What change is needed? Food part 3

Over the course of the last few days, so much has changed in my heart and mind upon ceasing taking Keppra, it is difficult to put it all into words. In fact, I don't know if I could explain it all, but I will begin to attempt to record some of what has occurred for the benefit of those who may struggle with similar circumstances and need encouragement. I am also using this blog in part to remind myself of the many blessings given by the Lord as we seek to glorify Him in every aspect of our lives.

Readers may recall that I have had a preliminary diagnosis of complex partial seizures, which have gone away and returned at various times, since 2003. I want to be clear that while "diagnosis" is a term we all may use often, it is at times not terribly helpful in a situation such as mine. This diagnosis is less like knowing that your bone is fractured and needs to be put back in place, and more like I have a series of symptoms that cannot be seen nor measured with current technology, but which symptoms also do not fit into diagnoses which are measurable and repeatable. Therefore, my diagnosis is not actually a factual explanation of what is wrong in my body, but rather what seems to be the case given the available evidence. This is one reason why the neurologist has prescribed a test which lasts for days in a hospital setting. In that setting, they can monitor what I eat, when I sleep, oxygen levels in the blood, and more, the most important piece being electronically monitoring the function or rather malfunction of my brain.

What change is needed? Food part 2

As I begin my journey into discovering and implementing God's design for food and the human body, I am finding the need to sort out my presuppositions and experiences from actual fact. It is my desire to look to the Word of God, which I believe is sufficient for all things pertaining to life and godliness, for my answers. It amazes me how difficult it can be to honestly weed through one's own beliefs, get beyond how long I have believed them, and get to the business of seeing the purpose and plan of the Creator for the human body from a purely Biblical perspective.

We will begin with the assumption that the world was created perfectly self sufficient, that Adam and Eve were expected and entirely capable of living in Eden's garden forever in a healthy and happy state, but that the entrance of sin ruined that perfect place in aspects that we usually don't take the time to consider, let alone genuinely explore or apply.

I will also work upon the supposition that the Biblical account of a vegetarian diet, while the original pattern at Creation, was changed dramatically when God gave Noah freedom to eat animals. I accept that there is a difference between the commands given to a specific people and those which apply to everyone in every place at all times.

What change is needed? Food Part 1

This is one of those blog posts I never want to write. The post is not sad, nor relaying fear due to the turmoil in the world,  nor bad news in regard to the degradation of western civilization. Rather, it deals with public confession and accountability. These past few weeks, as I struggle with physical, financial, and emotional stresses due to the recent return of my seizures, I have begun to think more of the sins nobody ever talks about, examining aspects of my own life anew, and I don't like what I find.

Short of the example of my friend Jason, who at times I have felt defines gluttony with entirely too broad a brush, I don't recall hearing a single sentence, let alone a sermon, on how we ought to use food as Christians. While for some time I have surely gone beyond the bounds of "I eat to live", I have never felt that I have fallen into the pit called "I live to eat." and in this I have found comfort until recently. I have found ways to attempt to justify using my body as a kind of garbage disposal, to enjoy eating things that offer short lived satisfaction, yet in the end may well be detrimental to my overall health. Whether one likes the word "gluttony" or not, or even if I see my poor eating habits as definitively sinful or meeting the full definition of that dreaded term, I certainly do not always take good care of the temple of the Holy Spirit which is my body.

What is the change we need?

Today was one of those days that reminded me why our family makes daily family worship a priority. Our church Sunday School hour has been working through the " 9 Marks of a Healthy Church" series and we are currently in the book dealing with Biblical conversion. The fundamental questions of the book have led to very interesting discussions as a family, and we have enjoyed hearing questions and insights from the children in response to the teaching time.

It is days like today that remind me not only of the responsibility given to fathers to train their children in the ways of the Lord, but of the blessed privilege I have to lead my whole family in worship of the God that reaches down from Heaven and intervenes in our lives with His great grace and mercy. I continue to be amazed by the power of the Holy Spirit in this time of worship together, and I hope this account is an encouragement to others, whether for those not currently practicing daily family worship, or for those whose times of worship may have become more about completing a task than enjoying God in all His glory.

A busy week is a blessed week

This week is going to be one of those weeks that we are exhausted at the end, and quite possibly all throughout, and yet one which promises blessing when we are willing to look beyond the busyness and see what God has prepared.

Today we had dentist appointments for two of the children. Tonight, we are headed to have dinner with a couple from church, who also raised 5 children and have wisdom to share with us young folks as we seek to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Tomorrow, the day begins with a run to my doctor to report all of the recent goings on with my seizures and see if he has any wisdom to share with us as we go forward. We then will have Nathaniel, our oldest son, over for supper and to spend the night before we take him to Portland for what promises to be his last appointment with the hand surgeon. We pray that this report opens the door for Nathaniel to continue his plans to leave next month for culinary school in Texas beginning in  January. We will then take him to his home in Palermo and then head toward Kingfield for the next stop of our whirlwind week.

My weakness, His strength!

Day 4 on Keppra: Today was a moderately good day. I seem to have caught a slight cold, yet besides a good sneezing fit here and there, I feel well. I am still feeling a bit of brain fog, whether from the meds or the cold I know not, but I find that almost any amount of physical exertion causes me great fatigue.

I had one seizure thus far that lasted longer than most, and I could not speak for nearly 30 minutes. I was able to type (very slowly) after 15 minutes or so, it seems my fingers know what my brain wants to express even if I can't make my mouth work!

Remembering Joshua 2009

Friends, readers, and loved ones:
I would like to let you know about the events of the last day in our lives. We were expecting the arrival of our son, Joshua Daniel Cowperthwaite in the next few weeks. Joshua was born about 9pm Wednesday, March 25,2009. He never took a breath, his heart never beat outside of his mother's body, and we believe he is home with the Lord.

We cannot comprehend the reasoning behind this event, but know that God is in control and that His purposes will be revealed when we all get to heaven.

Of Cactus Jelly and Gasoline- February 2009

This story is one that has gone down in the history of the Cowperthwaite family as one of the all time "NO WAY!" kind of stories we have ever experienced. Some have accused us of telling tall tales, but to be honest I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. It all started after leaving Texas on our trip to California.

We have a few stories regarding the good and bad of Global Positioning Systems, or GPS. On our maiden voyage as a team, the Cowperthwaite and Humes families set off from Fort Worth, Texas headed for El Cajon, California. We had contacted some local churches out that way and were excited to help share the Gospel with those who have never heard and also help equip the Christians in that area in the work of evangelism. 

As we set out, things looked  fine. Sara was 7 months pregnant and not looking forward to the 5 day trip westward, but still we were all in good spirits. We were enjoying the fact that Justin had a GPS in his van, which assured us that we would still be able to get where we were going even if we decided to make a few stops along the way to look at scenery. We did take a diversion from our planned route

Getting past the fear (Remembering Joshua) 2010

It was March 25,2009. My wife, Sara, and I had so many plans for our family with a new baby. That all came crashing in when our son, Joshua, died in my arms. I had hopes and dreams about our son, never dreaming that we would lose him so quickly. In the days that followed, we found a peace that we could not explain, but that knowing God's plans were being revealed and that we must trust in Him as we walked through this dark valley. God revealed many things to us by His Word and the Holy Spirit that dwells in our hearts as believers in the following days and months. We believe Joshua is at rest in heaven, and someday I will join him in the presence of God.

