If you have never listened to or downloaded a sermon online, I encourage you to give this one a listen. It's by Brother R.C. Sproul and it's entitled "The Curse Motif of the Atonement." If your love for Jesus has grown a bit cold lately, listen to this and prepare to have your heart challenged and convicted. Good stuff...
Link to listen online.
Link to download/media page
If you can, download this one and give it a couple of listens...as I said, it's challenging but very humbling and totally Jesus glorifying.

Recently in the news a story broke about a multi-billion dollar Wall Street scandal. It seems as if a well known investor had been making false claims about the earning power of one of his investments and as a result, a lot of people lost a lot of money. In fact, one person lost over a billion dollars. Sadly, according to a recent news headline from the other day, this person who lost the billion dollars committed suicide. As I read this little news story, I thought about what the Bible speaks of in Timothy concerning wealth and a recent article by Brother John Piper and thought I would share it here on the blog...

Prosperity Preaching: Deceitful and Deadly
By John Piper February 14, 2007
When I read about prosperity-preaching churches, my response is: “If I were not on the inside ofChristianity, I wouldn’t want in.” In other words, if this is the message of Jesus, no thank you. Luring people to Christ to get rich is both deceitful and deadly. It’s deceitful because when Jesus himself called us, he said things like: “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be
my disciple” (Luke 14:33). And it’s deadly because the desire to be rich plunges “people into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9). So here is my plea to preachers of the gospel.
1. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes it harder for people to get into heaven. Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” His disciples were astonished, as many in the “prosperity” movement should be. So Jesus went on to raise their astonishment even higher by saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” They respond in disbelief: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus says, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:23-27). My question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry focus that makes it
harder for people to enter heaven?
2. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that kindles suicidal desires in people.
Paul said, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” But then he warned against the desire to be rich. And by implication, he warned against preachers who stir up the desire to be rich instead of helping people get rid of it. He warned, “Those
who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).
So my question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry that encourages people to pierce themselves with many pangs and plunge themselves into ruin and destruction?
3. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that encourages vulnerability to moth and rust. Jesus warns against the effort to lay up treasures on earth. That is, he tells us to be givers, not keepers. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Yes, we all keep something. But given the built-in tendency toward greed in all of us, why would we take the focus off Jesus and turn it upside down?
4. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes hard work a means of amassing wealth. Paul said we should not steal. The alternative was hard work with our own hands. But the main purpose was not merely to hoard or even to have. The purpose was “to have to give.” “Let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have to give to him who is in need” (Ephesians 4:28). This is not a justification for being rich in order to give more. It is a call to make more and keep less so you can give
more. There is no reason why a person who makes $200,000 should live any differently from the way a person who makes $80,000 lives. Find a wartime lifestyle; cap your expenditures; then give the rest away. Why would you want to encourage people to think that they should possess wealth in order to be a lavish giver? Why not encourage them to keep their lives more simple and be an even more lavish giver? Would that not add to their generosity a strong testimony that Christ, and not possessions, is their treasure?
5. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that promotes less faith in the promises of God to be for us what money can’t be. The reason the writer to the Hebrews tells us to be content with what we have is that the opposite implies less faith in the promises of God. He says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6). If the Bible tells us that being content with what we have honors the promise of God never to forsake us, why would we want to teach people to want to be rich?
6. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that contributes to your people being choked to death. Jesus warns that the word of God, which is meant to give us life, can be choked off from any effectiveness by riches. He says it is like a seed that grows up among thorns that choke it to death: “They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the . . . riches . . . of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14). Why would we want to encourage people to pursue the very thing that Jesus warns will choke us to death?
7. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that takes the seasoning out of the salt and puts the light under a basket. What is it about Christians that makes them the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It is not wealth. The desire for wealth and the pursuit of wealth tastes and looks just like the world. It does not offer the world anything different from what it already believes in. The great tragedy of prosperity preaching is that a person does not have to be spiritually awakened in order to embrace it; one needs only to be greedy. Getting rich in the name of Jesus is not the salt of the earth or the light of the world. In this, the world simply sees a reflection of itself. And if it works, they will buy it. The context of Jesus’ saying shows us what the salt and light are. They are the joyful willingness to suffering for Christ. Here is what Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:11-14).

