Northwest News!

I was doing a bit of study on this topic, and I thought I would send out a few links to some articles on the topic that may be of interest you.

http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/print/2255

http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/original_
sin_and_a_misapplied_passage

By Lori Lynne Vance

In the spring of 1997, I was watching the House Sub-committee hearings on the issue of Partial Birth Abortion. The usual suspects had gathered for the occasion, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the like. I listened with indignation as those abortion advocates seated at the table listed the reasons for this procedure to remain “medically necessary.” It was not long before I realized that these ranting liberals were talking about children like my own beautiful little daughter. I felt a righteous sense of rage welling up inside of me when people who did not even know her began talking as if she had no right to live in this country just because she was handicapped.

What these pro-aborts could not have known was that on the horizon, there was a storm brewing like none they had ever seen and likely never would again.

In the fall of 1991, I was told that the precious baby I carried in my womb had a fatal disorder of the brain. There was little or no brain tissue visible in the skull, she had Hydrocephalus, commonly known as water on the brain, and some brain was visible on the outside of her skull. I was told by every “expert” in high-risk maternal/fetal medicine that her condition was completely “incompatible with life”. I was offered a late term abortion, what I would come to know later as a Partial Birth Abortion, where the infant is delivered all but the head then stabbed to death by the abortionist and the brain is removed, the skull collapsed, and the dead baby is then disposed of like so much waste.

I absolutely refused.

While her early years were difficult and laborious, it was all worth it as I had a lively, pretty, blue-eyed bundle of joy to show for it by the name of Donna Joy. I knew she was special, but nobody knew how God was going to use her to impact the country with the first piece of abortion legislation since Roe v. Wade.

Following the broadcast of those hearings on C-span, I took Donna Joy to see our Congressman, Roscoe Bartlett, who then told U.S. Senator Rick Santorum about our story. Rick Santorum was the primary sponsor in the Senate to ban Partial Birth Abortions. He called, and Donna Joy and I set out on a journey that would be ten years of our lives, fulfilling a call by God to bring the voice of truth to the nation’s capitol. We did dozens of press conferences, talk radio and TV shows, and personal appearances. We visited with countless “fence sitting” national legislators and were visible in Washington whenever the subject was being debated. Legislators now had to deal with one reality: That this little child with so many brain abnormalities could not only survive, but thrive.

Pretending she did not exist had to be a difficult task for those on the left, especially for Senator Boxer of California who was so annoyed by her mere presence, that she had Donna Joy ejected from the Senate Gallery before the proceedings even began. Then, in the fall of 2003, the big day finally came. I will never forget what is was like to sit and watch from just a few feet away, as the President signed our bill into law, and more recently, the feeling of relief and pride at having it pass the Supreme Court 5-4, of being in awe at God’s work in this, and His mercy on our unworthy nation. It truly was validation that all of our hard work was worth it, that Donna’s struggle for life, as hard as it was at times, meant that hundreds of thousands of babies will no longer have to suffer through a “procedure” that could have been used to effect her untimely death.

I suppose I could have listened to all of the voices calling out for her murder, just because she may not be perfect. I could have listened to the voices of Planned Parenthood, and the “genetics counselors” who said it was OK to “just forget her” and get on with my life. “She’ll just be a burden,” they cried.

I CHOSE to hear the ONLY voice that mattered, the voice of truth. I put my hand on my swollen belly and felt her moving around, and I knew that her life did not belong to me, she belonged to her creator, God. He was giving me a gift, for however long, to enjoy, not to destroy.

View more pictures of Donna Joy

source–Operation Rescue

I just wanted to remind everyone about the walk on Friday.  We will be meeting up at the Waterfoot Hotel at about 6.00 PM and leaving promptly at 6.30 PM to walk the two bridges.  Don’t forget to bring along some money to buy drinks and snacks when we stop off at Sainsburys.  We hope to be back by 9.00 PM.  Also, depending on the weather, you might want to bring a jacket in case it gets cold or rains.

The following comes from an article by John MacArthur in the Pulpit Magazine. It is a great article that  he wrote for his church, but I think applies very definitely to our church as well.  I am so grateful for every one who works so hard in the ministry of our church and in serving others.  It is a beautiful thing when the brethren dwell together in unity.

Christianity is not a spectator sport. Practically the worst thing any churchgoer can do is be a hearer but not a doer (James 1:22-25). Christ himself pronounced doom on religious people who want to be mere bystanders (Matthew 7:26-27).

Something is seriously wrong in a church where the staff does all the “ministry” and people are made to feel comfortable as mere observers. One of the pastor’s main duties is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). Every believer is called to be a minister of some sort, with each of us using the unique gifts given us by God for the edification of the whole church (Rom. 12:6-8).

That’s why Scripture portrays the church as a body—an organism with many organs (1 Corinthians 12:14), where each member has a unique role (vv. 15-25), and all contribute something important to the life of the body. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (v. 26).