Even with this peace from God, when we found out that the Lord had blessed us with another baby on the way, we were overjoyed, yet conflicted. We felt joy mingled with fear at the news. Surely in the time that has passed since losing our precious son,we have learned to lean on God's strength through times like these. Now standing here, almost a year later, February 8, 2010, I found myself again at Sara's side as she prepared to deliver our son, Samuel. It all came rushing back to me,

In the rear view mirror April 2009 (Remembering Joshua)

April 27, 2009

The last two months have been a great reminder to God's providence. Our family has been through so much, yet God is faithful to give us grace and strength through everything. The first weeks spent in anticipation of our son's birth, with many new friends and the Gospel being shared, time seemed to fly by.

When Joshua was born, and then through our loss, we realized anew God's mercies.  (Lamentations 3:22-24) Sara and I, along with our children, were not broken by this trial, but instead refreshed in God's lovingkindness. He picked us up and held us close, as we know He is now doing with our son Joshua. We saw the love of the brethren here, with many expressions of Christians love through cards, meals, and gifts. God's people, who are called by His name, are a bright and shining example of what can be accomplished by the love of God expressed through His people.

Rachel's Gift helps families in Georgia

We were blessed to meet with Lori Beth Blaney, who started Rachel's Gift in the McDonough, Georgia area after the death of her daughter due to a car accident during pregnancy. What we are prayerfully considering helping to start in the Midcoast Maine area would look much like what these wonderful Christian folks are doing to support those grieving the loss of a child. Please drop a note to the folks at Rachel's Gift and watch the promotional video that shares the vision and passion to lovingly support families in times of great crisis.

From the Rachel's gift website:

At Rachel’s Gift Inc. we partner with local hospitals to assist parents through the initial phase of infant loss through a base of caring and knowledgeable volunteers. We provide grief assistance for the families as well as a training program for nursing professionals and care givers on companioning patients through infant loss. Our ultimate goal is to provide a healthy environment to begin the grieving process to eliminate long term psychological damage to individuals and their families experiencing infant loss while at the same time providing lifetime keepsakes of their child. These keepsakes will be a lifetime reminder and a physical connection to the child that was only in their arms a matter of minutes or hours.

Peace after loss- Michelle Duggar 2011

In the days after the death of our son Joshua, we received a letter from Sara's father to Joshua. It was a beautiful expression of his desire to see his little grandson. I have posted the response here, "A letter from Heaven"  In the days since the loss of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's daughter Jubilee Shalom, Michelle has written a letter to the baby. The post below explains more. Please read the entire article here.

"She continued on to share, "We have so much to be thankful for. I know that in the days and weeks to come there will be other things that I will walk though, and grief that will come, and there will be times that we will worship and sing praises. I know that God will allow me to continue to release the emotions that I will release." During the service taking place in Springdale, Arkansas, the wife of Jim Bob Duggar also shared a letter she wrote to her stillborn child."

We found the expression of our feelings through writing to be very helpful in the grieving process, and encourage others that are having a hard time talking through the very intense and painful emotions involved in the death of a child to consider writing. There is no one thing that helps everyone, and so we hope that this may be a tip that helps your family. Please feel free to write to us and share your story, we would love to pray for you and maybe be some help. 

Joshua's letter to Grandpa (Remembering Joshua)

A letter from Heaven
This letter was written by a grieving father. His grandfather had written him a letter expressing his love and desire to see his grandson when they get to Heaven.


Dear Grandpa,

I got your message the other day. I was happy that you understood why God brought me home with Him. Even though I love my mom and dad, brother and sisters, I am not sad here. I am happy knowing that they will be with me forever after their time on earth is over. I talked to a couple people the other day about you and my family. I thought I would tell you about it to will help you understand even more about God's plans for you and the rest of my family down on Earth.

A man named Abraham told me that God promised him a son. He was so happy, and his wife laughed when God told them they would have a baby. Sure enough,

they had a baby boy. You know God never breaks a promise. When their son got older, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son to God. Abraham was ready to do whatever God said, even though it seemed crazy. Anyway, it turned out God didn't make him kill his son. Abraham had lots of faith. He trusted that God could make it better even if he didn't understand how. I like Abraham. He has a long grey beard. I think maybe you look like him.

I also talked to a man named Job. He told me how God gave him lots of kids. He had lots of blessings from God, but God let the Devil take them away from him. Job didn't blame God at first, but after a while Job questioned why God let this bad stuff happen. God explained His power to Job, and then remembered that everything he had came from God anyways, so he could trust God no matter what. Job says that God sometimes does things we don't understand, hard or painful things, that bring us closer to Him if we trust Him. Job had a grey beard, too. Maybe you look like him.

The best conversation I had was with Jesus. Did you know that my name is the same as His? Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua, Yesu, they are all the same name! I bet you also knew that Jesus is God's only Son. He left all this up here in heaven to come to earth to die and pay for our sins. He said all we have to do is trust Him and we can be forgiven of even the worst things. Wow, He must really love people to do that! Jesus had some hard times in His life, too. Even though He never did anything wrong, people beat Him and killed Him. But that's OK, cause He already knew that it would happen, and Jesus went anyway. He offered Himself to pay for my sin so that I could be here in Heaven.

Jesus says that He knows you, and that you talk to Him a lot. He says the Holy Spirit talks to you and that you read His letter for you. It is called the Bible. Jesus says that the Father has big plans for you and the rest of our family. Maybe Jesus will tell me about those plans some time, or I might have to wait and hear the story from you when you get here.

Of all the great things here, I guess the best part is Jesus. He is the nicest person I have met yet, and while we were walking, He held my hand just like a Grandpa would hold his grandson's hand. He looked at me like I think you would look at me. Jesus did have some sad news, too. He told me that some people won't be here in Heaven when they die. I hope that someone tells them about how much Jesus loves them and trust Him, so they can be here with us.

Of all the people I met, there were many kids and even some mommies. There were lots of grandfathers, lots with grey beards, but when I think of you, I hope that you don't look like them, I guess. I would rather you look just like Jesus. We are all made like Him anyway. Jesus said that He wants all people to be like Him and obey what He says to do. He said my mommy and daddy pray a lot about you. They think God is gonna do something really neat with your life, too.

That is all for now, and though it may be a long time before I get to see you, it will be worth the wait. I love you and am proud of you, too. Keep talking to Jesus, he is comforting to talk to. When I talked to Him, I felt like there was nothing He couldn't fix. I know you have had hard times, but Jesus can get you through anything. Then, when you get here, maybe you can tell stories about what God did in your life to other little boys like me. There are a lot of kids here. I guess God likes lots of kids. He reminds me of my mom and dad.

Your grandson,
Joshua

Joshua's grandfather died unexpectedly on June 27,2014, over 5 years after Joshua. This post in memory of Joshua Daniel Cowperthwaite and Daniel Phillip Allan.

