On Christ's Care

"The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord." - John 20:20b

"We should come to know Christ in this way: He is kindly disposed and comforting to all the poor who are needy and anxious; on the other hand, He is a severe judge of all who despise Him. To know Him this way is to know Him rightly.
Therefore, we should expect from Christ all love, kindness, comfort, salvation, and encouragement, and call on Him in perils of fire, perils of water, in death, and in all assaults on your faith. For He is also the only Cornerstone, to whom we should hold in all our troubles."

The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther - 6: 55

Seven Issues with the church's current evanglestic state.

1. Sunday School has lost its' priority. The importance of the small groups and the small groups specifically reaching specific people. (86% of people that go to Sunday school will be invovled in the church 5 years later as compared to 17% of those not in Sunday school being involved in the church.
2. The uninvited 81%. Of the unchurched, 81% haven't been invited to church ONE time.
3. Failure to grasp the '4-legged stool'. Of keeping people in church, we aren't encouraging these aspects enough: expectations, ministry invovlement, small groups, relationships.
4. The interested unchurched person. Of those that hadn't been invited to church, 84% would say yes they would come to church if invited, as long as you would come with them through the doors.
5. Failure of members to develop meaningful relationships with the lost.
6. Lack of intentionality in evangelism.
7. Theological beliefs that diminish evangelistic passion. Christ is the ONLY way for salvation and to be excluded from condemnation. Also, we need to cling to the gospel, not this life.

- notes from Thom Rainer, Providence Baptist Church 8/14/2005

The Effect of Universalism on Missions

The notion that people are saved without hearing the gospel has wreaked havoc in the missions effort of denominations and churches that minimize the biblical teaching of human lostness without Christ.

Apart from the special, saving grace of God, people are dead in sin, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God and hardened in heart (Ephesians 2:1, 4:18). And the means God has ordained to administer that special saving grace is the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

J.Piper - Desiring God, pg 192-193

The Engaged Couple

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We are all smiles the day after our engagement. Here we are getting ready to go to Capitol Hill Baptist Church at Paul Curtis' house.

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The Couple

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A Picture of me and my fiance, Meg.

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All I Need

Give me unwavering faith
that supplications are never in vain,
that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
I shall have larger, richer answers,
surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, thou has given me
the greatest gift, the person of thy Son,
and in Him thou wilt give me all I need.

Valley of Vision - The Prayer of Love (pg. 271)