What will make the world taste (the salt) and see (the light) of Christ in us is not that we love wealth the same way they do. Rather, it will be the willingness and the ability of Christians to love others through suffering, all the while rejoicing because their reward is in heaven with Jesus. This is inexplicable on human terms. This is supernatural. But to attract people with promises of prosperity is simply natural. It is not the message of Jesus. It is not what he died to achieve.

Friends, brothers and sisters, we need to make sure where we stand on what the Bible says and what we believe concerning its truthfulness and authority because there are a million voices out there attempting to erode and deconstruct what it says. Here is an article discussing one such attack on the truth and authority of God's Word. I encourage you to read it and the following scriptures to see what the Bible says for itself about itself.
Here is a link to this article and this all out rebellion against God's Word...

The Emerging Church: The Bible and Homosexuality

And here are some verses from the Bible...
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

• The serpents tactic from the beginning, the enemy brings questions concerning the validity of what God says.

How did Jesus handle the devil in the wilderness temptation? IT IS WRITTEN:
Matthew 4:1-11
"1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him."

• Jesus responded to satan with the written word of God, not His own thoughts or opinions, feelings or even words of personal prophecy. It was the written word of God.


• Satan also knows the scriptures, but twists them to use them in such a way as to sound plausible even in a rebellious act against God. Not everyone who quotes scriptures is of God. (see notes on Colossians chapter 2 below.)
  

1 Timothy 4:1-5
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

John 17:17
"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."

Psalm 119:160
"The sum of your word is truth,
and every one of your righteous rules endures forever."

Colossians 2:1-4
"For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments."
-In an interesting note from the ESV study Bible it says of this verse:
"Col. 2:4 that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Paul warns the Colossians about the direct and dangerous threat in their midst. It is important to see that the threat comes from within the church and that what the teacher(s) are saying sounds reasonable and even persuasive."
-These attacks against clear truths presented in scripture are not coming from without, but from people who claim to be "evangelical" Christians.

Galatians 1: 6-9
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

The Holy Spirit saw fit to record these words of Jesus in 3 Gospel accounts:

Matthew 24:35 Mark 13:31 Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.


Regardless of whether you believe the Bible is true or not, what does it have to say about homosexuality?

Leviticus 18:22
22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.


Leviticus 20:13
13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.


Romans 1:26-27
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.


1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 1:8-11
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

• The Bible is clear in it's judgement of homosexuality, it is a sin and those who practice it will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

What do we do in days like this?
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints..."

"If we preach everything but that one point of doctrine which in our time and culture are unpopular, we flee from the very battle we are called to fight." ~Martin Luther

This sermon by a brother named Ligon Duncan at an event called Together 4 the Gospel is one of the finest I have ever heard about the importance of sound doctrine. No, that's not a bad word, in this day and age it's actually a very important word! Anyway, here is a link to the audio page, please give it a listen and be blessed...


Ligon Duncan-Sound Doctrine


If you prefer to download the MP3 of the sermon, here is a link to that page...


Together 4 The Gospel Main Page

I just recently purchased the English Standard Version study Bible and let me tell you, it is excellent! I have been reading it every chance I can and thoroughly enjoy it. The editors say that it has the equivalent of 20 volumes of study material. All of the study notes I have read so far are extremely well written and doctrinally right on. It seems to have a nice blend of easy readability while still maintaining faithfulness to the original Hebrew and Greek texts. As I've read, it seems to be a nice mix of the every day talk feel of the New Living Translation with the poetic-ness of the King James Version. You can always get it at Amazon for a good price but here is a link to a Christian Publisher that has excellent prices. Blessings!

ESV Study Bible

Sorry, this link is temporarily broken, I'm trying to track it down!

A now infamous preacher recently said, "...if we don’t have signs, then all we have is a bunch of theology..." Needless to say, neither signs, wonders or this individual's (heck, who doesn't know it's Todd Bentley) "theology" seemed to be of much help to him at all (or his wife and children). I'm sure that many in the crowd the night he said that gleefully bobble-headed and amened in approval, not even stopping to consider that theology means the knowledge or study of God and His nature.