Capturing the moment (Remembering Joshua)

When our son Joshua died in 2009, we had to make very fast paced decisions: would we want to hold him after his death, would we want pictures, should the other kids be brought in? Considering all was said and done around 11pm when they finally pronounced our son's death, we decided to let the kids sleep and we would be better to explain things to them in the morning. We did take a few pictures with a camera lent to us by hospital staff, however the pictures were somehow deleted and we never saw them. What we have is a few very grainy cell phone pictures of Sara and myself holding Joshua just after CPR was ceased. I had taken the ambulance to the hospital with Joshua, and Sara delivered the placenta and was then transferred. Everything was such a blur, and I wish we could have the night to do over again some times.

Something we don't regret that night is the time we had with Joshua alone, his lifeless body, though wrapped in a warm blanket and looking like maybe he was asleep, was betrayed by the tube coming out of his throat. Because of the emergency birth and death, an autopsy was mandated, and the tube could not be taken out. We  walked and talked, we sang "It is well with my soul" with genuine peace even in the midst of the turmoil.

Grieving during the holidays (2011)

As we approach the Christmas season, we know that death knows no holiday. For some, the loss of a child happened on Christmas day or on a birthday, sometimes before the birth even comes. For those who are grieving this Christmas, I hope you find encouragement from this blog post by Heart of the Matter. Amy Roberts reveals her heart in this heartwarming excerpt:

"As we celebrate Christ’s birth, I cannot help but consider that my God knows the grief I bear. Amongst all the wonderment and joy of the Messiah being born, there was the knowledge that that child must one day die a violent death in order to free His people from sin and darkness."

I am reminded again that even in the hardest times, we can lean on the Lord. God truly understands the weight of seeing His Son Jesus die, and more so, that He would give His life as a sacrificial payment for all those who will trust in Him. Surely, God knows our grief, and the Father's heart desires to comfort us through the pain. 

A picture is worth.... (2011)

In our family experience, we can tell you a picture is worth well more than a thousand words. Pictures can help us connect with the baby we lost, remind us that they are a part of the family we value, and so much more. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an organization that helps grieving families capture photos that will last much longer than the grief of the moment, and they work free of charge. This work is supported by donations and the volunteer work of talented photographers who wish to serve families at a very difficult time.

NILMDTS (seriously long acronym) was called in to serve the Duggar family after the death of Jubilee Shalom. Those pictures have been all over the internet, a subject of controversy, but we are sure will help Jim Bob, Michelle, and the whole family remember the little girl who never took a breath outside the comfort of her mother's womb. Read the story here. You can also watch an NBC story highlighting NILMDTS below.

Remembering Joshua from 2011

In our efforts to find help and support for those grieving the loss of a baby, we have found so many resources that we never knew existed. It seems this is not the type of subject people often go public about until they feel a need to help others. In generations past, there was an unwarranted shame associated with losing a child in death. Today, we see that people are much more open about their grief, and look to the community to help them as they walk through the valley. We have been blessed to find some resources, and thought we would share what we have found with others.

We happened upon Rachel's Gift here in McDonough, Georgia, a few months ago. This ministry was started after the founder, Lori Beth Blaney, was in a car accident and lost her daughter, Rachel. In the following years, Lori Beth wanted to help others dealing with a loss, and started what is now known as Rachel's Gift. Sara and I met with Lori Beth and another volunteer last week. They set up the meeting to encourage and help us as we seek to support grieving families in Maine, where we plan to move at the end of January. We were richly blessed by this meeting, getting to hear how God is using the Rachel's Gift volunteers and the resources they have found to bless families as they go through the grieving process.

When our son Joshua died, we were given a memory box at the hospital. It included a weighted bear to help with "empty arms syndrome". We were also given a beautiful little blue box tied with a ribbon. Inside the box was a heart shaped pillow, a blanket, a clipping of Joshua's hair, along with his hand and footprints. These items, along with photos taken by the nursing staff of Joshua's body, were very helpful to us and still are to this day. We still carry that bear around, and though less often, we still look at the pictures and lovingly look through our treasured box of memories. For the record, we highly suggest taking photos of your baby if you are able, as it has been a great help to us.

Rachel's Gift does a similar box, also including the book "Empty cradle, broken heart: Surviving the death of your baby", a memory book, and a stuffed toy. The ladies shared how much each of these items help a family, and they had so much to share that we could not possibly share it all here. We learned so much from this meeting, and we thank God for putting this group of volunteers together to help families in their community in such time of need. The ministry is very busy, as they serve 8 area hospitals not only with grief support but also training for nurses. This free training helps the hospital staff work alongside the family and community, and shares some of the things they can do and say (and NOT do and say) to help a family in those first hours after a loss.

One of the things I have appreciated about Rachel's Gift is their genuine desire to help, without getting any glory for themselves. The website has links to other ministries and individuals who support those enduring a loss. One such link is to MEND (Mothers Enduring Neonatal Death). With personal stories and newsletters targeted to help in special situations, MEND's newsletter can be a great help. You can read the latest newsletter at http://www.mend.org/newsletters/2011nov-dec.pdf

Sorry for going on so long with today's post. We hope you find encouragement through these shared resources, and encourage those who have a passion to help families enduring loss to find a similar ministry in your area where you can help. Thanks for reading, check in often or subscribe to this blog for more information.

Poem on loss of a child

This poem was written by and sent to us from J.B. Nicholson, Jr. I hope it brings encouragement to you as it did to us in that difficult time. Thinking back on all the Lord has done, we are in awe each day and glory in His love and grace toward us. 

Things Unseen

Exodus 4:11; Isaiah 35:5; Hebrews 11:1

A little bird that cannot sing, a flower locked in the bud;

A star unseen by human eyes, or love lost in life’s flood;

A day whose glorious sun is hid behind the sullen cloud;

A child who never runs and plays, who never shouts aloud.

Is God Creator of the most, but Maker not of all?

Is His supremacy somehow suspended by the Fall?

Did your sweet child slip through His grasp when floating down to earth,

And was his coming to your home an accident of birth?

What happened at the moment when your Joshua was born,

When human dreams and human plans from human hearts were torn?

Could God not reach him—He who measures heaven with a span?

Or did chance blindly interfere with His eternal plan?

God’s Word, so full of mysteries, is more mysterious still

When Moses felt himself unfit to do the Master’s will:

“Who makes the dumb, or deaf,... or blind? have not I?” says the Lord,

And faith gasps in amazement at this o’erwhelming word.

Was this a part of heaven’s plan? Are these words really true?

Were you prepared for your dear child and he prepared for you?

Did angels watch when he appeared, as special grace was given?

A special gift, a moment here and then returned to heaven!

The story isn’t told, of course, until God speaks again,

For Isaiah sings millennial songs and heaven’s eternal strain

About a land where lame men leap and muted voices sing,

When sorrow, sighing, flee away in the presence of the King.

Then the lips that never uttered a wrong or misspent word,

Then the feet that never faltered or wandered from the road,

Then shall they—preserved by Jesus—sing His everlasting praise,

And they all shall walk beside Him throughout heaven’s unbroken days.