I can’t read that verse without thinking of Dizzy Dean. He was a Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher, whose career peaked in the 1930s. His 1934 season has never been excelled by any pitcher in history. Dean won thirty games that year, a feat that hasn’t been repeated since (though Dizzy himself came close, winning 28 games the following year). But in the 1937 All-Star game, he took a hard line drive off his toe, and the toe was broken. It should not have been a career-ending injury, but Dean was rushed back into the lineup before the fracture was completely healed, and he pitched several games favoring the sore toe. That led to an unnatural delivery that seriously injured his pitching arm. The arm never fully recovered. Dizzy Dean’s major-league career was essentially over in four years.

Something similar happens in any church where there are non-functioning members. The active members of the body become overextended, and the effectiveness of the whole body suffers greatly. Even the most insignificant member, like a toe, is designed to play a vital role.

That truth has been one of the main foundations of my approach to ministry for many years. When I first became pastor of Grace Community Church in 1969, I taught a series on Ephesians, and we spent a great deal of time studying the principle of Ephesians 4:11—that the pastor’s duty is to equip the saints, and it is their duty to shoulder the work of the ministry.

Our people quickly embraced that simple idea, and it transformed our church in a remarkable way. For one thing, we began to see dramatic growth. Within a matter of months, attendance on Sundays had ballooned to almost 1,000. About that same time, a well-known evangelical magazine asked a reporter to write an article about the growth of our church. He visited our services for several weeks, carefully observed how the ministry functioned, interviewed scores of people, and then wrote an article titled “The Church with 900 Ministers.”

That title perfectly summarized what has made Grace Church unique for all these years. Nowadays we have several thousand ministers, but the principle is still the same. Everyone is expected and encouraged to be involved in active ministry. Almost no one in our church would ever view ministry as the exclusive domain of professional clergy. If you want to be comfortable as a mere spectator, Grace Church is not the church for you.

Because only God could furnish a sacrifice of sufficient value, to compensate for the penalty of eternal hell that our sin demands, according to the righteous claims of divine justice.

It was only through taking on the form of a man (Philippians 2:5-8) that God in Christ could furnish satisfaction sufficient to atone for the sins of mankind; for only God in the form of a man could properly represent the human race and die for the sins of the whole world.

The Saviour of the world had to have unlimited ability (sovereignty) to atone for sin because He would be shedding His blood for all humankind.  He had to be perfect because God accepts only unblemished sacrifices.  Who could do that?  Only God.  And God the Son shed His own blood for us, and bought us out of sin and damnation.  (Acts 20:2 See Romans 5:18-19.  That is why God the Son took on flesh and became a man, without ceasing to be God.

No one man could have the effect Christ did on all of humanity.  Only God the Son could atone for all of humankind. As the Son of God, Christ turned away God’s wrath (propitiation); as the Son of Man, He atoned for our sin (expiation) and justified us.Our redemption, the crucial point on which all of Christianity rests, is dependent on Jesus Christ’s being not only man but also God.

It would not matter if he had died like hundreds of others had, if He was not the Christ - God robed in flesh.

Son of God has to do with His relationship with the Father; Son of Man deals with His relationship with us and the effects of sin towards us.  The title “Son of God” also shows that Christ has the same nature as the Father.

1. Isaiah 53:9-12  “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many”
2. I Corinthians 2:2  “I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified”
3. II Corinthians 5:21  “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin:
4. I Peter 3:18  “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust”

Summary of the incarnation:  If He wasn’t who He was it would not have mattered what He did.  Thousands have died on crosses, but who He was validated His death on
Calvary.  Who He was would not have mattered in regards to our salvation, if He had not died for us.  If He hadn’t died a vicarious (or substitutionary) death, it would not have mattered that He came to earth.  The “Old Rugged Cross” was different because of who hung on it – the perfect Son of God.

Many religions or faiths that do not believe in the deity of Christ, consequently reject Christ as Saviour and the way to heaven and eternal life.

Friday, 27 April, 6.30-9.00 PM

• Bring some money to stop off for a snack to eat! 

This activity is for ages 12 and up. 

We will meet at the Waterfoot Hotel at 6.30 PM and walk from there.

I hope that all of you have been enjoying and learning from the messages that have been preached over the last couple of months.  We have looked at some very exciting and important topics.  Thaddeus just recently finished a series entitled “Why the Cross?” that drove home to all of us the importance of Christ’s death on the cross.  You can view the notes from this series and others on our website by clicking here.

On Sunday mornings at 10.30 AM, we are going to look at “Essential Bible Truths” such as The Deity of Christ, Salvation, Repentance, and Regeneration.

On Sunday evenings at 7.00 PM, we are continuing our series in “The Book of Romans.”  We have already went through chapters 1-4 of Romans, and as we continue on we will be studying about: “The Benefits of Being Saved,” “How to Have Victory Over Sin in the Christian Life,” “The Role of the Law in the Christian Life,” “Sign of New Life in Christ,” and “The Security of the Believer.”

On Wednesday evenings at 7.30 PM, we are in our “Beginnings Series” from the book of Genesis.  We have covered Genesis 1-7, and you can view the sermon outlines by clicking here.  We have had a great time and I hope you will join us for these studies!