One day as I was driving through our town, I noticed a church that had the following familiar verse displayed:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas... ~Hebrews 13:8-9a

It hit me as I read this simple little church sign the magnitude of the importance of our Theology. The verse above is far more than merely a collection of words; together they reveal to us a specific aspect of the nature and character of God, a little but extremely important part of who He is. The fact that He is eternal and unchanging in His nature is revealed and can be confirmed by many other scriptures. For example:

I am the Lord, and I do not change. ~Malachi 3:6

But You are always the same; You will never grow old

If we lose sight of the study of the nature and character of God, we run the very real risk of creating a god of our own imagination, and the consequences can be spiritually, morally, physically and consequently, eternally devastating:

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. AS A RESULT, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.~Romans 1:21-23

The Bible says that as mankind abandons the truth about the nature of who God is, we become abandoned to our own sinful desires. Then, sadly, mankind reaps the full wages of the consequences of their "theology." When we exchange the knowledge of the Holy One for another false god, darkness and confusion quickly ensue. This "original sin" is repeated over and over again as mankind questions, "did God really say that?" or, "Is that really what God is like?" We have examples in abundance in the form of books such as "The Shack", so-called emerging churches, with their Universalistic philosophies, and traditional denominations that have abandoned the teaching of the Scriptures for "strange, new ideas."


Anything less than truth is confusion for knowing who God is helps us to know who we are. Because He is unchanging and eternal, His words are therefore eternal and they expressly reveal His nature to us and our role in His unchanging plan:

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. ~Isaiah 40:8

Even the smallest detail of God's law will remain until it's purpose is established. ~Matthew 5:18

Forever, O Lord, Your word stands firm in heaven. Psalm 119:89

Through God's word, The Bible, we understand that God's person, plan, purpose, and words are eternally unchanging. As a reflection of His nature, His words are called eternal and are forever settled in the heavens, remaining until every last detail of their purpose is established. Therefore, His words are an unchanging standard. Knowing this, it stands to reason that his words are authoritative, in fact, the final and highest authority for our lives and the filter through which we should form our world view and definition for all things. This clear theology, or understanding of God and who He is, clears away the darkness and confusion of sin, false doctrines and cultural misconceptions.


For example, if I am to know what true love is, I must conform my knowledge of love to the definition of love as revealed in God's Word, for, ...God is love. ~I John 4:8. Anything less than the truth of the Bible brings about darkness and confusion, and this is clearly evident in the many distorted definitions of "love" in our corrupt world. I can only know true love if I know the one true God in all His fullness as revealed to mankind through His word, the Bible. He does not nor will He ever conform to us or our misguided ideas of Him, for He is eternally who HE IS. We are to conform our knowledge of Him to the truth He has revealed to us in the Bible.


Your theology is of the utmost, eternal importance...

And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ~John 17:3

...everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord... ~Phillipians 3:7-11

I´ve been praying a lot lately that God would further show me His purpose for my life and as I do, it seems as if He always brings simple things to my mind. Now some of you might be thinking to yourself, ¨hmm, simple things for a simple mind,¨ but hear me out on this. Nowadays, people yearn for high and lofty things in life, but we seem to have a lost a sense of the how.


For example, when you read about certain people in the early part of the history of America, they seemed to have a sense of purpose and dignity in the simple things of life. A job well done, being a person of integrity, when doing something, do it all to the glory of God. Along the way, they accomplished amazing things, things that we read about in history books. We read about these great things and we would like to do something that will also be read about by future generations, but sadly, many do not even have a concept of the ¨little things,¨ the how. American society as a whole has pushed God and His precepts out, we have allowed moral rot to set in causing entire generations to be born who don´t even have a clue as to the meaning of integrity, faithfulness, character and doing all for the glory of God (trust me, I teach a lot of them in school...). So we...watch T.V., play golf or video games, read stuff on the internet, complain about our job and envy and blame the guy at the top.


I guess what I´m trying to say is, God´s will or purpose for our lives is wrapped in what many consider to be ¨small things,¨ that appear to be not worth our time. But, by honoring God in all things, living with a sense of integrity, dignity, destiny and purpose for His glory from day to day, we will more than likely accomplish things that will be recorded in eternal history books.

Hello everybody! It´s been a while since I´ve written here in my little blog and honestly I´ve missed it. It´s nice to record some memories and it brings some perspective. It even makes me laugh remembering some moments that at the time they were happening made me want to scream, and believe me, I´ve had a few of those lately.

