Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Holy Spirit


The Holy Spirit is the often misunderstood eternal third person of the Trinity.  He is seen in the beginning of creation “hovering over the face of the waters” and is often referred to throughout the Old Testament as the “Spirit of God.” Today, the Holy Spirit is the promised Helper who is actually more noticeably present with us than the other two members of the Trinity.

Although the Holy Spirit is a spiritual being, he is not some impersonal force but rather a real person like the Father and Son. He “engages in moral actions and ministries that can be performed only by a person” such as revealing, illuminating, regenerating, guiding, sanctifying, and interceding. These acts of the Spirit are the means by which he manifests the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church. This particular manifestation within the church can be seen through the granting of specific spiritual gifts to believers by God through the Holy Spirit.

A spiritual gift is a gift given and entrusted to us by God at conversion to serve the body of Christ wherever and however he may direct. The Holy Spirit apportions these spiritual gifts through his wisdom and sovereignty knowing “best what is needed by the body and what best fits each believer for service.” Every believer has at least one spiritual gift, but no believer has all the gifts either so that we must all rely on one another to function efficiently as the body of Christ. As we humbly surrender control of our lives to the work and authority of the Holy Spirit, we should develop a set of qualities that reflect the character of God (Galatians 5:22-26), and our individual spiritual gifts should bind us together in perfect harmony.

With Peace, 

Terry

Friday, October 26, 2012

Jesus Christ: Fully God, Fully Man


Scripture declares that the eternal Son of God became a man and walked and lived among us (Philippians 2:6-8), and “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9 ESV).  It is important to understand that Jesus did not give up any of his attributes as God when he took on human form. When Jesus took on human form, he simply added the attributes of sinless humanity to his attributes as God. This form of existence as fully God and fully man is extremely significant and is certainly a mystery unlike any other form of existence in the created universe. Because of his deity, Jesus' humanity had an inability to sin which was unlike any other human being who has ever lived. Because of his humanity, Jesus was able to gain an experiential understanding of suffering and was able to experience death which was impossible for him to do as God alone. 

If the eternal Son of God had not become man then we would have no Savior and still be in bondage to sin awaiting the wrath of God. The only proper sacrifice that could be made for the sins of humanity would be the sacrifice of a sinless man. However, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 ESV). Only God is sinless, but God also cannot die. Therefore, the eternal Son of God took on human form which gave him the ability to experience death and ultimately granted us salvation. 

Scripture declares that Jesus had two natures that were united but not mixed, changed, divided, or separated. Jesus remained as he had always been (God) but also became what he had never been (man). “This means that the entire complex of the attributes of [God] and those of perfect humanity were maintained in Jesus Christ at all times since His Incarnation.”

Therefore, Jesus who resurrected from the grave and ascended to his place of authority by the Father has also now become a sympathetic High Priest that we can approach with confidence because he understands our weaknesses and suffering.

With Peace, 

Terry

Monday, October 22, 2012

Game 7

Game seven is here for our team. I thought something that was said yesterday at our baseball chapel would be great to share with this group. If you're a competitor of any kind and a follower of The Almighty God, find strength from this proverb....

New Living Translation (©2007)
The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

You have given me ability, you have given me a spirit to prepare.  To You, Lord, all the glory is given.  Thanks for Your strength which flows through me even when times are at their toughest.
I love You Lord,

-waino

The Nature of God


God is the eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, loving, faithful Creator of the entire universe who freely created the entire universe out of nothing to glorify himself. As God’s creation, we have been given the ability to know him in an intimate and personal way although we are unable to fully understand or grasp him completely. “Apart from the true religion found in the Bible, no system of religion has a God who is both infinite and personal.”

God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, while also remaining as one God. This teaching is known as the Trinity. The word person can sometimes create confusion and lead us to mistakenly think of God as three different beings. However, Scripture is clear that “the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV). We simply use the word person in order that “we might say something instead of saying nothing at all.”

We must avoid the error of viewing the Trinity as three gods or the error of viewing the Son and Holy Spirit as lesser gods. Scripture clearly teaches that the Father is God (John 6:27), the Son is God (John 1:1-14), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4) while affirming that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). The three-personal God is one being and is a mysterious form of existence above and beyond anything we can fully comprehend or have experienced in this universe.

Should we be discouraged or have less faith in a God we cannot fully understand? Absolutely not! We can rest assured in what we do know about him concerning his love, power, wisdom and such. And we should rejoice all the more and praise him all the more as we stand in wonder and awe of how truly awesome our God is and how much greater he is than anything we could possibly imagine.