I have just uploaded some info onto the church webpage about our church’s missions and evangelism efforts. On our page, you can learn about the missionaries we are support, as well find out about an exciting evangelism and traning opportunity that our church will be hosting in October.  You will be able to learn more about how to evangelise and be able to put the things you learn into practice.  I hope that you will check out the trip and make plans to come, if you are interested.

Click here to read the mission page.

A gunman walks into engineering classrooms at Virginia Tech and opens fire on students and professors. Students jump out of classroom windows to get away from the carnage.  Then, the gunman, a student named Cho Seung-hui, turns the gun on himself.  In the worst school shooting in U.S. history, more than 30 students and professors are dead.

Immense tragedies such as this raise a host of questions. Where is God in all this? How could he allow this to happen? What kind of anguish would cause someone to randomly shoot people, and then commit suicide? What can we do as a society to prevent such tragedies in the future?

Click here for articles that answer these questions and more.

2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Peter warned the early believers to watch out for false teachers who were known for their own self-motivated interests. They would pervert the truth and because of their covetousness, they try to make merchandise of the sheep. To make merchandise of someone is very belittling. To use people for your own personal gain is wicked, and that is what so many false religions and false teachers do. They use God’s people in His church to finance and support their “ministries” by deceiving them and beguiling them with their new doctrines. I recently saw a flier in the mail that is advertising a prophecy conference. When I went to their website, I couldn’t find what they believed. I did some investigation and found out that the people who were involved believed in baptismal regeneration, Saturday Sabbath, and denied the eternality of hell. How did I hear about it? One of our church members alerted me and asked me to check it out.

Now, I have said all of that to apply it a little closer to home. What if you’re in a church where the leadership preaches the gospel, but they’re making merchandise of you? They use you as a means to build their agenda. It’s difficult to impossible to impugn the motives of another Christian, so let’s not try doing that. However, don’t be naive enough to think that it’s spiritual to take abuse. You may be being used and abused without really knowing it. I want to point out several characteristics of an abusive ministry:

1. Control and motivation by use of fear

The “cult” mentality that traps people in a church is the manipulation of fear. Fear of rejection by the leadership, fear of being labled or dis-fellowshipped. Fear of some judgment that God will exercise on you should you not comply with the church’s or the leaders wishes. If you are not inclined to go along with their program fully and willingly, then the use of fear may motivate you to do what they expect you to do. This motivation by fear is a control tactic.

2. Control and motivation by use of guilt

If fear dosn’t work on someone, there is always one vulnerable emotion that will: guilt. Because we are naturally at odds against God and His word, it is easy to manipulate someone’s will by making them to feel a sense of guilt if they are led to believe that by not following the leaders wishes, that the follower is somehow in transgression against God’s will. The best way to keep someone under their control in this manner is to keep them ignorant of Biblical truth. It is so easy to whip someone with scripture, when that poor, ignorant sheep doesn’t know scripture well enough to arm himself with truth and refute the leader’s abuse of the Bible. For example, one can use Acts 20:20 as a weapon against someone who has not been involved in the door to door soul winning program. The abusive leader can turn this DESCRIPTION into a PRESCRIPTION and the ignorant sheep has no knowledge to know the difference, and so under guilt he feels no choice but to either humbly submit, or rebel.

(”And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,”)

3. Measuring worth by performance

The value that someone has to God or to the church is measured by how they perform: How many do they bring on a bus, how many hours they are out soul winning, how long they’ve been a teacher, etc. This is ungodly and worldly. Does not the world measure the value of people in their orginizations this same way? God has made it clear that we are going to bear fruit some 10-fold, some 30-fold, some 100-fold, but it’s God who brings the increase not, the fruit bearer! Because this worldly mentality is pervasive, then the next problem arises:

4. Clicks are formed

A spirit of elitism can be easily formed in a church when there is a “top performers club” formed. Of course, there won’t be an actual club, but in all practicality, that is what happens. The leaders who set a very high level of performance bestow their blessing on those who are able to meet the standard. They get invited over to eat, they get privileged status with the leaders; and all though it’s unspoken, it’s very obvious to those trying to attain that status, but just don’t quite cut it.

5. Absolute Loyalty to it’s Leader

I guess this one should have been first, because it seems to be the most obvious, but I put it last because all the other manipulations point in this direction. Jesus is not glorified, a man is glorified. I’m not saying that no one SAYS “glory to God” but the reality of it is that the leader or even his mentor is idolized and cannot be questioned. If the leader is questioned about something he has said, or how he has interpreted scripture, or an action he has taken; then any questioning of him is considered to be rebellion as if someone would question the very word of God! The leader is untouchable, and even if he is involved in something where anyone else would be looked upon as very shady, he gets a pass because of his “Man of God” status that he has built for himself among his followers.

We as pastors and church leaders must handle the sheep with care and make sure that their loyalty is first to God and His Word long before it’s ever to us. Let us lead by love and good example rather than manipulation and fear. This is how Jesus led, let us do the same.