A Sermon (No. 1191)
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, September 6th, 1874, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

Jesus' Crucifixion

“…Christ died for the ungodly.”—Romans 5:6.

In this verse the human race is described as a sick man, whose disease is so far advanced that he is altogether without strength: no power remains in his system to throw off his mortal malady, nor does he desire to do so; he could not save himself from his disease if he would, and would not if he could. I have no doubt that the apostle had in his eye the description of the helpless infant given by the prophet Ezekiel; it was an infant—an infant newly born—an infant deserted by its mother before the necessary offices of tenderness had been performed; left unwashed, unclothed, unfed, a prey to certain death under the most painful circumstances, forlorn, abandoned, hopeless. Our race is like the nation of Israel, its whole head is sick, and its whole heart faint. Such, unconverted men, are you! Only there is this darker shade in your picture, that your condition is not only your calamity, but your fault. In other diseases men are grieved at their sickness, but this is the worst feature in your case, that you love the evil which is destroying you. In addition to the pity which your case demands, no little blame must be measured out to you: you are without will for that which is good, your “cannot” means “will not,” your inability is not physical but moral, not that of the blind who cannot see for want of eyes, but of the willingly ignorant who refuse to look.

While man is in this condition Jesus interposes for his salvation. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”; “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” according to “his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins.” The pith of my sermon will be an endeavour to declare that the reason of Christ’s dying for us did not lie in our excellence; but where sin abounded grace did much more abound, for the persons for whom Jesus died were viewed by him as the reverse of good, and he came into the world to save those who are guilty before God, or, in the words of our text, “Christ died for the ungodly.”
Now to our business. We shall dwell first upon the fact—”Christ died for the ungodly”; then we shall consider the fair inferences therefrom; and, thirdly, proceed to think and speak of the proclamation of this simple but wondrous truth.

First, here is THE FACT—”Christ died for the ungodly.” Never did the human ear listen to a more astounding and yet cheering truth. Angels desire to look into it, and if men were wise they would ponder it night and day. Jesus, the Son of God, himself God over all, the infinitely glorious One, Creator of heaven and earth, out of love to me stooped to become a man and die. Christ, the thrice holy God, the pure-hearted man, in whom there was no sin and could be none, espoused the cause of the wicked. Jesus, whose doctrine makes deadly war on sin, whose Spirit is the destroyer of evil, whose whole self abhors iniquity, whose second advent will prove his indignation against transgression, yet undertook the cause of the impious, and even unto death pursued their salvation. The Christ of God, though he had no part or lot in the fall and the sin which has arisen out of it, has died to redeem us from its penalty, and, like the psalmist, he can cry, “Then I restored that which I took not away.” Let all holy beings judge whether this is not the miracle of miracles!

Christ, the name given to our Lord, is an expressive word; it means “Anointed One,” and indicates that he was sent upon a divine errand, commissioned by supreme authority. The Lord Jehovah said of old, “I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people”; and again, “I have given him as a covenant to the people, a leader and commander to the people.” Jesus was both set apart to this work, and qualified for it by the anointing of the Holy Ghost. He is no unauthorised saviour, no amateur deliverer, but an ambassador clothed with unbounded power from the great King, a Redeemer with full credentials from the Father. It is this ordained and appointed Saviour who has “died for the ungodly.” Remember this, ye ungodly! Consider well who it was that came to lay down his life for such as you are.

The text says Christ died. He did a great deal besides dying, but the crowning act of his career of love for the ungodly, and that which rendered all the rest available to them, was his death for them. He actually gave up the ghost, not in fiction, but in fact. He laid down his life for us, breathing out his soul, even as other men do when they expire. That it might be indisputably clear that he was really dead, his heart was pierced with the soldier’s spear, and forthwith came there out blood and water. The Roman governor would not have allowed the body to be removed from the cross had he not been duly certified that Jesus was indeed dead. His relatives and friends who wrapped him in linen and laid him in Joseph’s tomb, were sorrowfully sure that all that lay before them was a corpse. The Christ really died, and in saying that, we mean that he suffered all the pangs incident to death; only he endured much more and worse, for his was a death of peculiar pain and shame, and was not only attended by the forsaking of man, but by the departure of his God. That cry, “My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” was the innermost blackness of the thick darkness of death.

Our Lord’s death was penal, inflicted upon him by divine justice; and rightly so, for on him lay our iniquities, and therefore on him must lay the suffering. “It pleased the Father to bruise him; he hath put him to grief.” He died under circumstances which made his death most terrible. Condemned to a felon’s gibbet, he was crucified amid a mob of jesters, with few sympathising eyes to gaze upon him; he bore the gaze of malice and the glance of scorn; he was hooted and jeered by a ribald throng, who were cruelly inventive in their taunts and blasphemies. There he hung, bleeding from many wounds, exposed to the sun, burning with fever, and devoured with thirst, under every circumstance of contumely, pain, and utter wretchedness; his death was of all deaths the most deadly death, and emphatically “Christ died.”

But the pith of the text comes here, that “Christ died for the ungodly”; not for the righteous, not for the reverent and devout, but for the ungodly. Look at the original word, and you will find that it has the meaning of “impious, irreligious, and wicked.” Our translation is by no means too strong, but scarcely expressive enough. To be ungodly, or godless, is to be in a dreadful state, but as use has softened the expression, perhaps you will see the sense more clearly if I read it, “Christ died for the impious,” for those who have no reverence for God. Christ died for the godless, who, having cast off God, cast off with him all love for that which is right. I do not know a word that could more fitly describe the most irreligious of mankind than the original word in this place, and I believe it is used on purpose by the Spirit of God to convey to us the truth, which we are always slow to receive, that Christ did not die because men were good, or would be good, but died for them as ungodly—or, in other words, “he came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Observe, then, that when the Son of God determined to die for men, he viewed them as ungodly, and far from God by wicked works. In casting his eye over our race he did not say, “Here and there I see spirits of nobler mould, pure, truthful, truth-seeking, brave, disinterested, and just; and therefore, because of these choice ones, I will die for this fallen race.” No; but looking on them all, he whose judgment is infallible returned this verdict, “They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Putting them down at that estimate, and nothing better, Christ died for them. He did not please himself with some rosy dream of a superior race yet to come, when the age of iron should give place to the age of gold,—some halcyon period of human development, in which civilisation would banish crime, and wisdom would conduct man back to God. Full well he knew that, left to itself, the world would grow worse and worse, and that by its very wisdom it would darken its own eyes. It was not because a golden age would come by natural progress, but just because such a thing was impossible, unless he died to procure it, that Jesus died for a race which, apart from him, could only develop into deeper damnation. Jesus viewed us as we really were, not as our pride fancies us to be; he saw us to be without God, enemies of our own Creator, dead in trespasses and sins, corrupt, and set on mischief, and even in our occasional cry for good, searching for it with blinded judgment and prejudiced heart, so that we put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. He saw that in us was no good thing, but every possible evil, so that we were lost,—utterly, helplessly, hopelessly lost apart from him: yet viewing us as in that graceless and Godless plight and condition, he died for us.

I would have you remember that the view under which Jesus beheld us was not only the true one, but, for us, the kindly one; because had it been written that Christ died for the better sort, then each troubled spirit would have inferred “he died not for me.” Had the merit of his death been the perquisite of honesty, where would have been the dying thief? If of chastity, where the woman that loved much? If of courageous fidelity, how would it have fared with the apostles, for they all forsook him and fled? There are times when the bravest man trembles lest he should be found a coward, the most disinterested frets about the selfishness of his heart, and the most pure is staggered by his own impurity; where, then, would have been hope for one of us, if the gospel had been only another form of law, and the benefits of the cross had been reserved as the rewards of virtue? The gospel does not come to us as a premium for virtue, but it presents us with forgiveness for sin. It is not a reward for health, but a medicine for sickness. Therefore, to meet all cases, it puts us down at our worst, and, like the good Samaritan with the wounded traveller, it comes to us where we are. “Christ died for the impious” is a great net which takes in even the leviathan sinner; and of all the creeping sinners innumerable which swarm the sea of sin, there is not one kind which this great net does not encompass.

Let us note well that in this condition lay the need of our race that Christ should die. I do not see how it could have been written “Christ died for the good.” To what end for the good? Why need they his death? If men are perfect, does God need to be reconciled to them? Was he ever opposed to holy beings? Impossible! On the other hand, were the good ever the enemies of God? If such there be are they not of necessity his friends? If man be by nature just with God, to what end should the Saviour die? “The just for the unjust” I can understand; but the “just dying for the just” were a double injustice—an injustice that the just should be punished at all, and another injustice that the just should be punished for them. Oh no! If Christ died, it must be because there was a penalty to be paid for sin committed, hence he must have died for those who had committed the sin. If Christ died, it must have been because “a fountain filled with blood” was necessary for the cleansing away of heinous stains; hence, it must have been for those who are defiled. Suppose there should be found anywhere in this world an unfallen man—perfectly innocent of all actual sin, and free from any tendency to it, there would be a superfluity of cruelty in the crucifixion of the innocent Christ for such an individual. What need has he that Christ should die for him, when he has in his own innocence the right to live? If there be found beneath the copes of heaven an individual who, notwithstanding some former slips and flaws, can yet, by future diligence, completely justify himself before God, then it is clear that there is no need for Christ to die for him. I would not insult him by telling him that Christ died for him, for he would reply to me, “Why should he? Cannot I make myself just without him?” In the very nature of things it must be so, that if Christ Jesus dies he must die for the ungodly. Such agonies as his would not have been endured had there not been a cause, and what cause could there have been but sin?

Some have said that Jesus died as our example; but that is not altogether true. Christ’s death is not absolutely an example for men, it was a march into a region of which he said, “Ye cannot follow me now.” His life was our example, but not his death in all respects, for we are by no means bound to surrender ourselves voluntarily to our enemies as he did, but when persecuted in one city we are bidden to flee to another. To be willing to die for the truth is a most Christly thing, and in that Jesus is our example; but into the winepress which he trod it is not ours to enter, the voluntary element which was peculiar to his death renders it inimitable. He said, “I lay down my life of myself; no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” One word of his would have delivered him from his foes; he had but to say “Begone!” and the Roman guards must have fled like chaff before the wind. He died because he willed to do so; of his own accord he yielded up his spirit to the Father. It must have been as an atonement for the guilty; it could not have been as an example, for no man is bound voluntarily to die. Both the dictates of nature, and the command of the law, require us to preserve our lives. “Thou shalt not kill” means “Thou shalt not voluntarily give up thine own life any more than take the life of another.” Jesus stood in a special position, and therefore he died; but his example would have been complete enough without his death, had it not been for the peculiar office which he had undertaken. We may fairly conclude that Christ died for men who needed such a death; and, as the good did not need it for an example—and in fact it is not an example to them—he must have died for the ungodly.

The sum of our text is this—all the benefits resulting from the Redeemer’s passion, and from all the works that followed upon it, are for those who by nature are ungodly. His gospel is that sinners believing in him are saved. His sacrifice has put away sin from all who trust him, and, therefore, it was offered for those who had sin upon them before. “He rose again for our justification,” but certainly not for the justification of those who can be justified by their own works. He ascended on high, and we are told that he “received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also.” He lives to intercede, and Isaiah tells us that “He made intercession for the transgressors.” The aim of his death, resurrection, ascension, and eternal life, is towards the sinful sons of men. His death has brought pardon, but it cannot be pardon for those who have no sin—pardon is only for the guilty. He is exalted on high “to give repentance,” but surely not to give repentance to those who have never sinned, and have nothing to repent of. Repentance and remission both imply previous guilt in those who receive them: unless, then, these gifts of the exalted Saviour are mere shams and superfluities, they must be meant for the really guilty. From his side there flowed out water as well as blood—the water is intended to cleanse polluted nature, then certainly not the nature of the sinless, but the nature of the impure; and so both blood and water flowed for sinners who need the double purification. To-day the Holy Spirit regenerates men as the result of the Redeemer’s death; and who can be regenerated but those who need a new heart and a right spirit? To regenerate the already pure and innocent were ridiculous; regeneration is a work which creates life where there was formerly death, gives a heart of flesh to those whose hearts were originally stone, and implants the love of holiness where sin once had sole dominion. Conversion is also another gift, which comes through his death, but does he turn those whose faces are already in the right direction? It cannot be. He converts the sinner from the error of his ways, he turns the disobedient into the right way, he leads back the stray sheep to the fold. Adoption is another gift which comes to us by the cross. Does the Lord adopt those who are already his sons by nature? If children already, what room is there for adoption? No; but the grand act of divine love is that which takes those who are “children of wrath even as others,” and by sovereign grace puts them among the children, and makes them “heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ.”

To-day I see the Good Shepherd in all the energy of his mighty love, going forth into the dreadful wilderness. For whom is he gone forth? For the ninety and nine who feed at home? No, but into the desert his love sends him, over hill and dale, to seek the one lost sheep which has gone astray. Behold, I see him arousing his church, like a good housewife, to cleanse her house. With the besom of the law she sweeps, and with the candle of the word she searches, and what for? For those bright new coined pieces fresh from the mint, which glitter safely in her purse? Assuredly not, but for that lost piece which has rolled away into the dust, and lies hidden in the dark corner. And lo! grandest of all visions! I see the Eternal Father, himself, in the infinity of his love, going forth in haste to meet a returning child. And whom does he go to meet? The elder brother returning from the field, bringing his sheaves with him? An Esau, who has brought him savoury meat such as his soul loveth? A Joseph whose godly life has made him lord over all Egypt? Nay, the Father leaves his home to meet a returning prodigal, who has companied with harlots, and grovelled among swine, who comes back to him in disgraceful rags, and disgusting filthiness! It is on a sinner’s neck that the Father weeps; it is on a guilty cheek that he sets his kisses; it is for an unworthy one that the fatted calf is killed, and the best robe is worn, and the house is made merry with music and with dancing. Yes, tell it, and let it ring round earth and heaven, Christ died for the ungodly. Mercy seeks the guilty, grace has to do with the impious, the irreligious and the wicked. The physician has not come to heal the healthy, but to heal the sick. The great philanthropist has not come to bless the rich and the great, but the captive and the prisoner. He puts down the mighty from their seats, for he is a stern leveller, but he has come to lift the beggar from the dunghill, and to set him among princes, even the princes of his people. Sing ye, then, with the holy Virgin, and let your song be loud and sweet,—”He hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he hath sent empty away.” “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” “He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” O ye guilty ones, believe in him and live.

II. Let us now consider THE PLAIN INFERENCES FROM THIS FACT. Let me have your hearts as well as your ears, especially those of you who are not yet saved, for I desire you to be blessed by the truths uttered; and oh, may the Spirit of God cause it to be so. It is clear that those of you who are ungodly—and if you are unconverted you are that—are in great danger. Jesus would not interpose his life and bear the bloody sweat and crown of thorns, and nails, and spear, and scorn unmitigated, and death itself, if there were not solemn need and imminent peril. There is danger, solemn danger, for you. You are under the wrath of God already, and you will soon die, and then, as surely as you live, you will be lost, and lost forever; as certain as the righteous will enter into everlasting life, you will be driven into everlasting punishment. The cross is the danger signal to you, it warns you that if God spared not his only Son, he will not spare you. It is the lighthouse set on the rocks of sin to warn you that swift and sure destruction awaits you if you continue to rebel against the Lord. Hell is an awful place, or Jesus had not needed to suffer such infinite agonies to save us from it.

It is also fairly to be inferred that out of this danger only Christ can deliver the ungodly, and he only through his death. If a less price than that of the life of the Son of God could have redeemed men, he would have been spared. When a country is at war, and you see a mother give up her only boy to fight her country’s battles—her only well-beloved, blameless son—you know that the battle must be raging very fiercely, and that the country is in stern danger: for, if she could find a substitute for him, though she gave all her wealth, she would lavish it freely to spare her darling. If she were certain that in his heart a bullet would find its target, she must have strong love for her country, and her country must be in dire necessity ere she would bid him go. If, then, “God spared not his Son, but freely delivered him up for us all,” there must have been a dread necessity for it. It must have stood thus: die he, or the sinner must, or justice must; and since justice could not, and the Father desired that the sinner should not, then Christ must; and so he did. Oh, miracle of love! I tell you, sinners, you cannot help yourselves, nor can all the priests of Rome or Oxford help you, let them perform their antics as they may; Jesus alone can save, and that only by his death. There on the bloody tree hangs all man’s hope; if you enter heaven it must be by force of the incarnate God’s bleeding out his life for you. You are in such peril that only the pierced hand can lift you out of it. Look to him, at once, I pray you, ere the proud waters go over your soul.

Then let it be noticed—and this is the point I want constantly to keep before your view—that Jesus died out of pure pity. He must have died out of the most gratuitous benevolence to the undeserving, because the character of those for whom he died could not have attracted him, but must have been repulsive to his holy soul. The impious, the godless—can Christ love these for their character? No, he loved them notwithstanding their offences, loved them as creatures fallen and miserable, loved them according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses and tender mercies, from pity, and not from admiration. Viewing them as ungodly, yet he loved them. This is extraordinary love! I do not wonder that some persons are loved by others, for they wear a potent charm in their countenances, their ways are winsome, and their characters charm you into affection; “but God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” He looked at us, and there was not a solitary beauty spot upon us: we were covered with “wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores,” distortions, defilements, and pollutions; and yet, for all that, Jesus loved us. He loved us because he would love us; because his heart was full of pity, and he could not let us perish. Pity moved him to seek the most needy objects that his love might display its utmost ability in lifting men from the lowest degradation, and putting them in the highest position of holiness and honour.

Observe another inference. If Christ died for the ungodly, this fact leaves the ungodly no excuse if they do not come to him, and believe in him unto salvation. Had it been otherwise they might have pleaded, “We are not fit to come.” But you are ungodly, and Christ died for the ungodly, why not for you? I hear the reply, “But I have been so very vile.” Yes, you have been impious, but your sin is not worse than this word ungodly will compass. Christ died for those who were wicked, thoroughly wicked. The Greek word is so expressive that it must take in your case, however wrongly you have acted. “But I cannot believe that Christ died for such as I am,” says one. Then, sir, mark! I hold you to your words, and charge you with contradicting the Eternal God to his teeth, and making him a liar. Your statement gives God the lie. The Lord declares that “Christ died for the ungodly,” and you say he did not, what is that but to make God a liar? How can you expect mercy if you persist in such proud unbelief? Believe the divine revelation. Close in at once with the gospel. Forsake your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall surely live. The fact that Christ died for the ungodly renders self-righteousness a folly. Why need a man pretend that he is good if “Christ died for the ungodly?” We have an orphanage, and the qualification for our orphanage is that the child for whom admission is sought shall be utterly destitute. I will suppose a widow trying to show to me and my fellow trustees that her boy is a fitting object for the charity; will she tell us that her child has a rich uncle? Will she enlarge upon her own capacities for earning a living? Why, this would be to argue against herself, and she is much too wise for that, I warrant you, for she knows that any such statements would damage rather than serve her cause. So, sinner, do not pretend to be righteous, do not dream that you are better than others, for that is to argue against yourself. Prove that you are not by nature ungodly, and you prove yourself to be one for whom Jesus did not die. Jesus comes to make the ungodly godly, and the sinful holy, but the raw material upon which he works is described in the text not by its goodness but by its badness; it is for the ungodly that Jesus died. “Oh, but if I felt!” Felt what? Felt something which would make you better? Then you would not so clearly come under the description here given. If you are destitute of good feelings, and thoughts, and hopes, and emotions, you are ungodly, and “Christ died for the ungodly.” Believe in him and you shall be saved from that ungodliness.

“Well,” cries out some Pharisaic moralist, “this is dangerous doctrine.” How so? Would it be dangerous doctrine to say that physicians exercise their skill to cure sick people and not healthy ones? Would that encourage sickness? Would that discourage health? You know better; you know that to inform the sick of a physician who can heal them is one of the best means for promoting their cure. If ungodly and impious men would take heart and run to the Saviour, and by him become cured of impiety and ungodliness, would not that be a good thing? Jesus has come to make the ungodly godly, the impious pious, the wicked obedient, and the dishonest upright. He has not come to save them in their sins, but from their sins; and this is the best of news for those who are diseased with sin. Self-righteousness is a folly, and despair is a crime, since Christ died for the ungodly. None are excluded hence but those who do themselves exclude; this great gate is set so wide open that the very worst of men may enter, and you, dear hearer, may enter now.
I think it is also very evident from our text that when they are saved, the converted find no ground of boasting; for when their hearts are renewed and made to love God they cannot say, “See how good I am,” because they were not so by nature; they were ungodly, and, as such, Christ died for them. Whatever goodness there may be in them after conversion they ascribe it to the grace of God, since by nature they were alienated from God, and far removed from righteousness. If the truth of natural depravity be but known and felt, free grace must be believed in, and then all glorying is at an end.

This will also keep the saved ones from thinking lightly of sin. If God had forgiven sinners without an atonement they might have thought little of transgression, but now that pardon comes to them through the bitter griefs of their Redeemer they cannot but see it to be an exceeding great evil. When we look to Jesus dying on the cross we end our dalliance with sin, and utterly abhor the cause of so great suffering to so dear a Saviour. Every wound of Jesus is an argument against sin. We never know the full evil of our iniquities till we see what it cost the Redeemer to put them away.
Salvation by the death of Christ is the strongest conceivable promoter of all the things which are pure, honest, lovely, and of good report. It makes sin so loathsome that the saved one cannot take up even its name without dread. “I will take away the name of Baalim out of thy mouth.” He looks upon it as we should regard a knife rusted with gore, wherewith some villain had killed our mother, our wife, or child. Could we play with it? Could we bear it about our persons or endure it in our sight? No, accursed thing! stained with the heart’s blood of my beloved, I would fain fling thee into the bottomless abyss! Sin is that dagger which stabbed the Saviour’s heart, and henceforth it must be the abomination of every man who has been redeemed by the atoning sacrifice.

To close this point. Christ’s death for the ungodly is the grandest argument to make the ungodly love him when they are saved. To love Christ is the mainspring of obedience in men—how shall men be led to love him? If you would grow love, you must sow love. Go, then; and let men know the love of Christ to sinners, and they will, by grace, be moved to love him in return. No doubt all of us require to know the threatenings of the wrath of God; but that which soonest touches my heart is Christ’s free love to an unworthy one like myself. When my sins seem blackest to me, and yet I know that through Christ’s death I am forgiven, this blest assurance melts me down.

“If thou hadst bid thy thunders roll,
And lightnings flash, to blast my soul.
I still had stubborn been;
But mercy has my heart subdued,
A bleeding Saviour I have view’d,
And now I hate my sin.”

I have heard of a soldier who had been put in prison for drunkenness and insubordination several times and he had been also flogged, but nothing improved him. At last he was taken in the commission of another offence, and brought before the commanding officer, who said to him, “My man, I have tried everything in the martial code with you, except shooting you; you have been imprisoned and whipped, but nothing has changed you. I am determined to try something else with you. You have caused us a great deal of trouble and anxiety, and you seem resolved to do so still; I shall, therefore, change my plans with you, and I shall neither fine you, flog you, nor imprison you; I will see what kindness will do, and therefore I fully and freely forgive you.” The man burst into tears, for he reckoned on a round number of lashes, and had steeled himself to bear them, but when he found he was to be forgiven, and set free, he said, “Sir, you shall not have to find fault with me again.” Mercy won his heart. Now, sinner, in that fashion God is dealing with you. Great sinners! Ungodly sinners! God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways. I have threatened you, and you hardened your hearts against me. Therefore, come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “Well,” says one, “I am afraid if you talk to sinners so they will go and sin more and more.” Yes, there are brutes everywhere, who can be so unnatural as to sin because grace abounds, but I bless God there is such a thing as the influence of love, and I am rejoiced that many feel the force of it, and yield to the conquering arms of amazing grace. The Spirit of God wins the day by such arguments as these; love is the great battering-ram which opens gates of brass. When the Lord says, “I have blotted out thy transgressions like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thine iniquities,” then the man is moved to repentance.

I can tell you hundreds and thousands of cases in which this infinite love has done all the good that morality itself could ask to have done; it has changed the heart and turned the entire current of the man’s nature from sin to righteousness. The sinner has believed, repented, turned from his evil ways, and become zealous for holiness. Looking to Jesus he has felt his sin forgiven, and he has started up a new man, to lead a new life. God grant it may be so this morning, and he shall have all the glory of it.

III. So now we must close—and this is the last point—THE PROCLAMATION OF THIS FACT, that “Christ died for the ungodly.” I would not mind if I were condemned to live fifty years more, and never to be allowed to speak but these five words, if I might be allowed to utter them in the ear of every man, and woman, and child who lives. “CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY” is the best message that even angels could bring to men. In the proclamation of this the whole church ought to take its share. Those of us who can address thousands should be diligent to cry aloud—”Christ died for the ungodly”; but those of you who can speak to one, or write a letter to one, must keep on at this—”Christ died for the ungodly.” Shout it out, or whisper it out; print it in capitals, or write it in a lady’s hand—”Christ died for the ungodly.” Speak it solemnly, it is not a thing for jest. Speak it joyfully; it is not a theme for sorrow, but for joy. Speak it firmly; it is indisputable fact. Facts of science, as they call them, are always questioned: this is unquestionable. Speak it earnestly; for if there be any truth which ought to arouse all a man’s soul it is this: “Christ died for the ungodly.” Speak it where the ungodly live, and that is at your own house. Speak it also down in the dark corners of the city, in the haunts of debauchery, in the home of the thief, in the den to the depraved. Tell it in the gaol; and sit down at the dying bed and read in a tender whisper—”Christ died for the ungodly.” When you pass the harlot in the street, do not give a toss with that proud head of yours, but remember that “Christ died for the ungodly”; and when you recollect those that injured you, say no bitter word, but hold your tongue, and remember “Christ died for the ungodly.” Make this henceforth the message of your life—”Christ died for the ungodly.”

And, oh, dear friends, you that are not saved, take care that you receive this message. Believe it. Go to God with this on your tongue—”Lord save me, for Christ died for the ungodly, and I am of them.” Fling yourself right on to this as a man commits himself to his lifebelt amid the surging billows. “But I do not feel,” says one. Trust not your feelings if you do; but with no feelings and no hopes of your own, cling desperately to this, “Christ died for the ungodly.” The transforming, elevating, spiritualising, moralising, sanctifying power of this great fact you shall soon know and be no more ungodly; but first, as ungodly, rest you on this, “Christ died for the ungodly.” Accept this truth, my dear hearer, and you are saved. I do not mean merely that you will be pardoned, I do not mean that you will enter heaven, I mean much more; I mean that you will have a new heart; you will be saved from the love of sin, saved from drunkenness, saved from uncleanness, saved from blasphemy, saved from dishonesty. “Christ died for the ungodly”—if that be really known and trusted in, it will open in your soul new springs of living water which will cleanse the Augean stable of your nature, and make a temple of God of that which was before a den of thieves. Trust in the mercy of God through the death of Jesus Christ, and a new era in your life’s history will at once commence.

