be to go up to a stranger and talk about these things, but consider where they might be headed. Please consider these lyrics from Keith Green's song Asleep in the Light:

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown

God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can't you see it's such a sin?

The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can't fight
Cause it's asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you've been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can't even get out of bed.

I ask for your prayers for these two gentlemen. Please pray for their salvation. I also humbly ask that you pray that God continue to grow my compassion for the lost and that my fear of man become fear for man.

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

The Magnitude of God

2009-01-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

As I drive to my first stop in the morning and as I drive back from my last stop in the afternoon I have a fair amount of time to let my mind wander, usually about God or what I had been discussed on Wretched Radio that day (which is always about God and theology.) For the past few weeks I have been thinking about the magnitude of our God.

Not that anyone wants to know but I am 5' 7" tall, compared to most people I know, I am short. I am telling you what my perspective of height and size are. Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet (about 5.5 miles) above sea level and the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is 35,840 feet (about 6.8 miles) below sea level. These are the highest and the deepest points on our planet. This is absolutely amazing and hard to fathom these heights, but that is not all the circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles. The earth is also home to 6.7 billion people. That kind of make me feel insignificant, but my mind does not stay there, it keeps going.

Now the Earth's volume can fit into the volume of Jupiter a thousand times and Jupiter can fit into the volume of the Sun a thousand times. Feeling small yet? Our solar system is 3.7 billion miles across. But wait there's more! As my mind expands out we not have to switch measurement scales, we now need to use the speed of light. Light travels at roughly 186,000 miles per second (light can travel 7.5 times around the Earth in one second!) A light year is 5.9 trillion miles and our galaxy is 100,000 light years across and contains 200 billion stars. Our closest galactic neighbor is Andromeda, which is 2 million light years away. I read recently that the Hubble Space Telescope has a current viewable distance of about 12 billion light years. There are millions of galaxies out there, we will never be able to say definitively how large the universe is and how many galaxies there are.

I know that this is a lot data and it is hard to comprehend the scope of it all, but I do have a point. In Isaiah 40:12, Isaiah tells us that God measures the universe in the span of His hand. There are millions of galaxies with billions of stars in them and Psalms 147:4-5 tells us that He not only knows the number of the stars but also knows the name of each one. God also knows each and every person that has lived, is living, and will live on this Earth. God also knows the number of hairs on each person's head, your head (Matt 10:30.) Are you starting to see the magnitude of God?

God commands the galaxies to form, and their stars to shine, and they do. He commands planets to form around the stars, and they do. He commands the mountains to rise and the ocean's depths to drop, and they do. He commands the seas to go only so far and the wind to blow, and they do. He commands storms to form and to dissipate, and they do. All of Creation obeys the commands of it's Creator, all but one group. Humans, the one part of Creation that God created with the ability to appreciate and enjoy the rest of Creation and to glorify and worship God as a result. But what happens? God calls us to to obey and glorify him and we say "NO! I want to do things MY way!" Woe to us rebels, God clearly laid out his commands and we all fail to meet his standards. He is so Holy and so Righteous and so Just that He cannot have sin, our disobedience, in His presence.

We have all fallen short of His standard. When we have lied, stolen, and taken his His name in vain He see us as lying, thieving, blasphemers. God also sees our thought life as well. In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus tells us that just looking with lust (sexual desire) is adultery of the heart, and in verses 21-22 we are told that even being unjustly angry is murder of the heart. Who of us has not broken these commandments? Being guilty of these God sees us as lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterers and murders at heart, and these are just five of the ten commandments! The first five commandments deal directly with God himself. Have any of us always put God first in their lives? How many of us have fashioned an incorrect view of God in our minds?

As the Bible says, God is Holy, Righteous and Just and must punish sin eternally (for a description of Biblical hell view this post I wrote about it.) But God also has other attributes such as Mercy and Grace. God wants to show His mercy and grace but cannot just universally hand it out because He is a Just Judge. The Law has been broken by all men and the fine needs to be paid. We have to stand in front of this huge and mighty God. How can we justify ourselves, we can't.