And you shall see him running, running and never tire,

And you shall hear him singing in heaven’s majestic choir;

There you and he together will celebrate His grace

And understand His purpose when at last we “see His face.”

99 Balloons

We saw this video diary of baby Eliot a few years ago. It is produced by Igniter Media and reminds us of each day, each hour, and each moment is precious in life. We ought never take that for granted, and we celebrate each day as a gift from the Lord. We wanted to share this with you all today.

https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/570-99-balloons

Camper living at -34F

January 2009 we left our home (put it up for sale) and hit the road. These were our thoughts on that first run, and since then we have traveled tens of thousands of miles on our mission to proclaim the Gospel across the United States. Future posts will not be so lengthy, but we wanted to catch you up. 

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Our trip from home in Maine began Saturday, Jan 11 and we finished cleaning the house out early that morning. We said our goodbyes and drove to Spring Hill Gospel Hall in Westbrook. We enjoyed meeting new folks there and seeing the Stultz family again. The weather was not wonderful, about 4 inches of snow, so the crowd was few in number, but the spirit of the Lord was with us as we came around the table to worship. Mark shared during the family Bible hour and we had a wonderful lunch provided by Mrs. Stultz.

After lunch, we drove to Shrewsbury, MA where we met Chaplain Jeff with Transport for Christ. He was a wonderful man and we enjoyed our visit there. We also met a trucker named Omar who helped Mark find a place to park the truck and trailer. Monday morning we headed for Buffalo, NY area. Due to inaccurate directions, we did not find the TFC chapel there and the weather was terrible, so we drove as far as we could and parked overnight in Angola, NY. We did not get to meet anyone that night, as there were not many cars on the road, and even fewer folks in the service area.

Tuesday we completed this leg of the trip and arrived mid afternoon in Beaverdam. We will be here until Wed AM and then head off to Fort Worth, TX area. Mark has had lots of time to work in the TFC chapel here and met a few truckers and gotten to share from God's Word with truckers and truck stop workers alike. Saturday we will head to Toledo for the remainder of the weekend working with the TFC chapel there in Perrysburg, just outside of Toledo proper.

On a barn in Ohio, we see this picture reminding us that abortion stops a beating heart.

Mark will preach at the truckers service Sun AM, but we will miss gathering around the Lord's table as we are accustomed to doing each Sunday morning. Our first adventure in the camper has gone well, and we find that most people think we must be freezing in the weather here. Overnight lows combined with wind chill of -34F was taxing on our little furnace, but we have yet to be cold.

Really, our new little home on wheels is just what we need, and affords most of the comforts of home as long as we stay inside. Texas weather should be more fun for all of us when the kids can go outside to play and we can get fresh air that is not so cold. Most of our days have been spent visiting with Sara's family and working at the TFC trucker's chapel.

We are looking forward to leaving the cold weather soon enough and expect to be in Texas on Friday PM.  We are planning at this point to stay in Texas with Justin Humes until he leaves that area. We are still praying about the Lord's direction after we leave Texas. Our home has been shown a few more times and we have been told an offer is in the works. We feel led to continue in the evangelistic work with the Humes and believe that we can continue to work with the trucking community while traveling and also team with Justin in his continued work of proclaiming the Gospel. 

The kids are doing great, enjoying their time with family and really are adapting well to camper living. Sara is feeling fine and we plan to visit a midwife when we arrive in Texas to find out more about how the baby is doing. Our family time in the Word and in prayer has been great lately. We really see the Lord at work in our lives and pray that God continues to draw us closer to Him and use us for His service. 

Please continue to keep us in prayer. We will try to put out another email when we arrive in Texas and have a better idea about where things will lead from there. Most of all, pray that we will be used to bring the Gospel to many that have never heard or understood the love that God offers to those who will surrender themselves to Him.

Update January 2009

So, what is new with us, you ask? Well, we have been able to go out door to door sharing the Gospel with many folks. We have been able to have personal contact, a face to face conversation with over 200 people at their homes. Of those, about 1/3 listened as we shared the truth about God and our relationship to Him.

We are often talking with folks at their doors and getting to know more about what they believe. I am surprised (don't know why) that people have some very improper perspectives of God. Some think He doesn't exist at all. Others claim to know Him, yet disregard His Word. Still others claim the name of denominations and religions as their means of eternal life. We know that from the Bible that God has revealed Himself to man, giving us the exact recipe for salvation, but that if we try to add to or take away from His plan, it does not work. We must rely completely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His sinless life and self-sacrifice as the only means by which we can approach God. Any church or teaching that teaches otherwise is not in agreement with God's own Word.

Nathaniel, Naomi, and Virginia (R to L) outside our camper home in February 2009, Fort Worth, Texas

Many churches are falsely teaching that we all go to heaven. The assumption is that if God is love, then nobody gets punished. The Bible would not agree. We know the truth that God offered salvation as a free gift to all, and that the cost of that gift was paid by Jesus when He died to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world. God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (trusts and puts their faith) in Jesus Christ will be saved from the penalty that we all deserve. We consider it a great privilege to be considered worthy to serve our Master and Savior. As followers of the Lord Jesus, what greater joy could we have then to be considered worthy ambassadors for Christ, the messengers of such a great message of life and salvation.

The Christians at North Richland Hills Bible Chapel

Feb 23, a week from Monday, we head for El Cajon, California. We will be working with 2 assemblies of Christians, one in El Cajon and another in San Diego. Our family will be staying with folks in El Cajon, and all the needs for parking our camper, water, power, etc. have all been taken care of. God has once again provided evidence that He is behind this work and we are learning to rely on Him for all things. We do not know the exact details of the ministry there, but the excitement to have us work with them in the area of evangelism and teaching is evident and we are thankful for the Lord's leading into the Southern California area.

We plan to take 4-5 days in travel and rest in the evening at truck stops and RV parks. We would like to witness to folks along the way wherever we meet them. Our desire to reach truckers will be used in these traveling times, no doubt. We do not have finalized dates for the CA trip, but we should be leaving around the first of May headed for Ohio, then Kentucky, then to Maine for the summer.

April 2010- Goat Trails of West Virginia

It was a beautiful spring day just south of Atlanta, Georgia. Our family was headed to Hinton, West Virginia and we had been forewarned about the roads we might encounter to find the campground on the West side of the River from Hinton proper. We had found an ad in the newspaper for free brake inspections for RVs at Bleakley RV center at Exit 205 in Georgia off I 75. For those who have heard parts of this story before, you know why the blog post is so appropriate. For those new to the Gospel Van travels, you are in for quite an adventure of faith.

Bleakley RV did a splendid job inspecting our 33' travel trailer and all its safety features passed the inspection with flying colors. That is, all except the brake drums, shoes, and the wheel bearings. The total repair cost was just under $1,000 and took the whole morning to complete. This also set us leaving later than we had planned, yet we were underway and not knowing all the Lord had to teach us through this trip to West Virginia.