Having put this as plainly as I know how, and having guarded my speech to prevent there being anything like a flowery sentence in it, having tried to put this as clearly as daylight itself,—that “Christ died for the ungodly,” if your ears refuse the precious boons that come through the dying Christ, your blood be on your own heads, for there is no other way of salvation for any one among you. Whether you reject or accept this, I am clear. But oh! do not reject it, for it is your life. If the Son of God dies for sinners, and sinners reject his blood, they have committed the most heinous offence possible. I will not venture to affirm, but I do suggest that the devils in hell are not capable of so great a stretch of criminality as is involved in the rejection of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Here lies the highest love. The incarnate God bleeds to death to save men, and men hate God so much that they will not even have him as he dies to save them. They will not be reconciled to their Creator, though he stoops from his loftiness to the depths of woe in the person of his Son on their behalf. This is depravity indeed, and desperateness of rebellion. God grant you may not be guilty of it. There can be no fiercer flame of wrath than that which will break forth from love that has been trampled upon, when men have put from them eternal life, and done despite to the Lamb of God. “Oh,” says one, “would God I could believe!” “Sir, what difficulty is there in it? Is it hard to believe the truth? Darest thou belie thy God? Art thou steeling thy heart to such desperateness that thou wilt call thy God a liar?” “No; I believe Christ died for the ungodly,” says one, “but I want to know how to get the merit of that death applied to my own soul.” Thou mayest, then, for here it is—”He that believeth in him,” that is, he that trusts in him, “is not condemned.” Here is the gospel and the whole of it—”He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be damned.”

I am a poor weak man like yourselves, but my gospel is not weak; and it would be no stronger if one of “the mailed cherubim, or sworded seraphim” could take the platform and stand here instead of me. He could tell to you no better news. God, in condescension to your weakness, has chosen one of your fellow mortals to bear to you this message of infinite affection. Do not reject it! By your souls’ value, by their immortality, by the hope of heaven and by the dread of hell, lay hold upon eternal life; and by the fear that this may be your last day on earth, yea, and this evening your last hour, I do beseech you now, “steal away to Jesus.” There is life in a look at the crucified one; there is life at this moment for you. Look to him now and live. Amen.

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Romans 5:1-11 (English Standard Version)

Peace with God Through Faith

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

(English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

The cultural shift toward Darwinian humanism was displayed in its fullest form yet in the elections of 2008 in the US. Here is one theologian’s perspective that I HOPE will be the normal reaction from professing Christians to this year’s presidential election.

Since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ, in God. Colossians 3:1-3

How do you tell the difference between Democratic and Republican principles and those of the socialist and communist caste? What’s the difference between a private organization giving grants to individuals or other organizations and the government doing it? What is the role of government in people’s lives? Who are the government servants suppose to serve – themselves or the people?

This video is a brief but outstanding examination of the current competing ideologies at war for the right of entrance into the White House. Take some time to educate yourself on them. Compare them to your Constitution… how do they measure up?

“MAN IS NOT FREE UNLESS GOVERNMENT IS LIMITED.” Ronald Reagan in his farewell address to the nation.

You Tube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suTvLe7kYDE

Senator Barack Obama voted to block a BAIPA bill – Born Alive Infant Protection Act – in the Illinois Senate… 4 times. Is this the kind of man we want sitting in the Oval Office? Or do we want someone sitting there who will affirm life? You decide this Nov. 4th… with your vote. Don’t stay home and essentially vote present… cast an early ballot, or go to the polling place on election day.

Please repost this video on your personal blogs, and send it to your friends and family via email. Be sure to go to the You Tube page and rate it and feel free to leave a comment…

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.” Prov 31:8 NIV

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Related posts:
Massacre of Innocence

True Colors – The Blatant Arrogance of Eugenics

The Quick and the Dead

Jonathan Edwards

Friends, there is no need to fret when evil people do well or attack you without cause. When they lie to you or about you, when they try to crush you out of jealousy and grasp for power. Don’t worry when they try to use you for your good reputation only to destroy it in the eyes of man. The Lord God sees what they’ve done to you – just trust that he will take up your defense, and that he will make short work of even those who call themselves righteous and yet are more of a son of the devil than the ones they preach against so eloquently.

Even though we know evil people will be punished for their misdeeds, we should not be joyous about this. It is a fearful thing to know that a fellow human is working so diligently to fill up his cup of wrath… very fearful indeed. I would not stand anywhere near him if I were you.

Sincerely, The Reformed Faith Administrator.
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Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, “No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself — I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief — Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me.”

- Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God”

You can find the text of the entire sermon and other classic works of Christian theology and literature HERE.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/excerpt-from-jonathan-edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-god/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Jonathan Edwards http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/family-friendly-online-bookstore-holds-first-kids%e2%80%99-choice-book-awards/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/family-friendly-online-bookstore-holds-first-kids%e2%80%99-choice-book-awards/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:45:47 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=290 ]]>

ABUNGA.COM CALLS KIDS TO THE VOTING POLLS:
Online Bookstore Holds First Kids’ Choice Book Awards

Press Release

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., July 8, 2008 – Abunga.com, the family-friendly online bookstore, is hosting their first Abunga.com Kids’ Choice Book Awards. Now through Sept. 1, children pre-kindergarten through 12th grade can log onto Abunga.com/kidschoice and nominate their favorite summer reading book.
“Abunga.com wants to encourage children of all ages to dive into a few good books this summer,” said Abunga.com Chairman Lee Martin. “With families cutting down on summer travel due to the rising cost of gas and food, reading offers children the opportunity to journey to another time and place and experience the many adventures of a book.”

Nominations for the 2008 Abunga.com Kids’ Choice Book Awards will be accepted in the categories of grades pre-kindergarten through first, second through third, fourth through fifth, sixth through eighth and ninth through 12th. All children who log onto Abunga.com with their parent’s permission and provide a nomination and parent’s contact e-mail address will be eligible for a $20 Abunga.com gift card. One gift card will be awarded in each category. Printable summer reading bookmarks that include a place for children to write down their favorite books will also be available at the site.
The winning books and authors will be announced Sept. 15. Winning authors will receive a feature spot on the Abunga.com home page from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 and will be listed on the Abunga.com Kids’ Choice Awards Web page for one full year until the 2009 awards. Children awarded Abunga.com gift cards will also be recognized by first name on the Abunga.com Kids’ Choice Awards Web page.

“We are eager to see the variety of books that so many young readers will take the initiative to nominate,” Martin said. “Summer reading helps kids stay at the top of their academic game when school is out, and we hope this award adds a little extra incentive to discover a good book.”

Abunga.com is an online bookstore founded to provide families a protected shopping environment. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Abunga.com offers more than 1.6 million family-friendly books, savings through distributor-direct prices and support to nonprofit organizations by donating 5 percent of each transaction to a customer-selected charity. For more information, visit www.Abunga.com or read the blog about this here:

Book Awards Poll PLUS a $20 gift certificate for the kids.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/family-friendly-online-bookstore-holds-first-kids%e2%80%99-choice-book-awards/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/was-it-morally-wrong-for-bush-to-attend-the-olympics/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/was-it-morally-wrong-for-bush-to-attend-the-olympics/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:24:41 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=281 ]]>

The Olympics Logo.

I am not watching the Olympics this year. The reason I am not watching the games is not because of any protest or boycott or any other really noble cause, although I wholeheartedly support these types of things when circumstances warrant. When a good friend told me their family was boycotting them, I said, “Good! Me too… just like I do every 4 years.” I am not watching the olympics because I think they are boring. It just seemed a little silly to claim I wasn’t watching THIS year because I was boycotting them.

I’m not much a of a sports fan. Never really have been. I think watching sports is about as stimulating as getting my body checked for suspicious moles or (no offense to stargazers out there) waiting an hour to catch a glimpse of one shooting star only to recover from a sneeze just as everyone says, “OOoooh, There goes one! Did you see it?”.

Not boycotting the Olympics this year yourself? That’s okay, I suppose. President Bush went to the Olympics this year much to the chagrin of many human rights activists who thought he should have used it as an opportunity to shame China for their many documented human rights abuses.

But as Chuck Colson observed, going to the Olympics turned out for Bush to be a very good opportunity to speak out indeed… loud enough for many of the Chinese people (and it’s government) to hear loud and clear…

See what I mean by reading the August 15th Break Point Chuck Colson commentary

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/was-it-morally-wrong-for-bush-to-attend-the-olympics/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog This image is believed to be in the public domain. http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/abortionist-indicted-in-2007-abortion-death-of-22-year-old-woman/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/abortionist-indicted-in-2007-abortion-death-of-22-year-old-woman/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:21:17 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=273 ]]>

A Barnstable County, Massachusetts grand jury has indicted former Massachusetts abortionist Rapin Osathanondh in the abortion related death of 22 year old Laura Hope Smith. The grand jury investigation discovered attempts by Osathanondh, who was a Harvard Fellow, to cover up his neglect of safety procedures that resulted in the death of Miss Smith on September 13th, 2007.

Eileen Smith, Laura’s mother, spoke with CWA Policy Analyst Martha Kleder about this latest development.

Abortion Doctor Indicted in \"Legal\" Abortion Death. Evidence Shows Cover-up.

It’s time for the church to wake up on this issue. It’s not just the babies lives that are at stake.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/abortionist-indicted-in-2007-abortion-death-of-22-year-old-woman/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/steven-curtis-and-mary-beth-chapman-on-faith-and-their-daughters-tragic-death/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/steven-curtis-and-mary-beth-chapman-on-faith-and-their-daughters-tragic-death/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:44:33 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=242 ]]>

If you missed the Robin Roberts of Good Morning America sensitive interview with Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman on Good Morning America (Aug 6, 2008), you can still see their converstation about the death of their daughter and how it effected their faith here.

There is also a very moving article by Janice Johnston and Emily Yacus on the ABC website. The article also contains the complete video interview.

Please continue to pray for the Chapman family.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/steven-curtis-and-mary-beth-chapman-on-faith-and-their-daughters-tragic-death/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/steven-curtis-chapman-to-appear-on-good-morning-america-aug-6/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/steven-curtis-chapman-to-appear-on-good-morning-america-aug-6/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:19:26 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=238 ]]>

Grammy- and Dove-Award winning artist Steven Curtis Chapman, along with his wife MaryBeth and eldest children Emily, Caleb, and Will, are scheduled to appear Wednesday, August 6 on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Their interview with Robin Roberts, done at the family home in TN, will air during the 8 am (ET) hour.

The family will then appear in a live interview from L.A. on…

Read the rest of this post HERE.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/steven-curtis-chapman-to-appear-on-good-morning-america-aug-6/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/death-by-legal-abortion/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/death-by-legal-abortion/#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:43:01 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=231 ]]>

You might have thought when you read the title of this post that I was referring to the babies involved in the abortion procedure. Everyone knows that an abortion ends the life of a human being (and I am using scientific terminology when I call a “fetus” a human being. Check your biology textbooks…), but I was actually referring to deaths involving the patient… women seeking legal abortions dying along with their “fetus” (baby).

A great majority of the public has a very limited understanding about abortion and everything it entails. Many consider it the “right” of a woman to determine what she does with her own body, and unless you are thinking truly in biblical terms, I suppose that it is the right of a woman to do what she wants to with her own body… but what about someone else’s body? But I’m not even going to get into that here. I’m talking about women who have died at the hands of abortionists… as a direct result of seeking out a legal abortion.

These women were not seeking out a back-alley abortionist. They went to storefront abortion clinics and licensed hospitals. They went in thinking they were making their lives easier and ending unwanted pregnancies. They exited either in ambulances or body bags. These are REAL WOMEN, making a choice they believed in enough to walk into a clinic, thinking that abortion is always safe.

They were wrong.

THE TOMBSTONE PROJECT is a list of women who have died from an abortion procedure. Life Dynamics sells a poster of this list with these tragic occurrences up to the year 1998. This is not a complete list, and the list has been lengthened since the poster was designed and printed.

So, if you think that no one gets hurt by legal abortion, think again. The life you save may be your own…

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/death-by-legal-abortion/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/health-abortion-kills-two-instead-of-one-a-look-into-one-tiller-abortion-and-how-it-effected-a-womans-life-forever/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/health-abortion-kills-two-instead-of-one-a-look-into-one-tiller-abortion-and-how-it-effected-a-womans-life-forever/#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:17:47 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=224 ]]>

It is said by many pro-lifers that when a woman gets an abortion, two walk into the clinic, but only one comes out alive.

In January of 2005, an ambulance was called to one of George Tiller’s clinics. The body of a 19 year old down syndrome woman was taken by that ambulance to a local hospital, but it was too late. She was dead before she ever left Tiller’s clinic. (Please! No Sirens! was the plea of the clinic worker calling for an ambulance… those kinds of things draw too much attention, don’t they?)

The clinic apparently showed considerable negligence when contacting EMS, claiming the patient was not in any serious, life-threatening danger, when in fact she had already gone into septic shock and was well on her way to death’s door… she was in cardiac arrest and the person trying to revive her was performing CPR on a clinically dead patient.

Christin Gilbert is just one example of a women who went into an abortion clinic for an “elective” abortion who was irreversibly harmed by the abortion she “chose”. One must note that Miss Gilbert, although 19 years old and considered an adult, had down syndrome and was considered incompetent and so her parents made the decision to abort her child. Unfortunately for the child, it was the product of a sexual assault. I’m sure the parents reasoned that the child’s birth would have been too traumatic for their daughter.

One must also make a note (and highlight it in very florescent yellow ink) that in order to do a late-term abortion as Tiller was once able to legally perform until the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on them, the parents (or husband, friend, or other caretaker) are charged with the care of the individual (NOT a medical professional) in a hotel room for the entire three day abortion process, with the exception of the short period of time the patient is actually undergoing the direct “medical” procedures, such as the injection of a lethal substance into the heart of the pre-born “fetus”, premature dilation of the cervix, and labor induction.

The facts in Christin’s case show the flimsy logic of many pro-abortion proponents who argue that abortion should be allowed at any stage for the “health of the mother”, claiming that if a woman’s health is at stake, she should be able to get an abortion, even if the fetus is at a viable stage. This abortion was stamped big as day with an okay for health reasons. Perhaps Christin’s loss is an acceptable one for them, but I doubt her poor parents felt the same way once it was all over.

Christin was healthy and had no other disorders or health issues other than being a down syndrome person. She was not in any immediate danger because of her pregnancy. The child’s DNA was not tested to determine whether it would also have Down Syndrome… but even if it were tested, is a person’s value based on whether or not they have Down Syndrome? Was Christin less valuable because of her condition? And WHY was this not NATIONAL NEWS considering the charges that have been leveled at Tiller and his clinics?

Read more about the details of this case at REAL CHOICE.

This incident gives new meaning to the term assigned to George Tiller by many pro-life workers… Tiller the Killer, and for this case especially, that unsavory moniker rings so very true.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/health-abortion-kills-two-instead-of-one-a-look-into-one-tiller-abortion-and-how-it-effected-a-womans-life-forever/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/governmental-acknowledgment-of-the-divine-do-you-know-the-preamble-for-your-state/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/governmental-acknowledgment-of-the-divine-do-you-know-the-preamble-for-your-state/#comments Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:28:57 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=212 ]]>

Do you know the Preamble for your state? . . .

Alabama
1901, Preamble
We the people of the State of Alabama , invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution..

Alaska
1956, Preamble
We, the people of Alaska , grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.

Arizona
1911, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Arizona , grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution…

Arkansas
1874, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Arkansas , grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government…

California
1879, Preamble
We, the People of the State of California , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…

Colorado
1876, Preamble
We, the people of Colorado , with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe…

Connecticut
1818, Preamble.
The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.

Delaware
1897, Preamble
Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.

Florida
1885, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Florida , grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution…

Georgia
1777, Preamble
We, the people of Georgia , relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution…

Hawaii
1959, Preamble
We , the people of Hawaii , Grateful for Divine Guidance … Establish this Constitution.

Idaho
1889, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Idaho , grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.

Illinois
1870, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil , political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

Indiana
1851, Preamble
We, the People of the State of Indiana , grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government.

Iowa
1857, Preamble
We, the People of the St ate of Iowa , grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings, establish this Constitution.

Kansas
1859, Preamble
We, the people of Kansas , grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.

Kentucky
1891, Preamble.
We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties…

Louisiana
1921, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

Maine
1820, Preamble
We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity .. And imploring His aid and direction.

Maryland
1776, Preamble
We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty…

Massachusetts
1780, Preamble
We…the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction.

Michigan
1908, Preamble.
We, the people of the State of Michigan , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, establish this Constitution.

Minnesota
1857, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:

Mississippi
1890, Preamble
We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Al mighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.

Missouri
1845, Preamble
We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness . Establish this Constitution…

Montana
1889, Preamble.
We, the people of Montana , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ..

Nebraska
1875, Preamble
We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom . Establish this Constitution.

Nevada
1864, Preamble
We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, establish this Constitution…

New Hampshire
1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey
1844, Preamble
We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

New Mexico
1911, Preamble
We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty..

New York
1846, Preamble
We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

North Carolina
1868, Preamble
We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those…

North Dakota
1889, Preamble
We , the people of North Dakota , grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain…

Ohio
1852, Preamble
We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common.

Oklahoma
1907, Preamble
Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty, establish this

Oregon
1857, Bill of Rights, Article I Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences

Pennsylvania
1776, Preamble
We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance….

Rhode Island
1842, Preamble.
We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing…

South Carolina
1778, Preamble
We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

South Dakota
1889, Preamble
We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties .

Tennessee
1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience…

Texas
1845, Preamble
We the People of the Republic of Texas , acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God.

Utah
1896, Preamble
Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.

Vermont
1777, Preamble
Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man .

Virginia
1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other

Washington
1889, Preamble
We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution

West Virginia
1872, Preamble
Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God …

Wisconsin
1848, Preamble
We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility…

Wyoming
1890, Preamble
We, the people of the State of Wyoming , grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties, establish this Constitution…

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/governmental-acknowledgment-of-the-divine-do-you-know-the-preamble-for-your-state/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/album-release-perry-lahaie-to-release-endless-fields-on-september-16-2008/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/album-release-perry-lahaie-to-release-endless-fields-on-september-16-2008/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:41:40 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=205 ]]>

Endless Fields

Nashville, TN – Singer/songwriter Perry LaHaie, in partnership with Infinity U, has announced the September 16, 2008 release of Endless Fields, his national debut album, produced by GRAMMY and Dove Award-nominated producer Brian Hardin (FFH, Paul Alan, Manic Drive, Vicki Yohe). Endless Fields fuses modern acoustic rock and a passionate layering of electric guitars with lyrics that reveal LaHaie’s heart for the nations.

In 2007, armed with a purpose to share God’s grace with those who’ve never had a chance to experience it, LaHaie embarked on a journey that has forever changed his life. He left his job as the afternoon drive personality/assistant general manager for the award-winning 99.7 Family Life Radio in Midland, Mich., to move his family across the country to Phoenix, Ariz., to join Frontiers, an international community of people inviting Muslims all over the world to follow Jesus. Of LaHaie’s music ministry, which has taken him all over the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, Russia and Belgium, he says, “I made this move because of the astounding grace of Jesus Christ in my life. There are people who’ve never had the opportunity to experience the freedom of God’s forgiveness. I have a passion for reaching those people.”

“Perry LaHaie’s music conveys not only God’s heart for the unreached, but a deep longing to be used by God for His purposes on the earth,” says David Harriman, Director of Advancement for Frontiers. “Perry’s sense of yearning, joy and privilege is contagious.”

LaHaie is contributing half of the proceeds from the sales of Endless Fields to Frontiers. The organization has workers in over 40 Muslim countries sharing their lives and faith with their Muslim neighbors while pursuing various vocations. Their work involves everything from helping local economies through starting businesses or working for local businesses, to purifying water, to helping AIDS victims, to health care, to the arts. They show love and build trust over many years with their Muslim neighbors to win the right to share Jesus with them. Frontiers workers may stay in the field from two weeks to two years or longer. The goal of Frontiers is to establish communities of Muslim-born believers in Jesus around the world. So far, Frontiers workers have seen 200 of these fellowships birthed in the Muslim world.

With the release of Endless Fields, LaHaie hopes to extend his impact for the kingdom of God by compelling others to reach out to Muslim communities throughout the world. “It is my hope and prayer that this project will inspire followers of Jesus in America to get involved in what God is doing in the Muslim world,” explains LaHaie. “I discovered that 95% of workers from the West are focused on sharing the Gospel with already reached people groups, i.e. groups of people where many believers in Jesus already exist. Only 5% of workers are focused on people groups who have not heard the Gospel even once.”

“There are about 6,500 ethnic/language groups of people without the Gospel, and of those groups, there are 247 Muslim groups of 100,000 or more people with absolutely no Christian witness,” LaHaie continues. “There are currently only two workers for every one million Muslims throughout the world. I know that the Lord longs for these precious people to know His love and forgiveness and for His glory to shine among them.”

LaHaie has created the one-minute radio feature/podcast “Cast Yourself In” to tell stories of what Jesus is doing in the Muslim world and how believers can join in the work. Launched in April 2008, this radio feature/podcast airs on 31 radio outlets, as well as LaHaie’s website.

Perry LaHaie’s Endless Fields will be distributed by Infinity Music Distribution. For more information on Perry LaHaie and his new album, Endless Fields, visit www.perrylahaie.com. For more information on Frontiers, visit www.frontiers.org.

For further information or to schedule an interview, contact:

McCain & Co. Public Relations
email: mccainprnews@mccainpr.com
phone: 615-262-1727

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/album-release-perry-lahaie-to-release-endless-fields-on-september-16-2008/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog Endless Fields http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/the-sword-of-the-spirit/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/the-sword-of-the-spirit/#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:35:31 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=199 ]]>

I came across this great sermon by one of my favorite historic figures, and I wanted to post it here for your perusal and meditation.

The Sword of the Spirit

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892)
Preached on April 19th, 1891

“Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”—Ephesians 6:17.

To be a Christian is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, “This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition.”

Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground; for the apostle, two or three times, bids us—”Stand.” In the rush of the fight, men are apt to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will be victorious; but if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries, everything is lost. You are to put on the heavenly armor in order that you may stand; and you will need it to maintain the position in which your Captain has placed you. If even to stand requires all this care, judge ye what the warfare must be! The apostle also speaks of withstanding as well as standing. We are not merely to defend, but also to assail. It is not enough that you are not conquered; you have to conquer: and hence we find, that we are to take, not only a helmet to protect the head, but also a sword, with which to annoy the foe. Ours, therefore, is a stern conflict, standing and withstanding; and we shall want all the armor from the divine magazine, all the strength from the mighty God of Jacob.

It is clear from our text that our defense and our conquest must be obtained by sheer fighting. Many try compromise; but if you are a true Christian, you can never do this business well. The language of deceit fits not a holy tongue. The adversary is the father of lies, and those that are with him understand the art of equivocation; but saints abhor it. If we discuss terms of peace, and attempt to gain something by policy, we have entered upon a course from which we shall return in disgrace. We have no order from our Captain to patch up a truce, and get as good terms as we can. We are not sent out to offer concessions. It is said that if we yield a little, perhaps the world will yield a little also, and good may come of it. If we are not too strict and narrow, perhaps sin will kindly consent to be more decent. Our association with it will prevent its being so barefaced and atrocious. If we are not narrow-minded, our broad doctrine will go down with the world, and those on the other side will not be so greedy of error as they now are. No such thing. Assuredly this is not the order which our Captain has issued. When peace is to be made, he will make it himself, or he will tell us how to behave to that end; but at present our orders are very different.

Neither may we hope to gain by being neutral, or granting an occasional truce. We are not to cease from conflict, and try to be as agreeable as we can with our Lord’s foes, frequenting their assemblies, and tasting their dainties. No such orders are written here. You are to grasp your weapon, and go forth to fight.

Neither may you so much as dream of winning the battle by accident. No man was ever holy by a happy chance. Infinite damage may be done by carelessness; but no man ever won life’s battle by it. To let things go on as they please, is to let them bear us down to hell. We have no orders to be quiet, and take matters easily. No; we are to pray always, and watch constantly. The one note that rings out from the text is this:—TAKE THE SWORD! TAKE THE SWORD! No longer is it, talk and debate! No longer is it, parley and compromise! The word of thunder is—Take the sword. The Captain’s voice is clear as a trumpet—Take the sword! No Christian man here will have been obedient to our text unless with clear, sharp, and decisive firmness, courage, and resolve, he takes the sword. We must go to heaven sword in hand, all the way. “TAKE THE SWORD.” On this command I would enlarge. May the Holy Spirit help me!

It is noteworthy that there is only one weapon of offense provided, although there are several pieces of armor. The Roman soldier usually carried a spear as well as a sword. We have seen frequent representations of the legionary standing upon guard as sentry, and he almost always stands with a spear in his right hand, while his sword hangs at his side. But Paul, for excellent reasons, concentrates our offensive weapon in one, because it answers for all. We are to use the sword, and that only. Therefore, if you are going to this fight, see well to your only weapon. If you are to have no other, take care that you have this always in your hand. Let the Captain’s voice ring in your ear, “Take the sword! Take the sword!”, and so go forth to the field.

Notice, first, the sword you are to take is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. That is our first head; and the second is equally upon the surface of the text: This sword is to be ours. We are ordered to take the sword of the Spirit, and so make it our own sword.

I. First, the Word of God which is to be our one weapon is of noble origin; for IT IS “THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.” It has the properties of a sword, and those were given it by the Spirit of God.

Here we note that the Holy Spirit has a sword. He is quiet as the dew, tender as the anointing oil, soft as the zephyr of eventide, and peaceful as a dove; and yet, under another aspect, he wields a deadly weapon. He is the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning, and he beareth not the sword in vain. Of him it may be said, “The Lord is a man of war: Jehovah is his name.”

The Word of God in the hand of the Spirit wounds very terribly, and makes the heart of man to bleed. Do you not remember, some of you, when you used to be gashed with this sword Sunday after Sunday? Were you not cut to the heart by it, so as to be angry with it? You almost made up your mind to turn away from hearing the gospel again. That sword pursued you, and pierced you in the secrets of your soul, and made you bleed in a thousand places. At last you were “pricked in the heart”, which is a far better thing than being “cut to the heart”; and then execution was done, indeed. That wound was deadly, and none but he that killed could make you alive. Do you recollect how, after this, your sins were slain one after another? Their necks were laid on the block, and the Spirit acted as an executioner with his sword. After that, blessed be God, your fears, and doubts, and despair, and unbelief, were also hacked to pieces by this same sword. The Word gave you life; but it was at the first a great killer. Your soul was like a battle-field after a great fight, under the first operations of the divine Spirit, whose sword returneth not empty from the conflict.

Beloved, the Spirit of God has war with the Amalek of evil and error from generation to generation. He will spare none of the evils which now pollute the nations; his sword will never be quiet till all these Canaanites are destroyed. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ not only by what he reveals, but also by what he overturns. The strife may be weary, but it will be carried on from age to age, till the Lord Jesus shall appear; for ever shall the Spirit of God espouse the cause of love against hate, of truth against error, of holiness against sin, of Christ against Satan. He will win the day, and those who are with him shall in his might be more than conquerors. The Holy Spirit has proclaimed war, and wields a two-edged sword.