With Peace, 

Terry

Thursday, October 18, 2012

What is the Bible?


“The Word of God” is a phrase that takes on several different meanings throughout Scripture. However, it can best be understood as the written form of God’s message to the world also known as the Bible. For the most part, "it should be remembered that the writing of Scripture primarily occurs in connection with God’s great acts in redemptive history."

Therefore, with this in mind, it seems inevitable that the writings of the New Testament would be joined to the writings of the Old Testament to give us our current Bible. I believe that the Bible consists of only sixty-six books and do not consider the extra collection of books included in the canon of the Roman Catholic Bible known as the Apocrypha as Scripture. I believe the Bible to be inerrant, inspired, and authoritative. Scripture speaks nothing but the truth throughout and contains nothing that is false. God guided the human authors of the Bible through the power of the Holy Spirit so that they composed and recorded his exact words to mankind without error. Since they are his exact words, anyone who disbelieves or disobeys any word of Scripture is actually disbelieving or disobeying God.

The Bible "is the form of God’s Word that is available for study, for public inspection, for repeated examination, and as a basis for mutual discussion." It is not a magical book or an impossible book to understand. However, it does take on new depth and meaning when a believer is aided by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit. This is experienced through submissive study and mediation and promotes the application of Scripture for the glory of Christ rather than the general understanding of what Scripture teaches.

With Peace, 

Terry

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Waiting...

This is an excerpt from my sister's blog that she posted today. I may be bias but thought this was one of the most powerful things I've ever read. Some of you have asked so just wanted to let you know - they are currently registered at Target and Buy Buy Baby under Donna Feuerbach. Here's the post:

"Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we are waiting for." - Charles Stanley

I read this quote Sunday and it really hit home with me in regards to our journey for a child both biologically and now through adoption. I feel like we have played a waiting game for a long time now and it is such a difficult game to play. I have a constant feeling of anxiety just waiting for a positive phone call. Ever since I started the fertility treatments, I feel like I have been on a roller coaster ride of wishful thinking followed by disappointing phone calls. Then, as we moved down the adoption road I have had a lifted spirit filled with excitement. I devoted all of my time to getting the logistical stuff done as quickly as possible so that I could get this adoption process moving. I thought the wait would get easier once we got approval from both Georgia and Utah but I was wrong. I don't have anything to do with the adoption anymore other than wait. We created a baby registry at Target and Buy Buy Baby, we bought furniture, bedding, and accessories for the nursery which is slowly being created in order to help us grasp what is happening. It is different when you carry a child for nine months. You are able to develop an attachment during that time but obviously adoption is different. These small steps enable us to feel a sense of love for the child that we don't even know yet. However, with all of this excitement comes anxiety and eagerness to find a match and know exactly when our child will arrive. I just want our profile book to at least be shown to a birthmother so I know we have a chance of being matched but there is not anyone out there right now that is able to see our book. I would like to think that I am a rather laid back, patient person but this is definitely pushing me to my limits. I feel like I am glued to the computer and my phone just waiting for some sort of news. This quote reminded me that we are waiting for the most precious gift that God can give us. I must relax and rest assured that everything will occur in His timing and I just need to have faith. God has carried us through this emotional journey and I know He has incredible plans for us. "And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise." - Hebrews 6:15

Please continue to pray for us. I ask that you pray for the birthmother of our child as she deals with her decisions. I also ask that you pray for us to find a match and to be more patient while we wait. It is so easy to lose faith and get discouraged so it is imperative that we lean even more on God and trust in His perfect plan for our lives.

Thanks for all of your support and for not only giving me the opportunity to share my feelings so freely but for actually reading the blog!:)

Love Always,

Donna

Friday, October 5, 2012

Know nothing

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

"When I cam to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirits power, so that your faith may not rest on mens wisdom, but on Gods power."

What an awesome expression of what our mindset should look like when sharing the gospel. I know we have all been in that place before we speak where we are worried about what we will say or how it will come across, but these verses have really impacted the way I enter those situations. We are not called to talk people into salvation. Trust me I enjoy a good debate as much as the next guy, but I also understand that the Word of God never returns void. We are called to share the gospel and express things that have happened in our lives. Its a check to myself to rely on the Spirits power more and mine a whole lot less.

"I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified"

Andrew