God sent the Son, Jesus, to be the payment for all sin, all transgression of God's Law. Jesus was crucified and suffered the full wrath of God as payment for all of our sins. Jesus willingly walked into the court room and paid our fine. How great a sacrifice! The God who measures the universe with the span of his hand paid the fine! In order to receive forgiveness we need to respond to Jesus and his sacrifice in repentance and faith. Repentance is a turning from and forsaking of all sin and asking for forgiveness from God. Faith is putting your full trust in Jesus that he has saved you, like trusting a parachute when jumping from a plane. If you do this God will change you from the inside making you a new creature with new desires. All of the sinful things that you used to love you will start to hate and the things you used to hate, like read the Bible and going to church, you will start to desire.

I beg you, if you have not responded to God's grace and forgiveness on His terms, please do it! Think of all of your sins, your rebellion against God, and then think of His sacrifice on the cross. While we were and are sinners He still died for us to make that payment for sin. Let that burden crush you, then call out to God for forgiveness in repentance and faith!

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

More Paul Washer

2009-01-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Imagine...

2009-01-23T17:35:00.003-07:00

...No Emergent Church!

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Quite a mess!

2009-01-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my mess, I am changing/updating my Blog!

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Are You Ready?

2009-01-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Preach It!

2009-01-08T18:04:00.002-07:00

Check out this video my buddy and brother in Christ, Wretched Sinner, edited and put music to. The sermon clip is amazing; Voddie Baucham is a great teacher!

"What is wrong with the world?" - Voddie Baucham Sermon Jam from Wretched Sinner on Vimeo.

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

My First Hermeneutics Paper...Presented Humbly

2009-01-04T19:58:00.004-07:00

Well, after hearing from several people I have decided to post my first hermeneutics paper. I was not initially going to post it, but several people have expressed an interest in reading it. I want to say that I post it with humility and with trepidation. Please bear in mind that this is my first paper and that this is not a full hermeneutic process, but rather an exercise in observation.

The task was to make observations on the text of Ephesians 5:18. We were to pull out 18 observations on what the text SAYS, seven observations on what the text does NOT say, and ten questions that would need to be answered for further analysis. So here I present to you my paper:

Observations on Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)

"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,"

18 Key Observations on What IS Said

Paul is contrasting two states of being: being drunk and being filled with the Spirit.
Paul connects drunkenness as debauchery.
Paul specifies being drunk with wine.
By using “but,” Paul conveys that you cannot be drunk and filled with the Spirit at the same time.
Paul connects being filled with the Spirit with addressing each other with songs, hymns, etc all to the Lord; giving thanks; and submission to one another. (vs.19-21)
The verbs “addressing,” “singing,” “making,” “giving,” and “submitting” are all in present participle (showing that the action is incomplete,) which means that the actions are on going. (vs. 19-21)
The verbs “get” and “be” are both present tense verbs describing “drunk” and “filled,” together implying that when these actions happen that they are completed (which differs from #6.)
“And” connects v. 18 with the preceding verses, and all the way back to v. 11 by the use of “therefore,” “then,” and “for.”
Throughout chapter 5, Paul uses seven contrasting sentences. (Vs. 3, 4, 8, 11, 15, 17, 18)
In all of the contrasting verses, Paul puts the immoral/sinful comparison first.
In the immediate context (v. 15, 17) Paul says not to be “unwise” or “foolish,” and then connects them with being drunk in v. 18.
In a broader context (up to v. 8,) Paul writes about being “light in the Lord,” (v. 8) and Christ’s Light shinning on us (v. 14.) Because of this, we need to be careful how we walk and make use of our time (vs. 15-16) by warning us of the points in number 11.
“Spirit,” in verse 18, is capitalized, implying that this instance of spirit is God’s Spirit. It is used this way 11 times in the entire epistle and twice it is preceded “Holy” and six times it is preceded by the definite article “the.”
In chapter 1:17, Paul says that he prays that God the Father would give them a “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,” and later in 1:22, 23 he writes about “the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Three times Paul states that things are put together, reveled, or strengthened either “by the Spirit” or through the Spirit.” All this to say that being “filled with the Spirit” is done by God and the changes are by the Spirit.
Verse 18 is the only instance in the epistle that Paul addresses drunkenness.
The statements “do not get drunk” and “be filled” are both stated as commands and not as suggestions.
Paul does not appear to abolish all drinking, just drinking to the point of getting drunk.
The evidences of being drunk and being filled with the Spirit are shown to be diametrically apposed.