We finally made it to Tegucigalpa about a week ago after some time visiting Fabiola´s father in San Pedro Sula. I won´t go in to much detail about the visit in San Pedro Sula, but a few words to describe that visit would be: hot, humid, awkward, hot, sweaty, strange, and hot. Yes, that´s right, more hot just like in Phoenix only with about 99.9% humidity. It was great, I think I lost about 10 pounds just walking from our bedroom to the living room every day. It was almost a bit like torture because in the room we slept in there was an air conditioner unit right there, right over the bed we slept in, a really big, powerful-looking one that would probably put out tons of wonderful, dry, cool air...BUT IT DIDN´T WORK!!! It was just there, taunting us, . I tried to turn it on a couple of times in desparation but it smelled at first like rotten fish and then finally like burning plastic...in my desparation I told Faby she was just imagining those smells, but I finally had to deal with the reality of setting the house´s electrical system on fire...so I finally caved and then proceeded to sweat for 4 days straight.

When we finally got here to Tegucigalpa, I almost wept tears of joy. The weather is wonderful here!!! It´s as if God was saving the best for last! It´s averaged around 65 to 80 degrees here and its been WONDERFUL. We have had a great time visiting with Fabiola´s mom as well, she is such a special person. Praise God, I´ve also been able to drink some of the most wonderful coffee in the world at the Espresso Americano. God is so good to us, He made coffee and sugar and milk and refrigeration for making ice...these are such wonderful blessings! Well, I guess I´ll close for now, please keep us in your prayers. We´ll be here in Tegucigalpa for a good while before we begin our trek home. We hope to visit with Gerizim Church and several other friends and family members while we´re here and we always ask that you pray that God keep us safe as we travel! As I think I´ve mentioned before, the driving mentality is quite different here...anyway, blessings and we´ll be talking again soon! PSanders.

Hello everybody! Wow, what an adventure we´ve had the last couple of days, it´s been crazy! Praise God He´s been with us through it all and has taken good care of us! The Odyssey for this week started early Monday morning at about 3 a.m., we got all our stuff together to get ready to leave Phoenix, went to the airport like good little travelers with plenty of time to spare, every single ounce of liquid painstakingly conformed to TSA requirements, every last stitch of underwear tightly rolled and evenly distributed so as not to exceed any precious weight limits. Everything seemed to be going fine until they got to my passport, which doesn´t expire until September of this year...

Well, the lady at the desk informed us that this might be a problem, you see, because though my passport is still valid, it just might not be valid enough for Honduras to let me in...and we were due to be on a flight at this point in about an hour to Houston and then from there straight to Honduras. Do you remember those Tom and Jerry cartoons where Tom would see something that surprised him and his jaw would immediately drop to the ground with a loud, metallic clanging noise, that´s kind of how we looked at that moment.

Well, to make a long story short, I found out that we would have to change our flight until the following day and go to Houston and wait in line at the passport renewal agency ALL DAY LONG to get an emergency renewal of my passport in hopefully a day. Praise God, Faby has a precious aunt who lives in Houston and she opened her home and living room floor to us and thus began the Quest For the Passport That Was Good Enough For Honduras. I started out early Tuesday morning taking in all the necessary paperwork and then was told to come back at 2:30 that afternoon to get my passport. Praise God they assured me that I would be able to get it that day, and I did. In the process, I got to know every nook and cranny of downtown Houston fairly well and even got to talk to people from El Salvador about Jesus. By the way, Houston has a really nice, huge library if you ever happen to be in downtown Houston and need to check out a book...

Oh, did I mention that I ate some really nasty tacos and got food poisoning the day before my passport interview? Yeah, that actually happened and it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. Praise God, by the next morning I felt much better though I didn´t eat anything all day long. I really want to thank anybody who stopped and took a moment to pray for us through all of this. Like I said, God really gave us favor in the passport place and the opportunity to visit a precious aunt who has been through her share of physical battles the last year or so. All in all, it was another adventure and gave me some funny stuff to write about on my blog!

