Experiencing the Gospel Daily

"The wise believer learns this truth early and becomes proficient in extracting available benefits from the gospel each day."    -Milton Vincent "A Gospel Primer"

The quote above is referring to the idea that God has not just merely given us His Gospel to embrace it and be converted but actually so we could live in it's riches everyday. Vincent explains that we can do this by focusing on components of it's truth daily (grace, love, joy, kindness, mercy, etc...). One of the components of the Gospel message that jumps out at me is "His grace". Knowing that I deserve a fiery hell and the fact that I get to live in a beautiful country with an amazing family with tremendous opportunity makes me feel so joyful (you choose the description, baseball, career, church, etc...). This helps me to focus on what can be, or what is possible as opposed to what isn't possible and what is not. Have you ever been around somebody who focuses on what isn't available or what isn't going to happen? Yeah! Call the bullpen and bring in the new arm right? It's exhausting and worse than that is that it sometimes creeps up on you and sucks you into it. A good friend of mine always would say you're either a fountain or you're a drain, there is no in between. Which do you want to be? Better yet, which do you think would bring glory to God?


P.S. If anybody is looking for a knew track to listen to pick up "My Shepard" by Justin Unger. It will get you if you let it.

Be blessed...
Jules

The Christian "Mean Streak" in Self-Control"

"There is a mean streak to authentic self-control... Self control is not for the timid. When we want to grow in it, not only do we nurture an exuberance for Jesus christ, we also demand of ourselves a hatred of sin... The only possible attitude toward out-of-control desire is a declaration of all-out war... There is something about war that sharpens the senses... You hear a twig snap or the rustling of leaves and you are in attack mode. Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger. Even after days of little or no sleep, war keeps us vigilant." -Ed Welch

This isn't violence against other people. It's violence against all impulses in our selves that make peace with our own sin and settle in with a peacetime mentality. I'm thankful this morning for all my brothers that keep me sharp in my battle with temptation. Iron sharpens iron!

Favor of God

In church on Sunday my pastor made a statement in passing that really struck me and I could not let it go. He said, "Sometimes we try and earn the favor of God while ignoring the principles of God."
This was not what his message was about and he did not elaborate, but he said it. I feel like this is something that I do. I say God I trust you with the end result but I'll handle to process. I will do the work as I need to and then trust you for the result.
God wants me to trust every part of the process no matter what the situation and grasp the fact that His plans for me are way bigger than my plans for me. I thank God for this realization and I am praying for His peace to see my through the process.

Andrew

Your Prayers Are Needed and Appreciated

Everyone, 

It's been quite some time since any of us have written anything, but I wanted to write today simply to share what has occurred this past week. I raised awareness with all of you a few months ago about the journey my sister and her husband have been on and the adoption process that they were going through. Well, this past week this process presented a very unexpected challenge that I wanted to write about a couple of days ago, but I'm still trying to process it all. However, my sister did go ahead and decide to write about it and so I desperately wanted to share it with all of you. I just truly desire the prayers of faithful men and women of God to heal hearts and to restore the hope we have that God has joy waiting on us. Please read below:

"God saw you getting tired, a cure not meant to be.  So He put his arms around you and whispered, “Come with me.”  With tearful eyes we watched you and saw you fade away, although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.  A golden heart stopped beating, your tender hands at rest.  God took you home to prove to us He only takes the best."... continue reading here

Laminin (please watch if you haven't only 6 min)

Pretty cool to see how God shows Himself down to the core of our being in case we didn't already know how amazing and awe inspiring He is.

- Andrew

Suffering

Hebrews is packed with encouraging verses in regards to life's trials & tribulations. We all have experienced them, and will continue to do so. I can honesty say in my journey with Jesus that my greatest, most difficult moments have brought me closer to Him. Not for a quick fix but to actually look inside myself and reflect. My prayers increase, I seek out wisdom from brothers, and the result is an indescribable amount of peace when things around me seem out of control. But more times than not I mess that up, and I try to take over. Because I think my life should go the way I want it.... Sound familiar?

You will see and hear the gospel proclaimed in many shapes and forms these days. The most popular is that God wants you to be healthy, happy, and successful. It becomes about YOU and not Jesus. It sells books, gets downloads, and feels good! But how come when I pick up my Bible I read a different message?

"Although he was his son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." Heb 5:8

"...for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world." Heb 9:26

"So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood." Heb 13:12

These are just out of the book of Hebrews. My aim with this post is not to discourage but encourage! Brothers, sisters, be encouraged! God sent His son to die on the cross for YOU! The greatest gift that you can ever receive. The gift of salvation. But why are we walking around with our heads down!? We won! Christ paid it, stamped it, walked it off. Yes, life is a challenge, but count it all joy when some adversity comes your way. He prescribes it. He knows what you can handle, and when to push you. Change your mind set and look to Him for rest. Cast your burdens on Him. He's good for that, He promises that.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."-Matthew 11:28

Lets live out lives that demonstrate that belief. Because that life is appealing to others. They want that, heck I want that! That's life with Jesus. Knowing with all your heart, no matter what you bring me Lord, I know I'm gonna make it through. Because I have You, what else do I need!?

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Heb 12:11

For the moment it seems painful, but later it yields peaceful fruit. 

If God is molding my messed up self to be more like Jesus through adversity, I guess I should submit to that. Because last time I checked, Jesus was a pretty cool dude. Be encouraged!


Blake Hawksworth

In Chirst

My pastor is in the middle of a series entitled Free. Basically the main point is that we were "in Adam" when he sinned, and we were "in Christ" when He died for our sins. So in Adam we were dead to sin and in Christ we were freed of the power of sin. Sometimes it is easier for me to believe that I was born a sinner than to believe that I was set free from sin when I became a Christian. This sermon has really opened my eyes to the fact that the power of the cross is exponentially more powerful than the sin of one mortal man. Sin is not my master and just speaking this truth over my life all throughout the day reminds me of that.


Romans 5:15
"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did Gods grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Faithful

1 Corinthians 1:9
"God , who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."

Sometimes thats all we need to know. Sometimes that's all we need to grasp. Sometimes that's all we need to think about. I'm so guilty of trying to over think what I read or "go deep" that I don't just stop and let the basic truths really sink in. God is faithful! He is faithful to himself. How would my life look different if every area of my life was wrapped around this truth?

I would love to hear some thoughts on how God has proven this in your life.
Love a good discussion.

Andrew