3 (supposed to be 7) Key Observations on What is NOT Said

“Debauchery” is not fully described like the effects of being filled with the Spirit are.
Paul does not mention being drunk on anything other than wine.
The verse does not specify if being filled is a one time event or if you have to keep getting filled (like with drunkenness, it wears off and you must drink some more to get drunk again.)

11 Key Questions

Is the use of “the Spirit” an interpretation of a more generic Greek word for spirit?
What is the Greek word for “debauchery?” What other meanings could it have?
Was drinking wine a common practice (not for getting drunk)?
Was getting drunk a problem in Ephesus at this time?
Was this a big problem in the church its self?
Why does Paul have to say that drunkenness is debauchery?
Why does Paul specify wine?
What is the Greek word for “drunk,” and what other meanings could it have?
Why is drunkenness only discussed in one relatively small verse, and how often does Paul mention it in his other writings?
Why does Paul need to tell the church “to be filled with the Spirit,” did he assume they were just ignorant to these things or that there were goats among the sheep?
Is being filled with the Spirit a euphemism for Salvation?

This was a difficult task, I have never approached the Word of God in this manner before. It has really opened my eyes to the depth of the Bible and the need for CAREFUL study and interpretation. I welcome comments.

"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." (1 Peter 5:14 ESV)

--The Wretch

Paul Washer Snipit

2009-01-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

--The Wretch

All Guys...Please Watch, Very Important Information

2008-12-31T15:11:00.001-07:00

--The Wretch

"He was despised and rejected by men." Isaiah 53:3

2008-12-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

"Another reason why Christ was despised and rejected, was because He exposed and denounced sin. Ah, this explains why Christ was not wanted here. He was a constant thorn in their sides! His holiness condemned their unholiness! Men wish to go their own way, to please themselves, to gratify their lusts. They want to be comfortable in their wickedness--therefore they resent one who searches the heart, pierces the conscience, and rebukes their evil. Christ was absolutely uncompromising. He would not wink at wrong-doing, but unsparingly denounced it, in whoever it was found. He boldly affirmed, "For judgment I have come into this world" (John 9:41), that is, to unveil men's secret characters, to prove they are blind in spiritual things, to demonstrate they loved darkness rather than light. His Person and preaching tried everything and everyone He came into contact with!" (Arthur Pink, "Christ Despised" 1937)

--The Wretch

2008-12-21T07:15:00.001-07:00

Comment Response: Just How Do We Handle Levitical Law?

2008-12-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

First, I would like to say "thank you" to all of you who have posted comments on my blog! I really do look forward to reading them - even if you disagree with me. To anyone who has not posted, but has read this blog, please feel free to post a comment (you can do it anonymously)! If you have any questions or want me to expound further on anything I will do my best, but please post your comments!

Ok, now to reply to a comment from my "A Line in the Sand -- Marriage" post. The comment was a little on the sarcastic side, but that is not a problem. The commenter and I have talked and there are no hard feelings! I would like to respond to the arguments in the post. The contents bring up a good question - just what do we do with the Old Testament Laws?