The Holy Spirit wields no sword but the Word of God. This wonderful Book, which contains the utterances of God’s mouth, is the one weapon which the Holy Ghost elects to use for his warlike purposes. It is a spiritual weapon, and so is suitable to the Holy Spirit. The weapons of his warfare are not carnal: he never uses either persecution or patronage, force or bribery, glitter of grandeur, or terror of power. He works upon men by the Word, which is suitable to his own spiritual nature, and to the spiritual work which is to be accomplished. While it is spiritual, this weapon is “mighty through God.” A cut from the Word of God will cleave a man’s spirit from head to foot; so sharp is this sword. Though by long practice in sin a man may have coated himself as with mail impenetrable, yet the Word of the Lord will divide the northern iron and the steel. The Holy Ghost can make a man feel the divine power of the sacred Word in the very center of his being. For battling with the spirits of man, or with spirits of an infernal kind, there is no weapon so keen, so piercing, so able to divide between the joints and marrow, so penetrating as to the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word, in the Spirit’s hand, gives no dash-wound, but cuts into the man’s heart, and so wounds him that there is no healing save by supernatural power. The wounded conscience will bleed; its pains will be upon it day and night; and though it seek out a thousand medicines, no salve but one can cure a gash which this terrible sword has made. This weapon is two-edged; indeed, it is all edge; and whichever way it strikes, it wounds and kills. There is no such a thing as the flat of the sword of the Spirit: it has a razor edge every way. Beware how you handle it, you critics; it may wound even you: it will cut you to your destruction, one of these days, except ye be converted. He that uses the Word in the Lord’s battles may use it upon carnal hopes, and then strike back upon unbelieving fears; he may smite with one edge the love of sin, and then with the other the pride of self-righteousness. It is a conquering weapon in all ways, this wondrous sword of the Spirit of God.

The Word, we say, is the only sword which the Spirit uses. I know the Holy Ghost uses gracious sermons; but it is only in proportion as they have the Word of God in them. I know the Holy Ghost uses religious books; but only so far as they are the Word of God told out in other language. Conviction, conversion, and consolation still are wrought, and only by the Word of God. Learn, then, the wisdom of using the Word of God for holy purposes. The Spirit has abundant ability to speak of his own self, apart from the written Word. The Holy Ghost is God, and therefore he is the greatest spirit in the universe. All wisdom dwells in him. He thought out the laws which govern nature and direct providence. The Holy Spirit is the great teacher of human spirits: he taught Bezaleel and the artificers in the wilderness how to make the fine linen, and the gold and carved work for the tabernacle. All arts and sciences are perfectly known to him, and infinitely more than men can ever discover. Yet he will not use these things in this holy controversy. In the quarrel of his covenant he neither uses philosophy, nor science, nor rhetoric. In contending against the powers of darkness, “The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.” “It is written” is his master-stroke. Words which God has spoken by holy men of old, and has caused to be recorded on the sacred page—these are the battle-axe and weapons of war of his Spirit. This Book contains the Word of God, and is the Word of God; and this it is which the Holy Ghost judges to be so effectual a weapon against evil that he uses this, and this only, as his sword in the great conflict with the powers of darkness.

The Word is the sword of the Spirit because it is of his own making. He will not use a weapon of human workmanship, lest the sword boast itself against the hand that wields it. The Holy Ghost revealed the mind of God to the minds of holy men; he spake the word into their hearts, and thus he made them think as he would have them think and to write what he willed them to write: so that what they spoke and wrote was spoken and written as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Blessed be the Holy Spirit for deigning to use so many writers, and yet himself to remain the veritable Author of this collection of holy books. We are grateful for Moses, for David, for Isaiah, for Paul, for Peter, for John, but most of all for that superintending Editor, that innermost Author of the whole sacred volume—even the Holy Ghost. A warrior may well be careful as to the make of his sword. If a man had made his own sword, had tempered the metal, had himself passed the blade through many fires, and wrought it to perfection, then, if he were a skillful workman, he would feel confidence in his sword. When work is done nowadays, it is, as a rule, badly done. Work done by contract is usually scamped in some part or another; but when a man does a work for himself he is likely to do it thoroughly, and produce an article which he can depend upon. The Holy Ghost has made this Book himself: every portion of it bears his initial and impress; and thus he has a sword worthy of his own hand, a true Jerusalem blade of heavenly fabric. He delights to use a weapon so divinely made, and he does use it right gloriously.

The Word of God is also the sword of the Spirit because he puts the edge upon it. It is because he is in it that it is so keen and cutting. I believe in the inspiration of Holy Scripture, not only in the day when it was written, but onward, and even to this day. It is still inspired; still doth the Holy Ghost breathe through the chosen words. I told you the sword was all edge; but I would add that the Holy Spirit makes it so. It would have no edge at all if it were not for his presence within it, and his perpetual working by it. How many people read their Bibles, and yet derive no more benefit therefrom than if they had read an old almanack! In fact, they would more easily keep awake over an ancient Bradshaw than over a chapter of Scripture. The ministers of the gospel may preach God’s Word in all sincerity and purity, and yet, if the Spirit of God be not present, we might as well have preached mere moral essays, for no good can come of our testimony. The Holy Ghost rides in the chariot of Scripture, and not in the waggon of modern thought. Scripture is that ark of the covenant which contains the golden pot of manna, and also bears above it the divine light of God’s shining. The Spirit of God worketh in, by, and through, and with the Word; and if we keep to that Word, we may rest assured that the Holy Ghost will keep with us, and make our testimony to be a thing of power. Let us pray the blessed Spirit to put an edge on our preaching, lest we say much and accomplish little. Hear us in this thing, O blessed One!

It is “the sword of the Spirit” because he alone can instruct us in the use of it. You think, young man, that you can pick up your Bible, and go and preach from it at once, properly and successfully. You have made a presumptuous mistake. A sword is a weapon which may do hurt to the man who flourishes with it in mere wanton pride. No one can handle the sword of the Spirit aright save the chosen man whom God hath ordained from before the foundation of the world, and trained in feats of arms. By this the elect of God are known—that they love the Word of God, and they have a reverence for it, and discern between it and the words of man. Notice the lambs in the field, just now; and there may be a thousand ewes and lambs; but every lamb finds out its own mother. So does a true-born child of God know where to go for the milk which is to nourish his soul. The sheep of Christ know the Shepherd’s voice in the Word, and a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers. God’s own people have discernment to discover and relish God’s own Word. They will not be misled by the cunning craftiness of human devices. Saints know the Scriptures by inward instinct. The holy life, which God has infused into believers by his Spirit, loves the Scriptures, and learns how to use them for holy purposes. Young soldier, you must go to the training-ground of the Holy Spirit to be made a proficient swordsman. You will go in vain to the metaphysician or to the logician; for neither of these knows how to handle a spiritual weapon. In other arts they may be masters; but in the sacred use of diving theology they are mere fools. In the things of the Word we are dunces till we enter the school of the Holy Ghost. He must take of the things of Christ, and show them unto us. He must teach us how to grip this sword by faith, and how to hold it by watchfulness, so as to parry the adversary’s thrust, and carry the war into the foeman’s territory. He is well taught who can swing this great two-handed sword to and fro, and mow a lane through the midst of his opponents, and come out a conqueror at the end. It may take a long time to learn this art; but we have a right skillful Teacher. Those of us who have been in this warfare thirty or forty years feel that we have not yet reached the full use of this sword; nay, I know for one, that I need daily to be taught how to use this mysterious weapon, which is capable of so much more than I have yet supposed. It is the sword of the Spirit, adapted for the use of an Almighty arm, and therefore equal to the doing of far more than we think. Holy Spirit, teach us now feats of arms by this thy sword!

But, chiefly, it is the sword of the Spirit, because he is the great Master in the use of it. Oh, that he would come and show us this morning how he can thrust and cleave with it! In this house of prayer we have often seen him at his work. Here the slain of the Lord have been many. We have seen this sword take off the head of many a Goliath doubt, and slay a horde of cares and unbeliefs. We have seen the Spirit pile up heaps on heaps of the slain when the Word of conviction has gone forth, and men have seen sin to be sin, and fallen down as dead before the Lord and his law. We also know what the use of the sword by the Spirit of God means, for within our own being he has left marks of his prowess. He has killed our doubts and fears, and left no more mistrusts to worry us. There was a man of God who was frequently subject to doubts, even doubts upon the fundamentals of religion. He hated this state of mind; but still he could not get rid of the habit of evil questioning. In answer to prayer, the Spirit came, and convinced him of the pride of his intellect, and of the wickedness of setting up his judgment against the Word of the Lord; and from that day forward he was never the subject of another fit of unbelief. He saw things clearly in the light of the Holy Spirit; and that is to see them indeed. The great giant of doubt is sorely wounded by the sword of the Spirit—yea, he is slain outright; for the Spirit works in the believer such a conviction of the truth that assurance banishes suspicion. When the Holy Spirit deals with the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eye and the pride of life, these also lie at his feet, trophies to the power of his mighty weapon, even the Word of God! The Holy Spirit is glorious in the use of this sword. He finds that this weapon suits his hand, and he seeks no other. Let us use it also, and be glad to do so. Though it is the sword of the Spirit, yet our feebler hand may grasp it; yea, and find in the grasping that somewhat of the divine power comes unto our arm.

Dear brethren, is it not a very high honor put upon you, as soldiers of the cross, that you should be allowed, nay, commanded to take the sword of the Spirit? The raw recruit is not trusted with the general’s sword; but here are you armed with the weapon of God the Holy Ghost, and called upon to bear that sacred sword which is so gloriously wielded by the Lord God himself. This we are to bear, and no other. Does the timid heart enquire, “Wherewithal, my Master, shall I meet my adversaries”? “Here,” saith the Holy Ghost, “take this! This is my own sword; I have done great marvels with it; take it, and nothing shall stand against you.” When you remember the potency of this sword, when the Spirit tests it upon yourself, you may take it with confidence, and use it in your holy war with full assurance. That Word of God which could convert you, can convert anybody; if it could kill your despair, it can remove another man’s despondency; if it has conquered your pride and self-will, it can subdue the like in your children and your neighbors. Having done what it has certainly done for you, you may have a full persuasion that, before its power, no case is hopeless. Wherefore, see to it, that you use from this day forth no other weapon than the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

II. This fairly lands me in the second portion of my discourse. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit; but IT IS ALSO TO BE OUR SWORD.

Here I must begin again, and go over much the same ground. We shall need a sword. Our warfare is not child’s play: we mean business. We have to deal with fierce foes, who are only to be met with keen weapons. Buffets will not suffice in this contest; we must come to sword-cuts. You may be of a very quiet spirit, but your adversaries are not so. If you attempt to play at Christian warfare, they will not. To meet the powers of darkness is no sham battle. They mean mischief. Nothing but your eternal damnation will satisfy the fiendish hearts of Satan and his crew. You must take not so much a flag to unfurl, or a drum to beat, as a sword to use, and a specially sharp sword too. In this combat you will have to use a sword such as even evil spirits can feel, capable of dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow. If you are to live through this fight, and come off victorious, no form of conflict will suffice less sharp and cutting than sword-work. Depend upon it that in this struggle you will be forced to come to close quarters. The foe aims at your heart, and pushes home. A spear will not do, nor bow and arrow; the enemy is too near for anything but hand-to-hand fighting. Brethren, our foes are not only of our house, but of our heart. I find an enemy within which is always near, and I cannot get away from him. I find that my antagonist will get his hand on my throat if he can. If our foes were far away, and we could play upon them with artillery which would kill at six or seven miles’ distance, we might lead a pretty easy life. But no; they are here! At our doors! Yea, within us; nearer than hands and feet. Now for the short sword: the claymore of Holy Scripture, to stab and cut, near and now. No sling and stone will avail us here, but we must take the sword. You have to slay your foe, or your foe will slay you. It is with us Christians as it was with the Highlanders in battle, when their leader called out to them, “Lads, there they are! If you dinna kill them they will kill you.” There is no room for peace: it is war to the knife, not only now, but to life’s end.

The use of the sword is needful for attack. I have reminded you several times already that it will not suffice for the Christian to guard against sin, and ward off temptation from himself; he has to assail the powers of evil. In our case, the best method of defense is an attack. I have heard of one who would bring an action in law to gain his ends, for he thought this better than being the defendant. That may be matter of question; but in war it is often safer to assail than defend. Carry the warfare into the enemy’s territory. Be trying to win from the adversary, and he will not win so much from you. Do not merely be sober yourselves, but attack drunkenness. Do not be content with being from superstition yourself, but expose it wherever it appears. Do not merely be devout when you feel obliged to be so, but pray for the growth of the kingdom; pray always. Do not merely say, “I will keep Satan out of my family by bringing up my children aright”, but go to the Sunday-school, and teach other children, and so carry the war over the border. God forbid that we should ever go to war as a nation! But if we were at war with some nation on the Continent, I should certainly say, “Let the continentals have the battles on their own ground: we do not want a campaign over here.” It is wise to keep the war in the enemy’s own regions. If we had fought the devil more in the world, he might never have been able to invade the church so terribly as he has done. Attack with the sword, for it is your calling, and thus will you best defend yourself.

We need the sword for real fighting. Do you think that you can dream yourselves into heaven? or ride there in the chariot of ease? Or fly on the wings of brass music? You make a great mistake if you so imagine. A real war is raging, your opponents are in deadly earnest, and you must take your sword.

And, further, we need this sword: this sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We say with David, “There is none like that; give it me.” It has wrought such wonders that we prefer it to all others. No other will match the enemy’s weapon. If we fight the devil with human reason, the first time our wooden sword comes in contact with a Satanic temptation it will be cut in pieces. If you do not wield a true Jerusalem blade you are in grave peril; your weapon will break off at the hilt, and where will you be? Standing defenceless, with nothing but the handle of a broken sword in your hand, you will be the object of your adversary’s ridicule. You must have this sword, for no other will penetrate the foe, and no other will last out the battle. After twenty years, what has become of the pious resolutions of your youth? What is the staying power of your consecration made in the hour of enthusiasm? Alas, how little trust can be placed in it! What would become of us after thirty years of fighting, if we had not the Word of God to rely upon? The Word of the Lord endureth for ever; but nothing else does. We may do well in early days, but we shall fail in old age if we have not eternal verities to fall back upon.

I can commend this sword to you all, my brethren, although you are so varied in character. This sword suits every hand. Youth or age may alike use this weapon. These dear girls from the Orphanage, and yonder lads from the Bible-class, may fight the battle of their youth with the Word of God; for Holy Scripture may impress and guide our freshest life. You that have grown grey, you that have passed seventy or eighty, you will value the Bible more than ever, and you will find that this sword is the best for veteran warriors. Young men and young women, here is a sword suited for all of you, and well does it become the hand of the feeblest and the gentlest. The Holy Ghost has in the sacred Word prepared an implement of warfare suited for great minds and small, for the cultured and the uneducated. A wonderful sword this is, which, in the hand of faith, reveals an adaptation marvellous to the last degree.

Whatever others may say, it is sufficient for us that this is the regulation sword. A soldier is not left to choose his own equipment; he must carry such arms as his sovereign appoints. This is the regulation sword in Christ’s army. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is what you are bidden to take; and if you in wilfulness resolve to exchange it for another, you commit an act of rebellion, and you make the change at your own risk and peril. Come, then, let us each one take the Word of God, and carry it nearer our hearts than ever; for such is the word of command, “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Now, see what we are told to do. We need a sword; we need this sword; we are to take this sword. Note that we are not told that we may lay it down: the demand to take the sword is continuous, and there is no hint of its being suspended. There is a time, of course, when the soldier of her Majesty may remove his sword from his side, and put off his regimentals; there is never such a time with a Christian. One might have thought, from what we have seen of late, that orders had come from headquarters that the soldiers were to lay down the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and take to lighter weapons. Entertainments, amusements, farces, and sing-song are now used to do what the gospel has failed to achieve! Is it not sadly so? Well, if any will try these silly toys, I can only say that they have no command from their Lord to warrant them in their proceedings. Take all these things, and see what they will do; but you make the trial at your own risk, and on your own heads the result of failure will fall.

The standing-orders are to take the sword of the Spirit, and no new regulation has ever been issued by the great Captain of salvation. From the days of Paul till now, the word stands, “Take the sword of the Spirit.” All other things will surely fail, and hence the one sole abiding command is, “Take the sword of the Spirit.” We are not told to hang up this sword for exhibition. Certain people have a handsomely-bound Bible to lie upon the table of the best room; and a fine ornament it is. A Family Bible is a treasure. But I pray you do not let your love of the Bible end there. With a soldier in war, a sword is not meant to be hung up in the tent, nor even to be flourished in the air; but it is issued to be used. Nor are we to push this sword into a sheath, as many do who take the Bible, and add so much of criticism, or of their own opinion to it, that its edge is not felt. Many men use their low opinion of inspiration as a scabbard into which they push the Bible down. Their vast knowledge makes a beautiful scabbard, and they push down the sword, saying, “Keep still there! O sword of the Lord, rest and he quiet!” After we have preached our heart out, and men have felt the power of it, they make a desperate effort to imprison the Word in their unbelieving theory, or in their worldliness. They hold down the Word all the week with a firm hand, for fear its edge or point should wound them. It is the scabbard of culture, or philosophy, or of progress, and in this they shut up the living Word of God as in a coffin.

We are not to bury the Word under other matters; but we are to take it as a sword: which means, as I understand it, first, believe it. Believe every portion of it; believe it with a true and real faith, not with a mere credal faith, which says, “This is the orthodox thing.” Believe it as a matter of fact for every day, affecting your life. Believe it. And when you have believed it, then study it. Oh, for a closer study of the Word of God! Are there not some of you who have never even heard or read all that the Lord has said? Are there not passages of the Bible which have never been read by you? It is a melancholy fact that there should be even a line of the sacred Scriptures which has never once come under your eye. Do read the Bible right through, from beginning to end. Begin tomorrow: nay, begin to-day, and go steadily through the whole of the sacred books, with prayer and meditation. Never let it be suspected by you that God has recorded truths in his Word which you have never even once read. Study the Word, and work out its meaning. Go deep into the spirit of inspiration. He gets most gold who digs the deepest in this mine. They used to say of certain mines in Cornwall that the deeper you went the richer was the ore; assuredly is it so with the mines of inspired Scripture. The deeper you go under the Spirit’s guidance the larger is the reward for your toil. Take the sword with the grip of sincere faith; hold it fast by a fuller knowledge, and then exercise yourself daily in its use. The sword is to be taken for earnest fight. You will not be long before occasion arises in such a world as this. You will have to parry with it, to pierce with it, to cut with it, and to kill with it. “Where shall I begin?” says one. Begin at home, and, for many a day, you will have your hands full. When you have slain all the rebels at home, and long before that, you may take a turn at those around you in the world, and in the professing church. Inside your own heart you will find a band of bandits which should be exterminated. There will always be need to keep the sword going within your own territory. End this civil war before you go into foreign parts. When the war within the city of Mansoul has been victoriously carried through, besiege the heart of your friend, your child, your neighbor. Behold, the world lieth in the wicked one! Errors abound, and colossal systems of falsehood still stand aloft. Men are still dragged down by the arch-deceiver. Surely, we feel our swords flying out of their sheaths when we think of the millions who are being ruined by sin and error. Oh, for a mighty onslaught upon the powers of darkness!

Once more, we are to take this sword with a purpose. We are to use it that we may be able to stand and to withstand. If you want to stand, draw the sword, and smite your doubts. How fiercely unbelief assails! Here comes a doubt as to your election. Pierce it through with the Word. Anon comes a doubt as to the precious blood. Cleave it from head to foot with the assurance of the Word that the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin. Here comes another doubt, and yet another. As quick as arm can move, drive texts of Scripture through every new fallacy, every new denial of truth, and spit the whole of them upon the rapier of the Word. It will be for your good to kill these doubts outright. Do not play with them, but fight them in real earnest. You will find that temptations also will come in hordes. Meet them with the precepts of sacred Writ, and slay even the desire of evil by the Spirit’s application of the Holy Word. The washing of water by the Word is a glorious cleanser. Discouragements will arise like mists of the morning. Oh, that God’s Word may shine them away with the beams of the promises! Your afflictions multiply, and you will never be able to overcome impatience and distrust except by the infallible Word of God. You can bear trial, and bear it patiently, if you use this weapon to kill anxiety. You will “stand fast in the evil day”, and having done all, you will still stand, if this sword be in your hand.

You have not only to stand fast yourselves, but you have to win souls for Christ. Do not try to conquer sin in others, or capture a heart for Jesus, except with the sword of the Spirit. How the devil laughs when we try to make converts apart from Holy Scripture and the Holy Spirit! He laughs, I say; for he derides our folly. What can you do, you children, playing with your little wooden swords—what can you do against men covered from head to foot with the steel mail of the habit of sin? Sunday-school teachers, teach your children more and more the pure Word of God; and preachers, do not try to be original, but be content to take of the things of Christ, and show them to the people; for that is what the Holy Ghost himself does; and you will be wise to use his method and his sword. No sinner around you will be saved except by the knowledge of the great truths contained in the Word of God. No man will ever be brought to repentance, to faith, and to life in Christ, apart from the constant application of the truth through the Spirit. I hear great shouting, great noises everywhere, about great things that are going to be done: let us see them. The whole world is going to be embraced within the church; so they say. I fear the world will not be much the better for inclusion in such a church. Big boasters should heed the word of the wise man, “Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.” If the champion goeth forth with any other sword than the Word of God, he had better not boast at all; for he will come back with his sword broken, his shield cast away, and himself grimy with dishonor. Defeat awaits that man who forsakes the Word of the Lord.

I have done when I have asked you to remember that the text is in the present tense: Take unto you the sword of the Spirit even now. What varieties of people there are here this morning! Believers have come hither in all sorts of perils; let them each one take the sword of the Spirit, and they will overcome every foe. Here, too, are seekers who wish to be Christians; but they cannot compass it. What is the matter this morning? “Oh,” says one, “I have been in the habit of sinning, and the habit is very strong upon me.” Fight with sinful habits with the Word of God, as the sword of the Spirit: so only will you conquer your evil self. Find a text of Scripture that will cleave your sin down to the chine, or stab it to the heart. “Alas! Satan tempts me horribly,” cries one; “I have been lately assailed in many ways.” Have you? You are not the first. Our divine Lord in the wilderness was tempted of the devil. He might have fought Satan with a thousand weapons; but he chose to defeat him with this one only. He said, “It is written; it is written; it is written.” He pricked the foeman so sorely with this sharp point, that the arch-adversary thought to try the same sword; and he also began to say, “It is written.” But he cut himself with this sword, for he did not quote the passages correctly, nor give the whole of them; and the Master soon found the way to knock aside his sword, and wound him still more. Follow your Lord’s example. “Oh, but,” says one,” I am so low in spirits.” Very well; fight lowness of spirits with the Word of God. “The doctor recommended me,” says one, “to take a little spirits to raise my spirits.” Those doctors are always having this sin laid to their charge. I am not so sure that they are not often maligned. You like the dose, and that is why you take it. Try the Word of God for lowness of spirits, and you will have found a sure remedy. I find, if I can lay a promise under my tongue, like a sweet lozenge, and keep it in my mouth or mind all the day long, I am happy enough. If I cannot find a Scripture to comfort me, then my inward troubles are multiplied. Fight despondency and despair with the sword of the Spirit. I cannot tell what your particular difficulty may be at this moment; but I give you this direction for all holy warfare—”Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” You must overcome every enemy; and this weapon is all you need. If you, my hearer, would overcome sin and conquer unbelief, take such a word as this, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;” and as you look you shall be saved, and doubt shall die, and sin be slain. God grant you his Spirit’s aid, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/the-sword-of-the-spirit/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/maria-sue-chapman-remembered-by-family-and-friends/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/maria-sue-chapman-remembered-by-family-and-friends/#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:25:18 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=195 ]]>

I know it’s been a while since this happened, but I wanted to post this clip of the news piece from our local ABC channel of the memorial service for Maria Chapman. It’s a very touching picture of a celebration of life from a Christian perspective…

Please continue to pray for the Chapman family.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/maria-sue-chapman-remembered-by-family-and-friends/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/starbucks-closing-list-page/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/starbucks-closing-list-page/#comments Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:35:51 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=186 ]]>

Starbucks Closings List:

As many of you may know, 600 Starbucks will be closing soon. If you would like to know if your neighborhood Starbucks in on the list of sacrificial stores, scroll down and look in the list below for your state. The Store number is at the beginning of each line, then the nearest intersection, and finally the mailing address. If you lead or are in a Bible study that meets at one of these Starbucks, now is the time to look for an alternate location. I offer the list for your information and the list is believed to be accurate as of posting. I’ll leave this page up as long as I get searches and hits on this, then I will take it down… Happy sippage!