We have to add that we were actually praising the Lord when the bill came in for the repairs, as we often have found that God delivers financial blessing to us just in time to be used well. The previous week, we had about $2,000 donated to the family through a group of families and churches in which we had ministered. You see, just 3 days prior, we had gotten the van back from the shop with 10 new spark plugs (it has a 6.8L V10 motor) 3 new coil packs, a fuel filter, and a bill for $950. We had had no money for anything but food and gas for months at this point, and at times both those were shorter than we would have liked, yet the Lord provided all our needs yet again.

We finally left with our new brakes, headed for the hills of West Virginia, near the intersection of Interstates 77 and 64. For those familiar with the territory, you will note that a nearby (paved) road US 22 runs through the area where we were headed. This route is well documented with a certain automobile owners group. This group has exceptionally high performance suspension cars and uses the road as a testing ground for cornering capabilities. Keep in mind that US 22 is a paved road, not the goat trail that we found.


View Larger Map
Expand this map and follow it to the river to see the hairpin turns we had to take on the way down this mountain road. The detail is not there showing the cliffs under us as we took some of these turns, but you get the general idea.

As we followed the GPS along, we turned onto County Road 26/Irish Mountain Road only to find that there was not any place to turn around after the first 100 feet. When we got to about the 4 mile run of this 7 mile road, we met a mid 80's Toyota 4WD pickup with a wooden body. Having no place to turn around, the driver pulled up over a few small trees and started laughing. We asked if we could make it to the other end of the road, to which he replied "No, but you aren't getting back up that gravel hill in reverse either, so pick one and go with it" and so we did.

After passing the only listed intersection on the road, which looked more like a 4 wheeler trail than a driveway, we got out of the van to pray for safety and wisdom. For those who think this was a little silly, I invite you to travel this road in a 4WD truck, let alone a 20' long van with a 35' trailer(includes tongue) around these little hairpin turns. We got out more than once, and at one point spent 20 minutes debating the details of leaving the van and trailer behind to spare our lives. The locals we talked to agreed with this assessment, and wondered how and why we managed to get the thing down let alone with no damage to person or property.

Thankfully, at the bottom of the hill there is a beautiful scenic lookout. Sandstone Falls is a park area with a raging river that was just below flood stage at the time. We have a few pics that we would be happy to share of this area, and recommend highly stopping in to visit if you have time and are traveling on I 64 in West Virginia near Beckley. The campground.... well that is another story. Let us just say that the average nightly RV spot is $30-40 in most areas. The "RV park" we stayed at is under water 2 months of the year and costs $700 a year for lot rental. Campers in the yearly spots are above water at all times and are packed in like sardines, and I was told they only come in, they never go out.

The campground we were looking for.

Sandstone Falls

Looking back on it all, we have learned a few things from this trip.  

Always keep your vehicle in good condition, you never know where you might end up.

Toyota drivers are a funny lot.

Hinton, West Virginia is a beautiful place.

Hinton is best appreciated when one is not in mortal terror or hanging off a cliff.

God has a  sense of humor.

NEVER trust your GPS alone for directions.

Google Maps will correct an error in their mapping quickly if you are kind and detailed in your report.

Tom Tom doesn't help much if it is not updated often, which is costly and still wouldn't help in this situation.

God has a sense of humor!!!

This is the campground just down the road, which was flooded months before.
Many trailers here were destroyed, some were sitting part way up a tree.

Proverbs in pictures

In our quest to glorify God through the family He has given us, we enjoy reading from and memorizing passages from the Biblical book of Proverbs. My wife, creative and engaging as she is, has devised a game that we all enjoy. While the youngest to the oldest have various artistic abilities, we all engage in this activity to the best of our abilities.

The activity begins with a daily reading of the chapter of Proverbs that either corresponds to the day of the month or just the next chapter as we miss a day more often than we care to admit. We then choose a verse that we would like to illustrate in picture form. We have even used this activity to encourage grandparents and other visitors to join us as we study God's Word, and we always have a good time l

Love the Lord your God

Today's Bible study with our 17 year old son took us to Romans 10, a great chapter of parallel between the new and old covenants. Noted in Deuteronomy 30 (quoted in Romans 10) is the greater context of God's dealings with His people.

Deuteronomy 30 NASB
10 If you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
12 "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
13 "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
15 "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;
16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
17 "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,
18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.
19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

Verse 16 puts first our love for the Lord which produces obedience and walking in His ways. V. 17 shows the contrast, that if your heart turns away....

And so we have the old covenant setting before the children of Israel life and death, blessing and curse. Consider the rest of Romans, leading up to chapter 10, and while resting in the sovereignty of God, know that election demands also the means, that those predestined to reap a harvest are also predestined to till, to plant, water, and then comes the promised harvest. We can rest assured of this, if we do not love the Lord, we will not honor Him nor obey His commands, and even if we did so in a vain attempt to earn righteousness by works, we would fail.

Note the stages of the command, "You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." The promise of guidance and straight paths comes only when we love the Lord our God and acknowledge Him.

God's Word declares that there is none righteous, none that seeks after God, and so we praise the Lord also for the gift of faith which brings righteousness apart from works, and a faith that allows us to love God and consequently obey Him out of love. What a gracious and loving God, and yet the same God who will execute judgement on all those who hate Him, and due to their hate for Him disobey and dishonor Him.

For the parents who may be reading this, consider also on those hard days when a child is disobedient, rebellious, and obstinate, Romans 10:21 "But as for Israel He says, "ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE."

How great an example God is, who stretches out His hand to His people, though we are so often obstinate and disobedient. What marvelous mercy and grace are bestowed on us all! How then ought we to view our own children? This study with Nathaniel has taught me a lot, about God's character, about the relationship of father to son, and helped me to appreciate all the more the grace and mercy of the God who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light!

Proverbs 23:
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.

Oh, that I might have the hearts of my children, that they would walk in my ways (so long as I walk in God's ways) and be glad in the harvest God gives in our family!

Ray Comfort witnessing on the streets

Ray Comfort is often on the streets sharing the Gospel using the Way of the Master technique. I believe this method to be Biblically correct, though one must be cautious to not have a rigid script to which one feels they must adhere. The principles you see in this conversation are sure, and you will note that Ray's main goal is to reach the man, not to get through the presentation necessarily. 

Ray Comfort often mentions the Biblical principle that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" I hope you enjoy this clip. 

What is witnessing?

Witnessing defined - to bear testimony, to testify.

Luke 24:46-48. And He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and

rise again from the dead the third day,and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be

proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.You are witnesses of

these things”

The disciples and those others that saw Jesus’ risen body certainly had a lot to say. They

were joyfully proclaiming that Jesus is risen!! We have so much to share, so much to say,

and there are so many that have never heard of the punishment of Hell, the penalty of sin,

or of a Savior’s love that paid the penalty to save sinners such as we are. The grace and

mercy shown to us by a Holy God is such that we shouldn’t be able to keep it to ourselves.

