08.05.08
Posted in Bruce, Cindy at 9:43 am by ebenezer
New home - new location - new possibilities. We packed everything we had (after we decided what really did not need to be moved). Said goodbye to friends, family, and church in southern Indiana and headed further south to the coastal region of Georgia. Busy times: resigned on 7/6, preached my last sermon at Underwood BC on 7/13, packed, packed, and packed some more on 7/14, 15, & 16 am, left that afternoon, arrived on Thursday, closed on Friday, received the truck late Monday, and unloaded on Tuesday. Since then we have been painting, unpacking, and now finally hanging pics on the wall. To say the least this has been a whirlwind of a time for the last couple of weeks. Trusting that the Lord has brought us here to serve Him may we say: Hello Georgia! —– I surely do hope these dawgs are ready for this dyed-in-the-ky-blue cat!
Pastor Bruce & his fiery side-kick Cindy.
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08.02.07
Posted in Cindy at 9:33 am by ebenezer
In this post-modern era where there is little or no understanding of absolutes, how do we teach the sovereignty of God? The bible declares this truth from cover to cover and yet those who claim to believe the bible and say that God is sovereign still don’t appear to grasp what this means. Even famous bible teachers such as Beth Moore seem to think that God was somehow surprised by Adam’s sin in the garden. The Word does tell us that even nature teaches us about God. In that context, look at nature to determine if this God is sovereign.
When I observe the natural world, I know that it was certainly not a random act for it to work with such precision, from the vastness of the universe to the minutiae of DNA. Think about the fact that He created us in His image (not referring to eyes, nose, arms, and legs). We can learn many things about God by thinking about ourselves.
I have some limited creative abilities. If I were God, lived outside of time, and had unlimited creative abilities, how would I do it? The entire plan would be in my mind from start to finish. (The earth was without form, and void…And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Gen. 1:2) Another translation uses the word “brooding” instead of “hovering.” God was brooding? Was He planning? I think He worked out every detail from start to finish. Our problem with this concept comes about as a result of our having to deal with our own pitifully finite minds. I can’t understand the mind of God. I know that we are responsible before Him, but I also know that He didn’t just spin this ball of existence into motion, sit back to see what happens, and then scramble around for solutions.
The other religions of the world put God into this type of category where He is made in our image rather than we in His. With this philosophy, God gets stressed, He gets worried, and He gets involved in a struggle of good against evil. People struggle with this good vs. evil dichotomy, God doesn’t. He truly is the Alpha and Omega. His Word is final! Nothing is outside His control. Just because we don’t understand it or have neat explanations for it doesn’t nullify the fact. That is yet one more reason why “The just shall live by faith.”
The Fiery Side-kick
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07.21.07
Posted in Cindy at 5:26 pm by ebenezer
I am so excited about this blog that I have to add to it with a limited amount of time to prepare what I’m saying because I’m packing up to take our church kids to camp tomorrow. So this will be off the cuff. The purpose of this blog is to bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ and to communicate with others who might be struggling with some of the theological questions I have. It was tough coming from the Christian background I came from to begin to learn about how sovereign and mighty the creator of the universe is when I had been taught that if I had enough faith, I could have what I wanted from God. If I didn’t get what I wanted, my faith must be weak or I wasn’t fighting the devil hard enough. I went through many trials as the Lord gently (sometimes ungently) lead me into the truth of His Word that explains that it’s all about Him, not me. I have such a desire in my heart to help those who struggle with feelings of spiritual inferiority because of a doctrine that puts emphasis on man rather than on God. Resting in His grace has freed my mind and my emotions so wonderfully that I want everyone to know what His word says about who’s really in charge. There’s so, so, so much more I can say about this and other related issues, but I will save it for future postings.
In His Grace,
The Fiery Side-kick
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