ALABAMA



9684 PARKWAY E @ ROEBUCK PLAZA 9190 PKWY BIRMINGHAM AL 

10482 UNIVERSITY & 20TH 801 20TH ST S BIRMINGHAM AL 

11983 HWY 59 & CR 4 3800 GULF SHORE PKWY GULF SHORES AL
13360 29TH & FIREFIGHTER 1830 29TH AVE S HOMEWOOD AL 

11427 MADISON SQ. MALL 5901 UNIVERSITY DR HUNTSVILLE AL
10538 I-65 & SPRING HILL 3451 SPRING HILL AVE MOBILE AL 

10797 DAUPHIN & DU RHU 9 DU RHU DRIVE MOBILE AL
11322 OLD SHELL & MCGREGOR 4401 OLD SHELL RD MOBILE AL
11429 AIRPORT & FOREMAN 6601 AIRPORT BLVD MOBILE AL 

11774 UNIVERSITY & OLD SHELL 5611 OLDSHELL RD MOBILE AL 

10951 FOLEY BEACH & CANAL 4725 MAIN ST ORANGE BEACH AL 

10335 ROCKY RIDGE & MORGAN 2531 ROCKY RIDGE RD VESTAVIA HILLS AL 



ARKANSAS

13731 HOLLYWOOD & HWY 18 1301 MAIN ST BLYTHEVILLE AR 

11864 HWY 264 & DIXIELAND 105 S DIXIELAND LOWELL AR 

14176 HWY 270 & I-30 1900 MLK DRIVE MALVERN AR 

14103 I-55 & HWY 64 320 BANCARIO MARION AR 

7968 HWY 67 & MCCAIN 4120 E MCCAIN NORTH LITTLE ROCK AR 

10421 PINNACLE HILLS & NORTHGATE 3351 PINNACLE HILLS PKWY ROGERS AR 

11325 PINNACLE HILLS PROMENADE 2203 S 45TH ST ROGERS AR 

10883 HWY 59 & RENA 2008 FAYETTEVILLE RD VAN BUREN AR 


ARIZONA

10995 I-10 & SUNLAND GIN 4985 N SUNLAND GIN RD ELOY AZ



CALIFORNIA

6925 GARFIELD & VALLEY 1 E VALLEY BLVD ALHAMBRA CA 

10184 KATELLA & 57 FWY 2420 E KATELLA AVE ANAHEIM CA 

11437 BELLEVUE & WINTON 1861 BELLEVUE RD ATWATER CA 

9472 BAKER & MOJAVE POINTE 56383 MOJAVE POINTE BAKER CA 

10257 BELLFLOWER & BELMONT 16601 BELLFLOWER BLVD BELLFLOWER CA 

10996 HARBOR WALK 328 FIRST ST BENICIA CA 

5668 SHATTUCK & CEDAR 1600 SHATTUCK AVE BERKELEY CA 

14001 IMPERIAL & LAUREL 703 E IMPERIAL HWY BREA CA 

14002 BREA UNION PLAZA 2435 E IMPERIAL HWY BREA CA 

13216 BRENTWOOD & NANCY 7760 BRENTWOOD BLVD BRENTWOOD CA 

6450 CASTAIC & LAKE HUGES 31818 CASTAIC RD CASTAIC CA 

9898 E PALM CANYON & MONTY HALL 68718 E PALM CANYON DR CATHEDRAL CITY CA 

6556 3RD & H ST 3037 H ST CHULA VISTA CA 

11223 OTAY RANCH TOWN CENTER 2015 BIRCH RD CHULA VISTA CA
9826 MONUMENT & ERICKSON 2250 MONUMENT BLVD CONCORD CA
6900 MCKINLEY & MAGNOLIA 115 N MCKINLEY ST CORONA CA
11775 DOS LAGOS 2795 CABOT DR CORONA CA 

10487 ROSEMEAD & GARVEY 9327 GARVEY AVE EL MONTE CA
6889 CENTER & BRUCEVILLE 8785 CENTER PKWY ELK GROVE CA
13487 SAN PABLO & PARK 4125 SAN PABLO AVE EMERYVILLE CA
9257 VISALIA & BELMONT 1102 VISALIA RD EXETER CA 

10426 SIERRA & I-15 3840 SIERRA AVE FONTANA CA 

11225 SIERRA LAKES PKWY 16645 SIERRA LAKES PKWY FONTANA CA 

5575 HERNDON & MARKS 7010 N MARKS FRESNO CA 

6939 FIRST & SHIELDS 3089 E SHIELDS FRESNO CA 

2995 E FIFTH & HWY 101 831 E FIFTH ST GONZALES CA 

5908 MISSION AND SORENSON 26953 MISSION RD HAYWARD CA 

10341 SANDERSON & STETSON 3511 W STETSON AVE HEMET CA 

10710 FLORDIA & SANDERSON 2801 W FLORIDA AVE HEMET CA 

11896 SAN JUAN & MILLER 1280 SAN JUAN RD HOLLISTER CA 

13966 FLORENCE & MT VIEW 2901 FLORENCE AVE HUNTINGTON PARK CA 

13934 CLINTON & HWY 49 711 STATE HWY 49 JACKSON CA 

9866 VALLEY VIEW & FIRESTONE 16610 VALLEY VIEW AVE LA MIRADA CA 

13745 PCH & BOAT CANYON 636 N PACIFIC COAST HWY LAGUNA BEACH CA 

11328 SR 173 & CORONA CIRCLE 312 STATE HWY 173 LAKE ARROWHEAD CA 

14013 LAKE FOREST & MUIRLANDS 22621 LAKE FOREST DR LAKE FOREST CA 

9637 DEL WEBB & SUN CITY 1520 DEL WEBB BLVD LINCOLN CA 

10629 BANNER ST & STAR ST 14820 STAR ST LODI CA 

11097 CRENSHAW & VERNON 4371 CRENSHAW BLVD LOS ANGELES CA 

11321 VERMONT & MLK 1005 W MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD LOS ANGELES CA 

6836 MAMMOTH & MERIDIAN 436 MAMMOTH RD MAMMOTH LAKES CA 

10941 LIMONITE & PAT’S RANCH RD 6253 PAT’S RANCH RD MIRA LOMA CA 

6791 MARGUERITE & COLLEGE DR 28171 MARGUERITE PKWY MISSION VIEJO CA 

14017 TRABUCO HILLS 27775 SANTA MARGARITA PKWY MISSION VIEJO CA 

10853 STANDIFORD & TULLY 3430 TULLY RD MODESTO CA 

10888 RAMONA & MISSION 4467 E MISSION BLVD MONTCLAIR CA
5678 ATLANTIC & GARVEY 141 N ATLANTIC BLVD MONTEREY PARK CA 

11897 NASON & FIR 27110 EUCALYPTUS AVE MORENO VALLEY CA 

5929 NORWALK ENTERTAINMENT CENTER 12200 CIVIC CENTER DR NORWALK CA 

10141 HOLT & SAN ANTONIO 562 W HOLT BLVD ONTARIO CA 

10545 EUCLID & PHILADELPHIA 2254 S EUCLID AVE ONTARIO CA 

10712 GROVE & PHILADELPHIA 2200 S GROVE AVE ONTARIO CA 

2942 FOOTHILL & I-15 12592 FOOTHILL BLVD RANCHO CUCAMONGA CA 

10630 HWY 111 & RANCHO LAS PALMAS 71743 HWY 111 RANCHO MIRAGE CA 

9455 CYPRESS & CIVIC CENTER 760 CYPRESS AVE REDDING CA 

13936 CALIFORNIA & PLACER 1701 CALIFORNIA ST REDDING CA 

5991 1299 UNIVERSITY 1299 UNIVERSITY AVE RIVERSIDE CA 

10813 CANYON SPRINGS & CORPORATE CTR 2692 CANYON SPRINGS PKWY RIVERSIDE CA 

11100 PROMENADE @ TRUXEL 3630 N FREEWAY BLVD SACRAMENTO CA 

11834 AUBURN & MADISON 5040 AUBURN BLVD SACRAMENTO CA 

11955 STOCKTON & MACK 7800 STOCKTON BLVD SACRAMENTO CA
551 MIRA MESA 9450 MIRA MESA BLVD SAN DIEGO CA 

5637 MISSIONGORGE RD 6171 MISSIONGORGE SAN DIEGO CA 

6514 1ST & MARKET 101 MARKET ST SAN DIEGO CA 

6592 COLLEGE & LINDO PESSO 5131 COLLEGE AVE SAN DIEGO CA
6726 EUCLID AVE & FEDERAL BLVD 1722 EUCLID AVE SAN DIEGO CA 

6818 UNIVERSITY & ARAGON 6511 UNIVERSITY AVE SAN DIEGO CA
9471 30TH ST & EL CAJON 2990 EL CAJON BLVD SAN DIEGO CA
9583 NATIONAL & 36TH 3582 NATIONAL AVE SAN DIEGO CA 

10631 PARK & UNIVERSITY 3830 PARK BLVD SAN DIEGO CA 

11837 11TH & C 1122 BRDWAY AVE SAN DIEGO CA 

5706 METREON 101 4TH ST SAN FRANCISCO CA 

9205 901 MARKET STREET 901 MARKET ST SAN FRANCISCO CA
10667 LINCOLN & WILLOW 1167 LINCOLN AVE SAN JOSE CA 

10946 1ST & LYON 1640 E 1ST ST SANTA ANA CA 

10584 GOLDEN VALLEY & SOLEDAD CANYON 26503 GOLDEN VALLEY RD SANTA CLARITA CA 

14024 LINCOLN & MONTANA 732 MONTANA SANTA MONICA CA 

5367 1620 MENDICINO AVE 1620 MENDOCINO AVE SANTA ROSA CA
5591 MADERA & ROYAL SIMI VALLEY 1368 MADERA RD SIMI VALLEY CA 

2993 TWEEDY & OTIS 4184 TWEEDY BLVD SOUTHGATE CA 

13335 N LAKE & JACK PINE 775 N LAKE BLVD TAHOE CITY CA 

9632 NEWPORT & EL CAMINO REAL 14001 NEWPORT AVE TUSTIN CA 

14025 NEWPORT & MAIN 13681 NEWPORT AVE TUSTIN CA 

673 MOUNTAIN SQUARE 386 S MOUNTAIN AVE UPLAND CA 

6524 BEAR VALLEY & HESPERIA 17080 BEAR VALLEY RD VICTORVILLE CA 

11029 LA PAZ & VALLEY CENTER 14689 LA PAZ DR VICTORVILLE CA
5532 MOONEY @ CALDWELL 3530 S MOONEY BLVD VISALIA CA 

6563 YGNACIO & NORTH MAIN 2001 N MAIN ST WALNUT CREEK CA 



COLORADO
10859 121 ST & SHERIDAN 12161 SHERIDAN BLVD BROOMFIELD CO
13938 CONIFER TOWN CENTER 27191 MAIN ST CONIFER CO 

10675 16TH & WYNKOOP 1750 16TH ST DENVER CO 

10860 COLORADO & ALEMDA 320 S COLORADO BLVD DENVER CO 

10947 DENVER NEWSPAPER AGENCY BLDG 101 W COLFAX AVE DENVER CO 

10497 COLFAX & WADSWORTH 1509 WADSWORTH BLVD LAKEWOOD CO 

10498 HWY 119 & MARTIN 15 KEN PRATT BLVD LONGMONT CO
10150 THE SHOPS AT CENTERRA 5897 SKY POND DR LOVELAND CO
13684 HWY 34 & DENVER 1385 N DENVER AVE LOVELAND CO 



CONNECTICUT
11781 PROSPECT HILL 137 PROSPECT HILL RD EAST WINDSOR CT
13968 1201 KING’S HWY 1201 KINGS HWY FAIRFIELD CT 

13561 WETHERSFIELD AVE 682 WETHERSFIELD AVE HARTFORD CT 

8116 EVERGREEN WALK 301 EVERGREEN WAY SOUTH WINDSOR CT 

9827 WINDSOR LOCKS 209 ELLA GRASSO TURNPIKE WINDSOR LOCKS CT 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

14073 21ST & L STREET 2101 L ST WASHINGTON DC 



DELAWARE

13733 SEAFORD COMMONS 22888 SUSSEX HWY SEAFORD DE 



FLORIDA

11386 ALTAMONTE MALL 451 E ALTAMONTE DR ALTAMONTE SPRINGS FL 

11411 ALTAMONTE MALL-KIOSK 451 E ALTAMONTE DR ALTAMONTE SPRINGS FL 

8441 PROMENADE AT BONITA BAY 26841 S BAY DR BONITA SPRINGS FL 

11606 US 41 & PELICAN LANDING PKWY 24630 S TAMIAMI TRAIL BONITA SPRINGS FL 

11390 DESOTO SQUARE 303 US HWY 301 BLVD W BRADENTON FL 

11391 COUNTRYSIDE MALL II 27001 US HWY 19 N CLEARWATER FL 

13708 KAPOK COVE & MCMULLEN BOOTH 904 N MCMULLEN BOOTH RD CLEARWATER FL 

13404 LAKE IDA RD & JOG RD 13910 JOG RD DELRAY BEACH FL
11389 COCONUT POINT 2 8017 PLAZA DEL LAGO DR ESTERO FL 

10950 SIX MILE CYPRESS & COLONIAL 9390 SIX MILE CYPRESS PKWY FORT MEYERS FL 

11393 EDISON MALL #3 4125 CLEVELAND AVE FORT MEYERS FL
13340 ALTAMONT AVE & MCGREGOR BLVD 2059 ALTAMONTE AVE FORT MEYERS FL 

11785 GULF COAST TOWN CENTER 9903 GULF COAST MAIN ST FORT MYERS FL 

14228 1100 W BROWARD BLVD 1100 W BROWARD BLVD FT LAUDERDALE FL 

11173 CR 210 & NATURE WALK 3055 CR 210 W JACKSONVILLE FL 

11610 PHILLIPS & BAYMEADOWS 8060 PHILLIPS HWY JACKSONVILLE FL 

13464 FORSYTH & MAIN 11 E FORSYTH ST JACKSONVILLE FL 

11395 TREASURE COAST SQUARE MALL 3306 FEDERAL HWY NW JENSEN BEACH FL 

11674 ABACOA II 1200 TOWN CENTER DR JUPITER FL 

11397 LAKELAND SQUARE MALL 3800 US HWY 98 N LAKELAND FL
8329 LAKES MALL 3399 N STATE RD 7 LAUDERDALE LAKES FL 

13465 SW 160TH ST & US 1 9600 SW 160TH ST MIAMI FL 

8427 US 41 & GOLDEN GATE PKWY 2128 TAMIAMI TRAIL N NAPLES FL 

10727 IMMOKALEE RD & I-75 2405 TARPON BAY BLVD NAPLES FL 

10552 750 NE 125TH ST 750 NE 125TH ST NORTH MIAMI FL 

11581 PADDOCK MALL 3100 SW COLLEGE RD OCALA FL 

13784 SR 200 & SW 114TH 9548 SW HWY 200 OCALA FL 

11582 WEST OAKS MALL 9401 W COLONIAL DR OCOEE FL 

9860 ORANGE PARK MALL 1910 WELLS RD ORANGE PARK FL 

10680 KINGSLEY & BLANDING 410 BLANDING BLVD ORANGE PARK FL 

13608 WELLS & BLANDING 1907 WELLS RD ORANGE PARK FL 

11403 ORLANDO FASHION SQUARE MALL 3351 E COLONIAL DR ORLANDO FL 

11404 OVIEDO MARKETPLACE 1515 OVIEDO MARKETPLACE BLVD OVIEDO FL 

11405 BOYNTON BEACH MALL 801 N CONGRESS AVE PALM BEACH FL 

7963 DOWNTOWN @ THE GARDENS 11701 LAKE VICTORIA GARDENS PALM BEACH GARDENS FL 

11406 GARDENS MALL III 3101 PGA BLVD PALM BEACH GARDENS FL
11840 PGA COMMONS CENTRAL 5100 PGA BLVD PALM BEACH GARDENS FL 

9750 DAVIS HWY @ UNIVERSITY PKWY 8101 UNIVERSITY PKWY PENSACOLA FL 

11407 CORAL SQUARE MALL 9439 W ATLANTIC BLVD POMPANO BEACH FL 

13405 BECKER RD & TURNPIKE 650 SW BECKER RD PORT ST LUCIE FL 

11346 30A & WINSTON 5 MAIN ST ROSEMARY BEACH FL 

11410 SEMINOLE MALL DOWNSTAIRS 155 TOWNE CENTER CIR SANFORD FL 

11412 SEMINOLE MALL UPSTAIRS 155 TOWNE CENTER CIR SANFORD FL 

11347 HWY 30A & WATERCOLOR 1735 COUNTY HWY 30A SANTA ROSA BEACH FL 

11413 SARASOTA SQUARE MALL 8201 S TAMIAMI TRL SARASOTA FL
11584 LAKESHORE MALL 901 US HWY 27 N SEBRING FL 

11958 EGLIN PKWY & PLEW AVE 1198 EGLIN PKWY SHALIMAR FL 

14229 6TH AVE & 6TH ST S 625 6TH AVE S ST PETERSBURG FL 

10554 US 1 & MARKET PL 4209 SE FEDERAL HWY STUART FL 

13830 2223 SE OCEAN BLVD 2223 SE OCEAN BLVD STUART FL
13686 OCALA & W TENNESSEE 800 OCALA RD TALLAHASSEE FL
9294 RACETRACK RD & HILLSBOROUGH 13811 W HILLSBOROUGH AVE TAMPA FL 

11415 UNIVERSITY MALL 2164 E FOWLER AVE TAMPA FL 

11585 CITRUS PARK II 8021 CITRUS PARK TN CTR TAMPA FL 

13496 BUFFALO RIDGE 4046 WEDGEWOOD LN THE VILLAGES FL
11417 INDIANRIVER MALL 6200 20TH ST VERO BEACH FL 

14077 CITY PLACE II 650 S ROSEMARY AVE WEST PALM BEACH FL
14134 CR 545 & STONEYBROOK W PKWY 15502 STONYBROOK W PKWY WINTER GARDEN FL 

11707 WINTER PARK VILLAGE 480 N ORLANDO AVE WINTER PARK FL 



GEORGIA

983 VININGS 2941 PACES FERRY RD ATLANTA GA 

8452 ROSWELL RD @ I-285 5841 ROSWELL RD NE ATLANTA GA 

8479 PEACHTREE @ 17TH 1375 PEACHTREE ST NE ATLANTA GA 

11843 GA AQUARIUM 250 PARK AVE W ATLANTA GA 

11870 EAST-WEST CONNECTOR & POWDER SPRINGS 2860 E-W CONNECTOR AUSTELL GA 

13518 MALL OF GEORGIA II 3333 BUFORD DR BUFORD GA 

13433 US 80 & MALL RD 2011 VETERANS PKWY DUBLIN GA 

8385 PLEASANT HILL PLAZA 1630 PLEASANT HILL RD NW DULUTH GA 

11675 GWINNETT MALL 2100 PLEASANT HILL RD DULUTH GA 

13341 VETERANS MEMORIAL PKWY & BUCKNER BLVD 836 VETERANS MEMORIAL PKWY MABLETON GA 

11587 MACON MALL 3661 EISENHOWER PKWY MACON GA 

13408 BASS RD & STARCADIA CIR 1693 BASS RD MACON GA 

11177 EAST-WEST CONNECTOR & S COBB DR 4624 CAMP HIGHLAND RD SE SMYRNA GA 



HAWAII

21064 WAIAKEA CENTER 301 MAKA’ALA ST HILO HI 

21057 MALOLO SAND ISLAND 120 SAND ISLAND ACCESS RD HONOLULU HI 

21066 VICTORIA WARD CENTER 1200 ALA MOANA BLVD HONOLULU HI 

21068 HOKUA 1288 ALA MOANA BLVD HONOLULU HI 

21065 MAUI MARKETPLACE 270 DAIRY RD KAHULUI HI 



IOWA

9644 LINDALE MALL 4444 FIRST AVE NE CEDAR RAPIDS IA 

8688 CORAL RIDGE MALL 1451 CORAL RIDGE AVE CORALVILLE IA 

10069 NORTHPARK MALL 320 W KIMBERLY RD DAVENPORT IA
13570 MAIN & 2ND 201 N HARRISON ST DAVENPORT IA 

13752 DIVISION & LOCUST 1736 N DIVISION ST DAVENPORT IA 

10197 ASBURY PLAZA 2515 NW ARTERIAL DUBUQUE IA 

10447 MERLE HAY & JOHNSTON 5340 MERLE HAY RD JOHNSTON IA



IDAHO

3335 CAPITOL VILLAGE 2209 UNIVERSITY DR BOISE ID 

3253 MERIDIAN 1742 E FAIRVIEW DR MERIDIAN ID 



ILLINOIS

10071 STRATFORD SQUARE MALL 617 STRATFORD SQUARE MALL BLOOMINGDALE IL 

13521 THE PROMENADE BOLINGBROOK 627 E BOUGHTON RD BOLINGBROOK IL 

10633 RIVER OAKS CENTER 96 RIVER OAKS CTR CALUMET CITY IL 

10365 MARKET PLACE MALL 2000 N NEIL ST CHAMPAIGN IL
13438 RTE 6 & RIDGE 27243 W SAXONY DR CHANNAHON IL 

13689 PLUMMER & RTE 4 1140 COMMERCIAL CT CHATHAM IL 

2286 ALTGELD & LINCOLN 2475 N LINCOLN CHICAGO IL 

2403 ASHLAND & ATGELD 2454 N ASHLAND AVE CHICAGO IL 

8985 95TH & WESTERN 2347 W 95TH ST CHICAGO IL 

9895 ROOSEVELT & HOMAN 3350 W ROOSEVELT RD CHICAGO IL 

11953 PILL HILL-95TH & STONY ISLAND 1753 E 95TH ST CHICAGO IL 

13289 167TH & CRAWFORD 4019 W 167TH ST COUNTRY CLUB HILLS IL 

11491 VERMILLION & LAKESHORE 3100 N VERMILLION DANVILLE IL 

13469 NORTH & YORK 291 N YORK ST ELMHURST IL 

13712 HARLEM & GEORGE 2848 N HARLEM AVE ELMWOOD PARK IL
3431 87TH & KEDZIE 8738 S KEDZIE AVE EVERGREEN PARK IL 

11912 GRAND & MANNHEIM 10335 W GRAND AVE FRANKLIN PARK IL
11791 RTE 34 & HENDERSON 1890 N HENDERSON ST GALESBURG IL
10270 NAMEOKI & JOHNSON 3457 NAMEOKI RD GRANITE CITY IL 

2533 20505 N HWY 12 20505 N HWY 12 KILDEER IL 

2631 HOMER TOWNSHIP 14124 S BELL RD LOCKPORT IL 

11962 RTE 23 & ETNA 110 ETNA RD OTTAWA IL 

13375 STERLING & I-74 4221 N STERLING PEORIA IL 

11624 NORTH & LATHROP 7601 W NAVE RIVER FOREST IL 

2596 SOUTH HOLLAND 401 E 162ND ST SOUTH HOLLAND IL 



INDIANA

11499 WAYNE & CALVARY 1426 N WAYNE ST ANGOLA IN 

11500 I-74 & SR 229 14 ALPINE DR BATESVILLE IN 

7989 SHERMAN & ALBANY 1718 CHURCHMAN AVE BEECH GROVE IN
13201 SR 1 & LOWE’S 2133 N MAIN ST BLUFFTON IN 

2365 CARMEL 2316 E 116TH ST CARMEL IN 

13805 RTE 53 & 109TH 10761 BRDWAY CROWN POINT IN 

9760 LLOYD EXPRESSWAY & RED BANK 5000 W LLOYD EXPRESSWAY EVANSVILLE IN 

13948 SR 3 & LINCOLN 1703 N LINCOLN ST GREENSBURG IN 

2549 GREENDALE CENTRE 789 US 31 GREENWOOD IN 

2489 38TH & MERIDIAN 3778 N MERIDIAN ST INDIANAPOLIS IN 

2499 96TH & ALLISONVILLE 9642 ALLISONVILLE RD INDIANAPOLIS IN
2591 THE PRECEDENT 3855 E 96TH ST INDIANAPOLIS IN 

9433 FALL CREEK & COLLEGE 2910 N COLLEGE AVE INDIANAPOLIS IN 

10508 W 38TH & GEMCO 5060 W 38TH ST INDIANAPOLIS IN 

11846 16TH & SHARON 3021 W 16TH ST INDIANAPOLIS IN 

13444 KEYSTONE & NATIONAL 3801 S KEYSTONE AVE INDIANAPOLIS IN 

10074 SR 3 & PARKVIEW 1902 S MEMORIAL DR NEW CASTLE IN
11722 METROPOLIS MALL 2499 FUTURA PKWY PLAINFIELD IN 

11354 RTE 6 & AUGUSTA 6200 US HWY 6 PORTAGE IN 

10739 US 50 & JACKSON PARK 1250 E TIPTON ST SEYMOUR IN
11504 CLEVELAND & PORTAGE 3600 PORTAGE RD SOUTH BEND IN
2704 SPEEDWAY & CUNNINGHAM 5945 CRAWFORDSVILLE RD SPEEDWAY IN 

9521 US 41 & HART 2605 HART ST VINCENNES IN 



KANSAS

14237 COLLEGE & PFLUMM 13430 COLLEGE BLVD LENEXA KS 

11913 95TH & QUIVIRA 11780 W 95TH ST OVERLAND PARK KS 

13853 CENTRAL & TYLER 8971 W CENTRAL WICHITA KS 


KENTUCKY
11753 S DANVILLE BYPASS & BRENDA 3491 S DANVILLE BYPASS DANVILLE KY 

10910 EUCLID & UPPER 535 S UPPER ST LEXINGTON KY 

10779 HUBBARDS & WESTPORT 285 N HUBBARDS LN LOUISVILLE KY 

10870 POPLAR LEVEL & HESS 3009 POPLAR LEVEL RD LOUISVILLE KY 

11512 HWY 68 & PARIS BYPASS 320 LETTON DR PARIS KY 

11755 HWY 27 & JEFFERSON 2049 S HWY 27 SOMERSET KY 



LOUISIANA

6326 CORPORATE BLVD & ENERGY DR 5720 CORPORATE BLVD BATON ROUGE LA 

6357 SIEGAN & PERKINS 8729 SIEGAN LN BATON ROUGE LA 

6414 AIRLINE AND HIGHLAND 19970 HIGHLAND RD BATON ROUGE LA
8321 PERKINS & BLUEBONNET 7777 BLUEBONNET BLVD BATON ROUGE LA 

11263 I-10 & SIEGEN 6556 SIEGEN LN BATON ROUGE LA 

11264 COURSEY & MARKET 14241 COURSEY BLVD BATON ROUGE LA 

11628 ESSEN LN & MANCUSO 5565 ESSEN LANE BATON ROUGE LA
13291 AIRLINE HWY & HARRY DR 8183 AIRLINE HWY BATON ROUGE LA 

13292 BURBANK & BLUEBONNET 9837 BLUEBONNET BLVD BATON ROUGE LA 

13575 LOYOLA & DUKE 3117 LOYOLA DR KENNER LA 

13649 VEROT SCHOOL RD & PINHOOK 115 VEROT SCHOOL RD LAFAYETTE LA 

10597 PECANLAND MALL 4700 MILHAVEN RD MONROE LA 

11049 I-20 & PINES 6730 PINES RD SHREVEPORT LA 



MASSACHUSETTS

7774 MIDDLESEX TURNPIKE BURLINGTON 47 MIDDLESEX TURNPIKE BURLINGTON MA 

10376 DARTMOUTH MALL 200 N DARTMOUTH MALL DARTMOUTH MA
863 NEWTON CENTRE 70 UNION ST NEWTON MA 

10273 EMERALD SQUARE MALL 999 S WASHINGTON ST NORTH ATTLEBORO MA 

7523 SHARON FIVE POST OFFICE SQUARE SHARON MA 

2766 STOUGHTON 425 WASHINGTON ST STOUGHTON MA 

11915 SHREWSBURY ST MARKETPLACE 225 SHREWSBURY ST WORCESTER MA 



MARYLAND

11265 PARK PLACE 2 PARK PLACE ANNAPOLIS MD 

7588 HARBORPLACE 301 S LIGHT ST BALTIMORE MD 

10600 BELVEDERE 5911 YORK RD BALTIMORE MD 

11799 COLLINGTON PLAZA 3524 NCRAIN HWY BOWIE MD 

11727 BELTSVILLE I-495 10240 BALTIMORE AVE COLLEGE PARK MD
13379 EASTON DUDROW FARM 28601 MARLBORO AVE EASTON MD
11850 MONTGOMERY VILLAGE PLAZA 18314 CONTOUR RD GAITHERSBURG MD 