2 Cor 5:15-21

He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who

died and rose again on their behalf. 16Therefore from now on we recognize no one

according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now

we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from

God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their

trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore,

we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg

you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on

our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Not counting their trespasses(using them OR numbering them)- don’t only witness to

people like ourselves(truckers, prostitutes, homeless, punks and skateboarders) Jesus died

for all sins and committed to all of us the work of ambassadors (says it twice, must be

important), making an appeal through US, we BEG you to be reconciled to God. This is not

some weak attempt at bringing up spiritual things over the course of a 5 year relationship,

but a bold proclamation showing the love of God, not worrying about offending someone.

If you were given $1,000 every time you witnessed to someone, would you be more zealous

about evangelism? The truthful answers from many in assemblies would not be pretty. If

anyone would do it for money, they are serving money more than God. Matthew 6 tells us

that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then “all these things” shelter, food,

clothing. So many today have never truly lived by faith, serving God rather than lining their

pockets, retirement accounts, and investment portfolios. It does not take any great amount

of faith to become a full time worker without soliciting funds. If God has called you, He will

provide.

We have nothing to fear as long as we are doing the will of God. If God can speak the

universe into existence and make complex, intelligent, man out of dust, then can we not

trust Him to handle these simple things? The materialism in society, including the church is

one of the largest reasons for disobedience to the Word of God.

Guy Rice Doud hits home with this quote “Our Lord needs no secret agents. Those who are

not willing to confess Christ publicly are not willing to confess Christ at all. Perhaps

acceptance of Christ begins as a very personal and private experience, but it can never stay

that way.”

If you care about someone, you cannot just sit and watch them go to hell for the sake of

your comfort. This is a challenge, and does not come naturally, but only through fervent

prayer, desiring that the Lord give us His heart, His desires and not our own. We need to

pray that God will give us a passion for lost souls. This isn’t cancer or AIDS, we have the

cure, now we just need to give it out. Some will refuse to hear it, but we would be derelict

in our duty as followers of Jesus if we don’t even try.

What are we afraid of, persecution? Jeremiah 20:9 Persecution almost persuaded Jeremiah

not to speak in God’s name, but God’s Word burned so hot within Jeremiah that he could

not keep it to himself. How much more so, as we are not our own, but we are bought with a

price. It’s a very high price at that, the sacrifice of God’s perfect and righteous Son on our

behalf.

We cannot dwell on past victories- we tend to put up our memories of what we did for Christ

years ago like shrines on the wall. The nets used to fish for men have been dry cleaned,

pressed, and put up to remind us of what we have done in the past. Some sort of trophy,

pictures of our big game. Why do we tend to think that we are done serving God. If you

aren’t dead, you aren’t finished. Until all are saved, we have work to do. God left you here

to serve Him, every day until He calls us home, we are to be about our Father’s business.

“We used to... remember when we... “Get out of the past and do something today. I keep

hearing “ we used to have Gospel meetings” and “remember when that evangelist came and

he went out in the streets and knocked on doors to talk to people” and “this church has

been a rock in our community for decades” Get out of the past and see what God wants you

to do today and then DO IT!

The Lord uses those who know they are weak... 1 Cor 2 tells us about Paul being poor at

speaking, fearful, weak and with much trembling yet he was called on by God to spread the

Gospel, and so he did. “when I am weak, then I am strong” sounds opposed to human

reasoning. It is, we are not talking about human reasoning, but God’s reasoning. He wants

us to live for Him, by His strength, and according to His will.

Some will argue that this is not their calling, but we are talking about witnessing. The work

of an evangelist outlined in Ephesians 4 is the one who equips his fellow believers to go and

fulfill that which Jesus told us all to do. This is not for the full time pastor, the elders only,

nor is it a call just to those who feel like it. Obedience is not a calling, but a command. This

command is repeated throughout Scripture, and is never directed at any certain group of

people.

He is our only strength, our only hope, and the one who deserves our worship, praise, OUR

LIVES! The song says “all to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow...”

Will you surrender today? It will cost you, but the prize of the high calling of God in Christ

Jesus is worth it. Can we sing the song honestly, and live it out each day? We can through

the power of God in Christ Jesus.

Submitted by Mark Cowperthwaite

www.cowperthwaitefamily.com

Evangelism and Evangelists

The great need around us for Christians to be faithful in the Gospel

Most Christians would readily acknowledge that the world is not how God desires it to be.

We say that we want to change things for the Lord. We talk about reaching the lost through

all sorts of programs, but what is the best way to reach them? How can each believer in the

Lord Jesus be used in the work of reaching the lost and giving them the message they need

so desperately to hear?

The answer comes from God’s own Word. “The Lord’s prayer” so called, reminds us to seek

God’s will to be done on earth. It takes a dedication to the desire of God Himself, to have

our hearts changed into His heart, to make His will our own. We are to be shaped by the

Potter, made into what He wants us to be.

We know that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to

repentance. So, I ask you, Christian, are you seeking to fulfill the desire of God’s heart? Do

you pray that His will be done each day and then put yourself in a position to be used by

God to accomplish that will? If we “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then all

these things (necessities of life) will be added to you” We often desire God’s material and

tangible blessings, but don’t strive to see what He desires of us. I am confident that He will

not bless an attitude that seeks to do the least possible service for our Lord, but rather a

heart that overflows with the love of Christ and then shares it with others.

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

(John 4:35)

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest

to send out workers into His harvest. (Matt. 9:36-37)

Surely there are many who are able to do more than they do. We have a tendency to put

our priorities out of order. God’s commands should be first, and not our own. We cannot

live for our own selfish desires. God has given us life for a reason, and that is to glorify Him.

We live only because He allows it and we have a responsibility to Him to live His way.

* personal responsibility vs. the work of a gifted few

If only specially called ‘evangelists’ are to be out preaching the gospel, then God didn’t

supply sufficient to meet the need. I don’t believe the Lord will ever leave His church

lacking. We know that this work can not be accomplished through just a select few.

We see that there are a small percentage of believers that are called as evangelists, and the

reason is that we are all called to witness, and the evangelist is called to that also. But the

job doesn’t end there, it is also a call to equip the body as seen in the following passage.

Eph 4:11-12 evangelists are gifted for the equipping of the saints for evangelism, not for

doing it all themselves. So, if you have assumed that door to door calling, or preaching in

the open air is just for a select few, you need to see the true work of the evangelist, which

is to equip the saints.

Are all called to preach the gospel the same way? No. Are all called to preach the gospel

some way? YES. We all see people each day that are unsaved. We all have friends,

relatives, and coworkers that the evangelist can never meet. The evangelist is to be

involved in the work and making sure the work is effective, but he should never be the only

one preaching the Gospel to the lost.

You’re either a missionary or a mission field. One or the other. So, will you step out in faith

and reach out to some lost soul? If not, what is keeping you? Maybe you don’t feel

comfortable speaking. Paul said in 1 Cor. 2 that even this educated apostle was fearful, and

I am sure he was not comfortable being placed in prison, yet he obeyed despite the cost to

him personally.

Paul knew what he had to look forward to, and his priority was to please his Master and

Savior. It was his love for the Lord that brought him to tell the wonderful story of the Christ

who died for him and his sin. His faith was personal, and because of the relationship with

Christ that Paul had, he could not keep such a wondrous thing to himself. Truly, the epitome

of a selfish Christian is one who keeps his Savior to himself.