First and foremost, I need to make clear my post was only defending against the redefining of marriage. You mess with that and you are tampering with a tenant of my faith. That is why I drew that line, not to attack or to offend, just to defend. Second, what most people do not realize is that the Bible is a "progressive revelation." The theologian, Charles Hodge, explained it like this:

"The progressive character of divine revelation is recognized in relation to all the great doctrines of the Bible. What at first is only obscurely intimated is gradually unfolded in subsequent parts of the sacred volume, until the truth is revealed in its fullness."

Ok, now back to how we handle the Old Testament Law. There are three classifications we can put the laws: civil law, sacrificial law, and moral law. There are also three different ways in which we can handle the laws.

We can throw out the civil and the sacrificial laws, but keep the moral laws. We can throw out the civil laws because these were established for the the Nation of Israel - the laws were for those people at that time. The sacrificial laws can be tossed out because Christ was the sin forgiving sacrifice and so ended the old covenant of sacrifices and started the new covenant. We are then left with the moral laws, also known as the Ten Commandments.
We throw out all of the Old Testament (OT) Laws. All the OT Laws are out, unless the New Testament (NT) says they still apply. We are then left with nine of the Ten Commandments. The command about the Sabbath no longer applies because Jesus said he was our Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:9-10).
Lastly, we keep all the OT Laws. All the OT laws still apply, unless the NT says they do not. Again, we are left with nine of the Ten Commandments.

So, no matter how you deal with the OT Laws, you are still left with the Moral Law. But you may ask "why should we even look at the OT Laws if they no longer apply?" By looking back at the laws we can see God's attitude toward us and Himself; we can learn from the principle.

I will now respond to a couple of the specific points:

"My Dad would like to sell me into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for me?"

First of all, we need to establish what slavery is, as I have said in posts past, meanings of words change throughout history. OT and NT slavery is not what we think of slavery today, it was more like indentured servanthood (similar to employee/employer), not like the slave trade that we know of. Secondly, if we look at the context of this verse it talks about the correct treatment of slaves.

"Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?"

Again, as stated before, context, context, context. When you look at the context and understand the reasoning of this verse you see that God wants His people set apart. The practices that were forbidden were what the pagan cultures were doing and Israel was to have nothing to do with it.

My view of the Bible is as such: it is the inerrant, infallible, inspired, and sufficient Word of God. This is my presupposition. As I said before, when reading the Bible you cannot just "cherry-pick" or just pull out one verse to make your argument unless you have check the surrounding verses for the context.

--The Wretch

Bad Advice for Atheists

2008-12-12T21:49:00.001-07:00

-- The Wretch

Christmas!

2008-12-06T17:19:00.006-07:00

So just what is Christmas really all about? Is it about gifts? Is it about being good for Santa to get things? Is it about families getting together? Or is it something deeper?

May people think that Christmas is just about Jesus being born and that is it. Don't get me wrong, the Son of God becoming flesh is huge, it is the greatest miracle of all eternity. However, the true meaning of Christmas is... the Cross, Jesus dying for our sins! The Christian group Go Fish has a song called "It's about the Cross," in which they describe what Christmas is about. It is the song that is in my music player to the left. Here are the lyrics:

It's not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It's not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day

It's not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It's not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar

Chorus:
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross

It's not just about the presents
Underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling
That the season brings to me

It's not just about coming home
To be with those you love
It's not all about the beauty
In the snow I'm dreaming of

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about God's love
Nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross
It's about the cross

Merry Christmas!

--The Wretch

Way Off Topic...

2008-12-03T20:59:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I know this has nothing to do with this blog, but I work for Pepsi so there is my context. These are the new logos that are going to be implemented soon. I think that they are U-G-L-Y! What do you think?

--The Wretch

"New" Radio Show!!

2008-12-01T22:45:00.005-07:00

Ok, so not so new, but Way of the Master radio is now Wretched Radio. Check it out, Todd will challenge and convict you, guaranteed!