11963 CLOPPERS MILL SHOPPING CENTER 18066 MATENY RD GERMANTOWN MD 

11516 FAIRWOOD GREEN VILLAGE CENTER 12530 FAIRWOOD PKWY GLENN DALE MD 

10640 PIKESVILLE 1433 REISTERSTOWN RD PIKESVILLE MD 

9795 SAINT CHARLES TOWNE CENTER 11110 MALL CIRCLE WALDORF MD 

9953 WESTFIELD 11160 VEIRS MILL RD WHEATON MD 



MAINE

11185 BANGOR MALL 663 STILLWATER AVE BANGOR ME 

13979 BANGOR BROADWAY 652 BRDWAY BANGOR ME 



MICHIGAN

2467 FAIRLANE TOWN CENTER 18900 MICHIGAN AVE DEARBORN MI
2319 BUHL BUILDING 535 GRISWOLD ST DETROIT MI 

2502 MILLENDER CENTER 333 E JEFFERSON AVE DETROIT MI 

2546 JEFFERSON & E GRAND BLVD 7201 E JEFFERSON DETROIT MI
2493 EASTPOINTE 22511 GRATIOT AVE EASTPOINTE MI 

11918 CORUNNA & LINDEN 4455 CORUNNA RD FLINT MI 

11877 GROESBECK & UTICA 31205 UTICA RD FRASER MI 

11633 GAYLORD 1251 W MAIN ST GAYLORD MI 

2590 RIVERTOWN CROSSING 3700 RIVERTOWN PKWY GRANDVILLE MI 

11758 CANAL & 44TH 4375 CANAL SW GRANDVILLE MI 

13623 W WASHINGTON 1925 W WASHINGTON GREENVILLE MI 

13202 GULL RD & SPRINKLE 5625 GULL RD KALAMAZOO MI 

13955 GRAND RIVER & SAGINAW 3201 E GRAND RIVER LANSING MI
2614 EASTWOOD TOWNE CENTER 2941 PREYDE BLVD LANSING TOWNSHIP MI 

13691 LUDINGTON 4551 W US HWY 10 LUDINGTON MI 

14140 TWELVE OAKS MALL 27500 NOVI RD NOVI MI 

10831 MERIDIAN MALL 1982 GRAND RIVER AVE OKEMOS MI 

2251 DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER 439 MAIN ST ROCHESTER MI 



MINNESOTA

9564 E MAIN FRONTAGE RD & PROSPECT 2221 E MAIN FRONTAGE RD ALBERT LEA MN 

9271 NORTHTOWN MALL 599 NORTHTOWN DR NE BLAINE MN 

10456 RADISON RD & 109TH 2331 108TH LANE NE BLAINE MN 

9605 BROOKLYN BLVD & 55TH 5512 BROOKLYN BLVD BROOKLYN CENTER MN 

11635 66TH & HWY 252 615 66TH AVE N BROOKLYN CENTER MN 

13346 BROOKLYN BLVD & 69TH 6901 BROOKLYN BLVD BROOKLYN CENTER MN 

2495 EAST BURNSVILLE 14637 COUNTRY RD 11 BURNSVILLE MN
9653 NICOLLET & HWY 55 250 E TRAVELER’S TRAIL BURNSVILLE MN
2354 COON RAPIDS 3450 124TH AVE NW COON RAPIDS MN 

10457 MAIN ST & HWY 10 2740 MAIN ST COON RAPIDS MN 

10871 ROUND LAKE & HWY 10 13131 RIVERDALE DR COON RAPIDS MN 

10204 HWY 15 & TORGERSON DR 1140 TORGERSON DR FAIRMONT MN 

9606 GRANT & WESTERN 2280 GRANT ST FARIBAULT MN 

9360 HASTINGS & HWY 55 1731 N FRONTAGE RD HASTINGS MN
9881 LINCOLN SQUARE 3156 CENTURY AVE N MAHTOMEDI MN
10744 MADISON & HWY 22 1881 MADISON AVE MANKATO MN 

14262 WARREN & STADIUM 1680 WARREN ST MANKATO MN 

9914 E SOUTHVIEW DR & MAIN ST 1201 E MAIN ST MARSHALL MN
2859 125TH & CENTRAL 12555 ULYSSES ST NE MINNAPOLIS MN
9915 HWY 7 & CO RD 101 5101 COUNTY RD MINNETONKA MN 

13347 HWY 36 & HWY 5 5980 NEAL AVE N OAK PARK HEIGHTS MN 

2451 ROCKFORD SQUARE 4000 ANNAPOLIS LN PLYMOUTH MN 

10642 TYLER RD & MALL DR 144 TYLER RD N RED WING MN 

11186 W CIRCLE DR & 26TH 2665 COMMERCE DR NW ROCHESTER MN 

11803 MARSCHALL & 17TH AVE 1539 17TH AVE E SHAKOPEE MN 

10690 242 W 7TH 242 W 7TH ST. PAUL MN 

10157 LIFESTYLE CNTER 9000 HUDSON RD WOODBURY MN 



MISSOURI

2523 CLAYTON AND BAXTER 14815 CLAYTON RD CHESTERFIELD MO
13348 SR N & I64 7827 HWY N DARDENNE PRAIRIE MO 

13511 GRAHAM & I 270 1261 GRAHAM RD FLORISSANT MO 

9957 HOWDERSHELL & DUNN 6045 HOWDERSHELL RD HAZELWOOD MO 

10834 W FLORISSANT @ LUCAS & HUNT 8031 W. FLORISSANT AVE JENNINGS MO 

11853 13TH & MAIN 1 E H&R BLOCK WAY KANSAS CITY MO 

13653 HWY 150 & HWY 291 3701 SW HOLLYWOOD DR LEES SUMMIT MO 

9990 SR K & WELDON SPRING 4581 HWY K O’FALLON MO 

10912 ELM & SH-370 3788 ELM ST ST. CHARLES MO 

2422 UNION STATION 1820 MARKET ST ST. LOUIS MO 

11360 MANCHESTER & SAPPINGTON 10025 MANCHESTER RD ST. LOUIS MO 

11523 TELEGRAPH & ERB 6070 H TELEGRAPH RD ST. LOUIS MO
13764 EUCLID & LACLEDE 9 NEUCLID AVE ST. LOUIS MO 

13765 7TH & RUSSELL 2000 S 7TH ST ST. LOUIS MO 

14364 HWY 100 & S POINTE 3081 PHOENIX CENTER DR WASHINGTON MO 

11920 LOCKWOOD & ROCK HILL 234 W LOCKWOOD WEBSTER GROVE MO 

13323 HWY 94 & OFALLON 5851 WWOOD DR WELDON SPRINGS MO 



MISSISSIPPI

13474 I-55 & HWY 6 100 HOUSE-CARLSON DR BATESVILLE MS 

10275 LAKELAND & LAYFAIR 204 A E LAYFAIR DR FLOWOOD MS
11524 HWY 98 & LAKE FORGETFUL 6136 HWY 98 W HATTIESBURG MS 

10385 I 55 & MAIN 1903 MAIN ST MADISON MS 

11053 HACKS & GOODMAN 7058 HACKS CROSS OLIVE BRANCH MS
10386 I-20 & PEARSON 403 RIVERWIND RD PEARL MS 

11054 NORTHPARK MALL-THE MILLS 1200 E COUNTY LINE RIDGELAND MS

NEBRASKA

11527 HWY 370 & 36TH 3811 TWIN CREEK DR BELLEVUE NE 

13626 23RD & CLARKSON 610 E 23RD ST FREMONT NE 

11270 2ND & W 42 ST 4116 2ND AVE KEARNEY NE 

9883 120TH & BLONDO 2012 N 117TH AVE OMAHA NE 

11528 CENTER & 63RD 6303 CENTER ST OMAHA NE 

11529 HWY 370 & 72ND 1423 PAPILLION DR PAPILLION NE 

11805 72ND & GILES 8440 S 72ND ST PAPILLION NE

NEVADA

11139 HORIZON RIDGE & HORIZON DR 65 E HORIZON RIDGE PKWY HENDERSON NV 

653 MISSION CENTER 1340 E FLAMINGO RD LAS VEGAS NV 

5443 MARYLAND PARKWAY – UNLV 4626 S MARYLAND PKWY LAS VEGAS NV 

5544 EASTERN BELTWAY 2390 E SERENE AVE LAS VEGAS NV 

6443 SAHARA & BUFFALO 8000 W SAHARA LAS VEGAS NV 

6633 DESERT INN & DECATUR 4810 W DESERT INN RD 3 LAS VEGAS NV 

9770 BUFFALO & WASHINGTON 7595 W WASHINGTON AVE LAS VEGAS NV 

10079 JONES & FLAMINGO 6100 W FLAMINGO RD LAS VEGAS NV
10162 PARADISE & HARMON 4480 PARADISE RD LAS VEGAS NV
10393 TROPICANA & EASTERN 2510 E TROPICANA AVE LAS VEGAS NV 

10462 CHARLESTON & BRUSH 5181 W CHARLESTON BLVD LAS VEGAS NV 

10970 ANN & PAINTED MIRAGE 5590 PAINTED MIRAGE RD LAS VEGAS NV 

11140 DURANGO & CHARLESTON 950 S DURANGO DR LAS VEGAS NV 

11647 SKY POINTE & BUFFALO 6515 N BUFFALO DR LAS VEGAS NV
9884 CENTENNIAL & SIMMONS 6360 N SIMMONS ST N LAS VEGAS NV 

5592 NORTH MESA PLAZA 1513 W CRAIG RD NORTH LAS VEGAS NV
10872 LAKE MEAD & RANCHO 3720 LAKE MEAD BLVD NORTH LAS VEGAS NV 

9885 1ST & SIERRA 50 N SIERRA ST RENO NV



NEW HAMPSHIRE

14089 ROCHESTER SHOPPES 160 WASHINGTON ST ROCHESTER NH

NEW JERSEY

13581 HAMMONTON NJ 80 S WHITE HORSE PIKE HAMMONTON NJ 

7563 NEWARK/BROAD ST 744 BRD ST NEWARK NJ 

13499 RIDGEW00D 10 WILSEY SQUARE RIDGEWOOD NJ 

13298 WEST BELT PLAZA 57 ROUTE 23 S WAYNE NJ 

10327 WILLINGBORO 4364 ROUTE 130 N WILLINGBORO NJ 



NEW MEXICO

13898 WYOMING & MENAUL 2270 WYOMING ALBUQUERQUE NM
10120 HWY 550 & HWY 64 500 W BRDWAY AVE BLOOMFIELD NM 11732 N MAIN & TEMPLE 2800 N MAIN ST LAS CRUCES NM 

11733 N MAIN & WALMART ACCESS 4506 N MAIN ST ROSWELL NM 



NEW YORK

14186 BAY RIDGE 8414 THIRD AVE 8414 3RD AVE BROOKLYN NY
843 CEDARHURST 426 CENTRAL AVE CEDARHURST NY 

10840 CENTRAL ISLIP TOWN CENTRE 101 S RESEARCH PL CENTRAL ISLIP NY 

11422 WALDEN GALLERIA MALL 2000 WALDEN AVE CHEEKTOWAGA NY 

11278 RTE 11 & HOGAN RD 7897 BREWERTON RD CICERO NY 

10048 CENTRAL AVENUE KOHLS CENTER 1818 CENTRAL AVE COLONIE NY 

10165 DOUGLASTON PLAZA 242-02 61ST AVE DOUGLASTON NY 

7932 EAST AURORA 160 MAIN ST EAST AURORA NY 

7473 EAST MEADOW 2330 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE EAST MEADOW NY 

8132 CARRIER CIRCLE 6570 WEIGHLOCK DR EAST SYRACUSE NY 

7259 ELWOOD 1946 JERICHO TURNPIKE ELWOOD NY 

10567 FULTON AVE 123 FULTON AVE FARMINGDALE NY 

9484 GENESEO 4262 LAKEVILLE RD GENESEO NY 

10166 UNION TURNPIKE 8989 UNION TURNPIKE GLENDALE NY 

11812 ATLAS PARK 8000 COOPER AVE GLENDALE NY 

7343 GREECE 2150 RIDGE RD W GREECE NY 

7574 BROADWAY MALL 385B BRDWAY MALL HICKVILLE NY 

7236 ISLANDIA 1750 VETERANS HWY ISLANDIA NY 

9403 LOCKPORT 5774 S TRANSIT RD LOCKPORT NY 

14187 MAMARONECK AVE 320-322 MAMARONECK AVE MAMARONECK NY 

2880 1675 BROADWAY 1675 BRDWAY MANHATTAN NY 

11368 GALLERIA AT CRYSTAL RUN ONE GALLERIA DR MIDDLETOWN NY 

7396 OLD COUNTRY ROAD 106 OLD COUNTRY RD MINEOLA NY
10752 SWEETHEART CORNER 3911 BREWERTON RD N SYRACUSE NY 

7679 NEW HYDE PARK VILLAGE 1441 JERICHO TURNPIKE NEW HYDE PARK NY 

7515 400 MADISON AVENUE 400 MADISON AVE NEW YORK NY
11538 1600 BROADWAY 1600 BRDWAY NEW YORK NY 

11692 46TH & FIFTH AVE 565 FIFTH AVE NEW YORK NY 

11737 MADISON & 44th 340 MADISON AVE NEW YORK NY
14091 MACY’S 5TH FLOOR – HERALD SQUARE 151 W 34TH ST NEW YORK NY 

11651 POUGHKEEPSIE GALLERIA 2001 S RD POUGHKEEPSIE NY
10611 1 ROSLYN RD 1 RAILRD AVE ROSLYN HEIGHTS NY 

10397 WATT ST 24471 WATT ST SCHENECTADY NY 

9845 SOUTHAMPTON 20 NHWY SOUTHAMPTON NY 

11976 SOUTHOLD 53345 ROUTE 25 SOUTHOLD NY 

11280 FOREST PROMENADE 1756 FOREST AVE STATEN ISLAND NY
10281 PALISADES CENTER 4451 PALISADES CTR DR WEST NYACK NY 

7275 WESTBURY 467 OLD COUNTRY RD WESTBURY NY 

11589 THE SOURCE MALL 1504 OLD COUNTRY RD WESTBURY NY


NORTH CAROLINA

11525 CHATHAM DOWNS 141 CHATHAM DOWNS CHAPEL HILL NC
10420 WILKINSON BLVD 3220 WILKINSON BLVD CHARLOTTE NC
10836 NORTHLAKE COMMONS 9335 CENTER LAKE DR CHARLOTTE NC 

11056 PIEDMONT TOWN CENTER 4620 PIEDMONT ROW DR CHARLOTTE NC 

13533 WORTHINGTON 1520 OVERLAND PARK LN CHARLOTTE NC 

14141 PROVIDENCE RD & SHARON AMITY RD 2921 PROVIDENCE RD CHARLOTTE NC 

14183 FIRETOWER RD & ARLINGTON BLVD 1889 E FIRETOWER RD GREENVILLE NC 

11136 VALLEY HILLS MALL 1960 HWY 70 SE HICKORY NC 

11925 NASH STREET 2113 NASH ST WILSON NC 

8716 HARPER HILL COMMONS 4912 COUNTRY CLUB RD WINSTON SALEM NC 



NORTH DAKOTA

2734 KIRKWOOD MALL 868 KIRKWOOD MALL BISMARCK ND 

8923 UNIVERSITY & 16TH 1601 UNIVERSITY DRIVE FARGO ND 

10459 13TH & 25TH 1310 25TH ST FARGO ND 
11060 I-29 & 13TH AVE
3402 13TH AVE S FARGO ND 



OHIO

2525 1505 FIFTH AVE 1505 W FIFTH AVE COLUMBUS OH 

11856 YUKON BUILDING 601 N HIGH ST COLUMBUS OH 

14056 REYNOLDSBURG 6144 E MAIN ST COLUMBUS OH 

13859 DUBLIN, SAWMILL & HARD 7561 SAWMILL RD DUBLIN OH
14170 THE SHOPS AT FALLEN TIMBERS 3100 MAIN ST MAUMEE OH
2389 RICHMOND TOWN SQUARE 691 RICHMOND RD RICHMOND HEIGHTS OH 

10399 OHIO VALLEY MALL 67800 MALL RD ST. CLAIRSVILLE OH
11883 MAXTOWN 925 N. STATE ST WESTERVILLE OH 

2792 HIGH ST 530 N HIGH ST WORTHINGTON OH 



OKLAHOMA

13302 MAIN & WAYNE 1610 N MAIN ST ALTUS OK 

13415 HWY 66 & COUNTRY CLUB 1100 S LYNN RIGGS BLVD CLAREMORE OK 

11285 29TH & LINDA 4755 SE 29TH ST DEL CITY OK 

11858 DANFORTH & SANTA FE 2015 W DANFORTH RD EDMOND OK
13459 15TH & SANTA FE 2141 W 15TH ST EDMOND OK 

13720 SHERIDAN & GORE 1204 NW SHERIDAN RD LAWTON OK
11542 HWY 69 & COMANCHE 427 S GEORGE NIGH EXPY MCALESTER OK 

13541 SHAWNEE & 6TH 591 W SHAWNEE MUSKOGEE OK 

11144 122ND & PENNSYLVANIA 12124 N PENNSYLVANIA AVE OKLAHOMA CITY OK 

11543 MEMORIAL & MAY 3131 W MEMORIAL OKLAHOMA CITY OK
13324 BROADWAY EXTENSION & BRITTON 125 W BRITTON RD OKLAHOMA CITY OK 

14093 WESTERN & 89TH 9201 S WERN AVE OKLAHOMA CITY OK
13721 14TH & BRADLEY 2400 N 14TH ST PONCA CITY OK 

11287 HWY 62 & MEADOW CREEK 1702 S MUSKOGEE AVE TAHLEQUAH OK 

11936 81ST & MINGO 9524 E 81ST ST TULSA OK 



OREGON

460 TANASBOURNE – HAGGENS 18000 NW EVERGREEN PKWY BEAVERTON OR 

13769 CORNELL & 188TH 1887 NW 188TH AVE HILLSBORO OR 

426 HAWTHORNE II 1864 SE HAWTHORNE BLVD PORTLAND OR 

3441 20TH & DIVISION 2045 SE DIVISION ST PORTLAND OR 

14303 CLACKAMAS TOWN CENTER II 11860 SE 82ND AVE PORTLAND OR 

10520 TILLAMOOK SHOPS 1701 WILSON RIVER LOOP RD TILLAMOOK OR 



PENNSYLVANIA

11697 TREXLERTOWN 6379 HAMILTON BLVD ALLENTOWN PA 

11767 LOGAN VALLEY MALL ROUTE 220 & GOODS LN ALTOONA PA 

13696 CHESTNUT PLAZA 118 E CHESTNUT AVE ALTOONA PA 

13837 NESHAMINY MALL 707 NESHAMINY MALL BENSALEM PA
13905 DOWNTOWN BLOOMSBURG 34 E MAIN ST BLOOMSBURG PA 

13268 NEW BRITAIN 290 W BUTLER PIKE CHALFONT PA 

10294 DALLAS 184 MEMORIAL HWY DALLAS PA 

11859 PALMER TOWN CENTER 677 S 25TH ST EASTON PA 

10789 NORTH HANOVER 189 EISENHOWER DR HANOVER PA 

13543 PAXTON STREET 3462 PAXTON ST HARRISBURG PA 

13636 3RD & MARKET 225 MARKET ST HARRISBURG PA 

13863 GRANITE RUN MALL 1067 W BALTIMORE PIKE MEDIA PA 

9726 ENGLISH VILLAGE 1460 BETHLEHEM PIKE NORTH WALES PA
7723 STATION SQURE-BESSEMER COURT 5 STATION SQUARE DR PITTSBURGH PA 

9372 PLYMOUTH MEETING MALL 500 W GERMANTOWN PIKE PLYMOUTH MEETING PA 

13545 MUHLENBERG 3225 N5TH ST READING PA 

14118 STROUDSBURG 1000 SHOPPES AT STROUDS RT 611 STROUDSBURG PA 

7882 UPPER MORELAND 2770 EON RD UPPER MORELAND PA 

9470 WARRINGTON ROUTE 611 711 EON RD WARRINGTON PA 

7902 RT 611 WILLOW GROVE 1107 EON RD WILLOW GROVE PA
11939 WYOMISSING II 798 WOODLAND RD WYOMISSING PA 



SOUTH CAROLINA

11553 E MAIN ST & DRAYTON RD 1855 E MAIN ST SPARTANBURG SC

TENNESSEE

10792 APPLING & US 70 7610 US HWY 70 BARTLETT TN 

13985 HWY 58 & HWY 153 4503 HWY 58 CHATTANOOGA TN 

9442 NONCONNAH PKWY & HOUSTON LEVEE 4630 MERCHANT PARK CIR COLLIERVILLE TN 

11769 HWY 51 & LANNY BRIDGES 1625 HWY 51 S COVINGTON TN
13772 I-40 & PINE RIDGE 1796 ROANE STATE HWY HARRIMAN TN
11819 HIGHLAND & BALTIMORE 112 E BALTIMORE ST JACKSON TN
11942 STRAWBERRY PLAINS & I-40 7228 REGION LANE KNOXVILLE TN 

8350 DEXTER & GERMANTOWN 1645 N GERMANTOWN PKWY MEMPHIS TN 

11885 GERMANTOWN & MARKET PLAZA 2293 N GERMANTOWN PKWY MEMPHIS TN 

11886 RIVERDALE & MALTAN 3586 RIVERDALE RD MEMPHIS TN
8471 HWY 96 @ MALL CIRCLE DRIVE 207A STONES RIVER MALL BLVD MURFREESBORO TN 

14053 STONES RIVER MALL KIOSK 1720 OLD FORT PKWY MURFREESBORO TN 

11980 HWY 64 & HWY 194 7275 HWY 64 OAKLAND TN 



TEXAS

6236 SOUTH ARLINGTON 1201 W ARBROOK ARLINGTON TX 

6299 COOPER & GREEN OAKS 5435 S COOPER ARLINGTON TX 

6301 COLLINS & GREEN OAKS 2733 N COLLINS ARLINGTON TX 

9540 MATLOCK & BARDIN 4645 MATLOCK ARLINGTON TX 

6403 S CONGRESS AND ACADEMY 1007 S CONGRESS AUSTIN TX
14121 MOPAC & SLAUGHTER 5000 W SLAUGHTER AUSTIN TX 

9675 HWY 83 & BOCA CHICA 100 EXPRESSWAY 83 BROWNSVILLE TX 

9300 US 377 & US 67 300 W COMMERCE BROWNWOOD TX 

11558 SPID & WEBER 3920 S PADRE ISLAND DR CORPUS CHRISTI TX
11943 STAPLES & DODDRIDGE 3738 STAPLES CORPUS CHRISTI TX
6262 GREENVILLE & MATALEE 3715 GREENVILLE AVE DALLAS TX
6280 PRESTON & BELTLINE 14891 PRESTON RD DALLAS TX 

6370 LOVERS LANE & GREENVILLE AVE 5500 GREENVILLE AVE DALLAS TX 

6372 CAMP WISDOM RD & HWY 67 3431 CAMP WISDOM RD DALLAS TX 

6387 SKILLMAN AND AUDELIA 9090 SKILLMAN ST DALLAS TX 

10758 NORTHPARK MALL II 8687 N CENTRAL EXP DALLAS TX 

10759 LBJ & MONTFORT 5631 LBJ FWY DALLAS TX 

10877 ILLINOIS & WESTMORELAND 3403 W ILLINOIS AVE DALLAS TX
14144 COIT & 635 7995 LBJ DALLAS TX 

6963 PLEASANT RUN & HAMPTON RD 900 N HAMPTON RD DESOTO TX 

8135 CEDAR RIDGE & WHEATLAND RD 107 S CEDAR RIDGE DR DUNCANVILLE TX 

13356 MONTANA & MCRAE 9615 MONTANA RD EL PASO TX 

6282 SPRING VALLEY & MIDWAY 13901 MIDWAY RD FARMERS BRANCH TX 

10057 CAMP BOWIE & HULEN 4603 CAMP BOWIE FORT WORTH TX
10086 HULEN MALL 4800 S HULEN ST FORT WORTH TX 

14145 MCCART & ALTAMESA 6221 MCCART AVE FORT WORTH TX
13928 FM 423 LEBANON 5605 FM 423 FRISCO TX 

14096 WARREN & DALLAS PKWY 6801 WARREN PKWY FRISCO TX
10295 FIREWHEEL TOWN CENTER 470 CONEFLOWER DR GARLAND TX 

6274 SHEPHERD & FARNHAM 3821 SHEPHARD HOUSTON TX 

7944 I-45 & RED RIPPLE 6001 N FWY HOUSTON TX 

9615 HWY 249 & ANTOINE 12503 TOMBALL PKWY HOUSTON TX
10056 MAIN & DALLAS 914 DALLAS ST HOUSTON TX 

10650 FANNIN & PRESTON 1018 PRESTON HOUSTON TX 

11562 WESTHEIMER & BRIARGREEN 14333 WHEIMER RD HOUSTON TX 

13479 BELLAIRE & WILCREST 10611 BELLAIRE BLVD HOUSTON TX
13672 FANNIN & MACGREGOR 6400 FANNIN ST HOUSTON TX 

11563 DEERBROOK MALL 20131 HWY 59 HUMBLE TX 

11072 HWY 77 & GENERAL CAVAZOS 1401 E GENERAL CAVAZOS KINGSVILLE TX 

11565 ZAPATA HWY & CHESTNUT 2201 CHESTNUT LAREDO TX 

2977 TOWN EAST MALL 2228 TOWN E BLVD MESQUITE TX 

13797 HWY 271 & WHITE STREET 901 S JEFFERSON AVE MT PLEASANT TX 

13395 LAMAR & LOOP 286 3855 NE LOOP 286 PARIS TX 

11074 I-27 & HWY 70 1301 I-27 NORTH PLAINVIEW TX 

6288 PRESTON & HWY 121 8600 PRESTON PLANO TX 

6666 COIT AND HWY 190 340 COIT RD PLANO TX 

10576 COLLIN CREEK MALL 811 N CENTRAL EXWY PLANO TX 

13838 HWY 75 & PARK BLVD 1881 CENTRAL EXWY PLANO TX 

11301 I-35 & RED OAK 502 N I-35 RED OAK TX 

10528 CHERRY & BUSINESS 35 1205 HWY 35 N ROCKPORT TX 

11302 HWY 59 & HWY 36 27943 SW FWY ROSENBERG TX 

11982 59 & HWY 762 24406 SW FWY ROSENBURG TX 

6221 SAN PEDRO/BITTERS 13429 SAN PEDRO AVE SAN ANTONIO TX
10924 RIO GRANDE & LAURENT 1310 E RIO GRANDE VICTORIA TX
13332 VALLEY MILLS & WACO DR 4300 W WACO DR WACO TX 