Submitted by Mark Cowperthwaite 

cowperthwaitefamily@gmail.com

All Roads Lead to God??

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many who have said they believe in God. Their lives are documented throughout history, many included in Biblical history. The great part about Biblical history is that it is not skewed by the lens of human understanding, but rather is God's own breathed words, written down by the hands of those He called to write what we know as the Bible. These who claim to know and follow God have stated their trust in the perfect truth of God's Word, the Bible. These folks will talk about God and how He is leading them day by day, but is it real? Is the God you serve the true God of the Bible? How can we know?

Do you know the full scope of God's character as revealed by the Holy Spirit and the Bible? Is God's love and mercy the only part of Him you know? Have you been blessed with God's discipline and chastisement when you sin and grieve His heart? Do you picture God as all love and no judgment? If God's Word goes against some belief you have deeply held for years, are you willing to admit that you are wrong and God is right? Are you willing to leave everything sinful and truly become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you forsake all others? I can promise you one thing, eternal life. I can also promise you that it is going to cost you dearly; time, effort, mockery, heartache, you may well be rejected and hated by those you love most in this world. Has God ever told you to leave everything sinful of this world behind to follow Him? If not, then you are not truly His.

Be honest with yourself: Would you still love and honor God if He allowed your family to be taken from you, your health to fade, your home to be lost? Will you stick with Jesus if your family forsakes you? Do you blame God for things that happen that you don't like, as if He needs to explain Himself or stoop to your level of understanding? Do you think God would be unjust or mean to send sinners to Hell for eternity? When we don't understand life's trials, we have a choice to either agree with God or find our own answers apart from God. For those who claim Christ, we must humbly agree with God, as He is always good and righteous and just and without sin or error. Is this perfect God of love and judgment the God you believe in? If not, who IS your god?

The real question is this; “Does the God you believe in really exist?” I am sorry to say that for many I know personally, their god is no god at all, but rather a mixture of religious experiences over a lifetime that has led you to continue in religiosity, to have a form of godliness, but deny the power of it. A false god reigns in your lives and makes the true God jealous! God is righteously jealous when we worship any other god, and He is full of wrath toward those who deny His justice concerning sin. The true God, the God who wrote the Bible is a jealous God. He is the all powerful God, the only one with the power of life and death. We see in the commandments handed to Moses by God's own hand, written by His own finger, this righteous jealousy.

Exodus 20:2-7
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

This is no petty human jealousy, but a righteous, divine, and perfect jealousy. You see, He is God and deserves and demands loyalty. He does not force it on us, but He does demand it. Disobedience and rejection of God will earn you a one way ticket to Hell, a literal place of torment and eternal death apart from God's presence. The wages of sin is death. Some have placed themselves as higher than God in saying Hell does not exist, yet Jesus Himself spoke of Hell more than Heaven. He spoke mostly of Hell as a warning not to reject Him as God's Son, the Messiah.

The Jews for centuries worshiped the one true God, looking for the promised Messiah who would once and for all pay for sin against God. In the old covenant, God had not yet sent His Son, and those who believed God awaited His coming. Today, many Jews still claim to worship the same God as us, but they are deluded. If they have rejected God's own Son, God in human flesh, Jesus the Christ, then they are against God so long as they continue this rejection. I echo the words of Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, and Peter when I say “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

To those who have made a God in their own minds who does not care about your sin, your disobedience, your attempts to play the field and make God out to be a liar, you are accursed. This is how Paul the apostle put it in his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 1:6-14
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. “

Adding baptism, miraculous gifts, or other paths than faith alone in Jesus Christ are some examples. Paul here was addressing the Judaizers who added circumcision to the list of things necessary to gain salvation. If you are inclined to take the half hour of time needed to read Paul's letter to the Galatians, you would see that believing in any message that claims to be the gospel besides that which Jesus proclaimed is leading you to eternal damnation and separation from God in Hell. Worse than that, proclaiming and teaching a false gospel is something that God warns here is making us accursed, that is “cast out, doomed, excommunicated, detestable and wicked”. I know there are some who believe what I am preaching is hate speech, scare tactics, etc. If that is the case, then Jesus Himself would be the worst offender. Such a charge is lunacy if you truly believe the Bible to be God's Word. There are many who claim this is the case, but in practice are doing this very thing.

Many have said that all roads lead to God, and surely God does await us at the end of this life, no matter your religion, your good works, or your sin. Yes, God is the One who awaits us. Hebrews 9:27 promises “It is appointed unto men to die once, and after this the judgment.” That's right, not a time to plead your case, purgatory, or a giant scale to weigh your sins from your good deeds, but judgment. For those who die outside of Christ (Not just faith in God, but in Christ) He will also be there. He will stand as Judge and punish the wicked, giving them a righteous sentence for their sin against His holy nature. There is, as Paul says in Romans 1 and Acts 17, “no excuse”, but rather a built in knowledge of God of which no one is exempt.

To the Christian who rests in the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf, who have come to Him in faith without doubt, He is the Savior and Lord of our lives, the one who has assured us victory over death and eternal life with Him, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord!” For those who would rather hear it from someone else, let us see what Jesus tells us here in His own words. What happens to those who do not believe?

John 3:34-36
“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him”

Did you catch that last phrase? It says that those who believe have the life, but that those who reject the Son shall not see life, but that God's wrath abides on him. I have seen the wrath of the United States military, the wrath of an angry mother bear when her cub is in danger, but I cannot fathom the wrath of God Almighty! Some see this wrath as unjust or extreme, and I believe that is mostly because we don't want to think about God's wrath in this way. We like to talk about the God that is love, that gives peace and joy. Those are true and absolute attributes of God, but they do not negate God's absolute attributes of justice and holiness.

Consider this: We see things through the eyes of sinful human nature, but if we look at it honestly, we would see that it is not so much that God is unjust to send anyone to Hell, but that His justice should keep us all from Heaven. What a great, merciful, just, and loving God who rescues souls from their deserved place in Hell! Praise His name! That God would or could ever allow a fallen human being to enter His presence is nothing short of mind blowing! It is only by the perfect and sacrificial blood of Christ shed on the cross of Calvary that there could ever be a washing and cleansing from sin that would clean off our sin laden and filthy selves.

With these truths as the backdrop, and in view of the fact that the name of this group and our associated building is “Gospel Chapel”, I feel sad that I have to state these facts as if I were not being redundant. We wish to be known to the world as a group of Christians gathered not to a denomination or sect, but only to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the history of the Gospel Hall (which this once was) and Gospel Chapels. For those not well read concerning the Brethren movement or the Plymouth Brethren, the founding of such meetings was due to the desire to go beyond the standard religious and liturgical norms in churches, but to dig deep into the history and practices of the churches we see in the New Testament of God's Word, and to do the best we can to follow that pattern.