--The Wretch

Hell, It's Not THAT Bad...Right? -Pt. 1

2008-11-30T17:00:00.028-07:00

What exactly is hell? Ask 50 different people and you would probably get 50 different answers. Most people would probably give a description similar to the picture to the left; souls being tormented by red devils with horns, wings, and pitchforks with fire all around. Most paintings and images of hell we see are of this nature. From these images, we imagine hell being a place that we can see and touch, but how accurate are these depictions of hell? Do we even have a clear picture of what hell is?

The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines hell as:

(1): a nether world in which the dead continue to exist : hades
(2): the nether realm of the devil and the demons in which the damned suffer everlasting punishment :a place or state of misery, torment, or wickedness : a place or state of turmoil or destruction

This definition seems to be right in line with the cultural view of what hell is. But, as I have said in a previous post, we cannot just stop with the modern definition because the meanings of words change. So, as before, we are going to look at some of the more clear verses in the Bible so we can get a Biblical view of what hell is, and also see if what we find is at all a reasonable punishment from God.

"33 For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it." -- Isaiah 30:33 (ESV)

"14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
'Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?'" -- Isaiah 33:14 (ESV)

The prophet Isaiah starts us off with two verses that describe hell being a place of fire. In the first verse, Isaiah tells us hell's fire is kept burning by God's very own breath. The fire that God kindles is described as a "consuming fire" and "everlasting burnings" in the second verse, and the godless are terrified knowing what is to come.

"12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." -- Matthew 3:12 (ESV)

"50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." -- Matthew 13:50 (ESV)

"13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" -- Matthew 22:13 (ESV)

"13...for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever." -- Jude 1:13 (ESV)

These next four verses open our eyes a little more about the fire of hell and some other aspects of it. The first two verses from Matthew describe again the fire of hell as a "furnace" and the fire being "unquenchable." As we all know furnaces burn with intense heat, but this heat, as we remember from above, is intensified by God's very own breath! In the second and third verses Jesus describes that there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth" combined with the "unquenchable fire." The third and fourth verses also bring in another element of hell - darkness. Jesus describes it as "outer darkness" and Jude as "the gloom of utter darkness." This implies that all the fire that is burning like an unquenchable furnace does not give off any light. Jude describes the darkness as "gloom." The Greek word used is zophos, which is defined as "gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)". So, the "gloom" Jude was referring to is an encompassing darkness.

"3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him..." -- Revelation 20:3 (NKJV)

"...and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." -- Revelation 20:10 (ESV)

In this first verse from Revelation, we are given yet another element of hell. It is a "bottomless pit." So, now we see hell as a free floating experience. There is no sure footing, no walls to brace yourself, and nothing solid for stability. The second verse describes the souls in hell being "tormented day and night forever and ever". This is self explanatory.

"23...being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'" -- Luke 16:23-24 (ESV)

"9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might," -- 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (ESV)

"10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." -- Revelation 14:10 (ESV)

In the verse from Luke, Jesus is telling a parable. We see that the man crying out is conscious and well aware of the torment, fire, and anguish. This shows that the souls in hell are aware of all that is going on. The verse from Thessalonians reinforces the eternality of hell. Laced throughout the verses that I have laid out, there is the concept of hell being eternal. The souls in hell will always be there, they will not be let out or annihilated after a period of time. The verse from Revelation, again, reinforces torment by fire, but also revels to us that hell, and everything about it, is "God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger"!

"41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." -- Matthew 25:41 (ESV)

This verse from Matthew tells us that hell was not originally made for humanity, but rather for Satan and his fallen angels. So, if hell was made initially for Satan and his angels, who goes there now?

"4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die." -- Ezekiel 18:4 (ESV)

"15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." -- Revelation 20:15 (ESV)

"10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." -- Revelation 20:10 (ESV)

"'8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.'" -- Revelation 21:8 (ESV)

These verses briefly and concisely show who is headed for hell. This is not a full description. For the list that God will use, look at Exodus 20:2–17. These are the Ten Commandments, I will some time in the future dig into these.