9930 GREEN OAKS & HWY 183 500 B HWY 183 W WHITE SETTLEMENT TX 

14246 US 287 & MAURINE 2009 MAURINE ST WICHITA FALLS TX 



UTAH

11823 37TH & HARRISON 3685 S HARRISON BLVD OGDEN UT 

10880 1914 W & 126TH S 1868 W 12600 S RIVERTON UT 

10704 COTTONWOOD CREEK 7835 S HIGHLAND DR SALT LAKE CITY UT 

11950 1700 S & 2000 W 1642 S 2000 W SYRACUSE UT 



VIRGINIA

11772 SPOTSYLVANIA TOWNE CENTRE 137 SPOTSYLVANIA TOWNE CTR FREDERICKSBURG VA 

10761 MADISON CRESCENT 8006 CRESCENT PARK DR GAINESVILLE VA 

2957 POWER PLANT 1984 POWER PLANT PKWY HAMPTON VA
10986 PATRICK HENRY MALL 12300 JEFFERSON AVE NEWPORT NEWS VA 

11154 STONEWALL PLAZA 240 RIVENDELL CT WINCHESTER VA


WASHINGTON

3327 GRAYS HARBOR HAGGENS 1213 E WISHKAH ST ABERDEEN WA 

3280 BURLINGTON & GILKEY 1030 S BURLINGTON BLVD BURLINGTON WA 

355 TOP FOODS WENATCHEE 10 GRANT RD EAST WENATCHEE WA
338 TOP FOODS FEDERAL WAY 31515 20TH AVE S FEDERAL WAY WA 

3317 KENT HAGGENS 26015 104TH AVE SW KENT WA 

10532 ORTING RETAIL CENTER 211 WASHINGTON AVE ORTING WA
13676 HWY 101 & DEL GUZZI DR 108 DEL GUZZI DR PORT ANGLES WA 

3207 15TH AVE E 328 15TH AVE E SEATTLE WA 

3241 DENNY & AURORA 620 DENNY WAY SEATTLE WA 

3308 MET PARK II 1220 HOWELL ST SEATTLE WA 

8739 23RD & MADISON 2201 E MADISON AVE SEATTLE WA 

13508 45TH & STONE WAY 1218 N 45TH ST SEATTLE WA 

13777 NORTHGATE MALL II 301 NE NORTHGATE WAY SEATTLE WA
14350 42ND & SW ALASKA 4704 42ND AVE SW SEATTLE WA 

10477 MARKET AND GARLAND 3907 N MARKET ST SPOKANE WA
9321 RAINIER PACIFIC BUILDING 1498 PACIFIC AVE TACOMA WA
14274 SOUTHCENTER & MINKLER 17100 SCENTER PKWY TUKWILA WA 

3348 ORCHARDS 6700 NE 162ND VANCOUVER WA 

359 TOP FOODS – YAKIMA 2203 S 1ST ST YAKIMA WA 


WISCONSIN
13844 FOX RIVER MALL 4301 W WISCONSIN AVE APPLETON WI
10179 OAKWOOD MALL 4800 GOLF RD EAU CLAIRE WI 

11672 LOSEY & DENTON 1422 S LOSEY BLVD LACROSSE WI 

2308 FINDLAY PLAZA 2825 UNIVERSITY AVE MADISON WI 

9808 CENTRAL & MCMILLAN 1710 CENTRAL AVE MARSHFIELD WI 
11827 8TH & WOOD 1951 8TH ST WISCONSIN RAPIDS WI

WEST VIRGINIA

11213 THE HIGHLANDS 36 FORT HENRY RD TRIDELPHIA WV

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/starbucks-closing-list-page/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/undercover-at-planned-parenthood-mainstream-media-ignores-unethical-and-illegal-behavior-of-pp-employees/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/undercover-at-planned-parenthood-mainstream-media-ignores-unethical-and-illegal-behavior-of-pp-employees/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:47:49 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=149 ]]>

As Michelle Malkin points out in this commentary, when investigative reporters go under cover to expose unethical behavior in, say, military recruiting methods, the mainstream media stands up to applaud. But when someone does the same thing to Planned Parenthood, it just doesn’t fit into their agenda and so gets ignored. Can you imagine the military suing someone for reporting unethical behavior that turns out to be true? Just watch and listen to the recordings…

Now, if the “underage girls” in question were asking them to abort babies that were planted there by priests, those Planned Parenthood people would have been on the phone so fast to the authorities it would have made your head spin… as well they should, since sexual contact with a minor by an adult is a criminal offense and they are legally bound to report the incident. Regardless of how the student got the recordings, the employees had no way of knowing the caller was not underage and gave the advice they would have given under similar circumstances with an authentic caller… and yet there is no investigation by authorities OR the mainstream media into this type of unethical behavior by Planned Parenthood employees? Why haven’t their employees been required to take ethics courses?

Perhaps it is because Planned Parenthood has no moral ethics, and since it doesn’t fit their agenda the mainstream media WANTS to keep it out of the news…

Hypocrisy in action, folks.

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Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

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]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/undercover-at-planned-parenthood-mainstream-media-ignores-unethical-and-illegal-behavior-of-pp-employees/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/spurgeons-devotional-teach-your-children-well-a-case-for-the-spiritual-instruction-of-the-gospel-to-their-children-by-the-parents/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/spurgeons-devotional-teach-your-children-well-a-case-for-the-spiritual-instruction-of-the-gospel-to-their-children-by-the-parents/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:02:18 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=137 ]]>

Joel 1:3
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

In this simple way, by God’s grace, a living testimony for truth is always to be kept alive in the land-the beloved of the Lord are to hand down their witness for the gospel, and the covenant to their heirs, and these again to their next descendants. This is our first duty, we are to begin at the family hearth: he is a bad preacher who does not commence his ministry at home. The heathen are to be sought by all means, and the highways and hedges are to be searched, but home has a prior claim, and woe unto those who reverse the order of the Lord’s arrangements. To teach our children is a personal duty; we cannot delegate it to Sunday School Teachers, or other friendly aids, these can assist us, but cannot deliver us from the sacred obligation; proxies and sponsors are wicked devices in this case: mothers and fathers must, like Abraham, command their households in the fear of God, and talk with their offspring concerning the wondrous works of the Most High. Parental teaching is a natural duty-who so fit to look to the child’s well-being as those who are the authors of his actual being? To neglect the instruction of our offspring is worse than brutish. Family religion is necessary for the nation, for the family itself, and for the church of God. By a thousand plots Popery is covertly advancing in our land, and one of the most effectual means for resisting its inroads is left almost neglected, namely, the instruction of children in the faith. Would that parents would awaken to a sense of the importance of this matter. It is a pleasant duty to talk of Jesus to our sons and daughters, and the more so because it has often proved to be an accepted work, for God has saved the children through the parents’ prayers and admonitions. May every house into which this volume shall come honour the Lord and receive His smile.

From Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional. You can get your own copy at Christianbook.com

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/spurgeons-devotional-teach-your-children-well-a-case-for-the-spiritual-instruction-of-the-gospel-to-their-children-by-the-parents/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/feed-the-hungry-by-knowing-your-vocabulary-free-rice/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/feed-the-hungry-by-knowing-your-vocabulary-free-rice/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:10:16 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=130 ]]>

Here is a unique way to not only feed the hungry, but to increase your vocabulary. For every word you get correct by knowing their meanings, 20 grains of rice will be donated to feed those who need it most. Make sure you have your dictionary handy – it’s not as easy as it looks. The dictionary on the dashboard of my Mac laptop was a real help – and yes, you can cheat if it’s for a good cause. I just answer them until my eyes go blurry.

Free Rice Donation Program.

Remember there are approximately 30,000 grains of rice in one pound (long grain), so play often and have fun getting smarter!

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/feed-the-hungry-by-knowing-your-vocabulary-free-rice/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/steven-curtis-chapman-to-perform-in-euless-texas-after-family-tragedy/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/steven-curtis-chapman-to-perform-in-euless-texas-after-family-tragedy/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:18:20 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=123 ]]>

Steven Curtis Chapman, to perform in Euless, Texas just weeks after the tragic accident that took the life of his 5 year old daughter, Maria, on May 21st. According to the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth, the concert will be an intimate musical presentation hosted by the Mid Cities Crisis Pregnancy Center on Friday, July 18th at 7 pm. If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you can get more info HERE.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/steven-curtis-chapman-to-perform-in-euless-texas-after-family-tragedy/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/a-little-political-history-dismantling-the-slave-trade-in-america/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/a-little-political-history-dismantling-the-slave-trade-in-america/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:03:20 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=114 ]]>

(Posted by Administrator)

Peter, who was whipped by an overseer, took two months to recover from his wounds. The overseer was subsequently fired. (April 2, 1863 – photo from National Archives and Records Administration)

Were the Founding Fathers racist? What about the 3/5ths clause? Did the Constitution promote slavery or did it work against slavery? How did the two present-day major political parties form and why? What was the position of the political parties regarding slavery and whether it should remain an institution supported by the government? What happened between Sumner and Brooks on the Senate floor while Sumner was pointing the finger at the slave owners in the Senate (all democrats)? Who were the first blacks in congress and what party did they join?

Hear David Barton from Wallbuilders explain how each of the major political parties were formed, the history behind many aspects of the Constitution, with information including the infamous Dred Scott decision and how it affected anti-slavery efforts and promoted further discrimination, and the systematic political dismantling of the slave trade by Republicans (yes, Republicans.) – Historically accurate information that many people never learn in American public schools.

THESE ARE THE FULL LENGTH VIDEOS by Wallbuilders – Not you tube clips! Each video is approximately 1 hour in length. Lucky you…

VIDEO: “SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT – PART 1″

VIDEO: “SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT – PART 2

Check out the Wallbuilders African-American history store page for great gifts or historical examinations of this much misunderstood part of this nation’s history, such as the book
Setting the Record Straight – American History in Black and White

and it’s 2 & 1/2 hour companion DVD, a great resource for anybody’s educational and DVD library.

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Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/a-little-political-history-dismantling-the-slave-trade-in-america/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Peter after his recovery from a severe whipping. April 2, 1863, photo from National Archives and Records Administration http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/oh-no-yoko-your-lawsuit-has-been-expelled/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/oh-no-yoko-your-lawsuit-has-been-expelled/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:33:18 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=113 ]]>

EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed film NEWS

News Watch
“Imagine” She’s Ticked: Yoko Ono Loses NY Lawsuit

New York Lawyer
June, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) – Yoko Ono has lost her Manhattan legal battle to block the use of John Lennon’s song “Imagine” in a film challenging the theory of evolution.

Lennon’s widow had sued the makers of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” saying they used parts of the song without her permission.

In a decision Monday, federal Judge Sidney Stein says the filmmakers are protected under the “fair use” doctrine. That permits small parts of a copyrighted work to be used without an author’s permission under certain circumstances.

The movie opened on U.S. screens in April; it’s set for release in Canada on Friday and on DVD in October.

It presents a sympathetic view of intelligent design, the theory that the universe is too complex to be explained by evolution alone.

Ono’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/oh-no-yoko-your-lawsuit-has-been-expelled/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/alert-barnes-and-nobel-allows-porn-to-be-accessible-to-minors-in-violation-of-state-law/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/alert-barnes-and-nobel-allows-porn-to-be-accessible-to-minors-in-violation-of-state-law/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:18:48 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=112 ]]>

Recently a local (TN) minister took his 11 year old son to Barnes and Nobel to pick up some DVDs that he had ordered, and while he was there they both encountered a full color, opened coffee table book that contained something that NO 11 year old boy (or anyone else for that matter) should be allowed to display in a store that is frequented by minors.

We MUST speak out against this idiocy and protect our children from the slow indoctrination in sexual perversion. Let us join with others who care about maintaining a family friendly environment for ourselves and our children in holding Barnes and Nobel (and other businesses) accountable for their actions.

I will no longer shop at Barnes and Nobel until their policies change (and perhaps until they quit allowing their buyers to purchase these types of products for their company.)

Please go here to find out more and please be advised that this information is NOT SUITABLE for children:

Article:
Eleven Year Old Exposed To Gay Porn At Barnes and Noble and They Knew This Sort of Thing Was Happening

Here’s the radio show archive:
Worldview Matters with Brannon Howse: June 9, 2008

Here is the TN state law:

39-17-911. Sale, loan or exhibition of material to minors. —

(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly sell or loan for monetary consideration or otherwise exhibit or make available to a minor:

(1) Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, video game, computer software game, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body, that depicts nudity, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sado-masochistic abuse, and that is harmful to minors; or

(2) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter, however reproduced, or sound recording, which contains any matter enumerated in subdivision (a)(1), or that contains explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sado-masochistic abuse, and that is harmful to minors.

(b) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly exhibit to a minor for monetary consideration, or to knowingly sell to a minor an admission ticket or pass or otherwise admit a minor to premises whereon there is exhibited a motion picture, show or other presentation which, in whole or in part, depicts nudity, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sado-masochistic abuse, and which is harmful to minors.

(c) A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the minor to whom the material or show was made available or exhibited was, at the time, accompanied by the person’s parent or legal guardian, or by an adult with the written permission of the parent or legal guardian.

[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 2000, ch. 763, § 1.]

So – If, after seeing the issue at hand regarding this incident, you wish to stand in the gap over this very critical issue, please go here to sign the petition and stop shopping there until they change their tune.

PETITION BARNES AND NOBEL LINK.
Thank you for your consideration in this vital matter. Please share this with your friends and church family.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/alert-barnes-and-nobel-allows-porn-to-be-accessible-to-minors-in-violation-of-state-law/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/is-the-good-samaritan-no-more/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/is-the-good-samaritan-no-more/#comments Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:16:50 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=109 ]]>

IT WOULD BE a rare thing to know one person that doesn’t know the story of the Good Samaritan. The parable was told by Jesus after an expert of the Law tested Jesus by asking, “…what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The story revolves around how several different people treat a man who was attacked by a band of robbers and left for dead. Two Jewish, religious leaders pass by the severely injured man, but both decide to continue on their way without getting involved, each running excuses through their minds to justify their callousness. They even went so far as to go to the opposite side of the road to avoid getting near him.

One man, however, does stop to help the man. He happened to be a Samaritan, an ethnoreligious offshoot (so-to-speak) of the Hebrews that followed the teachings of the Torah and considered their faith to be the true faith of the Hebrews. The mainstream Jewish leaders considered them to be basically heretics. So the Samaritans were treated with disdain by the more numerous Jews. Most people think that the Samaritans were from Samaria, but in reality the Samaritans were Hebrews who followed Samaritanism, and the Jews followed Judaism. There’s more to that story but you can read it later HERE.

The term “Good Samaritan” has been used for a very long time to refer to anyone who helps someone in trouble regardless of the other’s religious background or political opinions – they just help because they have mercy on the person in trouble.

Most people have experienced the helping hand of the Good Samaritan at least one time in their lives. We almost assume that if there is trouble of any kind, there will be SOMEONE nearby who will see the trouble and just automatically help, without thought to personal safety or worrying if it a convenient time to help or not.

I think this assumption is why there was such shock at the story coming out of Hartford, Connecticut today.
THIS STORY
should shock all of us.

An elderly man is hit by a car, which then flees the scene, and although the street is full of cars driving to and fro and pedestrians lining the sidewalks, NOT ONE PERSON goes to the aid of the man in the street.

Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts was quoted as saying, “We no longer have a moral compass… We have no regard for each other…”

That’s definitely got to be the understatement of the year and a severe indictment of the state of a society without mercy.

Has this society gotten so far away from everything that is good and merciful that a 78 year old man in critical condition can lay in the street and no one cares enough to stop and help him? What were the people who were witnessing this thinking? “Oh, Well… Survival of the Fittest…”???

The police chief had it right. Many people now have no moral compass… no regard for others. They go to work, make their money, and then hurry home to watch American Idol or Dancing with the Stars… while their neighbor lays in the street.

Lord, plant deep in our hearts a true religion that reaches out with love to help those in need and help us glorify you with our attitudes and actions toward our fellow man.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/is-the-good-samaritan-no-more/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog The Arrival Of The Good Samaritan At The Inn by Gustave Dore http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/steven-curtis-chapmans-daughter-killed-in-tragic-accident/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/steven-curtis-chapmans-daughter-killed-in-tragic-accident/#comments Thu, 22 May 2008 11:55:53 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=107 ]]>

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.

Please pray for the Chapman family.

For more on this story, go HERE.
Link updated July 14, 2008

I lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to Shaohannah’s Hope, The Maria Fund in memory of Maria Chapman. For donations by mail, send to Shaohannah’s Hope, c/o The Maria Fund, PO Box 647, Franklin TN, 37065.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/steven-curtis-chapmans-daughter-killed-in-tragic-accident/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/australia-needs-more-devils/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/australia-needs-more-devils/#comments Thu, 22 May 2008 01:18:29 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=106 ]]>

Apparently, Australia is in dire need of a larger population of devils.

Tasmanian Devils, that is.

Check out this link:
Too Many Kangaroos, Not Enough Devils.

Ah, the joys of wildlife management Down Under.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/australia-needs-more-devils/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/thrown-in-jail-for-personal-views-regarding-homosexual-marriage-one-gay-advocate-thinks-its-a-good-idea/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/thrown-in-jail-for-personal-views-regarding-homosexual-marriage-one-gay-advocate-thinks-its-a-good-idea/#comments Thu, 22 May 2008 00:34:46 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=105 ]]>

Question:

Should a U.S. Citizen be thrown into jail for publicly holding to a Biblical view of marriage? (Specifically a monogamous, one man one woman union in case you were wondering what that view was.)

One gay activist thinks they should be.

According to this article in the Dakota Voice, one activist, Sean Kosofsky, wants people to not only accept his view of homosexual marriage, he wants us to embrace it… by force if need be.

Also according to American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn,

“The Triangle Foundation openly admits homosexual activists’ intentions, once they gain sufficient political power, to impose their radical social agenda on America by brute force, trampling cherished American values such as religious freedom, freedom of speech, academic freedom, and even freedom of the press if it stands in their way…”

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality Article

Bye, bye, beloved Constitution.

The agenda of these radical homosexual groups would be to force religious clergy to bless their unisex unions, which would be a direct infringement of that clergy’s right to free speech as well as their freedom from state sponsored religion. (The state cannot legally dictate the doctrines and practices of a legitimate religious group.)

Can you imagine the NAACP having to hire a white supremacist? Or a church being forced to employ a Satanist? It would fly in the face of common sense and the personal freedoms we have in this country.

But with the radical homosexual agenda, we would all have a “fly in our face…” so-to-speak, forcing us to accept and publicly approve sexual practices that are called sin in the Bible. It violates the Christian conscience, and places us under a tyranny of the few. There are plenty of liberal “clergy” who are more than willing to bless homosexual unions. To force ALL clergy to place their blessings on a practice that Bible-believing Christians consider sinful is unconstitutional.

I just wanted to make the official biblical Christian position on this subject clear… in case I wasn’t clear before.

What would Jesus do, you ask? If you repented, he would forgive your past life of sin… and then tell you to go and sin no more. But repentance is the key.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/thrown-in-jail-for-personal-views-regarding-homosexual-marriage-one-gay-advocate-thinks-its-a-good-idea/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/senator-kennedy-has-malignant-brain-tumor/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/senator-kennedy-has-malignant-brain-tumor/#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 19:13:14 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=103 ]]>

BOSTON – A cancerous brain tumor, or a malignant glioma, caused the seizure Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered over the weekend, doctors said Tuesday. Kennedy’s tumor is located in the left parietal lobe. Treatment for this type of tumor is normally combinations of chemotherapy and radiation.

Pray for Senator Kennedy and his family.

For more on this story, go HERE.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/senator-kennedy-has-malignant-brain-tumor/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/gospel-legend-dottie-rambo-has-died/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/gospel-legend-dottie-rambo-has-died/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 04:19:20 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=102 ]]>

Legendary gospel singer and songwriter Dottie Rambo died early Sunday when her tour bus drove off a Missouri highway and struck an embankment. She was 74.

Seven other passengers were reported injured in the wreck.

The wreck occurred on Interstate 44, about two miles east of Mount Vernon, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. The injured passengers were hospitalized in Springfield with moderate to severe injuries, according to the patrol reports.

It was not immediately known whether the crash was due to the severe storms and tornadoes that went through the area Saturday.

Rambo, of Nashville, Tenn., was on her way to a Mother’s Day performance in Texas, according to her Web site.

Dottie Rambo Wiki article

Dottie Rambo official website

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/gospel-legend-dottie-rambo-has-died/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/o-that-i-had-wings-like-a-dove-a-spurgeon-devotional/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/o-that-i-had-wings-like-a-dove-a-spurgeon-devotional/#comments Fri, 02 May 2008 13:46:41 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=100 ]]>

How many times have we faced various kinds of trouble in this life and thought to ourselves how much we wished to just go right to heaven? But God has us here for a purpose – to do the work he has set out for us and to glorify His name in the earth. Then we can enjoy his presence forever…

John 17:15
I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world.

It is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all believers in God’s own time-the going home to be with Jesus. In a few more years the Lord’s soldiers, who are now fighting “the good fight of faith” will have done with conflict, and have entered into the joy of their Lord. But although Christ prays that His people may eventually be with Him where He is, He does not ask that they may be taken at once away from this world to heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;” but Christ does not pray like that, He leaves us in His Father’s hands, until, like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into our Master’s garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be kept from evil, but He never asks for us to be admitted to the inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, “Because we would be with the Lord.” We fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour’s company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to glorify God by your life here as long as He pleases, even though it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and leave Him to say when “it is enough.”

From Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional

Would you like a copy of the devotional book by Spurgeon? Find it here: Christianbook.com Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/o-that-i-had-wings-like-a-dove-a-spurgeon-devotional/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/more-arrogance-from-the-scientific-establishment/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/more-arrogance-from-the-scientific-establishment/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:21:52 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=98 ]]>

Here’s an interesting quote.

“It’s (EXPELLED) going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant –– which means they’re going to draw in about 90% of the American market.”
-Atheist blogger and fabulist PZ Myers, on a film he (had) not yet seen.

So, P.Z. Myers, one of the country’s alleged leaders in science, thinks that 90% of you are “religious” (like it’s supposed to be an insult to be religious…), paranoid, a conspiracy theorist, or ignorant.

P.Z. Meyers thinks 90% of us are stupid, and he thinks he is smarter than 90% of you.

How very tolerant of him. Certainly the epitome of religious neutrality.

This only illustrates how arrogant the people who have been deciding what is in your child’s science curriculum can be. And he’s not the only one who feels this way. You only have to go to the main page of the NCSE (National Center for Science Education) to see the fervor with which the NCSE not only try to defend their stance on Darwinian evolutionary theory, but how they fairly froth at the mouth to discredit any other position to the point of excluding any debate on the subject. Period. One would think they had actually proven that life had come from nothing and that there was, in fact, no God. This they have not proven – not even close.

Whether they like it or not, the monopoly on scientific commentary is now being opened up to some pretty serious competition (although they would beg to differ), which in my opinion only causes quality to go up. It will perhaps open up areas of research that have been cut off due to the prejudicial scientific funding process and rules, and it will force scientists who manipulate data to fit their philosophical (humanistic) worldview to be more honest in their assessments and perhaps make their headlines less propagandistic in nature.

The “scientific bigwigs” must learn that just because they keep repeating the same thing over and over again, it doesn’t make it true.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/more-arrogance-from-the-scientific-establishment/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/the-great-and-powerful-ben-stein-expelled-the-movie/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/the-great-and-powerful-ben-stein-expelled-the-movie/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:34:49 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=96 ]]>

By The Reformed Faith Weblog Administrator

While many detractors believe this movie is an attempt to prove Intelligent Design, in reality it is mainly about academic freedom and the monopoly that humanist/evolutionist philosophers have had for so many years and will do anything to maintain. I mean, if you were getting (all the billions of dollars in) scientific grant money given out every year to research facilities and that money was gotten with the assumption you must continue maintaining that Darwinian Evolution is the only way life could have “evolved” on earth (or else look like a theorist – GASP! The Horror!), wouldn’t you defend your job, even if it meant lying or trying to “scientifically discredit” a film that threatened your monopoly before the film was ever even released into the theater?

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years… (how long has it been since they’ve “proven beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Richard Dawkins uncle was actually a monkey?)… the state of our culture is reflective of the humanistic belief that morals are an invention of man, and not instituted by a sovereign and almighty God… and so everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Ben Stein obviously is a firm believer that our schools system should be teaching children HOW to think instead of WHAT to think. In Expelled, Ben simply pulls back the curtain to show the world that the wizard is simply a desperate old codger who stands to lose the satisfaction of having a fearful and trembling public stand in awe of him – the public that he has been duping for so many years as he shouts imperiously, “I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ!”

I submit that the “first cause” of the demise of the evolutionary monopoly is… this great and powerful film. Way to go, Ben!

Related articles and links of interest:

Expelled The Movie Comes Out Friday, April 18th, 2008!

Expelled, The Playground – View Trailers and other fascinating phenomena.

R.C. Sproul Interviews Ben Stein

‘Expelled’ Producers Deny Deceiving Scientists to Appear in Film

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/the-great-and-powerful-ben-stein-expelled-the-movie/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-watch-the-new-super-trailer/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-watch-the-new-super-trailer/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:41:13 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=95 ]]>

If this doesn’t intrigue you to go see Ben Stein’s new movie, Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed, out this Friday, April 18th, I don’t know what will… the new (and very funny) super trailer is available to watch HERE AT THE EXPELLED PLAYGROUND. Be sure to check out the other great features… I especially love the Darwinian Sock Hop…

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-watch-the-new-super-trailer/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/can-sharing-the-gospel-land-you-in-jail-in-some-states-yes/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/can-sharing-the-gospel-land-you-in-jail-in-some-states-yes/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:13:52 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=92 ]]>

As shocking as it may seem in a country where free speech is so highly exalted and revered, the passage of “hate crimes” legislation is effectively beginning to dismantle your right to be able to speak freely about whatever your conscience dictates.

Don’t believe me? Can’t imagine ever loosing the right to free speech in the public forum, or even in private conversation? Then get ready. And be careful what you say in the meantime…

Janet Folger Discusses The Real Impact of the Hate Crimes Laws.

You can purchase this whole speech HERE.

Related Articles on The Reformed Faith Weblog:

Speechless – Silencing the Christians

Do You Have to Leave Your Constitutional Rights Outside the Door of Your School?

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/can-sharing-the-gospel-land-you-in-jail-in-some-states-yes/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/expell-those-myths-about-expelled-no-intelligence-allowed/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/expell-those-myths-about-expelled-no-intelligence-allowed/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:21:50 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=91 ]]>

Before it has even been released into theaters, gossip and myths abound about the new (and soon to be blockbuster) film Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed. This is understandable, since it truly takes on the monopolistic and unyieldingly closed-minded Darwinian evolutionist camp to task, exposing their true agenda… saving their own hind parts.

One of my previous posts, Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed – Supertrailer, received a couple of comments from someone posing (I think) as an expert on the subject. These guys must be really SCOURING the internet to try and refute the films findings and make people lose interest in the film before the fact, but they appear to use very few of those… facts, I mean. The furor within this scientific sect and the hostility they have shown toward this film is just one more incident in a long list of incidents surrounding their attempt to protect their status quo… It only exposes and magnifies their desperation in my humble estimation.

Check out this excerpt from a recent article from Breakpoint, Chuck Colson’s web ministry.

Myths about Expelled
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
By Chuck Colson
April 11, 2008

If you have heard of the new documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, opening April 18, chances are you have heard all kinds of distortions and myths about it. So let me set the record straight about some of the most common myths.

Myth #1: Darwinists interviewed for this film were tricked into participating.

