You're Asking For It!!

Here is a direct quote from Luis C. Rodriguez in the Foreword to Bro. Zane Hodges' book, Absolutely Free: "The gift of eternal life was received just by asking for it!" As far as I can remember, I never read anywhere in that entire book where bro. Hodges ever mentioned that one should be"asking for" eternal life in order to receive it. May I say right here & now that I do not have a problem with the phrase, or the concept for that matter. But I have heard from free grace people before that asking for eternal life can be dangerous since a person may not actually believe Jesus will give it to him, though he asks for it. I trust that I am not being nitpicky, I just wanted some feedback from you all about this. It seemed especially ironic that this phrase came in the foreword to this particular book! OK, I'll be looking forward to what you folks have to say regarding this! May the Lord bless you.

In Christ!

News Flash! Colossians 2:9-10 comes immediately after Colossians 2:8! I never was very good at Math, but I figured that one out right away! Seriously, these verses just overflow with meaning today, as always, but seemingly it is more clearly seen at least to me to day than ever!
May I just post these tremendous verses for us here: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." (NKJV)
WOW! Verse 8 is so indicative of the world today! There are so many false teachings & teachers who are actively seeking to take us captive that we just can't imagine! It reminds me of a Far Side cartoon I once saw where a camper lay sleeping in his sleeping bag with hundreds of rattlesnakes gathered all around him. One rattlesnake said to the rest, "OK, when I give the signal, let's all rattle!" The false teachers are like those rattlesnakes in more ways than one! The Holy Spirit through Paul wants to warn us of this far greater danger than even a pile of poisonous rattlers gathered all around us! But the Answer is infintely greater than the problem! Verses 9-10 gives us our hope!! Christ is God in bodily form, & we as believers are complete in HIM!! Check out how Dr. Ron Merryman translates this verse: "...and you keep on being having been completed in Him with abiding results." That makes me just want to shout! Who needs all this purpose drivel when we have the once-for-all truth?!! I hope being reminded of this truth makes your day just as much as it did mine today! May the Lord bless you as you serve Him this day!

HCSB

I love the King James Bible. I was saved before I hardly knew there were other translations out there! I grew up on it, & will likely always use it in study & preaching. But I must admit that I also really appreciate the NKJV & the NASB. While I will likely never move away from using the old KJV for my primary study Bible, I have really begun to appreciate the HCSB, or Holman Christian Standard Bible lately. I am not a Greek scholar, & certainly not Hebrew, but I really like it's readability, & it sure seems accurate acording to what I have read & studied of the Greek & Hebrew under good conservative scholars past & present. But I must say that what truly turned me around to begin looking seriously at it was when I realized that good ol' Dr. Art Farstad who is now with the Lord, was one of the men who was in on the ground floor of the translation project. I really appreciated Dr. Farstad & am looking forward to meeting him in Heaven. Have any of you out there had any dealings with the HCSB & if so, what is your thoughts on the matter? I appreciate any & all comments. May the Lord bless you all.

I'm Not MAD but I like MAD People!

What in the world has happened? Has a 2X4 slammed me on the haid? Nope, I'm referring to MAD people, or people who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior & are Mid-Acts Dispensationalists. They believe that the church did NOT begin at Acts 2, but sometime later, though as far as I know there is no absolute consensus in the group at the particular time that the church DID begin. But a main belief of MAD as I am aware is that water baptism is not for this dispensation. Personally I have yet to see enough Biblical substantiation to MAD to embrace it myself, but appreciate the folks I have met from that "camp." As far as I can tell they are grace-oriented believers & are very gracious.
I post this so that if there are any adherents to MAD, or other believers who have knowledge to share about them or just want to say howdy, please join in! God Bless you all in Jesus' Name!

My First Tagging!

Bro. Ender over at his blog, Absolutely Free Grace has tagged me to tell 7 things about myself that hardly anyone knows, That should be exceedingly easy since not too many folk in the blogosphere knows me anyhow! But for the sake of fun & good cheer, here goes!

1) My sweet wife & I got married exactly 2 years to the minute from when we first met!

2) I barely know how to drive a manual transmissioned car, & would be fearful of driving one, especially in the mountains!

3) I cannot swim. In fact, I have a terrible fear of water!

4) I used to chew tobacco (MANY years ago! The Lord helped me quit that disgusting habit, though!)

5) I enjoy whistling!

6) I've never torn a car down, & then taken the parts & rebuilt it inside of a building!

7) I despise mathematics & am teriible at it!

OK, Hallelujah, 'Tis Done!

Now I'm tagging these distinguished bloggers: (sorry, I don't know how to link to these!)

1) Jack, or ExPreacherman over at http://expreacherman.wordpress.com/

2) TJ, or Liver & Onions, over at http://liver-and-onions.blogspot.com/

3) John, or The Earnest Contender, over at http://earnestcontender.blogspot.com/

This is fun! God Bless.

Moving Heaven & Earth

It is evident that God wants people to be saved. He literally moved Heaven & earth to get everyone in place for His Son's coming into the world to be the Savior. He moved Heaven by creating a special star to point anyone interested to follow it to the Savior Himself! (Mt.2:1-12) Only some wise men took Him up on it, as far as we know. But it was there for all to see & follow anyway.
He moved the earth by having Caesar Augustus to force everyone to the place of their birth to register for a tax (Lk.2:1ff) This of course brought Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem Ephratra so Jesus could be born at the correct place according to ancient prophecy (Mi.5:2). He still does the same thing today. Those of us who are saved, He was willing to bring about some amazing occurrences to get the Gospel to us so that we could hear it, believe it & be saved! If you are not saved today, consider what God has done to save you. It is truly amazing. If you will just consider the evidence, you will begin to see just how God loves you & wants to save, not just a mass of people, but you, personally. Those of us who are saved, let's never lose the wonder of it all. God Bless & Merry CHRISTmas!

Who are the Fearful?

Revelation 21:8 in the KJV says, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

My question is, who is "the fearful" at the beginning of the verse referring to? I don't think I've ever heard any Bible teachers comment on this. I know most modern translations render this as "cowards" or the "cowardly." Dr. Bob Wilkin I think does a great job of dealing with this awesome verse at the GES web site here: http://www.faithalone.org/news/y1993/93sep3.html
But I'd still like to hear what my brothers & sisters in Christ here have to say about this. Thank you for any insight. May the Lord bless you!