We now have an idea of what hell is; eternal, conscious, torment in a lake of fire, like that of a furnace that is kept blazing by God's breath. Free floating, falling, no stability, nothing solid to grab hold of. Oppressive darkness all meant solely for Satan and his angels. Why would a "loving" God create and send people to such a place? This does not seem reasonable - or is it? Do we have a warped sense of God? This sounds like an angry and hateful God. In my next post I will lay out from the Bible God's character and nature and see if hell is reasonable and if we have a correct view of God. Before I go, I have one more verse for you to think about:

"2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear." -- Isaiah 59:2 (ESV)

Please leave comments on this, I really do want to hear them!

-- The Wretch

2008-11-24T21:26:00.002-07:00

I am currently working on my next post. And from the initial research that I have done, well this may be a two-part post. I am working on defining Hell: what it is and if it is reasonable. This has turned into a BIG project. So please be patient with me. Here is a video for you to enjoy, it has a little to do with why my post will take longer and be in two parts. This sermon was by S.M. Lockridge, it is called My King.

-- The Wretch

Wowza!

2008-11-23T19:44:00.003-07:00

I just read The Law Man Chronicles latest post, wow. Read it here: http://thelawmanchronicles.blogspot.com/2008/11/america-doesnt-trust-him.html

Tell me what you thought of this.

-- The Wretch

So...Just Who Is This Wretch?

2008-11-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it is time for me to tell you who the Wretch was, is now, and is striving to be like.

I thought I was a Christian for twenty-one years. When I was four years old, my mother tells me she prayed a prayer with me, and that was when I "accepted" Jesus. I know now that I was a false convert. I had no idea what I was doing, I don't even remember it. It was pretty easy to live thinking that I was a Christian, I grew up in a Christian home and went to church every weekend. When I was eight years old, my mom married a wonderful man who adopted me. His ambition was to be a pastor, and he eventually became a part-time pastor at our church. I was now a PK (preacher's kid). No pressure! I was inoculated to the Gospel, I never once doubted my salvation. I knew I had to act a certain way, not out of compulsion, but because I knew how a Christian was supposed to act. I was part of all the youth group functions and I went to every teen conference. I got fired up and loved being with the other youth group members from all over the denomination's northwest region. But the "high" would last only so long. I longed be with the people and the excitement. Still, I never questioned my salvation. Then came high school and the more "exclusive" high school summer Leadership Training camps. I definitely knew I was a Christian. Would a non-Christian go to lean how to share their faith or be so moved to the point of tears at the emotionally driven worship times? Our youth group went to Downtown Denver multiple times to go witnessing. I was even the "right-hand man" for the youth leader. Only true Christians did these things. This whole time not one person ever questioned my salvation or even suggested that I examine myself "...to see whether you are in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV.) Everyone accepted my story.

In the fall of 2002, I left home for collage after taking a year off to work. This is when my true nature finally broke through. I am not going to go into the gory details. I do not want to boast in my sins. I was still so blind to my condition and I still thought I was a Christian, just backsliding. My dad did start to wonder about my lifestyle and once confronted me about certain things, but I just blew it off. Not long after that, I took off from campus and did not tell anyone. I had run off to Idaho with my then girlfriend (now my wonderful wife), but I did not tell anyone for a week where I was. I got married to my wife and we continued living in sinful and debaucherous ways. My dad was faithful and would still ask about my spiritual life and encourage us to go to church. I still thought of myself as a Christian! Oh, the arrogance and pride!

Things started to change when we started to attend a church in September of 2007. I had not attended a church service in five years. God started to work on me and sometime in October I came to a terrible realization. (To give some background, the church we went to taught that you could leave, not lose, your salvation.) I realized that if I had been a Christian, I was a blasphemer of God's Holy Name. I lived my life claiming to be a Christian, but all I was doing was dragging His name though the mud and the filth and holding it up and proclaiming to the world that this is what the God of the universe is like! I was undone. I was terrified to see how offensive I had been. I cried out to God and repented of my sinful blasphemous life and trusted in our Savior Jesus Christ! I soon learned better theology and understood that I had been a false convert. Since then, my love for the things of God has exploded! I love reading His Word and learning more about him!