Not so…

Feel free to go over there and read the rest of the article and be sure to check out the references and their links at the bottom of the article yourself. Go ahead… I’ll wait.

Other Reformed Faith Posts of Note on this subject:
Atheism’s Aggressive Political Agenda
The Threat of Creation

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/expell-those-myths-about-expelled-no-intelligence-allowed/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/social-activist-star-parker-on-the-state-of-society-today-or-stuff-white-people-don%e2%80%99t-really-understand/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/social-activist-star-parker-on-the-state-of-society-today-or-stuff-white-people-don%e2%80%99t-really-understand/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:40:38 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=90 ]]>

(by The Administrator)

When Roosevelt’s administration instituted the “New Deal” in the 1930’s, the government brought much needed relief to a multitude of Americans in poverty. Many of the New Deal’s programs were abolished in the late 1940’s, save for a few of what would become some of our largest government programs, including Social Security. When LBJ’s administration expanded on Roosevelt’s ideals and created “The Great Society” they thought that by providing for people in need through the government they would be helping to lift people out of poverty and give them hope.

They were wrong. All they succeeded in doing was to become a competitor with the church and socially active charitable institutions, but of course being the government and not wanting to establish a state sponsored religion, they took God and his standards completely out of the picture.

Now with such a large portion of our tax dollars going to welfare, and the decline in morals due to such a large portion of the population relying on the government instead of trusting in God to supply their needs, we see the inevitable moral decay of all of society… not just in “the ghetto”…

Star Parker (CURE: Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education) suggests (and I agree) that the welfare state has promoted (however unintentionally) the moral decay in society and points out that at the time the government was beginning to build “The Great Society”, one out of every four African-American babies was born out of wedlock. Today it is three out of four. But when you look into “white society”, the trend is beginning to mimic those statistics… now one out of four white babies are born out of wedlock… and other statistics indicate that the number may be growing. And taking into consideration the statistic that approximately half of all marriages now end in divorce, those households of divorce with children in them adds to the amount of already existing single-parent households. “70% of the kids in our justice system come from single-headed households,” Parker states, “it has nothing to do with their economic state, and/or their… their ethnicity. It’s their moral framework…”

In this recent interview with James Robison of Life Today, Parker discusses these and related issues in her book “White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner-City Decay”. The interview is done over a two-day period, and each episode is about 30 minutes long. I encourage you to watch them here:

Star Parker on Life Today: Episode 1
Star Parker on Life Today: Episode 2
Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education

I feel that though “The Great Society” philosophy may have had some real positive impact on society, such as with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and The Voting Right Act of 1965 and other programs like them designed to bring equity to people of all ethnic and social backgrounds, a great number of the social programs have succeeded in enslaving the populace into supplying the nanny state with ever-increasing funding to promote its secular/socialist agenda.

I would contend that if government, which funds “charities” that actively promote immoral ideals and push for the passage of laws that contribute to the decline of society and it’s moral foundations (such as Planned Parenthood, NEA, and the ACLU), would give back the freedom of speech to the religious charities they also fund so that they can openly share the love of Christ without fear of not just persecution, but prosecution, we may be able to see a decline in the decay of society in our lifetime.

A few links that fall within the scope of these issues that may be worthy of study:

The New Deal

The Great Society

Graham Wallas, Author of “The Great Society” (1914)

The Fabian Society – A British Socialist Movement (See Graham Wallas, Author of “The Great Society” (1914))

As you will read in the above article, “The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of Social democracy via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means.” This society is still in existence today, and has influenced the careers of such people as former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and current U.K.P.M. Gordon Brown. Tony Blair concluded (while dealing with changes to the Clause IV of the party’s constitution, which was formally adopted in 1995) that the Labour Party, of which he is a member, is classified as a socialist party, not a social democratic party. He still prefers to refer to himself as a “social democrat” in public… I guess it just sounds better.

Socialism Defined

Speechless: Silencing the Christians
(May require a sign up to this series of view videos – but they are well worth it.)

Related Articles on Reformed Faith:
State of California Forces Educational Indoctrination.

Atheism’s Aggressive Political Agenda
NEA and California Law.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/social-activist-star-parker-on-the-state-of-society-today-or-stuff-white-people-don%e2%80%99t-really-understand/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/mentoring/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/mentoring/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:26:34 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=89 ]]>

Jesus’ life was one of purpose and direction, which was plain to see in the Gospels of the Bible. He was not just a teacher to those who sat under his gaze day in and day out, he was also a discipler and a mentor. The hundreds of people who followed him and heard him and tried to live as he taught were his disciples, yes, in a larger sense, but those who were closest to Him were few… it was those few who went on to make the biggest impact on the world.

But discipleship takes time. Lots of time… how willing are we to invite others into our lives and homes in order to make an impact on the upcoming generation of Christians? How willing are we to live our lives in a godly way in front of people to train them for the works of service?

Take a look at this article by Joshua Harris posted on the Ligonier Ministries Blog.

Ligonier Ministries Blog
The Next Generation
Posted: 07 Apr 2008 07:02 AM CDT
Generation to Generation
by Joshua Harris

When I turned twenty-one, my dad gave me this simple advice: “Find men that you want to be like and then sit at their feet.” As I launched into manhood, he was reminding me that the lessons I needed most wouldn’t be found in a textbook — they’d be written in the heart and life of a godly man. I needed to get close enough to this man that I could observe his character and be shaped by his example. I needed a mentor…

You can find the rest of this great article here:
THE NEXT GENERATION.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/mentoring/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-hestons-harvard-speech-2003/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-hestons-harvard-speech-2003/#comments Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:18:27 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=85 ]]>

I noticed that my dashboard showed a lot of search terms like, “was Charlton Heston a Christian”, and actually so far today ALL the search terms have had some variation of this question… “It’s a good question,” I told myself. So, not really knowing if he was or not, I decided to do a search of my own.

Aside from the astounding fact that he stayed married to his wife, Lydia, for 64 years (a miraculous feat in and of itself in a place like Hollywood) I found many very interesting items about this great man that you may not know…

Such as apparently George Clooney thought it was perfectly okay to mock Heston’s revelation that he had Alzheimer’s disease.

Michael Moore (that fine, upstanding individual), who’s propaganda film (or should I say docu-dramamine) “Bowling for Columbine” featured an interview with Heston that attempted to challenge his stance on the Second Amendment… remember, Mr. Heston was already suffering from Alzheimer’s – but he seemed pretty lucid to me. Mr. Moore apparently is a card carrying member if the NRA. (I guess I should run right out and join NARAL…) **

Unlike some candidates running for president this election cycle, Mr. Heston actually DID march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr…

Charlton Heston At 1963 March On Washinton (Public Domain: (NARA/USIA) Photo File Under Creative Commons License)

He also openly organized boycotts of Hollywood eateries that refused to serve blacks. Here is an interesting post. A very generous obituary from an activist blog that I normally wouldn’t frequent:
A Peaceniks view of Charlton Heston’s Activism.

And of course, there is this now-famous speech he made at Harvard in 1999…

Winning the Cultural War
Charlton Heston’s Speech to the Harvard Law School Forum
Feb 16, 1999
I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. “My Daddy,” he said, “pretends to be people.” There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo.

If you want the ceiling repainted I’ll do my best. There always seem to be a lot of different fellows up here. I’m never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I’m the guy.

As I pondered our visit tonight it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to reconnect you with your own sense of liberty of your own freedom of thought … your own compass for what is right.

Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, “We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.” Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that’s about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you … the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is…

Read the rest of the speech HERE.

Was Charlton Heston a Christian? I don’t know. But if he was as humble about his own activism and it’s impact on society as I estimate that he was, perhaps he also chose to keep the extent of his religious affections (or lack thereof) under his hunting hat.

We will miss him.

(Here is a link to the AP story about Heston’s funeral written by Bob Thomas, who apparently was informed by family members that Heston was indeed a devoutly religious man.

Another unique look at Heston can be found at Pilgrim’s Planet.

This information was added to this post on April 13th, 2008.)

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

————————
** NOTE: The Bowling for Columbine interview may require you to sign in to verify that you are over 18 years of age.**

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-hestons-harvard-speech-2003/feed/ 4 The Reformed Faith Weblog Charlton Heston at 1963 March on Washington (NARA/USIA) http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/california-children-forced-to-be-indoctrinated-by-the-state-whos-next/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/california-children-forced-to-be-indoctrinated-by-the-state-whos-next/#comments Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:01:32 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=84 ]]>

As many of you may already know, a recent ruling by a district judge effectively “outlawed” home based education in the state of California. This would force all parents who believe that educating their children at home using individualized curriculum that reflects their values and caters to their child’s particular strengths and interests to place their child in an expensive private school that is accredited by the secular state accrediting agency (which in most instances would put the parent under undue burden) OR force the child to be enrolled in a public school run by the secularized state.

The parent may opt to earn their credentials from the state, (also putting the parent under an undue burden) but since being educated in political correctness and secular worldviews are essential to getting these credentials, most Christian parents would consider this a waste of both their money and their time. In most instances, it is the very reason they’ve opted to homeschool in the first place.

Fortunately in most other states, homeschooling is an accepted practice, and it is understood that parents are the ones who should have the right to decide how their child is educated and trained for their intellectual and moral well being. (Deuteronomy 11 ; Proverbs 22:6…)

You can find out more about this court decision and what you can do about it by going here:

ReverseTheRuling.com

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/california-children-forced-to-be-indoctrinated-by-the-state-whos-next/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-heston-dies-at-84/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-heston-dies-at-84/#comments Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:54:58 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=83 ]]>

Charlton Heston died Saturday, April 5, 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife, Lydia, by his side. He was 84 years old.

“I’ve played three presidents, three saints and two geniuses – and that’s probably enough for any man.” Charlton Heston

He and his wife had been married for 64 years. Heston let it be known in 2002 that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Best known for his role as Moses in “The Ten Commandments”, Heston also served for five years as the president of the NRA, stepping down after five years in that position in April of 2003, stating,

“It’s been quite a ride. I loved every minute of it.”

Also in 2003, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/charlton-heston-dies-at-84/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/before-honor-humility-spurgeon-devotional/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/before-honor-humility-spurgeon-devotional/#comments Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:10:16 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=82 ]]>

Evening …
Proverbs 15:33
Before honour is humility.

Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it. If we empty our hearts of self God will fill them with His love. He who desires close communion with Christ should remember the word of the Lord, “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.” Stoop if you would climb to heaven. Do we not say of Jesus, “He descended that He might ascend”? so must you. You must grow downwards, that you may grow upwards; for the sweetest fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls, and by them alone. God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” with all its riches and treasures. The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by deed of gift to the soul which is humble enough to be able to receive it without growing proud because of it. God blesses us all up to the full measure and extremity of what it is safe for Him to do. If you do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for you to have one. If our heavenly Father were to let your unhumbled spirit win a victory in His holy war, you would pilfer the crown for yourself, and meeting with a fresh enemy you would fall a victim; so that you are kept low for your own safety. When a man is sincerely humble, and never ventures to touch so much as agrain of the praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for him. Humility makes us ready to be blessed by the God of all grace, and fits us to deal efficiently with our fellow men. True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden. This is a sauce with which you may season every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in every case. Whether it be prayer or praise, whether it be work or suffering, the genuine salt of humility cannot be used in excess.

Would you like a copy of the devotional book by Spurgeon? Find it here: Christianbook.com Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backward mutters of dissevering power’ – or else not. It is still ‘either-or’. If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell… C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/81/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/martin-luther-king-jr-remembering-his-legacy-after-40-years-without-him/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/martin-luther-king-jr-remembering-his-legacy-after-40-years-without-him/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:53:07 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=79 ]]>

On this date forty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Hotel as he stood outside on the landing. He had been helping to organize the sanitation workers there to help them improve their lot. They were some of the poorest workers in the city, and MLK’s heart was to help those who were oppressed.

For this he was killed. He saw the status quo as being something that needed to be changed – peacefully with persistence, but in the end, changed for the betterment of all people no matter their race or background. Would that more people would take up worthy causes with this spirit in mind.

Take a moment today to honor his memory and to use your own talents and gifts to change the world for the good of all. And with Love.

Read the top story for the day here:
Marchers Remember Dr. King

Also learn more about the history of the civil rights movement and MLK’s role in it here:
The King Center

And now a little something that not many people know about him here:
Why Martin Luther King was a Republican.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/martin-luther-king-jr-remembering-his-legacy-after-40-years-without-him/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Martin Luther King, Jr. - March on Washington Speech http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/free-to-express-yourself-unless-youre-a-christian/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/free-to-express-yourself-unless-youre-a-christian/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:24:31 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=78 ]]>

Apparently your First Amendment rights don’t apply in school. According to a recent story,

School officials in Tomah, Wisconsin, are facing a lawsuit after a high school teacher there failed a student’s art project because it included a cross and a reference to John 3:16. The school district argues that the student voluntarily waived his First Amendment religious freedoms when he entered the classroom…

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/free-to-express-yourself-unless-youre-a-christian/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/tiller-the-baby-killer-speaks-at-nea-sponsored-event/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/tiller-the-baby-killer-speaks-at-nea-sponsored-event/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:40:30 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=76 ]]>

For all you Christian public school teachers who are members of the National Education Association (NEA), and have been looking for an excuse to remove yourself from membership, now’s your chance to speak out…

The National Education Association is being denounced for hosting an event honoring infamous abortionist George Tiller who is facing 19 criminal charges for performing illegal late-term abortions.

George Tiller, a man many pro-lifers call “Tiller the baby killer,” received a standing ovation at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference held recently at the NEA’s headquarters in Washington, DC. During his talk, Tiller attempted to justify his work by showing the approving audience pictures of babies he had aborted who had fetal abnormalities. The Feminist Majority Foundation then announced it was launching a new campaign designed to keep Tiller’s Wichita, Kansas, abortion mill open…

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/tiller-the-baby-killer-speaks-at-nea-sponsored-event/feed/ 2 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/2008-national-prayer-breakfast-whos-god-is-it-anyway-or-the-dcpcnpb-huh/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/2008-national-prayer-breakfast-whos-god-is-it-anyway-or-the-dcpcnpb-huh/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:53:15 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=74 ]]>

Okay, I admit I am being a bit silly in the headline, but let me explain. Okay, there’s really no explanation – I was just being silly.

BUT, what it means is this… There was a prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C. recently, and the writer of This Article couldn’t really tell what god all the people were praying to. So he commented on it and I thought (according to his description) that the 2008 N.P.B. (National Prayer Breakfast) sounded like it was very P.C. (Politically Correct)… but just go read the article and you’ll see what I mean. It had me S.S.M.H. (Sadly Shaking My Head).

TTFN. (If you don’t already know what this means, I can’t help you.)

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/2008-national-prayer-breakfast-whos-god-is-it-anyway-or-the-dcpcnpb-huh/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/rc-sproul-interviews-ben-stein-about-expelled-is-free-speech-dead-in-science-class/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/rc-sproul-interviews-ben-stein-about-expelled-is-free-speech-dead-in-science-class/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:02:58 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=73 ]]>

Freedom of Speech implies freedom of inquiry… academic freedom has been enjoyed since the foundation of this nation. This is the basis of our whole education system, isn’t it?

Ben Stein poses that this phenomenon no longer exists in the American scientific community… hear this great conversation between theologian R.C. Sproul (Ligonier Ministries) and actor/commentator Ben Stein here:

R.C. Sproul Interviews Ben Stein

Is free speech taking it’s last breaths? Stay tuned… Or, you can read this related article:
Atheism’s Agressive Political Agenda

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/rc-sproul-interviews-ben-stein-about-expelled-is-free-speech-dead-in-science-class/feed/ 2 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/dawkins-crashes-screening-of-expelled-eyewitness-report/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/dawkins-crashes-screening-of-expelled-eyewitness-report/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:52:56 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=72 ]]>

In an interesting turn of events, Richard Dawkins was reportedly a screening-crasher at a recent screening of Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed. You can read the post here: Dawkins Crashes Screening of “Expelled”… Eyewitness report!

So, is it really true that every party needs a pooper?

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/dawkins-crashes-screening-of-expelled-eyewitness-report/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/a-spurgeons-devotional-the-sin-of-presumptuousness/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/a-spurgeons-devotional-the-sin-of-presumptuousness/#comments Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:40:53 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=70 ]]>

Psalm 19:13
Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.

Such was the prayer of the “man after God’s own heart.” Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, “Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin.” Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and in grace! The psalmist’s prayer is directed against the worst form of sin-that which is done with deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be “kept back” from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome sins. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” What! do saints want warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do. The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced Christian, boast not in your experience; you will trip yet if you look away from Him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, “We shall never sin,” but rather cry, “Lead us not into temptation.” There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken, and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, “Is Thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?” and we are very apt to use the same self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence.

You can get Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” Devotional at Christianbook.com

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/a-spurgeons-devotional-the-sin-of-presumptuousness/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/speechless-silencing-the-christians-a-video-series/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/speechless-silencing-the-christians-a-video-series/#comments Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:36:40 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=68 ]]>

Think the Constitution’s “Free Speech” clause protects your religious speech in this day and age? Think again!

SilencingChristians.com will webcast and The Inspiration Networks will broadcast Speechless…Silencing the Christians. Sign up to be reminded to watch each episode and take action. Americans are at greater risk of losing their basic freedoms today than ever before in the history of this nation. Political correctness and the voice of the liberal minority are undermining the morals and values of mainstream America.

Renowned author and commentator Janet Parshall takes you on a journey across the country to meet citizens who have been arrested for speaking out at a public rally, students who are being forced to attend classes that require them to recite verses from the Koran and to stage their own jihad and activists pushing social tolerance to such an extreme that the Bible itself is being labeled “hate speech.”

Follow these cases and learn how you can take action to stop the erosion of your personal freedoms on this episode of Speechless … Silencing the Christians.

The 13-week series will air on INSP each Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. It will be posted on SilencingChristians.com at the same time. Each week’s program will be available for viewing 24-hours a day on silencingchristians.com. Be sure to tell your friends about Speechless…Silencing the Christians.

Viewing Speechless…Silencing the Christians is free, but you must sign up. You need to sign up only once to be able to watch all the episodes.

Go to Speechless – Silencing the Christians

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/speechless-silencing-the-christians-a-video-series/feed/ 3 The Reformed Faith Weblog Speechless http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-supertrailer/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-supertrailer/#comments Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:26:58 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=66 ]]>

The always irrepressible Ben Stein takes on the scientific super-establishment in the soon-to-be-released documentary style movie slated to release in theaters – ironically at the end of the school year.

The firmly ensconced ruling philosophy of humanism (disguised as “science”) has, until now, been like an imposing, impenetrable wall. Launch any weapon at it, and the weapon would fall, useless and clattering before the formidable structure.

And then along comes Ben Stein.

With his usual rapier wit, Mr. Stein peels away the layers of power to reveal that what lies below is not a reasoned, scientific body of intellectual scientists, but rather a bunch of philosophers posing as such. Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed deftly exposes the true agenda of the anti-achademic-freedom camp that direct “science education” from on high.

You can watch the supertrailer here:
“Expelled – No Intelligence Allowed”

Atheism’s Aggressive Political Agenda (Related Article)

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/expelled-no-intelligence-allowed-supertrailer/feed/ 4 The Reformed Faith Weblog No Intelligence Allowed - Supertrailer http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/a-spurgeons-devotional-selection-the-sin-of-pride/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/a-spurgeons-devotional-selection-the-sin-of-pride/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:00:05 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=63 ]]>

Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.

It is an old and common saying, that “coming events cast their shadows before them;” the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David’s aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man’s glory when he dotes upon his own greatness.

2 Sam. 24:10.

See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth,
devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird’s claws,
and his hair like eagle’s feathers. Dan. 4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast,
as once before it made an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails
to bring them down. All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts.
O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the
Christian’s heart as well as into the sinner’s; it can delude him into
dreaming that he is “rich and increased in goods, and hath need of nothing.”
Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself,
that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader,
there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit
will be pulled up by the roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat,
and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the dunghill. If we forget to
live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget
to make us smart under His rod.
A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer, the destruction of
thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul.

Wherefore, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
Taken from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional. You can find a copy
HERE. SPURGEON’S MORNING AND EVENING AT ChristianBook.com.

Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of Pride “inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin (1,77) … the root of pride is found to consist in man not being, in some way, subject to God and His rule.” (Summa Theologiae)

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/a-spurgeons-devotional-selection-the-sin-of-pride/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Pride goeth before a fall - photo by Rebecca Kennison 1990 http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/its-never-too-late-to-learn-about-black-history-month/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/its-never-too-late-to-learn-about-black-history-month/#comments Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:53:19 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=61 ]]>

Okay, I slept through February. It was a rough month for us, but I would like to continue the Black History Month tradition into March because I can. It’s my blog. I can do whatever I want…

My son has been reading “Amos Fortune, Free Man” for his 7th grade English/Lit class. We have always tried to teach him to learn from the past and look into our history in order to glean from it tools he can use in the real world, for himself and for his children after him.

Studying Black History sometimes makes me feel like somewhere in this vast continent, I have some long-lost relative hiding somewhere in the woods with his inbred prejudices and his coon hounds to warn of approaching “revenuers”… with a shotgun at the ready to send them packing. I shudder at the thought, but also get some relief from the fact that I have no idea who my blood relatives actually are, being the blessed adoptee I am.

But studying Black History from a Christian perspective puts a whole different spin on it. I read a very interesting perspective on this subject and thought I would share it with you… and before you wonder why I put it in certain categories, just go check it out here in this blog at desiringgod.org

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/its-never-too-late-to-learn-about-black-history-month/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/the-grace-that-saved-a-wretch-like-me/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/the-grace-that-saved-a-wretch-like-me/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:22:22 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=56 ]]>

By Eric Holmberg
Taken from the Study Guide for “Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism”

I personally experienced the most amazing aspect of God’s good grace in 1980 at the age of 26. In a moment of time I went from being a confident practitioner and apologist for rationalism (unbelief) and immorality − to a man undone. I was very conscious of a supernatural Presence as I knelt in sorrow, weeping as my life of rebellion and profligacy unfolded before me. In my heart I knew that a fork in my life’s road had been reached. I could stay on the path that I had been on…or take the one that had opened up before me in the bright shadow of Calvary’s cross.

I hesitated. I knew that this new way would require that I deny the self I had grown so fond of satisfying; that my lifestyle would have to undergo some profound changes. I didn’t see how I could possibly live up to these challenges. I suddenly became frightened, even sad. I knew deep down that the way of the cross would lead to life. But I also knew that I didn’t have the strength for the journey. The cords of sin I had entangled myself in were too strong.

And then the grace became even more amazing as a still small voice spoke to my heart. I couldn’t make the journey in my own strength, I realized in a flash of understanding. But I wouldn’t have to. A greater One would walk with me and in His strength I would be made strong. Words of adoration and commitment to the One who sacrificed His life for mine sprang up from my heart…and the rest as they say is history. What was dead became alive and a whole new person was born.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”

I jumped with both feet into this new world that had opened up before me. I got involved in a campus outreach and began training for vocational ministry. The church I was a part of was full of revival fires and zeal for the LORD’s house. And passion for “saving the lost” and making them into true disciples was the outflow of this zeal. I was introduced to the writings of Charles Finney and other leaders of the second Great Awakening. (I heard of some of those involved with the first Great Awakening, too, though not as much.) In time I *began ministering ((myself)) on university campuses and later in other churches, developing the multi-media tools that would eventually lead to the establishment of Reel to Real Ministries and The Apologetics Group. God graciously used these live seminars as tools to lead many to faith in Christ.

But how exactly did these salvations come about? What was the ordo salutis: the causal order that turns a fallen man into a child of God? At the time, the answer seemed simple, even commonsensical to me. Jesus died a sacrificial death to atone for the sins of all mankind; that God (who is love) loves everyone and desires that all people will be saved. But at the same time he doesn’t want to compromise our free will. (He doesn’t want robots worshipping Him after all.) Through the preaching of the gospel the way of salvation is presented to man. Through this same preaching people become aware of their sins and receive the grace necessary, if they so desire, to turn from their sins and receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness. Some choose life and the blessing of heaven, others reject God’s mercy and by default opt for death and the curse of hell. What could be simpler and ultimately fairer? God makes the way of salvation open before all men and then presents us with a real choice…and we choose.

And it all seemed to work. I was honored to present this way of salvation to people individually as well as in groups and to then lead many in the sinner’s prayer: having them repent (turn from) their sins, commit their lives to Christ so that they would then be “saved” or born again. And many apparently were as they brought forth and are still producing the fruit of a transformed life. They really did get saved.

Over time, however, my understanding of the ordo salutis began to undergo some subtle modifications. Many were brought about by verses I read in the Bible. Did God really love everyone? (Prov. 6:17; Rom. 9:13) Could God’s will really be frustrated by a man? (Luke 1:17; Rom. 9: 20,21) And how well did the most famous conversion in the Bible fit into the steps of salvation I had been trained to accept? (Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9) But then there was also the impact of the writings of earlier champions of the faith. I had taken C.S. Lewis’ admonition to prefer older writings that have withstood the test of time over the unproven ruminations of the latest popular writer. As I read the insights of Augustine, Athanasius, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon and others, I found that the God of these saints of old seemed much bigger, more awesome, more mysterious and more sovereign than the One I had heard preached. My views concerning the nature of God, man and salvation continued to evolve.

And one day, it all just made sense and I found myself in the camp that I used to warn others against. I had become “Reformed.”

What follows is an exploration and explanation of the Reformed faith, what many call “Calvinism” after the name of the great Protestant reformer who so powerfully systematized its teachings. It is offered, in the words of the Mayflower Compact, “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith.” As I will explain in the introduction of the video, it is in no way intended as a screed against advocates of Arminian (“free will”) salvation or to impugn their salvation, spiritual maturity or zeal for the Lord and His kingdom. Some of the godliest people and most effective soul-winners I know stand on the other side of this theological divide.

Nevertheless, all ideas have consequences, whether intended or not. And I think we can all agree that ideas concerning the nature of God, man and redemption from sin likely have among the greatest consequences of all. The participants in this video believe that the unintended after-affects of Arminianism have been great and have compromised both the Gospel message and, as a result, the experiment in Christian liberty that is (was?) the West (Christendom it was once called) and most specifically America. Whichever side you fall on now − or after you have watched the video and done this workbook − we owe it to our God and the generation we have been called to serve to carefully consider these great themes. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Prov. 25:2)

I close with a challenging thought. As I write this we have embarked on what may be the most daunting production we have ever undertaken. Called The Real Jihad: The War Behind the War, one of its key contentions is that Islam is a “polished knife” (Eze. 21: 8-10) that has been raised up against the West by the LORD to challenge and chastise our growing idolatries. (Along with scripture verses and the many lessons of history, we will set out the chilling parallels between the “gaps in our wall” — those specific collective idolatries that have breached the hedge of God’s covenantal protection — and the tactical strengths of the jihadists. The parallels are extremely sobering and we believe a secondary proof of our thesis.) Like all chastisements from a loving, holy God, their purpose is restorative: to force us to confront our sins that we might turn in repentance and see our country healed by God. (2 Chr. 7:14). But if we refuse to repent, God’s longer term purpose for chastisement will enter the picture : that is that He will allow the seeds of destruction that we have sown to reach full maturity. The America that we know and love, with it freedoms and prosperity, will disappear. Our (and Europe’s) primary redemptive purpose at this point will be to serve as a warning to future generations: this is what happens to nations that are blessed by God and then forget and turn from the One who was the ultimate source of those blessings.

