This Sunday at Church: Thank Someone who Encourages You

This Sunday at Church I want to encourage you to do the following: Thank someone who encourages you.

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Ministry Travels lesson: When you are asked to speak better English while preaching

A part of missions and ministry is that there’s always the unexpected especially in cross cultural context.

Here’s one thing that I did not expect this trip to a new country.

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Back Home from April 2023 Trip!

I am now home from my missions trip.  I had to have a nearly four hours drive after I landed!

Thank you all for your prayers.

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Ministry Travels lesson: People can easily rationalize obvious problems

There’s something that the Lord put in my heart during my trip: when we want a ministry to the Lord to be good we sometimes can easily rationalize away obvious problems.

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Guest Post: Carrying a Heavy Load

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by Bruce.  Bruce is no stranger to some of you who read this blog.  His blog be found here.

Matthew 11:28-30 NASB
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

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Guest Post: Esther For Such A Time As Then And Today

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by  Reverend Paul N. Papas II.  His blog can be found here.

By Reverend Paul N. Papas II

A brave woman who saved the Jews from extinction and the way for the Messiah to bring Salvation is known as Esther. Esther is written for all history in a Book of Bible named after her.

The Book of Esther is read on the festival of Purim, which commemorates the rescue of the Jews from Haman’s plots. The Book of Esther is one of the Megillot, five scrolls read on stated Jewish religious holidays.

Her becoming Queen was necessitated because of the disobedience of Queen Vashti. Jesus the second Adam was necessitated because the first Adam disobeyed. God does not want anyone to perish.

A central purpose of the Book of Esther is to record the institution of the annual festival of Purim and to keep alive for later generations the memory of the great deliverance of the Jewish people during the reign of Xerxes. The book accounts for both the initiation of that observance and the obligation for its perpetual commemoration.

Esther is represented as an orphan daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, who had spent her life among the Jewish exiles in Persia, where she lived under the protection of her cousin Mordecai. The grand vizier, Haman the Agagite, commanded Mordecai to do obeisance to him. Upon Mordecai’s refusal to prostrate himself, Haman informed the king that the Jews were a useless and turbulent people and inclined to disloyalty, and he promised to pay 10,000 silver talents into the royal treasury for the permission to pillage and exterminate this alien race. The king then issued a proclamation ordering the confiscation of Jewish property and a general extermination of all the Jews within the empire. Haman set by lot the day for this outrage but Mordecai persuaded Esther to undertake the deliverance of her compatriots. (1)

Haman devised a plot to exterminate the Jews and hang Mordecai. Haman saw Mordecai as a threat to Haman’s power grab. Haman had the gallows built in the public square. Haman expected to be paraded in the public square as a hero. Through a series of events, that could be a thriller movie

today, the plot was exposed and it was Mordecai who was paraded through the streets and it was Haman who was hung on the gallows which Haman built.

God will complete the work he started through us as He did with Esther and Mordecai. God gave us boldness and not fear.

What is God calling you to do? We may never know what our part might be in God’s larger plan. I would say Esther was not thinking of the coming Messiah when she risked death for approaching the King without an invitation.

Say yes to Jesus, He saves. There is no better plan than God’s plan.

Reverend Paul N. Papas II is a Pastoral Counselor with Narrow Path Ministries (MA and AZ) and Founder of the Family Renewal Center (AZ) http://www.narrowpathministries.org and http://www.familyrenewalcenteraz.org

My blog can be found at https://preacher01704.wordpress.com

(1) https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5872-esther

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Guest Post: How the KJV Makes Me a Better Christian than You

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas. This is by Cowboy Bob. His blog be found here and he runs The Question Evoluti

Being Judgmental and Joining Witch Hunts

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

It is a fabulous feeling to be in an elite group. What makes you a better Christian than the rabble? The King James (Authorized) Version is a great start for me. I can tolerate Textus Receptus-onlyists, but it’s far better to be a King James Onlyist because the KJV is the One True Bible™.

We have to ride a side trail for a spell before we come back to this. It is part of a larger fabric and I want to run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it. I believe that many people want to feel more important than the rest of the herd, so they embrace a cause or movement and say, “Me too!” Political party, religious denomination, atheism, wealth, and many more can give one a sense of meliority.