How Great Is Our God?! He saved me! He saved a lying, thieving, blasphemous, fornicating, God-hating, idolatrous, covetous, drunken, wretch! I deserve nothing more then what is promised in the Bible for the unrepentant, eternal damnation, but my God not only gave me His amazing Mercy (not giving what is deserved), but also His amazing grace (unwarranted favor) as well and now I can be accepted into His presence for eternity! All the debt that was accrued by my transgression was paid in full by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's atoning death on the Cross.

And now I am striving to be more and more like Christ!

To my Lord and my God: Thank you for saving a wretch like me!

-- The Wretch

I Need Your Help!

2008-11-21T21:50:00.003-07:00

I have SO many ideas that I want to do for my blog here, but I do not know what topic to do next. I want to continue doing a "Line in the Sand" series; the next topic I will probably do will be the sanctity of life. I also want to do a post on my testimony, is hell reasonable, what is the Gospel, and a series breaking down The Ten Commandments, looking at each one individually. I probably have more rolling around in my head, just can't think of them. So, I would love to hear what ideas you have about my next post! Please I need your help, I need to get these out of my head before it explodes! Thank you!

-- The Wretch

A Line in the Sand -- Marriage

2008-11-19T22:39:00.005-07:00

My first line in the sand that I am drawing is the one about the sanctity of marriage. What is marriage? Marriage means different things to different people, but what you or I think about marriage does not matter. What matters is what marriage is. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary marriage is “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law.” That definition nails down what marriage might be a little more, but still a dictionary gives definitions to what words mean to people today. History shows us that the meanings of words change, i.e. "neck" used to mean "parcel of land" (as in neck of the woods) or "awful" meant "deserving of awe". These examples show us that we can not trust a dictionary to tell us what marriage is, it can only show us what today's interpretation is.

So, where do we go to define what marriage is? Our current system of marriage is a contractual (a covenant) relationship. Where did we get this design for marriage? That's right. From the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and continued in the New Testament. Agree with the design or not, that is where our current system of marriage was based from. What does the Old Testament say?

“Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." -- Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” -- Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

Here in Genesis, God establishes the first marriage. There is reason a God that made us man and woman. We compliment each other! Men have their strengths and weaknesses just as women do, but when we marry, our flesh combines as one and we are complete! Now, what does the New Testament say about marriage?

“23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” -- Ephesians 5:23-32 (ESV)

Here in this verse, Paul is showing how marriage is more than a just covenant between two people; it is a picture of Jesus' relationship to Church. We husbands have a huge role to play in our marriage! We are to represent Jesus Christ's attributes in our relationship. And wives, you are supposed to treat your husbands like the Church is supposed to treat Jesus. How high and holy an image do our marriages represent! The writer of Hebrews tells us how we should view this:

“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” -- Hebrews 13:4

Here the writer God sees adulterers and the sexually immoral as defilers of marriage. I think we can all agree what adultery is (sex outside of marriage,) but what are the sexually immoral?

"24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

"26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." -- Romans 1:24-27 (ESV)

"A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God." --Deuteronomy 22:5 (ESV)

"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination..." -- Leviticus 20:13 (ESV)

Let me say this LOUD and CLEAR - I do NOT hate homosexuals. I do however believe that God sees homosexuality, bestiality, and adultery as a abominations. Remember, the writer of Hebrews told us that the marriage bed should not be defiled. I think a logical line can be drawn to say that such abominations are a defilement.

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. Agree with the Bible or not, it is plain that marriage was based on Biblical principles. Careful study and an open mind shows us that marriage is between a man and a woman.

If you see that I have erred in any way, please do not hesitate to tell me. If I have not rightly handled the Bible and used it out of context, PLEASE tell me! I do not want to blaspheme the name of God by misusing his Word.

-- The Wretch

Stay Tuned!