The connection here to the themes of Amazing Grace and this workbook is that in the confrontation with Islam we are ultimately engaged in a struggle between competing gods and worldviews. There is no question that the West’s primary deity — the idol of humanism and multiculturalism — is no match for the transcendent, unapologetically all-subjecting god of Islam. But as the Church wakes-up and strengthens the things that remain (Rev. 3:2; Father, we pray that it happens!), as we (figuratively speaking) ascend Mount Carmel to confront the prophets of Baal, we had better make sure that the God we both call upon and present to the watching world (particularly the Muslim world) is the true God, the One who answers with fire. A God who is not completely sovereign, who offers the hope of salvation but is not all-powerful to secure it, who knocks on the doors of sinners’ hearts asking to come in and then walks away sad when He is turned down, who is impotent (to some degree at least) to subdue nations through His covenant people before a Devil who somehow has the power to overcome the world through his, will never be able to topple the fierce desert deity that Mohammed presented to the world.

May the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, lead us all into a true knowledge and deeper intimacy with the One who is mighty to save…and will do so to the uttermost. (Isa. 63:1; Heb. 7:25)
_________ ___________ _________ _________ _________ __________ __________

1. I speak humanly here. God knows everything past, present and future and only has one will and plan. But we don’t know the specifics of it and never know how our response to the details of covenantal history as it unfolds will precisely impact the future. But we do know many things about God and His promises concerning what will happen if, for example, we humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wickedness. (2 Chr. 7:14) All we can do is what we can do: obey God, repent when we need to, focus on the Great Commission by winning souls and discipling nations (beginning, of course, with our own) and rest in the knowledge that all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28)

Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/the-grace-that-saved-a-wretch-like-me/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/mandibular-mojo-why-christians-need-strong-meat/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/mandibular-mojo-why-christians-need-strong-meat/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:13:22 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=55 ]]>

By Eric Holmberg
The Apologetics Group (TAG)

Many people are troubled by the amount of controversy and debate that seems to arise from the Bible. Why can’t Christianity’s truths be clearer and less complicated? (That is one of the things that makes Islam such a potent ideology; you can learn everything you need to know − and many of its leaders would say should know − in a few hours or less.) Mystery seems to bleed from all around its edges.

Well first we need to keep in mind that many of the most fundamental truths of our faith are, in fact, simple enough that even a child or the mentally handicapped can embrace them. They are things known more by the heart than by the mind. And they are powerful to save. Thankfully we are redeemed by grace through faith, not because every “i” is dotted and “t” crossed properly in our systematic theology.

Second, when an eternal, infallible, infinitely wise God who can create and sustain an unimaginably vast universe by the word of His power while simultaneously knowing each of us down to the thoughts of our hearts, when that God decides to intersect with our finite, fallen and fallible world and worldviews by revealing Himself through His Word or through the Incarnation, we should expect that sparks should fly! (Personally, I find the mystery of the Trinity very satisfying and consoling for this very reason. Any God that I can get my puny mind around can’t be God!)

And when faced with these sparks, what should be our response?

For those who have a real relationship with God and have grown to the point where they can endure “strong meat” (Heb. 5:12-14), God, in effect, says “Chase the mystery!” (Pro. 25:2) Exercise those powers of understanding and discernment. Grow up. Work those jaw muscles. Don’t you know that one day you will judge angels? There is work to be done in preparation for the challenges of the Great Commission (imagine discipling entire nations), not to mention ruling with Christ in the age to come. Are you going to stop and stare at this obstacle, this mystery, and then shrug and turn around? Or you going to be a man or woman after My own heart and press on?

Too many choose the easy way. And it is not unusual to see them try to justify their reluctance by quoting scripture; for example the first part of the Lord’s well-known admonition in Isaiah 55: 8 & 9:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“Well, the secret things belong to God (Deut. 29:29),” they often say. “Calvinism vs. Arminianism, predestination, those freaky verses in the Old Testament, the problem of evil, the book of Revelation and end-times matters, Paul’s ‘hard sayings,’ all those things are beyond our grasp even as the heavens are above the earth. Let’s just love the Lord and avoid disputing about these things.”

But in this they ignore the words of God that follow in verses 10 and 11:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

In other words, we when see that we are bumping up against the ceiling of our human reasoning and we know that God’s ways are waiting for us somewhere above, we should not look back to the ground in surrender. It is the glory of a king to search out the matter; to seek to know God’s ways. We should turn instead to the Word, humbly and in great faith, knowing that it will not return void. For in the same way that water (O cleansing, life-giving water!) comes down from the natural heavens and causes the land to bring forth fruit, so will the living Word that proceeds from the realms of glory transform us and bring us into greater levels of maturity and understanding.

And don’t be surprised if the understanding you end up gaining tends to offend the natural mind. His ways are higher than ours, after all. In truth, I have found that the closer you get to what Francis Schaeffer called “true truth,” the more the earth-born mind will squirm in discomfort.

Augustine and Anselm were right: Credo ut intelligam. We believe − we have faith in God and His Word − in order to understand.

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Be sure to visit the Reformed Faith Weblog Home Page for devotionals, news and commentary.

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/mandibular-mojo-why-christians-need-strong-meat/feed/ 1 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/reuchlin-and-the-reformation/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/reuchlin-and-the-reformation/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:37:08 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=52 ]]>

Reuchlin and the Reformation
By Dr. George Grant
(Originally posted on April 23, 2004 on Grantium Florilegium)

Johann Reuchlin was one of the great scholastic precursors to the Reformation. He was a linguist who wrote the first Latin dictionary to be published in Germany and a standard Greek grammar. But Hebrew was his dearest love. He ferreted out the rules of Israel’s ancient language by study of Hebrew texts and conversed with every rabbi who appeared within his range. His authority became widely recognized.

Alas, his reputation was nearly the cause of his ruin. A converted Jew and a Dominican inquisitor obtained from Emperor Maximilian an order to burn all Hebrew works except the Old Testament, charging they were full of errors and blasphemies. Before the edict could be carried out, the Emperor had second thoughts and consulted the greatest Hebraist of the age: Reuchlin.

Reuchlin urged preservation of the Jewish books as aides to study, and as examples of errors against which champions of faith joust. To destroy the books would give ammunition to church enemies. The emperor revoked his order.

The Dominicans were furious. Selecting passages from Reuchlin’s writings, they tried to prove him a heretic. The inquisition summoned him and ordered his writings burnt. Sympathetic scholars appealed to Leo X. The Pope referred the matter to the Bishop of Spires, whose tribunal heard the issue. On this day (April 23) in 1514, the tribunal declared Reuchlin not guilty.

But the Dominicans were not so easily deterred. They instigated the faculties at Cologne, Erfurt, Louvain, Mainz and Paris to condemn Reuchlin’s writings. Thus armed, they approached Leo X once again. Leo demurred. He appointed yet another commission. It backed Reuchlin. Still Leo hesitated. At last he decided to suspend all judgment. This in itself was a victory for Reuchlin. The cause of the embattled scholar became the cause of the innovators. Reuchlin’s nephew, Philip Melancthon, rejoiced as did the renowned Greek scholar, Desiderius Erasmus.

In 1517 Luther posted his 95 Theses. “Thanks be to God,” said the weary Reuchlin when he heard the news. “At last they have found a man who will give them so much to do that they will be compelled to let my old age end in peace.”

Thanks to Reuchlin, a host of essential Hebrew texts were preserved. His studies formed the basis for most of the better translations of the Old Testament–including Luther’s. And his influence assured Melancthon a position among the learned and a vital place in the Reformation.

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Dr. George Grant is the founder and president of King’s Meadow Study Center in Franklin, Tennessee.

For more info on Reuchlin, you can go to this page:
Johann Reuchlin Wiki Page

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/reuchlin-and-the-reformation/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog Johann Reuchlin http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-4/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-4/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:48:48 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=51 ]]>

By Eric Holmberg, The Apologetics Group
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Note from the administrator: This is the 4th and final part of this series.
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I don’t have the space or even all the wisdom necessary to present an exhaustive game plan; but what follows should get us well on our way. First, we must begin with the great admonition and promise found 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Humble yourself. Reread the opening vignette. It’s easy to “sit in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1) and roll our eyes at other people’s foibles. But how would you have done? (And please feel free to substitute ESPN’s Sportscenter for Friends.) Are you able to explain the difference between justification and sanctification? How would you fair in writing six essays on the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith as outlined in Hebrews 6:1-2? Don’t shrug it off as just theology. This is boilerplate stuff every Christian should know.

In an attempt to trap Him, Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees on the issue of paying taxes to Caesar. The Master asked for a coin and then raised a very profound question: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22: 20-21)

Pray and ask God a similar question. Whose likeness and inscription has been pressed into the clay of your heart? The world’s? Or God’s? If the former is even an issue ─ if you see that the stain of popular media has done more to color your world than the Word ─ do what God expects of all who “fall short of the glory.”

Repent.

Stop lifting up your soul to what is false. (Psalm 24:4) Purpose to set no unclean thing before your eyes; to hate the work of those who fall away. (Psalm 101: 3) Commit Philippians 4:8 to memory and use it as a yardstick to measure everything before you allow it into the sanctuary of your mind, heart and home.

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Next, purpose to obey the Apostle Paul’s admonition to not take part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11) Hate that which is evil but cling to and encourage what is good. (Rom. 12: 9) Cultivate an atmosphere of “reading” and “listening” rather than “watching” in your life and home. Fill them with good books and music. Tame the television, which for many people may mean getting rid of it for a season (see Matthew 5:30). The technology now exists to block certain channels. There are also devices that filter out bad language. Use them. Remove the TV from your child’s bedroom. Have a family movie night. Go online to research the content of a film before seeing it and then “vote” with your pocketbook by only buying tickets for those that meet the standard of Philippians 4:8. If a good movie is produced, go see it, and encourage others to do the same. Buy it when it comes out on DVD. Make sure that your internet access is filtered or that you install software that keeps track of the web sites that are visited. Create an accountability group within your church. Help your teens understand the nature of the battle and the reasons for your standards by watching and discussing a good teaching video on the subject and then absolutely forbid any music that celebrates sin from being played in your home.

These are just a few ideas. The Holy Spirit will no doubt give you more as you purpose to engage the enemy on what may well be the front in the warfare for our families and our nation. There is simply no way to exaggerate the importance of this battle for the hearts and imaginations of our children and our nation’s citizens.

Allow me to close this chapter by briefly recounting two great stories from our past; stories that can not only instruct but also inspire us to persevere in what may look at times like a lost cause.

Did you know that this is not the first time the motion picture industry has debased both itself and this country? Amid the profligacy of the “roaring twenties” and the growing influence of an increasingly nihilistic European film industry, studios began to experiment with everything from nudity to occult themes in the years leading up to the Great Depression. The Church in those days, however, was not willing to simply “swallow and follow.” As a result, millions of people stopped going to the movies. Faced with financial ruin, the studios asked some Christian leaders to step in and help make sure that their films passed muster. And so was born the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency and the Protestant Film Office.

For over three decades (1933-1966), these offices reviewed almost every screenplay and unfinished film to ensure that Biblical standards of morality were respected. And thus began the “Golden Age of Hollywood,” when, as Dr. Ted Baehr likes to say, “Mr. Smith (went) to Washington, It (was) a Wonderful Life and The Bells of St. Mary’s rang out across the land.”

Now note something very important here. What happened? What brought this Golden Age to an end? Simple ─ the salt lost is savor! Influenced by the cancers of modernism and liberal theology, the National Council of Churches shut down the PFO. And how long did it take for the meat to begin to rot? Well, in 1965 the Oscar for Best Picture went to The Sound of Music. The next year, the one that saw the withdrawal of Christians from Hollywood, A Man for All Seasons ─ a film that virtually teemed with biblical themes ─ won the award. But within just three years (1969) an X-rated excursion into nihilism, despair and homosexuality (Midnight Cowboy) came out on top. And this film was far from being an anomaly. The same period also saw Oscar nods for Bonnie and Clyde (antihero, violence, sex), The Wild Bunch (violence) and Rosemary’s Baby (sex, occult).

As Pogo famously declared: “We have met the enemy…and he is us.”

A similar lesson – one with a happier ending – can be learned from the testimony of a brave monk who around 400 AD chose martyrdom over compromise with the spirit of popular entertainment. Throughout the previous century-and-a-half, the Roman Empire had begun to embrace the Christian religion it had once persecuted. But as the Church became socially acceptable, many people became members who were either not born again or were not prepared to embrace the disciplines of the Christian life. And so a great deal of compromise began to creep into the Church. By the end of the fourth century, many church-goers thought nothing of attending the gladiatorial games, celebrating the shedding of blood in the same arenas where Christians were once martyred for their faith.

Enter Telemachus (also known as Almachius), an ascetic from the eastern region of the empire. Arriving in Rome, he decided to visit a stadium to see what had so captured the hearts and imaginations of the Roman citizenry. Confronted by the specter of two combatants battling to the death while the blood-drunk crowd roared their approval, Telemachus jumped into arena and sought to stop the contest, chastising the audience for their lust and violation of the Sixth Commandment. The spectators turned on him, surging into the arena and collecting stones as they went. Soon the brave monk laid dead, another blood-washed martyr for the cause of Christ.

The story does not end here, however. When the Emperor Honorius learned of Telemachus’ sacrifice, he hailed him as a hero and a true soldier of the cross. In 404 AD, Honorius issued an imperial decree outlawing the gladiatorial games throughout the empire. The monk’s intercession had carried the day and transformed the culture.

May God raise up from within the ranks of His Church today an army of Telemachuses.

We can be silent no more.

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Some related reading sources:

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Neil Postman, Penguin Books, 1986.) This is a wonderful book every thinking Christian should digest. It is also worth noting here a distinction Postman makes in it: “amuse” (a-muse) means literally to stop thinking or reflecting.

W.B. Yeats “Meditations in time of Civil War”

Daniel Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (Vintage; September 1, 1992)

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Some Interesting Facts and Figures:

According to numbers crunched by Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a New York-based investment bank that specializes in media companies, Americans spent 120 hours a person a year reading consumer books in 1998; by 2003, the number of hours had fallen to 106. By 2006, the projected number of hours we spend reading will be 103. In contrast, television-watching took up 1,551 hours of our time in 1998, and is expected to rise to 1,679 hours two years from now. Internet use is also skyrocketing, from 54 hours in 1998 to a projected 213 hours in 2006.

“Reading at Risk,” a new survey released in July of 2004 by the National Endowment for the Arts using data collected by the Census Bureau, shows that the percentage of Americans who read novels, short stories, plays or poetry — and, in fact, any sort of book — has steadily declined in the past two decades. The drop-off was especially noticeable among young adults, with literary reading among 18-to-24-year-olds dropping from almost 60 percent in 1982 to about 43 percent in 2002.

“The Dutch philosopher-historian Johan Huizinga, in his epochal book Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture, discovered that the word “fun” was of recent origin and that o other language had an exact equivalent to the English meaning, leading him to speculate that fun was neither readily understood nor fully accepted until the twentieth century.” (from Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality (Neal Gabler, Vintage Books USA; February 29, 2000)
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From the Administrator:
Though the content is PG-13, I would recommend the DVD, Hell’s Bells 2 – The Power and Spirit of Popular Music.

Eric Holmberg is the founder and director of The Apologetics Group, and has been involved in areas of Christian ministry for nearly 30 years. He is a writer, producer, documentarian and Christian cultural apologist, and has produced and directed dozens of documentaries and seminars that have touched thousands of lives around the world.

For more information, go to: The Apologetics Group

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-4/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-3/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-3/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:52:45 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=50 ]]>

Note from Reformed Faith Administrator: This is part 3 of an article by Eric Holmberg. I will be presenting it in four parts.
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Pt. 3…

Allow me to begin with story. In 1936, Spain was ravaged by a great civil war. Emilio Mola, one of the leaders of the Nationalist Army under the command of Francisco Franco, surrounded the capital city of Madrid with columns to the north, south, east and west. When asked from which direction he expected the city to be taken, Mola replied “le quinta columna.” This “fifth column” was made up of the spies and propaganda he had managed to plant within the city of Madrid itself.

Can I tell you that there is a civil war going on for the destiny of this nation and the planet ─ one that this generation will lose if the “fifth column” of worldliness continues to flourish in our hearts? Like it or not, God himself has set enmity between the “seed of the woman” (the Church) and “the seed of the serpent.” (Genesis 3:15) And when left unchecked, the spiritual “entropy” that characterizes the fallen world of man will always move towards great disorder and chaos – towards a place where the “imaginations of men’s hearts will be on evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) And out of these imaginations, the “culture” will inevitably arise.

Now culture is a difficult thing to describe because it involves so many things. Taken from the Latin root “cultus,” it originally meant a system of religious belief and rituals. And while today it is commonly used to describe a lot more than this ─ things like aesthetics, ethics, language, etiquette, etc. ─ at bottom the Latin definition still serves us well. Why? Because each of these other aspects of culture flow from the religious presuppositions that form the majority report of a particular society. To use the phrase made famous by Henry van Til: “culture is religion externalized.”

Another thing we need to understand about culture today is just how powerful and almost omnipresent it has become. By faith and through the revealed Word we understand that it is in God that we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But from a strictly temporal perspective, modern technology has been able to create a culture of entertainment that could easily cop this verse and use it as a sales slogan for potential advertisers. (I’m reminded here of the famous quote by Bob Pittman, co-founder of MTV: “We don’t shoot for the fourteen-year-olds. We own them!”) As ubiquitous as the air we breathe, digitized information is constantly bombarding us from every side ─ clamoring, cajoling, mesmerizing, titillating, propagandizing ─ threatening and very often succeeding in molding us into its image. (see Romans 12:2: “And don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed…”)

And it is not just the obvious things like violence, blasphemy and pornography that have seduced us. Perhaps even more destructive is something a great Russian writer predicted would happen. Fyodor Dostoyevsky observed that when untethered from the Christian worldview, art would begin by imitating life. But then life would start to imitate art and then would finally draw the very reason for its existence from the arts. Historian Daniel Boorstin sounded a similar alarm when he warned that Americans increasingly live in a world where fantasy is more real than reality. “We risk,” he said, “being the first people in history to have been able to make their illusions so vivid, so persuasive, so ‘realistic’ that they can live in them.”

I call this parallel universe in which our culture has come to live the “Great Substitution.” And the fallout from this substitution is among the most profound challenges facing the Church today.

“I” has taken the place of “We”. One need only consider the Army’s new recruiting motto: An Army of One. What an insane concession to the spirit of the age!

Art ─ which in the Christian tradition was to provide ekstasis; the opportunity to “stand outside ourselves” and gain insight into the wonder of life ─ has been replaced by entertainment (from inter (among); tenere (to hold) ─ something that draws us into ourselves; denying us new perspectives and the opportunity to grow.

The Image has been substituted for the Logos (Word). In the beginning was the Word, which was God and then became flesh and dwelt among us through the Incarnation. (John 1:1&14) It is no accident that we do not know what Jesus looked like or that the Ten Commandments forbid creating images of the invisible God. When it comes to the real business of knowing and worshipping the Trinity, the keys are the Word read and meditated upon, the Word sung (worship), and the Word signified in the sacraments. As images have more and more pushed the written word aside, the logos/logic centers of our minds have grown dull from disuse. The results of this substitution have been disastrous. Even the capacity for Truth (an enterprise that requires logic) has fallen in the post-modern public square. (Isaiah 59:15) And within the Church, the hard work of diligently training our senses to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:15) has been replaced by mushy sentimentality.

Character has been trumped by celebrity. Why are so many people more likely to spend time meditating on the dating habits of some Hollywood profligate than on the scriptural principles that will help them make sure that their own marriages will succeed?

Fun (a word with a very recent origin) has taken the place of happiness. It is no longer just teens who are willing to jettison the hard work and delayed gratification necessary to enjoy the truly “good life.” More and more adults are willing to sell their divine birthright for a mess of “ready-in-a-minute” porridge.

Sound-bytes have replaced discourse. MTV-style “bumpers” and jump-cuts can now be seen in everything from sports coverage to news broadcasts and children’s programming. We are fast becoming a nation of “watchers” with the attention span of a circus of fleas. What ill-wind blows through the body politic when the average network sound-byte from presidential campaigns dropped from 40 seconds in 1968 to under 7 seconds today?

Covetousness has been substituted for profitable stewardship with contentment. Think about it: millions actually pay extra money to buy name-brand clothing for no other reason than to advertise that they wear name-brand clothing!

Agape love (love reflecting the character of God and rooted in covenant commitment) has been pushed aside by eros ─ an obsession with our own erotic or emotional satisfaction. The late, great prophet to the 20th century, Malcolm Muggeridge perhaps said it best: “The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.”

These substitutions did not “just happen.” They were manufactured with the same satanic genius that gave us Babel’s Tower and Aaron’s calf. The serpent took what were good, God-given desires (we are, after all, called to help build a Holy City whose capstone (Christ) reaches into the throne room of heaven; we are supposed to have a “feast to the Lord”) and ─ like in the Garden of Eden ─ tilted those desires ever so slightly on their axis. Once the center of God’s will is compromised, the trajectory of the culture will move slowly but progressively away from the Sun of Righteousness. As with the proverbial frog in the kettle, the fires of spiritual deception will be turned up gradually so as not to catch our attention. And that’s how we find ourselves today, facing desires that have all but undergone the complete transformation into their satanic substitutes.

I’m here to tell you that the water is boiling! It’s time to crawl out of the acid bath of popular culture and once again be about our Father’s business; discipling nations rather than being discipled by them!

How can we fulfill this call?

(To be continued…)
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“The Enemy in Our Midst: Popular Culture and the Battle For Men’s Hearts” will be presented in several parts. Look for the last part coming soon…

Eric Holmberg is the founder and director of The Apologetics Group, based in Tennessee. He has been a champion for the cause of Christ for thirty years now, and is showing no sign of slowing down. Check out his website at The Apologetics Group

]]> http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-3/feed/ 0 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-2/ http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/the-enemy-in-our-midst-popular-culture-and-the-battle-for-men%e2%80%99s-hearts-pt-2/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:06:23 +0000 The Reformed Faith Weblog http://reformedfaith.wordpress.com/?p=48 ]]>

Note from Reformed Faith Administrator: This is part 2 of an article by Eric Holmberg. I will be presenting it in several parts…

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ATTENTION: WARNING! This post contains “adult content” references that could be considered offensive. However, I present them here unedited since they are, in reality, a direct reflection of the crassness of our present day culture, and Mr. Holmberg has used them as an illustration of this very phenomenon. Please consider yourself warned. If you are easily offended, you should go read something else. I’m serious. However, if you want to actually DO something to change the culture, and don’t really know what is going on out there, then read on… but you are still warned.)
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By Eric Holmberg, Founder, The Apologetics Group

We have “evolved” from a time (1939) when Rhett Butler’s use of the word “damn” (Gone With the Wind) was met with a collective gasp ─ to a “dumb and dumber, numb and number” culture where:

A popular comedy network broadcasted an uncensored, animated film that featured almost 500 hard-core obscenities and referred to God as both a “wimp,” a “bitch” and “faggot.” The movie, particularly popular with young people, took in over $52 million at the box office.
The highest-grossing “family movie” of all time (E.T., 1982) had an eleven-year-old star who used a grotesque homosexual reference in talking to his brother.

Two of the most popular teen films of the 90’s went for “laughs” by featuring a character who masturbated into a family desert (American Pie) and one who unwittingly styled her hair with male ejaculate (There’s Something About Mary).

The blockbuster The Silence of the Lambs (1991) managed to make a psychopathic murderer and cannibal one of the surprise “sex symbols” of the year. A decade later, the sequel (Hannibal) depicted this same monster sedating a victim and slowly removing and cooking portions of his brain and then feeding it back to him.

The average young person will have watched 200,000 violent acts ─including 16,000 murders ─ by the time he or she graduates from high school. Almost two-thirds of the scenes in prime-time television include some reference to sex; 28% of these will put the primary emphasis on sex. And when intercourse takes place, it is four to eight times as likely to occur between unmarried people as between a husband and wife.

Pornography is now a $10 billion dollar business, larger than the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball combined. It is estimated that 60 percent of all web sites are sexual in nature. Now with just a click of a mouse button (often unwittingly), anyone (including children) can have ready access to hard-core sex acts, bestiality, bondage and domination, sadomasochism (including actual torture and mutilation of women for sexual pleasure), scatological acts (defecating and urinating on men or women for sexual pleasure), and child pornography.

I could easily fill page after page with these types of sobering examples and statistics; examples that become even scarier when we consider that there are now virtually thousands of studies proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that this media programming is accomplishing just that: “programming” an entire generation to think and act in ways that are “earthly, sensuous and demonic.” (James 3:15)

What can be done to reverse this trend?

Implicit in every other chapter in this book is the call for the God’s people to repent. We have seen, for example, humanists reinterpret the Constitution and suppress our religious freedoms. But in large part this has happened because “while the enemy came and sowed tares, men slept.” (Matt. 13:25) Similarly, we can watch as the institution of marriage is attacked by unrighteous laws and our culture’s hell-bent desire to remove every barrier to sexual and emotional freedom ─ and yet also know that the enemy’s progress has come as the Church has “sworn for peace” and embraced the culture of divorce rather than the cross. On and on it goes.

With love in my heart for God’s people and zeal for the purity of His house, I want the Holy Spirit to “contend with us” as we look at the enemy in our midst ─ hearts and minds that know more about the flickering shadows of a world at war with God than they do of the “language of heaven.”

(Pt. 3 coming soon…)
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“The Enemy in Our Midst: Popular Culture and the Battle For Men’s Hearts” will be presented in several parts. Look for the third part soon.
Eric Holmberg is the founder and director of The Apologetics Group, based in Tennessee. He has been a champion for the cause of Christ for thirty years now, and is showing no sign of slowing down. To check out what else he has to offer, check out his website at The Apologetics Group

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By Eric Holmberg

Tuesday, 04 September 2007

Who’s the character in Seinfeld with the funny hair?” A chorus of hands shot up excitedly. “Kramer!” came the almost universal reply. “What time does Friends come on?” Again, there was no hesitation. “Eight!” “Thursday nights.” “NBC,” offered one young lady, nailing the coordinates in both space and time.

“Complete this line from Spiderman: ‘With great power comes….?” “Great responsibility!” over seventy-five voices cried in unison.

“Now can someone tell me the difference between rap and hip-hop? Or emo and goth?” There was a brief silence as the audience cast about for the best spokesman to address the nuances of the question. But after a few initial observations were made, the response again became lively and democratic. Person after person shared either their thoughts on the distinctions or at least illustrated them by identifying their favorite artists in each category.

“OK,” the speaker said. “Let’s now take the a