Well, as I said, we are here in Honduras with Faby´s father and brother´s and sister´s and it´s hot as blazes! And on top of that it´s humid like you can´t imagine! I tell you what, Eli amazes me how she just adapts to whatever situation, I am constantly just awed and amazed at God´s grace and goodness! He has really helped us and her on this trip and of that I am sure! Well, I´ll close for now, thanks so much for taking the time to read my little blog, as I said, it´s fun for me just to write down some memories and hopefully entertaining for whoever reads it as well. It also gives me a chance to request prayer and I don´t think I can ever ask too much! Please keep praying for us for safe travel and healthy food and protection and all those things you need when traveling abroad, especially with a little one. Blessings! PSanders

Hello everybody! Hey guess what? It's still hot in Arizona! Imagine that! Wow, I can't believe that our time here is almost up, time really flies when you're having fun and I have had a great time with the team here in AZ. These guys have worked their tails off all week long and have really made some amazing progress. Most importantly, they really have a heart for worship and not just for showmanship.

Last night I had the opportunity to minister the Word in the church and praise God it went really well. I had been studying the book of John and in chapter 1 there is a story about when the Pharisees came to see John the Baptist and they asked him, "who are you?" His response really hit me: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord." His response came directly from the Word of God in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. What hit me was that his identity and purpose were defined by the word of God. There is another similar case in the Old Testament where the young king Josiah began to seek the Lord when he was about 25 or 26 years old. He sent the high priest to the temple and they found a copy of the Book of Law. He had probably never read God's word up to that point, but there seems to have been a hunger for purpose in his life. Imagine his shock when he began to read this Book of the Law and he opened it up to find his name written on it's pages! It says in 1 Kings chapter 13 verse 2, "Then at the Lord’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.”

As Josiah read this book of the law, his eyes were suddenly opened to his purpose and destiny in life. A prophecy written 300 or so years before his birth foretold that a child would be born named Josiah and that he would bring about great reforms in Israel. Now, I realize that there aren't any direct prophecies concerning my life written in the Bible like they were about John the Baptist or Josiah, but there is a very important principle here for us today and it can be summed up this verse: "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path" (Psalms 119:105).

There are times in our personal prayer life that God will speak to us directly from His word our purpose and destiny. The Holy Spirit will illuminate a certain passage and let us know in our heart that He has a reason for us to be alive! Now of course, people take passages out of context and twist them for their own purposes, but the Holy Spirit will never instruct us to do anything contrary to the whole revealed word of God. When He illuminates a passage and it is in agreement with His revealed will, we can rest assured that He is speaking His purposes to us! This is a very important principle for us and is an incentive for us to constantly be studying His Word! His word is "a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path."

I pray God's blessings over you and appreciate anybody who takes the time to read my blog and check up on how we are doing, I really do. Please feel free to leave comments if you don't mind just to let me know if anybody's out there! (Reminds me a great song...) Blessings, Paul S.

Praise God, everything's been going real well here in the big A-Z. There are a few things I've learned about the Phoenix area since I've been here that are very interesting. I'll try to break it down in outline form so it will be easier to understand:
1. It's very hot.
2. It's ridiculously hot.
3. It's insanely hot.
4. There are nothing but gigantic red boulders/ (something like the surface of the planet Mars) with little or no signs of life on them, scraggly little trees here and there, and an occasional saguaro cactus but yet there are millions of people who choose to live here (and that one I've been trying to figure out for days...)
5. You feel as though you're living in some space outpost and to actually go outside is the equivalent of doing a space walk (which will kill you within a matter of seconds unless wearing the proper clothing or driving in an appropriate vehicle) so you pretty much just stay put in the "outpost."
6. It's hot.
7. And finally, there are absolutely no clouds in the entire state of Arizona. None. They just simply don't exist here.
These are the interesting things I've learned about Arizona in my time here so far. I hope to learn many more interesting facts about this great state soon and as soon as I do, rest assured I will share them with you here on my blog!
Apart from all the interesting things I've learned about the state itself, I've also learned that there a lot of good, Jesus loving people here in this area. We've had such a good time working with the Praise team and it's really amazing how far they've come since we began last Saturday. I really thank God for this time and for these people's willingness to work so hard. We've been spending every night the last week in workshops from about 7 to 10 at night. We have a time in the word and in prayer and then we get to work musically. What's been a blessing to me is that these guys go to work all day in the hot Arizona weather and then show up faithfully every night ready to go to work. I've really been blessed and humbled by their diligence. Well, I guess I'll go for now, thanks for reading and God bless!