2008-11-18T21:04:00.004-07:00

Well, I think it may be time for me to draw my line in the sand. There are many contentious issues facing us Christians today. From where I stand, I see the world falling down. I will be posting soon about my stand on an issue, it will not be received well by some. That is not my intention for the post, my intention is to draw my line and defend it Biblicaly. So, stay tuned!

That Time of the Year

2008-11-17T20:31:00.005-07:00

Well it is that time of year again, Thanksgiving. Today marks a day my wife and I really do have a lot to be thankful for. One year ago today, we found out that we were going to be parents! After almost five years of heartache and trying we were finally going to be parents! On July 18, 2008 we welcomed our son, Robert Deane Marshall, to the world. How great is our God! Not only does he demonstrate to us Christians His mercy by not giving to us what we deserve, hell and eternal damnation; He shows us his amazing grace by giving us that what we do not deserve!

We as Americans have a lot to be thankful for this time of year! All we have, no matter how small and insignificant, we have only because of God's Amazing Grace! When we examine what we deserve for our wickedness, we should tremble in thanksgiving to God for the breath that has just passed our lips! This goes for the Christian as well as the non-Christian. We are in an age of Grace. God has stayed is wrath, for a time.

"45...For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." -- Matthew 5:45 (ESV)

This time of year always makes us think about what we are thankful for, which is good. But what are we thankful for? Are they superficial things? Are they just the positive things (i.e. pay raise)? I think us Christians should look a little deeper at what we are thankful for. And should this time of year be the only time that we think about these things?

"16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Here in 1 Thessalonians, Paul tell us that we should be continually be rejoicing, praying and giving thanks. At church this week we were looking over this verse. I think we need to be thankful in all things good and bad. All that happens to us God is using for His purposes and Glory.

Starting today I am not going to "try," I am going to everyday give thanks to my Lord, my King, my Savior for all things. First and foremost, His shed blood on the Cross which was the propitiation for debt against God the Father! I want to thank Him for all the blessings in my life, the ones I know about and the ones that, in my sinfulness, I am unaware of. But I also want to thank Him for the process of sanctification, in which He molds and shapes me to be more like Christ.

I challenge you all, do the same. Let us remember who we serve and how great our God is!

-- The Wretch

A new chapter in life

2008-11-15T16:15:00.003-07:00

Time to start a new chapter in my life, it is time for me to become a blogger. I have been putting it off for a while; well, no more excuses here I go! I want to start off this blog with the reason I am doing this.

I was recently on my way to work and was praying. I was praying for the persecuted Church in the world. I was thanking God for giving them boldness in the face of their persecutors, and for their sacrifice for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was convicted while praying, these Christians who face danger EVERYDAY still share the Gospel, even to their persecutors,even while they are killed, beaten, raped, homes destroyed, and humiliated! Here is the contrast: when I "make a stand" the persecution I get is teasing, mockery, and maybe hurt or lost relationships. I have to freedom (for now) to proclaim Jesus Christ and not have to worry about being arrested, beaten, or even killed.

What have I been doing this past year for the Lord? Do my friends know that I have been regenerated, that I am a different person now? I think of what our Savior did on the Cross for all sinners, what is my life as a sacrifice in comparison? I believe as Christians we need to draw a line in the sand, we need to show the world that we are different. We need to proclaim the Word of God. First and foremost, the Good News of Salvation though Jesus Christ. We need to base our world view on the Bible and proclaim what it says about the issues of today.

This is why I created this blog. I am going to post my take on things going on in the world. I am going to do my best at being as Biblical as I can in my responses. If anyone thinks that I may be off base, especially Biblically, I would love to here from you. I want to be kept accountable.

I am excited to start this new endeavor and look forward to comments, good and bad!

--The Wretch

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Next Post

Wowza!

So...Just Who Is This Wretch?

I Need Your Help!

A Line in the Sand -- Marriage

Stay Tuned!

That Time of the Year

A new chapter in life