Some have gone over the deep end and rejected other Christians due to their zeal for purity, and have lost love and grace for others. Others have gone beyond what is written and rejected the pattern as impossible to achieve in today's society, and have just become another so called “non-denominational” church. I think both are wrong. We can do things God's way, but it starts with the basics. I feel that those basics of salvation and Christianity have been rejected here in the name of love and tolerance. It is fine for one who is new to the faith or ignorant of Biblical truth to not understand some of these things, but it is not acceptable for those who have been taught from God's Word to deny His truth and replace God's truth with their own opinions.

If there were other ways to acquire eternal life with God, then why would God have sent His Son to take on human flesh and die such a horrible death. Surely, Jesus didn't do anything deserving of this treatment. If God the Father were only causing Jesus to live and die on this earth as “one way, but not the only way”, then God would be a mean and terrible Father to torture His own Son like that. This could never be the case, and the illogical nature of such an argument against the Creator of the universe would be beyond any intelligent human reasoning. God punishing Jesus for the sin of the world is downright stupid and vicious unless there was no other way for sin to be covered. We can learn from this more about God's character and nature. Truly, God's holiness and perfection demand a payment for sin, and Jesus became that payment, shedding His precious blood on the cross once and for all paying for the sin of the world. That is why we start each Lord's Day with the Lord's Supper, that it always be at the forefront of what we do, a reminder that Christ is the only reason we exist, the only One we can trust, and the One we live and die for. He is the ONLY WAY!

It is because that was the only way of true justice that Jesus offered Himself to die in our place. The beauty of Jesus' death lies in the fact that it was the only way, and that He willingly suffered because of love for sinners like us. The beauty of the heart of God, the passion Jesus Christ has for His creation, the depth of His mercy! With these in view, we cannot help but worship our great God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our hope, our joy, and our salvation. I hope you have this joy and truth guiding your life today, but I know some do not.

I am sad to have to bring up this topic in a church, that place that even the worst sinner in the world would say is a place to learn about and worship the God of the Bible. Sadly, many so called churches today are abandoning the Bible and replacing it with man made theology. We hear often that there must be unity in the body of Christ and that is so true. Unity is necessary if we are going to accomplish anything for God. The problem is that we have tried to find unity outside of God's Word. We have found unity in recovery programs, feeding the hungry, and in electing political officials. This is not unity in Christ.

I feel inclined to add that man made unity is not what Jesus preached either. Indeed, Christ Himself said that He did not come bring peace, but a sword, to divide households between those who would believe and those who would incur God's wrath for not accepting Christ as their Savior. Jesus endured persecution, as did those who were called by His name, in every decade since Jesus earthly ministry. At times it has been worse, and at times there have been few called to suffer in this way. Yet those who are truly His were always marked by persecution. The reason why is that God has offered only one way to please Him and receive grace and the gift of eternal life. In our society, proclaiming that there is only one way to do anything is considered intolerant, or even hate speech. God calls us to love our enemies, but not to condone sin or be tolerant of sinful ways.

There is only one way to please God, and that only way is faith in Jesus Christ. If you are putting your faith in Christ as an insurance policy, but trusting in other things to save you, then you are still in your sins, dead to God, and will spend eternity in Hell. If you have rejected Christ altogether to follow Buddha, Islam, a salvation of works, or anything except Christ alone, then you must repent and change today! The situation could not be more dire, the consequences could not be more grave. Eternal life is for those who are made alive in Christ. All others are dead in sin, there is no other route to take. Don't try to add anything to your faith. If you are trusting faith plus works, then you truly have no faith in Christ at all. He is either everything that has saved you or you are trampling underfoot the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

One might be inclined to challenge these statements, but the Bible is full of them. If I am wrong, then I am wrong with God. If I am right, it is only because God is right and He has revealed these truths in His Word. Please listen to these words from God's own mouth, breathed from His own lips, that speak of the drastic nature of salvation only through Christ and only by faith. I could spend weeks delving into Scripture after scripture that prove this point. In fact, it is the main reason for having God's Word, to point us to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

If you don't know for sure that what you say or believe is God's truth, you would be better to keep your mouth shut than to proclaim a lie. Those who stand up to teach others are held to a stricter judgment according to James 3:1, so be cautious. It is an incredible responsibility to teach God's Word, and is not for the novice. We must have reverence for God's Word. If you have questions, ask a more mature believer, an elder or teacher.

A new or immature believer ought to learn from those more mature, to humbly submit themselves, to not think more highly of themselves than they ought. This is why we are told never to allow immature believers to lead or teach, as they are easily led astray or are simply ignorant of the whole counsel of God. If mature believers teach you something, and it agrees with God's Word, then submit to God and do so with gratitude. I have also seen those who have taught for years who deny basic truths of God's Word. Do not be trapped in pride and self righteousness to think that you know better than God. How arrogant one must be to contradict God's Word!

For those more mature, it is time for you to do your job, as called by God, to teach and disciple those who are less mature. This will cost time and effort, but it is commanded, so we ought to be doing it. I believe the lack of this commitment to discipleship has us in the place we are today to some extent. Pairing that with a disdain of Godly leadership you have the recipe for disaster, and a church that would be better off with the doors closed. Malachi. 1:10 warns of what may happen if we continuously offer God second best. It says it would be better to close the doors than to uselessly kindle fire at His altar. Let us take our worship, teaching, and prayer as seriously as God does.

The essentials of the Christian faith:

Deity of Christ
Salvation by God’s grace through faith, not works, through Jesus Christ alone
The resurrection of Christ
The Gospel
Monotheism
The Holy Trinity

These are the main “essentials” that we should understand and believe if we are followers of Jesus Christ.
The deity of Christ. Quite simply, Jesus is God.

Salvation by grace. We are all sinners separated from God and deserving of eternal punishment for our sin. Jesus’ death on the cross paid for the sins of mankind. God did not have to do this for us, but He loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son. This is grace, or undeserved favor. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor or gain access to heaven apart from His grace.

Salvation through Jesus Christ alone. God in His mercy has provided all of us the only means for salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 tells us that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). No one gets into heaven except by faith in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ on his or her behalf.

The resurrection of Christ. Perhaps no other event in the Bible, aside from Jesus’ appearance here on earth and subsequent death on the cross, is as significant to the Christian faith as that of the resurrection. All other religions are based on works or a powerless deity or person. The leaders of all other religions die and remain dead. The Christian faith is based on Christ crucified and resurrected to life. “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). Lastly, to deny Christ’s bodily resurrection (John 2:19-21) is to deny that Jesus’ work here on earth was a satisfactory offering to God for the sins of mankind.

The gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul spells out what the gospel is and how important it is to embrace it and share it with others. He reminds the Corinthians of the gospel he preached among them: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” This is the essence of the gospel. Paul also warns us to be wary of the many “false gospels” that are being offered to the unsuspecting: As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9).

Monotheism. Quite simply, there is only one God. Exodus 20:3 states very powerfully, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God to be worshiped and served. “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me’” (Isaiah 43:10). A Christian will know that there is only one God, the God of the Bible. All others are false and are no gods at all.

The Trinity. If we look at Matthew 28:19, we see the verse calling out the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). As Christians we live by this verse with the understanding that we believe in a God we cannot see. But we see His work in our lives and all around us in His creation. We do all of this through faith because we know that faith pleases God. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).