Praise God, everything continues to progress here in Phoenix. We have been doing workshops every night since last Saturday helping the guys improve and preparing their hearts with the Word and prayer to be a strong team. Please pray that God would give us lasting fruit here. We'll only be here for a few days more and they of course will be staying to continue on the work here in the community. I pray that we can be a blessing and impart principles and a heart for worship and excellence that will last. These guys here have been working so hard! I'm really blessed by their willingness to work and prepare and attempt to stretch as musicians. The drummer especially has really come a long way, his name is Marvin. It's a blessing to watch him work so hard to improve, he closes his eyes and concentrates and makes sure he's counting out the time correctly! On top of all that and most importantly, these guys really have a heart for God's glory and that makes it such a blessing! I'll try and get some pictures taken of our sessions so that all can see what's going on. Well, I guess I'll go for now, please keep us in your prayers! Blessings, Paul...

Hello everybody. What a busy couple of days. Yesterday we went to a place called Sedona to visit with some pastor friends of Brother Hector and it sure was a beautiful town. If you've never been to Arizona before, just imagine the surface of the planet mars colonized by people who really like a Santa Fe style and you've pretty much got down what it looks like here. Actually, it's much greener than I imagined, but nothing compared to Oklahoma. It is beautiful in it's own way. Praise God, we had a great session with the praise and worship team last night and made some real progress. God has placed some things in my heart to share and teach from my experiences and the guys are a really good group with a heart to serve the Lord. Well, I'm going to try and put some pictures up and see how that works. Blessings! Paul, Fabiola and Elianna.

Hello everybody and greetings from Arizona! In case you didn't know, we're here hoping to be a blessing to the church of a brother named Hector Ramirez who pastors a Spanish speaking church here in Phoenix. We're going to help them in their praise and worship team. Thank you if you actually take the time to read this because you don't really have to, but if you do, thanks very much. As Rocky Balboa would say, "I appreciate that" (please imagine that line in the voice of Sylvester Stallone). Today is Saturday and it's 7:48 A.M. To mine and Fabiola's body, that's 9:48 a.m. To Elianna's body, well, she doesn't seem to really care! That kid is "Superbaby" She's a great traveler and praise God has done so well. She did great on the plane and has pretty much adopted the Ramirez family as her own. She even pulled her, "snuggle up and be cute and then steal the person's food trick" yesterday with the Ramirez's daughter, Nancy. She had a Honduran snack called a "Rosquilla" and Elianna caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye. All of a sudden Nancy was her favorite person in the whole world and she was hugging her and saying "ahhh" and all that cute stuff, next thing you know, she's walking off with the rosquilla! I couldn't believe it! Our first afternoon here and she's already pulling stunts like that! Well, please pray for us, we'll have our first session with the P and W team this afternoon and I pray that everything will go well. I will be writing regularly so if you don't mind checking out what's going on, I'll try to make it interesting! Blessings, Paul.

I found this post on Steve Hill's website and considering what I have discussed lately seems to be appropriate. Please read, be challenged and enjoy.

What Do You Believe

The other day, a member of our congregation was having a chat with a young stranger who seemed religious. However, as they spoke, it became questionable whether or not he really knew the Lord. To move the conversation forward, the man from Heartland asked "What denomination are you from?" The young man gave him the answer. The Heartland member then asked, "Oh, so, what do you believe in that denomination?" The young man's answer was humorous. "You know - the Bible, Jesus, and all that other stuff."

Upon hearing this story, I was reminded of the hundreds of people I've spoken with over the years who have given me a similar answer when I've asked them about their beliefs. My friend, when you're questioned about what you believe, your answer should be much more than, "The Bible, Jesus and all that other stuff." Here's what you should say:

• I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.


• I believe that there is only one true God.


• I believe in the Trinity; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.


• I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life.


• I believe in His miracles, His atoning death and bodily resurrection.


• I believe in the blessed hope, the rapture of the church


• I believe that the only means for being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious blood of Christ.


• I believe in water baptism by immersion.


• I believe that the redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides healing for the human body.


• I believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost.


• I believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.