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April 2023 Missions Trip Update

Here’s an update post!

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Guest Post: 1 Peter 3:15 and Multiple Translations in a Congregation

(Note: This is a guest post written by “Berean Crossroads” who blogs here and his audio Bible recording can be found here.  I am currently away and thank the brother for this guest post.  If you have thoughts and questions, feel free to comment and when he has time he will respond.)

1 Peter 3:15 and Multiple Translations in a Congregation

ASV, CEB, KJV, CSB, ESV, NASB, Legacy, NIV, NKJV, RSV, etc. are not alphabet soup or new flavors of ice cream from Baskin-Robbins but rather various translations of the bible. In the not-too-distant past, it was not uncommon to have all members within a congregation utilizing the same bible translation. Churches, when purchasing bibles for their congregations, typically would select a single translation (e.g., KJV) for all their members and visitors to use in the church. In our modern era, however, a pastor definitely can’t count on having all his church members utilizing the same bible translation.

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Guest Post: Lamenting Before God

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Alan Kearns. His blog be found here.

 (The road south to Dundee. Photography courtesy of Ben Bremner. https://www.facebook.com/ben.bremner3)

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

— Psalm 130:1-2 NASB

The word lament is not used often nowadays in expression of deep sorrow or grief. According to the Oxford dictionary lamenting can be over the death of a loved one or the loss of an item or practice in society. Lament certainly is a word that has fallen out of fashion in the 21st Century, and when used it is often inaccurately so. To lament is seen as inappropriate and weak nowadays; modern funerals prefer to celebrate the life of the departed and often shun the need of the loved ones to grieve. Such practice goes against the natural order that the Creator intended for mankind.

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Guest Post: Rejoice and Depend on Your Creator

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am teaching overseas. This is by Jeff Chavez. His blog be found here.

Rejoice and Depend on Your Creator

 

Passage: Psalm 104:27-35

 

 

“Bless the LORD, O my soul!” This psalm begins and ends with these words like Psalm 103. As we meditate upon this passage, may we ask ourselves, “Do we bless the LORD?” “Have I blessed the Blessed One?”

 

Truth: “Since all the creatures depend on God for His glory, we must rejoice in Him as long as we live.”

 

How do creatures reveal God’s glory?

– All Creatures by Necessity Utterly Depend on God’s Provision

– All of God’s People Joyfully Live for God’s Glory

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Guest Post: Fear I once lived and fear no more I will!

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am overseas.  This is by Mike Maloney.  He’s a friend over at Gab.  His blog be found here.

Since I was about 12 years old I can remember living in fear of people, places and things. It was running through my thoughts constantly. Ironically, I was an adventurer, climbing tall mountains, the highest trees, jumping from roof tops and racing bicycles and dirt bikes.

However, I could not look you in the eye, I had too much guilt, too much shame and feared what you thought of me. I feared man and not God.

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Guest Post: Life’s Milestone

Note: This is a guest post since I’m overseas.  This is by Tom.  His blog be found here.

I retired this past Fall after close to five decades of working. Phew! That was a big milestone! Now that I’m retired, I get to take a step back and contemplate the big picture of life rather than just focusing on the day-to-day work grind.

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Presuppositional Apologetics and the Relevance of Creation

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas. This is by Cowboy Bob. His blog be found here and he runs The Question Evolution Project on Facebook here.

 

Presuppositional Apologetics and the Relevance of Creation

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

Howdy. There are some things this child wants to discuss, and I hope you will ride this here trail with me.

When creation is brought up in discussions, and especially biblical creation science, some professing Christians tend to skip the material. Admittedly, the science aspects can be daunting to those who do not have science education, but much can still be learned. Aside from that, there are some extremely important aspects of creation that are overlooked. This is extremely unfortunate.

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Story from Ministry travels: A tale of two presuppositonalists

I want to say thank you for those praying for my ministry trip overseas.

I’m still overseas but after a long day of ministry I want to share something quick.

During this trip I was surprised that I met a man who knew about presuppositional apologetics.

 This is extraordinary to me since often In difficult areas for Christians you see often weak theology.  Yet here he was telling me his favorite apologist was Greg bahnsen when I asked him.

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