• I believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the one to everlasting life and the other to everlasting damnation.

Remember, this is more than just a 'list' to be recited upon command. It should be the basis for how we live our lives. When we truly believe the above statements, our daily thoughts, our words and behavior should fully endorse them. I'll paraphrase that old saying, "You should tell others about the love of Jesus, every day, everywhere, and when necessary, use words too." (Yes, our everyday actions should be a shining light in this dark world.) Be ready to share your faith, I'm praying that the Lord will give you opportunities to do so!

Blessings,
Steve

In case you haven't noticed lately, there is a major onslaught against truth and particularly Jesus Christ in our day. The Apostles all talked about this calling it the "spirit of antichrist;" it was at work in their day and is in ours as well. However, the Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 verse 15 that, "...you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." There are many groups, such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, out there that are cunningly deceptive in that they claim to know "Jesus" and use much of the same terminology Bible believing Christians use, but are sadly deceived and in their efforts deceive many others. One thing must be established clearly in every Bible believing Christian's heart and mind when dealing with people of the Mormon and LDS faiths, THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN THE SAME JESUS YOU DO! After having several discussions with Mormon's and Jehovah's Witnesses the last several years, it has caused me to search the Scriptures and find out why I believe what I believe. As I told a couple of young Mormon's this week after establishing the fact that though they use the name Jesus, it's not the same Jesus I believe in:

"if you agree that our eternal salvation is completely dependant upon the atoning work of a Person and now having agreed that that person you teach is not the same one I teach, then one of us in major trouble!"

One of the major issues to be dealt with concerning the person of Christ is the doctrine of the Trinity. Is Christ really fully the Divine Son, One of the members of the Godhead made up of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Is there scriptural evidence for a God who is One, yet Three in One? I've always believed in the doctrine of the Trinity, but if you asked me to name a scripture that taught the Trinity, I would have looked at you like a calf looking at a new gate (as my dad used to say). I've compiled a few scriptures here to help encourage Christians to STUDY so that they can know Who and what they believe (all references are taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible as they do not translate the name of God, Jehovah, to LORD)...

• Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
  27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In the above scripture, God (singular) said, "let us" and "our" (plural). Hmmm....

• Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
• Genesis 3: 22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever-
  23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
  24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

In this group of scriptures, only Jehovah God is walking in the garden, alone. Why then does He say, "man is become as one of US..."?

• Genesis 11: 5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
  6 And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
  7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
  8 So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.

Again, Jehovah came down and Jehovah scattered them abroad, all singular. But, He says let us go down and confuse their language. It is a beautiful testimony to the Triune God. He says, "let us go" and in the next verse it simply says "Jehovah scattered them..." Not Jehovah and His angels or anyone else, just Him.

• Isaiah 6: 1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
  2 Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
  3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
  4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
  5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.
  6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
  7 and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven.
  8 And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.

In Isaiah's vision of the Almighty, the Lord says, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

There is ample evidence in the Old Testament for the doctrine of the Trinity. God reveals Himself as Jehovah, the "I AM" and yet many times refers to Himself in the plural. What the O.T. hints at, the New Testament reveals in much greater fulness. Hopefully, these scriptures will begin to cement in your heart this all important doctrine. Up next, New Testament references revealing the Trinity...

I found this post on a good friends website not too long. It's about how Kenneth Hagin tried to bring correction to several of his protege's whom he felt had gotten out of hand and even gone in to error in the "word of faith" movement. It's very good and well worth reading for all you "Dad Hagin" fans...

j. lee grady “fire in my bones”

Before he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with their message of prosperity. Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence. Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting.

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Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:

1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.”

2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes.”

3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts the very attitude of our giving nature.”

4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.

5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise “supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.” (Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.) Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,” Hagin wrote.Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance.

Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?

Hello, I'm trying to learn how to do some different things here on the blog. I've been away from it for a while, but would like to keep sharing and praying that "the entrance of His Word" would shed some light. Coincidentally, I was just watching a short video by Pastor Mark Driscoll about the importance of understanding scriptural context and thought, "hmm, I wonder if I could put that on my blogsite?" Well, lo and behold you can and here it is below plus another about reading biographies for you to watch! Enjoy and God bless!

Text & Context: Biblical Context

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The Importance of Reading Biographies

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